News for 1/11/2005


"Chicago," "Kinsey" Screenwriter Condon
Set to Pen and Direct Dreamgirls Movie

By Ernio Hernandez


"Chicago" screenwriter Bill Condon has his sights set on his next stage-to-screen project, a movie version of the musical Dreamgirls, according to Variety."I think that Dreamgirls is a great movie waiting to happen. There aren't that many [musicals] that can really work [on film]," Condon previously told Playbill On-Line (Dec. 2002) about the possibility, "but I think that Dreamgirls is the great obvious one."

The trade mag now reports that the scribe-director has finished a first draft of the script which will begin production late summer or early fall. The film will involve producer Laurence Mark and DreamWorks executive David Geffen — who co-produced the Broadway debut and controls screen rights to the work — as well as Warner Bros.

Featuring a book and lyrics by Tom Eyen with music composed by Henry Krieger, Dreamgirls follows the rise of a Motown-like singing trio of women through their 1960s-1970s fame. The late Michael Bennett (A Chorus Line, Follies) directed the Broadway debut in 1982 featuring Loretta Devine, Jennifer Holliday, Sheryl Lee Ralph and Cleavant Derricks. Bennett (as choreographer), librettist Eyen and actors Harney, Derricks and Holliday all earned Tony Awards for their work though the show was beat out for Best Musical by Maury Yeston's Nine.

The show — which includes such memorable songs as "And I Am Telling You I'm Not Going," "One Night Only" and the title track — was revived on Broadway in 1987 starring Lillias White and performed in 2001 as an Actor's Fund benefit concert starring White with Heather Headley and Audra McDonald. A new Broadway staging is said to be in the works, though no official announcement has been made.

Condon earned an Academy Award for his screenplay of "Gods and Monsters" (which he also directed) and a nomination for his work on "Chicago." The scribe also directed his latest screenplay, "Kinsey," which reteamed The Crucible stars Liam Neeson and Laura Linney.



'Sideways' Dominates Critics' Choice

By KIM LANSING Associated Press


LOS ANGELES - He claims to have written a million thank-you speeches, and even performed them in front of a mirror, so now Jamie Foxx is ready to accept future awards for his acclaimed work in "Ray" after being chosen best actor at the 10th annual Critics' Choice Awards.

Hilary Swank captured the best actress award for her role as a boxer in Clint Eastwood's "Million Dollar Baby," while "Sideways" claimed a leading five awards, including best film. Martin Scorsese beat out Eastwood for best director honors for "The Aviator," his take on the young Howard Hughes that stars Leonardo DiCaprio as the eccentric billionaire.

"Everybody on the street, from the hood to the White House, wanted this film to win," Foxx said of "Ray," in which he portrayed R&B legend Ray Charles.

And while many actors will tell you they pay no attention to what the critics think of their work, Foxx said that's not true — at least not for him.

"Whenever you do a film you're always thinking in the back of your head, 'What are the critics gonna say?'" he acknowledged. "You really do want to know why they didn't like it, or you're glad if they did like it."

Swank lavished praise on Eastwood for her success, saying the Oscar-winning director "helped me become a better actor and a better human being."

"I'll take blows all the time to work with him," Swank said. "This is a man that stands in a line behind 50 people waiting for his lunch like everyone else."

Virginia Madsen received a plethora of congrats at the show, and one in particular came to her as a surprise.

"Someone tonight congratulated me on my pregnancy," she said.

No need to worry, the "Sideways" star wasn't carrying anything except the supporting actress award for her work in that film.

Tom Cruise was the inaugural recipient of the Distinguished Career Achievement in Performing Arts Award. His career, he said, has been a labor of love.

"I never did it for money. I did it because I loved it and I've always loved it," the three-time Oscar nominee said.

Cruise also congratulated Foxx, his co-star in "Collateral."

"He's enormously talented," said Cruise. "As an actor, when you work with someone that makes great choices in a scene, it takes you out of character, and you think, 'Wow, that was beautiful.' I'm just so happy for him."

Like Foxx, it was also a first time Critics' Choice Award for teenage actress Emmy Rossum, who snagged the best young actress trophy for her role in "The Phantom of the Opera."

"I have never seen the show so I wasn't colored by the theatricality," said Rossum. "I took my idea of her as a very real, vulnerable loving and compassionate girl and played it from my heart."

