Clooney to Help Manage Energy Company

George Clooney will become an executive board member of a new Swiss energy company that will develop environmentally friendly techniques for car motors and other devices, the billionaire who is setting up the firm said Saturday.

The new company will have different branches doing research and development in the clean production of hydrogen, solar energy and fuel cells, said Nicolas Hayek, chairman of the Swatch Group.

"First I hesitated between Al Gore and Clooney," Hayek said in an interview with daily Berner Zeitung.

But he didn't ask the former vice president because it was still unclear whether Gore would run for president and therefore might have accepted the post as a mere public relations exercise, Hayek said.

Clooney will sit on the board alongside Swiss astronaut Claude Nicollier and others, Hayek said.

Clooney's spokesman, Stan Rosenfield, confirmed the report in an e-mail to The Associated Press.

Hayek, who chairs the executive board of Swatch Group AG, the world's largest watchmaker, said he will also preside over the board of the new company, which will be based in the western Swiss city of Biel.

He did not say when the new company, which has yet to be named, will be launched.

Source: www.cinema-pedia.com

Perry Fans RSVP With $21.5 Million

Academy Awards heavyweights such as George Clooney and Cate Blanchett were no match for another of Tyler Perry's populist tales.

The Lionsgate release "Tyler Perry's Why Did I Get Married?", a marital yarn whose ensemble cast includes Janet Jackson, Malik Yoba, Jill Scott and writer-director Perry, debuted as the No. 1 weekend movie with $21.5 million, according to studio estimates Sunday.

Perry's flick came in well ahead of Clooney's legal drama "Michael Clayton," Blanchett's historical pageant "Elizabeth: The Golden Age," and Joaquin Phoenix and Mark Wahlberg's crime saga "We Own the Night," which all pulled in modest crowds.

"The Game Plan," which had been No. 1 the previous two weekends, was neck-and-neck with "Michael Clayton" and "We Own the Night" for second-place. Exact rankings awaited final studio numbers Monday. Disney reported an $11.5 million haul for "The Game Plan," Warner Bros. reported $11.01 million for "Michael Clayton" and Sony reported $11 million for "We Own the Night."

Universal's "The Golden Age," a followup to 1998's "Elizabeth," was No. 6 with $6.2 million.

Despite the rush of movies featuring top stars, overall business continued to slide. Revenues were down for the fourth-straight weekend, with the top-12 films taking in $85.5 million, off 14 percent from the same weekend last year, when "The Grudge 2" and "The Departed" led the box office.

Though "Tyler Perry's Daddy's Little Girls" had a so-so opening earlier this year, "Why Did I Get Married?" joined his previous hits "Madea's Family Reunion" and "Diary of a Mad Black Woman," which also opened at No. 1.

"Why Did I Get Married?" follows the domestic trials of couples re-evaluating their relationships during an annual reunion.

"Tyler Perry is a mogul," said Paul Dergarabedian, president of box-office tracker Media By Numbers. "There is a built-in audience base for Tyler Perry's movies, no matter what time of year, no matter what the subject matter."

"Michael Clayton," which went into nationwide release after opening in a handful of theaters a week earlier, stars Clooney as an attorney in moral crisis over a class-action lawsuit.

"We Own the Night" features Phoenix and Wahlberg in the story of a black-sheep brother who makes amends with his family of cops to take on Russian drug dealers.

In "The Golden Age," Blanchett reprises her role as Britain's Queen Elizabeth I as she faces a holy war with Spain.

The studios are counting on Oscar buzz for Blanchett and Clooney to keep "The Golden Age" and "Michael Clayton."

"We think we really have a solid Oscar contender here, and we're in for the long run," said Dan Fellman, Warner's head of distribution.

Such films tend to have more staying power, since they appeal to older moviegoers who do not necessarily rush out to see films over opening weekend.

"This is a very specific kind of film that isn't going to launch in the marketplace the same as some of the other broad-based movies do," said Nikki Rocco, head of distribution for Universal. "This is a very discerning audience. There are a lot of films vying for that same adult audience, so we were pleased to get it launched."

