lifestyle THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 5, 2013 MUSIC & MOVIES True Blood to end its run next year

Photo shows Japanese actor Ken Watanabe gestures during an interview in Tokyo. — AP

race yourselves, “True Blood” fans; dents of Bon Temps, but I look forward to the end is near. HBO Programming what promises to be a fantastic final Watanabe stars in Bpresident Michael Lombardo said chapter of this incredible show.” on Tuesday that the vampire drama will Brian Buckner, who took the reins for end its run next year following its sev- the show’s sixth season, said that he was enth season, which will launch next sum- “enormously proud” to be part of the Eastwood’s ‘Unforgiven’ remake mer. In a statement, Lombardo called series.”I feel enormously proud to have “True Blood” - which saw the departure been a part of the ‘True Blood’ family he Japanese remake of Clint Eastwood’s really good versus evil, according to self. And they were asking me: Who are of showrunner Alan Ball prior to its sixth since the very beginning,” says Brian ‘Unforgiven’ isn’t a mere cross-cultural Watanabe.The remake examines those issues you?”Watanabe stressed he was proud of the season - “nothing short of a defining Buckner. “I guarantee that there’s not a Tadaptation but more a tribute to the uni- further, reflecting psychological complexities legacy of Japanese films, a legacy he has helped show for HBO.”‘True Blood’ has been more talented or harder-working cast versal spirit of great filmmaking for its star Ken and introducing social issues not in the original, create in a career spanning more than three nothing short of a defining show for and crew out there, and I’d like to extend Watanabe.”I was convinced from the start that such as racial discrimination.”It reflects the decades, following legends like Toshiro Mifune HBO,” Lombardo said. “Alan Ball took the a personal heartfelt thanks to them for this will be an original Japanese movie in its modern age. People are stifled, burdened and and Tatsuya Nakadai. Kei Kumai, the late direc- books by Charlaine Harris, assembled a their dedication and tenacity over the own right,” said Watanabe, who has become the suffering to survive,” Watanabe said. The original tor of “Sandakan No. 8,” said he knew instantly brilliant cast led by the magnificent Anna years, especially this past year, as I go-to Japanese actor for Hollywood. Watanabe was simple and straight-ahead. The new version that Watanabe was destined for stardom when Paquin in the role of Sookie Stackhouse, stepped into a larger role. Thank you was happy Eastwood welcomed the idea of the is more problematic. It’s as though all the char- they met in the 1980s, recognizing that he and crafted a show that has taken its also to HBO for their unwavering sup- remake, and they kept in touch. But, once the acters are writhing in thick mud,” he said. boasted the same power to focus that charac- many devoted fans on an unforgettable port and of course to Alan Ball, whose shooting began, he was focused on delivering Watanabe, 53, has become sought after in terized Mifune.”He possessed that charm only journey. genius enabled all of us to share in this what director Lee Sang-il wanted in the new Hollywood since appearing alongside Tom stars have, the power to attract people,” Kumai Alan passed the baton to Brian incredible journey. Finally, a huge thank movie, not an easy re-interpretation.”What I Cruise in ‘The Last Samurai’ in 2003. He starred wrote in his 1996 memoirs. Watanabe’s success Buckner, who led our fantastic writers you to the most passionate fans in tele- cherish as my joy is that sense of purpose we in Eastwood’s ‘Letters From Iwo Jima’ and co- highlights the long-lasting power of the and crew in crafting a spectacular sixth vision. As we take a final walk through shared with Clint as people working hard on a starred in “Inception” and “Batman Begins.”“I Japanese movie industry. The US raked in $10.8 season, and he will lead us through the Bon Temps together, we will do our very film,” Watanabe said before departing for the find him very impressive, of course,” film critic billion a year at the box office, China $2.7 billion seventh and final season of this amazing best to bring Sookie’s story to a close Venice Film Festival, where the Japanese film Leonard Maltin said. and Japan $2.4 billion, according to the Motion show. Together with its legions of fans, it with heart, imagination and, of course, will premiere tomorrow. While Watanabe takes Eastwood’s starring Picture Association of America. Watanabe will be hard to say goodbye to the resi- fun.” — Reuters The remake turns the tables on Eastwood, role in ‘Unforgiven,’ veteran Akira Emoto plays stressed he has gone to Hollywood as a whose stardom originated in spaghetti the sidekick previously portrayed by Morgan Japanese actor, and