The awards ceremony, sponsored by the Broadcast Film Critics Association, took place at the Wiltern Theatre. The host was "Will and Grace's" Eric McCormack.

Following is a complete list of winners:


Picture: "Sideways."
Actor: Jamie Foxx, "Ray."
Actress: Hilary Swank, "Million Dollar Baby."
Supporting Actor: Thomas Haden Church, "Sideways."
Supporting Actress: Virginia Madsen, "Sideways."
Acting Ensemble: "Sideways."
Director: Martin Scorsese, "The Aviator."
Writer: Alexander Payne and Jim Taylor, "Sideways."
Young Actor: Freddie Highmore, "Finding Neverland."
Young Actress: Emmy Rossum, "The Phantom of the Opera."
Family Film (live action): "Finding Neverland."
Picture Made for Television: "The Life and Death of Peter Sellers."
Popular Movie: "Spider-Man 2."
Documentary Feature: "Fahrenheit 9/11."
Foreign Language Film: "The Sea Inside."
Soundtrack: "Ray."
Composer: Howard Shore, "The Aviator."



Anthony Anderson Joining The Shield

Source: Variety


Kangaroo Jack star Anthony Anderson is joining the cast of FX cop drama The Shield. He will appear in at least 10 episodes of the series, which begins its fourth season in March. Anderson and Glenn Close play the season's leading new characters.

According to Variety, Anderson will play Antwon Mitchell, a former gang leader and drug dealer just out of prison. The character will claim to be on the straight and narrow, though his actions won't match his words.

Michael Chiklis stars as lead Det. Vic Mackey.



Eight 'Jump' for Rydell's indie drama

By Liza Foreman
The Hollywood Reporter


Danny DeVito, Kim Basinger, Nick Cannon, Forest Whitaker, Carla Gugino, Jay Mohr, Kelsey Grammer and Ray Liotta are about to jump to attention for helmer Mark Rydell on the indie ensemble drama "Jump Shot," which begins shooting Jan. 18 in Los Angeles.

Robert Tannen penned the script, which is a series of intertwining stories on how gambling and drugs destroy people's lives. Rydell also will produce with David Greathouse and Bob Yari, who will finance through his Bob Yari Prods. shingle. The German film fund Apollo also is involved in financing and producing the project. Three Wolves Prods. will co-produce.

David, Robert and I have been working steadily for about 2 1/2 to three years," Rydell said. "We got fortunate with Yari several months ago when he said we would make it. It's a human drama, which, as you know, is very rare to get made these days. The studios won't touch them. I have to credit Bob Yari for his courage and stepping up to do this. The fact that we could attract such a stellar cast is a testament to Tannen's script and hopefully my reputation."

Three Wolves also is co-producing two other projects with Yari, including the Mob drama "Find Me Guilty," to be directed by Sidney Lumet and starring Vin Diesel. The company was recently launched by actors-turned-producers Rita Branch, Johnny Sanchez and Roger Zamudio.

Greathouse, who has been on the project since the start, recently joined John Baldecchi Prods. at Sony.

Rydell's directing credits include "On Golden Pond," "The River" and "The Rose."

DeVito, Basinger, Gugino, Grammer and Whitaker are repped by CAA. Liotta and Cannon are repped by Endeavor. Mohr is repped by Paradigm.



Motocross Champ's Big Screen Ride
From Dark Horizons


Paramount Pictures is setting up up a coming-of-age film about James "Bubba" Stewart, a teen who is to motocross racing what Tiger Woods is to golf says Variety.

Michael London, Tom Cruise and Paula Wagner will produce. The film is being written by David Gordon Green ("George Washington") and will mark the feature directing debut of celebrity photographer Sam Jones.

Taught by his father to ride before he could walk, Stewart was winning titles by the time he was 7, and at 16 became the first African-American to win a major motorsports title. He has so dominated the 125cc division that he's been known to lay down his bike during a race to let competitors catch up.

Stewart faces his biggest test Saturday in Anaheim, when he steps up to the 250cc supercross class and takes on the division's dominant champ, Ricky Carmichael. Producers are scrambling to have cameras ready to capture footage to be used in the film.



