News for
Clint Eastwood

advertisement

IMDbPro offers the latest entertainment industry news from the Hollywood Reporter. Sign-up for a two-week free trial today. Click here for a free trial!

Warner Bros. To Be Feted At Cannes
8 May 2008 (StudioBriefing)
The Cannes Film Festival announced plans on Wednesday to pay tribute to Warner Bros. on the studio's 85th anniversary by screening a classic movie from the studio's archives during each night of the festival. The festival said that it will also premiere film critic Richard Schickel's documentary, You Must Remember This: The Warner Bros. Story, narrated by Clint Eastwood, as well as a night of Looney Tunes shorts. The tribute begins with a screening of Mervyn LeRoy's 1932 I Am a Fugitive From a Chain Gang and ends with 1999's The Matrix. Somewhat surprisingly, the film series does not include a screening of The Jazz Singer, the first sound film, produced in 1927 and starring entertainer Al Jolson.

Cannes Competitors Announced
23 April 2008 (StudioBriefing)
Clint Eastwood's Changeling, starring Angelina Jolie, will compete for the Palme d'Or at the Cannes Film Festival next month, festival organizers announced today (Wednesday) as they unveiled the titles of 19 movies, selected from 1,792 films submitted from 96 countries, that will vie for the prestigious award. (A 20th film, from France, is due to be announced soon.) Steven Soderbergh's four-hour Che, about Cuban revolutionary hero Che Guevara and made up of two films (The Argentine and Guerrilla), will also contend for the prized trophy. German director Wim Wenders will be coming to the festival with his The Palermo Shooting. U.S. screenwriter Charlie Kaufman (Being John Malkovich, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind) is also entered in the competition with his first film as a director, Synecdoche, New York, starring Philip Seymour Hoffman. "There are films that are hair-raising because they break new ground," festival president Gilles Jacob told a news conference in Paris. Among U.S. films screening out of competition will be the Steven Spielberg-George Lucas production of Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull; Woody Allen's Vicky Cristina Barcelona, starring Penélope Cruz, Scarlett Johansson and Javier Bardem; and the animated DreamWorks comedy Kung-Fu Panda, featuring the voices of Jolie, Jack Black, Lucy Liu and Dustin Hoffman. The festival runs from May 14 to May 25.

Eastwood Honors Jolie at Film Festival
4 February 2008 (WENN)
Clint Eastwood honored Angelina Jolie at the Santa Barbara International Film Festival on Saturday by handing her the event's Performance of the Year award. The actress won the prize for her portrayal of Mariane Pearl, wife of slain journalist Daniel Pearl, in A Mighty Heart. Jolie was thrilled to receive the honor from Eastwood, the director of her new film The Changeling, stating, "I think he's just a genuinely great guy. He's nice to everybody on set." The actress arrived at the prize-giving gala with partner Brad Pitt. The media in attendance was instructed not to ask the couple questions about a rumored pregnancy.

France Honors Director Friedkin
8 August 2007 (StudioBriefing)
France's Ministry of Culture announced Tuesday that it has named Academy Award-winning director William Friedkin (The French Connection, The Exorcist) Officer, Order of Arts and Letters (Officier de l'ordre des Arts et des Lettres). The prestigious honor had previously gone to U.S. directors Mel Brooks, Clint Eastwood, Gordon Parks, and Robert Redford. Friedkin will receive the award during ceremonies next fall. In a statement, the director said that he was especially honored to receive it "because of the profound influence French cinema has had on all the filmmakers of my generation."

Eastwood's Iwo Jima Films Inspire Island's Name Change
25 June 2007 (WENN)
Clint Eastwood's 2006 war films Flags Of Our Fathers and Letters From Iwo Jima have already become dated after Japanese officials agreed to change the name of the island where the country's soldiers battled Americans during World War II. The Pacific island of Iwo Jima will now be known by its original name, Iwo To. The name change comes into effect immediately but the volcanic island will officially become Iwo To on new maps, which will be released in September. Iwo Jima was Iwo To to those who lived there before the island was evacuated in 1944. It was mistakenly renamed by Japanese navy officers, who fought the Americans there. Inspired by Eastwood's war films, former locals raised opposition to the island's name in March, insisting Iwo To should not be lost to history because of a mispronunciation.

'Apocalypto' Debuts As Top DVD
31 May 2007 (StudioBriefing)
Apocalypto, Mel Gibson's controversial -- and violent -- account of the fall of the Mayan civilization, debuted at the top of the home video sales and rental charts last week, replacing Pan's Labyrinth, the previous champ. Home Media Retailing magazine said that the Gibson film generated an estimated $6 million from rentals, while Labyrinth was close behind with $5.6 million, bringing its two-week gross to $12 million. Epic Movie debuted at No. 3 on the rental chart with $5.4 million, while Clint Eastwood's Letters from Iwo Jima bowed at No. 4 with $4.4 million.

Jolie To Take Year-Long Break
23 May 2007 (WENN)
Oscar winner Angelina Jolie is set to take a year-long break from acting. The A Mighty Heart star wants to spend quality time with her family - partner Brad Pitt, and children Maddox, Pax, Zahara and Shiloh - away from the pressures of work. She says, "I'm working this summer. I'm in Prague for a few months, then I take two months off, then I work for two months. And then I take a year off." Despite Jolie's claims, she has recently signed to star in the Clint Eastwood thriller The Changeling, which is slated to be released in 2008, and is attached to the long-awaited adaptation of the Ayn Rand novel Atlas Shrugged, which is currently in development.

Scorsese Launches Cinema Foundation
23 May 2007 (WENN)
Director Martin Scorsese is hoping to preserve neglected films for posterity with the launch of his World Cinema Foundation on Tuesday. The legendary Oscar-winning moviemaker told reporters at the Cannes Film Festival in France the project was inspired by a similar venture in America, set up in collaboration with George Lucas, Steven Spielberg and Clint Eastwood. Scorsese said, "This goes back to the founding of the film foundation in America. That was started in 1990 and for the past 16 years that actually has changed and things have gotten different there in terms of restoration of films and preservation of archives." The launch of Scorsese's non-profit foundation is being marked at this year's festival with screenings of films from Morocco, Brazil and Romania dating as far back as 1931.

Dunaway Slams Hollywood's "Female Ageism"
15 May 2007 (WENN)
Actress Faye Dunaway has chastised Hollywood movie executives for refusing to cast older female stars as romantic leads. The 66-year-old Network star insists Tinseltown is exacting double standards between ageing actors and actresses - allowing older stars such as Jack Nicholson to romance much younger women. She says, "I am furious that they think I'm too old to play the love interest of guys like Jack Nicholson and Clint Eastwood. Why should I play sisters and mothers, while guys like Jack and Clint, who are older than me, have on-screen lovers half their age?"

Stars Come Out To Honor Valenti
2 May 2007 (WENN)
Kirk Douglas, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Clint Eastwood, Michael Douglas, Catherine Zeta-Jones and Steven Spielberg were among the mourners at former Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) President Jack Valenti's funeral in Washington, D.C. yesterday. The Hollywood giants joined top politicians like John Kerry, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, among others, to pay tribute to the 85-year-old, who died last week after suffering complications from a stroke in March. Valenti traversed the worlds of Hollywood and politics - before serving as MPAA President, he served as a leading White House publicist for John F. Kennedy and assistant to his presidential successor Lyndon B. Johnson. He was partly responsible for handling the press during President John F. Kennedy's ill-fated trip to Dallas, Texas in 1963. At yesterday's Cathedral of Saint Matthew the Apostle service, mourners read selections from Valenti's memoir, This Time, This Place, which will be published in June. And Kirk Douglas, a fellow stroke victim, spoke fondly of his late friend. The film veteran said, "If you were Jack's friend, your troubles became his troubles. When the time comes for me to be upstairs waiting for St. Peter to see me, I expect Jack to find me and bring me to the big man." Valenti is to be interred at Arlington National Cemetery in Washington D.C. next week.

Netflix To Produce Movie with Clint About Tony Bennett
14 February 2007 (StudioBriefing)
Netflix, which last year began buying rights to independent films being showcased at film festivals through its newly created Red Envelope Entertainment (named after the red envelopes it uses to distribute DVDs), is teaming up with Clint Eastwood to produce an independent film of its own, centering around Tony Bennett. On Tuesday it announced that it is fully financing a documentary titled Tony Bennett: The Music Never Ends that will feature an interview with Bennett conducted by Eastwood, who will also serve as executive producer. It will be directed by Bruce Ricker. In a statement, Netflix executive Ted Sarandos said, "Netflix spearheading this prestigious project showcases our abilities to bring unique content to our subscribers and, in this case, a global audience."

Eastwood: "This Year Could Be Scorsese's Year"
12 February 2007 (WENN)
Clint Eastwood is tipping Martin Scorsese to fulfill his Academy Award ambitions this year and beat him to the Best Director prize. Eastwood is up against Scorsese for the award, two years after his Million Dollar Baby beat Scorsese's The Aviator. The movie hardman thinks Scorsese, nominated for The Departed, leads the race, ahead of Eastwood's Letters From Iwo Jima - but warns other directors could get in on the act. He says, "He (Scorsese) probably has a good chance, there is a lot of sympathy for him, but I have no control over any of that. I always feel sorry ... for the others, because there are other nominees and they've worked very hard on their projects, too. I don't think any two people should be singled out." Scorsese has been nominated seven times and has yet to win a Best Director Oscar.

