Argentina puts up barriers on foreign films

BUENOS AIRES -- Incaa, Argentina's National Film Institute, implemented on Tuesday a scaled tax on foreign films aimed at making it harder for wide Hollywood releases to crowd out local fare. Foreign films will pay the tax based on screen counts, the state department said in a resolution. When a foreign film is released on 40 screens in Buenos Aires or surrounding suburbs, home to a third of the country's 40 million people, a tax equivalent to 300 tickets will be charged. On 80 screens, the tax jumps to 1,200 tickets and continues rising in relation to the screen count, reaching 12,000 tickets on 161 screens or more. The tax is smaller for other parts of the country. At an average ticket price of 30 pesos ($7.15), the tax will run between $2,145 and $85,800 depending on screen numbers. Hollywood dominates 80%-85% of B.O., with big films like "Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides" and "Rio" going out on 120 or more of the country's 800 screens. Gross B.O. is expected to rise 32% to $215 million this year compared with 2010. Incaa said the screen-packing limits choices for auds and makes it harder for local films to make a profit. Argentina produces 100 features a year but most don't surpass 10,000 admissions or even get a commercial release, limiting market share at 10%, in line with indie imports. Contact the Variety newsroom at news@variety.com

Broadway's 'Chicago' to Celebrate Making History

NEW You are able to (AP) The cast of "Chicago" intends to celebrate their show reaching a Broadway milestone each day early.The stars and crew will host a little backstage party at intermission throughout Friday evening's performance to mark as soon as if this becomes the 4th longest-running show in Broadway history.The wedding cake-cutting and champagne toast will technically be considered a little premature: The matinee on Saturday will really function as the show's 6,138th performance, as soon as it jumps within the original version of "A Chorus Line" in to the record books.The achievement does mean "Chicago" becomes the longest-running American show in Broadway history. In front of it are "The Phantom of the Opera," ''Cats" and "L'ensemble des Miserables," all British imports.Copyright 2011 Connected Press. All privileges reserved. These components might not be released, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. By Mark Kennedy August 26, 2011 PHOTO CREDIT The Publicity Office/Jeremy Daniel NEW You are able to (AP) The cast of "Chicago" intends to celebrate their show reaching a Broadway milestone each day early.The stars and crew will host a little backstage party at intermission throughout Friday evening's performance to mark as soon as if this becomes the 4th longest-running show in Broadway history.The wedding cake-cutting and champagne toast will technically be considered a little premature: The matinee on Saturday will really function as the show's 6,138th performance, as soon as it jumps within the original version of "A Chorus Line" in to the record books.The achievement does mean "Chicago" becomes the longest-running American show in Broadway history. In front of it are "The Phantom from the Opera," ''Cats" and "L'ensemble des Miserables," all British imports.Copyright 2011 Connected Press. All privileges reserved. These components might not be released, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

Raoul Ruiz, filmmaker and visionary, dies at 70

PARIS -- French-Chilean filmmaker Raoul Ruiz, who had been revered for his singular literary adaptations, died of complications from lung infection Thursday in Paris. He was 70.An abundant and significantly-acclaimed helmer, Ruiz had won Gaul's Louis Delluc prize, the film equal to in france they literary Goncourt prize, for "Mysteries of Lisbon."Ruiz, who had been fighting a cancer discovered 2 yrs ago while filming "Lisbon," was still being highly devoted to his are a movie director.The filmmaker had just completed lensing "La Noche p enfrente" strarring Christian Vadim, and that he was preparing "As Linhas p Torres," a Portugal-set war drama, which in fact had Mathieu Almaric, John Malkovich and Jum Seydoux mounted on star.The helmer fled to France in early '70s to flee Augusto Pinochet's dictatorship, after penetrating together with his feature debut, "Three Sad Tigers," which won Locarno's Golden Leopard in 1968.A number one figure of Chile's Cinema of Resistance movement, the politically-engaged Ruiz directed "Dialogues from the Exiled," inspired by playwright Bertolt Brecht's Refugee Conversations.Ruiz later sparked worldwide recognition with films for example Catherine Deneuve starrer "Time Obtained" according to Marcel Proust classic novel, and "Klimt, the biopic of Austrian painter Gustav Klimt, starring John Malkovich and "Genealogies of the Crime," that was nommed for any Golden Bear in Berlin.Ruiz was feted at Berlin having a Silver Bear for Outstanding Artistic Contribution in 1997. Contact the range newsroom at news@variety.com

