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July 2007
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From the Guardian
The road less travelled
The Roma in films are a byword for adventure and song. How about showing them as human beings, says Louise Doughty
Tuesday July 31, 2007
The Guardian
There is a sex scene with a twist in the film Transylvania. The hero and heroine have stumbled drunkenly out of a bar and are making passionate love on a car bonnet. The beautiful Zingarina, played by Asia Argento, is in love with someone else; her companion Tchangalo (Birol Unel) is a shady figure. Here they are, shouting at and slapping each other - giving it some, in other words. Then Zingarina freezes. "Don't move," she whispers. From her vantage point, she can see what he cannot - a black bear foraging in a rubbish bin. Suddenly sober, they slink into the car.
It is a typical moment from the film's director, Tony Gatlif: hilarious, touching - and debunking itself. Transylvania - Algerian-born Gatlif's latest depiction of European Roma, following Gadjo Dilo (2004) and the musical documentary Latcho Drom (1993) - is inevitably being marketed as a film about the Roma's "vibrant culture". But it could just as easily be described as a romantic comedy where you actually care about the protagonists.
A movie like Transylvania is long overdue. From my experience of writing novels about Roma people and my own English Romany ancestry, I know the frustration of seeing works pigeonholed by their characters' ethnicity. In mainstream films, Romany characters are most often ciphers representing freedom and wildness. Johnny Depp has cornered the market in these roles, playing the river-travelling Roux in Chocolat (2000) and, in the same year, the Gypsy horseman Cesar in Sally Potter's The Man Who Cried.
Depp also has a bit-part in Gypsy Caravan - When the Road Bends, a documentary directed by Jasmine Dellal and released next month. The film follows five Romany bands, including Taraf de Haidouks, on a tour of North America, where Taraf stop off for a chat with Depp. "It would be great if, by experiencing the Romany people and their music, people can learn about them," Depp says. "What you've believed about these people your entire life has been a lie."
An overly cosy, folkloric representation of Roma people in film can be troublesome. Yes, they are superb musicians - but they are also doctors, lawyers and politicians, as well as being among the most excluded peoples in Europe. Serbian director Emir Kusturica, whose Time of the Gypsies (1988) was arguably the first film about the Roma to break through to English-language audiences, combines humour with a detailed, complex portrayal of the Roma. But he has also been criticised for showing the seamier side of a marginalised culture: scenes in his films include violence, begging and prostitution.
Ultimately, what is important is whether these films are convincing representations of human beings. This is something Gatlif understands. In Transylvania, Asia Argento is incandescent as Zingarina, a woman who has begun a relationship with a Roma musician in France only for him to disappear, leaving her two months pregnant. She is French, but she could just as easily be Italian, Spanish, Roma or any combination of the above. What matters most is her personal dilemma.
Gatlif has become a kind of hero to a fast-growing band of European Romany intellectuals. The French Romany composer Robert Ninot believes he is in the same league as Almodóvar and Fellini. "The strength and beauty of his films lies in his uncompromising attitude," Ninot says.
Translyvania depicts the post-communist wilds of north-west Romania, its hamlets and industrial waste-lands, its tundra and swirling mists. Much of the film was shot at dusk. " I love those rare moments when the sky is blue and the land is dark ... filled with a mysterious light," Gatlif says.
It is this mastery of technique that means his films transcend any pigeonhole. "It is through the accuracy of the actors and their emotions that it is possible to reach a wider audience," he says. "The most important thing is to shoot a fair and true story."
Transylvania is released on August 10. Gypsy Caravan - When the Road
Bends is released on September 28.
From the PR Inside
RYDER'S PARENTS REFUSED TO LET HER WED DEPP
Click to see full size
WINONA RYDER would have wed ex-boyfriend JOHNNY DEPP if her parents hadn't put an end to wedding talk. In a new interview with Vogue magazine, the actress and her father, Michael Horowitz, discuss the Heathers star's romance with Depp. And, although the family loved their daughter's Edward Scissorhands co-star, they disapproved of the couple's wedding plans.
In the article, Horowitz says, "They were the hottest couple in the
United States at that time, like Brad (Pitt) and Angelina (Jolie)... You
guys were cool." But Ryder recalls, "You stopped a wedding." The actress'
father responds, "We loved Johnny but you were 17." He later asks, "Was
Johnny angry at us for stopping the wedding? We had dinner soon after,
and I didn't get a bad vibe."
From Vanessa in Translation
Johnny did the cover for Vanessa's newest album, Divinidylle.
In a recent interview for the release of her new album, Vanessa Paradis firmly denies any marriage plans with Johnny Depp, in fact she refuses to discuss anything personal in her life. That was the groundrule for the interviewer, who kept straying.
Here is an excerpt:
Things have been written about the release of this CD, that it was delayed because of your daughter’s illness…
It’s nobody’s business. It is not me who has chosen to speak about it.
Has it shocked you?
I don’t feel like talking about it to you!
There is also talk about marriage with your partner Johnny Depp?
No.
There’s nothing to it?
No, that’s the second time I have answered you!
