At various points, we try to burrow into Oppenheimer’s psyche and take the audience on his emotional journey…reports Asian Lite News
Filmmaker Christopher Nolan, who is known for films such as ‘Memento’, ‘The Dark Knight’ trilogy, ‘Inception’, ‘Tenet’ and others, is now gearing up for his forthcoming release, ‘Oppenheimer’. Ahead of the release, the filmmaker shared that the story of ‘Oppenheimer’, which is based on nuclear physicist J. Robert Oppenhimer, is full of paradoxes and ethical dilemmas.
Speaking about what ignited the fire within him to tell J. Robert Oppenhimer’s story, Nolan said: “Oppenheimer’s story is one of the great stories that there is. It’s full of paradoxes and ethical dilemmas, and that’s the kind of material I’m always interested in. While the movie tries to help the audience understand why people have done the things they’ve done, it’s at the same time asking ‘should they have done the things they’ve done?’.”
He further mentioned: “Films, as a narrative medium, are uniquely suited to pulling an audience into a subjective experience, letting them judge things the way the characters judge them, while at the same time looking at these characters a little more objectively. At various points, we try to burrow into Oppenheimer’s psyche and take the audience on his emotional journey. That was the challenge of the film: To tell the story of a person who was involved in what was ultimately an extraordinarily destructive sequence of events, but done for the right reasons, and tell it from his point of view.”
Produced by Universal Pictures (distributed by Warner Bros. Discovery), ‘Oppenheimer’ will release on July 21 across theatres in India with advance booking across IMAX theatres in India already open.
However, this is nothing new as Nolan has preferred to rely as little as he can on VFX on almost all his ventures be it ‘The Dark Knight’ trilogy, ‘Interstellar’ or ‘Tenet’…reports Asian Lite News
Ever since the announcement of ‘Oppenheimer’, Christopher Nolan has made it clear that he has zero interest in using CGI for the biopic, instead using practical effects for everything. With that in mind, ‘Oppenheimer’ will have absolutely no CGI.
The director is known for his penchant for realism and complex stories, but for his latest film, ‘The Dark Knight’ creator has insisted on keeping things as real as possible. Speaking with Collider, Nolan said that his latest film not only has a focus on practicality, but it contains “zero” CGI shots.
However, this is nothing new as Nolan has preferred to rely as little as he can on VFX on almost all his ventures be it ‘The Dark Knight’ trilogy, ‘Interstellar’ or ‘Tenet’.
Instead Nolan has always preferred using things such as camera work, real small-scale explosions and miniature sets to avoid having his work feel wholly unrealistic, employing VFX only when necessary and that too for enhancing the visual aesthetic of certain scenes.
But recreating a nuclear explosion, its immense radiation, the intricacies of the explosion along with other aspects such as the aesthetics of a black hole is no mean feat, but Nolan and his team managed to pull it off without any CGI.
Based on the life of nuclear physicist J. Robert Oppenheimer who is widely regarded as the ‘Father of the nuclear bomb’, the film adapts the Pulitzer Prize-winning book American Prometheus by Kai Bird and the late Martin J. Sherwin.
With a particular focus on the Trinity Test and the Manhattan Project which led to creation of the atom bomb, the movie also showcases the race against time of the Americans to finish building their bomb before Nazi Germany can complete theirs.
‘Oppenheimer’ stars Cillian Murphy, Matt Damon, Emily Blunt, Robert Downey Jr., Florence Pugh Jack Quaid, Benny Safdie, Rami Malek, Dane DeHaan, Josh Hartnett, Matthew Modine, Kenneth Branagh, David Krumholtz, Michael Angarano, and Alden Ehrenreich and will hit theatres on July 21, 2023.
The second season of ‘The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power’ will soon drop on Prime Video…reports Asian Lite News
Actor Owain Arthur, who plays Prince Durin in the streaming series ‘The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power’, has shared that he did detective work to learn about his character in the show.
To understand his character, he approached it from different angle just like how a detective takes account of different permutations and combinations of the given set of situations,
Sharing his process of approaching the character, the actor said, “I think that you need to look for the given circumstances that you need to know. Like, what are the rules I need to follow? What do we know already? What is written down about Durin that we can find out? Because as an actor, you kind of hunt for that information and you do detective work and almost a psychologist’s work really, just to figure out who he is. And then you get a better grasp of how he would react to various scenarios.”
