The L.A. Times recently interviewed Christopher Nolan (director of Memento, The Dark Knight) about his third, and last, Batman film and his involvement with the next Superman film.
Here’s a trailer for my latest film, Dawn of the Living. You can buy it for $5 and you’ll also get a DVD with Neighborhood Watch (zombie patrol units find themselves in bad situations) and Hank vs Ninjas, Nazis, and a Chupacabra, which is self-explanatory.
Avatar is still trumpeting it’s financial success as the number 1 money-maker, topping Titanic‘s previous position at the top.
Remember how you always heard data can be manipulated?
Avatar has made over 700 million dollars in domestic ticket sales, but that’s before you adjust it for inflation. boxofficemojo has broken down the highest domestic (U.S.) grosses and Avatar isn’t even in the top ten.*
Can you guess what is? Nope, not Star Wars.
The #1 title belongs to Gone With the Wind. Adjusted for inflation, Gone With the Wind made the equivalent of1.5 billion dollars in 1939 (no word on its overseas grosses).
Hell, the animated 101 Dalmatians (1961) beats out Avatar in domestic sales and that’s without IMAX and 3D extras bumping up the figures.
There are other interesting films on the list, including The Graduate: It’s in the top 20 after making the equivalent of $650+ million, coming right behind Jurassic Park and ahead of titles like The Dark Knight.
*True, Avatar is currently number 1 with worldwide ticket sales, but that’s not adjusted for inflation either. Unfortunately, there don’t seem to be any tables which do the worldwide box office math when adjusted for inflation.
Thanks to blog reader Kristen, however, we now have some photos. She took these of the Burke and Hare shoot by Edinburgh Castle on Friday. You can see more at her Flickr page, here
On the set of Burke and Hare, the latest from John Landis
Evidently they brought in real fish for this scene.
Where do you rent these things? Or do they have to make them?
PS
If you have film news or read anything of interest related to film, video games, or even books, send me a tip. Then you’ll be famous like Kristen.
Not much to report from this shoot. It was cold, rainy and even snowing as they were shooting in an alley near the city center. A fire alarm in the nearby student dorms went off and delayed things even further.
So no photos really (dark and access was more restricted than normal), but I got to hang out with Andy Serkis and Simon Pegg as they were waiting in the basement of the dorms. I approached them with two copies of my film, Hank vs Ninjas, Nazis and Chupacabraas a gift of appreciation saying, “Fans often just get photos and walk away and that’s the only way we can ‘give back’ to you guys. So I wanted to give you something to enjoy.” Both were exceptionally kind and gracious.
I tried to respect boundaries by not snapping photos of them as soon as I spoke with them; I was more interested in just talking to them on a very normal, professional level. We talked about film, the current state of special effects, and where we see them going. Andy Serkis has plans for a motion capture production company (interested in both games and film) and both were fans of Cameron’s technological advances in Avatar.
That rounds out my coverage of the Burke and Hare shoot in Edinburgh. Today that did some quick shooting at a museum (if I recall correctly) and then they’re back to London.
A source at John Landis’ Burke and Hare film shoot informed me that due to The Wolfman’s poor performance, the Captain American film (set to be released 2011 according to imdb) has been pushed back.
Considering a look at boxofficemojo.com reveals the $150 million dollar werewolf flick has grossed under $100 million worldwide, this doesn’t seem too unlikely. The delay in shooting could indicate a change in directors.
Can’t say I’m too disappointed. Johnston directed Jurassic Park III and The Wolfman, both of which weren’t very impressive.
UPDATE:
Since io9 and some other sites picked this story up, Marvel has issued an official response to my post, saying they are not delaying the film.
Last night I was on the set for a small scene of John Landis’ latest, Burke and Hare. The scene feature Andy Serkis and Simon Pegg running down an alley, chasing something, until Pegg notices a strange sound. In the video below, they turn around and director Landis is the one describing the CGI barrel coming toward them, going over their head (“BOUNCE!”), and crashing behind camera.
Serkis, Pegg, and Landis didn’t stray into the crowd to talk much. I was behind the crew since I was their first, but I just got a nod from the celebs as they passed by. Didn’t seem interested in mingling.
It was interesting to see so much money/effort go into such a small scene. They’re shooting in Sterling today and tomorrow, then returning to Edinburgh to shoot Thursday-Saturday morning. A friend of mine already knows where they’re shooting on Friday.
I got a lot of info from a guy on set. He says it’s a 7 week shoot and they just got back from London. They’re using two cameras (blurry picture below) to maximize time.
However, more interesting was his comments on Christopher Nolan (a bit chaotic in his shooting style), since he worked with him on Inception and The Dark Knight. He showed me a video of the rig they used for a hallway scene in the film, which was larger than a semi-truck’s trailer, that completely rotated. He went on to explain that they rubberized everything inside and painted it so the actors inside could roll around and fight. They also locked down a camera inside the hallway and used a camera crane that could go inside the moving rig. Evidently I’m one of the only guys outside of the film industry to see his little cell phone video of this rig.
Trucks and lighting equipment.
This is probably the angle they'll shoot the scene from, since there's a restaurant in the opposite direction.
Dressing the set to hide the new. They also installed old wooden signs.
Rustic carts and hay for that turn of the century look.
This is how you light a set when you can't get a cherry picker lighting kit in: it's a balloon with lights inside.
Waiting for dark with the balloon light rig.
Sorry about the quality. Not enough light and flash wasn't allowed.
The Filmsmith
The Filmsmith 
Dawn of the Living Trailer
Here’s a trailer for my latest film, Dawn of the Living. You can buy it for $5 and you’ll also get a DVD with Neighborhood Watch (zombie patrol units find themselves in bad situations) and Hank vs Ninjas, Nazis, and a Chupacabra, which is self-explanatory.
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Tagged Cinema, Dawn of the Living, Drama, Film, Horror, Independent, Movie, short film, Zombies