David Yates Taking The Stand

With Steve Kloves writing the script.... While Universal might have decided it can't quite find enough change down the back of the sofa to fund Ron Howard's take on Stephen King's Dark Tower series, Warners seems to have no such qualms. Having partnered up with CBS films to nab the rights to King's epic, post-apocalyptic tale The Stand, the studio has now retained the services of Harry Potter stalwarts Steve Kloves and David Yates to write and direct a likely multi-film version of the story. HitFix reports that the pair is now locking in deals to tackle the book, which sees a virus kill off 99% of the world's population. A group of the remaining survivors must then deal not just with their shattered existence but another bunch of post-viral types led by the evil Randall Flagg. While there have been attempts to get the story on to the big screen before (with the likes of George Romero labouring fruitlessly to make it work), The Stand was turned into a miniseries by US TV network ABC in 1994. Yates had previously dropped mentions that he was interested in taking on the challenge when he was promoting the most recent Harry Potter and he's certainly proved he can handle such a difficult gig. With Kloves also aboard, it looks like this one could actually see the light of day...

American Reunion Producer Confesses American Cake Sequels Kinda Drawn

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Bridesmaids Star Melissa McCarthy So Happy & Overcome By Saturday Evening Live Gig

La, Calif. -- Melissa McCarthy is riding high fresh off the prosperity of her hit movie, Bridesmaids and her first Emmy Award nomination (for Outstanding Lead Actress inside a Comedy Series) on her focus on CBS Mike & Molly. Now, another dream is originating true for that comedienne hosting Saturday Evening Live. Im very looking forward to it. I believe I simply now stopped crying about this! Melissa told Access Hollywood in the Help premiere in La on Tuesday. [Its] insane. Bananas. The 41-year-old former Gilmore Women actress stated hosting the NBC late evening sketch show is a imagine hers since childhood. Since I Have was 5 [years of age] I had been like, coming lower to look at Gilda Ratner and Jane Curtin and Ive viewed it my entire existence, she stated. I literally can barely discuss it. Its so overwhelming in my experience and thus, I am talking about, just this type of huge dream which i dont quite possess the place during my mind yet for this. Melissa was overcome with emotion when she received the phone call telling her of SNLs hosting offer forcing the actress to momentarily hide while out shopping until she could calm lower. My agents known as and that i was in a store and that i began strangely I'd say crying, however it was a lot more like wailing-- they thought I had been literally insane, she told Access. So, I went and hid within the rug department and that i just was between large area rugs and cried. [I] cried my eyes out because I had been so happy and overcome. Melissa will host the approaching 37th seasons second episode, with musical guest Lady Antebellum. The Growing Season 37 premiere of Saturday Evening Live located by Alec Baldwin for any record sixteenth time will air on September 24 at 11:30 PM on NBC. Copyright 2011 by NBC Universal, Corporation. All privileges reserved.These components might not be released, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Shawn Levy Joins Real Steel

