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Natl Film Title Weekend Gross
Rank LDS/Mormon Filmmaker/Star Total Gross Theaters Days
--- ----------------------------- ----------- ----- ----
12 2 Fast 2 Furious 1,520,710 1,031 38
Paul Walker (lead actor) 122,454,585
22 Wrong Turn 265,109 121 45
Eliza Dushku (lead actor) 14,637,155
59 Cirque du Soleil: Journey of Man 15,031 3 1158
Reed Smoot (cinematographer) 15,369,089
68 Shackleton's Antarctic Adventure 12,927 9 885
Scott Swofford (producer) 14,934,040
Reed Smoot (cinematographer)
Sam Cardon (composer)
Stephen L. Johnson (editor)
78 Cremaster 3 9,508 3 80
Mathew Barney 322,176
(writer/producer/director/actor)
90 China: The Panda Adventure 6,043 4 717
Reed Smoot (cinematographer) 3,262,294
101 The R.M. 3,551 7 164
Kurt Hale (writer/director) 1,025,494
John E. Moyer (writer)
Dave Hunter (producer)
Cody Hale (composer)
Ryan Little (cinematographer)
Actors: Kirby Heyborne, Will Swenson,
Britani Bateman, Tracy Ann Evans
Merrill Dodge, Michael Birkeland,
Maren Ord, Leroy Te'o, Curt Dousett
Wally Joyner, etc.
HEYBORNE OUT, BIRK IN FOR HALESTORM'S HOME TEACHERS: Actor Kirby Heyborne, one of the stars of the already-released movies "The Singles Ward," "Social Suicide," and "The R.M.", and the upcoming movies "The Work and the Story," Saints and Soldiers," "The Book of Mormon Movie, Volume 1: The Journey" and "The Best Two Year of My Life," may be the dominant actor on the LDS Cinema scene these days, but his dominance will be slightly less pronounced. He will NOT star in "The Home Teachers" as was previously announced by HaleStorm Entertainment, the studio which produced Heyborne's first two theatrically released starring roles. Jeff Birk, who has never before had a major film role, will take Heyborne's place as the star of the movie. Birk is a 37-year-old resident of Orem who works as a corporate speaker and presenter and has been moonlighting for 12 years as an extremely funny standup comedian, performing around the country. Birk graduated from Brigham Young University with a degree in international relations. His only previous film role was a bit part as the "Paint Ball Guy" in HaleStorm's "The Singles Ward."
BIG BUDGET BRIGHAM YOUNG MOVIE RELEASED ON DVD: The newly released "Brigham Young" DVD and a re-issued video were released to video stores nationwide on July 15, 2003. This movie was first released by Twentieth Century Fox in 1940. It was a major, epic production, with a production budget of $2.7 million, making it comparable to a $150 million feature film of today. The movie premiered simultaneously in 7 Salt Lake City theaters before an audience of 8,000 people, an event that still hold's the world record as the largest movie premiere audience in history. Dean Jagger, who played Brigham Young, later received an Academy Award for his performance in "Twelve O'Clock High" (1949), and he later joined the Church and was a devout member for the rest of his life. The new "Brigham Young" DVD and video are also on sale at LDS Video Store (http://www.ldsvideo.com). At press time these new releases were not available from any other online LDS video/DVD sources, but the older version of the video (titled "Brigham Young: Frontiersman") was available from LDS Super Store (http://www.ldssuperstore.com/) and LDS Living.
The Salt Lake Tribune published a detailed article about the "Brigham Young" movie and the DVD, which can be found at: See: http://www.sltrib.com/2003/Jul/07132003/arts/74683.asp.
More details can be found in a Meridian Magazine article and/or press release at: http://www.ldsmag.com/arts/030714brigham.html
DEVILLIERS' "FLY BOYS" ARTICLE IN CIN MAG - There is a 3-page article about "FlyBoys" and director Rocco DeVilliers in the July issue of American Cinematographer magazine, available at quality bookstores. It features a behind-the-scenes look at the Utah-made movie, with great Aerial shots. The family-friendly aeronautical adventure movie, which stars Tom Sizemore ("Saving Private Ryan"), Stephen Baldwin ("The Usual Suspects"), Jesse James ("As Good As It Gets"), Reiley McClendon ("Pearl Harbor") and Harrison Young ("Saving Private Ryan"), will open later this year. DeVilliers is best known as he director of "Only Once," widely regarded as the best independent feature-length direct-to-video LDS film ever made. DeVilliers also wrote and directed the action movie "Pure Race," starring Marvin Payne and Katherine Willis. Insiders familiar with the project predict that "Fly Boys" will seriously rock your world.
