Learn about one of the greatest stories ever told in this new featurette for Paramount Pictures upcoming film BEN-HUR.
BEN-HUR is the epic story of Judah Ben-Hur (Jack Huston), a prince falsely accused of treason by his adopted brother Messala (Toby Kebbell), an officer in the Roman army. Stripped of his title, separated from his family and the woman he loves (Nazanin Boniadi), Judah is forced into slavery. After years at sea, Judah returns to his homeland to seek revenge, but finds redemption. Based on Lew Wallace’s timeless novel, Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ. Also starring Morgan Freeman and Rodrigo Santoro.
RIO, I LOVE YOU is the third in the “Cities of Love” series begun with “Paris, Je T’Aime” (“Paris, I Love You”), which bring together famous directors and stars to create a series of little romantic stories around one city. The city getting the love-letter this time is Rio, home of the upcoming Olympics. However, despite its impressive list of directors, there is little to impress in “Rio, I Love You.”
RIO, I LOVE YOU boasts a more impressive line up of directors that the last one, “New York, I Love You,” but nonetheless continues the series decline in quality from the first one. Directors include Paolo Sorrentino (“Youth”), Fernando Meirelles (“City of God”), and Sang-Soo Im (“The Housemaid”), among others, but none of them shine in this mixed-up film. Rather than having the stories start and end clearly, as in the first two films, several stories make false starts or overlap with characters from others, and are blended in with mostly aerial picture-postcard shots of Rio’s distinct landscape or beaches. Besides making it look like a tourist ad, it makes it difficult to tell when stories start or end.
The international cast includes Emily Mortimer, Vincent Cassel, Harvey Keitel, Jason Isaacs, John Turturro (who wrote, directs and stars in his segment) and Fernanda Montenegro, but the stories, some of which make little sense, hardly make good use of them. Most disappointing is Paolo Sorrentino’s segment “La Fortuna,” which stars Emily Mortimer as a much younger trophy wife who needles her older, wheelchair-bound architect husband (Basil Hoffman) until the segment comes to a chillingly cold end. The great actress Fernanda Montenegro stars in an odd bit as a grandmother who chooses to live as a homeless person, trying to convince her grandson that bathing in a fountain is much more fun.
Director Sang-Soo Im’s fantasy segment features a waiter/vampire who leads a parade of dancing prostitute/vampires down a street. Another nonsensical segment has an Australian movie star ditching his appearance at a film festival to impulsively free-climb Sugarloaf mountain. Turturro’s segment stars him and singer Vanessa Paradis as a longtime couple breaking up, which ends with her singing like a music video. A segment about a hang-glider soaring Rio’s iconic Christ statue while criticizing the city seems pointless.
There are a few segments that work a little better, although they are not enough to save the film. One is a brief, wordless segment starring Vincent Cassel and featuring interesting camera angles, as a beach sand sculptor instantly falls in love and immediately has his heart broken, but is inspired to make his art better. The sweetest story, directed and co-starring Nadine Labaki, features a little boy who has staked out a pay phone in a train station, because he is waiting for a call from Jesus, and Harvey Keitel as an actor playing a priest, who helps that dream come true.
Guillermo Arriaga’s “Texas” is the strongest drama, centering on a former boxer with that nickname and his former model wife, both injured in a car accident that put her in a wheelchair and cost him his arm. The couple get an offer from an American, played by Jason Isaacs, that could help them or further ruin their lives. In another segment “Pas de Deux,” a pair of ballet dancers and lovers, argue about their future as they dance.
RIO, I LOVE YOU is the weakest of the series, but it is unlikely to be the last.
Jack Huston plays Judah Ben-Hur and Morgan Freeman plays Ilderim in Ben-Hur from Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures and Paramount Pictures.
Check out the trailer, along with the first poster, for the timeless epic, BEN HUR, based on the best-selling novel Ben-Hur: A Tale of Christ.
Paramount Pictures’ newest version of the timeless classic is one of the most-anticipated movies of 2016.
Will be interesting to see how this film compares to the 1959 classic, directed by William Wyler, produced by Sam Zimbalist for Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer and starring Charlton Heston, Stephen Boyd, Jack Hawkins, Hugh Griffith and Haya Harareet. The nine-minute chariot race has become one of cinema’s most famous sequences, and the film score, composed and conducted by Miklós Rózsa, is the longest ever composed for a film and was highly influential on cinema for more than 15 years.