Berlinale Reveals Titles of Competing Films
31 January 2007 (StudioBriefing)
The Berlin Film Festival on Tuesday revealed the titles of the 22 movies that will compete for this year's top Golden Bear award. They include Robert De Niro's The Good Shepherd, starring Matt Damon and Angelina Jolie; Steven Soderbergh's The Good German with George Clooney; and Gregory Nava's Bordertown, starring Jennifer Lopez and Antonio Banderas. The festival opens on Feb. 8 with a screening of Olivier Dahan's La Vie en Rose about the life of singer Edith Piaf and concludes on Feb. 18. Among films that will be screening out of competition will be Clint Eastwood's Letters From Iwo Jima, Richard Eyre's Notes on a Scandal, and Paul Schrader's The Walker.

Mirren Wins Again As AARP Announce Grown-Up Hits
30 January 2007 (WENN)
Helen Mirren can't stop winning acting honors - now she's claimed Best Actress at the American Association of Retired People (AARP) Magazine's Movies for Grown-Ups Awards. The British star of The Queen joins Donald Sutherland (Best Actor for Aurora Borealis), Clint Eastwood (Best Director for Flags Of Our Fathers & Letters From Iwo Jima) and Little Miss Sunshine (Best Comedy for Grown-Ups) among the recipients of AARP awards, which will be handed out by Kathy Bates and Martin Sheen in Beverly Hills on February 6. Other winners include William Broyles Jr. and Paul Haggis (Best Screenwriters for Flags Of Our Fathers), The Last King Of Scotland (Best Movie for Grown-Ups) and The Last Kiss (Best Grown-Up Love Story).

Oscar Nods Lift Box Office for Classy Films
29 January 2007 (StudioBriefing)
Although only Dreamgirls, Pan's Labyrinth and The Queen made the top ten, several other independent films saw business rise following last week's announcement of Oscar nominees. Martin Scorsese's The Departed returned to theaters and added $3 million to its gross. Golden Globe winner Babel expanded to 1,090 theaters and took in $2.6 million. Clint Eastwood's Letters from Iwo Jima upped its theater count to 415 and took in $1.7 million. Venus, which garnered a best-actor Oscar nomination for Peter O'Toole, saw its box-office jump 47 percent to $336,000 at just 59 theaters.

'Dreamgirls': All Bets Are Off
23 January 2007 (StudioBriefing)
Leaving many Oscar handicappers scratching their heads, Dreamgirls failed to win a nomination for best picture of the year despite garnering more nominations -- eight -- than any other film. Several film critics had suggested that the movie would be the frontrunner for this year's top Oscar. (The movie had won the Golden Globe award as best picture in the musical/comedy category last week.) Those that did win nods for the top film included Babel (which won the Golden Globe for best dramatic picture), The Departed, Letters From Iwo Jima, Little Miss Sunshine, and The Queen. Babel received six additional nominations, including one for best director for Alejandro González Iñárritu, who will compete against Martin Scorsese (The Departed), Clint Eastwood (Letters From Iwo Jima), Stephen Frears (The Queen), and Paul Greengrass (United 93). Best actor nominations went to Leonardo DiCaprio (Blood Diamond), Ryan Gosling (Half Nelson), Peter O'Toole (Venus), Will Smith (The Pursuit of Happyness), and Forest Whitaker (The Last King of Scotland). Actress nominees are: Penélope Cruz (Volver), Judi Dench (Notes on a Scandal), Helen Mirren (The Queen), Meryl Streep (The Devil Wears Prada), and Kate Winslet (Little Children).

Denzel Washington: America's Favorite Star
18 January 2007 (StudioBriefing)
Denzel Washington has dethroned Tom Hanks as the nation's favorite movie star, according to results of a Harris poll. Hanks had held the top spot for two years in a row but fell to second place in the current poll. Surprisingly John Wayne, who has been dead for more than 27 years, placed third. Clint Eastwood, a perennial favorite placed fourth, while Will Smith made it to the top of the list for the first time, tying with Julia Roberts for fifth place. Rounding out the top ten were, in order, Johnny Depp, Mel Gibson, George Clooney, and Harrison Ford.

Where Was the Globes' Wackiness? Ask Critics
16 January 2007 (StudioBriefing)
Although in reporting on the awards ceremony, the Associated Press's David Germain commented that it "failed to live up to its reputation as a freewheeling Hollywood soiree where stars sometimes cut loose with amusing antics," the acceptance speech by Sacha Baron Cohen almost instantly was transcribed and posted on numerous blogs -- including those belonging to "family" newspapers which did not quote him directly in print (Germain referred to his "colorful anatomical language;" Phil Gallo in Variety called his remarks "hilarious and vile.") The speech was also immediately posted on YouTube. There was also Tom Hanks's introduction of Warren Beatty, who received a lifetime achievement award. "What balls this man has," Hanks said, "and by 'balls,' I mean artistic vision." Backstage, the honorees also flung off constraints. Asked about her chances of winning an Oscar, Helen Mirren responded, "I've never had an O. They say the earth moves." Clint Eastwood, who received the award for best foreign-language film (Letters from Iwo Jima), an award that ordinarily goes to a foreign director (the actors in Letters speak Japanese), said that he was so thrilled that he was now planning to make a movie in Hungarian or Lithuanian. Several writers suggested it was a mistake to stage the ceremonies without a host, who might have livened things up. Rick Kushman, writing for the McClatchy newspapers indicated that he was surprised and disappointed to see George Clooney come out "so early" and hand out the first award to Jennifer Hudson for Dreamgirls. Noting the "large amounts of alcohol sitting on the tables," Kushman remarked, "Get a couple of drinks in the man, maybe he'll say something."

Box-office Blahs at Christmas
26 December 2006 (StudioBriefing)
Like the holiday stockings hanging at the fireplace, the Christmas box office turned out to be pretty much a mixed bag. Although some studios revised their estimates for the Friday-to-Sunday period, they did not release final figures nor estimates for Monday, Christmas Day, when two new films, the horror flick Black Christmas and the musical Dreamgirls, were added to the mix. There were no break-out hits. The debut of the Ben Stiller comedy Night at the Museum led the list with $30.9 million over the three-day period, in line with analysts' predictions but well off Stiller's best opening: $46.1 million for Meet the Fockers in 2004. Sylvester Stallone's return as Rocky Balboa after 16 years, did OK business with about $12.2 million, after earning $9.7 million on Wednesday and Thursday, as it finished in third place -- a performance that would seem to indicate that audiences were not as impressed with Stallone's comeback as the critics were. Will Smith's The Pursuit of Happyness dropped to second place with $14.9 million, 43 percent below its opening take a week ago. The biggest drop, however, was registered by the fantasy flick Eragon, which plunged 70 percent in its second weekend to $7.1 million, to place sixth. Another new film, We Are Marshall, failed to attract an audience, as it opened with just $6 million. Playing in just five theaters, Clint Eastwood's Letters from Iwo Jima debuted with $89,000, an average of $17,800 per theater.

The top ten films for the weekend, according to studio estimates compiled by Media by Numbers (figures in parentheses represent total gross to date): 1. Night at the Museum, 20th Century Fox, $30,880,000, (New); 2. The Pursuit of Happyness, Sony, $14,874,000, 2 Wks. ($53,304,000); 3. Rocky Balboa, MGM, $12,220,999, (New); 4. The Good Shepherd, Universal, $9,925,000, (New); 5. Charlotte's Web, Paramount, $7,693,000, 2 Wks. ($26,530,000); 6. Eragon, 20th Century Fox, $7,101,000, 2 Wks. ($37,596,000); 7. We Are Marshall, Warner Bros. $6,080,000, (New); 8. The Nativity Story, New Line, $5,198,000, 4 Wks. ($32,512,000); 9. Happy Feet, Warner Bros. $5,131,000, 6 Wks. ($159,099,000); 10. The Holiday, Paramount, $4,877,000, 3 Wks. ($34,977,000).

Movie Reviews: 'Letters from Iwo Jima'
20 December 2006 (StudioBriefing)
A rave review in the New York Times can often be as influential among Oscar voters as a ton of Golden Globe awards. And Clint Eastwood's Letters from Iwo Jima landed a doozy today (Wednesday) from lead critic A.O. Scott. "It is," he writes, "unapologetically and even humbly, true to the durable tenets of the war-movie tradition, but it is also utterly original, even radical in its methods and insights." What makes it such, Scott suggests, has much to do with the fact that it is a war movie that ends not in victory but in defeat, presenting, as it does, the Japanese viewpoint of the Iwo Jima battle. "It is hard to think of another war movie that has gone so deeply, so sensitively, into the mind-set of the opposing side," he writes. The film, Scott concludes, is "close to perfect." Letters also receives an equally stunning review from the Los Angeles Times critic, Kenneth Turan, who calls it "daring and significant." Noting that it is intended as a companion piece to Eastwood's Flags of Our Fathers, which was released earlier this fall, Turan observes,"While each film reinforces the other, it is Letters that is finally the more remarkable accomplishment, a feat of empathetic cross-cultural connection that Eastwood ... more or less willed into existence." Turan nevertheless suggests that audiences see both films, concluding: "Though war movies traditionally encourage our patriotic blood lust by making the enemy faceless or worse, we realize here, as the fighting begins, that the people we badly wanted dead in the first film are precisely those who we are made to care deeply about here and whose bravery this film so admires."

