Hollywood
Star Cineplex showcases ‘Top Gun: Maverick’ in line with international release
Hollywood's iconic actor Tom Cruise starrer film ‘Top Gun: Maverick’ had its global release on Friday, and the country’s first multiplex chain Star Cineplex also brought the action-drama film to Bangladeshi cinephiles in line with its international release across its all five branches in the capital.
The movie, which brought Tom Cruise to the role of Pete "Maverick" Mitchell after 36 years with the sequel to 1986's "Top Gun," has recently been screened at the 75th Cannes Film Festival on May 18 in an Official Selection Screening, where it received a five-minute standing ovation from the audience and Cannes paved a tribute to Cruise and his extraordinary career.
On Friday, Bangladeshi audiences and Tom Cruise fans showed up in Star Cineplex’s Bashundhara City, Sony Square, SKS Tower, Shimanto Shambhar and the newly launched Bangabandhu Military Museum branches and praised the film.
“I have been a fan of Cruise and the original ‘Top Gun’ movie and was waiting to watch its sequel once it hits the theatre. It feels good that we, the Bangladeshi audiences are also watching this film alongside the rest of the world on the same day,” Ashiqur Pial, a banker, told UNB after watching the film at the Sony Square branch of Star Cineplex in Mirpur.
Before releasing it on Friday across all of its five branches, Star Cineplex held a special press screening of the film on Thursday night at its SKS Tower branch in Mohakhali in the capital for journalists, media personalities and celebrities.
The advanced screening was joined by popular silver screen actor Riaz Ahmed, Taskeen Rahman, Sumon Patwary, director Taneem Rahman Angshu, youth celebrities and content creators including Salman Muqtadir, Shoumik Ahmed, Rakin Absar, Shouvik Ahmed and more.
Directed by Joseph Kosinski, ‘Top Gun: Maverick’ also has an ensemble cast featuring Miles Teller, Jennifer Connelly, Jon Hamm, Glen Powell, Lewis Pullman, Ed Harris, Monica Barbaro, and Val Kilmer.
Set 36 years after its prequel, the film recounts Maverick's return to the United States Navy Strike Fighter Tactics Instructor program (commonly known as "Top Gun"), where he must confront his past while training a cadre of younger fighter pilots, including the son of Maverick's closest buddy Goose.
The film was initially scheduled for a July 2019 release, which was delayed by efforts to shoot several complex action sequences, then by the COVID-19 pandemic and scheduling conflicts. Since its release, the film is receiving positive reviews and critical acclaim for Cruise’s incredible stunts as a dashing fighter pilot.
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‘Spider-Man’ surpasses $1B globally in second weekend
Peter Parker’s good fortune continued over the holiday weekend as Hollywood prepares to close the books on a turbulent 2021. Even with some mighty competition from new Matrix and Sing movies, and rising concerns over the omicron variant, “Spider-Man: No Way Home” stayed in the No. 1 spot and netted a few more milestones too including crossing the $1 billion mark globally.
According to studio estimates Sunday “Spider-Man” added $81.5 million over the three-day weekend, down 69% from its first weekend. The Sony and Marvel film has now grossed $467 million from North American theaters, more than doubling the domestic grosses of 2021′s previous No. 1 film, “Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings.”
With $587.1 million from 61 overseas markets, in just 12 days of release, “Spider-Man" has grossed $1.05 billion globally. It's the first film of the pandemic to cross $1 billion and is tied with “Star Wars: The Force Awakens” for being the third-fastest film ever to do so — and this without the benefit of its release in China.
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Universal’s “Sing 2” came in second place with an estimated $23.8 million, while Warner Bros.' “The Matrix Resurrections” grossed $12 million to take third place.
The animated musical “Sing 2” features high-profile celebrity talent including Matthew McConaughey, Scarlett Johansson, Reese Witherspoon and Bono, as well as a jukebox soundtrack full of well-known hits. Since its release Wednesday, it’s made $41 million ($1.6 million of that came from Thanksgiving weekend showings) from North America and $65 million worldwide.
