Nobody sets out to make a bad movie. So why did cautionary tech thriller “The Circle” — adapted by lauded writer-director James Ponsoldt (“The Spectacular Now,” “The End of the Tour”) and beloved novelist Dave Eggers from his own 2013 bestseller — earn such negative reviews (43 on Metacritic, 17 on Rotten Tomatoes) and bomb at the box office ($9.3 million in 3,163 theaters)?
The movie went wrong in five significant ways.
1. The movie was foreign financed.
“The Circle” was developed by A-list ex-DreamWorks producers Walter Parkes and Laurie MacDonald’s Parkes+MacDonald Image Nation, which raised financing from Imagenation Abu Dhabi Fz and foreign sales company FilmNation on the power of Tom Hanks, who was the first star on board via his Playtone banner.
In order to raise an $18-million budget, globally bankable star Emma Watson was cast in a central leading role that demanded she be in every scene. Veering in tone from satiric comedy to naturalistic drama,...
The movie went wrong in five significant ways.
1. The movie was foreign financed.
“The Circle” was developed by A-list ex-DreamWorks producers Walter Parkes and Laurie MacDonald’s Parkes+MacDonald Image Nation, which raised financing from Imagenation Abu Dhabi Fz and foreign sales company FilmNation on the power of Tom Hanks, who was the first star on board via his Playtone banner.
In order to raise an $18-million budget, globally bankable star Emma Watson was cast in a central leading role that demanded she be in every scene. Veering in tone from satiric comedy to naturalistic drama,...
- 5/1/2017
- by Anne Thompson
- Thompson on Hollywood
Nobody sets out to make a bad movie. So why did cautionary tech thriller “The Circle” — adapted by lauded writer-director James Ponsoldt (“The Spectacular Now,” “The End of the Tour”) and beloved novelist Dave Eggers from his own 2013 bestseller — earn such negative reviews (43 on Metacritic, 17 on Rotten Tomatoes) and bomb at the box office ($9.3 million in 3,163 theaters)?
The movie went wrong in five significant ways.
1. The movie was foreign financed.
“The Circle” was developed by A-list ex-DreamWorks producers Walter Parkes and Laurie MacDonald’s Parkes+MacDonald Image Nation, which raised financing from Imagenation Abu Dhabi Fz and foreign sales company FilmNation on the power of Tom Hanks, who was the first star on board via his Playtone banner.
In order to raise an $18-million budget, globally bankable star Emma Watson was cast in a central leading role that demanded she be in every scene. Veering in tone from satiric comedy to naturalistic drama,...
The movie went wrong in five significant ways.
1. The movie was foreign financed.
“The Circle” was developed by A-list ex-DreamWorks producers Walter Parkes and Laurie MacDonald’s Parkes+MacDonald Image Nation, which raised financing from Imagenation Abu Dhabi Fz and foreign sales company FilmNation on the power of Tom Hanks, who was the first star on board via his Playtone banner.
In order to raise an $18-million budget, globally bankable star Emma Watson was cast in a central leading role that demanded she be in every scene. Veering in tone from satiric comedy to naturalistic drama,...
- 5/1/2017
- by Anne Thompson
- Indiewire
Dave Eggers is one of the finest novelists of his generation. It's a bit strange, however, that the first movie adapted from one of his books is A Hologram for the King. A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius, You Shall Know Our Velocity, Zeitoun and The Circle were all more high profile books of his, and yet it was this oddball story about an American businessman trying to sell his failed invention to Saudi Arabian royalty that made it to the big screen first. It is a bit more understandable, though, considering all of Eggers' stories are tough cinematic nuts to crack. They're not exactly plot heavy stories filled with twists and turns to make a movie easier. They're instead filled with deeply human moments, with inner monologues and internal struggles...
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- 8/10/2016
- by Peter Hall
- Movies.com
While author Dave Eggers has made some solid inroads in Hollywood—penning the scripts for "Away We Go" and "Where The Wild Things Are," and coming up with the story for "Promised Land"—his own works have faced a tougher road when it comes to adapting them to the big screen, though that's changing. Jonathan Demme's "Zeitoun" continues to percolate in development, Tom Tykwer's "A Hologram For The King," starring Tom Hanks, just dropped the first image yesterday, and now a long gestating project has some fresh talent involved. Daniel Radcliffe is in talks to star in an adaptation of Eggers' acclaimed "You Shall Know Our Velocity." This one has been kicking around for a while, and at one time Miguel Arteta ("The Good Girl," "Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day") had been tapped to direct, but it didn't come together. "I had a...
- 5/16/2014
- by Kevin Jagernauth
- The Playlist
After his awards circuit one-two punch of playing Walt Disney in John Lee Hancock’s Saving Mr. Banks and playing the courageous title character in the Paul Greengrass piracy thriller Captain Phillips, Oscar winner Tom Hanks is stepping away from true-life dramas for his next project, Tom Tykwer’s Dave Eggers adaptation, A Hologram for the King.