'Babel' Towers Over Rivals in Golden Globe Noms
15 December 2006 (WENN)
Ensemble drama Babel leads the nominations at next year's Golden Globe Awards, boasting seven nods including Best Dramatic Picture and an acting accolade for star Brad Pitt. The film, spanning several countries telling four inter-related stories, sees Pitt praised in the Best Actor In A Supporting Role category. He'll battle it out alongside Ben Affleck (Hollywoodland) and Eddie Murphy (Dreamgirls), as well as The Departed co-stars Jack Nicholson and Mark Wahlberg. The mob thriller earned a total of six nominations yesterday. Babel's Rinko Kikuchi and Adriana Barraza also received supporting acting nods, along with Cate Blanchett for Notes On A Scandal, Emily Blunt for The Devil Wears Prada and Jennifer Hudson for Dreamgirls. But it's Leonardo DiCaprio who looks most likely to convert an acting nomination into a trophy after being named twice in the Best Actor category. His performances in The Departed and Blood Diamond are up against Peter O'Toole's in Venus, Will Smith's in The Pursuit Of Happyness and Forest Whitaker's portrayal of former Ugandan dictator Idi Amin in The Last King Of Scotland. Actor-turned-director Clint Eastwood is another star with a double reason to celebrate - Flags Of Our Fathers competes against his other war film Letters From Iwo Jima in the Best Director category. Meanwhile, Dame Helen Mirren stands to win three awards at the star-studded Hollywood ceremony next month. Her role as monarch-in-crisis Queen Elizabeth II in The Queen pits her against another veteran British actress, Dame Judi Dench, for Notes On A Scandal. Penelope Cruz is also a strong contender for Best Actress in Volver, as well Maggie Gyllenhaal (SherryBaby) and Kate Winslet in the suburban drama Little Children. Mirren's other nods are for small screen work - her roles in Prime Suspect: The Final Act and period piece Elizabeth I could see her pick up a Best Actress In A Mini-Series Or Motion Picture Made For Television.

'Babel' Receives Seven Golden Globe Nods
14 December 2006 (StudioBriefing)
Among numerous surprises, Babel, the drama by director Alejandro Gonzalez Iñarritu about the worldwide reverberations to families following a shooting in North Africa, dominated the Golden Globes nominations announced today. The film received seven nominations -- more than any other --including best drama, best director, and best supporting actor (Brad Pitt). The nominations were announced by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association, which also nominated Bobby, The Departed, Little Children, and The Queen for best picture in the drama category. In another surprise, Sacha Baron Cohen's Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan was nominated for best musical or comedy film, while Cohen himself got a best-actor nod in the category. The other films nominated for best musical or comedy: The Devil Wears Prada, Dreamgirls, Little Miss Sunshine and Thank You for Smoking. Two films made by Americans received nominations in the foreign-language category, Mel Gibson's Apocalypto and Clint Eastwood's Letters from Iwo Jima. Leonardo DiCaprio, meanwhile, will by vying against himself after being nominated for best actor for performances in two different movies, The Departed and Blood Diamond. So will Clint Eastwood for best director -- for his bookend films Flags of Our Fathers and Letters from Iwo Jima (neither of which, oddly, was nominated for best film).

BAFTA Rule Change Affects High-Profile Movies
13 December 2006 (WENN)
A new rule put in place by the British Academy Of Film And Television Arts (BAFTA) is preventing high-profile movies including Clint Eastwood's Letters From Iwo Jima from being entered into the organization's 2007 ceremony. In previous years, any film released before the end of March in the UK was eligible for Bafta consideration. However, bosses have now decided all movies must come out before the ceremony, to be held on February 11 in London. This ruling means Oscar hopeful Letters From Iwo Jima and Robert De Niro's second film as director, The Good Shepherd, in which he also stars, can not be considered, as both have a scheduled February 23 release. The George Clooney-starring The Good German, with a March 9 release date, will also miss out. Adam Dawtrey, of industry magazine Variety, says, "This strikes at the very heart of the question of what commercial impact BAFTA actually has for distributors. On the whole, there's a belief that the awards season overall has a significant commercial impact - not just the Oscars but the hype for months about the race, and clearly BAFTA is a part of that. But if you take the BAFTAs out of that mix, do you not just have the same impact anyway, as far as a British audience is concerned?"

Eastwood Film Wins Top Award From L.A. Film Critics
11 December 2006 (StudioBriefing)
Clint Eastwood's Letters From Iwo Jima, which presents the bloody World War II battle from a Japanese viewpoint (and is the companion film to his Flags of Our Fathers), has been named best picture of the year by the Los Angeles Film Critics Association. Eastwood himself, however, did not win the best director prize, which instead went to Paul Greengrass for United 93. In a surprise, the group reported a tie in the best-actor category, handing out awards to Sacha Baron Cohen for Borat and Forest Whitaker for The Last King of Scotland. Helen Mirren won for best actress for her performance in the title role of The Queen. Meanwhile, the Boston Society of Film Critics awarded Martin Scorsese The Departed (which coincidentally is set in Boston) its best-picture prize. The Boston critics also selected Whitaker and Mirren for the actors prizes.

LA Critics Pick 'Letter from Iwo Jima'; New York Favors 'United 93'
11 December 2006 (WENN)
Is there a favorite emerging? After picking up the National Board of Review's top honor, Clint Eastwood's Letters from Iwo Jima was also named Best Picture by the Los Angeles Film Critics Association on Sunday. Though the Japanese-language World War II drama nabbed the group's biggest award (and Eastwood was the runner-up for director honors), overall the LA critics favored The Queen, which took home four awards, including Best Actress for Helen Mirren and Supporting Actor for Michael Sheen, as well as screenplay and score honors; the Queen Elizabeth II drama was also the runner-up for Best Picture. The Best Actor award was a split decision, going to both Forest Whitaker for The Last King of Scotland and, in a bit of a surprise, Sasha Baron Cohen for the hit comedy Borat. Other major awards included United 93's Paul Greengrass for Best Director, Luminita Gheorghiu for Best Supporting Actress for The Death of Mr. Lazarescu, The Lives of Others for Best Foreign Language Film, Happy Feet for Best Animated Film and An Inconvenient Truth for Best Documentary.

UPDATE: The New York Film Critics Circle voted on their awards Monday morning, giving their top honor to September 11th verite drama United 93 and Best Director to Martin Scorsese for The Departed. Racking up yet even more wins were the now-ubiquitous Forest Whitaker (The Last King of Scotland) and Helen Mirren (The Queen), taking home their third Best Actor and Actress awards thus far; The Queen was also honored with the screenplay award. Supporting awards went to former child star Jackie Earle Haley for his role as a pedophile in Little Children, and star-in-the-making Jennifer Hudson for her scene-stealing turn in Dreamgirls. Other major awards included Army of Shadows for Foreign Language Film (the 1969 Jean-Pierre Melville film received its first US release just this year), Happy Feet for Animated Film, Deliver Us from Evil for Non-Fiction Film, Pan's Labyrinth for Cinematography, and Half Nelson for Best First Film. --Mark Englehart, IMDb staff

LA Critics Pick 'Letter from Iwo Jima'
8 December 2006 (WENN)
Is there a favorite emerging? After picking up the National Board of Review's top honor, Clint Eastwood's Letters from Iwo Jima was also named Best Picture by the Los Angeles Film Critics Association on Sunday. Though the Japanese-language World War II drama nabbed the group's biggest award (and Eastwood was the runner-up for director honors), overall the LA critics favored The Queen, which took home four awards, including Best Actress for Helen Mirren and Supporting Actor for Michael Sheen, as well as screenplay and score honors; the Queen Elizabeth II drama was also the runner-up for Best Picture. The Best Actor award was a split decision, going to both Forest Whitaker for The Last King of Scotland and, in a bit of a surprise, Sasha Baron Cohen for the hit comedy Borat. Other major awards included United 93's Paul Greengrass for Best Director, Luminita Gheorghiu for Best Supporting Actress for The Death of Mr. Lazarescu, The Lives of Others for Best Foreign Language Film, Happy Feet for Best Animated Film and An Inconvenient Truth for Best Documentary. --Mark Englehart, IMDb staff

'Letters from Iwo Jima' Tops National Board of Review
6 December 2006 (WENN)
In firing the opening shot of this year's awards season, the National Board of Review went with a bit of a surprise, giving its Best Picture honor to Clint Eastwood's Letters from Iwo Jima, a Japanese-language release that was originally slated for early 2007 but bumped up just a few weeks ago. The movie's English-language companion piece, Flags of Our Fathers, was released in October to mixed reviews and middling box office, and had been expected to be a major Oscar contender this year. While it didn't rate a major award, Flags did receive a spot in the group's top ten films of 2006. Two other surprises were had in the supporting categories as well, with Djimon Hounsou winning for Blood Diamond and Catherine O'Hara named for her comedic turn in For Your Consideration. As for the other major categories, heavy hitters prevailed, with early Oscar faves Forest Whitaker (The Last King of Scotland) and Helen Mirren (The Queen) taking lead honors, Martin Scorsese (The Departed) winning Best Director, Volver named as Best Foreign Film, and Cars and An Inconvenient Truth taking animated and documentary honors, respectively. In terms of omissions, the most notable was the absence of Dreamgirls from the group's top ten films of the year, a list that included The Devil Wears Prada, The History Boys, and Little Miss Sunshine, among others. Almost always the first group to hand out awards, the National Board of Review is made up of film professionals, teachers, students and historians.

