[Photo caption - Photographs: from left, by Dimitrios Kambouris/WireImage, Jag Gundu/Getty Images, David Livingston/Getty Images, Ernesto Ruscio/Getty Images, Jun Sato/WireImage, Steve Granitz/WireImage, Marcel Thomas/FilmMagic].
Vanity Fair’s list of 40 Top Hollywood Earning Stars sheds light on who people genuinely like, appearing in studio system as our guest commentary spotlight. Faces of the studio system we all appear to dig the most are:
40. Eddie Murphy
ACTOR (WME)
ESTIMATED 2010 EARNINGS: $13 MILLION (2009 rank: —)
$7.5 million: Tower Heist (fee for co-starring in action comedy with Ben Stiller)
$4 million: Shrek Forever After (back-end bonus)
$1.5 million: Older film revenue
39. Guy Ritchie
DIRECTOR (CAA)
ESTIMATED 2010 EARNINGS: $13.5 MILLION (2009 rank: —)
$7.5 million: Fee for directing untitled Sherlock Holmes sequel
$6 million: Sherlock Holmes (back-end for directing, based on worldwide gross of $523 million, and share of DVD and pay-TV revenue)
38. Shawn Levy
DIRECTOR, PRODUCER (WME)
ESTIMATED 2010 EARNINGS: $14 MILLION (2009 rank: 26)
$10 million: Real Steel (fee for directing and producing upcoming robotic action film starring Hugh Jackman)
$4 million: Older film revenue, mostly from the Night at the Museum franchise
37. Hugh Jackman
ACTOR (WME)
ESTIMATED 2010 EARNINGS: $14 MILLION (2009 rank: —)
$9 million: Real Steel (fee for starring in upcoming Shawn Levy movie)
$2 million: Butter (fee for starring in upcoming Weinstein Co. film)
$1.5 million: Snow Flower and the Secret Fan (fee for starring in small art-house film)
$1.5 million: Older film revenue
36. Reese Witherspoon
ACTRESS (CAA)
ESTIMATED 2010 EARNINGS: $14.5 MILLION (2009 rank: 31)
$12 million: This Means War (fee for starring in upcoming romantic comedy directed by McG)
$2 million: Water for Elephants (fee for co-starring in upcoming drama with Robert Pattinson)
$500,000: Older film revenue
35. Tom Cruise
ACTOR, PRODUCER, WRITER (CAA)
ESTIMATED 2010 EARNINGS: $14.5 MILLION (2009 rank: —)
$12.5 million: Mission: Impossible—Ghost Protocol (fee for writing, producing, and starring in upcoming fourth M.I. movie)
$2 million: Older film revenue
[Oscar winning filmmaker Sir Peter Jackson courtesy of Horiwood.Com's Archives]
34. Shia LaBeouf
ACTOR (CAA)
ESTIMATED 2010 EARNINGS: $16 MILLION (2009 rank: 39)
$15 million: Transformers: Dark of the Moon (fee for starring in Michael Bay’s upcoming, third Transformers movie)
$1 million: Older film revenue
33. Katherine Heigl
ACTRESS, PRODUCER (Paradigm)
ESTIMATED 2010 EARNINGS: $16 MILLION (2009 rank: 25)
$15 million: One for the Money (fee for producing and starring in upcoming romantic cop comedy)
$1 million: Older film revenue
32. Martin Scorsese
DIRECTOR, PRODUCER (WME)
ESTIMATED 2010 EARNINGS: $17 MILLION (2009 rank: —)
$10 million: Hugo Cabret (fee for directing and producing upcoming 3-D adventure film starring Sacha Baron Cohen)
$3.5 million: Shutter Island (back-end for directing and producing, based on worldwide gross of $295 million, and share of DVD and pay-TV revenue)
$3.5 million: Older film revenue 
[Photographs: from left, by Gilbert Carrasquillo/FilmMagic, Jeffrey Ufberg/WireImage, Dave Hogan/Getty Images, Jean Baptiste Lacroix/WireImage, Jon Kopaloff/FilmMagic, Mark Sullivan/WireImage, Alex J. Berliner/BEImages, Jon Furniss/WireImage, Fergus McDonald/Getty Images]. Read the rest of this entry »
“In the pantheon of superheroes, Superman is the most recognized and revered character of all time, and I am honored to be a part of his return to the big screen. I also join Warner Bros., Legendary and the producers in saying how excited we are about the casting of Henry. He is the perfect choice to don the cape and S shield.”–director Zack Snyder describing Henry Cavill (The Tudors) casting as Superman in the well known film franchise reboot.