The 2016 version’s score is from composer Marco Beltrami.
BEN-HUR is the epic story of Judah Ben-Hur (Jack Huston), a prince falsely accused of treason by his adopted brother Messala (Toby Kebbell), an officer in the Roman army. Stripped of his title, separated from his family and the woman he loves (Nazanin Boniadi), Judah is forced into slavery. After years at sea, Judah returns to his homeland to seek revenge, but finds redemption.
Based on Lew Wallace’s timeless novel, Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ. Also starring Morgan Freeman and Rodrigo Santoro.
From director Timur Bekmambetov, BEN-HUR bows in cinemas on August 12, 2016.
Starring Natalie Portman, Joel Edgerton, Noah Emmerich and Ewan McGregor, watch the latest trailer for JANE GOT A GUN.
The western is directed by Gavin O’Connor and written by Brian Duffield.
JANE GOT A GUN is the story of Jane Hammond (Portman), a young mother living in a secluded ranch on the vast New Mexico prairie. When her family’s life is threatened by a conniving gang of outlaws led by the nefarious John Bishop (McGregor), Jane is forced to seek help from her former fiancé (Edgerton), now a gunslinger.
Sequestered at her ranch with a limited stockpile of weapons and supplies, they await the epic showdown with the Bishops, whilst a tense romantic triangle unfolds inside.
The film opens in the US on Jan 29, 2016; in cinemas across the UK from Spring 2016.
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From director Patricia Riggen, THE 33 stars Antonio Banderas, Rodrigo Santoro, Juliette Binoche, James Brolin, Lou Diamond Phillips, with Bob Gunton, and Gabriel Byrne.
In 2010, the eyes of the world turned to Chile, where 33 miners had been buried alive by the catastrophic explosion and collapse of a 100-year-old gold and copper mine. Over the next 69 days, an international team worked night and day in a desperate attempt to rescue the trapped men as their families and friends, as well as millions of people globally, waited and watched anxiously for any sign of hope. But 200 stories beneath the surface, in the suffocating heat and with tensions rising, provisions—and time—were quickly running out.
A story of resilience, personal transformation and triumph of the human spirit, the film takes us to the Earth’s darkest depths, revealing the psyches of the men trapped in the mine, and depicting the courage of both the miners and their families who refused to give up. Based on the gripping true story of survival – and filmed with the cooperation of the miners, their families and their rescuers – THE 33 reveals the never-before-seen actual events that unfolded, above and below ground, which became nothing less than a worldwide phenomenon.
The Chilean miners – whose miraculous rescue from a collapsed mine five years ago today captivated more than a billion people around the world – reunited in Rome on Tuesday to celebrate the fifth anniversary of the day they emerged from the mine.
In the Eternal City, the miners were applauded at a special anniversary screening of Alcon Entertainment’s and Warner Bros. Pictures’ inspiring drama THE 33, where they were joined by director Patricia Riggen and producer Mike Medavoy.
The film not only reveals the remarkable story of their survival against the odds but of the families, whose unwavering faith and support was instrumental in the rescue, and of the international team of rescuers, who would not give up until they brought the miners home.
THE 33 opens nationwide in US theaters on November 13, 2015, exactly one month after the five-year anniversary of the rescue. The film will be released in UK cinemas on January 29.
During their trip, the miners took the opportunity to visit some of the city’s most famous landmarks, including the Coliseum, the Pantheon and the Basilica of San Giovanni.
On Wednesday, the miners will go to the Vatican to participate in an audience with Pope Francis.
In 2010, the eyes of the world turned to Chile, where 33 miners had been buried alive by the catastrophic explosion and collapse of a 100-year-old gold and copper mine. Over the next 69 days, an international team worked night and day in a desperate attempt to rescue the trapped men as their families and friends, as well as millions of people globally, waited and watched anxiously for any sign of hope. But 200 stories beneath the surface, in the suffocating heat and with tensions rising, provisions – and time – were quickly running out.
A story of resilience, personal transformation and triumph of the human spirit, the film takes us to the Earth’s darkest depths, revealing the psyches of the men trapped in the mine, and depicting the courage of both the miners and their families who refused to give up.
