Wednesday Update: MovieTickets.com reports that nearly 450 screenings of Star Trek Into Darkness have sold out with 60% of yesterday's daily sales coming from advance tickets purchased by moviegoers to see the sequel.
Tuesday Update:
The official press release from Fandango:
LOS ANGELES -- Fandango, the nation's leading moviegoer destination, reported today that "Star Trek Into Darkness" is warp-speeding ahead with 71% of Tuesday morning's ticket sales. Hundreds of showtimes are already sold out across the country, from New York to San Francisco, from Atlanta to Austin, in advance of the film's Wednesday late night opening.
According to a Fandango survey of more than 1,000 "Star Trek Into Darkness" ticket-buyers, anticipation for the film is running high. Among the findings:
• 93% plan to see the film on opening weekend;
• 62% will attend the movie with a group of fellow "Star Trek" fans;
• 55% are already planning to see the movie more than once;
• 15% will be dressed in "Star Trek" attire at the theater.
As an exclusive bonus for Fandango ticket-buyers, fans purchasing "Star Trek Into Darkness" tickets on Fandango will receive a complimentary iTunes download of J.J. Abrams' 2009 "Star Trek" movie, while supplies last. See http://bit.ly/VEbvgQ for details.
WASHINGTON -- Senator Chris Dodd, Chairman and CEO of the Motion Picture Association of America, INC (MPAA) together with Miky Lee, Vice Chairwoman of The CJ Group, one of Korea's leading entertainment and media companies, hosted A Spotlight on Korean Cinema at the MPAA's DC office last night. The event highlighted the increased cultural cooperation between the United States and Korean entertainment communities and featured a special screening of CJ E&M's MASQUERADE. CJ E&M, with an office in Los Angeles, is a subsidiary of The CJ Group and focuses on expanding the opportunities for Asian and Asian-American content in the United States.
Byung-Hun Lee, lead actor in MASQUERADE and Ambassador Young-jin Choi, the South Korean Ambassador to the United States joined Senator Dodd and Vice Chairwoman Lee for this celebration of the two countries' flourishing relationship in the arts.
Senator Dodd, in remarks before the screening, touted the influence of Korean culture in the United States and emphasized the importance of delivering content to audiences in new ways all over the world:
Even as South Korea's pop culture has spread and the desire for more content has continued to grow, the MPA's member companies have worked to deliver more of their content online to the Korean people than ever before. Today, if you turn on any IPTV service in Korea like Qook TV, SK Broadband, or Tving, our content, whether it be feature films or the most popular television series, is available any time a viewer wants it.
Senator Dodd continued:
And men and women in the Korean industry, just like the U.S. industry, are working every day to develop a seamless entertainment experience that allows consumers to watch what they want, when they want, on whatever platform they want to watch it. Without a strong and healthy film industry supporting their work, these talented artists would never have been able to share their images of South Korea with millions of men and women around the world.
Ambassador Choi, who also spoke briefly before the screening, echoed Senator Dodd's emphasis on the important rise of Korean culture:
When MASQUERADE was released, the world experienced an explosion of Korean culture like never before, led by a man in a famous blue suit known as PSY. Byung-Hun Lee, PSY, and many other Korean artists are riding what they call the Korean wave, which includes music, film, dramas, and other forms of popular culture. If 2012 was the year of K-Pop, 2013 is on track to be the year of K-Movies. We have seen more and more Korean films reach an international audience, especially here in the United States.
Finally Tae-sung Jeong, CEO of CJ Entertainment, welcomed guests as the evening's co-hosts and described this particular event's significance to his organization:
The global embrace of Korean film, television, and music has not only resulted in incredible multiplier effects for other industries like tourism...but also increased awareness of Korean culture. CJ Entertainment, lead by Ms. Lee, has been a driving force for creating content to entertain as well as educate by sharing our stories in theaters around the world and in your homes. Co-hosting tonight's first-ever Korean film event with the MPAA and Senator Dodd has been an important symbolic milestone and we look forward to widening our collaboration in the future.
Iron Man 3 carried another lethargic weekend at the Spanish box office. The superhero film was the only one to break the $1 million mark, leading all releases for the third consecutive week and reaching a $10.5 million cume. Olympus Has Fallen couldn't rise to the occasion of its premiere, grossing just under $1 million in 322 screens. The Big Wedding has been performing above expectations after fizzling out of the U.S. box office. The comedy has grossed $1.9 million in Spain to help the film make up ground in the overseas markets.
Box office results for Spain. May 10-12, 2013.
Follow Daniel Loria and BoxOffice on Twitter for more news on the global box office.
New York, N.Y. -- Screenvision, a national leader in cinema advertising, has named the first quartet of talent for their Emerging Filmmakers Series, featuring Antonio Campos, Matthew Huston, Christian Camargo and Andrew Renzi. Announced in April at Screenvision's first-ever Upfront, the Emerging Filmmakers Series connects brands with talented filmmakers to create customized branded entertainment that will be showcased before moviegoers in theaters nationwide.
Developed with veteran film producer Rose Ganguzza of Rose Pictures, Screenvision's Emerging Filmmakers Series offers an opportunity for the film industry's freshest talent to channel their creativity by developing short films on behalf of, and inspired by, brands. The filmmakers will receive guidance from program mentor Ganguzza, a producer of more than one dozen noted independent films and documentaries, including Kill Your Darlings (2013), Trashed (2012), Margin Call (2011) and New York, I Love You (2009).
Antonio Campos is the writer/director of the feature Afterschool (2008), which premiered at the Cannes Film Festival that same year and was nominated for a 2009 Independent Spirit Award for Best Feature. Antonio was nominated for Breakthrough Director at the 2008 Gotham Awards and was named by Variety as one of the Top 10 Directors to Watch in 2009. Recently, he wrote and directed Simon Killer (2012), which was released in theaters and available in VOD formats.
Also lending his talents to Screenvision's novel campaign is filmmaker and visual artist Matthew Huston. A graduate in Fine Art from London's Central Saint Martins College of Arts and Design, Huston's short films, documentaries and music videos have been exhibited worldwide at festivals including Clermont Ferrand, Chicago Film Festival, Rushes Shorts and Encounters Film Festival, as well as on various media platforms. Christian Camargo is an actor/producer/writer who is best known for his role as Brian Moser in the Showtime drama Dexter and his portrayal of Eleazar in The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn - Parts 1 and 2. Rounding out their selections, Screenvision is including independent filmmaker Andrew Renzi. Renzi wrote and directed the short film The Fort, which premiered at the 2012 Sundance Film Festival and went on to play at festivals around the world. He recently finished his second short film, Karaoke!, which premiered at the 2013 Sundance Film Festival.
"One of the greatest challenges for emerging filmmakers is finding an audience and having their work seen on screens outside the festival circuit," says Ganguzza. "Screenvision's commitment to nurture and support these filmmakers will hopefully inspire others to do the same. Our goal is for Emerging Filmmakers to be the start of a daisy chain of helping hands from sponsors who will give innovative canvases to new cinematic talent."
"This program is representative of our commitment to the future of film and the new voices that will make it grow richer with each passing year," adds John McCauley, Screenvision's Senior Vice President, Strategic Alliances. "We know brands are looking for exciting ways to connect and engage with audiences, and we feel that our Emerging Filmmakers program is a decidedly innovative way to do so. Brands now have an opportunity to take part in creating exceptional content, organic to the silver screen, having a life well beyond its cinema premiere. It's true art that will tap into audiences they didn't even know they had."
Screenvision's Emerging Filmmakers Series is slated to launch in theaters across the nation in Q4 2013.