NEW TRAILER ONLINE FOR 15-YEAR-OLD'S LDS-THEMED FILM - Feel free to check out 15-year-old Latter-day Saint filmmaker Colin Liddle's low-budget film "The MoMos", about 5 Latter-day Saint teenagers and their non-member friend who is interested in the Church, but his parents are not pleased with his curiosity about the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. The website features a trailer, shockingly blurry images from the film, and other material. See http://themomos.suddenlaunch.com/
THE LEGEND OF JOHNNY LINGO IS COMING! [Press Release]
THIS INFORMATION IS CHANGING AND BEING UPDATED ON A DAILY BASIS -- PLEASE CHECK BACK OFTEN AS WE WILL ADD INFORMATION TO THE SITE AS WE GET IT.
The moment you've all been waiting for has finally arrived. On August 29, 2003, (Labor Day Weekend) The Legend of Johnny Lingo will finally begin its nationwide tour. There will be a special "Opening Night Premier" in Salt Lake City the night before (August 28) hosted by a recognized charity in the area. Four other metropolitan areas are also slated to open on the Labor Day Weekend - they are Atlanta, Dallas / Ft. Worth, Phoenix / Mesa and Las Vegas.
August 28 Special premier in Salt Lake City
August 29 Labor Day Weekend opening in:
* Salt Lake City / Ogden / Provo
* Atlanta
* Dallas, Ft. Worth
* Phoenix / Mesa
* Las Vegas
To maximize the advantage of our distributors in each area, The Legend of Johnny Lingo will be coming out on a "Rolling Release" schedule - meaning that we will have approximately 100 prints of the film that will go from one area to another. This will allow us to work closely with the distributors in the area to generate the most interest and impact for them. The more interest we can generate in each area, the longer the film will stay.
The tentative (remember the word tentative) schedule also calls for the release of the film in the following cities throughout the rest of the year:
* Honolulu
* Jacksonville
* Orlando
* Orange County (Special Premier is slated for October 2)
* San Diego
* Detroit
* Indianapolis
* Albuquerque
* Houston
* Chicago
* Minneapolis/St. Paul
* Miami
* Ft. Lauderdale
* Tampa / St. Petersburg
Don't worry if your favorite cities are not yet on the above list. We will be adding additional cities as we finalize them. Remember, we are trying to get you the most current information that we have, as soon as we have it.
HERE IS HOW YOU CAN HELP US:
IN THE ABOVE METROPOLITAN AREAS, IF YOU HAVE A FAVORITE THEATER, GET THAT INFORMATION TO US IMMEDIATELY! WE ARE CURRENTLY BOOKING THE THEATERS AND WE WOULD LIKE TO BE IN THE ONES THAT YOU SELECT! PLEASE SEND AN EMAIL TO: andrewf@tni.com WITH YOUR REQUESTS. WE WILL PASS THESE ON TO OUR MOVIE DISTRIBUTOR AND SEE IF WE CAN GET YOU IN YOUR FAVORITES.
Please be aware that The Legend of Johnny Lingo will be in these areas based on how long we continue to have great audiences. There is not a set time that they will be in each theater; they might run for 4 or 5 weeks, or they may spend as little as 2 to 3 weeks in each of the above cities. So, we want to get everyone in the area excited to go and see this great family film. By the way, the film recently received a "G" rating from the motion picture association.
For dates and information on all cities and theaters, please check TahitianNoni.com regularly. This information will be changing on a daily basis, so please check the website frequently to make sure you have the most current information. Don't miss out on this historic and exciting event!
"HEALING SHOWERS" MUSIC SAMPLES ONLINE - A sneak peak from film composer Thomas C. Baggaley's upcoming CD release "Healing Showers: Music for a Rainy Evening" has been posted on his web site at http://www.baggaleymusic.com. It is anticipated that further sneak peaks will be posted as the CD's August release date approaches. Check it out!
Baggaley recently worked as an orchestrator for Robert C. Bowden's original musical score for the upcoming movie "The Journey," the first Book of Mormon-based movie directed by Gary Rogers. The movie stars Jacque Gray, Kirby Heyborne, Bryce Chamberlain, Michael Flynn and Noah Danby. An original musical score by Baggaley can be heard in the newly released Christian Vuissa short film "Unfolding," now on sale at LDS Video Store, with a DVD release possible as early as October.