nothing else. That’s critical Westerns, the European films depicting the Freeman. Yuya Yagira, named best actor for for his identity, he said. Sometimes he worries American West which often remade samurai ‘Nobody Knows’ at the 2004 Cannes film festi- the old glory of Japanese movies may be fad- films and were influenced by Japanese direct- val, plays the younger, troublemaker cowboy. ing. He hopes his ‘Unforgiven’ might help win ing styles. The 1964 classic ‘A Fistful of Dollars,’ Koichi Sato plays the villainous sheriff, the role over new foreign fans. After working with starring Eastwood, was a retelling of auteur that earned Gene Hackman a supporting actor Eastwood on “Letters From Iwo Jima,” Watanabe Akira Kurosawa’s ‘Yojimbo.’ Eastwood’s Academy Award in Eastwood’s film. Watanabe liked the intuitive way the American director ‘Unforgiven’ was released in 1992 and earned also is set to be in the 2014 “Godzilla” remake, as worked, leaving so much to the actors, often four Oscars, including Best Picture. The well as in the upcoming Martin Scorsese film, not even rehearsing. Japanese remake, which opens in its home ‘Silence,’ based on Shusaku Endo’s novel about Once toying with the idea of directing, country Sept 13, keeps the original’s title, char- the historical persecution of Christians in Japan. Watanabe says after “Unforgiven,” he’s convinced acters, themes and plot: An aging, reformed He shrugs it all off. again of his true calling. “I don’t think I can ever warrior picks up his weapon - a sword rather His switch to US movies has proved refresh- get that cruel,” he said of its director Lee, with a than a gun - to help prostitutes who want ing, delivering that feeling of starting from laugh. Lee demanded multiple takes from his revenge for abuse. scratch. He loves feeling like the new kid on the actors, despite the freezing weather, and hung The landscape changes from the sandy Old block, reliving that same uncertainty and thrill Emoto on ropes for hours and clubbed him with West to the freezing, sometimes-snowy island when he started out in the movies in his 20s. a real stick to film one scene. Still, Lee had only of Hokkaido in the 1880s, setting a different And that’s important for an actor and some- praise for Watanabe’s acting.”Ken never waffles. ambience. Instead of a shootout, this film’s cli- thing he can bring back to Japanese movies, Regardless of the situation, regardless of the col- max is a bloodily cruel choreography of swords- too, he said.”Actors are always afraid of ending ors of the place he finds himself, he is always manship. Eastwood’s original was stunning up like overcooked old soup over time. What’s rooted solid,” Lee said in a statement. “His role when it came out for defying the stereotypes of risky is that you don’t realize this has happened, must speak through his back. It’s not when he is cowboy movies, where the gun-slinging good and you just get thick and boring,” he saying his lines. He speaks after he has finished guy triumphs over the bad guys, but instead said.”Going abroad was like getting a new pot talking, when he is listening to someone else, raised fundamental questions about what was to cook everything again. I was a rookie, a new when he is silent.” — AP

Fox brings hit superhero How ‘The Conjuring,’ ‘We’re the Millers’ drama Da Vinci’s became new line’s unlikely summer smashes

n a summer of superheroes, cartooned critters Demons to Middle East TV and bloated budgets, New Line Cinemas beat Ithe odds by betting on a pair of low-cost films that defied expectations to become two of the most profitable hits of the year. Going into blockbuster season, “The Conjuring” and “We’re the Millers” were barely a blip on the radar. The talk was squarely centered on “Iron Man 3� and “Man of Steel,” with very little buzz left over for a gross-out comedy about an unlikely tribe of drug mules and a horror film without any A-list stars. Yet with as a roller coaster summer at the movies reaches draws to an end, “The Conjuring” has made back its $20 million budget more than tenfold, scaring up $243 million globally. Likewise, “We’re the Millers,” filmed for an eco- nomical $34 million, has topped the domestic grosses of the much more expensive “Hangover Pat III,” racking up $112.8 million in North America and an additional $39.5 million in for- eign territories. “It all came together,” Toby Emmerich, presi- dent and COO of New Line Cinema, told TheWrap. “The movies tested well, they had good dates and they were effective examples of counter-programing. I’d say the movies exceed- DUBAI: Airing for the first time and truth and lies, fantasy and reason, past ed our expectations, but going into the summer, exclusively on Free TV in the Middle East, and future. the expectations for both movies were very the inaugural season of Da Vinci’s The war between nation-states