In limited release, the oddball romance "Lars and the Real Girl," starring Ryan Gosling, took in a healthy $85,000 in seven theaters; "Sleuth," with Michael Caine and Jude Law in an update of Caine and Laurence Olivier's 1972 battle of wits, opened with $50,090 in nine theaters; and "Control" a drama about Joy Division singer Ian Curtis, who killed himself at age 23, debuted strongly with $26,500 in one theater.

Estimated ticket sales for Friday through Sunday at U.S. and Canadian theaters, according to Media By Numbers LLC. Final figures will be released Monday.

1. "Tyler Perry's Why Did I Get Married?", $21.5 million.

2. "The Game Plan," $11.5 million.

3. "Michael Clayton," $11.01 million.

4. "We Own the Night," $11 million.

5. "The Heartbreak Kid" $7.4 million.

6. "Elizabeth: The Golden Age," $6.2 million.

7. "The Kingdom" $4.6 million.

8. "Across the Universe," $4 million.

9. "Resident Evil: Extinction," $2.65 million.

10. "The Seeker: The Dark Is Rising," $2.15 million.

Source: www.cinema-pedia.com

Interview: Michael Clayton Director Tony Gilroy

After beginning with The Cutting Edge in 1992, Tony Gilroy has built a career on writing dramas (Extreme Measures), thrillers (Dolores Claiborne), blockbusters (Armageddon), and some films that combine all of the above into one (the Bourne trilogy). Gilroy makes his directorial debut with Michael Clayton, starring Sydney Pollack, Tom Wilkinson, and George Clooney as the titular character, a washed-up legal consultant embroiled in murder, cover-ups, and deadly intrigue. Michael Clayton had its North American debut to a receptive audience during the Toronto Film Fest, and has since attained Certified Fresh status in limited release. It expands to theaters everywhere today. Rotten Tomatoes caught up with Gilroy in San Francisco at the tail end of his promotional tour to discuss final cut, film criticism, and his role on a certain Michael Bay production.

Rotten Tomatoes: George Clooney's clout got you final cut on Michael Clayton. How often does that happen?

Tony Gilroy: Very difficult, almost impossible. For me to get final cut on the first picture is unheard of. I doubt I'll get it again for the next picture.

RT: Who came aboard first during Michael Clayton's casting process?

TG: George. I needed to have that piece first. Once I had George though, I could cast whoever I want. I didn't have to cast for part sales; I didn't have to cast for studio. I always knew that I needed a movie star to work for free. That was the only way this movie was going to get made. Once I had George, I was totally protected.

RT: Sydney Pollack had expressed interest in directing Michael Clayton. Did it take convincing that this was going to be your project?

TG: It wasn't like Rocky where someone's floating four million dollars in the back of your house going, "Take the money!" I had to go to my wife, saying, "Oh, my God, what should I do?" Everyone pretty much understood. Sydney and [his production company] Mirage has such a great track record of working with first-time directors with the movies that they produce. He got it right away.

RT: Was your plan always to write screenplays and then get into directing?

TG: No. I prided myself [on screenwriting] sort of foolishly for a while. Like, "I'm going to be a writer, I'm going to be an A-list screenwriter, I'm going to be pure and that's going to be my gig."

RT: When did the shift in attitude happen?

TG: About 10 years ago, the frustration really started to kick in. No one should feel sorry for a successful screenwriter. [But] I don't know any screenwriter -- anywhere, at any level -- who hasn't been frustrated.

RT: Was there a particular movie where, at that moment, you felt you had observed enough and were ready to direct?

TG: God, if I were smart, I probably would've done it a long time ago. What you can know, what you need to know to direct a movie is [of] such great variety. I've worked with people who were maestros, who know everything. I've worked with people who were empty and lost, who had no clue what they were doing. You wouldn't hire them to paint your apartment. And then there's everything in-between. There's no list of skills you have to have to sit in that chair.

RT: Your father was also a screenwriter and director. Was there encouragement from him to get into movies?

