See what else is happening in film & TV industries around the world.
Ridley Scott backs new sci-fi shorts Ridley Scott, the director of such sci-fi classics as ‘Alien’ and ‘Blade Runner’ has announced that he will now turn his attention to smaller productions as he looks to develop a series of web shorts. Scott is working with his commercials production company, RSA, and Youtube channel Machinima to create 12 new sci-fi short films that will debut online. The partnership between the two companies looks to develop original, engaging science fiction works with a view to further developing the most successful projects. Ridley Scott’s next feature, ‘The Counselor’, starring Irish actor Michael Fassbender, will be released on November 15th this year.
Disney to produce live-action ‘Beauty and the Beast’ The Oscar-winning animated favourite, ‘Beauty and the Beast’, is set to receive the live-action treatment as screenwriter Joe Ahearne has been tasked with penning the script for a live-action version called ‘The Beast’. It is thought that because of the recent box-office success of ‘Oz the Great and Powerful’, Disney feel confident enough to move forward with another live-action take on a classic fairy-tale, as live-action versions of ‘Cinderella’ and ‘Sleeping Beauty’ are currently in pre-production. Joe Ahearne wrote and directed the original TV movie version of ‘Trance’ that inspired Danny Boyle’s upcoming version, which hits our screens on March 27th.
‘The Great Gatsby’ to open Cannes Film Festival Baz Luhrmann’s highly anticipated ‘The Great Gatsby’ starring Leonardo di Caprio as the flamboyant protagonist Jay Gatsby, will open the 66th Cannes Film Festival on May 15th. The latest adaptation of F. Scott Fitzgerald’s 1925 novel also stars Tobey Maguire, Carey Mulligan, Isla Fischer, Joel Edgerton, and Jason Clarke. Set during the roaring twenties on the East coast’s Long Island, the film depicts the tragic figure of Jay Gatsby as narrated by his friend, Nick Carraway (Maguire). Scored by rapper Jay-Z, the film is due to hit Irish screens on May 17th.
