RYAN GUZMAN IS “THE BOY NEXT DOOR”

Press release

Ryan Guzman, who is best known for his roles in the hugely successful “Step Up” film series, plays the titular character of Noah, the 19-year-old who’s as charming as he is evil, in Universal Pictures' erotic thriller “The Boy Next Door.” In the film, Noah’s fatal attraction to his high school teacher Claire (Jennifer Lopez) will force the latter to her limits as she protects her world from being torn apart and her family from a psychotic danger.

Photo courtesy of UIP

During the audition process for the part, Guzman learned from his manager that Lopez wanted him to participate in a table read. He laughs: “When I was told that she wanted me to come in, I thought it was a prank. But they assured me it was real, so I read the script. I loved the character because Noah was so dark and completely different from anything I’d ever done.”

Director Rob Cohen (“The Fast and the Furious”) shares what drew him to Guzman for the role: “We had a cold reading of the script one Tuesday night at Jennifer’s, and the first guy who walks in was Ryan. We were amazed, but he was the first actor so we thought, ‘He’s great, but let’s see who else is out there.’ We read about 150 other young actors, but we finally got to the point where we realized that the best guy we had seen was Ryan.”

Lopez adds that she appreciated the honesty of his performance: “We knew that it was such a challenging role for any young actor, but Ryan came in and right away showed us he knew what he had to do to play this character. We did make him read several times, because going from the boy next door to a sociopath is no small feat for an actor of any age or experience.”

As it turns out, Guzman connected with both sides of his character. He elaborates: “We’ve all been there with our first loves, where we didn’t know how to handle the love or how to interpret what the new feelings were. This was an opportunity for me to experience that again, and obviously show a dark side that I’ve never shown anybody. That was the attraction to the whole character, demonstrating that I could be a bad guy.”

Getting into the character of Noah required intimate and lengthy dialogue between Guzman and Cohen. Cohen shares: “We talked a lot about what is the meaning of obsession, what happens when you’re obsessed. We discussed the trigger mechanisms and how the obsession has nothing to do with the target of your obsession, and it becomes a horrible round-robin of need and want and self-loathing and punishment and anger at the object of your love for not giving you what you want. So we built it up, scene by scene. I drew him a chart that showed levels of intensity where the mania was starting to happen…and where it had clearly become a departure from reality.”

Cohen knew that Lopez was the perfect partner to help Guzman discover Noah. Of his star and producer, he commends: “Jennifer is a totally open partner in achieving a scene or moment. She is so good at carving out moments and communicating her emotions without it being a wholly intellectual thing; it’s just natural. It’s hard not to love Jennifer.”

Guzman concurs with Cohen’s assessment of Lopez: “At the beginning of filming, I was nervous. Of course I knew I was going to have incredibly intimate scenes with Jennifer, and I was still unsure of how to play it. But as soon as we got going, I felt at ease. I learned so much just from watching her work. We worked incredibly well together to make the story line as good as it could possibly be.”

The Boy Next Door” is distributed by United International Pictures through Columbia Pictures.

“MORTDECAI” STAR JOHNNY DEPP FONDLY RECALLS MANILA

When asked in a recent interview by ABS-CBN’s US correspondent Yong Chavez in line with the movie action comedy “Mortdecai” about Manila, Johnny Depp shared that he found the city beautiful after they’ve traversed the city whenever they can while shooting in remote forests in the Philippines for the movie “Platoon.” 

                 “Mortdecai” seamlessly fuses action and comedy into one exciting ride directed by David Koepp and action scenes were choreographed by U.K.’s busiest stunt coordinators and second-unit action directors, Rowley Irlam who also coordinated action sequences for blockbuster movies such as “Guardians of the Galaxy,” “The Legend of Hercules,” “Thor: Dark World,”” Captain Phillips,” “Prometheus” and “Skyfall,” for which he received a SAG Award® for Outstanding Action Performance in a Motion Picture.

                Charlie Mortdecai is a connoisseur of good food, fine libations, beautiful women and the most elite trappings of wealth. He also frequently finds himself entangled in matters of an ambiguous legal nature. Asked by MI5, the British Security Service, to track down a missing Goya painting, Charlie hopes to discharge his debts to “Queen and country” by retrieving the purloined artwork.