TG: He moved us away from Hollywood when I was in kindergarten. So when I was five we moved out of California to upstate New York. One of his primary reasons was that he was coming back to work on the theater, but, really, he didn't want us to grow up out there. It wasn't like he put up a barb wire, but he really didn't want us to be involved in that. So we were not encouraged. We weren't discouraged. It was like living over the factory: it was around us all the time, but it wasn't something we were ever encouraged to do.

RT: Was he helpful when you did express interest in becoming a screenwriter?

TG: Yeah. I mean, I've been listening to him talk about stories my whole life. [But] no one can help you write. No one can teach you how to write. We talk about all this stuff as if it's a mechanical thing. Really, what this is all about is making s--- up. It's all about imagination. You can't teach someone to be imaginative. That's one of the things that bothers me the most if you're talking about screenwriting: the "craft" of screening and the "mechanics" of screenwriting. In the end, it's about making things up. You cannot invest [for someone else to have] imagination.

The big advantage of having a father who's a writer is [that] you learn what a writer's life looks like. You learn what a director's life looks like. How the days run. The trials, the disappointments. How you get paid. How you don't get paid. How people screw you, how you get over it. That's the really valuable part you have a leg up on. When you start to live the life, you go, "This feels familiar."

RT: Your brothers have also gone into film in various capacities. How did that come about?

TG: I don't know. Is there a genetic component? Is it being around [my father]? I'm raising two children now [and] you sort of watch them. [So] I don't have an answer to that. But it is. That's what it is.

RT: This being your first directed film, are you following criticism of Michael Clayton more closely than you normally would? Do you usually read reviews?

TG: Yeah. Hell, yeah. I remember getting reviews for The Cutting Edge. First time I ever got them they sent me several clips...they sent me a box of stuff. You know, every paper [out there]. There were a lot more reviewers than there are now. Every local paper had their own [reviewer], there was much less wire. Everyone still had their jobs. I remember going though and it was one terrible review after another. And I'm like, "Oh, my God." This huge stack of bad, bad, bad. A fifth of the way through the stack and they were all bad and I was like, "I can't go on." So I flipped to the end and it was a great one. I realized they had put the bad ones on top. [laughs]

RT: The Cutting Edge is one of those movies that keeps on attracting a strong cult audience.

TG: You know, I keep getting checks. They keep re-issuing it.

RT: Do you plan on directing exclusively from now on?

TG: I wouldn't say that. I'm trying to direct again. It would be from a script of mime. I've written for other people since we finished the film. We finished the film a while ago, waiting for a release. We had to wait after The Good German, and we had to wait after Ocean's [Thirteen]. I've done a studio rewrite, I've written for a director, and I've written for myself since then. I can't imagine directing from someone else's script. That's the only sort of equation that's the hardest for me to imagine.

RT: Why's that?

TG: I don't know if I want to live in someone else's head for two years. If I was going to go through the trouble of [directing a script], I'd want to do my own. I think. I reserve the right to change my mind.

RT: What studio rewrites have you done since Michael Clayton?

TG: You know, they're production work, so I don't really want to talk about it. I finally got IMDb to pull down [some of] that stuff. That kind of work shouldn't be public. You're coming in to fix some stuff. I never really like it when other writers talk about coming in behind people and rewriting. [The credits that appear in the movie] are the credits and you live by them. That's fair play.

RT: Armageddon is an odd credit to have on your resume.

TG: [laughs] Yeah. There were so many people working on that. I don't know what number writer I was. I worked on it for a couple months. I did exactly what I wanted to do. I got in, I did what I had to do, made some people happy, I got out. Let's just leave it at that.

Michael Clayton expands into theaters everywhere today.

Source: www.cinema-pedia.com

Box Office Guru Preview: Wide Open Race For #1 Spot This Weekend

Five new films push their way into nationwide release on Friday hoping to challenge two-time champ The Rock making for what should be a free-for-all at the North American box office with many different studios having a realistic shot at claiming the number one spot. Among the top contenders are Sony's crime thriller We Own the Night,

the Lionsgate comedy Why Did I Get Married?, and the George Clooney vehicle Michael Clayton which expands nationally after its scorching debut in limited release. Adding to the mix are the costume drama Elizabeth: The Golden Age and the baseball tale The Final Season. The box office race should be a tight one with as many as four films likely to reach the low double digit millions.