The top ten films of the year as named by the National Board of Review: Letters from Iwo Jima, Babel, Blood Diamond, The Departed, The Devil Wears Prada, Flags of Our Fathers, The History Boys, Little Miss Sunshine, Notes on a Scandal and The Painted Veil.

Warner Bros. Moves Up Release of Eastwood Flick
17 November 2006 (StudioBriefing)
Warner Bros. and Paramount have decided to move up the release of Clint Eastwood's Letters From Iwo Jima to December 20 from February 9 in order to qualify it for Oscar consideration. The film, which presents the World War II Iwo Jima battle from the viewpoint of Japanese soldiers, is regarded as a companion piece to Eastwood's Flags of Our Fathers, which opened last month, and which depicts the battle from the American side. That film, which received critical praise, failed at the box office.

'Saw III': A Rip Tootin' $34.3 Million
30 October 2006 (StudioBriefing)
Taking in an estimated $34.3 million, Saw III helped build a huge box office over the weekend -- $89.3 million for the top 12 films -- some 2.4 percent more than the comparable weekend a year ago, when Saw II opened with $31.7 million. Meanwhile Martin Scorsese's The Departed continued to show strong legs as it remained in second place for the third straight week with $9.1 million to lift its total after four weeks to $91.1 million. Disney's The Prestige was close behind in third place with about $9.6 million. Clint Eastwood's Flags of Our Fathers continued to disappoint in its second week as it slipped to fourth place with $6.35 million. The film, which reportedly cost $90 million to produce -- and received much critical praise -- has earned only $19.9 million after ten days in release. On the other hand, Sony's animated Open Season continued to exceed expectations, earning $5.5 million in its fifth weekend to bring its gross to about $76.7 million. But Sony's Marie Antoinette appeared to face the guillotine as it wound up with just $3 million. Also cut down in its tracks was the controversial faux documentary Death of a President, which took in only $210,000 in 91 theaters, or $2,310 per theater. However the Dixie Chicks documentary Shut Up & Sing made a solid debut as it took in $50,798 in four theaters, or $12,700 per theater.

The top ten films for the weekend, according to studio estimates compiled by Exhibitor Relations: 1. Saw III, $34.3 million; 2. The Departed, $9.8 million; 3. The Prestige, $9.6 million; 4. Flags of Our Fathers, $6.35 million; 5. Open Season, $6.1 million; 6. Flicka, $5 million; 7. Man of the Year, $4.7 million; 8. The Grudge 2, $3.3 million; 9. Marie Antoinette, $2.85 million; 10. Running With Scissors, $2.55 million.

'The Prestige' Works Box Office Magic
24 October 2006 (StudioBriefing)
Like the audience for the magic tricks depicted in the movie, nobody saw The Prestige's box-office victory coming. According to final figures released by Exhibitor Relations on Monday, the film, about a pair of rival magicians, finished in first place with $14.8 million. By contrast, Clint Eastwood's Flags of Our Fathers, which most analysts assumed would wind up in first place, wound up instead in third with $10.2 million. Martin Scorsese's The Departed remained in second place with $13.5 million. The family film Flicka opened in fifth place with $7.7 million, while Marie Antoinette, playing in fewer than half the number of theaters as its rivals, opened with $5.4 million.

The top ten films over the weekend, according to final figures compiled by Exhibitor Relations (figures in parentheses represent total gross to date): 1. The Prestige, Disney, ($14,801,808, (New); 2. The Departed, Warner Bros., $13,462,256, 3 Wks. ($76,935,185); 3. Flags of Our Fathers, Paramount, $10,245,190, (New); 4. Open Season, Sony, $8,162,729, 4 Wks. ($69,765,034); 5. Flicka, 20th Century Fox, $7,703,551, (New); 6. The Grudge 2, Sony, $7,652,791, 2 Wks. ($31,332,993); 7. Man of the Year, Universal, $6,935,515, 2 Wks. ($22,416,395); 8. Marie Antoinette, Sony, $5,361,050, (New); 9. The Marine, 20th Century Fox, $3,795,160, 2 Wks. ($12,617,834); 10. The Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Beginning, New Line, $3,779,829, 3 Wks. ($35,888,968).

Eastwood Pays Respect to the Dead by Filming in Iceland
24 October 2006 (WENN)
Clint Eastwood filmed the stunning Iwo Jima invasion scenes in back-to-back war epics Letters From Iwo Jima and Flags Of Our Fathers in Iceland to respect the dead buried on the sacred Japanese island. The movie maker was granted special access to the infamous World War Two battleground, where US troops killed 12,000 Japanese soldiers - but chose not to shoot the "pyrotechnics" of the invasion in an effort to respect the dead. He says, "I went and I talked to the Governor of Tokyo... and he ironically is a filmmaker - he has directed a few movies and he has written a few movies. I explained to him what I wanted to do and how I wanted to tell the story of this and he kind of said OK... but he didn't know quite the pyrotechnics. It's (Iwo Jima) a shrine for them (the Japanese) because there's 12,000 unaccounted-for bodies still there, so I knew they weren't going to go for the pyrotechnics of a re-invasion, so we went to Iceland, which is also a geothermal island with black sand beaches. Iceland in August is probably the same climate as Iwo in February, so it all worked out fine and then we went back to Iwo for a few tune-ups."

'The Prestige' Has Box Office in Its Spell
23 October 2006 (StudioBriefing)
The Prestige, a film about rival magicians, put on a magic act of its own over the weekend as it debuted at No. 1 with an estimated $14.8 million, well above analysts' expectations. "I think we surprised a lot of people," Disney's distribution president, Chuck Viane told today's (Monday) Los Angeles Times. [The film had received mixed reviews, with Jan Stuart in Newsday calling it "demonically entertaining," while Steven Rea in the Philadelphia Inquirer remarked that it represented "some clunky cinematic sleight-of-hand." In between those two reactions was A.O. Scott of the New York Times who wrote that it's "a movie generous enough with its showmanship and sleight of hand to quiet the temptation to grumble about its lack of substance."] At the same time, the critically acclaimed Clint Eastwood war drama Flags of Our Fathers, which had been expected to win the box-office competition handily, opened in third place with $10.2 million. Martin Scorsese's crime drama The Departed, held on to second place with about $13.7 million. Two other films had lackluster debuts, 20th Century Fox's Flicka, which opened with $7.7 million, to tie (with The Grudge 2) for fifth place with $7.7 million, and Sony's Marie Antoinette, which premiered in eighth place with $5.3 million.

The top ten films for the weekend, according to studio estimates compiled by Exhibitor Relations: 1. The Prestige, $14.8 million; 2. The Departed, $13.7 million; 3. Flags of Our Fathers, $10.2 million; 4. Open Season, $8 million; 5. Flicka, $7.7 million; 5. (tie) The Grudge 2, $7.7 million; 7. Man of the Year, $7 million; 8. Marie Antoinette, $5.3 million; 9. The Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Beginning, $3.9 million; 10. The Marine, $3.7 million.

Movie Reviews: 'Flags of Our Fathers'
20 October 2006 (StudioBriefing)
A bloody battle is being waged among the critics over the worthiness of Clint Eastwood's Flags of Our Fathers. On the one hand, there's Chicago Sun-Times critic Richard Roeper, who calls the film "an American masterpiece ... a searing and powerful work." On the other hand, there's Michael Sragow of the Baltimore Sun, whose review is headlined, "Eastwood's cliché-riddled Flags doesn't rate a salute," and who remarks, "The film has all the coherence and lucidity of a fragmentation bomb." Many of the reviews fall somewhat between those two responses to it, observing that Eastwood himself fails to take a stand -- attempting to appeal to jingoists and pacifists alike with his film about the soldiers who appeared in the iconic flag-raising photograph taken during the battle of Iwo Jima in World War II. As Jan Stuart writes in Newsday, the movie "allows everyone to eat his cake and have it, too. It's not anti-war so much as anti-idolatry, a philosophical position that plays to both 'stay-the-course' and 'cut-and-run' camps." But most critics appear to side with Roeper, including Manohla Dargis's in the New York Times. She writes: "It seems hard to believe there is anything left to say about World War II that has not already been stated and restated, chewed, digested and spat out for your consideration and that of the Oscar voters. And yet here, at age 76, is Clint Eastwood saying something new and vital about the war in his new film, and here, too, is this great, gray battleship of a man and a movie icon saying something new and urgent about the uses of war and of the men who fight." Writes Claudia Puig in USA Today: "Flags of Our Fathers is the rare action film that is superbly acted, hauntingly powerful and deeply insightful." And Kenneth Turan concludes in the Los Angeles Times: "We are close to blessed to have Eastwood still working at age 76 and more fortunate still that challenging material like Flags of Our Fathers is what he wants to be doing."

Eastwood Honored by BAFTA
12 July 2006 (WENN)
The British Academy of Film and Television Arts in Los Angeles will honor Hollywood legend Clint Eastwood with the Stanley Kubrick Britannia Award for excellence in film. The 15th Britannia Awards will take place on November 2 at the Century Plaza Hotel in Los Angeles. Eastwood, who began his acting career in the 1950s, has directed more than 25 films and won Oscars for director and best picture twice - for Million Dollar Baby in 2004 and Unforgiven in 1992. The actor recently produced and directed Flags Of Our Fathers, which will be released in October.