Reports Film Jabber, “Henry Cavill will play Clark Kent and Superman in the upcoming Superman reboot, to be directed by Zack Snyder and written by David Goyer and Christopher Nolan. Henry Cavill will be seen in the gritty, mythical action movie Immortals, in theaters this Novemeber. Superman is to be released in 2012, presumably in December.”
Congrats. It has to be said that the trend to cast UK actors in leading light Hollywood hero roles in unstoppable right now. A little nod to Prince William‘s rising presence in the world perhaps.
[Pic via Fanpop & Deadline]
~Posted by Horiwood.Com, Hollywood California USA. 1.30.11~
1 Fact: 1 billion people do not have clean drinking water. Where: Africa and India are most affected.
The threat: More people are lost in the world through this situation than war.
The solution: We can make a difference through UNICEF Tap Project. If you want to, please do.
True fact 2: For as little as $10, one person can have clean drinking water for a lifetime.
That’s like a beer at a Hollywood club with the tip. Amazing aye! Act. Bump this post on too. Let’s flow. :)
~Posted by Horiwood.Com, Hollywood California USA. 12.25.10~
Tags: C F Goldie, California, Cam Gigandet, Cameron Diaz, Cameron Shepherd, Camila Alves, Camilla Belle, Canada, Cancer Awareness, Candella, Cannes, Carey Hart, Caribbean, Carlos Slim Helu, Carmen Electra, Carrie Prejean, Carrie Underwood, Cars, Casey Aldridge, Cash Warren, Cassie, Casting, Catalina Island, Catherine C Ammann, Catherine Zeta-Jones, Celebrity Trivia, Celine Dion, Censorship, Chace Crawford, Chaka Khan, Chanel Iman, Channing Tatum, , Charlie Sheen, Charlie Wilson, Charlize Theron, Chaske Spencer, Chaz Bono, Chelsea Clinton, Chelsea Handler, Cher, Cheryl Cole, Chicago, China, Chinawood, Chloe Sevigny, Chris Brown, Chris Martin, Chris Matthews, Chris Pine, Christchurch, Christian Audigier, Christian Bale, Christianity, Christina Applegate, Christina Arguilera, Christina Hendricks, Christina Milian, Christoph Waltz, Christopher Nolan, Chuy, Ciara, Cindy Crawford, Cindy McCain, Cinematography, Civil Rights, Claudia Schiffer, Cliff Curtis, Clint Eastwood, Coco, Coco Chanel, Coffee, Coldplay, Colin Farrell, College Football, Colorado, Columbine, Comedians, Commonwealth, Community, Compassion, Conan O'Brien, Corey Feldman, Cornflakes, Costa Rica, Cougar Treats, Country Music, Courage To Love, Courtney Cox, Couture, Craig Ferguson, Cricket, Cristiano Ronaldo, Croatia, Cross-Cultural Narratives, Cuisine, Cultural Imperialism, Culture, Cy Waits, Sacha Baron Cohen, Sade, Sailing, Salma Hayak, salman khan, Salvador Dali, Sam Cooke, Sam Cruickshank, Sam Mendes, Sam Worthington, Sam Wyly, Samantha Ronson, Samoa, San Diego, Sandra Bullock, Santa Monica, Sara Bareilles, Sarah Jessica Parker, Sarah Palin, Sasha Baron Cohen, Sasha Obama, Saudi Arabia, Scandals, Scarlett Johansson, Science, Scotland, Scott Bryan, Scott Disick, Seal, Sean Diddy Combs, Sean Penn, Sean Preston, Selena Gomez, Serena Williams, Sex & The City, shahid kapur, shahrukh