16 entertainment Monday May 14,...
1
CONTACT US AT: 8351-9186, [email protected] Monday May 14, 2018 16 ❘ entertainment ‘355’ IN one of the biggest deals of the Cannes market, Universal Pictures has acquired U.S. rights to the female-fronted spy film “355.” A source close to the deal pegged the price tag at US$20 million. The budget on the film is said to be US$75 mil- lion plus. Jessica Chastain, Marion Cotillard, Penelope Cruz, Fan Bingbing and Lupita Nyong’o star in the James Bond-esque spy pic. There’s no script yet to the Simon Kinberg-helmed film, but the plot is said to revolve around five spies from agencies around the world who form their own team, dubbed “355.” Theresa Rebeck (“Catwoman”) is writing the screenplay. Protest EIGHTY-TWO women includ- ing Cate Blanchett and Ava DuVernay marched up the red carpet at the Cannes Film Festival on Saturday to protest gender inequality at the festival and in the wider film industry. Members of the group included actresses, directors and other women in the film industry, including Kristen Stewart, Salma Hayek and “Wonder Woman” director Patty Jenkins. Blanchett, the jury president of this year’s fes- tival, led the group and read out a statement from the steps of the Palais des Festivals, joined by French film director Agnes Varda, who read the statement in French. Show saved NBC has picked up “Brooklyn Nine-Nine” for a sixth season, the network announced Friday. The decision comes after the cop comedy was canceled at Fox after five seasons Thursday. Producer Universal Television had been in talks with Hulu to keep the series afloat, but the streaming service ultimately passed. The sixth season will consist of 13 episodes. Fans of “Brook- lyn Nine-Nine” were stunned when Fox announced they were cancelling it along with fellow comedies “The Mick” and “The Last Man on Earth.” There has been a large online push to save the show. ‘Daniel’ NIELS ARDEN OPLEV, direc- tor of the original “The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo,” is returning to Europe for his next project: the true story of the ISIS kid- naping of Danish photographer Daniel Rye Ottosen. Ottosen, a freelance war photographer, was captured by ISIS on May 18, 2013 and held prisoner for 13 months. His cell- mates included the acclaimed American journalist James Foley, who was later publicly beheaded by the Islamic ter- rorist group. (SD-Agencies) At a Glance Jay Chou jukebox musical to tour to town Jay Chou jukebox musical to tour to town Debra Li [email protected] THE biggest challenge jukebox musicals often face is finding the right songs in an artists’ repertoire to fit a decent story- line. In the case of “The Secret,” that challenge is met skillfully by mining the nostalgia of songs past and an already suc- cessful movie. Uniting a dream team of cre- atives from Broadway and China, the show is a high school musical with a time-travel twist. Based off Taiwanese mega- star Jay Chou’s award-winning 2007 film of the same name, “The Secret” follows high school students Ye Xianglun (Cao Yang) and Lu Xiaoyu as they meet, fall in love and embark on an epic romance that will span time and space, using Chou’s own songs written by him. The opening show of the Greater Bay Performing Art Festival organized by Shenzhen Poly Theater, the musical will stage 10 shows between Sept. 7 and 16. The musical, which premiered during the Christ- mas holiday in Beijing in 2016, performed more than 50 shows last year and has toured to cities like Shanghai and Singapore. This is the first time it will come to Shenzhen. The musical features more than 20 of well-known Jay Chou Israel’s Netta Barzilai wins Eurovision Song Contest ISRAEL’S Netta Barzilai won the Eurovision Song Contest in Lisbon on Saturday, bringing Israel its fourth victory in the glitzy pageant, watched by over 200 million people around the world, and the right to host the event next year. “Next time in Jerusalem!” Barzilai, a smiling 25-year-old live looping artist shouted after being named the winner. “I’m so happy! Thank you for accepting differences between us. Thank you for celebrating diversity!” Wearing a Japanese-style kimono and geisha hairdo, she won with a lively dance mix, singing “I’m Not Your Toy” that has a women’s empowerment twist, beating Cypriot entry Eleni Foureira with her fiery Latin pop song “Fuego.” “I believe that authenticity passes through,” said Barzilai, who has previously described the message of her song as being about female power and justice, but with a happy, colorful vibe. Her instantly recognizable song began with Barzilai mimicking chicken clucking sounds to loud cheers from fans. She normally uses a voice tunes that fans will find them- selves humming to, including “Fine Day,” “Simple Love,” “Rice Field” and “Rooftop.” Well-known names from the Broadway were involved in the making of this musical, includ- ing Tony award-winning direc- tor John Rando, scriptwriter Marc Acito and set designer Beowulf Boritt. Chou himself also signed on as a producer. Although the storyline doesn’t fall too far from the original film, with different parts fleshed out, it does have an unexpected ending. Apart from the Broad- way-esque