COLLABORATORS (ESP. FILMMAKERS) SOUGHT FOR BAGGALEY'S LIVE MULTIMEDIA SHOW - Film composer (and LDSfilm.com co-webmaster) Thomas C. Baggaley is looking for collaborator(s) (especially filmmakers) to help develop a live multimedia experience featuring music from his upcoming CD release "Healing Showers: Music for a Rainy Evening." The show, which will also be titled "Healing Showers," is planned be performed in a variety of venues throughout the Western United States (and possibly other parts of the country as well). Those interested in participating in this project can contact Thomas directly at thomas@baggaleymusic.com.
If you are involved with or know of a venue that might be interested in hosting the show, the show's coordinators would love to hear from you. Please write to bookings@questhavenpublishing.com
CAST, CREW NEEDED DAVIS COUNTY, AUG. 14-28 - Cast and crew needed for 45 minute dramatic, non-profit video shooting in Davis County, August 14-28. Needed: Cast, videographer, audio, lights, makeup. For a shooting schedule and more information, please contact Fred Hughes, 801-295-3213 or hughes400@netzero.net
PROJECT TITLE: Easy Out
SYNOPSIS: Matt Felix, a twelve-year old little league pitcher strikes up a friendship with Kevin Myers, a boy who has Down's Syndrome. Over the summer, Matt works with Kevin and teaches him to hit. When the boys' teams play each other at the end of the season, Matt must choose between keeping his friendship with Kevin and supporting his team.
SHOOTING DATES: August 14 28 (three or five full days, four or five half days)
LOCATIONS: Farmington, Bountiful, Salt Lake City
CREW MEMBERS NEEDED: Videographer, Audio, Lighting, Makeup
APPROXIMATE LENGTH: 45 minutes
HBO ANNOUNCES "ANGELS IN AMERICA" DETAILS - Details have been announced in the press release below about the upcoming HBO miniseries "Angels in America," based on the LDS-themed and GLBT-themed Pulitzer Prize-winning play by Kushner. Harper Pitt (Mary-Louise Parker), Hannah (Meryl Streep) and Joe Pitt (Patrick Wilson) are the three main Latter-day Saint characters in the play. Al Pacino plays Roy Cohn, who is Joe Pitt's mentor at work. The HBO press release and subsequent media articles make no mention of the fact that half the main characters in the play are Latter-day Saints. As I haven't seen the HBO adaptation or read the script, I have no idea whether the miniseries explicitly identifies these characters as Latter-day Saints as the play does. But this miniseries is said to be fairly faithful to the play, so I'm assuming the play's Latter-day Saints will be called Mormons, and not simply be referred to as members of a generic ethically-oriented/conservative religious group.
Press release: HBO announces plans for Angels in America broadcast
At the Television Critics Association press tour Thursday, HBO announced plans for the December broadcast of the six-hour miniseries of Tony Kushner's Pulitzer-winning play Angels in America. "The film, which has taken two years to make at a cost of over $60 million, is six hours long," said Colin Callender, president of HBO Films. "It will air in December this year in a groundbreaking scheduling pattern that will take unique advantage of our multiplex capacity by utilizing HBO, HBO II, and HBO Signature as separate platforms. This will allow the audience to watch the film in any format--two three-hour parts, six one-hour episodes, or stacked as a continuous six-hour event."
Also appearing at the press conference were Kushner, director Mike Nichols, and actors Meryl Streep and Al Pacino. Kushner revealed that he had previously written a six-hour screen adaptation of Angels for Robert Altman, who had at one point been attached to direct: "[It] was also six hours long but very, very different from this, and a really much looser adaptation that I felt, finally, and Mr. Altman felt also finally didn't work as well as the play did. That was all quite a while ago. So this was really a fresh start. And Mike took a completely different approach to the material. Very different things mattered to him. This version is utterly different than any other attempt to make it into a film."
CHAR CHART: Matthew Barney's art film "The Cremaster Cycle" surpassed "SLC Punk!" last weekend on the chart of theatrically released feature films featuring Latter-day Saints/Mormons as major characters.
In his "Cremaster" films, writer/producer/director Matthew Barney himself plays the part of Gary Gilmore, the non-practicing son of a disturbed Latter-day Saint woman and a non-LDS father. Gilmore was executed for murdering two Latter-day Saint men. Gilmore's mother and grandmother are also characters in the movie. "Cremaster" also incorporates the Mormon Tabernacle Choir and other Utah/Latter-day Saint motifs.
Two new movies are poised to be added to this list during the next two to three months: Nathan Smith Jones' "The Work and the Story" and Gary Rogers' "The Book of Mormon Movie, Volume 1: The Journey." Mark Potter's "Suddenly Unexpected" is scheduled to premiere with a limited theatrical release as well, and if we are able to obtain box office figures for that movie, we will add it to the list as well.