khan, Shakira, Shanghai, Shania Twain, Shannen Doherty, Shaquille O'Neal, Sharon Stone, Sherri Shepherd, Sheryl Crow, Sheryl Crowe, Shiloh Jolie-Pitt, Shirley Temple, Shoes, Sia, Sienna Miller, Silverlake, Simon Baker, Simon Cowell, Singapore, Sir Apirana Ngata, Sir Edmund Hillary, Sir Howard Morrison, Sir Paul McCartney, Slavery, Slovenia, Smashproof, Smile Club, Smokey Robinson, Smurfs, SNL, Snooki, Snoop Dog, Soccer, Social Networking, Sojourner Truth, Solange Knowles, Song Lyrics, Sonny Bill Williams, Sophia Thomalla, South Africa, South Korea, Spain, Sparrow Madden, Spencer Pratt, Spike Lee, Spirit, Split Enz, Splitsville, Sports, Sports Horiwood, St Patricks Day, Stanley Kubrick, Star System - The Art of American Celebrity, Star Trek, Star Wars, Stefani Germanotta, Stellar, Stem Cell Research, Stephanie Pratt, Stephen Donald, Stephen Moyer, Stephenie Meyer, Steve McQueen, Steven Colbert, Steven Spielberg, Stevie Wonder, Sting, Stuart Townsend, Sudan, Summit Entertainment, Sundance Film Festival, Sunday Rose, Sunglasses, Sunny Oglesby, Super heroes, Suri Cruise, Susan Boyle, Susan Kanim, Susan Sarandon, Swaziland, Sweden, Switzerland, Swizz Beatz, Sydney, Sylvester Stallone, Water, Young Hollywood, Young Royals
Chris Nolan rocked it in The Dark Knight–but for Inception, although it was novel writing with toying with a traditional timeline narrative device… Variety takes it a little too far by saying Nolan is the slyest tactician in the game of movie storytelling. Nolan needs to get right off Sly Stallone’s name and movie markets with that tag-line. He has a wee ways to go before he’s the next James Cameron.
The magazine also uses the word “transporting.” At one point in Inception, Nolan transported myself and my movie ‘date’ to sleep in our chairs. Okay, it was only for ten minutes, but what is Variety raving on about here on their cover?
I felt the same way Native American Indian actor Alex Meraz did when he said “I didn’t go to a movie to see actors sleep onscreen.” True that.
:)
~Posted by Horiwood.Com, Hollywood California USA. 12.1.10~
Tags: Christopher Nolan, Magazine Covers
He’s done two films already in the bat suit, and he thinks the upcoming third Dark Knight film could be his last as the caped super hero.
Says actor Christian Bale to E! Online, ”The thing is that this will be, I believe, unless Chris [Nolan] says different, this will be the last time I’m playing Batman.”
The last film, The Dark Knight was pretty amazing, let’s see if Nolan wants to make more Batman films after this third one with Bale.
[Image courtesy of Wallpaper Chase]
~Posted by Horiwood.Com, Hollywood California USA. 11.23.10~
Tags: Action Stars, America, Batman, Box Office Stars, Casting, Christian Bale, Christopher Nolan, Film Franchises, Movie News, Super heroes
“Emma [Thomas], the producer, said we’d get the script in January. Christopher said: ‘Script in January, shoot in May, finish in November.”–actor Michael Caine via Cinema Blend.
Exciting. The last Batman film was a beauty.