mass numbers of people dancing in unison that can be a bit of a distraction for the Chinese audiences, the show delivers its messages loud and clear: the importance of family, friends and love in making miracles happen. Cao, born in 1991, is a musi- cal degree holder who graduated from Shanghai Conservatory of Music. The actor, who calls himself a huge fan of Chou, said he had felt thrilled being cast in the show. “We perform the same show for different audiences every night, and we try to be at our best to make every night unforget- table for the viewers,” he said. Cao said he largely drew from the movie for his character and sings the numbers in a natural way that pop fans will find pleas- ing to the ear. “We’ve been honing the show continuously and will improvise city-relevant details for the amusement of local audiences,” said co-producer Ivy Zhong, who has the ambition to make the show a classic that will run for decades more. The Greater Bay fest, run- ning between September and January 2019, will stage 23 programs ranging from dramas, musicals, operas, dances and concerts. ▲A scene from “The Secret.” A scene from “The Secret.” ◄ Co-producer Ivy Zhong (L) and male lead Co-producer Ivy Zhong (L) and male lead Cao Yang. Cao Yang. Courtesy of Shenzhen Poly Theater looping machine during her live shows, but not in the Eurovision contest where her backing vocal- ists produced a similar effect. The Saturday night show had been briefly marred by a protester with a backpack who ran onto the stage and grabbed the microphone from British contestant SuRie. She quickly recomposed and continued to sing her song “Storm” a few moments later. The man was arrested by police. Cyprus and Israel had been the bookmakers’ favorites going into the 63rd edition of the Euro- vision contest, which was hosted in the Portuguese capital. Israel made its debut in the contest in 1971 and had previ- ously won in 1978, 1979 and 1998. Other hopefuls with a social message included French duo Madame Monsieur, clad in black, with their song “Mercy,” inspired by the story of a Nige- rian refugee who gave birth to a baby girl aboard a boat that rescued her and hundreds of other refugees trying to cross to Europe. The baby’s name is Mercy. Lisbon hosted Eurovision for the first time this year after Portugal’s Salvador Sobral won last year’s contest in Ukraine. (SD-Agencies) Netta Barzilai Netta Barzilai
Transcript of 16 entertainment Monday May 14,...
CONTACT US AT: 8351-9186, [email protected]
Monday May 14, 2018 16 x entertainment
‘355’IN one of the biggest deals of the Cannes market, Universal Pictures has acquired U.S. rights to the female-fronted spy fi lm “355.”
A source close to the deal pegged the price tag at US$20 million. The budget on the fi lm is said to be US$75 mil-lion plus.
Jessica Chastain, Marion Cotillard, Penelope Cruz, Fan Bingbing and Lupita Nyong’o star in the James Bond-esque spy pic.
There’s no script yet to the Simon Kinberg-helmed fi lm, but the plot is said to revolve around fi ve spies from agencies around the world who form their own team, dubbed “355.” Theresa Rebeck (“Catwoman”) is writing the screenplay.
ProtestEIGHTY-TWO women includ-ing Cate Blanchett and Ava DuVernay marched up the red carpet at the Cannes Film Festival on Saturday to protest gender inequality at the festival and in the wider fi lm industry.
Members of the group included actresses, directors and other women in the fi lm industry, including Kristen Stewart, Salma Hayek and “Wonder Woman” director Patty Jenkins. Blanchett, the jury president of this year’s fes-tival, led the group and read out a statement from the steps of the Palais des Festivals, joined by French fi lm director Agnes Varda, who read the statement in French.
Show savedNBC has picked up “Brooklyn Nine-Nine” for a sixth season, the network announced Friday.
The decision comes after the cop comedy was canceled at Fox after fi ve seasons Thursday. Producer Universal Television had been in talks with Hulu to keep the series afl oat, but the streaming service ultimately passed.
The sixth season will consist of 13 episodes. Fans of “Brook-lyn Nine-Nine” were stunned when Fox announced they were cancelling it along with fellow comedies “The Mick” and “The Last Man on Earth.” There has been a large online push to save the show.
‘Daniel’NIELS ARDEN OPLEV, direc-tor of the original “The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo,” is returning to Europe for his next project: the true story of the ISIS kid-naping of Danish photographer Daniel Rye Ottosen.
Ottosen, a freelance war photographer, was captured by ISIS on May 18, 2013 and held prisoner for 13 months. His cell-mates included the acclaimed American journalist James Foley, who was later publicly beheaded by the Islamic ter-rorist group. (SD-Agencies)
At a GlanceJay Chou jukebox musical to tour to townJay Chou jukebox musical to tour to town
Debra [email protected]
THE biggest challenge jukebox musicals often face is fi nding the right songs in an artists’ repertoire to fi t a decent story-line. In the case of “The Secret,” that challenge is met skillfully by mining the nostalgia of songs past and an already suc-cessful movie.
