Category: News

2010 Nov 12

“Contagion” spreading to Evanston

Add Evanston to the list of towns catching Contagion.

The feature film, which has already paid a visit to Chicago, Glenview and Naperville, will be in Evanston for one day of shooting Dec. 13, city officials recently announced.

Filming will take place on the empty lot formally occupied by Kendall College, at Lincoln Street and Orrington Avenue, officials said.

A cast and crew of 700 will descend on the lot, which will be transformed into a youth baseball field for the scene. National Guard transport vehicles will also be present, as will one of the film’s stars, actor Matt Damon.

Residents will be notified of parking restrictions and street closures when that information is finalized. Officials said the film’s crew would spend three days prior to shooting preparing the site, and two days after filming restoring the lot and adjacent Long Field, where cast and crew service tents and trailers will be located.

The film, directed by Steven Soderbergh and also starring Gwyneth Paltrow, Laurence Fishburne, Jude Law and Kate Winslet, centers on a deadly virus outbreak. The Evanston scene, according to officials, will comprise about a minute of the movie and will depict citizens gathering to receive food supplies being dropped by National Guard helicopters — which in a bit of Hollywood magic, will be played by a large crane.

The film is set to be released Oct. 21, 2011, according to IMDb.

Contagion is not the first time Hollywood has come to Evanston. The city has been featured in such films as 2002’s Road to Perdition, 1984’s Sixteen Candles and 1989’s Uncle Buck, among others.

Source: TribLocal.com

2010 Nov 03

“Contagion” filming set for Thursday in Glenview

Filming of a scene from the upcoming movie Contagion is scheduled to begin in Glenview on Thursday.

The set will be a townhouse on Mint Lane in The Glen, and access to the residential street will be restricted to locals during the filming.

The crew’s vehicles will be parked on both sides of the 2600 block of West Lake Avenue Thursday and on both sides of the 2200 block of Mint Lane Friday.

The nearby parking lot for Gallery Park also will be occupied by trailers and catering service.

Contagion is being directed by Oscar-winner Steven Soderbergh, who is known for films like Traffic and Ocean’s 11.

It stars Matt Damon, Gwyneth Paltrow, Kate Winslet, Marion Cotillard, Jude Law and Laurence Fishburne, although those celebrities are not expected to be part of the filming in Glenview.

Source: TribLocal.com

2010 Oct 19

Exclusive! Matt Damon, Kate Winslet and Gwyneth Paltrow filming in Chicago!

It appears that some A-list celebrities have checked into Chicago without alerting the paparazzi. Very sneaky!

But nothing remains a secret in this city for too long.

“Matt Damon, Kate Winslet and Marion Cotillard just checked into the Peninsula. They are in town for a month shooting a film in Wilmette… is what I am being told,” said an ultimate insider to nightlife and dining writer Audarshia Townsend.

The movie titled Contagion is an action-thriller centered on the threat posed by a deadly disease and an international team of doctors contracted by the CDC to deal with the outbreak.

And if you check the Chicago Film Office website, it confirms that the film Contagion starring Matt Damon and Gwyneth Paltrow will begin filming today around the city. The filming is scheduled to continue throughout October and finish on December 17th.

Other veteran actors in the all-star cast include Jude Law and Laurence Fishburne.

The Triangle has now officially been put on RED ALERT for celebrity spotting!

Source: Pop Buzz!

2010 Oct 18

John C. Reilly to join Foster, Winslet & Waltz in “God of Carnage”

John C. Reilly will play Michael, the role originated by James Gandolfini on Broadway, in Roman Polanski’s big screen adaptation of the stage hit God of Carnage, according to Deadline.com. The gossip website had previously mentioned Matt Dillon for the part in the film, which will also star Academy Award winners Jodie Foster as Veronica, Kate Winslet as Annette and Christoph Waltz as Alan.