Based on the gripping true story of survival – and filmed with the cooperation of the miners, their families and their rescuers – THE 33 reveals the never-before-seen actual events that unfolded, above and below ground, which became nothing less than a worldwide phenomenon.
THE 33 features an international cast led by Antonio Banderas, Rodrigo Santoro, Academy Award winner Juliette Binoche (“The English Patient”), James Brolin, and Lou Diamond Phillips, with Bob Gunton and Gabriel Byrne. The cast also includes Mario Casas, Jacob Vargas, Juan Pablo Raba, Oscar Nuñez, Tenoch Huerta, Marco Treviño, Adriana Barraza, Kate Del Castillo, Cote de Pablo, Elizabeth De Razzo and Naomi Scott.
Patricia Riggen directed THE 33 from a screenplay by Mikko Alanne, Oscar nominee Craig Borten (“Dallas Buyers Club”) and Michael Thomas, based on the screen story by Jose Rivera and the book Deep Down Dark by Hector Tobar. The film was produced by Oscar nominee Mike Medavoy (“Black Swan”), Robert Katz and Edward McGurn. Carlos Eugenio Lavin, Leopoldo Enriquez, Alan Zhang and José Luis Escolar served as executive producers.
This film has been rated PG-13 for a disaster sequence and some language.
On October 13, 2010, the world held its collective breath as the global media broadcast the miraculous rescue of 33 Chilean miners that had been trapped 200 stories below ground for 69 days following the disastrous collapse of a copper-gold mine in Copiapó, Chile. Spurred on by the support and faith of the miners’ families encamped outside the mine, the Chilean miners’ rescue is one of the most moving real-life events of modern times, watched by more than a billion people around the world.
On October 13, 2015, Chilean Consulates across the United States and in Canada will celebrate the five-year anniversary of this daring rescue with events, including special screenings of Alcon Entertainment’s and Warner Bros. Pictures’ new film THE 33.
Made with the cooperation of the real-life miners, their families and their rescuers, THE 33 opens nationwide on November 13, 2015, exactly one month after the five-year anniversary of the rescue.
Patricia Riggen, director of THE 33, stated, “I am thrilled and honored that our film is playing a part in celebrating the five-year anniversary of this momentous event. Our main goal in making ‘The 33’ was to show the courage and resilience of the men who were trapped, the hope and faith of their families, and the determination of the rescuers who overcame near-impossible odds to bring them home. Their inspiring story captured the attention of millions five years ago and it should never be forgotten.”
In New York, San Francisco, Houston, Toronto and Chicago, the Chilean Consulates will join with Alcon and Warner Bros. to hold VIP screenings of the film. The Chilean Consul General in each city will serve as host of the event.
In Ottawa, Canada, the Chilean Embassy, together with Alcon and Warner Bros., will present a special screening of THE 33 and reception, hosted by the Chilean Ambassador to Canada.
In Miami, at the AMC Sunset Theaters, the General Consul of Chile will help unveil a replica of the Fenix capsule that brought the 33 miners out from the depths of the collapsed mine.
THE 33 features an international cast led by Antonio Banderas, Rodrigo Santoro, Academy Award winner Juliette Binoche (“The English Patient”), James Brolin, and Lou Diamond Phillips, with Bob Gunton and Gabriel Byrne. The cast also includes Mario Casas, Jacob Vargas, Juan Pablo Raba, Oscar Nuñez, Tenoch Huerta, Marco Treviño, Adriana Barraza, Kate Del Castillo, Cote de Pablo, Elizabeth De Razzo and Naomi Scott.
Patricia Riggen directed THE 33 from a screenplay by Mikko Alanne, Oscar nominee Craig Borten (“Dallas Buyers Club”) and Michael Thomas, based on the screen story by José Rivera and the book Deep Down Dark by Hector Tobar. The film was produced by Oscar nominee Mike Medavoy (“Black Swan”), Robert Katz and Edward McGurn. Carlos Eugenio Lavin, Leopoldo Enriquez, Alan Zhang and José Luis Escolar served as executive producers.
The film has been rated PG-13 for a disaster sequence and some language.