Trio Gets Dirty for Chris Fisher

Source: The Hollywood Reporter


Clifton Collins Jr., Cuba Gooding Jr. and Judy Reyes will star in the independent feature Dirty for writer/director Chris Fisher. Tory Kittles (Tigerland), Wyclef Jean and Wood Harris (The Wire) round out the cast.

Collins and Gooding play gangbangers who are now dirty LAPD cops trying to cover their tracks in a precinct scandal. Reyes is an Internal Affairs officer.

Principal photography began Tuesday.



News for 1/10/2005


Winner Takes All

By TOM O'NEIL
From GoldDerby.com


One of the most mysterious elections in the world is currently being held, without the benefit of international observers or the possibility of court-ordered recounts. Here's a look at the little-understood process of choosing Oscar nominees, and a forecast of which contenders are most likely to benefit from the motion picture academy's system when the nominations are announced on Jan. 25.

LOOKING OUT FOR NO. 1 Most entertainment and athletic awards use a weighted ballot, on which voters list their Top 5 or Top 10 choices, with each selection assigned a point value. But the Oscars employ the old-fashioned, rarely used preferential ballot, which gives disproportionate weight to the No. 1-ranked choice. "The advantage given to No. 1 votes favors the strongly supported minority candidates," said David Rindskopf, a statistics professor at the City University of New York, "while it also eliminates candidates with broader support at the levels below No. 1."

Here's how it works: In the best-director category, for example, there are about 300 Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences members who decide the nominees by listing their favorites, from 1 to 5. When the ballots are received by PricewaterhouseCoopers, they are put in piles based on who is listed as the No. 1 choice, said Greg Garrison, one of the eight accountants who spend a week determining the nomination lineup. "We divide the number of ballots by six to determine how many No. 1 votes are needed to establish a nominee," he said. So a director with 50 or more No. 1 votes is automatically a nominee. "Let's say only two directors have that many," he continued. "We take all of their ballots and set them aside. Then we conduct a second pass-through. We start with the smallest stacks of ballots, discard the No. 1 choice and redistribute them according to who's listed in second place. We work through all the stacks that way, from smallest to largest, redistributing the ballots until we have five stacks with more than 50 of the same names in each one."

WHO BENEFITS? The system opens the door for candidates with narrow but passionate groups of supporters. "That's why certain beloved academy members seem to be nominated automatically, whenever they make a film," said Pete Hammond, an awards historian and frequent contributor to Variety. "Like Jeff Bridges. He's not considered a front-runner this year, but he could pop up for 'Door in the Floor.' Even though Sean Penn won last year, he could be back for 'The Assassination of Richard Nixon.' We could also see some beloved academy members who are considered overdue for recognition, like Gena Rowlands in 'The Notebook.' Among rookies, nobody expects Catalina Sandino Moreno to be nominated for best actress in 'Maria Full of Grace' after she was snubbed by the Golden Globes and top critics' awards, but she has a small but fierce following among academy voters."

In this year's race for best picture, "The Aviator," "Finding Neverland," "Million Dollar Baby" and "Sideways" are widely expected to make the lineup, but there's little agreement on the fifth entry. "Kinsey," a film that will probably be popular with many academy voters, could consistently land in fourth or fifth place on nomination ballots and be bumped by a rival with less support, but more No. 1 votes. Again, the system will very likely favor films with ardent supporters, like "Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind," "Fahrenheit 9/11," "Hotel Rwanda" and "Ray." (The Oscar marketers of "Fahrenheit 9/11" have been accused of manipulating the system by trying to woo just the 970 or so No. 1 votes, out of the total membership of 5,800, that are needed for a best picture nomination.) The early-2004 release "The Passion of the Christ" could have fallen into that category, too, but Mel Gibson's decision not to mount an Oscar campaign leaves it in need of a miracle.



'Million Dollar Baby' Tops With Critics


NEW YORK (AP) - "Million Dollar Baby," the story of a woman trying to rise above her hard-knock life by training as a boxer, was voted best film and earned awards for actress Hilary Swank and actor-director Clint Eastwood at the National Society of Film Critics awards Saturday.

Alexander Payne's male-bonding movie "Sideways" came in second in the best picture category, while "Before Sunset," director Richard Linklater's sequel to the romantic drama "Before Sunrise," placed third.

