CHAPPIE

[jo]

Interview on French TV --

www.youtube.com/watch?v=H9aP_67lTdo&feature=youtu.be

Essentially most of the things we have heard about. But it is good to hear how he takes care of himself, health-wise.


Jo

[jo]

Deadline.com reports on fairly good overseas figures for CHAPPIE --

deadline.com/2015/03/jupiter-ascending-number-one-international-box-office-chappie-unfinished-business-fifty-shades-focus-1201388386/

Jupiter’ Ascends To Top Of International B.O.; ‘Chappie’ Lively In Asia – Update



by Nancy Tartaglione

March 8, 2015 4:20pm



cinemaworldHIGHLIGHTS: Jupiter Ascending (WB) rises in China; Kingsman: The Secret Service (FOX) passes $150M; It’s a tie for Fifty Shades (UNI) and Focus (WB); Big Hero 6 (DIS) & American Sniper (WB) pass global milestones; Chappie (SONY) switches on in Asia; Unfinished Business drums up $2.6M; The Spongebob Movie: Sponge Out Of Water (PAR) splashes up record in Israel; More…





UPDATE, 4:16 PM PT: China was key to the top two movies at the international box office this weekend: Jupiter Ascending and Big Hero 6. At the same time, two local titles which emerged from the Lunar New Year holiday landed in the 8th and 10th positions on the overall overseas chart: The Man From Macau II ($10M/$133M cume) and Wolf Totem ($9.5M/$95M cume). Still, numbers are off by about 8% across the Top 10 studio releases this frame versus last, and a little more than 20% versus last year overall. In the same period in 2014, 300: Rise Of An Empire started flexing its muscle with an $88.8M bow which notably included over $9M in Russia. (This frame’s top Hollywood title in Russia is Chappie at $2.1M, a reminder of the market’s currency woes.)

On deck this week, Cinderella will aim to put her best foot forward internationally — notably in a day-and-date release in… China. Other key markets include Germany and Mexico while previews have already started. The Kenneth Branagh-helmed live-action take on the classic fairy tale will look to capitalize on its clear recognizability, the Disney brand and the buzz that started with a big splashy premiere in Berlin. Downton Abbey‘s Lily James plays the titular girl of the glass slipper and the rest of the cast features a wicked turn by Cate Blanchett, a comic spin by Helena Bonham Carter and Game Of Thrones‘ Richard Madden as the prince.




This Jupiter movie as well as chapie was born and looks like it came from the overload...



Also coming up is a reteam of Liam Neeson and Juame Collet-Sera for crime actioner Run All Night. The pair collaborated on 2014’s Non-Stop, which crossed $100M worldwide in this same frame last year on its way to $131M internationally. Run All Night pits Neeson’s hitman Jimmy Conlon versus Ed Harris’ mob boss in France and the UK via Warner Bros in the coming week. Notable expansions include Chappie and Focus.



PREVIOUS, 2:21 PM PT: In a turnabout, Andy and Lana Wachowski‘s Channing Tatum/Mila Kunis sci-fi adventure Jupiter Ascending leads the international box office chart this weekend. That’s thanks to a strong kick-off in China, where it earned $23.2M out of a total $25.3M frame overseas. The Middle Kingdom haul is close to the total of the siblings’ Cloud Atlas, which grossed about $28M there in 2013. Elsewhere, there were mixed fortunes amongst the new entries. Sony’s Chappie was strong in Asia, grabbing more than a third of its $13.7M weekend total there. Unfinished Business, on the other hand, wasn’t exactly money for Fox. See below for more on those and other studio titles at the international box office.

NEW

Chappie
Neill Blomkamp’s Chappie made its overseas debut in 53 Sony Pictures Releasing International markets and grossed an estimated $13.7M. In Asia, the robot tale bested, or was on par with, the helmer’s previous efforts, District 9 and Elysium, grossing $5.1M from just eight markets. That could bode well for releases later down the line including Korea and Japan which embraced the earlier films. Malaysia was tops with $1.1M on 250 screens, 23% above Elysium and more than four times higher than District 9. The Taiwan opening doubled District 9 at $814K on 105 screens, No. 2 behind Kingsman. Indonesia bowed at No. 1 with $757K at 198 dates. Thailand was also No. 1 with $701 on 159 screens, about equal to Elysium. That film made upwards of $25M in China which has yet to set a firm date for Chappie.

In Russia, Chappie was No. 2 behind a local pic. It earned $2.1M from 1,213 screens. In France, the sci-fi fable landed at No. 2 with $1.7M on 413 screens – falling in line behind American Sniper. The UK launched with $1.5M on 602 screens. Germany was one of the softer opening plays with $892K on 491 screens. Overall, Europe wasn’t so hot, although Blomkamp’s films have had good multiples. Latin America was led by Peru‘s $223K on 84 screens, more than double the opening of District 9. Central America opened No. 1 with $190K on 107 screens, and Ecuador kicked off with $67K. Most major markets are yet to come including Australia, Korea, Mexico, and Spain this week...