“We’re extraordinarily pleased,” said Jim Orr, Universal's president of domestic distribution.
Orr said the stellar CinemaScore (A+) and audience scores suggest that the film will continue to perform well in the next few weeks, when many kids are still out of school for the holidays.
The fourth Matrix also opened on Wednesday and has earned an estimated $22.5 million in its first five days in North America. The film, directed by Lana Wachowski and starring Keanu Reeves and Carrie-Anne Moss, is currently streaming on HBO Max as well. Globally, it’s grossed $69.8 million to date.
While the studio was hoping for a stronger box office, Jeff Goldstein, Warner Bros.' head of domestic distribution, said the movie achieved what they were looking for as an overall strategy including HBO Max.
“The Matrix Resurrections" is the last of the 18 Warner Bros. films released in 2021 to debut both in theaters and on HBO Max simultaneously. Starting in 2022, the studio will have a 45-day exclusive theatrical window on their films.
In fourth place was Disney and 20th Century’s “The King’s Man,” a prequel to the action-comedy Kingsman series starring Ralph Fiennes. It came in slightly under expectations with $6.4 million from the weekend and $10 million from its first five days. The audience skewed heavily male (65%).
The Kurt Warner biopic “American Underdog” opened on Christmas Day and has made an estimated $6.2 million in its two days in release to round out the top five. Zachary Levi stars as Warner, the quarterback who went from undrafted free agent to Hall of Famer.
Paul Thomas Anderson’s “Licorice Pizza” expanded nationwide on Christmas, after playing in limited release for a month, and added $2.3 million bringing its total to $3.7 million. And right behind it was the Denzel Washington-directed drama “A Journal For Jordan,” which to $2.2 million.
With just a few days left in 2021, the North American box office is currently sitting at $4.3 billion and is likely to net out around $4.4 billion. Pre-pandemic, it was normal for a year's box office to surpass $11 billion.
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“To say was a roller-coaster year is an understatement,” said Paul Dergarabedian, the senior media analyst for Comscore, Inc. “The marketplace is still facing challenges from the pandemic, but what an amazing capper to one of the most incredible years ever at the box office."
He added: “The future of the movie theater a year ago was a big question mark, and a year later it’s here to stay.”
Estimated ticket sales for Friday through Sunday at U.S. and Canadian theaters, according to Comscore. Final domestic figures will be released Monday.
1. “Spider-Man: No Way Home,” $81.5 million.
2. “Sing 2,” $23.8 million.
3. “The Matrix Resurrections,” $12 million.
4. “The King’s Man,” $6.4 million.
5. “American Underdog,” $6.2 million.
6. “West Side Story,” $2.8 million.
7. “Licorice Pizza,” $2.3 million.
8. “A Journal For Jordan,” $2.2 million.
9. “Encanto,” $2 million.
10. “83,” $1.8 million.
Golden Globes announce nominations to a skeptical Hollywood
After widespread criticism forced the organization that puts on the Golden Globes to lose its televised award show and overhaul its membership, the Hollywood Foreign Press Association nevertheless went ahead announcing nominees for film and television awards on Monday despite a skeptical entertainment industry.
Just as it’s done for many years, the HFPA gathered reporters at the Beverly Hilton to announce its picks for the 79th Golden Globes. But this time, there was no nationally televised morning-show live spot or any immediate celebrity celebrations. Hollywood mostly shrugged.
The HFPA, which usually has a handful of movie stars make their announcement, turned instead to Snoop Dogg, who read the nominees behind sunglasses and a red hat during a live stream on the Globes' YouTube page. The majority of studios, public relations firms and A-list talent haven’t engaged much this year with the group, which dropped its usual requirement that films be submitted for consideration. Critics have said it's too soon for the HFPA to return to business as usual. Some would rather see the Globes be gone for good.