                “Actually, Charlie gets involved in finding the Goya because he sees an opportunity to sell it,” Depp says. “His aristocratic ways are intact, but his bank book is worn out and Charlie needs to rectify that.”

                Badly behaved, violently snobbish and completely self-interested, Charlie was also endlessly appealing to the actor. “He is a blatant narcissist who has no relationship with the truth, except as he sees it,” says Depp. “What drew me to the character more than anything was the challenge of making this guy, who is a little bit shady and most definitely a con man, someone you can sympathize with.”

                Although Mortdecai is a comedy, it is packed with action sequences, as Jock, his faithful assistant (played by Paul Bettany) constantly saves Charlie from outlandish mishaps. Irlam coordinated a motorbike and sidecar careening through Moscow, an unforgettable sword fight and a massive explosion sequence featuring virtually all of the key cast members.

                “We also shot a big car chase in East London,” Irlam says. “There was lots of skidding around and we ended up crashing into a boulevard. We cannoned the back end for that comedy finale.”

                Irlam and director Koepp had a specific strategy for the film’s action. “This movie is very much actor driven,” he says. “I see it as bit of an homage to Buster Keaton and Charlie Chaplin. My work was not just about stunts. It was about making the whole piece quirky, interesting and different.”

                One of the most challenging stunt sequences for Irlam and his team was the complicated sword fight between Mortdecai and Emil. Koepp, Depp and Irlam talked about finding the right balance between realistic combat and Mortdecai’s notorious cowardice and physical ineptitude. “Mortdecai is a blagger, so David and Johnny didn’t want him to look supremely skilled,” says Irlam. “It was more about his desire to avoid confrontation and run away.

                “We had Johnny Depp and Jonny Pasvolsky in for some rehearsals for sword fighting and wire work,” he continues. “We showed them how it would play out with a stunt double first, then they’d have a go and put their own twist on it.’”

                “Mortdecai” is now showing in cinemas nationwide.

“PROJECT ALMANAC” STARS DISCUSS TIME-TRAVEL, FOUND-FOOTAGE

Press release

Young actors Jonny Weston (“Taken 3,” upcoming “Insurgent”) and Sofia Black-D’Elia (TV's “Gossip Girl”) talk about time-ravel, the found-footage genre and more on the set of Paramount Pictures' new sci-fi thriller “Project Almanac.”

Weston leads the cast of “Project Almanac” as David, a smart kid with a very bright future who manages to build a working time machine with his friends, but he’s not particularly confident when it comes to striking up a simple conversation with his crush, Sofia Black-D’Elia’s Jessie.

Photo courtesy of UIP

While on the “Project Almanac” set in Atlanta, Georgia, Weston and Black-D’Elia took a break to talk about their characters briefly and how their characters fit into this found footage time travel adventure.

Question: Tell us about the first time you read the script. Did your roles stick out to you and what did you think of the blend of time travel and found footage?

Jonny Weston: I don’t think found footage has been nearly kind of gotten into quite yet. It’s an entirely new style of filming and everything like that is new so it was a challenge. I knew it was a challenge ahead of time and it was exciting to look into. And then [producer] Michael Bay, obviously, has been putting out amazing work, so … [Laughs]

Sofia Black-D'Elia: [Laughs] He’s been pretty good lately, I guess. I first read the script and I thought it was so cool to have this time travel idea and make it also feel super real because I think that’s really appealing like with “Chronicle” and films like that, when you feel like it’s really happening to teenagers and I think that’s why I really was attracted to the script. The dialogue felt like it was really happening and even though these crazy circumstances were put upon the kids, they still reacted the way that a teenager would actually react in that situation and I didn’t think it was overdone or anything. And I think that found footage kind of lends to that, so it feels like this really realistic kind of documentary-style thing, these kids can build a time machine and what happens next.

Weston: It really seems like what kids would do with a time machine if they got it. It was written honestly and not for slap-me comedy or anything. It has some deep moments. It’s really well done I think.

Q: Who are your characters beyond the time travel element? Who are they as people?

Weston: My character is David and his father passed away when he was young and left him kind of something behind. Essentially, I’m this kid with a couple of really close friends. Not necessarily popular, you know? And then I meet her and, I don’t want to give too much away, but we all end up getting involved with each other. So, yeah, my character’s kind of nerdy, kind of a smart kid and that’s the best I can do.