The group of 56 newspaper and magazine film critics held its 39th awards ceremony at Sardi's Restaurant in Manhattan.

Swank was tied for first place in the best actress category with Imelda Staunton of "Vera Drake," the abortion drama set in 1950s England. Julie Delpy placed third for "Before Sunset."

Jamie Foxx was selected best actor for his roles in "Ray," the biopic of the legendary musician Ray Charles, and "Collateral," in which he played a cab driver forced to drive around a hitman played by Tom Cruise.

Paul Giamatti came in second for "Sideways," playing one of two mismatched best friends who spend a week vineyard-hopping along California's central coast. Eastwood won third place for both best actor and director.

Zhang Yimou received best director for "House of the Flying Daggers" and "Hero," martial arts dramas set in medieval China. Payne placed second for "Sideways," which also was voted best screenplay.

Ousmane Sembene won the award for best foreign language film as director of "Moolaade," the story of six girls who escape from an African ceremony of female circumcision. The society's pick for best nonfiction film was "Tarnation," Jonathan Caouette's documentary about growing up with his schizophrenic mother.

Thomas Haden Church was voted best supporting actor for "Sideways," edging out Morgan Freeman, who plays a retired boxer in "Million Dollar Baby."

Virginia Madsen ("Sideways") and Cate Blanchett ("The Aviator" and "Coffee and Cigarettes") placed first and second, respectively, in the best supporting actress category.

Peter Sarsgaard and Laura Linney placed third in the best supporting actor and actress category for their roles in "Kinsey."



Weekend Boxoffice


'Fockers' Beats Horror Flick at Box Office

By DAVID GERMAIN
The Associated Press


LOS ANGELES - The horror of meeting the in-laws beat out the fright flick at theaters this weekend. "Meet the Fockers" took in $28.5 million to remain the top movie for the third straight weekend, holding off the horror newcomer "White Noise," which debuted a strong No. 2 with $24 million, according to studio estimates Sunday.

The two movies paced Hollywood to a healthy start for the year, with the top 12 films grossing $98.3 million, up 8 percent from the same weekend in 2004.

That comes after a holiday surge sparked by "Meet the Fockers" lifted Hollywood to a record $9.4 billion domestic haul in 2004. Though the year's revenues were up, higher admission prices mean movie attendance was off about 1.7 percent, so the solid beginning positions the industry for a healthier 2005.

"The end of the year was stronger than expected, so headed into the first of the year, we have some momentum going," said Paul Dergarabedian, president of box-office tracker Exhibitor Relations. "Studios just need to keep the momentum in the market place, because once you lose it, it takes a long time to get back."

Since opening just before Christmas, "Meet the Fockers" has taken in $204.3 million, topping the $166.2 million total of its predecessor, "Meet the Parents."

The comedy sequel reunites Ben Stiller and Robert De Niro as prospective in-laws with a shaky relationship, adding Dustin Hoffman and Barbra Streisand to the cast as Stiller's zany parents.

The superstar cast and the movie's universal theme has made "Meet the Fockers" an easy sell to audiences.

"It hits home, doesn't it? Conflicts between in-laws, everybody's been there," said Nikki Rocco, head of distribution for Universal, which released "Meet the Fockers" and "White Noise."

Critics hated "White Noise," which stars Michael Keaton as a man convinced his dead wife is trying to communicate with him through his television. Yet scary movies tend to have a built-in audience of horror fans, who turn out in huge numbers over opening weekend.

The box office often plunges for fright flicks in their second weekend, though some manage stronger staying power, such as last year's $100 million hit "The Grudge," which most critics also panned.

"White Noise" producer Paul Brooks said he hopes his movie can defy the critics, too, and hold up well beyond opening weekend.

"It's always fascinated me, the way critics work," said Brooks, who also produced "My Big Fat Greek Wedding." "They have a particular view of a film which sometimes can be significantly at odds with what the man on the street and the lady on the street and the kid on the street want to see."

Two films embraced by critics, Clint Eastwood's "Million Dollar Baby" and Terry George's "Hotel Rwanda," had strong showings as they expanded from limited release.

"Million Dollar Baby," starring Eastwood as mentor to a strong-willed boxer (Hilary Swank), took in $2 million in 109 theaters, up from nine theaters the previous weekend.