Actor Rodrigo Santoro takes a break from filming BEN-HUR, which is currently in production in Rome, to attend the Papal Audience and meet Pope Francis.
Pope Francis blessed actor Rodrigo Santoro, who plays Jesus Christ in the upcoming epic BEN-HUR, at the Papal Audience at St Peter’s Square in Vatican City on Wednesday, April 15th.
Directed by Timur Bekmambetov, the movie is written by Keith Clarke and John Ridley.
Actress Nazanin Boniadi and actor Rodrigo Santoro of BEN-HUR in front of the Vatican for the Papal Audience visit.
BEN-HUR is the epic story of Judah Ben-Hur (Jack Huston), a prince falsely accused of treason by his adopted brother Messala (Toby Kebbell), an officer in the Roman army. Stripped of his title, separated from his family and the woman he loves (Nazanin Boniadi), Judah is forced into slavery. After years at sea, Judah returns to his homeland to seek revenge, but finds redemption.
Based on Lew Wallace’s timeless novel, Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ, the film also stars Morgan Freeman.
Paramount Pictures and Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures present BEN-HUR opening in theaters nationwide on February 26, 2016.
To pull a successful and entertaining con in a movie is to walk a fine line between feeling sensational and realistic. You want to give the audience a sense of magic and illusion while still making them say, “Well, that could happen.” It’s perfectly acceptable not to let us in on the con, but the con shouldn’t be on the audience. When all is finally revealed, I should think that was clever, not cheap.
There was hardly a moment where I cracked a smile or even a smirk during the entirety of FOCUS – a film that seems to think it can get by on style as opposed to smarts. Fashionable clothes, luxurious cars, and exotic locales can’t help this sorry attempt for a con film. FOCUS doesn’t have an ounce of charm or charisma beneath all the flash and glamour, which is a great shame considering the talent involved. You have two successful actors in Margot Robbie and Will Smith, but even they appear confused at times and can’t help this vacuous and wasteful OUT OF SIGHT meets CONFIDENCE with a dash of CHARADE grand forgery.
An unsuccessful con pulled by newbie Jess (Margot Robbie) on a veteran of the con game Nicky (Will Smith) turns into a case of the master taking on a new protégé. From there we find out he’s actually the leader of an elite group of master thieves. They do cool tricks like saunter through the streets of New Orleans pick-pocketing 50 people in a matter of minutes through expert choreography that would make Cirque du Soleil envious. A working relationship quickly blossoms into much more, but just as the two let their guard down, Nicky calls it off. Years later while working a new con job in Buenos Aires involving high performance racing teams, Nicky sees Jess… who just so happens to be seeing the man (Rodrigo Santoro) that Nicky is trying to hustle. Oh, what an unlucky coincidence.
Staging a good con can be fun for the audience. Seeing how they did something after the fact can provide a fun reveal letting the audience in on what they missed. Of course you feel sheepish after seeing all the clues that you overlooked in the moment, but it’s a slight-of-hand trick that I shamelessly love. This at least should be the case. The key word there is should. I never once felt like FOCUS was ever truly engaging me in the con either during or after the fact. FOCUS was much more interested in stumping you then pulling you along to see if you can figure it all out. Clues aren’t shown throughout because there’s no way it could ever happen. The con and tricks are just too preposterous. A scene involving several escalating bets at a football game goes from effectively tense to absurd to the point that I wanted to leave the theater once the scene ended because I felt like I was being taken advantage of. How it all was pulled off is shown in such a “of course this is how we did it” manner that it defies any sense of logic. When a con film is more interested in pulling a con on the audience 30 minutes into the film then on the characters in the story, you know you’re playing with a stacked deck and most likely will continue to be for the remaining 90+ minutes.
In between ridiculous feats of luck and extraordinary coincidence, some inappropriate humor is also integrated. Because I guess my intelligence being offended wasn’t enough. These jokes mostly come from the overweight sidekick played by Adrian Martinez. Jokes about the smell of a lesbian’s breath or a women’s time of the month looking “like a crime scene down there” come out of nowhere and are distractingly crude. I can buy this type of banter from stoner kids in a Judd Apatow film or a SUPERBAD knock-off. Having said that, Martinez’s antics do lend the film some levity in parts – even if he’s mostly there though to be the punch line for a repeating colon cleanse joke. I know… really funny stuff, right?