Black-D'Elia: My character is Jessie and I think at first she seems kind of like your typical popular girl, but she’s pretty badass in my opinion and I think she’s kind of the catalyst for a lot of things because being that they’re smarter and not that popular and all of that, I think that they may be a little bit tepid and afraid to get started with everything, and I think my character is kind of bored with where she’s at in school and life, really.

Weston: She definitely serves as an inspiration like the way that she comes in and brings the passion that we all kind of – not that we lack, but she brings kind of a level of balls. I don’t know.

Black-D'Elia: [Jokes] That’s really eloquent! Beautiful, yeah. Really beautiful and poetic.

Q: I haven’t heard anything about your mom in the story. A lot about your dad, but is your mom around? Is she part of the story?

Weston: Yeah, basically, my dad passed away so she raised me. Amy [Landecker], the actress, she’s actually beautiful. We shot some stuff together already and she is a large element to the story, even when she’s not on screen in terms of like, the way my character is and what his goals are in life and everything has a lot to do with her.

In “Project Almanac,” a brilliant high school student and his friends uncover blueprints for a mysterious device with limitless potential, inadvertently putting lives in danger. The youthful cast is composed of Jonny Weston, Sofia Black-D’Elia, Sam Lerner (TV's “Suburgatory”), Allen Evangelista (TV's “The Secret Life of the American Teenager”) and Ginny Gardner (TV's “Glee”). Produced by Michael Bay, Andrew Form, Brad Fuller, the film is written by Jason Harry Pagan & Andrew Deutschman. Directed by Dean Israelite.

 “Project Almanac” is distributed by United International Pictures through Columbia Pictures.

ANGELINA JOLIE'S PASSION FOR DIRECTING REMAINS “UNBROKEN”

Press release

Angelina Jolie’s first feature-film directorial effort, 2011’s “In the Land of Blood and Honey” was an auspicious debut and received strong reviews and a Golden Globe Award Best nomination for Best Foreign Language film. It wasn’t surprising that the urge to continue a career as a filmmaker persisted in Jolie, even as the subject matter of another directorial effort eluded her. “I would be lying in bed thinking I want to do something meaningful. But what was it? I needed some help, some guidance,” she gives.

The living, breathing embodiment of the guidance Jolie sought, and of the themes and values that pique her interest—courage and endurance, the resilience of the human spirit, faith, forgiveness and redemption—turned out to be quite nearby. She found it wholly in the person of one of her neighbors, a living legend whose home, unbeknownst to her, was nearby her family’s house in the Hollywood Hills.

When producer Matthew Baer introduced Jolie to the “Unbroken” working script in 2012, she was immediately taken by Louis Zamperini’s tale. “I was intrigued by the draft I read, but it was after I read Laura Hillenbrand’s book that I knew I wanted to direct the film,” Jolie says. “Like the millions of readers who find themselves unable to put down the book once they start it, I was drawn into the incredible story of Louie’s journey and Laura’s brilliant re-creation and rich documentation of pivotal events that shape the last century.

“Unbroken” is an epic drama that follows the incredible life of Olympian and war hero Louis “Louie” Zamperini (Jack O'Connell of “300: Rise of an Empire”) who survived in a raft for 47 days after a near-fatal plane crash during World War II—only to be caught by the Japanese navy and sent to a series of prisoner-of-war camps. Adapted from Laura Hillenbrand's (“Seabiscuit”) enormously popular book, “Unbroken” brings to the big screen Louie Zamperini’s unbelievable and inspiring true story about triumph over tribulation and the resilient power of the human spirit.

Jolie admits that the themes that Hillenbrand explored moved her as much as Louie’s life itself did: “There’s so much pain in the world. I feel that we need stories like this today—the journey of a man finding his way through darkness and into the light—stories that can help us, inspire us, show us something remarkable and make us feel positive about life.”

It was during this process of Jolie discovering Louie’s story that Baer told her that Louie was her neighbor. “Louie could actually see the roof of my house from his living-room window,” she laughs. “Little did I know that he’d been right there all the time…all the while I was trying to figure out what to do next with my life.”