'Sting,' 'Mockingbird' Production Designer Henry Bumstead Dead at 91
30 May 2006 (StudioBriefing)
Oscar-wining production designer Henry Bumstead, who began his career in films 70 years ago, has died in Pasadena, CA at age 91. He designed the sets of more than 100 films, including 13 starring Clint Eastwood. He was active to the end, designing the sets of two yet-to-be-released Eastwood movies, Flag of Our Fathers and Red Sun, Black Sand. He was awarded Oscars for the 1962 film To Kill a Mockingbird and 1973's The Sting. He received Oscar nominations in 1958 for Vertigo and again in 1992 for Unforgiven, another Eastwood film. At age 89 he designed the sets for Eastwood's Million Dollar Baby, which won the Oscar for best picture.

Set Designer Bumstead Dies
30 May 2006 (WENN)
Oscar-winning set designer Henry Bumstead, who collaborated with Clint Eastwood on 13 movies, has died at the age of 91. Hollywood veteran Bumstead, who worked on over 100 films, won Academy Awards for production design on To Kill A Mockingbird and The Sting. In a career that spanned nearly 70 years, he was also an Oscar nominee for Alfred Hitchcock's Vertigo and Eastwood's Unforgiven. Bumstead was diagnosed with prostate cancer during the filming of Eastwood's 2004 Oscar winner Million Dollar Baby. The disease was reportedly the cause of his death. Eastwood told The Los Angeles Times, "(He was) one of a kind. He seamlessly bridged the gap between what I saw on the page and what I saw through the camera lens. He is a legend in his field and a cherished friend. We will all miss him terribly."

'Brokeback Mountain' Wins Lee DGA Honor
30 January 2006 (WENN)
Ang Lee has won another award for Brokeback Mountain after his controversial movie was named Best Feature Film at the Directors Guild Of America (DGA) Awards on Saturday night. Brokeback Mountain is now the firm favorite to win the Best Picture Oscar in March. Taiwanese director Lee beat out competition from George Clooney for Good Night, And Good Luck, Paul Haggis for Crash, Bennett Miller for Capote and Steven Spielberg for Munich. Elsewhere, Werner Herzog's Grizzly Man was named Best Documentary, while the Best Movie For Television award was shared between Joseph Sargent's Warm Springs and George C. Wolfe's Lackawanna Blues. Hollywood veteran Clint Eastwood was presented with a Lifetime Achievement Award at the Los Angeles ceremony.

Brokeback Takes Directors Guild Award
29 January 2006 (IMDb News Flash)
It was yet another victory for Brokeback Mountain as Ang Lee won the Directors Guild Award for the seemingly Oscar-bound film. Lee bested fellow nominees George Clooney (Good Night, and Good Luck), Paul Haggis (Crash), Bennett Miller (Capote) and Steven Spielberg (Munich) for the honor; it was also Lee's second DGA Award, as he had previously won in 2000 for Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon. It's yet another in a long line of Brokeback victories, as the film was the big winner at the Golden Globes (taking home four awards) and recently nabbed the Producers Guild of America award, as well as numerous critical honors. The DGA win gives Brokeback and Lee a solid lead in the Oscar race, as only six of the DGA's winners since 1949 have not won an Academy Award -- in fact, Lee's Crouching Tiger win was one of the exceptions, as the Best Director Oscar in 2000 went to Steven Soderbergh for Traffic. Academy Award nominations will be announced Tuesday.

The DGA also gave Clint Eastwood (last year's winner for Million Dollar Baby) a Lifetime Achievement Award, and picked Werner Herzog (Grizzly Man) for their documentary award, though surprisingly, the film didn't made the short list for the Best Documentary Oscar. The DGA also gave out awards for television -- here's the entire list of winners:

Feature Film: Ang Lee, Brokeback Mountain

Documentary: Werner Herzog, Grizzly Man

Dramatic TV series: Michael Apted, Rome

Comedy TV series: Marc Buckland, My Name Is Earl

Television movie: Joseph Sargent (Warm Springs) and George C. Wolfe (Lackawanna Blues)

Reality TV show: Tony Croll (Three Wishes) and J. Rupert Thompson (Fear Factor)

Musical variety show: Matthew Diamond, Great Performances: Dance in America - Swan Lake with American Ballet Theater

Daytime drama: Owen Renfroe, General Hospital

Children's programming: Chris Eyre, Edge of America

Commercials: Craig Gillespie

Lifetime Achievement Award: Clint Eastwood

'Brokeback Mountain' Takes Top PGA Award
24 January 2006 (WENN)
Controversial movie Brokeback Mountain was named Best Picture at the 17th annual Producers Guild Of America (Pga) awards Sunday night, keeping it on track for Oscar glory in March. The Ang Lee-directed film's producers, Diana Ossana and James Schamus, collected the award at the event at the Universal Hilton Hotel in Los Angeles. Previous PGA form now points towards Brokeback Mountain being a likely Best Picture winner at the Academy Awards - 11 out of the 16 films to take the top PGA prize have gone on to win the Oscars equivalent. Producers Claire Jennings and Nick Park picked up the Best Animated Picture award for Wallace & Gromit: The Curse Of The Were-Rabbit. The Ellen DeGeneres Show won Best TV Series, while the award for Best Long-Form TV Show went to The Life And Death Of Peter Sellers. Lost picked up Best TV Drama while Entourage picked up Best Comedy TV series. 60 Minutes won Best Nonfiction TV Series. Veteran film-maker Clint Eastwood was presented with the Milestone Award, while producer Grant Heslov took home the Stanley Kramer Award for George Clooney film Good Night, And Good Luck. Legendary B-movie producer Roger Corman collected the Lifetime Achievement Award. He told the audience, "Today, with the new methods of delivering our films on the internet etcetera, we may see the power of the major (studios) diminish a little more and we may see the producers assume their rightful place." Norman Lear won the PGA Achievement Award In Television, and AOL boss Jon Miller took home the Vanguard Award.

Eastwood To Receive DGA's Lifetime Achievement Award
2 December 2005 (StudioBriefing)
The Directors Guild of America has chosen Clint Eastwood to receive its lifetime achievement award at the 58th annual DGA Awards on Jan. 28. Calling Eastwood "the consummate filmmaker," DGA President Michael Apted said in a statement, "As one of the most prolific, versatile directors in the history of the medium, there isn't a genre that Clint Eastwood hasn't mastered in the more than 25 films he has directed over the past 35 years. ... His ongoing body of work continues to touch generations of moviegoers and bring huge audiences into movie theaters. He does it all with great class, intelligence, and style."

Eastwood Set for DGA Honor
2 December 2005 (WENN)
Film veteran Clint Eastwood is set to pick up two prestigious honours in January - a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Directors' Guild of America (DGA) and the Milestone Award from the Producers' Guild of America (PGA). Only weeks after the PGA announced they would bestow the Milestone Award in Eastwood for his contributions to the film industry on January 22, the DGA revealed yesterday they would celebrate the 75-year-old star's four decades of directing at the annual DGA Awards on January 28. DGA President Michael Apted says, "As one of the most prolific, versatile directors in the history of the medium, there isn't a genre that Clint Eastwood hasn't mastered in the more than 25 films he has directed over the past 35 years. His ongoing body of work continues to touch generations of moviegoers and bring huge audiences into movie theaters. He does it all with great class, intelligence, and style." Eastwood's last outing as director - Million Dollar Baby - picked up four Oscars earlier this year, including Best Director and Best Film.

Elaborate Hoax Staged for British Reality Series
17 November 2005 (StudioBriefing)
In perhaps the most elaborate hoax ever devised for TV, contestants on Space Cadets, an upcoming British reality series, have been led to believe that they are going on a trip to outer space, the London Times reported today (Thursday). The newspaper said that the nine contestants are about to undergo training in what they believe is Russia after actually circling around Britain for hours. Their training center, a onetime British military base now populated by Russian-speaking actors, has been given a makeover to resemble Star City, the cosmonaut training center in Russia, and their space shuttle is actually the movie spaceship built for the Clint Eastwood movie Space Cowboys, the Times said. The sound of the launch has been created by Hollywood sound technicians, and an outside screen will provide the illusion of a view of Earth. Space Cadets is due to ... er ... launch on Dec. 7.

Connery To Be Awarded Top AFI Honor
14 November 2005 (WENN)
Veteran actor Sir Sean Connery is to be awarded the American Film Institute's (AFI) Life Achievement Award to honor his outstanding contribution to film. Scottish Connery is most famous for his role as superspy James Bond, who he played six times between 1962 and 1971, and once again in unofficial 007 movie Never Say Never Again. In 1988, the 75-year-old won the Best Supporting Actor Academy Award for his role in Brian De Palma's gangster film The Untouchables. Connery, the 34th person to be presented with the AFI Lifetime Achievement Award, will collect his honor at a ceremony in Los Angeles on 8 June next year. The AFI's Howard Stringer says, "Though best remembered for creating one of the great film heroes of all time, his talents transcend typecasting. His body of work not only stands the test of time, but illuminates a career more extraordinary than James Bond himself." Previous AFI Life Achievement Award recipients include Clint Eastwood, Robert De Niro, Alfred Hitchcock and Steven Spielberg.