Above, the first image for the film, unveiled exclusively by The Hollywood Reporter during Cannes, finds Hanks looking a little worse for wear in the Saudi Arabian desert. Calling him a fish out of water doesn’t even begin to cover it.
The comedic drama centers on a struggling, washed-up American salesman (Hanks) who, desperate to pay off debts and support his family, travels to Saudi Arabia in hopes of securing a massive It contract for a new complex being constructed in the middle of the desert. In addition to Hanks, who previously...
Above, the first image for the film, unveiled exclusively by The Hollywood Reporter during Cannes, finds Hanks looking a little worse for wear in the Saudi Arabian desert. Calling him a fish out of water doesn’t even begin to cover it.
The comedic drama centers on a struggling, washed-up American salesman (Hanks) who, desperate to pay off debts and support his family, travels to Saudi Arabia in hopes of securing a massive It contract for a new complex being constructed in the middle of the desert. In addition to Hanks, who previously...
- 5/14/2014
- by Isaac Feldberg
- We Got This Covered
The premise of this drama about a deal a Palestinian boy cuts with an Israeli pilot may be sweet, but it doesn't convince
This film is incidentally not an adaptation of Dave Eggers's reportage study Zeitoun (2009), about the innocent Syrian-American Abdulrahman Zeitoun, notoriously arrested on suspicions of terrorism during Hurricane Katrina, while trying to rescue people in his canoe. It's a well-intentioned but contrived and unconvincing film, from the Israeli director Eran Riklis; it is set in Beirut, 1982, in the era of the Sabra and Shatila massacres. A young Palestinian boy, Fahed (Abdallah El Akal), finds himself guarding an Israeli air force pilot, Yoni (Stephen Dorff), whose plane has crashed; the intention is to turn him over to the Plo. Fahed is overwhelmed with a passionate need to see his Palestinian homeland just once, and plant on this soil his father's tiny and carefully tended olive tree (the film's...
This film is incidentally not an adaptation of Dave Eggers's reportage study Zeitoun (2009), about the innocent Syrian-American Abdulrahman Zeitoun, notoriously arrested on suspicions of terrorism during Hurricane Katrina, while trying to rescue people in his canoe. It's a well-intentioned but contrived and unconvincing film, from the Israeli director Eran Riklis; it is set in Beirut, 1982, in the era of the Sabra and Shatila massacres. A young Palestinian boy, Fahed (Abdallah El Akal), finds himself guarding an Israeli air force pilot, Yoni (Stephen Dorff), whose plane has crashed; the intention is to turn him over to the Plo. Fahed is overwhelmed with a passionate need to see his Palestinian homeland just once, and plant on this soil his father's tiny and carefully tended olive tree (the film's...
- 12/28/2012
- by Peter Bradshaw
- The Guardian - Film News
You may think that Oscar-winning director Jonathan Demme has had a quiet few years following 2008’s “Rachel Getting Married,” but that’s actually far from the truth. Since then Demme has directed a whole heap of documentary and concert films, and last year he was getting behind the camera for the pilot of “A Gifted Man” and a couple of episodes of “Enlightened.” In fact, there may be few busier directors out there right now, with Demme’s super low budget “Wally and Andre Shoot Ibsen” currently in post-production, and an animated adaptation of Dave Eggers’ “Zeitoun” and an adaptation of Stephen King’s time travel thriller “11/22/63” both in the works. Oh, and he also looks set to re-team with Anne Hathaway on “Song One,” which he’s producing. Now, Demme has another project to add to that list: he is attached to direct an indie family dramedy, “Old...
- 10/26/2012
- by Joe Cunningham
- The Playlist
While it might appear that director Jonathan Demme has retreated from the mainstream in recent years, directing a string of documentaries including “Jimmy Carter Man From Plains” and a trio of Neil Young concert films, the director says he’s just been following the projects he finds himself drawn to. “It all depends on what I’m enthusiastic about at the moment, what presents itself,” Demme told The Playlist in an exclusive interview this week. “I love doing fiction. I love doing performance films and I love doing documentaries that don’t have music. I love to shoot and I love to shoot things I’m enthusiastic about.”
And lately, Demme has been enthusiastic about Neil Young. Their latest collaboration is entitled “Neil Young Journeys,” in which Demme tags along on a road trip with Young in his 1956 Crown Victoria en route to a performance at Toronto’s iconic Massey Hall.
And lately, Demme has been enthusiastic about Neil Young. Their latest collaboration is entitled “Neil Young Journeys,” in which Demme tags along on a road trip with Young in his 1956 Crown Victoria en route to a performance at Toronto’s iconic Massey Hall.