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But the press association tried to maintain its perch in awards season on Monday, spreading nominations around to the likes of Will Smith ("King Richard"), Kristen Stewart ("Spencer"), ”West Side Story" breakthrough Rachel Zegler, Leonardo DiCaprio ("Don't Look Up"), Denzel Washington ("The Tragedy of Macbeth"), Ben Affleck ("The Tender Bar") and Lady Gaga ("House of Gucci").
The nominees for best picture, drama, went to Jane Campion's gothic Western “The Power of the Dog,” Denis Villeneuve's sci-fi epic “Dune,” the family drama “CODA,” Reinaldo Marcus Green's tennis biopic “King Richard” and Kenneth Branagh's autobiographical “Belfast.”
The comedy or musical picks for best picture were: Adam McKay's apocalyptic comedy “Don't Look Up,” Paul Thomas Anderson's ‘70s ode to San Fernando Valley “Licorice Pizza,” Steven Spielberg’s “West Side Story,” Lin-Manuel Miranda's “Tick, Tick ... Boom!” and Joe Wright's “Cyrano.”
“Belfast” and “The Power of the Dog” tied for the most nominations with seven apiece. Netflix dominated the film nominees with 17 nods in total. HBO's “Succession” led the TV side with five nominations, including nods for best drama and best actor in a drama series for recent New Yorker profile subject Jeremy Strong.
Normally, such honors would set off a flurry of delight from early-roused nominees and their studios — an awards triumph to be trumpeted on social media and in calls with reporters. On Monday morning, no nominee immediately celebrated — publicly, at least.
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The ress association claims that in the nine months since its 2021 show, it has remade itself. “HFPA 2.0,” recently elected president Helen Hoehne has said. The group has added a chief diversity officer; overhauled its board; inducted 21 new members, including six Black journalists; brought in the NAACP on a five-year partnership; and updated its code of conduct.
“This has been a year of change and reflection for the Hollywood Foreign Press Association,” Hoehne said Monday.
All of that came after a Los Angeles Times’ expose detailed some of the HFPA’s unethical behavior and revealed that its 87 voting members didn’t include one Black journalist. Studios said they would boycott the Globes and more than 100 PR films said their clients wouldn’t participate until the HFPA swiftly implemented “profound and lasting change.” Tom Cruise returned his three Globes to the group’s headquarters.
NBC, the Globes’ longtime telecaster, has said it won’t air the 2022 Globes because “change of this magnitude takes time and work.” The Globes have still set a date of January 9 but haven’t shared any details about what kind of ceremony that would be.
The Critics Choice Awards have sought to fill the void, even seeking to secure the Globes' usual home at the Beverly Hilton for its telecast. That bid failed but the Critics Choice Awards will likewise take place on Jan. 9, airing on TBS and the CW. The Critics Choice Awards also announced their nominees Monday, with “Belfast” and “West Side Story” leading with 11 nods each.
Much of the Globes’ power has always resided in its lively telecast, regularly one of the most-watched non-sports broadcasts of the year. The Globes also serve as a promotional tool for many of the awards-hopefuls hitting theaters in December. But this year, few expect to see ads and TV commercials trumpeting a film’s Golden Globes nominations.
But there were also some signs that the Globes boycott was thawing. The Walt Disney Co. promoted “Cruella” nominations from both the Critics Choice Awards and the Globes.
Jane Powell, Hollywood golden-age musicals star, dies at 92
Jane Powell, the bright-eyed, operatic-voiced star of Hollywood's golden age musicals who sang with Howard Keel in “Seven Brides for Seven Brothers” and danced with Fred Astaire in “Royal Wedding,” has died. She was 92.
Powell died Thursday at her Wilton, Connecticut, home, longtime friend Susan Granger said. Granger said Powell died of natural causes.
“Jane was the most wonderful friend," Granger said. ”She was candid, she was honest. You never asked Jane a question you didn’t want an absolutely honest answer to."
Granger was a youngster when she met the then-teenaged Powell, who was making her film debut in 1944's “Song of the Open Road,” directed by Granger's father, S. Sylvan Simon.