[Image: Gary Oldman, Michael Caine, Christian Bale, Maggie Gyllenhaal, director Christopher Nolan and Morgan Freeman]
~Posted by Horiwood.Com, Hollywood California USA. 11.19.10~
Tags: Christopher Nolan, Emma Thomas, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Michael Caine, Morgan Freeman, Movie News, Producers
Tonight Casa Emile rocked out to Inception. Leonardo DiCaprio and Ellen Page and Ken Watanabe did Chris Nolan proud.
Uncle Emile’s comments: That was a good film. The science of filmmaking and the special effects were enough to hold your attention, even without the good actors. I only fell asleep for five minutes once.
That wasn’t bad. I think I fell asleep for five minutes three times! It was like a Peter Jackson film in parts, too long.
My thoughts though: A film that takes an audience on a journey that delves into dreams, depicting the subconscious, dreams of the subconscious within dreams of the subconscious–indicates that people the world over (as gaged by box office takings) are basically recovery from shock and looking for purpose, truth and meaning for their life’s direction.
Chaos, like a global economic crises, a gulf oil spill disaster etc are all dream chompers. Perhaps too these are all signs that dreams are being threatened by ‘systems’ that haven’t worked for the earth’s people, or the earth too. Good people need to meet with good people and share, nurture, grow and build new dreams together.
When we are, our dream and a nation’s future (combined, the world’s future) are the summation of our abilities to dream new dreams bravely, like dream architects, I am reminded of Joseph in the bible, who could dive into King’s dreams (like Dan Cobb and friends of Inception), and expose the deeper truth’s like Christopher Nolan, alluded in cinema, needs to happen for a whole generation of people.
Psychoanalysis much in cinema? This is that defining film. Expect this cerebral filmmaking motif, to generate similar films. Cerebral for Nolan, is a game of ‘pass the parcel’ truth for grown ups, fused with a timeline shuffle as a story telling, narrative device.
A good film. I like the way that a team works together to uncover the truth, extract the lies and rebuild on truth and what’s real for each other, in a collective of dreams. The more eyes that can see, the better, in these times. Thanks Uncle Emile.
And “if an idea” is the most powerful thing that can alter the world, which is why we’d “have to steal it” (consumer culture suppliers 101 rhetoric), I’d steal the idea of “war” and re-alter it to become peace.
~Posted b y Horiwood.Com, Hollywood California USA. 7.30.2010~
Tags: Christopher Nolan, Ellen Page, Emile Kanim, Family Vs Fame, Generation Joseph, Leonardo DiCaprio, Movie News, Movie Trailers
Alright, this is a bit of a Hollywood studio glory story. Here we go.
According to IMDB News, Warner Brothers announced that on Sunday, July 25th, the dubB. Studios rocked it out to become the 1st film studio in Hollywood history to earn $1 billion at the domestic box office, with non stop movie action across to solid years in a row.
Adding to their modest efforts for Tinsel Town achievement in cinema, Warner Brothers also have crossed the billion-dollar threshold for eleven of the past twelve years.
Dan Fellman, Warner Bros. Pictures President of Domestic Distribution made the annoucement. Christopher Nolan’s “Inception,” gave the studio the wings to reach this benchmark as the film has taken in $142.9 million to date.
The year began well for the dubB with Guy Ritchie’s “Sherlock Holmes,” opening on Christmas Day last year with good box office earnings. Alcon Entertainment’s action adventure “The Book of Eli” also gave Warner Brothers a good lift. Bullish entertainment. Good to see.
[Pic 1: Leonardo DiCaprio, Chris Nolan and Ken Watanabe courtesy of Collider, Pic 2: Denzel Washington courtesy of JemBlog]. News source: Hollywood’s one and only Nikki Finke.
~Posted by Horiwood.Com, Hollywood California USA. 7.26.2010~
Tags: Box Office Stars, Christopher Nolan, Denzel Washington, Economy, Ken Watanabe, Leonardo DiCaprio, Movie News, Oscar Winner, Warner Brothers
Stock Market tip. Chris Nolan is helping to make IMAX hot. Go here to Market Watch to read.
