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Academy Award–winning actor Tom Hanks hadn't written and directed a movie since 1996's That Thing You Do!, but the upcoming comedy Larry Crowne sees Hanks directing himself as the title character from a script he co-wrote with Nia Vardalos (My Big Fat Greek Wedding). While only his second directorial effort, Hanks told BANG Showbiz at the London Premiere that he wasn't nervous about directing the movie.
I was worried about less things because my powers of communication, my skills of talking to all the department heads were a little bit better than last time around. It's such a personal thing that I can't really delineate between the work and the social aspect of making the movie. We had a great time, we were around great people.
watch the trailer >> Posted 06.14.11 by Ryan -
The first look audiences got of Universal Pictures' upcoming comedy Larry Crowne was a preview clip aired a couple weeks ago on Jimmy Kimmel Live during an interview with Tom Hanks. The movie, directed and co-written by Hanks with Nia Vardalos (My Big Fat Greek Wedding), follows Hanks as a man recently fired from his job who begins to take college courses, with Julia Roberts as one of his professors, or so says the movie's synopsis.
Until he was downsized, affable, amiable Larry Crowne (Hanks) was a superstar team leader at the big-box company where he's worked since his time in the Navy. Underwater on his mortgage and unclear on what to do with his suddenly free days, Larry heads to his local college to start over. There he becomes part of a colorful community of outcasts, also-rans and the overlooked all trying to find a better future for themselves...often moving around town in a herd of scooters. In his public-speaking class, Larry develops an unexpected crush on his teacher Mercedes Tainot (Roberts), who has lost as much passion for teaching as she has for her husband. The simple guy who has every reason to think his life has stalled will come to learn an unexpected lesson: when you think everything worth having has passed you by, you just might discover your reason to live.
Watch the trailer >> Posted 03.16.11 by Ryan -
Universal Pictures' upcoming comedy Larry Crowne has a lot going for it: a July release date, two Academy Award-winning lead actors (Tom Hanks and Julia Roberts), Hanks directing and co-writing with Nia Vardalos (writer and star of My Big Fat Greek Wedding), and a supporting cast that employs most of Hollywood. What it doesn't have, so far, is a trailer.
Hanks attempted to alleviate that by appearing on Jimmy Kimmel Live and showing a preview clip from the movie (instead of a trailer), which shows an early meeting between Hanks' title character and Roberts. In the movie, Hanks has been fired from his job and is starting over by taking college courses, one of which is taught by Roberts. But don't take it from us, let Hanks tell you himself in the clip's introduction.
watch the clip >> Posted 03.02.11 by Ryan -
Until this past weekend, Tom Hanks and his Charlie Wilson's War co-star, Julia Roberts, were the only two actors known to be attached to star in Larry Crowne, Hanks' first directorial effort since That Thing You Do in 1996. But, on Saturday, Hanks "announced" a number of cast additions via a star-studded TwitPic titled "The Larry Crowne Casting Wall (incomplete)."
Need help ID'ing the actors? >> Posted 03.29.10 by BrentJS -
Tom Hanks' first directorial effort since 1996's That Thing You Do has secured a domestic distribution deal through Universal Pictures. According to Deadline Hollywood. In addition to directing Larry Crowne, Hanks will star in the movie alongside his Charlie Wilson's War co-star, Julia Roberts.
The plot of Larry Crowne is unknown at this time, even though the idea for the movie has been around for several years. Hanks came up with the basic plot back in 2006 and tapped Nia Vardalos (My Big Fat Greek Wedding) to write a first draft of the screenplay, then titled Talk of the Town. The two have been collaborating on the script ever since. More details are likely to emerge as the planned April start of production approaches.
Posted 02.11.10 by BrentJS -
The list of celebrities scheduled for the Hope for Haiti Now: A Global Benefit for Earthquake Relief continues to grow. Recent additions to the actors there to present include Denzel Washington, Halle Berry, Leonardo DiCaprio, and Nicole Kidman. Today, MTV announced that President Bill Clinton, Tom Hanks, Brad Pitt, Robert Pattinson, Will Smith, Julia Roberts, Meryl Streep, and Muhammad Ali have also signed on.