Uniting a dream team of cre-atives from Broadway and China, the show is a high school musical with a time-travel twist.
Based off Taiwanese mega-star Jay Chou’s award-winning 2007 fi lm of the same name, “The Secret” follows high school students Ye Xianglun (Cao Yang) and Lu Xiaoyu as they meet, fall in love and embark on an epic romance that will span time and space, using Chou’s own songs written by him.
The opening show of the Greater Bay Performing Art Festival organized by Shenzhen Poly Theater, the musical will stage 10 shows between Sept. 7 and 16. The musical, which premiered during the Christ-mas holiday in Beijing in 2016, performed more than 50 shows last year and has toured to cities like Shanghai and Singapore. This is the fi rst time it will come to Shenzhen.
The musical features more than 20 of well-known Jay Chou
Israel’s Netta Barzilai wins Eurovision Song ContestISRAEL’S Netta Barzilai won the Eurovision Song Contest in Lisbon on Saturday, bringing Israel its fourth victory in the glitzy pageant, watched by over 200 million people around the world, and the right to host the event next year.
“Next time in Jerusalem!” Barzilai, a smiling 25-year-old live looping artist shouted after being named the winner. “I’m so happy! Thank you for accepting differences between us. Thank you for celebrating diversity!”
Wearing a Japanese-style kimono and geisha hairdo, she
won with a lively dance mix, singing “I’m Not Your Toy” that has a women’s empowerment twist, beating Cypriot entry Eleni Foureira with her fi ery Latin pop song “Fuego.”
“I believe that authenticity passes through,” said Barzilai, who has previously described the message of her song as being about female power and justice, but with a happy, colorful vibe. Her instantly recognizable song began with Barzilai mimicking chicken clucking sounds to loud cheers from fans.
She normally uses a voice
tunes that fans will fi nd them-selves humming to, including “Fine Day,” “Simple Love,” “Rice Field” and “Rooftop.”
Well-known names from the Broadway were involved in the making of this musical, includ-ing Tony award-winning direc-tor John Rando, scriptwriter Marc Acito and set designer Beowulf Boritt.
Chou himself also signed on as a producer.
Although the storyline doesn’t fall too far from the original fi lm, with different parts fl eshed out, it does have an unexpected ending. Apart from the Broad-way-esque mass numbers of
people dancing in unison that can be a bit of a distraction for the Chinese audiences, the show delivers its messages loud and clear: the importance of family, friends and love in making miracles happen.
Cao, born in 1991, is a musi-cal degree holder who graduated from Shanghai Conservatory of Music.
The actor, who calls himself a huge fan of Chou, said he had felt thrilled being cast in the show. “We perform the same show for different audiences every night, and we try to be at our best to make every night unforget-table for the viewers,” he said.
Cao said he largely drew from the movie for his character and sings the numbers in a natural way that pop fans will fi nd pleas-ing to the ear.
“We’ve been honing the show continuously and will improvise city-relevant details for the amusement of local audiences,” said co-producer Ivy Zhong, who has the ambition to make the show a classic that will run for decades more.
The Greater Bay fest, run-ning between September and January 2019, will stage 23 programs ranging from dramas, musicals, operas, dances and concerts.
▲A scene from “The Secret.”A scene from “The Secret.”◄ Co-producer Ivy Zhong (L) and male lead Co-producer Ivy Zhong (L) and male lead Cao Yang.Cao Yang.
Courtesy of Shenzhen Poly Theater
looping machine during her live shows, but not in the Eurovision contest where her backing vocal-ists produced a similar effect.
The Saturday night show had been briefl y marred by a protester with a backpack who ran onto the stage and grabbed the microphone from British contestant SuRie. She quickly recomposed and continued to sing her song “Storm” a few moments later.
The man was arrested by police.
Cyprus and Israel had been the bookmakers’ favorites going into the 63rd edition of the Euro-vision contest, which was hosted in the Portuguese capital.
Israel made its debut in the contest in 1971 and had previ-ously won in 1978, 1979 and 1998.
Other hopefuls with a social message included French duo Madame Monsieur, clad in black, with their song “Mercy,” inspired by the story of a Nige-rian refugee who gave birth to a baby girl aboard a boat that rescued her and hundreds of other refugees trying to cross to Europe. The baby’s name is Mercy.
Lisbon hosted Eurovision for the fi rst time this year after Portugal’s Salvador Sobral won last year’s contest in Ukraine.
(SD-Agencies)
Netta Barzilai Netta Barzilai