The power of an ‘innovative script’ to grow the stock market, because sometimes, reordering an existing order (like Nolan’s scriptwriting technique for Inception) is what architects of the future do, who have the courage to rewrite it, as an expression of serving leadership into the world.
Hollywood is so hot right now. Let’s go Ca!
~Posted by Horiwood.Com, Hollywood California USA. 7.26.2010~
Tags: Box Office Stars, California, Christopher Nolan, Economy, Hollywood Today, Leadership, Screenwriting News on Horiwood.Com, Star System - The Art of American Celebrity, World News
Chris Nolan‘s ability to go back to his beginnings of Momento styled flashbacks, flashforwards and fiddling with Hollywood’s holy grail of a scripts ‘timeline’, fused with high action, like The Dark Knight box office success, has got Hollywoood in a tail spin, this weekend.
It’s clear that Nolan wants his Oscar, he’s like an auteur with his distinctly ‘different’ approach. He’s picked Leonardo DiCaprio to be the face of his brilliance. Thankfully Ken Watanabe is at the center of Hollywood too, in Inception‘s casting line up. Go Ken. More Asians and Asian-Americans in Hollywood films needed. America is changing.
It has to be said, that already I’m kind of bored with every Tom, Dick, Harry, Aunt Mary and their wannabe filmmaker or a film critic dog, commenting on Nolan’s filmmaking messages, when it comes to ‘dream sequences’ and their ‘meanings’ in this film.
It’s like rehashed Freud and Jung, critical theory lectures from college, without an original thought of analysis from most critics, spewing out across supposedly respected sites of news and entertainment news in America. I can’t believe many of these people are actually paid journalists or arts critics in the land of the brave and free. It’s like, grow an original set of creative brain cells to do some worthy arts and entertainment analysis with. Lol!
Anyway, here’s one of the better ones, A.O Scott and his take on Nolan’s allusive ‘mind altering’ cerebral filmmaking motifs–which to be honest, goes back to messing with Hollywood filmmaker’s ‘holy’ (or ‘tapu’ as we’d say back in New Zealand) measuring stick of the film narratives timeline structure and how this is always didactically used in Hollywood. Go here to read A.O.
To really get Nolan’s script, as this film hinges on this (Leo and Marion Cottilard‘s eye candy aside), you need to think of a pack of cards. They are all in order, all the cards (pictures, scenes needed to make the film) Nolan already put in the pack, but then for a distinct point of difference, you shuffle the pack (of movie scenes).
The shuffle determines a ‘new’ kind of card game, then you just make a film with the shuffle. Everyone thinks you’re brilliant. And for having the confidence to just mix it up and back that methodology, as an artist, Nolan is.
[This image: Ken Watanabe, top, and Lucas Haas in Inception]
~Posted by Horiwood.Com, Hollywood California USA. 7.25.2010~
Tags: Christopher Nolan, Ellen Page, Hollywood Today, Ken Watanabe, Leonardo DiCaprio, Lucas Haas, Marion Cotillard, Michael Cain, Movie News, Screenwriting News on Horiwood.Com, Writers
Look at Emile Kanim, writer of the book Plentitude, a book about earth sustainability, shining a green lantern light on Hollywood’s leading lady of action movies, Angelina Jolie this weekend, while (um) studying hard doing research for his upcoming book.
“Salt of the earth research?” Yea. Too funny!
Angelina Jolie had stiff competition this weekend against Inception‘s stranglehold on the box office. News articles like this from the California Chronicle, describe Jolie as having only two expressions, “stony pout” and “sexy pout” as female critics drunk her blood sounding more like medical 420 commentators here in California, than supportive critics of chick flicks that are action oriented.
The article goes on to say: “Her earnestness, both as an actress and a celebrity, just sort of bugs me, and any movie I’ve ever seen that she’s in has worn me out. Too much crazy! Too much brow furrowing! Shooting! Cutting! Pouting!” –In a weird Hollywood way, this could be viewed as a great compliment if you were kind.
