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A Cartoon At Cannes?
16 May 2008 (StudioBriefing)
A rather conventional computer-animated feature may seem like an unlikely choice for inclusion in the program of the Cannes Film Festival, but when it is voiced by the likes of Angelina Jolie, Jack Black and Dustin Hoffman, among others, and those celebrities are willing to come to Cannes to promote it, the film takes a back seat to the glitter -- a necessary component of Cannes' redoubtable red-carpet festivities. Critics for the trade press gave it polite applause. "Although it's aimed primarily at youngsters, Kung Fu Panda embraces humor that plays well across age groups and nationalities," wrote Kirk Honeycutt in the Hollywood Reporter.Todd McCarthy in Daily Variety called it "nice looking but heavily formulaic." Britain's Screen International described it as "warm and very likable Hollywood fare."

Jolie "Due On August 19th"
16 May 2008 (WENN)
More secret details of Angelina Jolie's pregnancy have been exposed by a Kung Fu Panda co-star - Dustin Hoffman has revealed the actress is due to give birth to twins on August 19. Speaking at the Cannes Film Festival, in France on the same day Jack Black - another co-star in the animated movie - accidentally confirmed Jolie is expecting twins, Hoffman has disclosed more information about what has become Hollywood's worst-kept secret. Today show's Natalie Morales reveals in an interview that has yet to be aired, Hoffman told her, "She is due on August 19th." The babies will be Jolie's fifth and sixth children, and her second and third biological kids with partner Brad Pitt. The couple has three adopted children, Maddox, Pax and Zahara, and their first natural child, Shiloh, will turn two this month.

Black Lets Slip Jolie's Twins Secret
15 May 2008 (WENN)
Angelina Jolie has finally confirmed she's pregnant with twins after Kung Fu Panda co-star Jack Black accidentally gave away her big secret at the Cannes Film Festival in France. During an interview with TV show Today to promote their new film, Black joked about Jolie's baby bump. Pointing at the actress' bulging belly, Black quipped, "You're gonna have as many (kids) as (TV family) the Brady Bunch when you have these." And when interviewer Natalie Morales pressed Jolie for a comeback, the sexy star said, "Yeah, yeah, we've confirmed that already. Well, Jack's just confirmed it actually." The babies will be Jolie's fifth and sixth children, and her second and third biological kids with partner Brad Pitt. The couple has three adopted children, Maddox, Pax and Zahara, and their first natural child, Shiloh, will turn two this month.

Transition Costly For Imax
13 May 2008 (StudioBriefing)
IMAX's decision to move from film to digital projection systems in its giant-screen theaters is hitting its bottom line hard. In its SEC filing on Monday, the Canadian-based company reported a net loss of $10.3 million during its first quarter, versus a loss of $4.7 million during the same period a year earlier. Nevertheless, co-CEO Richard Gelfond said that the company is on track to open 20 new digital theaters in the third quarter and another 30 by the end of the year. He also indicated that the company has a strong slate of movies that have been converted to the IMAX format and are set to debut this year, including Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa, Kung Fu Panda, The Dark Knight, and the latest Harry Potter sequel.

IMAX Building Boom Will See Digital Switch
6 May 2008 (StudioBriefing)
IMAX is engaged in a "construction boom" that will see the number of IMAX theaters in North America increase by nearly 80 percent by the end of next year, USA Today reported today. Many of the new venues, it indicated, will deploy digital projectors instead of the enormous machines that have been required in the past to project images from gigantic reels of 70mm film stock onto the oversized screen. Some of the movies that will be converted into the IMAX format this year include Speed Racer, Kung Fu Panda, The Dark Knight, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince and the animated Monsters vs. Aliens. IMAX officials said they were also talking to sports teams about using the new digital projection systems for theatrical presentations of live sports events. Merriman Curhan Ford analyst Eric Wold told the newspaper, "The new [IMAX] theater pace will be huge over the next two years. And I predict them turning profitable in the fourth quarter and staying profitable ever after."

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.

Jolie Takes on First Film Role Since Birth
11 July 2006 (WENN)
Angelina Jolie is re-teaming with Jack Black for her first film role since giving birth to daughter Shiloh Nouvel Jolie-Pitt in May. The Oscar-winner will join Black, Dustin Hoffman, Jackie Chan, Lucy Liu and Ian McShane for the animated comedy Kung Fu Panda. Jolie and Black also voiced characters in 2004's animated movie Shark Tale. Black will play Po The Panda, who slings noodles in a restaurant and loves kung fu, but doesn't have the body required for practicing the martial art. Jolie will provide the voice of a martial-arts master named Tigress, who must get the panda into fighting form after it is revealed he is the "Chosen One" to save the animals. The movie is scheduled for release in May 2008.

DreamWorks Unveils Slate
21 September 2005 (StudioBriefing)
DreamWorks Animation, whose stock has taken a beating in recent months after a series of bad-news announcements, unveiled its development slate through 2009 Tuesday in an apparent effort to spark investor excitement in the company's potential. The company's two-pictures-per-year agenda includes the 2008 release of Kung Fu Panda, in which Jack Black will provide the voice for the title character. The year will also see the release of a sequel to the company's recent hit Madagascar. The company also indicated that it will choose two films from among four currently being considered for release in 2009. High on the list is It Came from Earth, told from the point of view of Martians who are surprised by the landing of astronauts from Earth.