Foxx Makes Time's Most Influential List
18 April 2005 (WENN)
Oscar-winning actor Jamie Foxx has arrived on Time magazine's list of the world's most influential people, alongside President George W. Bush and lifestyle guru Martha Stewart. Hailing from 31 different countries, and including rappers, designers, world leaders and a tsunami survivor, the listed newsmakers have shaped the world in some way, according to the magazine's editors. Those named were profiled by people who have themselves been in the spotlight. Director Oliver Stone praises Ray star Foxx; property tycoon Donald Trump weighs in on fellow mogul Stewart; while Sean Penn calls Clint Eastwood "cinema's Mount Rushmore". Others honored on the list include talk show host Oprah Winfrey, Oscar-winning actress Hilary Swank and rap star Jay-Z.

Former Carmel Mayor Meets with Governor of Tokyo
6 April 2005 (StudioBriefing)
Clint Eastwood met with Tokyo Governor Shintaro Ishihara today (Wednesday) to seek his cooperation for his forthcoming Flags of Our Fathers, about the six American soldiers seen in Joe Rosenthal's famous photograph planting the U.S. flag on Iwo Jima's Mount Suribachi in WWII. Ishihara reportedly asked Eastwood to show respect for 20,000 Japanese soldiers who died in the Iwo Jima battle (7,000 Americans also died) and to avoid sacred grounds. Katsumi Kumagai, a spokesman for the Tokyo government, told reporters later that Eastwood promised that he would respect the governor's wishes. Although the island of Iwo Jima is located 750 miles south of Tokyo, it is administered by the Tokyo government.

More Honors for Foxx
21 March 2005 (StudioBriefing)
Adding further laurels to an already abundant trove, Taylor Hackford's Ray Charles biopic Ray received four NAACP Image Awards over the weekend, including an outstanding-actor trophy for star Jamie Foxx. Accepting the award, Foxx, who had previously received best-actor awards at the Golden Globes and the Oscars, said, "This has been an absolutely wonderful ride." His costar, Kerry Washington, won the best-actress award. Meanwhile, in a surprise upset, Bill Condon has won the top prize at the Directors Guild of Great Britain awards. Condon, the director of Kinsey, who was not nominated for an Oscar, beat out the man who won it, Clint Eastwood (Million Dollar Baby). He also beat Martin Scorsese (The Aviator), who had been favored to win.

'The Ring Two' Rings Up $36 Million
21 March 2005 (StudioBriefing)
Running rings around the original, DreamWorks' The Ring Two opened with an estimated $36 million over the weekend -- more than twice the $15 million that the original Ring took in in its debut in October 2002. (It went on to gross $129 million.) The success of the film, which stars Naomi Watts, extends the dominance of the horror genre at the box office this year. It was also the best opening for a horror movie since The Grudge opened with $39.1 million last October. Meanwhile, 20th Century Fox's animated family film Robots performed strongly in its second week with ticket sales of about $21.8 million, down a modest 39 percent from its opening. Its 10-day total stands at $66.9 million. Another family film, Vin Diesel's The Pacifier, also continued to show strength, registering $12.5 million in its third weekend, off 31 percent from last week. Opening in fourth place was Disney's female "tween"-oriented Ice Princess with $7 million. Opening only at a single theater in New York, Woody Allen's Melinda and Melinda grossed an outstanding $74,048. Meanwhile, Martin Scorsese's The Aviator, although not placing among the top ten, did become the first of the Oscar-nominated best picture nominees to cross the $100-million mark. The winner, Clint Eastwood's Million Dollar Baby, saw its gross climb to $90 million after landing in 8th place with $4.1 million.

The top ten films for the weekend, according to studio estimates compiled by Exhibitor Relations: 1. The Ring Two $36 million; 2. Robots, $21.8 million; 3. The Pacifier, $12.5 million; 4. Ice Princess, $7 million; 5. Hitch, $6.6 million; 6. Be Cool, $5.8 million; 7. Hostage, $5.79 million; 8. Million Dollar Baby, $4.1 million; 9. Diary of a Mad Black Woman, $3.5 million; 10. Constantine, $2.3 million.

'Kinsey' Knocks Out 'Million Dollar Baby' at UK Awards
21 March 2005 (WENN)
Kinsey director Bill Condon has beaten out competition from Clint Eastwood to walk away with the prestigious International Film Prize at the Directors Guild Of Great Britain awards last night. Condon's biopic about sex scientist Alfred Kinsey took home the top prize, leaving the Oscar-winning Million Dollar Baby empty-handed. Kinsey also beat Martin Scorsese's The Aviator and Mike Leigh's Vera Drake to the award. British American Beauty director Sam Mendes was honored with a Lifetime Achievement Award at the second annual London event, despite being only 39. A modest Mendes said, "I feel very undeserving. I feel the award is a bank loan, which I'll take out and pay back by the end of 20 years, and by then I'll feel more deserving." Walter Salles' The Motorcycle Diaries won Best Foreign Language Film, while Paul Pavlikovsky's My Summer Of Love and Shane Meadows' Dead Man's Shoes shared the Best British Film award.

'Ray' Emerges the Winner at NAACP Awards
21 March 2005 (WENN)
Biopic Ray picked up four prizes at the NAACP Image Awards in Los Angeles on Saturday night, including the Outstanding Actor prize for its star Jamie Foxx. The life story of late R&B musician Ray Charles was also named Outstanding Movie, while Kerry Washington and Regina King won the Outstanding Actress and Supporting Actress awards respectively for their roles in the film. Morgan Freeman won the Supporting Actor award for his role in Clint Eastwood's Million Dollar Baby at the National Association For The Advancement Of Colored People ceremony, which was hosted by Chris Tucker. Elsewhere, singer Alicia Keys' hit "If I Ain't Got You" took home the Outstanding Song and Music Video awards, while Kanye West was named Outstanding New Artist for his debut album College Dropout. Usher picked up the Outstanding Male Artist award for his Confessions disc, and Fantasia was named Outstanding Female Artist for her Free Yourself album. Destiny's Child won the award for Outstanding Duo Or Group for their Destiny Fulfilled disc. Music legend Prince received the honorary Vanguard Award, given to those whose work "increases our understanding and awareness of racial and social issues".

Bullock Fires Back at 'Million Dollar Baby' Reports
8 March 2005 (WENN)
Sandra Bullock is upset by reports she turned down the chance to star in Oscar-winning movie Million Dollar Baby - because she tried to get the film made for years. The actress calls rumors she snubbed Clint Eastwood "total rubbish," insisting instead that gossips have got their facts wrong. She explains, "We had Million Dollar Baby with someone else for a while, trying to get it made. I couldn't get it made. We tried and tried and tried. (They were like) Female boxing movies don't sell. I was like, 'This is the most incredible piece.' I then started doing Miss Congeniality 2 and they got Hilary Swank and they got Clint." But Bullock insists she's not bitter about the fact the film went on to net Swank a Best Actress Oscar - in the role she wanted to play: "When things like that happen, that's the way they're supposed to be."

They Went Ahead and Made His Day
28 February 2005 (StudioBriefing)
The Oscars presentations came off as predictably as a fixed fight Sunday, with Clint Eastwood's Million Dollar Baby winning for best film, best director (Eastwood), actress (Hilary Swank), and supporting actor (Morgan Freeman). Jamie Foxx won for best actor in Ray and Cate Blanchett won for her portrayal of Katharine Hepburn in The Aviator.The writing awards were captured by Sideways writers Alexander Payne and Jim Taylor for best adapted screenplay, and by writer Charlie Kaufman for his original screenplay, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind. The Incredibles won for best animated feature, while Spain's The Sea Inside won for best foreign film.

Eastwood Calls Critics Extremists
21 February 2005 (StudioBriefing)
Clint Eastwood has acknowledged that a plot twist in Million Dollar Baby that raises the issue of euthanasia "does hit you with sort of a left hook," and that when he attempted to raise money to produce the film "nobody seemed enthralled with that." In an interview appearing in the current issue of Time magazine, Eastwood suggested that he was able to keep the plot twist secret because the movie was made "under the radar. Nobody knew we were making it, and nobody gave a damn that we were making it." Eastwood said that he was surprised that it took so long for the matter to become the subject of controversy. Asked about the fact that the attack on the film comes from his "constituency," Eastwood, generally regarded as a Republican conservative, responded, "Extremism is so easy. You've got your position, and that's it. It doesn't take much thought. And when you go far enough to the right, you meet the same idiots coming around from the left."

Swank Says She Doesn't Always Agree with Her Characters
11 February 2005 (StudioBriefing)
Hilary Swank, the much-honored star of Clint Eastwood's Million Dollar Baby, is speaking out about the controversy surrounding a plot twist in the movie and the decision by numerous conservative commentators to reveal it, hoping it will discourage others from buying a ticket to see it. (Eastwood himself has said that he doubts that knowing about the plot twist will spoil the movie for viewers.) Swank denies that the movie was intended to promote euthanasia, as the critics contend. The online edition of TV Guide quotes her as saying, "I don't take on roles necessarily because they reflect my own opinion or my ideas of life. ... The great thing about acting is [that] we get to explore so many different ideas and expand our view of the world. Whatever was portrayed in the film is not necessarily Clint's or my or Morgan [Freeman]'s outlook on anything. My job is to service the story and get out of its way."