Although earning a whopping $36.5 million at the box office with Salt, Chris Nolan‘s Inception clocked in at #1, retaining the crown from Jolie with $43.5 million earned in its second weekend, reports U.S Weekly.
Congratulations to Nolan/ DiCaprio & Phillip Noyce(dir)/ Jolie for making Hollywood the hottest place in filmmaking entertainment this weekend. A good result.
Jolie however sits at the top of IMDB’s website, Hollywood’s industry working “bible” website for actors, directors, producers profiles. Needless to say Oscar nominees will most probably be on their way for both Angelina and Leo, next Oscar nods round. Good work.
~With thanks to Emile. Posted by Horiwood.Com, Hollywood California USA. 7.25.2010~
Tags: Angelina Jolie, Box Office Stars, Christopher Nolan, Emile Kanim, Hollywood Today, Humor, Lebanon, Leonardo DiCaprio, Movie News, Think Green
2,151,268 and counting is the number of total views of this one Inception movie trailer by Christopher Nolan starring Leonardo DiCaprio, Ellen Page and cast.
Here in Hollywood, the box office is exciting.
~Posted by Horiwood.Com, Hollywood California USA. 7.25.2010~
Tags: Christopher Nolan, Ellen Page, Leonardo DiCaprio, Movie Trailers
[Image of Leonardo DiCaprio and Chris Nolan courtesy of Kevin Winter for Getty Images]
Inception a film by Christopher Nolan (The Dark Knight) and starring Leonardo DiCaprio is estimated to take in $21 million at the domestic box office this weekend.
The film is important as it deals with, ‘dream invasion,’ and a nation (like America for example) is only as strong as the dreams of our children and our elders. In Inception Nolan posits that lies are placed in peoples dream lives, that need to be extracted. I have said before on this blog, that sometimes whole nations (Nazi Germany is a good example from our world’s past) can be overtaken and built on lies. Such lies, (not people that we can all too easily victimize, but the ideological lies in peoples heads–and as humans, we all have lies or counterfeit ideas in our heads in varying degrees) need to be challenged and extracted. This is normal and healthy, if we do, and remain open to let others dialogue with us, from many different cultural perspectives. I call it ‘a lifestyle overhaul check up from the neck up.’ For this reason, I dig this film.
Anyway, money begets money, so already a sequel is being talked about and planned for Inception. Actor and leading Hollywood lad, Leonardo DiCaprio steps up to the plate to bat for Nolan’s intended film franchise. In particular, the final scene of the film, leaves the film open to many possibilities of a sequel. Here’s what Leo has to say, via MTV:
“I have my own specific take on that final scene,” DiCaprio told MTV News, leaving his opinion out of the public debate, adding instead that he hopes the viewers make up their minds for themselves. “This is an interesting movie, because I really believe people can extract what they want from this film and interpret that in a lot of different ways. I think that’s something that doesn’t come from the Hollywood studio system very often nowadays. Oftentimes, I get scripts that came to me recycled from other ones. Chris [Nolan] pulled off something pretty ambitious, pretty existential, pretty cerebral and daring with this movie, and I jumped on the opportunity to do it and work with him.”
Dileep Rao adds: “If we’re talking about dreams, couldn’t anything happen?” Well said. Dreams start, at precisely this point. Nice job Mr Nolan.
~Posted by Horiwood.Com, Hollywood California USA. 7.18.2010~
Tags: Box Office Stars, Christopher Nolan, Dileep Rao, I have a Dream, Leonardo DiCaprio, Movie Development, Movie News
[Photographs: from left, by Gilbert Carrasquillo/FilmMagic, Jeffrey Ufberg/WireImage, Dave Hogan/Getty Images, Jean Baptiste Lacroix/WireImage, Jon Kopaloff/FilmMagic, Mark Sullivan/WireImage, Alex J. Berliner/BEImages, Jon Furniss/WireImage, Fergus McDonald/Getty Images]. Read the rest of this entry »