He further mentioned, “And you get a true … or you begin to get the order of this character. So I did that. Even though there’s not much written about Durin himself, there’s a lot on dwarves, obviously, in the books. And there’s a joy, I think, to the dwarves that I get from the source material. So that was the main thing I wanted to explore was where is the joy in Durin and where is the joy in the dwarves? And it’s a very human side to him that I enjoy exploring.”
The second season of ‘The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power’ will soon drop on Prime Video.
The stunt has been described by Cruise as one of the most dangerous he’s ever done, and it required months of prep work prior to its execution…reports Asian Lite News
Actor Tom Cruise-starrer action spy thriller ‘Mission Impossible-Dead Reckoning Part One’ premiered in Rome. The movie features some very detailed and elaborate stunt-work, one of which includes Cruise doing a death-defying stunt as he rides his bike off the edge of a cliff and does a parachute jump, which is among the film’s highlights.
The seventh installment in the franchise, ‘Dead Reckoning Part One’ follows the events of ‘Mission Impossible Fallout’, where Ethan Hunt and his crew of secret agents have to save the world from a global nuclear catastrophe.
The 2018 release has been the highest-grossing entry in the franchise yet, grossing $792 million at the global box office.
Speaking about the stunt, actor Simon Pegg who plays the hacker Benji told ‘Variety’: “It’s become a kind of self-perpetuating evolving relationship where they’ve just egged each other on and challenged each other to move the story forward; to increase the scale; increase the ambition.”
The stunt has been described by Cruise as one of the most dangerous he’s ever done, and it required months of prep work prior to its execution.
Speaking to ‘Deadline’ during the Monday premiere, Simon Pegg further added that there is a genuine fear that such death defying stunts may lead to them permanently losing Tom Cruise. He told ‘Deadline’, “You know, I’m lucky because Benji just kind of stays behind the computer and he does his thing.”
“Tom is jumping off cliffs on a motorbike he’s hanging his you know, hanging off trains – it’s genuinely dangerous stuff. There’s always a sense that, you know, one day, something might go wrong we might lose Tom, you know. Anytime there’s a big stunt, we all have that sense of, you know, fear, but he always pulls it off.”
Directed by Christopher Mc Quarrie and produced by Skydance, ‘Mission Impossible-Dead Reckoning Part One’ stars Tom Cruise, Hayley Atwell, Simon Pegg, Esai Morales, Ving Rhames, Vanessa Kirby, Rebecca Ferguson and Henry Czrney in key roles and will release in US on July 12, 2023 with Part Two set for a June 28, 2024 release.
Many were successful in making contact with Depp, who worked the fan line outside for five full minutes before walking the carpet…reports Asian Lite News
Hollywood star Johnny Depp, who hasn’t appeared in public since his protracted 2022 legal battle with ex-girlfriend Amber Heard, received an ecstatic seven-minute standing ovation at the premiere of Cannes Film Festival’s opening night film ‘Jeanne Du Barry’.
Depp held back tears as the crowd in the South of France erupted in prolonged applause for his performance, reports ‘Variety’. He essays the role of King Louis XV in the film. He waved to the audience in the balcony and seemed taken aback by the response.
The film’s director and star Maiwenn also broke out into tears as she briefly took the mic. “I want to share this moment with my lover, with my producer, with Le Pacte,” she said. “It was a production that was difficult to finance a and I want to share this moment with all my team across the theatre.”
As per ‘Variety’, Depp arrived to Cannes welcomed by thousands of supportive fans, who carried signs outside the Palais and trembled as they tried to touch their idol. Many were successful in making contact with Depp, who worked the fan line outside for five full minutes before walking the carpet.
‘Jeanne du Barry’ stars Maiwenn as Jeanne Vaubernier, a working class woman in 18th century France who rises the social ranks and becomes King Louis XV’s lover. Her working class roots makes her a social pariah in the king’s court. The supporting cast includes Benjamin Lavernhe, Pierre Richard, Melvil Poupaud and Pascal Greggory.
The film marks Depp’s most high profile acting role since the conclusion of his 2022 legal battle against ex-wife Amber Heard.