Oscar nominated actors Mark Wahlberg and Joaquin Phoenix face off as brothers on different sides of the law in the new action thriller We Own the Night. The R-rated pic co-stars Robert Duvall and Eva Mendes and will target an adult audience with a slightly male skew. The former Marky Mark proved his box office pull last spring as the only major star in Shooter which bowed to $14.5M and a $5,176 average by targeting the same audience. Things will be more difficult this time because of the intense competition for mature audiences especially from Michael Clayton. But Night's biggest advantage over Michael is that it has two commercial stars instead of just one. The combo should lead to a slim edge at the cash registers.

Despite its awkward title, Night has been pushing itself as an action-packed thriller with faces people love to watch. Reviews have been mixed and with such a crowded field, it will be hard to stand out as a must-see option. Starpower should be the main factor here and showdowns between two solid actors are usually popular with ticket buyers. Opening in over 2,000 theaters, We Own the Night could debut to about $12M.

Phoenix and Wahlberg in We Own the Night
Taking on those boys with some machismo of his own, George Clooney heads into wide release with his legal drama Michael Clayton which Warner Bros. has drummed up plenty of awards buzz for. The R-rated pic bowed to a sizzling $47,994 average last weekend from its platform bow in the Clooney-friendly towns of New York, Los Angeles, and Toronto. This weekend, the thriller will face the real test when it enters every major market across the 50 states. Thanks to his political outspokenness, the Academy Award winning actor has become a polarizing figure. He could easily win an election to become mayor of Hollywood, but in other parts of the country people would gladly pay theaters to not play his movies.

Clayton will test his drawing power since the film has no other box office anchors in it. Co-stars Tom Wilkinson, Tilda Swinton, and Sydney Pollack are well-respected, but they don't sell tickets. There is plenty of direct competition which is why the film got a head start a week early. Buzz from its red hot platform bow has spread helping to build interest. The crowd will consist of the same people that opened Syriana to $11.7M, The Black Dahlia to $10M, and Zodiac to $13.4M. Night will take away some males and Elizabeth will steal some females so a huge gross will be hard to find. But over the long-term the film could have legs. Expanding into 2,511 locations, Michael Clayton stands as the widest of the new offerings and may capture around $11M over the Friday-to-Sunday period.

Clooney as Clayton
Tyler Perry's latest relationship comedy Why Did I Get Married? finds trouble brewing when four married couples come together for an annual winter getaway. The writer/director's films have always tapped into his loyal fan base with African American women at the core. His 2005 smash Diary of a Mad Black Woman surprised the industry with its first-place debut with $21.9M and a $14,771 average and was followed a year later by Madea's Family Reunion which grew bigger with a $30M launch. Perry's last pic Daddy's Little Girls, also a February release, saw more modest numbers with a $11.2M opening as the filmmaker did not star in the pic.

Married does not have the promotional value of Black History Month or the help of Presidents Day which Girls had early this year. However, Perry's new film will not face any direct competitors for its target audience. Girls had to face the second weekend of Eddie Murphy's hit comedy Norbit which offered some audience overlap. Plus Married boasts more starpower with Perry back on screen and an added boost will come from Janet Jackson who is always a strong draw at the box office with the target audience every time she makes a rare appearance in a movie. The PG-13 film from Lionsgate is unlike anything else in the marketplace right now and with few buzzworthy films aimed at black moviegoers in recent months, it should successfully connect. Debuting in 2,011 theaters, Why Did I Get Married? might open with roughly $12M this weekend.

Tyler Perry's Why Did I Get Married?

Source: www.cinema-pedia.com

DiCaprio, Clooney Eye Farragut North Adaptation

It's yet to begin its Broadway run, but Beau Willimon's Farragut North is already being adapted for the screen -- with Leonardo DiCaprio and George Clooney attached.

The play, about "a young communications director for a fast-rising presidential candidate" who "falls prey to the backstabbing and other dirty trickery of seasoned rivals," has been making the Hollywood rounds, leading not only to the deal for a Farragut film, but more screenwriting work -- director Marc Forster has hired Willimon to adapt the 2002 British miniseries The Jury.