- 6/20/2012
- by Jeff Otto
- The Playlist
Even his detractors must admit that there's a glorious unpredictability in watching the career of Jonathan Demme. In the last decade alone, he's directed two remakes of 1960s classics, documentaries on Neil Young, Haitian activist Jean Dominique and former President Jimmy Carter, indie drama "Rachel Getting Married," episodes of TV series "A Gifted Man" and "Enlightened," and, on the way, an animated adaptation of Dave Eggers' "Zeitoun" and Stephen King time-travel thriller "11/22/63." But his next film? It's something even more unexpected.
The New York Times reports that Demme is teaming up with theater legends Wallace Shawn and André Gregory, who each starred in Louis Malle's "My Dinner With André" and "Vanya On 42nd Street" (the latter of which Gregory co-directed), on a new film entitled "Wally And André Shoot Ibsen," which will shoot in New York in the spring.
Like 'Vanya,' which detailed the workshop rehearsals of...
The New York Times reports that Demme is teaming up with theater legends Wallace Shawn and André Gregory, who each starred in Louis Malle's "My Dinner With André" and "Vanya On 42nd Street" (the latter of which Gregory co-directed), on a new film entitled "Wally And André Shoot Ibsen," which will shoot in New York in the spring.
Like 'Vanya,' which detailed the workshop rehearsals of...
- 2/28/2012
- by Oliver Lyttelton
- The Playlist
If you don’t hear anything about a project for more than 18 months — no matter the size or prestige — something’s probably not going to plan. Such was the case with Pierre Pierre, a comedy that Jim Carrey has been trying to get into motion for years to no avail. Our last update, as indicated came in mid-July of 2010, when Borat Larry Charles (Borat) was brought on to helm Edwin Cannistraci and Frederick Seton‘s Black List script, which revolves around “a self-indulgent French nihilist (Carrey) who steals the Mona Lisa from the Louvre in the hope of selling it so he can finally move out of his parents house.” Since then, it’s been nothing but quiet.
Until now, with ScreenDaily reporting that Charles, Carrey, Foresight Unlimited, Mandalay Vision, and Lago Films powering the thing back to life, as the latter three groups have signed on to produce the picture at a $30 million budget.
Until now, with ScreenDaily reporting that Charles, Carrey, Foresight Unlimited, Mandalay Vision, and Lago Films powering the thing back to life, as the latter three groups have signed on to produce the picture at a $30 million budget.
- 2/14/2012
- by jpraup@gmail.com (thefilmstage.com)
- The Film Stage
With special thanks going out to Adrian Martin, we begin with a bit of viewing, not-so-strategically embedded here throughout today's Briefing. The buzz leading up to tomorrow's world premiere of Miguel Gomes's Tabu at the Berlinale has been next-to-unprecedented, at least to this Berlinale veteran. Critic.de has posted three clips, and yes, they are extraordinarily promising. Hopes are high.
Reading. "It seems likely that digital projection has, in unintended and unexpected ways, put the history of film in jeopardy." David Bordwell explains.
New York. "Chicago-born Andrea Callard, among the first wave of Tribeca artist-settlers in the early 70s, loved to find the country in the city," writes Melissa Anderson in the Voice. "Several of her Super 8 short films from that period on view at her Maysles tribute (which also includes slide shows of her hand-colored print collages) reveal nature's splendor in the most unlikely places." Through Sunday.
Reading. "It seems likely that digital projection has, in unintended and unexpected ways, put the history of film in jeopardy." David Bordwell explains.
New York. "Chicago-born Andrea Callard, among the first wave of Tribeca artist-settlers in the early 70s, loved to find the country in the city," writes Melissa Anderson in the Voice. "Several of her Super 8 short films from that period on view at her Maysles tribute (which also includes slide shows of her hand-colored print collages) reveal nature's splendor in the most unlikely places." Through Sunday.
- 2/13/2012
- MUBI
One project that has always been at simmering on Jonathan Demme's always busy plate of projects has been an adaptation of Dave Eggers' post-Hurricane Katrina book "Zeitoun." First announced nearly three years ago, the project hasn't had much movement since and Demme has been busy knocking out a number of documentaries including two centering on Neil Young ("Neil Young Trunk Show" and "Neil Young Journeys") in addition to his latest, "I'm Carolyn Parker." But it seems like "Zeitoun" is finally going to be moving forward, as financing has kicked things into motion. Screen Daily report French shingle MK2 has come on board to produce the $15 million dollar movie. The based-on-a-true-story tale centers on Abdulrahman Zeitoun, a successful Syrian-born painting contractor who stays behind after Hurricane Katrina to protect his business and assist in rescue efforts, only to become wrongly suspected of being a...