Written by Yazmina Reza, God of Carnage tells the story of two sets of parents who decide to have a cordial meeting after their sons are involved in a schoolyard brawl. The get-together hilariously goes south as each pair attacks the other’s parenting style and eventually reveals their personal qualms with their own spouses.

Reilly was nominated for a Tony Award for his work in True West and received Oscar and Golden Globe nominations for playing Amos Hart in the film version of Chicago. His other Broadway credits include A Streetcar Named Desire and The Grapes of Wrath. His other film credits include Boogie Nights, Never Been Kissed, Magnolia, Gangs of New York, The Hours, The Aviator, Talladega Nights, Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story, Step Brothers and Cirque du Freak: The Vampire’s Assistant.

Filming is set to start in February in France.

Source: Broadway.com

2010 Oct 17

“Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind” Blu-ray in 2011

Universal recently announced plans to bring the 2004 film Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind to Blu-ray disc on January 25th, 2011. The film was directed by Michel Gondry, written by Charlie Kaufman, stars Jim Carrey, Kate Winslet, Elijah Wood, Mark Ruffalo, David Cross, Kirsten Dunst and Tom Wilkinson. The tech specs for the release include full 1080p Hi-Def video and DTS-HD 5.1 Master Audio sound on a BD-50 (50 gigabyte dual-layered Blu-ray disc). The title is already available for PRE-ORDER over at Amazon with a $19.99 price tag. Bonus materials set to be included on the release are listed below.

* A Look Inside Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
* A Conversation with Jim Carrey and Michel Gondry
* Inside The Mind Of Michel Gondry
* Anatomy Of A Scene: Saratoga Avenue
* A Conversation With Kate Winslet And Director Michel Gondry
* The Polyphonic Spree “Light & Day” Music Video
* Lacuna Infomercial
* Easter Egg
* Feature Commentary With Michel Gondry And Writer Charlie Kaufman
* pocket BLU
* My Scenes

Source: HiDefDiscNews

2010 Sep 17

Cranston, Martin, Ehle, and Gould join Steven Soderbergh’s “Contagion”

At a certain point, you have to guess that someone might make a movie just about the casting for Steven Soderbergh’s upcoming film Contagion. Bryan Cranston and Demetri Martin will join Jennifer Ehle and Elliott Gould as the latest additions to the virus thriller, according to The Playlist, and they will find their place among the already ridiculous cast. The quartet joins Matt Damon, Kate Winslet, Marion Cotillard, Laurence Fishburne, Gwyneth Paltrow, Jude Law, John Hawkes, Chin Han, and Josie Ho.

Finally, while people like me eagerly await the release of Haywire, Soderbergh is not sitting idly by. He had intended to film the fast-approaching Contagion later this month in 3D, but those plans seem to be scrapped. RED, one of the high-profile camera manufacturers that have been an increasingly popular brand among filmmakers, was set to give Soderbergh first access to their brand new Tattoo camera but some faults have nixed those plans. Instead, Soderbergh will shoot with his old RED cameras that he already owns. (He reportedly lent them to David Fincher for The Social Network.) Perhaps he will post-convert the film? While I certainly hope not, it is clear that Soderbergh fans have quite a lot to look forward to in the next year: Contagion is set for an October 2011 release.

Source: Collider.com

2010 Jul 14

Aishwarya Rai, Kate Winslet set for L’Oréal ad

Aishwarya Rai Bachchan is to team with Kate Winslet on a new ad campaign for L’Oréal, it has been reported.

Both are ambassadors for the cosmetics giant and will work together on a commercial film to be shot over the next few weeks, The Times of India reported.

The ad is being filmed on location in Italy over two days, the paper said.

And it seems the former Miss World is excited about hanging out with the Academy Award winner, whom she met briefly in the past.

Other media have quoted anonymous sources close to the Indian actress as saying she is “very excited to meet Kate”.

While her last film, Raavan, tanked at the box-office, her appeal clearly remains Titanic.

Source: Emirates Business 24|7