"Hotel Rwanda," featuring Don Cheadle as a real-life hotel manager who sheltered refugees during the 1990s Rwandan genocide, grossed $1.15 million in 105 theaters, up from seven the previous weekend.

Estimated ticket sales for Friday through Sunday at North American theaters, according to Exhibitor Relations Co. Inc. Final figures will be released Monday.

1. "Meet the Fockers," $28.5 million.
2. "White Noise," $24 million.
3. "The Aviator," $7.6 million.
4. "Lemony Snicket's a Series of Unfortunate Events," $7.4 million.
5. "Fat Albert," $6 million.
6. "Ocean's Twelve," $5.4 million.
7. "National Treasure," $4.5 million.
8. "Spanglish," $4.4 million.
9. "The Phantom of the Opera," $3.4 million.
10. "The Life Aquatic With Steve Zissou," $2.7 million.



News for 1/6/2005


Playing it safe, Academy Awards style

Why the best picture winners rarely reflect troubled times

COMMENTARY


By Erik Lundegaard
MSNBC contributor


If you were to anthropomorphize the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, the organization that votes for the Oscars, you would probably wind up with an older white male who’s fairly dim and spineless, and who has an older male’s predilection, particularly in recent years, for young hotties. Think Gordon Jump on “WKRP in Cincinnati.”

Frustratingly little information is actually available about the Academy’s demographics. We know there are 5,808 voting members and 6,534 overall members. We know that criteria for membership includes an Academy Award nomination, or “film credits of a caliber which reflect the high standards of the Academy,” according to the Academy’s Web site. There’s obviously more to it than that, because the site also lists members who have died since last February and not all of them are household names. Arthur Alsberg wrote a lot for television but his only filmic contributions were four Don Knotts comedies in the late ’70s. Esther Stephenson was a script supervisor on only five films. The Academy’s exclusive but not snobbish.

Once you’re in, you’re in for life, which is why we assume the Academy’s demographics skew old. There are more men than women in the movie industry and most of these folks are white. As for dim and spineless? Just look at the voting record. The general rule is that during years of political turmoil — like this one — the Academy staunchly defends the right of every filmmaker to be as bland and long-winded as possible.


Controversy, what controversy?


Take the early 1950s. It was the coldest part of the Cold War, and few towns were hit harder than Hollywood. If you took the fifth before the House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC), you were immediately blacklisted; if you named names you were eventually shunned. Few escaped with work and self-respect. In such a divided and fearful community it’s not surprising that the Academy was divided and fearful as well. Two years in a row, 1951 and 1952, the best director came from a picture other than the one that won best picture, and in those cases the best picture was fairly light and harmless.

In 1951, with such gritty works as “A Place in the Sun” and “A Streetcar Named Desire” in the running, the award went to “An American in Paris,” which, while light, at least has the distinction of being great. (I’d vote for it.)

But 1952 was an embarrassment. The best nominated picture that year was “High Noon,” in which Marshall Wil Kane (Gary Cooper) is abandoned by everyone in the town he’s trying to protect. “Where are the others?” one man asks. “There are no others,” Kane replies. These lines were written by Carl Foreman, who refused to testify before HUAC and saw most of his friends and colleagues abandon him as a result. The film is a metaphor for the McCarthy years and is now considered a classic. But in 1952 it lost to….“The Greatest Show on Earth,” a fluffy, overlong melodrama about the lives and loves of members of the Ringling Brothers Circus, starring a young Charlton Heston. It was like awarding the winning entrée at a bake-off to cotton candy.


Playing it safe


Turbulent 1968 began with the Tet offensive, ended with the election of Richard Nixon, and in-between the country suffered through riots, the violence at the Democratic convention, and the assassinations of Martin Luther King, Jr. and Robert Kennedy. Attuning itself to the zeitgeist, the Academy ignored films like “2001: A Space Odyssey” and “Rosemary’s Baby,” neither of which got nominated for best picture, and awarded the big prize to…“Oliver!,” a musical that was, according to its tagline, “much much more than a musical!” Yes, much much more.

