D23: Director Andrew Stanton talks John Carter

"How would you like to be in the desert where it's 100 degrees and you're on stilts wearing pyjamas?" That's the question Andrew Stanton, director of John Carter, asked Willem Dafoe and Samantha Morten and yet both stars still signed up to the production."I struck gold," the director said about the actors, including Taylor Kitsch who plays John Carter.Dafoe and Morten play Tharks, green-skinned aliens who are much taller than Carter's civil war soldier - hence the stilts and those pyjamas, which were actually motion capture clothing.This isthe first live-action movie for Stanton (Finding Nemo, Wall-E), who said hefirst came into contact with Edgar Rice Burroughs' character through Marvel's 1970s comic-books and had even drawn the hero at a young age.A glass-half-full D23 audience member might think Disney is getting a little twitchy about the film, given the amount of time it spent previewing it at D23.That included four clips from the film, which saw John wake up on Mars and witness the birth of baby Tharks; his early meeting with Tars Tarkas (Dafoe) and the realisation that the lesser gravity allows him to jump like a superhero; an encounter with a dog-like creature while imprisoned in the Thark nursery; a heart to heart with a humanoid princess who is about to be forced into an arranged marriage; and a Star Wars-type battle scene with Tarkas and Carter sentenced to death by angry white ape in an arena.It all looks good (particularly the CGI dog) and from the early footage there's a serious, sombre tone to the film. UK audiences will have to wait until 9 March 2012 to see if it hangs together as a finished movie.

Gaultiero Jacopetti dies at 91

Filmmaker Gaultiero Jacopetti -- the guy behind documentary "Mondo Stick" and it is sequels, cult classics that collected good examples from the creepy and bizarre from all over the world -- died Wednesday in Rome. He was 91."Mondo stick" (the title means "A Dog's World") opened in the 1962 Cannes Film Festival, where it came accolades and was nominated for that Palme d'Or. Jacopetti known as the film, that they created using his collaborators Franco Prosperi and Paolo Cavara, a "shockumentary." Such exploitation documentaries (e.g., the "Faces of Dying" series) will also be now referred to as mondo films.Jacopetti used both narration and also the juxtaposition from the frequently-disturbing material -- what he known as "shock cuts" -- to attain an ironic effect. In a single scene, for instance, a parent in New Guinea, surviving within the dying of her child, was proven nursing a piglet. The following scene portrayed the slaughter of pigs within the same region for any carnal feast.The "Mondo Stick" theme song, "More," by Riz Ortolani and Nino Oliviero, was nominated to have an Oscar.The film divided experts within the U.S. but would be a large hit worldwide, paving the way in which for sequels including "Mondo Stick 2." He also made "Women around the globe,Inch that was charged with taking advantage of women, and "Africa Addio," that he was charged with collusion with murders to get the violent footage within the film.A massive quantity of copy cats adopted in Jacopetti's actions, most of the them while using word "Mondo" within the game titles of the photos. Russ Meyer made "Mondo Topless," and John Water arrived on the scene with "Mondo Trasho." There is also "Mondo Bizarro" and "Mondo Weirdo." A few of the films with "Mondo" within the title weren't even documentaries and were simply benefiting from the recognition of Jacopetti's work. Like his copy cats, Jacopetti was accused by a number of staging the bizarre occasions portrayed in the films.In 1971 he switched his focus on antebellum South -- he and Prosperi made "Goodbye, Uncle Tom," about slavery within the U.S. The framework device: Jacopetti and Prosperi made an appearance onscreen as filmmakers who travel in time.Jacopetti was created in Barga, Italia. He would be a magazine editor along with a maker of newsreels before he switched to movies.His last film, that they authored but didn't direct, was "Fangio -- Una vita a 300 all'ora," a documentary concerning the F1 racecar driver Juan Manuel Fangio helmed by Hugh Hudson. Contact Variety Staff at news@variety.com

Disneys D23 Expo Brings Young Stars into the Spotlight

Disney Channel The stars are shining bright at Disney. A weekend expo will let fans meet the young stars of the Disney Channel, and also get a sneak peek of some of the studios' biggest upcoming features. This weekend's D23 Expo in Anaheim, CA, will have a variety of panels, sneak peeks and exhibits for the Disney fans and media. One of the major events on Saturday will feature a panel, hosted by Walt Disney Studios chairman Rich Ross, president of production Sean Bailey and CCO of Walt Disney and Pixar Animation Studios John Lasseter. The presentation will feature sneak peeks at upcoming projects including Disney's The Muppets, John Carter, Disney-Pixar's Brave, Tim Burton's Frankenweenie and more. PHOTOS: Disney Generation's New Rising Stars For the first time, Marvel will attend the expo, and the upcoming film The Avengers will also have a presentation at Saturday's panel. The expo, going on Aug. 19-21, also gives Disney fans a chance to know the new generation of Disney stars. With Miley Cyrus and Demi Lovato moving on from the mouse house, other stars are taking over. The weekend expo will also include presentations from the Disney Channel's new popular shows including Good Luck Charlie, Shake it Up and A.N.T. Farm. Read more about the new stars of Disney in THR's photo gallery here. The Walt Disney Company Disney Channel