She performed virtually her whole life, starting about age 5 as a singing prodigy on radio in Portland, Oregon. On screen, she quickly graduated from teen roles to the lavish musical productions that were a 20th-century Hollywood staple.
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Her 1950 casting in “Royal Wedding” came by default. June Allyson was first announced as Astaire’s co-star but withdrew when she became pregnant. Judy Garland was cast, but was withdrawn because of personal problems. Jane Powell was next in line.
“They had to give it to me,” she quipped at the time. “Everybody else is pregnant.” Also among the expectant MGM stars: Lana Turner, Esther Williams, Cyd Charisse and Jean Hagen.
Powell had just turned 21 when she got the role; Astaire was 50. She was nervous because she lacked dancing experience, but she found him “very patient and understanding. We got along fine from the start.”
“Seven Brides for Seven Brothers” proved to be a 1954 “sleeper” hit.
“The studio didn’t think it was going to do anything,” she recalled in 2000. “MGM thought that `Brigadoon’ was going to be the big moneymaker that year. It didn’t turn out that way. We were the ones that went to the Radio City Music Hall, which was always such a coup.”
The famed New York venue was a movie theater then.
Audiences were overwhelmed by the lusty singing of Keel and Powell and especially by the gymnastic choreography of Michael Kidd. “Seven Brides” achieved classic status and resulted in a TV series and a Broadway musical.
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“Blonde and small and pretty, Jane Powell had the required amount of grit and spunk that was needed to play the woman who could tame seven backwoodsmen,” John Kobal wrote in his book “Gotta Sing Gotta Dance: A Pictorial History of Film Musicals.”
After 13 years at MGM, though, Powell quit the studio, reasoning that she was going to be fired “because they weren’t going to be doing musicals anymore.”
“I thought I’d have a lot of studios to go to,” she said in 2000, “but I didn’t have any, because no one wanted to make musicals. It was very difficult, and quite a shock to me. There’s nothing worse than not being wanted.”
She found one musical at RKO, “The Girl Most Likely,” a 1958 remake of “Tom, Dick and Harry.” Aside from a couple of minor films, her movie career was over.
She was born Suzanne Lorraine Burce in Portland, Oregon, in 1928. She began singing on local radio as a small child, and as she grew, her voice developed into a clear, high-pitched soprano.
When the Burce family planned a trip to Los Angeles, the radio station asked if Suzanne would appear on a network talent show there. The tiny girl with a 2½-octave voice drew thunderous applause with an aria from “Carmen” and was quickly put under contract to MGM.
Her first movie was a loanout to an independent producer for “Song of the Open Road,” a 1944 mishmash with W.C. Fields (at the end of his career) and Edgar Bergen and Charlie McCarthy.
The character’s name in “Song of the Open Road” was Jane Powell, and MGM decided that that would be her movie name.
She played teens in such films as “Holiday in Mexico,” “Three Daring Daughters” and “A Date With Judy.” But she pleaded with the studio bosses to be given grown-up roles and finally succeeded in “Royal Wedding.”
Frothy romances and musicals continued to dominate her career, including “Young, Rich and Pretty,” “Small Town Girl” and “Three Sailors and a Girl.”
After her movie career ended, musical theater offered plenty of work for a star of her prominence and talent. She sang in supper clubs, toured in such shows as “The Unsinkable Molly Brown” and “I Do! I Do!” and replaced Debbie Reynolds in the Broadway run of “Irene.”
She frequently appeared on television, notably in the Judy Garland role in a new version of “Meet Me in St. Louis.
As she approached her 70s, Powell abandoned her singing career. “I can’t hit the high notes, and I won’t be second-rate,” she explained in 2000. She switched to drama, appearing in New York theater in such plays as “Avow,” portraying mother of an unmarried, pregnant daughter and a son who wanted to marry his male partner.