Will bring massive robots with him!Love robots? Love Hugh Jackman? Want a robot Hugh Jackman of your own? Okay, we can't help there but we can offer a unique behind-the-scenes look at Jackman's robot-fuelled fight flick Real Steel at Empire Presents.... BIG SCREEN this Saturday. Real Steel director Shawn Levy will be there in person to introduce so-far unseen footage from the movie and a look at how Sugar Ray Leonard taught Hugh Jackman how to box. Fingers crossed there'll also be a bit where Hugh Jackman shows Sugar Ray Leonard how to growl menacingly while turning someone to pastrami with adamantium claws. As a robot-controlling pugilist, Jackman will have those Wolvy claws firmly retracted in Real Steel. He operates the heavyweight robot that he and his son Max (Dakota Goyo) build to challenge for the championship. It's Robot Wars meets Raging Bull. It's also a BIG SCREEN spot that's for kids of all ages. Atom, the robot from the movie (pictured below), will be there to pose for photos and Levy will be signing autographs after the session. {Real Steel big screen}. What are you waiting for? Head over to the BIG SCREEN website to book tickets.

Box Office Smackdown: Brad Pitt's 'World War Z' to Open Against Johnny Depp's 'Lone Ranger'

Getty ImagesBrad Pitt, left, and Johnny Depp The zombie war will begin on Dec. 21, 2012 and it could be a blood-letting at the box office. Paramount has dated World War Z, which it describes as a geo-political thriller, to open four days before Christmas Day. The move puts the Bratt Pitt movie on a collision course with Disney's The Lone Ranger, starring Johnny Depp and Armie Hammer, as well as Fox's Tobey Maguire drama Life of Pi. And it's only a week after the release of Peter Jackson's The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey, which opens Dec. 14. But the Christmas holiday has proven to be the most lucrative time of the year, with the market able to support multiple films. World War Z, currently in production, is being directed by Marc Forster and adapts Max Brook's novel World War Z: An Oral History of the Zombie War. The movie stars Pitt, Mireille Enos, Daniella Kertesz, James Badge Dale and Matthew Fox. The studio says the "story revolves around United Nations employee Gerry Lane (Pitt), who traverses the world in a race against time to stop the Zombie pandemic that is toppling armies and governments and threatening to decimate humanity itself." Brad Pitt Johnny Depp Matthew Fox Tobey Maguire Armie Hammer Mireille Enos

Judge May Allow Iraqi War Veteran's Bombshell Suit Against 'Hurt Locker' Producers to carry on

Summit Entertainment An Iraqi war veteran's suit from the producers from the Hurt Locker continues, but might be trimmed to its "essence," claims about if the film in regards to a US explosive device squad in Iraq took it's origin from the complaintant's existence. The suit was initially filed by Master Sgt. Jeffrey Sarverin March, 2010, just days prior to the Hurt Locker won best picture in the Oscars. Sarver stated he was the muse behind the film, its primary character, and also the title phrase from the film, and prosecuted for misappropriation of his publicity privileges, defamation, breach of contract, and infliction of emotional distress. On Monday, a California federal judge held a hearing on the motion through the accused, including Summit Entertainment, Current Pictures, directorKathryn Bigelow, and writerMark Boal, to get rid of the complaint being an impingement of free speech. U.S District Judge Jacqueline Nguyenexpressed a propensity to dismiss all claims except the main one where Sarver alleges that his likeness was misappropriated through the filmmakers, based on the Connected Press. When the judge's tentative opinion stands, this means that Sarver won't come with an chance to check before a jury his theory that a character inside a allegedly imaginary film could be libelous nor his allegation that after Boal was embedded using the U.S. military to analyze articles for Playboy magazine, he decided to "guidelines," including limitations onthe kind of private information that Boal could set of something member. However, if your judge enables the situation to visit forward about the publicity privileges claim, Sarver may have overcome one obstacle in the suit from the film's producers, who had arguedSarver's claims were precluded through the First Amendment. Sarver's attorney, Todd Weglarz, stated the misappropriation claim "may be the essence of the situation." Meanwhile, Jeremiah Reynolds,the attorney for that Bigelow and Boal, contended that permitting the situation to visit forward might have a chilling impact on filmmaking which it might "directly impact artists, company directors, filmmakers later on," Judge Nguyen has had the problem under advisement and it is likely to problem an itemized opinion shortly. E-mail: eriqgardner@yahoo.com Twitter: @eriqgardner