Shia LaBeouf's latest war drama Man Down has seemingly failed to impress audiences in the UK. The movie, in which LeBoeuf stars as a US marine suffering from PTSD following his assignment in Afghanistan, took just £7 (35aed) at the UK box office over its opening weekend, the equivalent of just one paying customer. The takings are all the more surprising given the movie's supporting cast - Gary Oldman, Jai Courtney and Kate Mara are all in the film too. In fairness, the movie did only open in one cinema in the UK, Reel Cinema in the far-from-bohemian northern town of Burnley, alongside its simultaneous VOD – the cinema release seems likely to have been a token gesture to tick the 'in cinemas this weekend' box that can help generate reviews, but the film's distributors must surely have hoped for a slightly higher turnout nonetheless. The movie fared better on its US December release, where it took close $20M (80M aed) over its opening weekend, according to Moviedaybusiness.com, though critics have been far from kind – Man Down currently holds a score of 11 per cent on Rotten Tomatoes.
* Staff
Charlize Theron on FF8
Oscar winner Charlize Theron said it was an exciting challenge to play the main villain in the latest installment of the Fast and Furious racing film series with Vin Diesel. "This is a franchise that has been built for 16 years on this idea of family being kind of the cornerstone ... and to play a character that has to kind of break all of that up, it was fun, yeah, and challenging," Theron said at the Berlin premiere of The Fate of the Furious. Diesel was also on hand for the release of the film, which is being marketed in Europe as Fast and Furious 8 and features the signature fast car chases, daring stunts and explosions of the previous seven films. The Fate of the Furious sees Diesel's lead character Dominic Toretto go rogue. Theron, who won a best actress Academy Award for Monster, plays the villainous Cipher. Diesel told reporters he felt as though he had "let the world down" when he left the film franchise several years ago because he was dissatisfied with the script.
The film, directed by F. Gary Gray, also stars Jason Statham, Dwayne Johnson, Michelle Rodriguez and Tyrese Gibson, who is due in the UAE next week, again.
* Reuters
1984 makes movie theatre comeback
Nearly 200 independent movie theatres across the United States on Tuesday screened the film version of George Orwell's 1984 novel about a dystopian future, in what organiers said was a stand against US President Donald Trump's administration.
The United State of Cinema, which arranged the screenings in 44 US states for one day only, said it was done to “take a stand for our most basic values: freedom of speech, respect for our fellow human beings, and the simple truth that there are no such things as ‘alternative facts.’” The movie was also to be shown at five venues in Canada, one in England, one in Sweden and one in Croatia.
The 1949 book, which returned to the US best-seller list in January, features a “Big Brother” government that spies on its citizens and forces them into “doublethink,” or simultaneously accepting contradictory versions of the truth. The movie was released in 1984 and starred John Hurt and Richard Burton.
Daniel Craig may make one more Bond outing
Actor Daniel Craig is ready to sign on to return as fictional British Secret Service agent James Bond, pagesix.com reported. Multiple sources told the publication that Bond franchise producer Barbara Broccoli has "just about persuaded Daniel Craig to do one more Bond movie". This comes after Broccoli produced her hit off-Broadway production of Othello with actor-producer David Oyelowo. A Hollywood source said: "Daniel was very pleased with how Othello went and the great reviews. Now Daniel's talks with Broccoli are going in the right direction. They have a script - screenwriting duo Neal Purvis and Robert Wade [who've penned several Bond movies] are writing and they'll go into production as soon as Daniel is ready to commit." The source added: "Plus, Barbara Broccoli doesn't like Tom Hiddleston, he's a bit too smug and not tough enough to play James Bond." In 2015, Craig was asked if he'd be back again after finishing a difficult Spectre shoot, and replied: "I'd rather... slash my wrists... I'm over it at the moment." Another source said: "Daniel had such a good time in Othello, produced by Barbara that he's ready to do a final Bond." Representatives for Craig and Broccoli haven't commented on it.
IANS
Federer and Gates make unlikely doubles team
How’s this for a tennis doubles team? Roger Federer and Bill Gates. The 18-time Grand Slam champion and the billionaire Microsoft co-founder will pair up in a one-set exhibition match in Seattle on April 29 to support children’s education in Africa. Federer and Gates will play against John Isner - the American who won the longest match in tennis history - and an as-yet-unannounced celebrity partner. Then Federer and Isner will square off in a best-of-three-sets singles exhibition. Proceeds from the Match for Africa 4 will benefit the Roger Federer Charitable Fund and Roger Federer Foundation. Tickets go on sale Thursday.
* AP
