A second strong week for ‘Game of Thrones’, the loss of 10,000 jobs at Sony and details of a sequel to Martin Scorsese’s Oscar-winning ‘Raging Bull’ are amongst the international stories in today’s Daily Bite.
‘Game of Thrones’ continues strong start as ‘Titanic’ sinks….. Shot in Northern Ireland, the second series of ‘Game of Thrones’ continued to impress in the US television ratings with the second episode of the season drawing in 3.8 million viewers for HBO, according to Deadline. It meant the show retained nearly all the 3.9 million viewers who tuned in for the first episode earlier this month. That’s in contrast to Julian Fellowes’ ‘Titanic’, which has lost nearly half of its viewers in the UK. Its ratings are down from 6.9 million on episode one, to 3.2 million last Sunday. TV3 have not released Irish viewing figures.
Sony to cut 10,000 jobs… Sony is set to cut 10,000 jobs, a figure which represents six per cent of its headcount, according to Variety. They report that the corporation has been hit hard by slow sales of TVs and other core products and is expected to record a loss for its fourth year in a row. The cuts are expected to hit various job categories, including development, production and sales.
‘Raging Bull’ sequel in the works..... Casting is reportedly underway on a sequel to Martin Scorsese’s acclaimed boxing movie, according to Moviehole. The site reports that production on the feature is scheduled to begin in LA in June. The screenplay by Rustam Branaman is based on the 1986 book by Chris Anderson and Sharon McGehee, ‘Raging Bull II: Continuing the Story of Jake La Motta.’ Neither Scorsese or Robert De Niro, who played La Motta in the 1980 Oscar-winning film, are attached. Instead, William Forsythe takes the lead role with director Martin Guigui (Beneath the Darkness) at the helm.
If you watch one trailer today… Here is the first look at director Oliver Stone’s new movie ‘Savages’. The action crime drama stars Taylor Kitsch, Aaron Johnson, John Travolta, Uma Thurman, Benicio Del Toro and Blake Lively and tells of two weed growers who face off against a Mexican drug cartel.
