Image Credit: Jim Carrey and Jeff Daniels
Things are looking up for Lloyd and Harry. EW has confirmed that Universal Pictures picked up the North American distribution rights for Dumb and Dumber To, the in-development sequel to the hit 1994 Jim Carrey/Jeff Daniels comedy Dumb and Dumber. Deadline first reported the news.
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Image Credit: Frank Masi
2014 may seem like a long time from now, but studios are already filling their slates and shifting around release dates for later this year and into next. Below, a few of the latest release date changes:
The Expendables 3, the latest in the Lionsgate franchise that has rounded up action heroes of the ’80s like Sylvester Stallone and Arnold Schwarzenegger, is set for an Aug. 15, 2014 release, the same late summer weekend that the first two Expendables films opened in 2010 and 2012. Nicolas Cage, Wesley Snipes, Jackie Chan, and Milla Jovovich recently began final negotiations to appear in the threequel. READ FULL STORY »
Image Credit: Myles Aronowitz
Universal’s Non-Stop, starring Liam Neeson, has set its theatrical release date for February 21, 2014.
The Joel Silver-produced action thriller is set almost entirely within the cabin of a plane traveling from New York to London. As the U.S. Air Marshal on board, Neeson’s character begins to receive a series of text messages threatening to kill passengers unless the anonymous terrorist gets $150 million delivered to an off-shore account. Everyone on board is suddenly a suspect, including Neeson’s seat mate, played by Julianne Moore, and Michelle Dockery as a flight attendant.
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Image Credit: Everett Collection
Universal Pictures announced Wednesday that it plans to reboot the time travel action movie Timecop in a partnership with production company Global Produce.
Based on Mark Verheiden’s Dark Horse Comics title Time Cop, the original film imagined a world where time travel would be possible and where police regulate its usage. Peter Hyams’ 1994 film starred Jean-Claude Van Damme as an officer who tries to go back in time to save his wife from being killed — and stymie the endemic corruption that has emerged as a result of time-travel technology.
Image Credit: Universal
Planning to check out a summer blockbuster in the next few months? Chances are it was developed for Dolby Atmos, the in-theater audio technology that’s revolutionizing the immersive moviegoing experience.
If the name sounds familiar, that’s because the first films heard in Dolby Atmos came out almost a year ago, starting with Disney and Pixar’s Brave. It’s the next iteration of what is generally known as surround sound. With speakers on the ceiling and in basically every corner of a theater, the 128 channels create a sound experience akin to watching a film in 3-D. It’s all-encompassing.
EW spoke with Skywalker Sound’s Juan Peralta about Dolby Atmos and how it is helping to make the theater experience more engrossing.
Image Credit: Jon Kopaloff/FilmMagic
The dinosaurs are loose once again.
Universal Pictures announced Friday that Jurassic Park 4 will roar into theaters on June 13, 2014. Steven Spielberg, who directed the first two films in the franchise, will produce with Frank Marshall, but no director is yet attached. The film will be shot in 3-D.
The news makes clear that Universal is dedicated to revitalizing the Jurassic Park franchise, which has been gathering dust ever since the Joe Johnston-directed Jurassic Park III banked $181 million in 2001. READ FULL STORY »
Given the level of kinkiness expected, no, DEMANDED, by fans for the upcoming screen adaptation of Fifty Shades of Grey, it’s no surprise that the movie’s screenwriter has trumpeted the call for an NC-17 rating.
Screenwriter Kelly Marcel recently told British newspaper The Sunday Times, “It will be rated NC-17. It will be raunchy.” Marcel also didn’t reveal who she thought would snag the prized roles of randy pair Anastasia Steele and Christian Grey featured in the hit E L James novel.
Of course an adults-only NC-17 rating would potentially mean far fewer theater goers, and Universal Pictures nipped Marcel’s fervor in the bud.
“A screenplay has not yet been written, a rating has not been designated and we have no further comment,” said a Universal spokesperson in a statement to EW.
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Image Credit: Bryan Bedder/Getty Images
Michael Eisner was once the crinkly, blue-eyed face of Disney, hosting revamped TV series The Wonderful World of Disney and green-lighting hits such as 1988′s Who Framed Roger Rabbit, and now the former CEO is ready to make movies again with another studio: Universal Pictures. The upcoming crop of films may include a Garbage Pail Kids reboot. Disney, you’re not the only one moving forward, snagging Lucasfilm!
Eisner, who headed up Disney from 1984 to 2005, inked a multiyear global distribution deal between his privately held Tornante Company and Universal, his rep confirmed to EW on Tuesday.
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Image Credit: Universal Pictures
Breaking bold new ground in mainstream dada-esque filmmaking, the bright yellow, pill-shaped Minions that stole so much of the 2010 animated hit Despicable Me are getting their own spin-off film, aiming for a 2014 release, EW has confirmed.
Some of you may be thinking “Whaaaa?” – the Minions have no discernible language, and their adorably antic behavior doesn’t immediately seem suited to sustain a 90-minute feature. READ FULL STORY »
For many, E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial remains Steven Spielberg’s most indelible film, holding a special spot in moviegoers’ hearts. (I know it does for me.) But when the movie was re-released in theaters in 2002 to celebrate its 20th anniversary, Spielberg tried to fix something that was not broken and “updated” the movie’s visual effects. He gave E.T.’s face a CG makeover, added back in a couple deleted scenes, and — most controversially — switched out the rifles held by police officers chasing down Elliott and his bicycle buddies with walkie-talkies.
Fans cried foul. South Park mocked the decision. Last year, Spielberg himself even admitted he regretted making the changes, vowing that the Blu-ray release would just be the 1982 theatrical version of the film.
And by gum, it’s exactly that. As you’ll see in the trailer for the 30th-anniversary Blu-ray edition of the film, out this October, those walkie-talkies are no more: READ FULL STORY »