“We hope a fair deal is reached soon so we can all get back to work. Until then – over and out. #wgastrong”…reports Asian Lite News
Popular series ‘Stranger Things’ has paused work on its final season, as series co-creators and co-showrunners Matt Duffer and Ross Duffer, known as the Duffer brothers, shared a statement announcing that starting production “is not possible” during the ongoing Writers Guild of America strike.
The Duffers issued a statement from the Stranger Writers Twitter account, which has offered ‘Stranger Things’ fans a glimpse into the series’ writers room over the years. Writing on the fifth and final season commenced in August 2022, shortly after the fourth season premiered, reports ‘Variety’.
“Duffers here. Writing does not stop when filming begins. While we’re excited to start production with our amazing cast and crew, it is not possible during this strike,” the Duffers wrote.
“We hope a fair deal is reached soon so we can all get back to work. Until then – over and out. #wgastrong”
As the most streamed series of 2022, ‘Stranger Things’ now joins a growing group of Netflix series, such as “Big Mouth” and “Cobra Kai,” facing delays and productions pauses amid the ongoing writers’ strike.
After the original “Stranger Things” concludes, fans can expect an animated series set in the ‘Stranger Things’ world, which is set to be produced by the Duffer brothers, Shawn Levy and Dan Cohen. England-based fans can check out the franchise’s venture into the theatre world later this year.
‘Stranger Things’ writer and co-executive producer Kate Trefry has penned a stage production spin-off, ‘Stranger Things: The First Shadow’. The stage production is set to premiere at the West End Phoenix Theatre in London.
The concert will also feature world-renowned pianist Lang Lang as well as recent ‘The Piano’ winner Lucy. Bollywood star Sonam Kapoor will also appear on stage to deliver a spoken word performance to introduce the Commonwealth virtual choir…reports Asian Lite News
King Charles III’s coronation is set to be a memorable occasion as the latest stars to be confirmed for the concert, which will take place in the grounds of Windsor Castle the day after the historic ceremony, are Tom Cruise, Nicole Scherzinger and Winnie the Pooh.
It will not be the trio’s first brush with royalty, with all three having attended previous royal events. Cruise was a guest at Princess Diana’s funeral in 1997, Pooh was invited to a children’s garden party at Buckingham Palace for Queen Elizabeth II’s 80th anniversary in 2006 and Scherzinger took part in a pageant in honour of Queen Elizabeth’s Platinum Jubilee last year, reports Variety.
For the coronation, which will honour King Charles’ ascension to the throne following the death of his mother Queen Elizabeth last year, Cruise and Pooh will appear alongside ‘Dynasty’ star Joan Collins, singer Tom Jones, adventurer Bear Grylls and dancer Oti Mabuse in a series of pre-recorded VTs in which they will reveal “little-known facts about the King.”
Also newly confirmed for the concert are Paloma Faith, Tiwa Savage, Steve Winwood, Olly Murs and club DJ Pete Tong, who will play his Ibiza classics.
The concert will also feature world-renowned pianist Lang Lang as well as recent ‘The Piano’ winner Lucy. Bollywood star Sonam Kapoor will also appear on stage to deliver a spoken word performance to introduce the Commonwealth virtual choir.
They will join artists including Katy Perry and Lionel Richie, who were announced earlier this month.
‘Downton Abbey’ star Hugh Bonneville will host the proceedings, which are being produced by BBC Studios.
“I am incredibly honoured to be a part of such a historic event,” said Scherzinger.
“The U.K. has been my home away from home for many years now, so this means so much to me to be lending my voice through the gift of song. The piece I will be singing is such a powerful, moving song. And to be sharing the stage with Lang Lang will be a dream come true; a once-in-a-lifetime performance.”
Kate Phillips, BBC’s director of unscripted, said: “I’m delighted that even more world class names have joined the line-up for the Coronation Concert, broadcast live across the BBC. Against the stunning backdrop of Windsor Castle, it’s going to be a jam packed evening of memorable moments, that Their Majesties and everyone in the U.K. can enjoy!”
The King’s coronation will take place on Saturday, May 6. The Coronation Concert will follow on the evening of Sunday, May 7.
