Weekend Argus (Saturday Edition)
‘LONG SHOT’ PAYS OFF FOR CHARLIZE
CHARLIZE Theron and Seth Rogen received the Comedy Stars of the Year Award at CinemaCon in Las Vegas last weekend.
CinemaCon is the annual convention for theatre owners. It is attended by more than 6 000 motion picture professionals from all facets of the industry and includes exclusive Hollywood product presentations highlighting a slate of upcoming films.
Rogen and Theron received the award for Long Shot, which opens in South Africa on May 24.
CinemaCon managing director Mitch Neuhauser said: “Rogen and Theron have been bringing audiences around the world to the cinemas for over a decade with some of the most entertaining, inspiring and hilarious films of our time”.
Long Shot stars Rogen as Fred Flarsky, a gifted and free-spirited journalist with an affinity for trouble and Theron as Charlotte Field, one of the most influential women in the world.
They have nothing in common, except, unknown to her, she was his childhood crush. When they unexpectedly reconnect, Charlotte hires Fred to be her speech writer as she prepares to make a run for the presidency. A fish out of water on Charlotte’s elite team, Fred finds himself unprepared for her glamorous lifestyle in the limelight. However, sparks fly as their unmistakable chemistry leads to a round-the-world romance and a series of unexpected and dangerous incidents.
Actor, writer, producer and director Seth Rogen will also be seen in Disney’s The Lion King as the voice of Pumba alongside Beyoncé Knowles and Donald Glover this July.
Theron later this year lends her voice to Morticia Adams in the animated revival of The Addams
Family and will portray Megyn Kelly in the untitled Charles Randolph project.
Visitors to CinemaCon were privy to shots from the year’s mostanticipated films among them Avengers: Endgame, Crawl, Fast & Furious Presents: Hobbs & Shaw, Gemini Man, Good Boys, It: Chapter Two,
John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum, Joker, Knives Out, Ma; Toy Story 4 and Wonder Woman 1984.
The issue of how Netflix fits into, or threatens, the theatre business dominated a press conference at the convention as well.
Netflix is a member of the Motion Picture Association of America, the trade association for Walt Disney, AT&T’s Warner Bros and other movie studios.
In a report this week, Neuhauser was quoted as saying: “Streaming is not a problem”, noting that there were limits to how much people can stand to stay at home with all of the modern conveniences including grocery delivery.
“We’ve got to get out of the house. We are talking about becoming a society of hermits.”
Netlfix will this year continue to stream Disney films, not long after they’ve appeared in cinema.
Already available are Solo: A Star Wars Story, The Incredibles 2, Ant-Man
and the Wasp and Christopher Robin.
Among expected releases are The Nutcracker and the Four Realms, Ralph
Breaks the Internet and Mary Poppins
Returns. | Compiled by Omeshnie Naidoo