high.” Plus, the low-cost of the films allowed Demonstells the untold, action-filled sto- Florence and Rome also serves as the New Line and its parent company Warner Bros. duce. Steve Carell and Jim Carrey couldn’t save require that they open to $50 million or more if ryof Leonardo da Vinci’s early adult lifeas backdrop for the show’s suspenseful sto- to finance the productions without bringing in the laugh-challenged “The Incredible Burt they have any hope of recouping their invest- a Renaissance icon and avid adventurer. ryline, pulling viewers into a fantasy outside partners. Other major films must divvy Wonderstone,” which grossed an anemic $22 ment. “Studios are going to be more cautious Written and produced by David S world filled with mystery and darkness. profits between an array of production compa- million. In the wake of its twin flops, New Line and more selective in their decisions to make Goyer(Batman Begins, The Dark Knight, The series’ highly-anticipated US pre- nies and film financiers, but these spoils belong was pilloried in some Hollywood circles. movies that must open in that range in North The Dark Knight Rises), the fictional dra- miere aired on FX on 12 April. entirely to the studio. Emmerich admitted that the criticism could be America in order to be successful,” Emmerich ma premieres on Fox on 5 September at “Da Vinci’s Demons is yet another “This goes back to what New Line’s roots bruising, but said that the studio’s confidence in said. “This summer showed that it can look like 9pm KSA/10pm UAE - only weeks after strong addition to Fox’ remarkable roster were, smartly positioned films that have the its summer slate helped cushion the blow. you have good on paper, you can open in a its exclusiveglobal debut on the FOX of shows airing -for the first time and lowest of low budgets,” Jeff Bock, an analyst with “The movie business is cyclical, you have hits prime time and you can still miss the mark. I International Channels Network. The exclusively on the channel - this fall,” said Exhibitor Relations, said. “To have two films and misses,” Emmerich said. “The good thing can’t imagine that trend is not resonating in show- which fuses themes of fantasy, Athreyan Sundararajan, Head of match their budgets at the box office within the was during that first quarter, we’d already seen with senior executives in studio board rooms.” politics and science -is set in medieval Marketing, Fox International Channels first week of their release is phenomenal. It can’t how our summer films were playing in front of The smaller costs of “The Conjuring” and Florence and depicts the legendary artist (FIC) Middle East. “The series - which has work for everybody, but when you have a big test audiences, so we knew we were chal- “We’re the Millers” reduced New Line’s risk, as a historical heroin pursuit of knowl- already premiered on the FIC Network in studio like Warner Bros behind you and a smart lenged, but we also knew that we had good enabling it to slowly build up word-of-mouth edge. over 100 countries - has emerged as marketing campaign, it’s a great strategy.” New stuff coming.” After a summer riddled with rather than swing for the fences. Emmerich said Da Vinci’s Demons - which features a aglobal phenomenon. It is a must watch Line is already putting the finishing touches on a pricey flops, New Line’s more fiscally conserva- that strong test audience response gave the stu- dual audio option -follows a 25 year-old for fans of this genre. And, best of all, its first draft of a sequel to “The Conjuring” and has tive approach could begin to find favor in an dio confidence that both movies appealed to Leonardo Da Vinci (played by Tom Riley) debut in the region comes a mere few begun discussing the viability of a follow-up to industry. Emmerich doesn’t think that that enough of a niche to attract a crowd in a com- as he embarks on a quest to invent the months after the show’s US premiere!” “We’re the Millers.” Hollywood will turn its back on tent pole films. petitive marketplace.Yet, there were still risks. future all the while battlinghis own per- Da Vinci’s Demons airs for the first It’s an explosive turnaround for a studio that But he acknowledged that this summer’s flops Though a few horror films like “The Blair Witch sonal, inner demons. The show’s plot- time and exclusively on Fox every started out 2013 with a whimper. “Jack and the may prompt some to take a hard look at their Project” have found a receptive audience, sum- linegradually intensifies as Da Vinci is Thursday at 9pm KSA/10pm UAE starting Giant Slayer” eked out $197.9 million worldwide, business models. mer is not traditionally a strong season for the caught in a perpetual conflict between from 5 September. barely as much as the $195 million it cost to pro- He said too many films carry costs that genre. —Reuters