This confluence of events lit a fire inside of Jolie; she felt she had to helm “Unbroken.” But she would learn that winning this coveted directorship would not be an easy task. “I had to fight to get the job,” she shares. “I had to fight very hard, not only prove to the studio I could do it, but later, to prove it to myself. And I also had to prove it to Louie, which took some time.”

Jolie went about the task by steeping herself in Louie’s story, researching all its aspects for hours on end, learning everything she could about him and his era and deciphering how to tell the story best on the screen. A sweeping historical drama that stretches from 1920s Torrance and the 1936 Berlin Olympics to the high stakes air battles of World War II was only the half of it. Jolie would need to take audiences into the terrifying ordeal of being adrift in the ocean for 47 days and then the powerful experience of a more than two-year internment as a prison of war.

When Louie found out that a well-known actress was going to direct the film, it required some getting used to. It wasn’t long, however, before he embraced Jolie and welcomed her into his extended family. “Angie called and said she was going to direct the movie,” Louie said. “I’d only seen her on the news because I don’t go to the movies anymore. But I knew that they called her the most beautiful girl in the world. Then she came to the house. What a doll! What a sweetheart! I saw right away she’s got not only beauty but brains. She’s very considerate, and she has a charitable heart. I thought, ‘What else do you need?’”

Producer Baer, who’d been the champion of Louie’s story for so long and was shepherding the project, was readily convinced. “Angie and I had a three-hour conversation on the phone about the project. She is a brilliantly creative person. I heard her passion and knew her as a filmmaker of force and will. I knew she was the person to do this.”

Opening across the Philippines on February 18, “Unbroken” is distributed by United International Pictures through Columbia Pictures.

ACADEMY-AWARD NOMINEE LAURA DERN IN “WILD”

Press release

Laura Dern who recently portrayed an inspiring mother caring for a cancer-stricken daughter in “Fault In Our Stars” opposite Shailene Woodley and Ansel Elgort stars anew in her Academy-Award nominated role in “Wild” starring alongside Academy Award winner Reese Witherspoon.

Photo courtesy of 20th Century Fox

                Dern lends her acting sensibilities once again in “Wild” as she plays mother to Reese’s Cheryl who adores her to the heavens. In “Wild,” director Jean-Marc Vallée (“Dallas Buyers Club”) and Academy Award nominated screenwriter Nick Hornby (“An Education”) bring bestselling author Cheryl Strayed’s extraordinary adventure to the screen.  After years of reckless behavior, a heroin addiction and the destruction of her marriage, Strayed makes a rash decision.  Haunted by memories of her mother Bobbi (Laura Dern) and with absolutely no experience, she sets out to hike more than a thousand miles on the Pacific Crest Trail all on her own.  “Wild” powerfully reveals her terrors and pleasures --as she forges ahead on a journey that maddens, strengthens, and ultimately heals her.

                While Cheryl is the core of “Wild,” the film is populated by a diverse group of characters, both from the life Cheryl has just left behind and those she meets on the path forward.  Among them, the one person who has impacted Cheryl in the most shattering and enlivening ways is her mother, Bobbi, whose brief, sudden battle with cancer sends Cheryl’s existence into a steep nosedive.  Taking the role is Oscar®-nominated and three-time Golden Globe® Award-winning actress Laura Dern, who recently won a Golden Globe for HBO’s “Enlightened.”  Known for her versatility and commitment, Dern came up on the radar for Witherspoon early on. 

                Witherspoon was stirred by what Dern brought to the role.  “Laura completely transforms herself in every role, and this is no exception,” says Witherspoon. “She spent so much time trying to learn about Cheryl's mother. And then I think she tapped into what makes her such an extraordinary life force, so that you understand why Cheryl feels like she’ll never be okay again without the love that her mother gave her. Laura was just incredible at portraying that ferocity of love.” 

                “What a presence. What a voice, what a laugh. Contagious. Even though Laura has so much experience in front of the camera, it feels like she's acting for the first time when she hears action. She looks so excited, so thrilled to do her job, to try something new, something different, something crazy, something emotional, you name it. Laura is such a trooper,’ say Vallée. “Not only did we shoot all of her scenes, but we managed to create new ones to try to give more presence to Cheryl's mother in the film. Improvised scenes that we shot on the fly, between sets, during a makeup test, or a break. And every single one of them is in the film. Thanks to the great Laura Dern.”