- 2/13/2012
- The Playlist
Apropos to his swearing off of big budgets, Jonathan Demme has been doing a large amount of work in the documentary field over the past decade, putting out films that range in subject from Jimmy Carter to Neil Young. There’s an evident political slant to some of his work there, but his latest entry is tackling a big issue head on.
Though it’s not a feature-length piece, the Oscar-winner is documenting the Occupy Wall Street movement through short projects that he considers infomercials for “a citizen’s response to something important.” As Demme explained, “I have no agenda, but I’m an enthusiast and support this so passionately that in a tiny way I wanted to contribute.” An interview with Deadline exhibits his passion for “this continuing collision of idealism against governmental and business negligence,” something that serves as a reminder of movements that were national events during his youth.
Though it’s not a feature-length piece, the Oscar-winner is documenting the Occupy Wall Street movement through short projects that he considers infomercials for “a citizen’s response to something important.” As Demme explained, “I have no agenda, but I’m an enthusiast and support this so passionately that in a tiny way I wanted to contribute.” An interview with Deadline exhibits his passion for “this continuing collision of idealism against governmental and business negligence,” something that serves as a reminder of movements that were national events during his youth.
- 10/26/2011
- by jpraup@gmail.com (thefilmstage.com)
- The Film Stage
While Jonathan Demme is busy writing the script for Stephen King’s upcoming thriller novel 11/22/63, and completing another script for an animated feature adaptation of the Dave Eggers novel Zeitoun, the Oscar-winning director has become so captivated by the Occupy Wall Street movement that he brought his camera down and filmed a 15-minute atmospheric piece, with at least one more in the works. Demme called it “an informercial for Occupy Wall Street, a citizen’s response to something important,” he said. “I have no agenda, but I’m an enthusiast and support this so passionately that in a tiny way I wanted to contribute.” To Demme, Occupy Wall Street is a game-changing expression of youthful outrage reminiscent of protests against the Vietnam War and segregation. “I’m from the hippie generation, I came aware in that age of protests and demonstrations,” he said. “These young people are living that sense of potential change,...
- 10/26/2011
- by MIKE FLEMING
- Deadline
It isn’t hard to argue that Jonathan Demme was at his commercial peak in the early 90s, when his Oscar-winners The Silence of the Lambs and Philadelphia both became widely discussed cultural events. Despite being the man behind other hits, like Stop Making Sense or Something Wild, he hasn’t been seen as much over the past ten years; much of his work in that time has been documentaries, while his biggest box office hit was The Manchurian Candidate.
Speaking at the 2nd Annual Aruba International Film Festival – where he was being honored for his documentary The Agronomist, about assassinated Haitian journalist Jean Dominick - he talked about his frustration with making movies on a big budget, and seemed to indicate that this is a territory he won’t be returning to.
Talking about people who put their short films on YouTube, he said how the people who are...
Speaking at the 2nd Annual Aruba International Film Festival – where he was being honored for his documentary The Agronomist, about assassinated Haitian journalist Jean Dominick - he talked about his frustration with making movies on a big budget, and seemed to indicate that this is a territory he won’t be returning to.
Talking about people who put their short films on YouTube, he said how the people who are...
- 6/22/2011
- by Nick Newman
- The Film Stage
By Sharon Waxman
"Zeitoun," novelist Dave Eggers' tale of heroism and racism in post-Katrina New Orleans, took two prizes at the Los Angeles Times' Book Prizes on Friday night. Eggers won in the current interest category, and took a second prize for innovation, for his “refreshing disregard for conventional wisdom; a forward thinker who is not afraid of print, but also not afraid to look ahead to the future, and who is drawing a new generation of writers and readers to the written ...
"Zeitoun," novelist Dave Eggers' tale of heroism and racism in post-Katrina New Orleans, took two prizes at the Los Angeles Times' Book Prizes on Friday night. Eggers won in the current interest category, and took a second prize for innovation, for his “refreshing disregard for conventional wisdom; a forward thinker who is not afraid of print, but also not afraid to look ahead to the future, and who is drawing a new generation of writers and readers to the written ...
- 4/24/2010
- by Sharon Waxman
- The Wrap
Dave Eggers has been on top of the film world lately. His first original script (Away We Go), which he wrote with his wife Vendela Vida, was filmed and directed by none other than Academy Award Winning director Sam Mendes. Last month, his adaptation of the popular children's story Where the Wild Things Are received considerable praise for its unconventional nature. Now his latest piece of nonfiction Zeitoun, an account of one man's extraordinary experience during and following Hurricane Katrina, has been picked up for adaptation. This news was reported late last month but seems to have been overlooked by many news sites. According to the NY Times, Jonathan Demme (director of Silence of the Lambs and more recently Rachel Getting Married) has purchased the rights to Eggers' book and plans to adapt it into a cartoon. It seems that Demme was inspired by the book's cover art (drawn by...
- 11/17/2009
- cinemablend.com
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