Page 295 – NYFA

Frozen Keeps Going Strong at the Grammys

Frozen seems to be the gift that keeps on giving for Disney. Although the film was released in 2013, it didn’t make the cut in time for the 2014 Grammy Awards. Instead, it had a strong showing at the 2015 Grammys.

The animated film took home two awards. One of which was for the song “Let it Go,” which had previously won an Oscar. The song, written by Robert Lopez and Kristen Anderson-Lopez, won for best song written for visual media.

The massively popular soundtrack rode the top of the charts for a good part of 2014. And it picked up another award for best compilation soundtrack for visual media.

However, the film didn’t completely freeze out the competition. It came short in the best score category, losing out to Alexandre Desplat’s score for The Grand Budapest Hotel.

None of the winners are first-timers. The Lopezes won an Oscar for Frozen. Robert Lopez has also previously won several Tony awards. Desplat has a rather lengthy list of awards to his name.

The scheduling of the different awards means that Frozen is likely done accumulating trophies. But The Grand Budapest Hotel is still eligible, and seems to set up nicely to have a strong showing at this year’s Academy Awards.

So it seems that Frozen may not be completely unstoppable, but it’s certainly no pushover. And Disney wants to ride it success to the end.

Frozen Fever, a short sequel to the original film, will show in front of Disney’s live action Cinderella film that is set to release in March.

The animated short will come completely with a new song from the Lopez team. So we may not have seen the end of Grammy Awards for the the Frozen franchise.

Lionsgate Wants More Hunger Games; Netflix Developing Legend of Zelda Series

Millennials around the world rejoiced this weekend as Lionsgate announced plans to order further Hunger Games movies as rumors swirled that Netflix is in the process of creating an original series based on the famous video game series The Legend of Zelda.

Following the announcement that the fourth and supposedly final movie in the series—which was adapted from Susanne Collins’ best-selling trilogy—The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 2 will be digitally remastered for IMAX 3D, Lionsgate CEO Jon Feltheimer also declared that he’s “actively looking at some development and thinking about prequel and sequel possibilities” for the successful franchise. While Collins has not created the source material upon which the films would be based, it is not surprising that Lionsgate is trying to squeeze more green out the franchise due to its massive box office.

In other news, Netflix is reportedly adapting the Legend of Zelda video game series into a streaming TV show that will take the form of a high fantasy action series that chronicles the quest of a boy named Link as he attempts to rescue the princess Zelda. The video game series is renowned around the world with Nintendo having produced over fifteen installments of the series since 1987.

SpongeBob Soars at Box Office while Jupiter Ascending Stalls

Ever-popular Nickelodeon character SpongeBob proved that he still has massive drawing power as The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge Out of Water topped the weekend box office with a whopping $56 million, easily dispensing with the weekend’s other big new releases, Jupiter Ascending and Seventh Son.

The troubled Jupiter Ascending, which was originally planned for a summer release before it was moved to February, is the third film in a row by The Matrix directors Andy and Lana Wachowski to fail to make an impact at the box office, bringing in $18 million. The film, which cost $179 million to produce, follows the directors’ Cloud Atlas and Speed Racer, which both flopped.

Meanwhile, Legendary’s beleaguered Seventh Son lived up to analysts’ dismal projections bringing in only $7.2 million. The film, which stars Julianne Moore and Jeff Bridges, cost $95 million to make.

In contrast to the disappointing debuts of Jupiter and Son, American Sniper proved to still have very healthy legs, grabbing up $23.3 million in its fourth week of wide release, bringing its domestic total to $282.3 million, making it the third-highest grossing film of 2014 in the US.

The top ten films for the weekend of February 6-8 are as follows.