                The more Dern got to know Bobbi, the more she was awestruck by her.  “I think what moved me most is that through all of the challenges of self-discovery and an abusive marriage and raising children on her own in poverty, she had no sense of martyrdom,” says the actress.  “There was no victim in her at all.  She felt blessed to be alive and to have the chance to redefine life for herself and her children, and to find joy in the unknown.  And that is so powerful and inspiring to me as a woman.  Just to get close to her through Cheryl’s memories felt like a great privilege.”

                All of it was essential to understanding Cheryl, and Jean-Marc was so creative at coming up with ways to condense Cheryl’s entire childhood.  We were recreating a lifetime of experiences, and that was a wonderful, exciting kind of challenge,” shares Dern.

STELLAR CAST IN ACTION COMEDY “MORTDECAI”

Press release

Upbeat, satirical and utterly hilarious, the novels featuring Charlie and his manservant Jock Strapp had Johnny Depp laughing out loud after reading the script for the film “Mortdecai.”   “I’d read them years before and they made me laugh out loud,” says Depp. “They are irreverent and insane in a way I thought would translate well to the screen.”

                In “Mortdecai,” Charlie charms, schemes and blunders his way in and out of hilariously compromising situations as he attempts to beat out an array of international evildoers on the trail of a priceless Goya masterpiece that could also be the key to claiming missing Nazi millions.

                Charlie Mortdecai is a connoisseur of good food, fine libations, beautiful women and the most elite trappings of wealth. He also frequently finds himself entangled in matters of an ambiguous legal nature. Asked by MI5, the British Security Service, to track down a missing Goya painting, Charlie hopes to discharge his debts to “Queen and country” by retrieving the purloined artwork.

                “Actually, Charlie gets involved in finding the Goya because he sees an opportunity to sell it,” Depp says. “His aristocratic ways are intact, but his bank book is worn out and Charlie needs to rectify that.”

                Badly behaved, violently snobbish and completely self-interested, Charlie was also endlessly appealing to the actor. “He is a blatant narcissist who has no relationship with the truth, except as he sees it,” says Depp. “What drew me to the character more than anything was the challenge of making this guy, who is a little bit shady and most definitely a con man, someone you can sympathize with.”

                Charlie’s luscious blonde wife Johanna is played by Academy Award® winner Gwyneth Paltrow. Johanna and Charlie have been together since college. She is posh and very clever—certainly more clever than Charlie.  “Gwyneth is perfection as Johanna,” says Depp. “This a caper movie, teetering toward farce, and timing was everything. She had that down pat.”

                Everywhere Charlie Mortdecai goes, he is accompanied by his manservant and right-hand-man Jock Strapp, a faithful but upbeat bruiser who dedicates his life to protecting his boss.  British actor Paul Bettany, who plays Jock, was introduced to the project by Johnny Depp while the two were filming Transcendence. “Johnny asked me if I’d ever read the Mortdecai books,” remembers Bettany. “I hadn’t and he gave me all of them. Afterwards Johnny mentioned he was going to make them into a film and asked if I wanted to play Jock.” 

                Depp says that while Bettany is not known as a comedic actor, he is one of the funniest people around. “He was the only person who could play Jock in my eyes,” he adds. “That fact that he’s a big, tall, seemingly serious Nordic god of a man only makes it funnier.”

                Charlie’s insecurities are reinforced by the arrival of Alistair Martland, an old friend from their college days who is still attracted to Johanna. A highly placed officer in the MI5 - British Security Service, Martland is a sensitive, softhearted poetry-reading detective who loses his composure whenever Johanna is around. On the trail of the missing Goya masterpiece, he comes to Charlie for help.  McGregor was drawn to the film’s combination of wit and broad physical comedy. “It reminds me a lot of the Pink Panther movies from the 1970s,” he says. “There’s a humor to it that I haven’t seen on screen for a long time. It’s very cleverly written.”