Powell’s first four marriages ended in divorce: to Geary Steffen (son Geary, daughter Suzanne), Patrick Nerney (daughter Lindsay), James Fitzgerald and David Parlour.
Powell met fifth husband Dick Moore when he interviewed her for his book about child actors. As Dickie Moore, he had been a well-known child actor in the 1930s and ’40s and gave Shirley Temple her first screen kiss in “Miss Annie Rooney” (1942). Moore, head of a New York public relations office, and Powell married in 1988. He died in 2015.
Jane Powell's survivors include her daughter, Lindsey Nerney, Granger said.
Greatest Love Stories in Celluloid: Hollywood’s Best Romantic Movies of All Time
The ferrymen of dreams in Hollywood have been crafting love stories from the beginning of the movie era. Since then, romantic movies have been evolved through different historical events. After passing through two World Wars and multiple cultural revolutions, still they are spreading the divine message of love. Now you are going to get a glimpse among those greatest romantic movies ever.
Hollywood’s best romantic movies based on love stories
Roman Holiday (1953)
Besides, winning Oscar in three categories, Roman Holiday is applauded as the best classic romantic film ever. The legendary actress Audrey Hepburn won Oscar as the best actress for her ‘Princess Ann’ role. Her co-artist Gregory Peck expressed a sweet love of a news reporter for a runaway princess by influential acting. For the exemplary interaction of turning comedy romance into a serious environment, the American novelist Dalton Trumbo got Oscar for the best story.
Notting Hill (1999)
This is the tale that verdicts the spontaneity of love. The director Roger Mitchell depicts the mutual fascination between the elegance of a famous actress Anna and the innocent love of a bookseller Will. Julia Roberts starred the Anna character wonderfully just like Hugh Grant did to the Will character. The film was nominated for the best motion picture, best actor, and best actress in Golden Globes. It still retains its popularity among young audiences.
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Edward Scissorhands (1990)
Besides a fantasy, you will get good drama in this romantic film. In fact, Tim Burton, the renowned gothic and horror filmmaker, has made it sure. You may mislead by seeing the poster and think it having creepy elements. But you will find it as a cute love story by the spellbound performance of Johnny Depp and the charm of Winona Ryder. This Oscar nominee film of 1991 still can give you a different taste in this 21st century.
Sabrina (1954)
This is another classic presentation of Audrey Hepburn. The interesting thing is, the Casablanca star Humphrey Bogart is also here. This duo has made the romantic comedy a perfect feature film. Sabrina portrays the love competition between two brothers of the royal Larabee family for their chauffeur’s daughter as she turns from a weeping girl to a grown-up woman. The movie was directed by the most versatile filmmaker Billy Wilder.
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It Happened One Night (1934)
This classic comedy-drama has been remade multiple times in different movie industries. The protagonist characters were Clark Gable and Claudette Colbert. Robert Riskin wrote the screenplay under the direction of Frank Capra. And the amazing thing is, all of them won the academy award for their own work. Columbia Picture achieved Oscar for making the best picture. This movie of 105 minutes will make your day with a funny story between a millionaire’s crazy girl and a reporter who recently lost his job.
Forrest Gump (1994)
It is a biography of Forrest Gump who was a slow-witted man trying to win the heart of his only childhood love even after all of the life-long war. Tom Hanks stars the film directed by Robert Zemeckis and written by Eric Roth. Every one of them got Oscar for their contribution. Including these, Forrest Gump got Oscar in six categories in total. The background covers the presidencies of Kennedy and Johnson, the Vietnam War, the Watergate scandal, and Elvis Presley.
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The Notebook (2004)
The Notebook is the most tragic love story movie ever. The film star Ryan Gosling and Rachel McAdams played a young couple whose story of falling in love is read in the film by an old man to his fellow nursing home resident. This Nick Cassavetes directed film won 8 teen choice awards, a satellite award, and an MTV movie award. Despite being unsuccessful during the release, it hits the box office later.
