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Tag: mission: impossible – dead reckoning part one

  • Anime and ‘Godzilla Minus One’ Push Japan’s Box Office Higher in 2023

    Anime and ‘Godzilla Minus One’ Push Japan’s Box Office Higher in 2023


    Japan’s box office climbed 4 percent to a post-pandemic high of $1.5 billion (221.5 billion yen) in 2023, driven again by a strong slate of anime and a steady return to theaters. Hollywood films maintained the same market share of around 31 percent as the previous year, though a very weak yen reduced earnings in dollar terms.  

    The Japanese currency falling toward the 150-mark against the greenback means that when converted, the annual box office fell from last year’s $1.64 billion even though takings in yen climbed from 213 billion yen. Imported fare (676 films) took a total of $452 million, versus $995 million for 555 domestic productions.   

    The figures were announced in Tokyo on Tuesday by the Motion Picture Producers Association of Japan, locally referred to as Eiren.  

    Topping the 2023 box office rankings was The First Slam Dunk, an anime from Toei based on a hit basketball manga with $107 million, followed by The Super Mario Bros. Movie ($95 million), and the latest anime in the Detective Conan series ($94 million). Those three titles were the only ones to surpass the locally significant 10 billion yen ($68 million) domestic blockbuster benchmark in 2023, though overall takings were second only to the all-time high of $1.77 billion (261 billion yen) in 2019.

    Hayao Miyazaki’s The Boy and the Heron was in fourth spot, taking $58 million. Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One with $37 million was the only other Hollywood movie to make the top 10.

    Total admissions were up 2 percent to 155.5 million, with the number of screens up slightly to 3,653.

    The unexpected success of Godzilla Minus One in the American market was a hot topic at the announcement event, sparking multiple questions from the local media.

    Hiroyasu Matsuoka, CEO of Toho, the studio behind Japan’s most famous monster, said the film had helped group theatrical earnings top 100 billion yen ($680 million) for the first time. Toho also distributes Studio Ghibli films and the Conan series.  

    “Godzilla Minus One has taken more than $55 million in the United States. It recently became third highest-grossing non-English language film in the US market, overtaking Oscar-winner Parasite and setting multiple records such as the biggest opening weekend for a foreign film,” said Matsuoka. “This has given us great confidence in the potential for our films and IP.”

    Asked about the reasons for its success, he added, “We really didn’t think it would be such a big hit, to be honest. As well the high levels of recognition for the Godzilla name, it benefited from less competition on release due to the strike in Hollywood.”

    “And the rise of streaming platforms has helped make global audiences more receptive to reading subtitles and watching non-English content,” suggested Matsuoka.

    Fumio Yoshimura, CEO of TOEI, also spoke about the strength of anime and his company’s plans to target further expansion in the global market leveraging IP such as its Power Rangers and samurai films.



    Gavin Blair

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  • When USD 600 million star Tom Cruise lost his role to Johnny Depp in iconic 90s movie due to weird questions he asked

    When USD 600 million star Tom Cruise lost his role to Johnny Depp in iconic 90s movie due to weird questions he asked

    Iconic roles are often coveted by A-list actors, and the casting process can be a rollercoaster ride of auditions, negotiations, and unexpected decisions. One such fascinating story revolves around Tim Burton’s beloved fantasy gothic film, Edward Scissorhands. While Johnny Depp eventually won hearts with his portrayal of the titular character, many may not know that Tom Cruise was originally in contention for the role. However, Cruise’s relentless questions about the character’s mundane aspects led to him parting ways with the film’s creative team.

    ALSO READ: Tom Cruise’s Mission Impossible 7 takes biggest franchise start at box office India; Netts 64 crores in 5 days

    Tom Cruise almost got the role of Edward Scissorhands

    Tom Cruise, renowned for his brilliant acting and numerous blockbuster films, has made a name for himself as one of Hollywood’s biggest stars. Throughout his career, Cruise has taken on various challenging roles and has a track record that speaks for itself. However, despite his impressive resume, becoming a part of certain movies has proved to be a challenge.

    Edward Scissorhands, a Tim Burton masterpiece, is a fantasy gothic film that captured the hearts of audiences around the world. The film’s central character, Edward, is a unique and enigmatic individual with scissors for hands, portrayed brilliantly by Johnny Depp. What many people might not be aware of is that Johnny Depp wasn’t the original choice for the role. Before Johnny Depp was cast, Tim Burton considered several other A-list actors, including Jim Carrey, Tom Hanks, and even the legendary Michael Jackson. However, it was Tom Cruise who emerged as a top contender, alongside Robert Downey Jr. but the former’s star power and acting prowess made him a strong candidate for the role, but an unexpected turn of events changed everything.

    ALSO READ: ‘I was crying, I got emotional’: When Tom Cruise couldn’t stop praising Val Kilmer during reunion in USD 1.49 billion blockbuster movie

    What bizarre question did Tom Cruise ask?

    Tom Cruise’s journey to potentially becoming Edward Scissorhands took an unusual turn. It wasn’t his acting abilities or star status that caused the deviation but rather his relentless questioning of the character’s mundane aspects. Cruise, in a bid to understand the character on a deeper level, began pestering the film’s screenwriter, Caroline Thompson, with a series of perplexing and, at times, bizarre questions.

    One particular query that left Thompson and the creative team flabbergasted was Cruise’s curiosity about how Edward Scissorhands would use the bathroom. These inquiries delved into the character’s everyday life in a way that the team had never contemplated. The delicacy of the story, as envisioned by Tim Burton and the writers, was centered around not answering such mundane questions. Scissorhands was a fantastical creation, and the character’s quirks were part of the charm.