Twenty years later, the Academy showed the world just how white it could be. Abroad, communism was collapsing, but at home racial tensions were rising. It was the year of the Central Park jogger, Public Enemy and Spike Lee’s film “Do the Right Thing,” which was the cinematic equivalent of James Baldwin’s essay “The Fire Next Time”: a bomb tossed at white America. The Academy ducked. It didn’t even nominate “Do the Right Thing,” or “Glory,” which is the kind of epic picture it usually celebrates, for best picture. Instead, the big prize went to us “Driving Miss Daisy,” a film about the relationship between a southern white matriarch and her black chauffer.

Now best pictures usually match up with best directors, but “Daisy” director Bruce Beresford wasn’t even nominated. A best picture winner whose director wasn’t nominated? That hadn’t happened since 1932. So why did it occur in 1989? Probably because there was no front-runner among the other best-picture nominees — “Born on the Fourth of July,” “Dead Poets Society,” “Field of Dreams” and “My Left Foot.” Those films canceled each other out, while elderly voters, happy to see themselves on screen, flocked to “Daisy.” We’ll never know for sure because the accounting firm that tabulates the results, Price Waterhouse, doesn’t release vote totals. To do so, to admit that, say, “Driving Miss Daisy” won with 22 percent of the vote, would destroy the illusion of the word “best.”


Taking a stand


Were there any years when the Academy took a stand and reflected rather than deflected divisive national politics? A few. Sidney Poitier’s best actor statuette was awarded the year after Birmingham and the March on Washington. One could also point to “In the Heat of the Night” winning best picture for 1967. Of course by the time it was awarded, two days after the assassination of Dr. King, the story of a black northern detective and a bigoted southern sheriff solving a crime together was already beginning to feel nostalgic.

But it was World War II that really went over big with the Academy. While organizations like “America First!” argued for neutrality, the Academy gave tacit approval to the Allies. From 1940 to 1942, every best picture winner (“Rebecca”; “How Green Was My Valley”; “Mrs. Miniver”) was set in England.

Once the U.S. was in, the Academy went whole hog. Two years in a row the best-actor statuette honored real-life patriots: Sgt. York, a backwoods, sharpshooting hero of WWI, and patriotic song-and-dance man George M. Cohan. “Casablanca,” which won best picture in 1943, personalized the America dilemma: from tough, cynical isolationist (“I stick my neck out for nobody”) to tough, cynical participant (“Louie, I think this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship”).

Even after the war, best pictures were about the war: 1946’s “The Best Years of Our Lives” concerned returning veterans; 1947’s “Gentleman’s Agreement,” about a gentile reporter posing as a Jew to expose American anti-Semitism, wouldn’t have been made without the horrors of the Holocaust.

But 2004 ain’t no World War II, and in this divisive political year the Academy will most likely look for something overlong and non-controversial. WWGJD: What Would Gordon Jump Do? That’s the key. This is bad news for “Sideways” and “Kinsey” and “Million Dollar Baby” but good news for Martin Scorsese’s “The Aviator.” Good news for us, too. It beats hell out of “The Greatest Show on Earth.”



Scorsese, Eastwood Get Guild Award Nods

By DAVID GERMAIN
AP Movie Writer


LOS ANGELES (AP) - Martin Scorsese, shut out five times previously for the top prize from his filmmaking peers, has earned another shot at the Directors Guild of America Awards.

Scorsese earned a nomination Thursday for the guild's best-director honor for his sprawling epic "The Aviator," a film biography starring Leonardo DiCaprio as aviation pioneer and Hollywood rebel Howard Hughes.

Also nominated was Clint Eastwood for his boxing drama "Million Dollar Baby"; Marc Forster for "Finding Neverland," a whimsical look at the inspirations behind J.M. Barrie's "Peter Pan"; Taylor Hackford for the Ray Charles film biography "Ray"; and Alexander Payne for the quirky road-trip flick "Sideways."

The winner will be announced at the guild's 57th annual dinner Jan. 29, one of Hollywood's warmups for the Academy Awards on Feb. 27.

The guild honors have a good track record at predicting who will go home with the best-director Academy Award. Only six times since 1949 has the guild recipient failed to go on to win the Oscar.

Scorsese generally has been viewed as the front-runner to win both the guild prize and the best-directing Oscar. He has been nominated five times before by the guild and four times by academy voters, but he has never won either honor.

The guild honored Scorsese with a lifetime-achievement award in 2003, when he also was nominated for "Gangs of New York" but lost to Rob Marshall for "Chicago."