Titanic (1997)
The film ‘Titanic’ has the most historical value in the movie industry. This is one of the best romantic movies of all time as well as included in the disaster genre. The artistic filmmaker James Cameron presented the true event of the sinking of Titanic, the largest ship afloat at that time. Besides this fact, Titanic is memorable for the greatest love of Jack played by Leonardo DiCaprio and Rose played by Kate Winslet. This commercially successful movie won Oscar in 11 categories.
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Remember Sunday (2013)
This Hallmark movie depicts a love story between a jewelry storekeeper having a short-term memory loss and a waitress who desperate to find her true love. This Jeff Bleckner directed TV movie may be underrated; but its musical background and the interactive acting of Zachary Levi and Alexis Bledel will definitely win your heart. It is actually a male version of ‘50 First Date’ movie but it has skipped the light comedy.
Little Manhattan (2005)
This 84 minutes under-teen movie will give you a sweet experience of first love. You will see here the desperate attempts of a 10-year-old boy Gabe to win his crash Rosemary, the girl in the same city he lives in. Gabe was played by Josh Hutcherson and Rosemary was played by Charlotte Ray. No matter how many times you watch, their cute expressions will keep you engaged until the end of the movie.
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Passengers (2016)
‘Passengers’ is a Sci-fi movie nicely decorated with romantic elements. Due to a technical error in hibernation pods, suddenly woke up Jim pursues suicide realizing the journey lasting 120 years. But when he saw Aurora, he changed his mind and woke her up manually. Eventually, it didn’t go as he wished. It was got Oscar nominations for the best original score and the best production design. Jim was played by Chris Pratt while Aurora was played by Jennifer Lawrence.
‘Before’ Trilogy
Richard Linklater’s trilogy series is consists of three movies: first, ‘Before Sunrise’ in 1995; then ‘Before Sunset’ in 2004, and finally, ‘Before Midnight’ in 2013. Among them, ‘Before Sunrise’ and ‘Before Midnight’ got the Oscar nomination for the best screenplay writing. All of the versions cover a post-modern romance by depicting the love life of Jesse and Celine. Jess role player Ethan Hawk and Celine role player Julie Delpy also contributed to the scripts along with the filmmaker Richard Linklater.
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Wrap-up
These are not merely some good romantic drama. They will show you the ultimate power of love and make you believe that good things happen in this cruel world. These best romantic movies claim that the relationships between people matter even after so many disagreements, controversies, and separations.
Is it finally game on for video game adaptations?
Is there a more woebegone movie genre than the video game adaptation? This is the pantheon of “Max Payne,” “Wing Commander” and “Assassin’s Creed.” In the 27 years since the first video game movie, “Super Mario Bros.,” these adaptations have been so regularly mocked that you might think the genre was -- like a teetering fighter in “Mortal Kombat” surrounded by chants of “Finish him!” -- on its last legs.
And yet, Hollywood is increasingly viewing video games as one of the ripest, richest veins of intellectual property outside of comic books. Even as much of the film business slowed over the last year, the hunt for the kind of IP that has fueled an overwhelming share of worldwide box-office ticket sales has continued unabated.
The video game movie isn’t finished. It might even be just pressing “Start.”
On Friday, Warner Bros. will release a new, rebooted “Mortal Kombat” 26 years after the first adaptation of the martial arts fighter. It was then just the fourth video game movie, coming on the heels of “Double Dragon” and “Street Fighter,” with Jean-Claude Van Damme. This was well before the IP land rush started by Marvel’s success more than a decade later. “Apollo 13” was the No. 2 film at the box office in 1995.
Now, a bloodier, R-rated “Mortal Kombat” signals a new cycle for video game adaptations. After years of misfires and flops, it’s lately seemed like a new level has been unlocked for one of the movies’ most derided genres. In 2019, “Detective Pikachu,” based on the Nintendo game, grossed more than $400 million worldwide for Warner Bros. Last year, “Sonic the Hedgehog” became the genre’s highest grosser; a sequel is already underway. Netflix, which on Wednesday suggested it may invest more deeply in gaming, has found one of its biggest hits -- the streamer’s answer to “Game of Thrones” -- in “The Witcher.” The Henry Cavill-led series is based on a fantasy novel series that found fame as a popular video game.