Kakushi toride no san akunin - The last princess

Makabe Rokurota (Hiroshi Abe), a loyal retainer of Princess Yuki-hime (Masami Nagasawa), has been commissioned to transport Yuki-hime and Akizuki's ample treasury of gold bars safely to the politically stable Hayakawa. They disguise themselves as humble firewood peddlers, hiding the gold bars inside the logs they are carrying so as to pass safely through roadblocks set up by Yamana, which is under the control of Takayama Gyobu (Kippei Shiina), whose attire bears a striking resemblance to that of Darth Vader. Along the way, Rokurota comes across Takezo (Jun Matsumoto) and Shimpachi (Daisuke Miyagawa), who have escaped from forced labor in a gold mine. Takezo and Shimpachi first frown on joining the journey, but eventually agree to help out in the hope of escaping Yamana's oppression and cashing in on the gold reward Rokurota offers them.

James Cameron's Lightstorm Employs Kathy Franklin To Steer 'Avatar' Brand

La (August 9, 2011) __ Kathy Franklin continues to be named Leader of Franchise Development at Lightstorm Entertainment. Introduced by James Cameron and Jon Landau, thehire signifies Lightstorm's commitment, together with Last Century Fox, to building thefranchise and make of AVATAR past the traditional certification and retailing avenues. Cameron said, Anticipating the exponential development of the Avatar world, we lookedfor somebody that may lead a team which will cement Avatar like a first class brand across allplatforms and marketplaces. Kathys experience, combined together with her drive and vision for which Avatar canbe, made her the best choice. Franklin is really a seasoned leader having a proven record of creating and applying industry-leadingbranding, growth and communications methods. As V . P . of Global Studio FranchiseDevelopment for Disney Consumer Items, she brought the methods that drove the DisneyPrincess, Disney Fairies, Cars and Toy Story franchises while building integrated close ties withfilm, television, an internet-based divisions from the Wally Disney Company. Before that, Franklin was VicePresident of Disney Worldwide Outreach, throughout which she went marketing and communicationsfor all corporate philanthropic outreach and charitable giving. Franklin's first position at Disneywas Director of Disney Learning Partnership, a philanthropy centered on supporting creativeapproaches to learning and teaching, which she assisted launch as well as for which Franklin createdDisneyLearning.org and executive created "The Creative Class Series," an award-winningset of videos and educator guides. "Getting Kathy onboard at Lightstorm further reflects the initial creative and businessrelationship shared by Fox and Lightstorm about the Avatar franchise," stated Oren Aviv, TwentiethCentury Fox's Chief Marketing Officer, and Tony Sella, Fox's Chief Creative Officer. "Jim Cameroncreated an incredible world of mass appeal and we are certain that with Kathy in position, thispartnership will further take advantage of the tremendous possibilities natural within this awesomeproperty." "Kathy has proven herself to become a forward thinker who offers a chance to bring new ideasto existence," stated Landau. "With Kathy's leadership, together with they and infrastructureat Fox, I am confident our franchises will grow in innovative methods stay consistent with thequality and styles in our films." "Right from the start, Jim and Jon have seen AVATAR like a franchise whose storytelling hasglobal achieve and impact across multiple platforms. I anticipate leading this exciting new phasein the evolution from the franchise and also to dealing with they at Last Century Fox to driveAVATAR's ongoing growth," stated Franklin. Franklin depends at Lightstorm's Santa Monica headquarters.

Ratings: A Solid Launch for Bachelor Pad Season 2

Bachelor Pad The three-hour launch of Bachelor Pad's second season won Monday night in viewership (6.87 million) but finished second among the industry-prized 18-to-49-year-old demo, scoring a 2.2 rating, according to Nielsen overnight figures. Compared to last year, the program stayed even in the demo and grew in total viewers by 8 percent from 6.37 million. And it was No. 1 among all the female demos - all in all, a respectable start. But it failed to measure up to last week's two-hour Bachelorette finale, which averaged 9.50 million viewers while scoring a 2.7 - itself down 29 percent from last year. The ABC show - in which former The Bachelor and The Bachelorette contestants hook up and backstab each other to win money - was bested in the demo by Fox's prime-time tandem of Hell's Kitchen (6.51 million viewers, 2.7 rating) and MasterChef (5.52 million, 2.3). MasterChef's Joe Bastianich blogs: It's sink-or-swim time In the final prime-time hour, Bachelor Pad outdid reruns of CBS' Hawaii Five-0 (4.65 million, 1.0) and NBC's Harry's Law (3.84 million, 0.6). CBS stayed with the usual summer reruns of its comedies in the first two hours - two episodes of How I Met Your Mother (4 million and 4.13 million), Two and a Half Men (5.44 million) and Mike & Molly (4.89 million). Catch up with the latest TVGuide.com news On basic cable, The Glee Project's Sunday episode pulled in 912,000 viewers - its biggest audience ever.

'Transformers' Beats 'Harry Potter' at Japanese Box Office