Not bad for a guy who was working for Howard Dean three years ago, eh?

As Variety reports, the Farragut film is being developed at Warner Bros.; DiCaprio is expected to star, while Clooney is "eyeing the project as director," and "considering taking an onscreen role." The actors will co-produce.

Meanwhile, Farragut North will reach Broadway next year. According to Variety, Mike Nichols is "reportedly in line to direct Jake Gyllenhaal" in the stage production.

DiCaprio will next be seen with Kate Winslet in Sam Mendes' Revolutionary Road. Clooney, whose Michael Clayton is currently in theaters, stars with John Krasinski and Renee Zellweger in next April's Leatherheads.

Source: www.cinema-pedia.com

Review: `Clayton' Shows Clooney's Range

"Michael Clayton" might have been a standard thriller one that's as generic and forgettable as the title itself were it not for some sharp writing from Tony Gilroy and an intelligent, subtly powerful performance from George Clooney.

As a "fixer" at a prestigious New York law firm, Clooney gets to show all the charisma of the dazzling Danny Ocean as well as the vulnerability of his Oscar-winning role in "Syriana." He just keeps getting better with age, and it's breathtaking to watch this former People magazine "sexiest man alive" show absolutely zero vanity as he expands his range.

Gilroy, directing for the first time after writing or co-writing all three "Bourne" movies, gives Clooney a meaty part to work with, even though it's one that's rarely flashy. His Michael Clayton is stuck handling the dirty work for lawyers with more clout than him at Kenner, Bach & Ledeen, stuff like hit-and-runs and volatile mistresses and wealthy kids in trouble. After 15 years, he still hasn't made partner and some bad business decisions have left him nearly broke. Divorced but still trying to be a factor in his young son's life, he carries the cumulative weight of a lifetime of disappointments in his eyes, his voice, the way his shoulders hunch.

And yet, Michael still responds proficiently and professionally to whatever challenge is thrust upon him. He gets one of his tougher assignments when the firm's top litigator, Arthur Edens (a raving, raging Tom Wilkinson), goes off his meds and has a meltdown in the middle of defending an agrochemical company against a $3 billion class-action lawsuit. Seems Arthur discovered a missing document that spells out the company's culpability, which makes him doubt everything he's built a career on which, in turn, prompts Michael to do the same.

Gilroy skips around over the course of four days and lets us put the pieces together, beginning with Arthur's darkly funny rant over the opening titles (don't show up late or you'll miss it) and a stunner of a warning that Michael might be messing with the wrong people. Along the way, he clashes with the chemical company's chief counsel (Tilda Swinton, jittery beneath the bravado), whose career also would be destroyed by these damning revelations; some quasi-bad guys Michael and his brother owe money to for a failed restaurant outing; as well as his own boss at the firm (Sydney Pollack), who urges him to stay the course, no matter what.

It seems totally appropriate that Pollack is here almost like an homage since "Michael Clayton" feels a lot like the kind of smart, cynical thriller he would have directed 30 years ago. Gilroy wisely refrains from melodrama, and the stark cinematography from Robert Elswit (who also shot Clooney's "Good Night, and Good Luck" in gorgeous black-and-white) adds to the steadily tense mood.

Yet there are some plot points that may not bother you while you're watching them unfold because you're too engrossed, but they'll nag at you afterward. Certain characters' decisions don't always ring with complete plausibility; people who were meticulously careful in one instance get sloppy in the next. And Gilroy probably should have expanded on the interaction between Michael and his son or left it out entirely. As is, it feels a bit wedged in, though their relationship does result in one unexpectedly touching bit of fatherly advice.

Gilroy also has come up with a genius way to get his audience to stay through the closing credits. It's so simple and effective, it's amazing no one directing Clooney thought of it before.

"Michael Clayton," a Warner Bros. Pictures release, is rated R for language including some sexual dialogue. Running time: 118 minutes. Three stars out of four.

Source: www.cinema-pedia.com