Viggo Mortensen should be happy. His past three movies have been critical smashes. He snagged a Best Actor Oscar nomination for one of them (Eastern Promises). And he played the title role in the 11-time Academy Award-winning Lord of the Rings: Return of the King, the last in the most financially successful movie trilogy of all (current global box-office takings: nearly £2 billion). In short, he has finally arrived. And yet, ironically, just when he should, in his own words, “be making hay”, the 50-year-old star is abandoning the movie business. “In the past week I’ve been from LA to Japan to Korea to Poland to here,” he hisses, describing in near disbelief the travel itinerary for his current promotional tour. “It’s ridiculous! It’s not a healthy way to be. But, as it happens, I’m taking measures to change that.” Which are? “No more movies. I haven’t said yes to one in over a year. I’ve been in all these well-received movies and it seems like I should be doing some more, but there’s other things I want to do. It’s not the right time.” Viggo Mortensen: first Good – and then goodbye?
Day: April 2, 2009
As any of you avid Peter Jackson fans out there will know, Peter’s had his eye on a newcomer called Neill Blomkamp for a couple of years now – to the point where he was once the frontrunner to helm the promised Halo movie. What has he directed before, you ask? Well, nothing actually – at least not on the full-length feature film front. He’s directed some short films (including the series of Halo shorts known as Landfall), but apart from that he hasn’t done anything cinematic. What Is Peter Jackson’s ‘District 9?’
From play.tm (via Destructoid): Rumour has it that Turbine have been pushing for the MMO’s Xbox debut for some time, but have struggled as Microsoft refuse to allow a free-to-play business model on their console. However, Microsoft are keen to get online games onto their system and have now finalised a business model for Live, with Turbine in poll position having the game tested and ready for launch. The developer themselves are playing down this chatter – particularly the bit about the Xbox 360 version being ready for an immediate launch. More soon.
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Ads spoofing classic films such as Lord of the Rings, Jaws and Life of Brian thank consumers for supporting the industry. Heavy-handed commercials that run before films and DVDs reminding consumers that piracy is a crime are to be replaced with a positive message thanking viewers for supporting the industry in a series of ads spoofing classic films such as Jaws, Life of Brian and Lord of the Rings. The ads, part of an anti-piracy campaign called “You Make the Movies”, mark a shift by film and TV content owners from a “stick” to a “carrot” strategy in marketing their message about copyright theft. Campaign against film piracy tells moviegoers how precious they are
The force behind Wellington’s Weta Workshop, Richard Taylor, has won the supreme award at the World Class New Zealand awards. The awards, presented on Wednesday night, honour New Zealand’s tall poppies who are successful on an international level. For the last 15 years Weta Workshop – a special effects facility of which Taylor co-founded and is the creative director – has created models, makeup and monsters for movies like the Lord of the Rings trilogy and King Kong. Business leaders honour Weta’s Taylor