Christopher Nolan is the king of the sci-fi genre and ‘Interstellar’ proves it…reports Asian Lite News
The sci-fi genre is one of the finest branches of cinema. The way it blows your mind and fulfils cinematic cravings is a treat to watch. A few movies have completely understood the concept and have blown our minds. The list goes as follows:
Tenet
The masterclass of cinema can be felt when you witness this extraordinary masterpiece by Director Christopher Nolan. The movie was released in 2020 and still can’t be wholly understood without defining the typical science terms used by the writer-director. In the film the protagonist goes into the future with the help of a portal to stop the attack by the future generation, explaining the theory in words can be difficult but an adjective for it can be ‘perfect’.
Interstellar
Christopher Nolan is the king of the sci-fi genre and ‘Interstellar’ proves it. The movie asks for complete attention from the people as missing a single dialogue can ruin the movie’s explanation when it ends. The film ends on an open note, leaving space for an intriguing sequel.
Dune
Timothee Chalamet and Zendaya narrated how a scientific-fiction movie is delivered to the world. ‘Dune’ follows the story of Paul Atreides who is a brilliant young man born with a great destiny to save his family from one of the most dangerous planets. The movie recently shared the first look of its sequel at CinemaCon which left everyone stunned.
Avatar
If you have ever been into movies, you should have definitely watched this classic, ‘ Avatar’. The concept of the movie was literally the out-of-the-world kind of thing. The story of Pandora takes a satirical take over human colonisation amid love which is a complete package of entertainment for the audience.
Avenger: Endgame
Marvel Cinematic Universe concludes phase three with this iconic movie. As the characters use a time machine to go back in time which comes under the sci-fi genre and nails it. Theatres turned into stadiums when this movie dropped to bring a ton of dopamine to the globe with its exciting storyline.
News of a show based on the megahit J.K. Rowling’s book series first leaked on April 3, but details have now been confirmed…reports Asian Lite News
A ‘Harry Potter’ TV series is officially moving forward at HBO Max.
The announcement was made during Warner Bros. Discovery’s presentation to press and investors on April 12, during which it was announced that HBO Max and Discovery+ are officially being combined into a new service dubbed simply Max, reports ‘Variety’.
News of a show based on the megahit J.K. Rowling’s book series first leaked on April 3, but details have now been confirmed.
Each season of the show will be based on one of the books in the franchise, with Warner Bros. Discovery describing the show as a “decade-long series.” It will feature an entirely new cast from the films.
“We are delighted to give audiences the opportunity to discover Hogwarts in a whole new way,” said Casey Bloys, chairman and CEO of HBO & Max Content.
“Harry Potter is a cultural phenomenon and it is clear there is such an enduring love and thirst for the Wizarding World. In partnership with Warner Bros. Television and J.K. Rowling, this new Max Original series will dive deep into each of the iconic books that fans have continued to enjoy for all of these years.”
Max will produce in association with Bronte Film and TV, and Warner Bros. Television. Rowling will executive produce along with Neil Blair and Ruth Kenley-Letts. David Heyman is currently in talks to executive produce.
“Max’s commitment to preserving the integrity of my books is important to me, and I’m looking forward to being part of this new adaptation which will allow for a degree of depth and detail only afforded by a long form television series,” said Rowling.
The announcement brings an end to years of speculation on whether or not the Wizarding World of Harry Potter would make the transition to TV. Variety reported in 2021 that the company was looking to develop a “Harry Potter” show.
The franchise has proven incredibly popular across a wide range of media.
The first book in the series, ‘Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone’ was originally published in 1997. The final book, ‘Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows’, debuted in 2007.
In addition to the books, each of which was a bestseller, there have been eight ‘Harry Potter’ films to date, which have collectively grossed more than $7.7 billion at the global box office.
There is also the ‘Fantastic Beasts’ film franchise, theme park attractions, toys, and games, including the recently launched video game ‘Hogwarts Legacy’.
There is also the hit Broadway show ‘Harry Potter and the Cursed Child’, which serves as a sequel to the book series.