From Lisabel at Deppography she reports there was an interview Van gave in Le Parisien 5/7/07 and here is a rough English Translation of the part in quesiton:
But my life is also presented on this new album. “The battle” is about
the confusion you can have in your mind. “Junior suite” is about loneliness.
Why should love be seen to be more intimate than the disorder and waste/loss
of yourself? (sadness?Depression?)People create and recreate the lives
of celebrities, one minute they want to know then they don’t give a damn
because there is something more interesting that has come along!
From Female First
Seventh Collaboration On The Cards For Johnny Depp And Tim Burton
30th July 2007 11:12:36
Johnny Depp and director Tim Burton may be about to team up for the seventh time.
Depp is rumoured to have signed up to star in the big screen version of Dark Shadows in the lead role vampire Barnabas Collins, and Burton may be taking up directorial duties.
Dark Shadows was originally an U.S television series that ran for from 1966 – 1971 for 1,125 episodes.
The duo, nicknamed the happiest marriage in Hollywood, have just completed work on their sixth movie Sweeney Todd which will be released in January.
The Depp/Burton dream team began in 1990 when Depp starred as the lovable
Edward in Edward Scissorhands.
Click here!
They went on to shoot the less successful Ed Wood four years later before returnig to winning ways in 1999 with Sleepy Hollow.
More recently Depp took the role of Willy Wonka in the re-make of Charlie
and the Chocolate Factory and ten lent his voice to the stop motion animation
Corpse Bride.
From the Hollywood Reporter
King, WIP toast 'Rum' with Depp
By Gregg Goldstein
July 30, 2007
NEW YORK -- Hunter S. Thompson's 1959 novel "The Rum Diary," first published in 1998 and set for film adaptation in 2000, may finally reach the screen with star-producer Johnny Depp, Warner Independent Pictures and Graham King's GK Films.
GK acquired all rights to the late author's autobiographical first novel for Depp to star in and produce with King and WIP through his Infinitum Nihil production company. The film also will be produced with Film Engine, with A.J. Dix, Anthony Rhulen and William Shively attached alongside Robert Kravis and Greg Shapiro.
Bruce Robinson, whose 1987 comedy "Withnail & I" gained a cult following, is writing the adapted screenplay and directing.
"Rum Diary" is loosely based on Thompson's experience working as a freelance journalist in Puerto Rico in the late '50s. Depp will play a reporter who works alongside a motley crew of self-destructive staffers at a struggling San Juan newspaper, where an erotic love triangle emerges.
A GK spokesperson said it is hoped that production will begin shortly after principal photography is completed on Depp's next film, Mira Nair's crime drama "Shantaram," for Warner Bros. Pictures and producers King, Infinitum Nihil and Plan B. No shooting dates have been set for either film.
Many plans to make "Rum Diary" have been announced over the years. The now-defunct indie production outfit Shooting Gallery and SPi Films optioned the book and announced plans to make the film in 2000, with Depp set to star and exec produce and Nick Nolte co-starring and his Kingsgate Entertainment also producing. Film Engine picked up the option in 2002 and announced plans to produce it with Kingsgate partner Shapiro. Benicio Del Toro and Josh Hartnett were soon attached as cast members.
Del Toro reportedly was set to make his directorial debut with "Rum Diary" in late 2003, but the project remained dormant through Thompson's February 2005 suicide. It was resurrected in April by new production outfit Dark & Stormy Entertainment, co-founded by Shooting Gallery alum Kravis, with Robinson and Depp attached. Distributor WIP's new involvement in the project may provide better luck for its eventual production.
According to their reps, Del Toro, Nolte and Hartnett are no longer attached to the project.
Depp and King's companies also are joining with Warners to produce a film adaptation of ABC's 1966-71 vampire soap opera "Dark Shadows."
Depp's credits include playing Thompson's alter ego in Terry Gilliam's 1996 adaptation of the author's book "Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas" for Universal Pictures.
Depp is represented by UTA.
and from Variety
Depp goes Gonzo again
Actor to star in 'The Rum Diary'
By DIANE GARRETT
'The Rum Diary'
Johnny Depp will channel Hunter S. Thompson once again in Warner Independent's adaptation of "The Rum Diary."
Thesp is producing with Graham King, who acquired rights to Thompson's novel for his GK Films shingle and Depp's Infinitum Nihil outfit. Bruce Robinson ("Withnail and I") will write and direct the adaptation, which Film Engine is also producing.
Depp will play Paul Kemp, a freelance journo writing for a rundown newspaper in 1950s Puerto Rico and surrounded by a bunch of lost souls bent on self-destruction. The journo was 22 when he wrote the autobiographical novel and had yet to develop his trademark gonzo style. It was written in 1959 but not published until 1998.
Depp previously starred in the bigscreen adaptation of Thompson's psychedelic-soaked adventures chronicled in "Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas," published in 1972.
Depp just finished work on "Sweeney Todd" and is expected to do "The Rum Diary" after "Shantaram," Mira Nair's adaptation of the novel about an Australian drug addict who resumes his life of crime after escaping to India.
Infinitum and King are producing that project with Plan B.
Depp has a series of other projects in the works with King through Infinitum, which recently reupped its deal with King. They include an adaptation of "Dark Shadows" (Daily Variety, July 27) and "Sasha's Story: The Life and Death of a Russian Spy."