No one is engraving Oscars or Emmys yet. But it may be that video game adaptations aren’t cursed, after all. They were just going through some growing pains.
Transcending borders, through films
Over the past decade and a half, this migrant worker from Bangladesh has mesmerised the audience in South Korea with his prowess on the screen. Yet Bangladesh-born Korean superstar Mahbub Alam, also known as Mahbub Lee, holds the distinction of being unknown to many in his own land of birth.
For Mahbub, it was a long journey and rarely an easy one. When he migrated to South Korea in 1999 to fund his ailing mother's treatment in Bangladesh, little did this alumnus of Government Tolaram College in Narayanganj know what lay in store for him.
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Thanks to his elder brother who was in Korea then, he got a job in a garment factory. Seven months later, his mother passed away in Bangladesh. While his elder brother returned to his home country, Mahbub chose to stay back. And his urge to protect fellow garment factory workers from exploitation in Korea prompted him to participate in social movements.
“I first came to Korea in 1999 and I worked in a textiles and garment factory, where my job involved pressing film covering onto the fabrics. It was hard work, using a lot of industrial chemicals,” Mahbub said in an interview with AsiaRights.
"At first, I wasn’t involved in any activism, but after about three years I started to do voluntary work in the Bangladeshi migrant community, taking up issues like industrial accidents and non-payment of wages. Many migrant workers in Korea work in very small firms, and their bosses sometimes cheat them out of their wages," he said.
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"I became secretary of the Bangladesh Mutual Association, which dealt with these sorts of social problems. Then in 2002, the Migrant Workers Trade Union was established. It was organised under the umbrella of the Korean Confederation Trade Union. We started going to rallies, and I became busy in the Union, writing publicity material for them and so on.”
But Mahbub was quick to realise that stories of unjust treatment of garment workers in the South Korean apparel industry must surface in the mainstream media in order to drive a lasting change for them. So, he decided to test his luck at something new -- making documentary films on the plight of workers in the Korean garment industry.
With King Kong, a little swagger returns to the box office
Once again, mayhem and mass destruction is back at the box office. It’s almost like old times.
“Godzilla vs. Kong,” one of the few tentpoles to dare release during COVID times, is poised this weekend to set a new high in ticket sales during the pandemic. It won’t be the kind of blockbuster business such a big-budget release would typically manage, but experts forecast a launch of at least $25 million.
Opening-day ticket sales on Wednesday for “Godzilla vs. Kong” totaled $9.6 million, Warner Bros. said Thursday — a single-day pandemic record and more than most 2020-2021 opening weekend hauls. Last weekend, the monster mash pulled in an impressive $123.1 million internationally. In China, where moviegoing is close to pre-pandemic levels, the movie made about $70 million, double the debut of 2014′s “Godzilla.”
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For the first time in a long time, there’s the faint hint of a hit at the box office.
“It’s a good omen that the tastes of the consumer have not shifted so much that there’s no possibility of restarting the movie business,” says Joshua Grode, chief executive of Legendary Entertainment, which produced “Godzilla vs. Kong.” “This tells everybody: the moviegoing business is here, and, yes, it may be different post-pandemic. But there is a viable industry there.”
Huge challenges remain to the revival of moviegoing. With so many cinemas shuttered for nearly an entire year, many moviegoers are out of the habit. Some are unlikely to return to sitting indoors with strangers until they’re vaccinated or the pandemic has ebbed. And even those who have been convinced of the safety of moviegoing by theaters’ health protocols, they now have only more in-home options. “Godzilla vs. Kong” is streaming simultaneously on HBO Max in North America.