Additionally, Madonna will perform live from New York and Haitian artist Emeline Michel in Los Angeles. They join a lineup of musical performers that includes Wyclef Jean, Bruce Springsteen, Jennifer Hudson, Mary J. Blige, Shakira, Sting, Alicia Keys, Christina Aguilera, Dave Matthews, John Legend, Justin Timberlake, Stevie Wonder, Taylor Swift, Keith Urban, Kid Rock, Sheryl Crow, Beyoncé, Coldplay, Bono, The Edge, Jay-Z, and Rihanna.
Proceeds from the George Clooney–organized telethon will be split evenly between The Clinton Bush Haiti Fund, United Nations World Food Programme, Oxfam America, Partners in Health, The Red Cross, UNICEF, and the Yele Haiti Foundation.
The Hope for Haiti Now telethon airs Friday at 8 PM ET / 5 PM PT on ReelzChannel, followed by an encore showing at 11 PM ET / 8 PM PT. Get details about the telethon and our special editions of Hollywood Dailies.
Posted 01.21.10 by reelz -
It's been a cruel summer — and spring — at the box office for Hollywood's biggest stars. The less-than-stellar success for A-Listers has many in Hollywood worried, according to The New York Times.
A-list movie stars have long been measured by their ability to fill theaters on opening weekend. But never have so many failed to deliver, resulting in some rare soul-searching by motion picture studios about why the old formula isn’t working — and a great deal of anxiety among stars (and agents) about the potential vaporization of their $20 million paychecks.
The under-delivering stars cited include Denzel Washington, Julia Roberts, Eddie Murphy, John Travolta, Russell Crowe, Tom Hanks, Adam Sandler, and Will Ferrell. At best their films had weak returns. Others close in on the bomb category. Even Johnny Depp's turn in Public Enemies didn't bring the hoped for audience.
The trend is especially clear when you look at the movies that have topped the box office this summer and their leading stars — Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen (Shia LaBoeuf), Up (Ed Asner), and Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (Daniel Radcliffe). Will Brad Pitt "stop the bleeding" with this weekend's Inglourious Basterds?
Harvey Weinstein and The Weinstein Company built the marketing campaign for the film almost entirely around Mr. Pitt.
And the actor may pull it off — kind of. Mr. Weinstein contends that Mr. Pitt’s drawing power is not remotely in question. "Brad Pitt is a super-superstar at the apex of his popularity, and he's a large part of why people want to see this movie," he said.
However, box-office predictions for Inglourious Basterds this weekend range from $25 to $30 million — solid for a Tarantino movie but only midling for Pitt.
What or who is to blame? The instant peer feedback available from social networking, says Peter Guber, the former chairman of Sony Pictures.
You look around the theater and can see the glow, not on people’s faces from watching the movie, but on their chins — from the BlackBerrys and iPhones. They are immediately telling their friends whether it's worth their time. And the answer to that, more often than not, seems to be no.
To which we say, keep the reviews coming, movie lovers!
Posted 08.21.09 by reelz -
Forbes, which we like to think of as the Seventeen of financial magazines because of its incessant list-making, has another list: Hollywood's Influential Actors. To determine the top 10, Forbes relied on data gathered by E-Poll Market Research, a Los Angeles company that gathers information on 4500 celebrities. Apparently, 40% of those polled believe Denzel 
Washington is "influential," and that's good enough for the top of the list. The others, in declining order of influence, include Tom Hanks, George Clooney, Will Smith, Morgan Freeman, Angelina Jolie, Robert De Niro, Harrison Ford, James Earl Jones, and "Julie" Roberts. Which just goes to show you, Hollywood stars don't have nearly as much influence as they're typically given credit for -- Roberts hasn't even been able to influence the creators of this list to get her first name right.
Meanwhile, where are the outspoken Hollywood stars who genuinely make an effort to influence people -- Tim Robbins and Susan Sarandon, Sean Penn, Leo DeCaprio, Kelsey Grammer, Arnold Schwarzenegger? The best way to be influential in Hollywood, it seems, is to make mainstream movies that do well at the box office for a couple decades or so, project a vague sense of progressive gravitas at award shows without being overtly political, don't be a woman, and most especially of all, don't be a comedian!
Posted 11.07.08 by reelz