King's GK Films banner is skedded to begin lensing "The Young Victoria" with Emily Blunt this summer.
Besides "Withnail and I," Robinson previously penned "The Killing Fields."
He also wrote and directed "How to Get Ahead in Advertising" and "Jennifer
8."
From th LA Times
(excerpt)
Robert Downey Jr explaining why he chose the role of "Iron Man"
"I came up with Johnny Depp, right, we were right there and there was
always respect and I watched him and his choices, which have been wonderful.
And then I see Johnny Depp do 'Pirates [of the Caribbean]' and then suddenly
Depp is on a Slurpee cup. And the movies are good. And he's great in them.
And I think: If Depp is on a Slurpee, I want to be on a Slurpee."
From TMZ
Johnny Depp to Do Penthouse
Posted Jul 27th 2007 3:32PM by TMZ Staff
Filed under: Celebrity Pay Dirt
Johnny's new downtown neighbors include "Grey's Anatomy" Star T.R. Knight and Oscar nominee Ryan Gosling.
A rep for Depp did not immediately return our request for comment.
Note from Kazren: One has to wonder why he'd by a condo in a town
where he already owns a house - more of a castle really.
From LAist
July 27, 2007
Another reason to love Johnny Depp
Good taste in architecture: rumors fly (here and here) that he's bought the penthouse of the gorgeous bluegreen Eastern Columbia Building in downtown.
The Eastern Columbia building is in the national register of historic places and is an LA Cultural-Historical landmark (#294, to be precise). It is coated in turquoise terra cotta from the ground level to the top of its 13th floor. The building will celebrate its 77th birthday on September 12.
Johnny Depp celebrated his 44th birthday on June 9. Although he started
out in slasher films and bad TV, his acting skill, smart script choices,
and yes, looks propelled him into a kind of alternasuperstardom. Sure,
you might think of him as Captain Jack Sparrow, but he's also played Hunter
S. Thompson, Edward Scissorhands, JM Barrie (author of Peter Pan), Willie
Wonka, a narc and a dead man. He's got range. And now: taste.
From Shelle from Where's The Rum sent the new DVD cover for AWE
found at Real Movie
Headline: Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End US details!
27th July 2007
Posted by: Gary Gray
The US DVD release date for Pirates of the Caribbean has been set as the 4th December 2007.
The disc specs are as follows, but no word on the actual cover:
Disc 1: Main Feature
* Bloopers of the Caribbean – hilarious outtakes of cast and crew
Disc 2: Extra Features
* Anatomy of a Scene: The Maelstrom – a detailed breakdown of one of
cinema’s most complex and impressive action set pieces
* Keith & the Captain– A revealing look at the dynamic relationship
between living legends Keith Richards and Johnny Depp
* Tale of the Multiple Jacks – an in-depth look at the mind-blowing
FX that went into creating multiple Captain Jacks
* Hoist the Colors – reveals the inspiration for the “Hoist the Colors”
original composition
* Masters of Design – five individual documentaries highlighting the
talented design teams behind this immense production
O #1: Jim Byrkit and The Map
O #2: Crash McCreary and the Krusty Pirates
O #3: Rick Heinrichs and the Singapore Set
O #4: Penny Rose and the Captain Teague Costumes
O #5: Chris Peck and the Pirate Code Book
* Inside the Brethren Court – a closer look at the legendary Pirate
Lords and their costume designs, origins and unique personalities
* The Pirate Code: Revealed – explores the pirate code and the history
of piracy
* The World of Chow Yun Fat – a look at the man behind devious Captain
Sao Feng, international sensation Chow Yun Fat, and his meteoric rise to
fame
* The Pirate Maestro: The Music of Hans Zimmer – meet the renowned
composer who created the film’s rousing score
From E!
Depp Steps into Shadows
by Josh Grossberg
Fri, 27 Jul 2007 04:15:51 PM PDT
Johnny Depp has never shied away from dark films like Dead Man, The Ninth Gate, Sleepy Hollow and From Hell. Now he's really found a role he can sink his teeth into.
The actor is teaming with Warner Bros. on a movie version of the classic supernatural soap opera Dark Shadows, with Depp playing lead vampire Barnabas Collins.
Depp has long counted himself among the legion of Dark Shadows devotees and has stated in past interviews that he's dreamed of playing Barnabas ever since he was a kid.
Through their respective production companies, Depp and Graham King purchased the rights to the spooky ABC serial from the estate of the show's mastermind, Dan Curtis, according to Variety.
The groundbreaking Dark Shadows ran for 1,125 episodes from 1966 to 1971, chronicling the strange goings-on around the mysterious Collins family in their estate in Maine. Populated by myriad macabre characters, including vampires, witches, werewolves, ghosts and zombies, the show spawned a cult following, numerous fan conventions and various attempts to resurrect the program after the network put a stake in it.
Curtis directed House of Dark Shadows, a 1970 movie adaptation starring Jonathan Frid, who originated Barnabas in the series. Curtis later updated Shadows in 1990 with a new TV series that lasted one season with Ben Cross in the immortal role.