But few scream big screen as much as King Kong and Godzilla. To help kickstart moviegoing and bring back a little chest-thumping swagger to theaters, the industry is counting on two of the movies’ most iconic, long-running leviathans. Laying another metropolis to waste might help movie theaters build themselves back up.
“The issue is less convincing consumers to go to the movies than it is convincing studios to open their movies,” says Rich Gelfond, IMAX’S chief executive. “There’s been a hesitancy on the part of Hollywood studios to release movies because they haven’t been convinced the demand is there. What I really hope this weekend shows is that there is a lot of demand there and it convinces them to open a lot of movies that have been sitting on the shelf.”
Since the launch of “Tenet” fizzled last August, and virus cases soared, most studios have been postponing or rerouting their biggest releases to streaming services. But as vaccinations have ramped up and restrictions have eased, more theaters have opened. About 60% of theaters will be open this weekend, according to data firm Comscore. On Monday, Los Angeles County will expand cinema capacity from 25% to 50%. For the first time since last winter, wide release will mean playing in more than 3,000 theaters. That’s still about 1,200 shy of typical for a title like “Godzilla vs. Kong.”
Recently, ticket sales, while still far below their usual levels, are ticking upward. The best debut of 2021 was “Tom & Jerry,” with $13.7 million in late February. The pandemic-high belongs to “Wonder Woman 1984,” which launched with $16.7 million in December. Each were Warner Bros. releases that landed simultaneously on HBO Max — a once controversial release plan that has helped theaters stay afloat and proved an interesting test case for how viewers prefer to see, and pay for, a movie.
Nevertheless, the Walt Disney Co. recently delayed the planned summer-kickoff of “Black Widow” to July, while pushing a number of titles to its streaming platform, Disney+. Part of what’s holding blockbusters back is the need for a global release to make back their sizable production budgets and marketing spend. (“Godzilla vs. Kong” cost about $160 million to make.) While moviegoing in much of Asia is rejuvenated, rising cases in Europe and in countries like Brazil have, for now, made a full worldwide rollout impossible.
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Paul Dergarabedian, senior media analyst for Comscore, believes “Godzilla vs. Kong” will be “another building block in our education in where the industry is heading.”
“The theatrical experience will prove to be viable and resilient as it always has,” says Dergarabedian. “But it’s going to be a different world, no question. I think it’s going to be a leaner, meaner business going forward.”
Some of the old standard practices that have governed blockbusters aren’t coming back. Studios like Warner Bros. and Universal Pictures have made deals to shorten exclusive theatrical windows. Warner Bros. next year will hold movies in theaters for a minimum of 45 days, or half of the traditional window, before moving releases to at-home platforms. Such new models mean a recalibrating of what movies get greenlit and how much they’re worth.
“The value of those streaming/pay-TV rights are more valuable now because you’re getting access to them much, much earlier than you did before,” says Grode. “So you kind of have to rerun your model of how the movie is going to perform over its lifetime.”
It’s also meant some tense negotiations over profit participation. When Warner Bros. surprised with its hybrid release plans for 2021, Legendary — whose highly anticipated “Dune” is to be released in the fall by Warner Bros. — considered legal action before arriving at an agreement.
“We obviously didn’t like the way they announced what they were doing in 2021, and I think they would admit they didn’t handle it perfectly,” says Grode. “But when you look at the state of the world, the facts as we all knew them at the time, their decision made a lot of sense.”
“You get over that pretty quickly and you get back to business,” he added.
Helping theaters get back to business, Gelfond believes, are large-format screens “that differentiate the couch as much as they can.” IMAX accounted for 14% of the Chinese box office for “Godzilla vs. Kong.” This weekend, the film will be playing on 1,170 IMAX screens worldwide. Showings in New York and Los Angeles, Gelfond said, are already sold out, albeit at lower capacity.
The box office might not quite roar again this weekend, but “Godzilla vs. Kong” may show it has a little bite left. Says Grode: “In years from now, when people write about coming back to the movies, I’m very proud that ‘Godzilla vs. Kong’ will be in that history.”
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