Eastwood Baffled by Attacks
10 February 2005 (StudioBriefing)
SPOILER ALERT: Clint Eastwood has expressed bafflement over the partisan controversy that has developed over his Oscar-nominated Million Dollar Baby. Interviewed by New York Times media critic Frank Rich for his column in Sunday's edition, Eastwood indicated that he had not suspected that a scene in the film in which a paralyzed character is removed from life-support would be characterized as an endorsement of euthanasia by such conservative commentators as Rush Limbaugh, Michael Medved and Debbie Schlussel. "What do you have to give these people to make them happy?" Eastwood, a former Republican mayor of Carmel, CA, remarked, noting that he had not considered "the political side of this" while making the film. "You used to be able to disagree with people and still be friends. Now you hear these talk shows, and everyone who believes differently from you is a moron and an idiot -- both on the right and the left." He pointed out that the film presents a heroine who is "willing to pull herself up by the bootstraps, to work hard and persevere no matter what" to realize her dream. "That all sounds like Americana to me, like something out of Wendell Willkie," he told Rich. "And the villains in the movie include people who are participating in welfare fraud." Eastwood denied that efforts to give away the plot device in the film will wind up harming it, and Rich himself wrote: "My own experience is that knowing the ultimate direction of Million Dollar Baby ... only deepened my second viewing of it."

Eastwood in Good Shape
8 February 2005 (WENN)
Movie veteran Clint Eastwood may be approaching his 75th birthday this year, but he still works out at the gym on a regular basis. The Unforgiven star, who is up for Best Actor at this month's Academy Awards, is adamant he will remain in good shape, unlike other men his age who take a laid-back approach to exercising. Eastwood enthuses, "I work out daily and I like it. In Million Dollar Baby it was great because we had a gym. Everyone would see who could do the most dips on the dip bar and I did the most. At 74, I could still do 30."

Foxx, Swank Honored by Screen Actors Guild
7 February 2005 (StudioBriefing)
Jamie Foxx's portrayal of Ray Charles in Ray brought him the ultimate recognition from his peers Saturday, when the Screen Actors Guild handed him its award for best male actor of the year. SAG named Hilary Swank best female actor for her performance in Clint Eastwood's Million Dollar Baby. The two had both won the acting awards at last month's Golden Globes presentations. The SAG honors would therefore make them frontrunners for the Oscars in the actor categories. Supporting honors went to Morgan Freeman for Million Dollar Baby and Cate Blanchett for The Aviator. The ensemble award went to the cast of Sideways.

'Animal House' Star Vernon Dies
7 February 2005 (WENN)
Animal House and Dirty Harry star John Vernon has died at his Los Angeles home. He was 72. The Canadian actor's daughter Kay Vernon said her father passed away on Thursday, following complications from heart surgery. Vernon studied at London's Royal Academy of Dramatic Art and began his film career by providing the voice of Big Brother in the 1956 film adaptation of George Orwell's classic novel 1984. He became a household name in his native Canada by playing Dr. Steve Wojeck in TV drama Wojeck. His Wojeck co-star Ted Follows recalls, "John was superb. He really knew how to use the camera, and vocally he was just born to have a mic nearby." During his long career, he starred in Alfred Hitchcock's thriller Topaz and his Dirty Harry co-star Clint Eastwood's movie The Outlaw Josey Wales.

Oscar Nods Help, But Fright Flick Wins
1 February 2005 (StudioBriefing)
Films that received Oscar nominations last week got a big boost at the box office over the weekend. Still, none of them did as well as the fright flick Hide and Seek or the comedy Are We There Yet? which topped the box office with $22 million and $17 million respectively. Among the best picture nominees, only Clint Eastwood's Million Dollar Baby cracked the top five, with $11.8 million, to place third. (Its receipts were up 642 percent from the previous week as it went from 147 screens to 2,010.) Another best picture rival, Martin Scorsese's The Aviator, placed sixth with $7.5 million, up 56 percent. Sideways, which has received more critics' awards than any other film, finally made it into the top 10 after 15 weeks, taking in $6.3 million, up 123 percent from the previous week. But Finding Neverland, another Oscar nominee, failed to find the top ten, despite adding nearly 400 theaters and seeing a 125-percent jump in revenue. It took in $2.7 million. Hotel Rwanda, which added about 100 theaters, took in $1.8 million, up 39 percent.

The top ten films over the weekend, according to final figures compiled by Exhibitor Relations (figures in parentheses represent total gross to date): 1. Hide and Seek, 20th Century Fox, $21,959,233, (New); 2. Are We There Yet?, Sony, $16,346,395, 2 Wks. ($38,458,267); 3. Million Dollar Baby, Warner Bros., $12,265,482, 7 Wks. ($21,579,631); 4. Meet The Fockers, Universal, $8,026,165, 6 Wks. ($258,372,305); 5. Coach Carter, Paramount, $8,015,331, 3 Wks. ($53,570,689); 6. The Aviator, Miramax, $7,550,128, 7 Wks. ($68,233,031); 7. Racing Stripes, Warner Bros., $6,538,292, 3 Wks. ($35,063,608); 8. Sideways, Fox Searchlight, $6,347,364, 15 Wks. ($40,054,672); 9. In Good Company, Universal, $6,242,825, 5 Wks. ($35,998,497); 10. Assault on Precinct 13, Focus/Rogue, $4,289,986, 2 Wks. ($14,757,794).

Come Out, Come Out...
31 January 2005 (StudioBriefing)
Producers of the thriller Hide and Seek may have wanted to hide from film critics, who almost unanimously drubbed the film, but moviegoers sought it out nonetheless, buying about $22-million worth of tickets to see it over the weekend. Alone in the Dark, another new bump-in-the-night movie, pretty much lived up to its name as most theaters showing it remained virtually empty. It took in just $2.5 million. Are We There Yet?, last week's top box office performer, remained strong in its second outing as it earned about $17 million, down just 8 percent from last week. Clint Eastwood's Million Dollar Baby went into wide release and nabbed third place with $11.8 million. The critically praised Sideways also expanded to about 1,700 theaters and increased its ticket sales by 122 percent as it landed in seventh place with $6.3 million. Ticket sales for the top 12 films totaled $103.5 million, up 41 percent from the comparable weekend a year ago.

The top ten films for the weekend, according to studio estimates compiled by Exhibitor Relations: 1. Hide and Seek, $22 million; 2. Are We There Yet?, $17 million; 3. Million Dollar Baby, $11.8 million; 4. Coach Carter, $8 million; 5. Meet the Fockers, $7.6 million; 6. The Aviator, $7.5 million; 7. Sideways, $6.3 million; 8. In Good Company, $6.2 million; 9. Racing Stripes, $6 million; 10. Assault on Precinct 13, $4.2 million.

DGA Names Eastwood Year's Best Director
31 January 2005 (StudioBriefing)
Clint Eastwood has won the Directors Guild of America's top award for Million Dollar Baby, making him the front-runner for a best-director Oscar. It was the second time Eastwood has been so honored, having landed the DGA trophy in 1993 for Unforgiven. (He also won the Oscar that year.) In the documentary category, the DGA passed over Michael Moore and handed their trophy to Munich film school students Byambasuren Davaa and Luigi Falorni for their The Story of the Weeping Camel, a film about a group of Gobi Desert camel herders who rescue a young camel after he is rejected by his mother.

Eastwood Becomes Oscar Favorite After DGA Win
31 January 2005 (WENN)
Clint Eastwood has become the odds-on favorite to claim the Best Director Oscar next month after beating rival Martin Scorsese again at the Directors Guild Awards (DGA) on Saturday. Eastwood claimed the Best Picture prize over Scorsese, Taylor Hackford, Marc Forster and Alexander Payne for his acclaimed boxing movie Million Dollar Baby. Only six DGA winners in the past 57 years have failed to go on to win Oscar gold. Other directors who were recognized by the Guild jury at this year's awards ceremony were Byambasuren Davaa and Luigi Falorni, whose gripping Story Of The Weeping Camel earned them the Documentary prize; Walter Hill, who claimed the honor of Best Dramatic Series for TV western series Deadwood; and Tim Van Patten, who was honored in the Best Comedy Series category for Sex And The City. Meanwhile, longtime Oscars producer Gil Cates, a former DGA president, became only the third recipient of the DGA Presidents Award at the Beverly Hilton hotel gala.

Clint Eastwood KO's Directors Guild
30 January 2005 (IMDb News Flash)
In something of a surprise victory, Clint Eastwood took home the Directors Guild award this weekend for the up-and-coming boxing drama Million Dollar Baby. It was the strong signifier that Baby, which just opened wide this weekend on the heels of seven Oscar nominations, is becoming a force to be reckoned with at this year's Academy Awards, where it's up for Best Picture, Actor, Actress, and Director among others. It was also the first major stumbling block for Martin Scorsese, whose The Aviator, with 11 Oscar nominations, is considered by many to be the movie to beat this year. Most everyone was considering this year to be the one for Scorsese, who has yet to win an Academy Award, and his surprise DGA loss puts a damper on the upcoming fortunes for The Aviator this awards season. While the DGA isn't a 100% reliable predictor, it's a pretty darn accurate barometer of who's going to win the Best Director Oscar, as only six of its past 56 winners haven't gone on to take home the Academy Award. Adding insult to injury, Scorsese has been nominated for the DGA award six times but has never won; Eastwood has been nominated three times, and won previously for Unforgiven.

Other DGA winners including feature documentary The Story of the Weeping Camel (which bested Fahrenheit 9/11) and over on the TV side, three efforts from HBO: TV movie Something the Lord Made, drama Deadwood and now-gone comedy Sex and the City. Genius: A Night for Ray Charles won the TV musical variety award.