Another short-lived remake, not supervised by Curtis, featured Alec Newman as the head vampire and aired in 2004.
Warners is currently teaming with the Pirates of the Caribbean star on a biopic about the life of Alexander Litvinenko, the former KGB agent and expatriate whose poisoning last November has poisoned relations between Great Britain and Russia.
As for Depp, he and Tim Burton recently wrapped production on the movie adaptation of the Broadway musical Sweeney Todd. Next up for the actor is the lead role in Mira Nair's Shantaram.
The Depp news was just one tidbit to emerge from Warners' presentation
at Comic-Con in San Diego on Friday, as the studio offered previews of
some of its highest profile 2008 releases.
From Trendaz
27.07.2007 18:40:25
Depp and Paradis to tie knot?
Johnny Depp is set to finally to wed his long time girlfriend, Vanessa Paradis. The couple are reportedly planning a private ceremony in their South of France villa within the next few weeks.
The Pirates of the Caribbean star and the French songbird have been together for nine years and have two children, Lily Rose, 8, and five-year-old, Jack.
Depp, 44, has been married once before to Lori Anne Allison and was also engaged to Winona Ryder, Jennifer Grey and dated Kate Moss.
and from Vouge.com
FASHION BITES
WEDDING IN PARADIS: JOHNNY DEPP and his long-term girlfriend Vanessa
Paradis will reportedly marry within the next few days at a ceremony on
their St Tropez property. Depp has claimed the recent hospitalisation of
the couple's eight-year-old daughter Lily Rose, with E.coli poisoning,
From Variety
July 27, 2007
Depp lights up 'Dark Shadows'
Graham King to produce Warner feature
By MICHAEL FLEMING
Johnny Depp
Johnny Depp is getting in touch with his inner vampire.
Warner Bros. is teaming with Depp's Infinitum-Nihil and Graham King's GK Films to develop a feature based on the '60s daytime supernatural sudser "Dark Shadows."
Depp has said in interviews that he has always been obsessed with "Dark Shadows" and had, as a child, wanted to be Barnabas Collins, the vampire patriarch of the series. The role was originated by Jonathan Frid.
A rights deal just closed with the estate of Dan Curtis, the producer/director
who created the soap that aired weekdays on ABC, from 1966 to 1971. Depp
and King will produce with David Kennedy, who ran Dan Curtis Prods. until
Curtis died last year of a brain tumor. Infinitum-Nihil's Christi Dembrowski
served as the point person on the deal.
Johnny Depp is looking to bite into the Jonathan Frid-originated
character Barnabas Collins of 'Dark Shadows'
Over 1,225 episodes, "Dark Shadows" was a highly atmospheric, spooky soap that featured gothic horror staples like vampires, monsters, witches, werewolves, ghosts and zombies. The show has a continuing rabid fan base that populates Dark Shadows Festival conventions. Numerous TV revivals of the series and pic adaptations have been attempted over the years but none with as high-wattage a star as Depp.
Depp, who is coming off "Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End" and who just wrapped the Tim Burton-directed "Sweeney Todd," is next expected to star in "Shantaram," a Mira Nair-directed adaptation of the Gregory David Roberts novel that Depp, King and Plan B are producing for Warner Bros. Depp, King and WB are also mobilizing to make a film about the life of Alexander Litvinenko, with Depp poised to play the former KGB agent, who was fatally poisoned.
(Note from Kazren - interesting coincidence that this comes on the
heels of the Oh Johnny! visitors voting for Johnny to play a vamprie -
see the "If you could pick Johnny's perfect role" poll HERE)
From The Star
A review on a new book, "The lollipop shoes" by author Joanne Harris who wrote "Chocolat." This is a sequel.
From Zee News
Pirates Of The Caribbean’ soon to hit boob tube
Washington, July 20:
The Walt Disney Company is reportedly contemplating adapting the swashbuckling ‘Pirates Of The Caribbean’ franchise into a television series. Jack Sparrow, the role that Filmstar Johnny Depp played in the ‘Pirates’ movies, will once again be the main character of the TV series. However, the boob tube audience will get to see a young Jack Sparrow, and changes in his life that led him to become a pirate.
"The idea is that we focus on a much younger Jack Sparrow and show fans how he became a famous pirate,” Contactmusic quoted a source as telling British newspaper The Daily Star.
Sources have also revealed that the popularity that the film series earned on the back of spin-offs like toys, video games, and books were the key factor behind the concept of a programme based on it.
"The film has been such a success with spin-offs such as toys and video games and books, it only seems right to do a TV series," said a source.
The source has also hinted that several high profile celebrities may lend their voices for the series.
"Since the film attracted guests like of Keith Richards, you can imagine
the stars who will want to pop up in the television show," the source said.
From This Is London
(excerpt)
A-list stars get a 'normal' makeover... and the results are shocking
20.07.07
Here are your favourite celebrities the way you never thought you'd see them - as normal people. Using the latest technology, experts at website PlanetHiltron.com - which lets the public poke fun at celebrities - have taken genetic traits from the families of the world's biggest A-listers and transported them into a parallel universe where they are untouched by fame.
No one is immune - Johnny Depp, Gwyneth Paltrow and Jennifer Aniston have been turned into characters who are almost unrecognisable, yet strangely familiar.