The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge Out of Water	$55,365,012
American Sniper	$23,289,113
Jupiter Ascending	$18,372,372
Seventh Son	$7,217,640
Project Almanac	$5,232,672
Paddington	$5,220,940
The Wedding Ringer	$4,719,532
The Imitation Game	$4,687,391
Black or White	$4,537,267
The Boy Next Door	$4,111,835

‘Better Call Saul’ Sets Debut Record in Key Demographic

It started as a joke for the screenwriters of Breaking Bad. But it seems that AMC’s move to bring back Bob Odenkirk in his acting role as everyone’s favorite shady lawyer is already a huge success.

Better Call Saul, the Breaking Bad spin-off, debuted on Sunday and set record ratings for the key demographic of adults under 50 years old.

The series premiere drew in 4.4 million viewers in the 18-49 age range and 4.0 million adults in the 25-54 demographic.

The show did well among all viewers, having an audience of 6.9 million. However, it fell short of the overall premiere record. Both Rizzoli and Isles and The Closer drew in over 7 million views during their debuts.

The series got a boost from two of AMC’s other huge hits.

Ever since rumors popped up about a possible Breaking Bad spin-off, fans of the show have been on the edge of their seats. Better Call Saul will provide several origin stories for characters of one of the most successful series in history.

However, Vince Gilligan and Peter Gould, creators of the show, have stated that it will be as much a sequel as it is a prequel. More than just origin stories, the series will expand upon events during Saul’s relationship with Walter White, as well as events that followed.

In a brilliant marketing move, AMC also premiered Better Call Saul outside of its regular Monday time slot. Rather, they chose to debut the show following the return of their other big hit, The Walking Dead.

The zombie series drew in 15.6 million viewers, which undoubtedly provided a boost for the new series premiere.

Better Call Saul returned to its regular time slot the following day. And if the early results are any indication, it is likely to stay there for quite some time.

Mel Brooks Teases Fans with ‘Spaceballs 2’

May the Schwartz be with you…again? According to comments from iconic comedy filmmaker Mel Brooks on Adam Carolla’s podcast, the possibility of filming another Spaceballs is possible. For those familiar with the original 1984 film, the title for the sequel already exists, as Mel Brooks’ character Yogurt says, “God willing, we’ll all meet in again in Space Balls 2: The Search for More Money.”

Some of the more unfortunate setbacks are, of course, the deaths of both John Candy and Joan Rivers. Not to mention, Rick Moranis’ absence from Hollywood for some time now. Though, what could be a better way to come out of retirement than a Spaceballs sequel?

From a financial standpoint, the film’s huge following, tied in with the upcoming reboots of Star Wars, should yield some pretty substantial box-office returns. In fact, Brooks had this to say in regards to a potential sequel, “If I did a movie that came out right after Star Wars comes out, you know, maybe a couple of months later…I’d have a big weekend, you know, no matter what.”

With that strategic timing on a release, Brooks wouldn’t have to look too far for more money.

Spider-Man Joins The Marvel Cinematic Universe

Spidey-senses are tingling everywhere: In some of the biggest news in comic-book movie history, Marvel announced this week that their signature character, Spider-Man, will appear in the Marvel Cinematic Universe currently inhabited by the likes of Robert Downey Jr., Chris Pratt and Paul Rudd. The film rights to Spider-Man are owned by Sony Pictures Entertainment, famously disallowing a crossover between the web-slinger and the Avengers, whose film rights are still owned by Disney and Marvel.

Sony will allow Spider-Man to appear in Marvel (i.e. Disney’s) films for a cut of the profits, though the rest of the deal is still up in speculation. Most assume Peter Parker will first appear in the second Captain America sequel, Civil War, out next summer, where he will join Downey Jr.’s Iron Man and new-to-screens superhero Black Panther.

In league with Sony’s Amy Pascal and Marvel producer Kevin Feige, Sony will also produce a new Spider-Man stand-alone film, probably as soon as 2017, pushing back most Marvel films set to release after that six months each. What this means for Sony’s current Amazing Spider-Man series is unclear, though there is a good chance Andrew Garfield will not continue the role in the new series, and that the character will be facing its second reboot in five years.