    In Thompson’s own words, “[Tom] wanted to know how Edward went to the bathroom! He was asking the kind of questions about the character that can’t be asked for this character! Part of the delicacy of the story was not answering questions like, ‘How does he go to the bathroom? How did he live without eating all those years?’ Tom Cruise was certainly unwilling to be in the movie without those questions being answered.”

    The decision-making process became clear at this point. Neither Caroline Thompson nor Tim Burton were willing to entertain or provide answers to these questions, which seemed oddly out of place for a character like the now-iconic gothic character. Ultimately, the creative differences between Cruise and the film’s team became insurmountable, leading to the actor’s departure from the project.

    ALSO READ: ‘Seeing Tom Cruise drive up in a Porsche..’: When 22-year old Nicole Kidman fell madly in love with USD 600 million actor in first sight

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  • Video: ‘Mission: Impossible — Dead Reckoning Part One’ | Anatomy of a Scene

    Video: ‘Mission: Impossible — Dead Reckoning Part One’ | Anatomy of a Scene

    new video loaded: ‘Mission: Impossible — Dead Reckoning Part One’ | Anatomy of a Scene

    transcript

    transcript

    ‘Mission: Impossible — Dead Reckoning Part One’ | Anatomy of a Scene

    Christopher McQuarrie narrates a scene from the film, featuring Tom Cruise and Hayley Atwell.

    “I am Christopher McQuarrie, the director and one of the writers and producers of ‘Mission — Impossible Dead Reckoning Part One.’” [MUSIC PLAYING] “What are we doing?” “Finding us a new car.” “The inspiration for this sequence actually occurred to me during the shooting of ‘Mission — Impossible Fallout’ when I was scouting locations for the chase scene in Paris. And I came across a little Fiat 500 that was parked along the Seine River. And I thought it would be great, the idea of watching Ethan Hunt and Tom Cruise driving in a car like that. When I pitched this idea to Tom, he immediately appreciated the notion of doing a car chase that involved more humor than any of the sequences we had done previously, and he really leaned into that. Something to watch during this sequence is the behavior between Tom Cruise and Haley Atwell. You’re looking at two actors performing in two-shots, meaning you don’t have any editorial control. It’s not like I can pick the best moments of each actor. I have to really be giving you their best at the exact same time. And what it really does is it creates an affinity for these two characters. The most important part about this sequence is not really the action. It’s the feeling of a relationship developing between two people who actually don’t want to be together. And this car chase is all about creating circumstances whereby they are forced together, and over the course of a sequence, you feel them turning into a team. Rome is a very tricky place to shoot. The Fiat is a very difficult car to drive. And obviously, it’s very difficult to drive that car with handcuffs, let alone on cobblestone streets which make all of the driving, everything that you see Tom doing, becomes completely unpredictable. And what you end up with is a sequence where the car almost has a mind of its own. It becomes a character in the sequence along with Haley’s hair, as you can see there. In this part of the sequence, we ended up on the Spanish Steps. We were allowed to shoot at the Spanish Steps with the understanding that we never could actually physically touch the Spanish Steps. But so long as we never touched the Spanish Steps, we could do whatever we want. So what we did is we built the Spanish Steps in three sections on a backlot so that we could drive cars down them. And everything that Tom and Haley are doing here is extremely difficult, extremely punishing. The car doesn’t have really great suspension. So the riding down the steps is very jarring. And we got into this bit here with the cars rolling over we did in three sections. One, Tom drove down the steps. Then we had a bunch of grips roll a car down the steps with no one in it. And then, finally, we built a padded interior for the two actors to actually roll down the steps with the cameras rolling.”

    Recent episodes in Anatomy of a Scene

    Film directors walk viewers through one scene of their movies, showing the magic, motives and the mistakes from behind the camera.

    Film directors walk viewers through one scene of their movies, showing the magic, motives and the mistakes from behind the camera.

    Mekado Murphy

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  • Watch Tom Cruise Fight on Top of a Speeding Train in New ‘Mission: Impossible’ Featurette

    Watch Tom Cruise Fight on Top of a Speeding Train in New ‘Mission: Impossible’ Featurette

    Mission: Impossible always goes for grander and grander heights. The 7th entry in the series is no different. Tom Cruise hasn’t slowed down a bit even though he’s getting older, and it really shows in one specific scene from the new film, Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One. Here’s the thing about heightening these movies though. They’re all about spectacle. You can’t just get bigger and better by being more dangerous. There’s a certain art to it.

    The train scene in Dead Reckoning is an incredible example of that. As they explain in the featurette below, you can’t really just go out and buy a train with the intention of absolutely obliterating it. Since there’s such a huge emphasis on practical effects in the series, that only left one more option. They’d have to build a functioning train from the ground up. Not only would it need to look good on camera, but it would also have to function on rails. It’s a huge undertaking, and to make things more difficult, it’s obviously extremely expensive.

    READ MORE: Our Early Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Review Is Here

    In the featurette, Tom Cruise shares the following:

    When we started talking about this movie in terms of a sense of adventure and action sequence on a train was something we know we always wanted to do. We wanted to build upon the previous films apply all of that knowledge to something practical and real.

    Christopher McQuarrie, the film’s director, explained “No one in the world is doing this level of practical filmmaking and it may never be done again.”

    Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One opens in theaters on July 12.

    Cody Mcintosh

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