And would Posh Spice be seen dead in that horrendous spangly top? Celebs
must be shuddering in their boots - who's next?
Just another bum: Johnny Depp... it could have all been so different
without the money and film career
The sexiest star of them all - Johnny Depp - is even more radically transformed into a down-and-out rocker with dirty, ugly hair, terrible clothes and carrying more than just a paunch.
The look is more late-night truck driver than camp pirate of the seas.
TONNER POTC COLL DOLL - CAPT JACK SPARROW (C: 1-1-3)
This 17' collector doll is based on Captain Jack Sparrow as portrayed by Johnny Depp in the Pirates of the Caribbean trilogy. Life-like facial sculpting and two authentically-styled cloth costumes make this doll a must-have for every fan! Limited to a production run of 2,500.
Ship Date 11/7/2007
SRP $179.99 - OFF 10%
NekoSphere Comics & Collectibles
http://www.nekosphere.com
From Movies Online
The Black Pearl Arrives at Comic-Con
To celebrate PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN: AT WORLD’S END, Disney will be unveiling a 40-foot-long recreation of Captain Jack Sparrow’s beloved Black Pearl inside San Diego’s Comic-Con International. The magnificent ship will be docked in the Disney Booth atop a rocky structure housing props from the film’s Brethren Court, as well as an exciting new Pirates product line from Disney Consumer Products. Also showcased are never-before-seen photos taken on set by producer Jerry Bruckheimer. Come join 120,000 of America’s biggest Pirates fans for this enormous four day celebration of all things pop-culture!
WHEN: Thu, July 26th - Sun, July 29th
WHERE: Disney Booth #3713, San Diego Convention
Center 111 W. Harbor Drive
Just when he’s needed most, Captain Jack Sparrow (Johnny Depp), that
witty and wily charmer of a pirate, is trapped on a sea of sand in Davy
Jones’ Locker. In an increasingly shaky alliance, Will Turner (Orlando
Bloom), Elizabeth Swann (Keira Knightley) and Captain Barbossa (Geoffrey
Rush) begin a desperate quest to find and rescue him. Captain Jack’s the
last of the nine Pirate Lords of the Brethren Court who must come together
united in one last stand to preserve the freedom-loving pirates’ way of
life. From exotic Singapore, to World’s End and beyond, from Shipwreck
Island, to a titanic battle, this adventure’s filled with over-the-edge
action, irreverent humor and seafaring myth and magic. Everything has led
to this twisting, turning, wild swashbuckling ride in this final chapter
of the Pirates Of The Caribbean trilogy.
From Variety
Written by Mark Schilling
Thursday, 19 July 2007
TOKYO -- "Pirates of the Caribbean: World's End" has become the first foreign pic to top the 10 billion yen ($82 million) mark at the Japanese B.O. Year, distrib Walt Disney Japan announced. But it is unlikely to be the last.
Released on May 25, the pic needed 53 days to reach the milestone --
and is on track to beat the total of the previous "Pirates" pic, "Pirates
of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest,"which finished with $82.1 million last
year.
The cume is even more impressive given that "Dead Man's Chest" was
released in July, at the peak of the summer BO season, while "World's End"
bowed in May, when its school-age target aud was still at their studies.
Industry forecasts however expect the cume to be exceded by "Harry
Potter and the Order of the Phoenix," which bows on 950 screens in Japan
on Friday. "Phoenix" already notched $9.6 million in sneak preview screenings
on the 14-16 July weekend, compared with $7.6 million for similar three-day
sneaks for "Dead Man's Chest." Based on these numbers, distrib Warner Bros.
Japan is now predicting that the fifth Potter pic will gross $122 million.
The last series entry, "Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire," hit the
$110 million mark following its November 2005 release.
From Extra
Wedding Just Weeks Away for Johnny Depp?
Posted by ExtraTV Staff on July 18, 2007 10:32 AM
Johnny Depp may be one step closer to walking down the aisle with his
longtime girlfriend!
The quirky actor has always denied plans to marry French beauty Vanessa
Paradis, but “Extra’s” sources in Paris are hearing major buzz that a wedding
is in the works.
In fact, the big day could be just weeks away – sources say they could
wed before the end of July!
A couple of news stories with Johnny mentions Here and Here
From Product Review
Pirates of the Caribbean 4: Scheduled for 2009 to 2011
July 16th, 2007 by Mark
We are not sure if you are getting sick and tired of all the Pirates of the Caribbean movies but we do have a movie scoop for you (sorry), there is going to be another one which will be Pirates of the Caribbean 4. How many do they plan to make, if they carry on we might drink as much as Jack Sparrow (glug glug). The new Pirates of the Caribbean 4 which will definitely star Johnny Depp is scheduled for release between 2009 to 2011 and apparently will cost an estimated $40 million to for Depp’s fee (nice).
Geoffrey Rush and Gore Verbinski will be the directors, sources have said that this movie will solely be based on Captain Jack Sparrow (do not count us on this one), so does this mean goodbye to Elizabeth and Will and does this mean more of Jack Sparrow. Please remember these might be rumours and some sources are not always correct, we will definitely keep you posted mark our words.