Clint Eastwood Says He's Not Worried About Spoilers
27 January 2005 (StudioBriefing)
[NOTE: The following item reveals a plot twist in Million Dollar Baby, and those who have not seen the film may wish to skip this item.]

Clint Eastwood has said that "spoiler" discussions about the plot twist in his Million Dollar Baby are not likely to hurt the film. In an interview with the Los Angeles Times, Eastwood said, "Any movie ... is better when you don't have someone spilling the beans on it. ... But they may end up building curiosity. Knowing the ending certainly didn't hurt The Passion of the Christ." The film has been attacked as a thinly disguised argument in favor of euthanasia, since the title character, a female boxer, is allowed to die after suffering a catastrophic spinal injury. The National Spinal Cord Injury Assn. on Wednesday joined the critics. A spokesman commented, "The movie is saying 'death is better than disability.'" In his interview with the Times, Eastwood responded: "I'm just telling a story. I don't advocate. I'm playing a part. I've gone around in movies blowing people away with a .44 magnum. But that doesn't mean I think that's a proper thing to do."

Commentators Issue Intentional Spoilers About 'Baby'
26 January 2005 (StudioBriefing)
[NOTE - SPOILER ALERT: Ordinarily we do not offer "spoiler" warnings when discussing the content of movies unless they also appear in the news reports that we compress for this digest. The following item, however, covers the controversy over the actions by some commentators and columnists to undermine Clint Eastwood's Million Dollar Baby by disclosing a key plot element. Readers who have not seen the movie and who do not want to be informed about the issue it raises until they have seen it may wish to skip this item.]

Rush Limbaugh has become the latest commentator to blast Clint Eastwood's Million Dollar Baby, calling it a "million dollar euthanasia movie." On Tuesday, he facetiously apologized for letting "the cat out of the bag when I mentioned to you that the real subject of the movie is, when this heroine becomes paralyzed, she wants to die and they say, 'Okay, you'd be better off dead,' and they pretty much zap her. I apparently spoke out of school, as a movie critic and reviewer, uh, ladies and gentlemen. I just feel terrible about this." Critic Michael Medved told USA Today that he had revealed the plot twist because "there are competing moral demands that come into the job of a movie critic. We have a moral and fairness obligation to not spoil movies. On the other hand, our primary moral obligation is to tell the truth." Medved, who says he "hated this movie," also remarked that "They didn't want to tell people what it is [about] because no one would come." On Tuesday, an orgaization of paraplegics also joined the critics of the movie.

'The Aviator' Revs Up for Oscars
25 January 2005 (StudioBriefing)
Martin Scorsese's The Aviator was given a big Oscar take-off this morning as the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences announced that the Howard Hughes biopic had received 11 nominations, more than any other film. The nominations included best picture, director, actor (Leonardo DiCaprio), supporting actress (Cate Blanchett), and supporting actor (Alan Alda). The film's closest competitors were Million Dollar Baby and Finding Neverland with seven nominations each. Aviator, Baby, and Neverland were joined in the best film category by Ray and Sideways. Clint Eastwood received an acting and a directing nomination for Baby. Jamie Foxx also received two nominations, for best actor in Ray and best supporting actor in Collateral. Nominations in the top categories:

Best picture: The Aviator, Finding Neverland, Million Dollar Baby, Ray, Sideways

Best director: Martin Scorsese - The Aviator, Clint Eastwood - Million Dollar Baby, Alexander Payne - Sideways, Taylor Hackford - Ray, Mike Leigh - Vera Drake

Best actor: Don Cheadle - Hotel Rwanda, Johnny Depp - Finding Neverland, Leonardo DiCaprio - The Aviator, Clint Eastwood - Million Dollar Baby, Jamie Foxx - Ray

Best actress: Annette Bening - Being Julia, Catalina Sandino Moreno - Maria Full of Grace, Imelda Staunton - Vera Drake, Hilary Swank - Million Dollar Baby, Kate Winslet - Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind

Best supporting actress: Cate Blanchett - The Aviator, Laura Linney - Kinsey, Virginia Madsen - Sideways, Sophie Okonedo - Hotel Rwanda, Natalie Portman - Closer

Best supporting actor: Alan Alda - The Aviator, Thomas Haden Church - Sideways, Jamie Foxx - Collateral, Morgan Freeman - Million Dollar Baby, Clive Owen - Closer

Best original screenplay: The Aviator, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, Hotel Rwanda, The Incredibles, Vera Drake

Best adapted screenplay: Before Sunset, Finding Neverland, Million Dollar Baby, The Motorcycle Diaries, Sideways

Best foreign film: As It Is In Heaven, The Chorus, Downfall, The Sea Inside, Yesterday.

The Aviator Leads 77th Academy Award Nominations
25 January 2005 (IMDb News Flash)
As expected, The Aviator flew high at this morning's announcement of the 77th Academy Award nominations, grabbing a field-best 11 nods, including Best Picture. The Howard Hughes biopic also scored nominations in most of the major categories, including Best Director for Martin Scorsese, Best Actor (Leonardo DiCaprio), Best Supporting Actress (Cate Blanchett), and a surprise nod for Alan Alda for Best Supporting Actor. Following behind The Aviator were Finding Neverland and Million Dollar Baby, each with seven nods apiece. Both movies were nominated for Best Picture, though Neverland didn't get a nomination for director Marc Forster; Baby, however, scored a two-fer for Clint Eastwood, who got both Best Actor and Best Director nominations. Ray (six nominations) and Sideways (five nominations) rounded out the Best Picture race; both movies also received Best Director nominations.

There were very few surprises all around, as heavy favorites in the acting categories all drew nominations, including Jamie Foxx, who was nominated for Best Actor for Ray and Supporting Actor for Collateral. The most glaring omission was that of Sideways' Paul Giamatti, who was left out of the Best Actor race, though his co-stars Thomas Haden Church and Virginia Madsen were both honored. Another surprise was the inclusion of Mike Leigh on the Best Director list for Vera Drake, the only Best Director nomination without a corresponding Best Picture nod. In the Foreign Language Film category, the most notable omission was House of Flying Daggers, though expected nominees Les Choristes (which grabbed a surprise Best Song nomination) and The Sea Inside rubbed shoulders with films from Sweden and South Africa. Pixar will take on DreamWorks yet again in the Best Animated Feature race, with The Incredibles going up against fellow box office behemoths Shrek 2 and Shark Tale.

The Academy Awards, overseen by first time host Chris Rock, will be handed out on Sunday, February 27th.

See the entire list of this year's nominees and more coverage in IMDb.com's Road to the Oscars

Globes Are No Crystal Ball
17 January 2005 (StudioBriefing)
The Hollywood Foreign Press Association distributed its largesse around fairly evenly Sunday night, thereby giving no film a special boost for Oscar consideration. The Paramount/Miramax film The Aviator picked up most of the organization's Golden Globe awards, but that was only three, including best dramatic movie, best actor in a dramatic movie (Leonardo DiCaprio), and best original score (Howard Shore). Twentieth Century Fox's Sideways received two awards, including best comedy and best screenplay (Alexander Payne and Jim Taylor). Warner's Million Dollar Baby also received two awards, including best actress in a dramatic movie (Hilary Swank) and best director (Clint Eastwood). Other winners included Jamie Foxx for best actor in a comedy or musical (Ray); Annette Bening for best actress in a comedy or musical (Being Julia); Clive Owen for best supporting actor (Closer); and Natalie Portman for best supporting actress (Closer).

The Aviator Flies at the Golden Globes
17 January 2005 (IMDb News Flash)
A number of movies took home high-profile honors, but ultimately it was The Aviator that dominated the Golden Globes, winning three awards including Best Picture (Drama). The Howard Hughes biopic also walked off with Best Actor (Drama) for Leonardo DiCaprio and Best Score, though Clint Eastwood (Million Dollar Baby) bested Martin Scorsese for the Best Director award. Baby's Hilary Swank nabbed Best Actress, while Closer pulled a two-fer in the supporting categories, winning Supporting Actor and Actress for Clive Owen and Natalie Portman. Sideways continued its winning streak with Best Picture (Comedy/Musical) and Best Screenplay, and the Comedy/Musical acting honors went to expected winners Jamie Foxx (Ray) and Annette Bening (Being Julia). Other film winners included The Sea Inside (Foreign Language Film) and Alfie (Best Song for "Old Habits Die Hard"). Over on the TV side, it was hello to some newcomers, as Desperate Housewives won Best Comedy and Best Actress (Comedy) for Teri Hatcher and Nip/Tuck was the Drama winner; Ian McShane (Deadwood), Jason Bateman (Arrested Development), and Mariska Hartigay (Law & Order: Special Victims Unit) were also all first-time winners. Robin Williams was this year's Cecil B. DeMille honoree.

Get all this year's Golden Globe winners

The Aviator Flies at the Golden Globes
16 January 2005 (IMDb News Flash)
A number of movies took home high-profile honors, but ultimately it was The Aviator that dominated the Golden Globes, winning three awards including Best Picture (Drama). The Howard Hughes biopic also walked off with Best Actor (Drama) for Leonardo DiCaprio and Best Score, though Clint Eastwood (Million Dollar Baby) bested Martin Scorsese for the Best Director award. Baby's Hilary Swank nabbed Best Actress, while Closer pulled a two-fer in the supporting categories, winning Supporting Actor and Actress for Clive Owen and Natalie Portman. Sideways continued its winning streak with Best Picture (Comedy/Musical) and Best Scre