Eastwood, who also stars with Hilary Swank and Morgan Freeman in "Million Dollar Baby," earned his second-straight guild nomination following 2003's "Mystic River." He won the guild prize and the best-director Oscar for 1992's "Unforgiven."

Hackford, previously nominated for 1982's "An Officer and a Gentleman," was a surprise nominee this time. While "Ray" star Jamie Foxx has received great awards buzz, Hackford generally has been overlooked at earlier Hollywood honors, including December's Golden Globe nominations.

Forster and Payne, both first-time guild nominees, also received best-director nominations for the Golden Globes, whose awards ceremony is Jan. 16.



News for 1/4/2005


Weekend Boxoffice


'Fockers' Meets $163 Million in 12 Days

By GREG RISLING
The Associated Press


LOS ANGELES - Moviegoers embraced the dysfunctional family comedy "Meet the Fockers" for a second straight week as the star-studded sequel earned $42.8 million to retain its No. 1 slot at the weekend box office.

The film, which teams Ben Stiller, Robert De Niro, Barbra Streisand and Dustin Hoffman, has grossed more than $163 million during its 12-day run, according to studio estimates.

The film's success could help produce record box office revenue for 2004, said Paul Dergarabedian, president of the industry's tracker Exhibitor Relations.

"We've had a much stronger than anticipated final week of the year that helped the industry end on a high note," Dergarabedian said.

Unofficial figures compiled by Exhibitor Relations showed overall revenue for 2004 topped $9.4 billion, up 1.4 percent from the 2003 total of $9.27 billion.

Official year-end figures, as well as three-day weekend totals, were scheduled to be released Monday.

"Meet the Fockers" set records for the biggest gross on New Year's Eve, with $12.2 million, and on New Year's Day, with $18 million. The previous New Year's Eve record was set in 2000 by "Cast Away" with $8.5 million. "The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King" had held the New Year's Day mark with $12.8 million.

With no new major releases the final weekend of 2004, "Meet the Fockers" crushed the competition, including "Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events," which finished in second place with $14.7 million, and "The Aviator," which earned $11.2 million for third place.

This weekend's top 12 films grossed an estimated $125.4 million, a 4.3 percent increase compared to $120.1 million for the same weekend last year.

"Meet the Fockers" saw just a 7 percent decline at the box office from its opening week. The film has attracted an older audience interested in seeing De Niro, Hoffman and Streisand, as well as younger fans who like Stiller.

Several movies debuted in limited release, including "A Love Song for Bobby Long," "The Merchant of Venice," "The Assassination of Richard Nixon" and "In Good Company," starring Dennis Quaid and Scarlett Johansson. "Good Company" opened Wednesday and grossed $229,000 on three screens nationwide. It will expand to 1,600 theaters on Jan. 14.

Andrew Lloyd Webber's "The Phantom of the Opera" jumped one spot to ninth place, earning $4.8 million over the three-day period and $16.2 million to date.

Disney's animated hit "The Incredibles" passed the $250 million mark Saturday. It was the fourth-highest grossing film of 2004, according to the studio.

Estimated ticket sales for Friday through Sunday at North American theaters, according to Exhibitor Relations Co. Inc.:

1. "Meet the Fockers," $42.8 million.
2. "Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events," $14.7 million.
3. "The Aviator," $11.2 million.
4. "Fat Albert," $10.7 million.
5. "Ocean's Twelve," $9.2 million.
6. "National Treasure," $7 million.
7. "Spanglish," $6.3 million.
8. "The Polar Express," $5.7 million.
9. "The Phantom of the Opera," $4.8 million.
10."Darkness," $4.5 million.



News for 12/31/2004


Black Critics Sing Praises of 'Ray'

By Borys Kit


LOS ANGELES (Hollywood Reporter) - "Ray," the hit movie starring Jamie Foxx as late soul sensation Ray Charles, was named the best film of year Wednesday by the African American Film Critics Assn.

The organization, founded last year, honors films with universal appeal to the black community, while also emphasizing films about the black experience.

Also making its top-10 were: "Hotel Rwanda," "Finding Neverland," "The Aviator," "Sideways," "Baadasssss!," "Brother to Brother," "Woman, Thou Art Loosed," "Million Dollar Baby" and "Collateral."