Oh just for fun watch t
From Box Office Mojo we can see that POTC: AWE is now #5 in the top grossing films world wide of all time
1. Titanic: $1,845,000
2. The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King: $1,118,900
3. Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest: $1,066.200
4. Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone: $976,500
5. Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End: $928,000
From the Express
ACTRESSES MAD? YOU'RE BARKING UP THE WRONG TREE
Johnny Depp
Sunday July 15,2007
By Helen Lederer
ACTORS get a bad press.
First up is the infamous ego. In the words of Jane Fonda: “There’s not an actor alive who doesn’t have an acceptance speech going through their head every day.”
Then there’s the “humility” of superstars such as Johnny Depp, who says acting is “really about lying and, in my case, drinking coffee”. Like, yeah, I believe that.
And what about the rivalry? When a colleague says “break a leg” they probably mean “both would be good – and don’t get up”.
And can I just mention the preciousness of it all. “After a play, you can always tell an actor. But you can’t tell him much.”
Worse is the unwritten code of OLDM (On Location Doesn’t Matter), where male actors (and, yes, some females) get bored and get off with the wig mistress, chorus girl or female lead.
So what does this profession full of half-wits, sexual rogues and pretenders actually have going for it, you may well ask?
Acting is a job – a challenging, obsessive and great profession, and when done well it’s uplifting, inspiring and reaches the nooks and crannies of truth, passion and release. Sorry to get emotional – I know how unsavoury that can be for some (men) but it’s a job that’s worthy of respect surely.
Think Sissy Spacek in Missing, Jane Horrocks in Little Voice, Daniel Day-Lewis in My Left Foot to name just a few instances of gifted talent. And who are we to knock it? Well, there are several, it appears, who feel qualified – especially within the profession.
And this is my worry. We must start with the young if they are to learn a sense of equality and respect in a tough world. (Yes, I know, darling – it’s tough in the green room. And who nicked my doughnut, bitch?)
But if we allow certain male “luvvies” to be the mentors for the next generation of actors, we could be in for a bit of trouble… and there’s already evidence of some damage. The current buzzword used by some young male actors when describing women actors is “barking”.
This “barking” actress will most likely have opinions and be an individual and might, therefore, be unpredictable at times – and many men don’t seem to like that trait.
Labelling people is surely a device for controlling them – “footballer’s wife”, “fag hag” and now “barking” are just a few apparently benign put-downs.
Last week Harry Potter star Daniel Radcliffe added fuel to the fire when he said that he would never get romantically linked with an actress because they’re all “completely barking”.
Unjust reputations are earned because men can’t quite rub along with their female counterparts. For “emotional” see “neurotic”, for “expressive” see “really embarrassing” and for “delightful” see “tries too hard”.
In the corporate world there are rules to protect both sexes from undermining each other – break them and you may be subject to tribunals and huge payouts.
But in the acting world our sense of respect for each other is arrived at in a different way. Perhaps it’s because we have to use and manufacture emotions very quickly, the gender differences can get in the way of that thrust (’scuze my French, matron).
But unless equality and respect can be learned on the job, our current boy actors will turn into the myopic, luvvie oppressors of the past.
I’ve been in a play when a male actor has told a female actor to f*** off, without rebuke. But I’ve never seen women do it – they’d be more concerned with finding strategies to stop themselves being upstaged.
I remember being in a six-month run in the West End when there was so much noise between the male actor and myself while we moved the furniture around (in order to maintain an upstage position) I’m surprised that the audience heard any dialogue.
I've also known actors to lock themselves in their dressing rooms, dry on stage, change lines around and not even come on at all. Have any of my female pals done this? Not on my watch.
But assumptions do run deep – when I was playing Rita (in Educating Rita) a male actor told me:?“Let’s face it, you either f*** Rita or you hate her.” In fact, I got on famously with my co-star without doing either but, since this assumption sums things up, what chance do the young folk have?
Coming from a modern generation of performers (OK, not that modern) I grew up in a more egalitarian setting, when men and women were assumed to have equal potential in the acting stakes.
There are just as many women and men needed to play the roles – (maybe not in age but certainly in gender) and it’s time the luvvies surrendered the old ways because, frankly, it doesn’t wash any more.
And anyway, if all the world’s a stage, that makes us all barking, doesn’t it?
From Slashfilm
Release Dates: Pirates 4, Spider-Man 4, Shrek 4, Harry Potter 7, James Bond 23, Green Hornet
Posted on Saturday, July 14th, 2007 at 11:48 am by: Peter Sciretta
Variety has an interesting article on the scheduling of the upcoming summer tentpoles for the next three years. The article claims that Sony Pictures will announce a Summer 2010 release date for the 23rd James Bond film. The next Bond film, tentatively titled Bond 22, will go into production later this year aiming for a November 7th 2008 release.
The article also says that Sony will nab a Summer 2009 release date
for Green Hornet. And 2010 is starting to look a lot like this Summer:
very crowded. Potentially Pirates of the Caribbean 4, Spider-Man
4, Shrek 4, and Harry Potter 7 could be just some of the big blockbuster
movies filling the slate.