WEST END RETURN OF THE TONY AWARD®-WINNING, THE LEHMAN TRILOGY, IS NOW PLAYING AT THE GILLIAN LYNNE THEATRE UNTIL 20 MAY 2023 and is an exceptional and gripping theatre production – writes columnist Riccha Grrover for Asian Lite International
The National Theatre and Neal Street Productions’ critically acclaimed, five-time Tony Award® winning production of The Lehman Trilogy has returned to London. The strictly limited 17-week run has begun performances at the Gillian Lynne Theatre. Michael Balogun, Hadley Fraser and Nigel Lindsay are playing the Lehman brothers, and a cast of characters including their sons and grandsons. They are joined by pianist, Yshani Perinpanayagam.
Returning to perform the roles of Janitor and understudy is Ravi Aujla, with Will Harrison-Wallace and Leighton Pugh also returning to their understudy roles. Erika Gundesen is the understudy pianist.
Written by Stefano Massini, adapted by Ben Power and directed by multi-award-winning director, Sam Mendes with set design by Es Devlin, The Lehman Trilogy is an extraordinary feat of storytelling told in three parts on a single evening.
On a cold September morning in 1844, a young man from Bavaria stands on a New York dockside dreaming of a new life in the new world. He is joined by his two brothers, and an American epic begins. 163 years later, the firm they establish – Lehman Brothers – spectacularly collapses into bankruptcy, triggering the largest financial crisis in history.
Weaving together nearly two centuries of family history, The Lehman Trilogy charts the humble beginnings, outrageous successes, and devastating failure of the financial institution that would ultimately bring the global economy to its knees.
The production is a masterwork, keeps one at the edge of the seat and keeps one gripped with its power packed performances, great set design, engrossing music score, captivating lighting and spectacular storytelling, it’s a must watch play. Highly recommended and columnist rating all 5 stars!
Mendes is joined by set designer, Es Devlin; costume designer, Katrina Lindsay; video designer, Luke Halls; lighting designer Jon Clark; composer and sound designer, Nick Powell; co-sound designer, Dominic Bilkey; music director, Candida Caldicot; movement director, Polly Bennett and West End director, Zoé Ford Burnett. Company voice work is by Charmian Hoare with casting by Jessica Ronane CDG. They are joined by associate director, Rory McGregor; associate casting director Abby Galvin, associate designer, Amalie White, associate video designer, Zakk Hein and associate lighting designer, Charlotte Burton.
The Lehman Trilogy was the most awarded play on Broadway in 2022, winning Best Play, Best Director, Best Set Design, Best Lighting Design and Best Actor at the Tony Awards®. It also won the Drama League Award for Best Play and six Outer Critics Circle Awards, including Best Play.
First commissioned by Neal Street Productions and developed and co-produced with the National Theatre at the Lyttelton theatre in 2018, followed by an acclaimed sold-out run at the Park Avenue Armory in the Spring of 2019,
The Lehman Trilogy returned to London for a 16-week sold-out run at the Piccadilly Theatre in the West End from May until August 2019. Following Broadway’s 18-month shutdown, The Lehman Trilogy was the first British play to return to Broadway — where it had previously played four performances in March 2020 — for a much-lauded limited engagement at the Nederlander Theatre from September 2021 until January 2022. A Los Angeles transfer to Center Theatre Group’s Ahmanson Theatre followed from March until April 2022.
Prior to this, the world premiere of Stefano Massini’s The Lehman Trilogy opened at the Piccolo Teatro in Milan in 2015. It turned out to be Artistic Director Luca Ronconi’s final production before his death. A long- term admirer of Ronconi’s, Sam Mendes was inspired to begin planning an English adaptation for Neal Street Productions. Ben Power was commissioned by Neal Street Productions to create a new version of this epic play, using a literal English translation by Mirella Cheeseman.
The Lehman Trilogy in the West End is supported by American Express, the National Theatre’s Preferred Card Partner.
National Theatre
The National Theatre’s mission is to make world-class theatre, for everyone. The NT creates and shares unforgettable stories with audiences across the UK and around the world. On its own stages, on tour, in schools, on cinema screens and streaming at home, it strives to be accessible, inclusive and sustainable. The National Theatre empowers artists and craftspeople to make world-leading work, investing in talent and developing new productions with a wide range of theatre companies at its New Work Department.
Neal Street Productions
Neal Street Productions is one of the UK’s most respected production companies, producing award-winning film, television and theatre. Founded 2003 by Sam Mendes, Pippa Harris and Caro Newling, it makes distinctive, popular, award-winning projects on both sides of the Atlantic.