While there are rumors 20^th Century Fox properties the X-Men and Fantastic Four will cross-over, there hasn’t been any talk about bringing those under the MCU umbrella as of yet. And, of course, there’s still no word on a new Hulk film.

Sony Chair Amy Pascal Resigns After Sony Hack

When Sony was hacked late last year, thousands of emails between studio execs and movie stars were leaked, among other confidential files. One name that started to get a lot of press, despite being virtually unknown to people outside of the entertainment industry up to that point, was Amy Pascal. The co-chair of Sony Pictures Entertainment had worked relatively quietly in Hollywood for years, developing and overseeing the production of movies like Groundhog Day, Little Women, A League of Their Own, the Spider-Man films, the Daniel Craig Bond films, The Smurfs, The Da Vinci Code and its sequel, American Hustle, Captain Phillips, Zero Dark Thirty, Moneyball and The Social Network.

Pascal’s emails became a prominent fixture in the Sony hack scandal. Some included disparaging remarks about Angelina Jolie, and a conversation about Barack Obama that has been called racist. Presumably to distance itself from the scandal and the surrounding bad press, it’s assumed by many that Sony forced Pascal to resign from her performance. However, she will remain with Sony in a different capacity, heading up a new “major production venture” for the company. Angelina Jolie will probably not be involved.

BFA Filmmaking Student Wins Student Filmmaker Award

Similar to the NCAA Basketball’s March Madness Tournament, the Student Filmmaker Awards’ Audience Choice Award was created for student filmmakers to compete against other film schools, universities and colleges in a 64 film bracket challenge. The films that receive the most votes advance in the bracket until there is only one standing.

The New York Film Academy is proud to announce that one of our BFA Filmmaking students, Talha Binabdulrahman, won the Audience Choice prize by beating out 63 other films in the competition! As a result, Talha’s film Served Cold screened alongside Student Filmmaker’s Official Selections on January 21st in Heber, UT. The film is also featured on their website at studentfilmmakerawards.com

His story focuses on a former drug lord, who is sentenced to life in prison after killing an undercover cop. With the help of his shady attorney he has to take desperate measures in order to be with his teenage daughter.

“I learned a great deal of skills in both directing and writing Served Cold, especially from hands-on workshops,” said Talha in regards to his experience at NYFA.

In addition to Served Cold‘s exposure from Student Filmmakers, Talha landed a distribution with the SHORTS TV Channel, where its expected to premiere during the second quarter of 2015.

As for his next project, Talha says he is working on a new crime/comedy project that is inspired by the well known story of Bonnie & Clyde, but with a modern twist. We look forward to seeing it!

The Big Six Studios Reach Agreement with Kodak to Keep Film Alive

Film traditionalists got a victory Thursday as Eastman Kodak Co. will finalize an agreement to keep supplying motion picture film to the studios.

The supply agreement includes the big six studios: 20^th Century Fox, Warner Bros., NBC Universal, Sony, Walt Disney, and Paramount.

The agreement comes at a time where film sales have dropped 96% in less than decade. However, some of Hollywood’s biggest names — including Qentin Tarantino, Christopher Nolan, Judd Apatow and J.J. Abrams — have been lobbying to keep film alive.

When Fuji Film dropped out of the game, Kodak became the sole supplier of film to the industry. But that didn’t stop the struggles, including a Chapter 11 filing in January 2012 which it managed to emerge from by September 2013.

It’s not difficult to understand why the supplier is struggling. Digital filmmaking is becoming the norm, as are digital projectors at theaters. RED cameras are taking over as the standard for movie-making. While the costs of producing in a digital format are comparable to that of film, it is much easier to edit the in the digital format.

Nevertheless, purists believe the value of film is enough to incur those additional costs and keep the format alive. While the details are yet to be known, supporters of the film format should be happy for now. Although it might be an uphill battle for the decades to come.