From Box Office Mojo July 9, 2007
Pirates of the Caribbean At World's Ends
Domestic: $301,741,000 33.1%
+ Foreign: $608,900,000 66.9%
= Worldwide: $910,641,000
Teen Choice Awards Nominations announced and there's lots of nominations for Pirates of the Caribbean At World's End:
Choice Movie: Action Adventure - Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's
End
Choice Movie Actor: Action Adventure - Johnny Depp
Choice Movie Actor: Action Adventure - Orlando Bloom
Choice Movie Actress: Action Adventure - Keira Knightley
Choice Movie Villain - Bill Nighy (Davy Jones)
Choice Movie Liplock - Orlando Bloom & Keira Knightley, Pirates
of the Caribbean: At World's End
Choice Movie Rumble - Orlando Bloom (Will Turner) vs. the Crew of the
Flying Dutchman, Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End
Choice Male Hottie - Orlando Bloom
Teens age 13-19 can vote online for their favorites at the official
Teen
Choice Awards site. The ceremony will be televised live at 8 p.m. Eastern
August 26, 2007, on FOX.
From Ted & Terry's site WORDPLAY
Quote from Ted (found by Namaste)
For the record, AWE is on track to (potentially) become the 4th highest grossing film in the history of movies (behind Titanic, Return of the King, and Dead Man's Chest) with (possibly) 975 million dollars in ticket sales.
While Terry’s still hedging his predictions, the film is still pulling in well over $700,000 per day domestically according to Box Office Mojo(it’s at 299 + million as of today domestically) and at $907 million worldwide.
The point of all these numbers is that while yes, Orlando and Kiera have their fans, I really gotta believe that it’s Johnny who is bringing all these folks worldwide to the theatre, despite the complex plot and the critics sniffing.
That’s got to be such a treat for him when he said that he was used
to 12 people seeing his movies and I’m so pleased that it happened for
such a great guy.
From Reuters
Harry Potter takes the geek factor out of glasses
Fri Jul 6, 2007
By Serena Chaudhry
LONDON, July 6 (Reuters Life!) - Will girls make passes at boys who wear glasses? Well they might if he looks like Harry Potter or "Pirates of the Caribbean" film star Johnny Depp.
The fictional boy wizard beat Depp to come first in a poll of 1,000 children asked to name their "Top Ten Faces with Specs Appeal" by Britain's College of Optometrists.
But when the children were asked to name people who made wearing glasses cool -- the actor who doffed his glasses to play the tottering Captain Jack Sparrow -- came first.
"In the past wearing glasses may have made you a source of amusement for playground bullies, with Harry Potter books and film stars like Johnny Depp at the forefront of popular culture, children can now wear their glasses with pride," College advisor Susan Blakeney said in a statement.
Boys found the young Hogwarts champion more stylish than girls, who revealed that Depp made them swoon most.
Sixty nine percent of the children between the ages of seven and 16 named Depp as their style guru and placed Potter second at 64 percent.
Depp's popularity soared among teenagers, with almost three-quarters of girls aged 13 to 16 voting for the film star as their glasses fashion icon.
Other people on the list included Elton John, Bill Gates, Gandhi, Albert
Einstein, Britain's Queen Elizabeth and the groovy Austin Powers character
created by comedian Mike Myers.
From MCall
Kohl miners: Real men tap a deep vein of 'guyliner'
By Colleen Mastony Special to The Morning Call
Eye makeup never looked so good on a man. In the latest installment of ''Pirates of the Caribbean,'' Johnny Depp trowels on more black eyeliner than a Kabuki dancer. Yet, even with his heavily shadowed eyes and industrial-strength mascara, Depp manages to exude masculine sex-appeal as he swaggers woozily across the big screen as the campy, over-the-top, drunken pirate Capt. Jack Sparrow.
''We put eyeliner on Johnny, and he said, 'That looks great. Let's put more on,''' recalled Ve Neill, the lead makeup artist on the film. Neill piled on the grease-based liner, applying more and more, until Depp blinked out from deeply ringed black eyes. Between film takes, the makeup crew reapplied Depp's eyeliner every two to three hours. ''It became a joke. We'd say, 'More black! More black!'''
Depp looks surprisingly seductive in eye makeup, and he is not the only man calling for more kohl. Lately, eyeliner -- that little slick of dark paste -- has acquired a new, more-masculine and more-marketable name: ''Guyliner.''
Tobey Maguire wears it in ''Spider-Man 3.'' Fall Out Boy bassist and Chicago rocker Pete Wentz gave a step-by-step demonstration on People magazine's Web site recently, showing the uninitiated how to affix it.
''First step, take your sharpened pencil and apply it around your eye,'' Wentz said, holding up a black eye pencil and staring defiantly into the camera like some strange, gender-bending Avon lady. ''The second step to putting on guyliner is to smear it, because if you're a guy you don't really want your makeup to look perfect.''
Some scoff at the guyliner trend, but the black stuff seems to be working for Wentz. Within the space of two months, he was spotted canoodling with Ashlee Simpson and landed on People magazine's list of the 50 Most Beautiful People -- an accomplishment he attributed to his smoky shadow and dark-rimmed eyes. ''It's all about the eyeliner,'' he said with the confidence that comes only after a good makeover.