Who does make the best of this terribly sticky situation is Margot Robbie. Her breezy manner and striking eyes punctuate scenes when she’s playing off the deadpan Will Smith. Though it should be applauded that the Fresh Prince isn’t delivering his usual shtick, his attempt at a pokerfaced George Clooney impression falls painfully flat. Any comment or question from another character is met with an empty side smirk combined with a short and monotone piece of advice. Smith is trying to play the serious ringleader when really he acts as if he’s an extra in the background.
FOCUS wouldn’t feel so helpless if it didn’t strive to be so much. Music numbers are even pulled from classic capers like the original THOMAS CROWN AFFAIR. Night scenes are capably lit with a neon glow adding to the “cool” factor achieved by the smartly dressed people and jazzy music. Where the film loses its… well… you know… is when it tries to outsmart the audience. All the confident directing in the world by Glenn Ficarra and John Requa can’t save FOCUS from feeling like a hasty cash grab masked as a clever ruse. It’s downright silly how the film struggles to be smart. By the end of this predictably simple maze, Will Smith (or some guy who looks like him but is missing the charisma and easy laugh that made him iconic) is shown haven been put through the ringer for the con. I was left feeling the same. We both looked ready to fold and happy to walk away with whatever earnings that remained. For me, it wasn’t much.
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures and Paramount Pictures announced today that principal photography has begun on BEN-HUR starring Jack Huston (“AMERICAN HUSTLE”) as Judah Ben-Hur, Morgan Freeman (“THE SHAWSHANK REDEMPTION”) as Ilderim, Toby Kebbell (“DAWN OF THE PLANET OF THE APES”) as Messala and Nazanin Boniadi (“HOMELAND”) as Esther.
Directed by Timur Bekmambetov (“WANTED”) and written by Keith Clarke (“THE WAY BACK”) and John Ridley (“12 YEARS A SLAVE”), the film is based on Lew Wallace’s epic novel Ben-Hur: A Tale of The Christ.
The epic 1959 film was directed by William Wyler and starred Charlton Heston, Jack Hawkins, Stephen Boyd, Haya Harareet, Sam Jaffe and Hugh Griffith. It won 11 Oscars including Best Picture, Best Director and Best Actor. The magnificent score is by composer Miklós Rózsa.
The producers are Sean Daniel (“THE MUMMY” franchise), Mark Burnett (“SON OF GOD”), Joni Levin (“THE WAY BACK”) and Duncan Henderson (“MASTER AND COMMANDER: THE FAR SIDE OF THE WORLD”). Serving as executive producers are Roma Downey (“THE BIBLE”), Keith Clarke, John Ridley and Jason Brown.
Filming will take place in Rome and Matera, Italy with the film set for release February 26, 2016.
BEN-HUR also stars Rodrigo Santoro (“300: RISE OF AN EMPIRE”) as Jesus Christ, Sofia Black D’Elia (“GOSSIP GIRL”) as Tirzah, Ayelet Zurer (“MAN OF STEEL”) as Naomi, Moises Arias (“ENDER’S GAME”) as Gestas and Pilou Asbæk (“LUCY”) as Pontius Pilate.
“You could not have imagined a more perfect location to shoot this epic than Italy. We can’t wait to get started,” said Bekmambetov.
The film returns to the heart of Lew Wallace’s epic novel focusing on the nature of faith. The story follows a falsely accused nobleman who survives years of slavery to take vengeance on his best friend who betrayed him. Both must come to choose between retribution or forgiveness.
Behind the scenes, the creative team includes Director of Photography, Oliver Wood (“THE BOURNE IDENTITY”), Production Designer, Naomi Shohan (“AMERICAN BEAUTY”), Costume Designer, Varvava Avdyushko (“WANTED”), Visual Effects Supervisor, Academy Award® Winner Jim Rygiel (“THE LORD OF THE RINGS” Franchise) and Special Effects Supervisor, Andy Williams (“FURY”).
MGM will handle production with Jonathan Glickman, President, Motion Picture Group and Matt Dines, Vice President, Production, overseeing the project on behalf of the studio. The film will be distributed worldwide theatrically and on home entertainment by Paramount Pictures, with select international territories as well as all television distribution to be handled by MGM.