Ocean's Eleven 2001 183,405,771 Rain Man 1988 172,825,435 Deep Impact 1998 140,464,664 Butch Cassidy/Sundance Kid 1969 102,308,900 Donnie Brasco 1997 41,974,656 Paint Your Wagon 1969 31,678,778 Punch-Drunk Love 2002 17,791,031 Somewhere in Time 1980 9,070,000 Panther 1995 6,834,000 The Other Side of Heaven 2001 4,720,371 Covered Wagon 1923 3,800,000 Messenger of Death 1988 3,074,000 Heavenly Creatures 1995 3,049,000 God's Army 2000 2,628,829 Brigham Young - Frontiersman 1940 2,500,000 Goodbye Lover 1999 1,923,061 The Singles Ward 2002 1,250,798 The R.M. 2003 1,025,494 Wagonmaster 1950 1,000,000 Brigham City 2001 905,073 Jack Weyland's Charly 2002 813,685 Orgazmo 1998 582,024 The Cremaster Cycle 2003 322,176 SLC Punk! 1999 299,200 Handcart 2002 98,666"Oceans Eleven" is the top-grossing movie in which one or more major characters are Latter-day Saints. (2 of the titular Eleven in the 2001 remake are explicitly identified as Mormons, in a sort of homage to the Mormon member of the Eleven in the original Frank Sinatra/Dean Martin/Sammy Davis Jr. version).
"Paint Your Wagon" is the top-grossing movie in which a Latter-day Saint character's religious affiliation has major relevance in the plot. It is also the top-grossing movie in which a lead character (the lead actress, played by Jean Seberg) -- not just a major character as in "Ocean's Eleven" or "Donnie Brasco" -- is explicitly identified as a Latter-day Saint.
"The Other Side of Heaven" is the 2nd-highest grossing movie in which a Latter-day Saint character's religious affiliation has major relevance in the plot. "The Other Side of Heaven" is also the highest-grossing movie featuring Latte-day Saint main character(s) which was actually directed by a Latter-day Saint.
Keep in mind that these figures are not adjusted for inflation. "Brigham Young: Frontiersman" grossed under $2.5 million in 1940, but in today's dollars that would put it among the highest-placed movies on this list.
Also, be aware that a number of other major theatrically released movies featured Latter-day Saints as main characters, but we do not have box office figures for them. These include: Melvin and Howard, Ocean's Eleven (1960), The Great Brain, Goin' Coconuts, Out of Step, Advise and Consent.
TMACCESS NOTICES - Although some of these notices are for BYU students only, most apply to all interested parties.
"City Streets," directed by Adam Lisonbee, won Best Experimental Video at the Utah Short Film and Video Festival.
"The Promethean," directed by Kohl Glass, will play at the San Diego Comic-con International Independent Film Festival on Saturday, July 19.
"The Snell Show," directed by Andrew Black, has been selected for the HBO Comedy Arts Festival, Maryland Film Festival, Artscape, Newport Beach International Film Festival, and the Atlanta Film Festival.
** Opportunities **
"Eats, Drink, & Get Married," a major motion picture based on the best-selling novelist by Robert Farrell Smith, is in pre-production in the Provo area, with recent BYU graduate Christian Vuissa as its director. The film will have a theatrical release in Spring 2004, shooting mid-August to mid-September. Paid and non-paid positions are available, including Storyboard Artist, Script Supervisor, Location Manager, Second Assistant Director, Second Second Assistant Director, Production Designer, Set Decorators, Swing Gang, Prop Master, Special Effects Foreman, Assistant Special Effects Men, First and Second Assistant Cameramen, Loader, Sound Mixer, Boom Operator, Best Boy Grip, Best Boy Electric, Wardrobe Assistants, Craft Services, Production Assistants, Assistant Editors. TMA internship and MAD Money credit is also available. Contact Mike Smith, Production Coordinator, at 354-7850, or e-mail Christian at vuissa@mirrorfilms.com.
"Ecto: Homegrown Nuclear Acceleration" needs key crew members for principle photography in August 2003 and post-production work through April 2004. Internship credit is possible. Learn more at ww.ectofilm.com.
SlamDance Film Festival is calling for entries. Early-postmarked deadline is August 29; final postmarked deadline is October 10. This is SlamDance's tenth year. More info at http://www.slamdance.com
* Draper Arts Council "Disney Spectacular" auditions are July 31 from 7 to 9 m, August 1 from 7 to 9 pm, and August 2 from 10 am to noon. Ages 10 to 18 come and audition for this Disney musical review! Be prepared to sing 16 measures of a Disney song. Props and choreography are encouraged.