Studio Cut

The first role cast was also the wickedest: Queen Ravenna in Universal Picture’s Snow White and the Huntsman. The daughter of a sorceress, Ravenna slowly found her way to the dark side. Abducted by a vicious master when she was a girl, the only power Ravenna wielded was her astonishing beauty. Though her mother bestowed upon her an enchantment to protect her from the ravages of time, Ravenna is forced to maintain it by consuming the life force of young maidens. After she bewitched and killed Snow White’s father, King Magnus, Ravenna stalled her death and threw off the balance of life with an evil that spread like cancer across the kingdom. But her cruelty did not end there. White…the moment her stepdaughter becomes the fairest in the land.

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In Snow White and the Huntsman, a breathtaking new vision of the legendary tale begins. Kristen Stewart plays the only person in the land fairer than the evil Queen Ravenna (Charlize Theron).The casting of Ravenna’s nemesis was slightly trickier than finding her pursuer. The filmmakers were searching for an actress who could capture both sides of the archetypal character: the innocence, naiveté and tenderness that Snow White demonstrates in the first half of our story, and the tough, physical warrior princess that she becomes in the second half. They discovered a number of younger actresses who could play the first half of the movie brilliantly but had trouble convincing the team that they could carry off the tougher persona. Likewise, when older actresses auditioned, they could well portray the battle-hardened soldier but were unconvincing as the recessive captive that the film’s early scenes demanded.

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Based on the inspiring true story that captured the hearts of people across the world, the rescue adventure Everybody Loves Whales tells the amazing tale of a small town news reporter (John Krasinski) and a Greenpeace volunteer (Drew Barrymore) who are joined by rival world superpowers to save a family of majestic gray whales trapped by rapidly forming ice in the Arctic Circle.

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When casting Safe House, producer Scott Stuber and  director Daniel Espinosa placed importance on avoiding tired tropes.  Stuber explains the rationale: “Action without character is boring.  The script read well because everything moves at a quick pace.  Then, when you sit and get to know these people, there’s a real depth to them.  We went after actors who could be in those moments and have the audience feel what these characters are feeling.”

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For Contraband, Director Baltasar Kormákur employed the same casting technique he used during the years he made movies in his home country.  Rather than choosing an actor by his or her looks, the director casts according to the performer’s personality.  “I like to find the core of people,” he says.  “The outer appearance is less important.  What is the person?  You try to figure that out and make that right for the character.” 

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Manila, Philippines –United International Pictures. together with its local affiliate Solar Entertainment Corp., one of the country’s leading film distributors, recorded its biggest year of all time in 2011 at theatrical grosses of PHP1.600 billion and still counting, announces by Mr. Wilson Tieng President of Solar Entertainment Corp. Surpassing  Warner’s Bros. 2010’s  record of PHP1.3 billion

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Oscar^®-winning producer Brian Grazer is one of a handful of filmmakers with the intuitive ability to pair Brett Ratner, the action-savvy director with a string of box-office hits to his name, and a high-profile cast led by comedy superstars Ben Stiller and Eddie Murphy to deliver Tower Heist, an action-comedy that scales new heights. The movie, distributed bvy UNITED International Pictures, is currently showing in Metro Manila cinemas.

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To play the iconic role of the intrepid, boyish reporter who has mirrored countless dreams of adventure, the filmmakers chose Jamie Bell. “Jamie’s performance in Billy Elliot was astonishing to me, not just the subtlety of his acting, but the tremendous physical performance he gave,” Spielberg notes. “Peter and I both thought he had all the right qualities for Tintin.”

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