“AMERICAN SNIPER” SHATTERS MULTIPLE RECORDS, STORMS U.S. BOX OFFICE

Press release

The Oscar-nominated film, starring Bradley Cooper, made history—becoming
the best-ever opening for director Clint Eastwood, winning both the weekend
and the hearts of audiences with an A+ Cinemascore.

Burbank, CA, January 19, 2015 – Surpassing all targets, Warner Bros. Pictures’ and Village Roadshow Pictures’ multiple Oscar-nominated drama “American Sniper” smashed virtually every available record as it opened across the US on the heels of its already record-breaking limited release.

Sienna Miller, Clint Eastwood, and Bradley Cooper

Easily topping the box office, the film took in an estimated $105.3 million for the four-day holiday weekend and has grossed $108.7 million to date and counting. The announcement was made today by Dan Fellman, President of Domestic Distribution, Sue Kroll, President of Worldwide Marketing and International Distribution, and Greg Silverman, President, Creative Development and Worldwide Production, Warner Bros. Pictures.

The film’s spectacular opening marks an all-time high over the course of director Clint Eastwood’s illustrious career. Among its many other milestones, “American Sniper” also broke records for a January weekend opening, including both three- and four-day weekends; the highest single day ever in January; the best four-day weekend for an R-rated film; and the biggest opening for any drama in cinema history.

The film also broke records in IMAX theatres nationwide, earning more than $10.6 million at 332 locations, making it the top-grossing January weekend ever for the large-format venues.

The overwhelmingly positive response to “American Sniper” is not only measured at the box office. It also earned a rare A+ Cinemascore rating, becoming one of only 11 films in history to receive an A+ in every category.

In making the announcement, Fellman stated, “‘American Sniper’ has quickly become a cultural phenomenon, offering a personal view of not only Chris Kyle’s life but also of the hurdles faced by many veterans, as well as their families. We congratulate Clint Eastwood, Bradley Cooper and everyone involved in the film on this enormous success, and we expect strong reviews and word of mouth to continue to fuel the box office in the coming weeks.”

“We are so proud of this movie,” said Kroll. “We had a visceral reaction to it when we saw it and immediately made room for it in the year. We certainly couldn’t have known the level at which the film would resonate, but we knew it was special—providing a different look at war and its emotional impact on those who fight and those at home, which has struck a deep chord with filmgoers everywhere. From the first trailer, we designed this campaign to convey the different facets of the film and showcase its appeal to both men and women. The response from critics, audiences and, now, the Academy, has been hugely gratifying and we could not be more thrilled.”

Silverman added, “We knew this was a story that could transcend any divide with its compelling character study of a man who deserves to be remembered for his sacrifices on and off the battlefield. Clint Eastwood and Bradley Cooper have truly done the story of Chris Kyle justice and, in doing so, have also paid homage to the service of all men and women in uniform. We congratulate them and our partners at Village Roadshow on this extraordinary start to our worldwide run.”

“American Sniper” has earned six Academy Award nominations, including Best Picture, Best Actor (Cooper), and Best Adapted Screenplay (Jason Hall). In addition, Eastwood was honored by his peers with his fourth Directors Guild of America Award nomination and also won the National Board of Review Award for Best Director. The film’s other honors include a Producers Guild of America Award nomination, a Writers Guild of America Award nomination, and a BAFTA Award nomination for Best Adapted Screenplay.

From director Clint Eastwood comes “American Sniper,” starring Bradley Cooper as Chris Kyle, whose skills as a sniper made him a hero on the battlefield. But there was much more to him than his skill as a sharpshooter.

Navy SEAL Chris Kyle is sent to Iraq with only one mission: to protect his brothers-in-arms. His pinpoint accuracy saves countless lives on the battlefield and, as stories of his courageous exploits spread, he earns the nickname “Legend.” However, his reputation is also growing behind enemy lines, putting a price on his head and making him a prime target of insurgents. He is also facing a different kind of battle on the home front: striving to be a good husband and father from halfway around the world. Despite the danger, as well as the toll on his family at home, Chris serves through four harrowing tours of duty in Iraq, personifying the spirit of the SEAL creed to “leave no one behind.” But upon returning to his wife, Taya (Sienna Miller), and kids, Chris finds that it is the war he can’t leave behind.

“American Sniper” is distributed by Warner Bros. Pictures, a Warner Bros. Entertainment Company.