The group also bestowed its Achievement Honor on Foxx, recognizing his work on the big screen in both "Ray" and "Collateral," as well as his portrayal of a former gang leader in the made-for-TV movie "Redemption: The Stan 'Tookie' Williams Story."



News for 12/26/2004


'Ray' Co-Star Joins CBS Family


LOS ANGELES (Zap2it.com) Sharon Warren, currently earning raves for her feature debut performance in "Ray," may be ready to move to the small screen.

The actress, who came out of nowhere to stake a position in most Oscar buzz discussions, has signed a talent holding deal with CBS. The network will attempt to work Warren into a pilot for 2005.

Warren's performance as Ray Charles' determined and independent mother Aretha Robinson earned her the Boston Film Critics' prize for outstanding supporting actress. She earned the part after going to an open audition for "Ray" at an Atlanta hotel, according to The Hollywood Reporter. At the time she had neither an agent nor a manager.

"Sharon had no professional experience in film or TV, but she possessed a huge, burning talent that matched Aretha's intensity," says "Ray" director Taylor Hackford in the coffee table movie tie-in "Ray: A Tribute to the Movie, the Music and the Man."

Now repped by an agent, Warren just finished work on Disney's basketball flick "Glory Road."



Weekend Boxoffice


'Fockers' Sets Christmas Day Record

By GARY GENTILE
AP Business Writer


LOS ANGELES (AP) - Millions of Americans went shopping for comedy this weekend, giving the star-studded "Meet the Fockers" the record for the best single Christmas Day box office take. The sequel, reuniting Ben Stiller and Robert De Niro and adding Dustin Hoffman and Barbra Streisand as Stiller's parents, earned $44.7 million over the holiday weekend according to studio estimates.

While not a weekend record, the film did set a record for Christmas Day, earning $19.1 million. The previous record was set last year when "The Lord of the Rings: Return of the King" earned $14 million on Christmas Day.

Still, the performance of "Meet the Fockers" was impressive when measured against the overall weekend box office, which was down 26.5 percent from last year.

"When Christmas falls on a weekend, it's bad for business," said Paul Dergarabedian, president of box-office tracker Exhibitor Relations.

This weekend's top 12 films grossed an estimated $121.9 million, compared to last year's $165.8 million when Christmas fell on a Thursday. Last year's figure was skewed a bit by the third "Lord of the Rings" movie, which earned $50.6 million in its second weekend.

"Meet the Fockers" knocked last week's top film _ "Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events" _ to third place, with $12.5 million. Second place was taken by the live-action version of "Fat Albert," which debuted Saturday with a two-day total of $12.7 million, according to studio estimates.

Final figures were to be released Monday.

"Meet the Fockers" succeeded in part because of an aggressive ad campaign, including the release of the DVD of the original "Meet the Parents" as well as the return of Streisand to the big screen after an eight-year absence.

It also captured the clash between families, which resonates at the holidays.

"It's a clash of cultures," said Marc Shmuger, vice chairman of Universal Pictures. "It's about the coming together of completely different families, but that's exactly what the world is going through right now."

"Meet the Fockers" opened Wednesday, bringing its five-day total to $68.5 million.

"The Aviator," the epic tale of billionaire Howard Hughes, did well enough in limited release to take fourth place with $9.4 million. The movie, directed by Martin Scorsese and starring Leonardo DiCaprio, expanded from 40 theaters to 1,796 on Christmas Day.

The small budget horror flick "Darkness" went against the slew of family films on the market now and attracted $6.4 million in its opening weekend. The movie opened Saturday.

The lavish Andrew Lloyd Weber musical "The Phantom of the Opera" also debuted in limited release, bringing in $4.2 million from 622 theaters. It debuted Wednesday, bringing its five-day total to $6.5 million.

Estimated ticket sales for Friday through Sunday at North American theaters, according to Exhibitor Relations Co. Inc.

1. "Meet the Fockers," $44.7 million
2. "Fat Albert," 12.7 million.
3. "Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events," $12.5 million
4. "The Aviator," $9.4 million.
5. "Ocean's Twelve," $8.6 million.
6. "Darkness," $6.4 million.
7. "The Polar Express," $6.3 million.
8. "Spanglish," $5 million
9. "The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou," $4.8 million.
10. "Andrew Lloyd Weber's The Phantom of the Opera," $4.2 million.