Not since Alice Cooper got creative with kohl and David Bowie had fun with eye shadow during the colorful days of glam rock, have so many rock stars and leading men become enamored with the wonders of the cosmetics aisle.
Bands such as My Chemical Romance, Panic! At the Disco and The Killers all darken their eyes. Even Paris Hilton weighed in on the trend this fall, when she told MTV News: ''I like when guys wear a little eyeliner. Sometimes it's cute.''
The motto ''Real men wear eyeliner'' is now available printed on T-shirts, mugs and hats, thanks to a merchandising line from the ''Pirates of the Caribbean'' movies. And though the stuntmen on the films complained about the eyeliner (they said it was difficult to remove), Keith Richards -- who plays Sparrow's father in the latest release -- went home from filming with six extra sticks because he liked the look so much.
All of which goes to show that men's makeup has come a long way since the days when a bit of shadow would have dumped a dude forever in sissyland. Last year, $4.8 million was spent on male grooming products in the United States, a 7 percent increase from the year before and a 42 percent increase since 2001, according to Euromonitor, a London-based marketing and research firm.
At least four companies -- Male Species, KenMen, 4VOO, and Jean Paul Gaultier -- are selling makeup to men, including mascara and guyliner. Big brands such as Clinique and Clarins haven't stepped in with ''guyshadow'' yet, but they do offer wrinkle control lotions, clay masks and -- from Lab Series -- ''Ab rescue body sculpting gel,'' with a label that promises to ''tighten and tone the appearance of the mid-section.''
''There's a major shift occurring, especially among younger men,'' said Roman Shuster, 26, a research analyst with Euromonitor.
''It's becoming more acceptable for a guy to care about his appearance,'' Shuster said.
But as that shift occurs, some guys have begun reaching for the soap.
Alex Yue, 26, a computer programmer, started wearing guyliner a few years ago, catching the trend when it was still cutting-edge. The liner brought out his eyes, and he thought it made him look rebellious. But lately, things have changed.
''When I go to concerts, almost every little kid has eyeliner on,'' he complained. Now, Yue says guyliner ''has become more of the norm. More people are doing it. It is more socially acceptable.''
And so Yue has ditched his guyliner and gone back to the natural look.
From the San Francisco Chronicle
Romany documentary unveils rich mix of eclectic music
Ruthe Stein, Chronicle Senior Movie Writer
Friday, July 6, 2007
Gypsy Caravan: Musical documentary. Directed by Jasmine Dellal. In Romany,
Spanish, Romanian, Macedonian, Hindi and Marwari with English subtitles,
and in English. (Not rated. 110 minutes. At Bay Area theaters. To see complete
movie listings and show times, and to buy tickets for select theaters,
go to sfgate.com/movies.)
"Gypsy Caravan'' attempts to do for Gypsy musical traditions what "The
Buena Vista Social Club'' did for the Cuban sound -- increase public awareness
and maybe boost CD sales. The new documentary isn't as immediately accessible
as its 1999 predecessor, because it deals with a number of diverse groups
who have only their Romany heritage in common, and it isn't as skillfully
woven together.
But "Caravan'' still sounds great and if nothing else should help diminish the stereotype, blasted by the film's subjects, of Gypsies as little more than pickpockets whom travelers need to be wary of.
Director Jasmine Dellal follows five bands from around the world on a U.S. concert tour. Although they hardly travel first class, you'd like to be on the bus when they start dancing and telling stories.
Their music is all over the place -- an eclectic mix of flamenco, jazz, raga, folk, klezmer and even a robust brass band. Each in its own way is tuneful and soulful, and movie audiences are likely to wish they could stand up and sway along.
One of the cameramen is Albert Maysles, who with his late brother David shot indelible concert footage of the Beatles and Rolling Stones. He makes you feel as if you're front and center at performances, bringing his camera in close to capture the joy of musical expression followed by broader shots of appreciative fans.
Macedonian singer Esma Redzepova, the so-called queen of the Gypsies, is a standout, a belter who has been compared to Big Mama Thornton. Ethel Merman also comes to mind.
The Romanian group Taraf de Haïdouks, 12 multifaceted musicians who switch from classical to pop in the blink of an eye, are showstoppers. In a brief appearance, Johnny Depp, who got to know them when they wrote the score for his film "The Man Who Cried,'' calls them the "fastest violin players I've ever seen.''
Dellal (a protege of the late award-winning Bay Area filmmaker Marlon Riggs) intersperses concert scenes with interviews with the performers in their hometowns. These vary greatly in terms of interest.
Redzepova is fascinating, showing off the music school she and her husband started when they found out they couldn't have children. Instead they brought youngsters from all around and taught them to play instruments.
But other performers are stuck on a single note. They talk about how
music is very important because it brings money. One says his goal is to
buy a swimming pool like Depp's. In a sense, their honesty is commendable.
But it's also antithetical to a belief we perhaps naively hold onto that
artists create because they have to.
From Arnell
A Depp Festival is planned on Cape Cod in September.
Here is a link to the theater website:
http://buzzardsbaytheater.com/comingsoon.htm
Tickets are available in advance online any day now.