Hopefully the overseas market will eventually make up for the weakness in North American box office. Btw, Real Steel did very well in South Korea, Japan, Russia, Australia, Mexico and France, which all grossed over $ 10 million each.

Jo

[ADMIN]

I created a new Board for CHAPPIE. I moved this thread and the Chappie "reviews" thread. If other threads related to this movie should be moved to the new Board, please "bump them up" with a new post so I see them. Thanks.

And while I'm here . . .

Hugh Jackman and Sigourney Weaver on a Russian talk show - -

[jo]

While promoting CHAPPIE --

Hugh Jackman @realhughjackman
· 3m 3 minutes ago
So the other day when I was @kellyandmichael I bumped into this guy. #ButSeriouslyWTF!?!

[jo]

Remember when he met a baby leopard while doing other promo work--

[jo]

CHAPPIE has opened in China --

variety.com/2015/film/asia/china-box-office-furious-7-3-1201492885/

Neill Blomkamp’s futuristic action drama “Chappie” was the week’s only significant new release. Despite the presence of Hugh Jackman, who is one of the biggest foreign names in China, it slipped in to the chart in fourth position, with $10.3 million in three days.

I don't think it's fair to identify CHAPPIE as a Hugh Jackman film. He was in the movie as the main villain. He didn't get even get top billing.

Jo

[jo]

I was not comfortable with the ending of CHAPPIE, after we see him recreating himself.

Stephen Hawking, the renowned physicist and cosmologist portrayed by Eddie Redmayne in his Oscar-winning role, warns that humanity may go within the next 100 years, with the advent of artificial intelligence --

www.newsweek.com/stephen-hawking-warns-artificial-intelligence-could-end-humanity-332082

Stephen Hawking Warns Artificial Intelligence Could End Humanity

By Lauren Walker 5/14/15 at 3:50 PM


Hawking: Within 100 years artificial intelligence will overtake human intelligence.




If you think future wars will be fought against robots, you aren’t alone.

“Computers will overtake humans with AI [artificial intelligence] at some point within the next 100 years,” Stephen Hawking, the renowned theoretical physicist and cosmologist, said on Tuesday at the Zeitgeist 2015 conference in London. “When that happens, we need to make sure the computers have goals aligned with ours.”

AI refers to the intelligence of computer systems, allowing them to perform tasks that normally require human intelligence. Apple’s Siri and self-driving cars are current examples.

Hawking also asserted that concern currently lies in who controls AI. But with technology’s rapid progression, he said, the future worry will be whether AI can be controlled at all. In December, he went a step further and said that “the development of full artificial intelligence could spell the end of the human race.”

The ability of a machine to kill, independent of human guidance, is one of the many fears expressed in a report jointly released by Human Rights Watch and Harvard Law School in April. Its authors call for a prohibition on “the development, production and use of fully autonomous weapons through an international, legally binding instrument.”

Hawking posed another possible solution: having developers of the technology carefully coordinate advancements to ensure AI stays within our control. “Our future is a race between the growing power of technology and the wisdom with which we use it,” he said.

Maybe Vincent, in his crude way, had a point ?  Although he was also using a non-sentient machine to kill off Chappie.


Jo

[jo]

Hmmm...

www.msn.com/en-us/news/technology/military-push-for-emergency-robots-worries-skeptics-about-lethal-uses/ar-BBjSdK2?ocid=U146DHP

From emergency robots...to a feared use for military reasons??

[carouselkathy]

I watched CHAPPIE last night. It had an interesting premise: A robot can be child-like and innocent. It's society that provides the violence and destruction. Unfortunately, the violent destruction scenes lost me. I'm so tired of shoot-em-up, blow-em-up special effects movies. Hugh's character was also a stereotype of the "let's get them before they get us" cop. This could have been an intelligent film if it hadn't pandered to the "Let's blow everything up" audience.

[jo]

One other thought-provoking theme was the issue of artificial intelligence. It was treated with the innocence of a child ( as if it was just another discovery by child-like Chappie, but actually laced with violence) ...but it is an issue which has disturbed many a great mind, including Stephen Hawking and Bill Gates.



Jo

[carouselkathy]

Yes, I read of the concerns of Hawking and Gates.

[njr]

I finally bought the DVD and loved it! I really hated Hugh's character! I mean he did such a good acting job being the baddie! Remember when he's sitting there about to activate his robot, in front of the computer screens and he claps his hands? Reminded me of Stan in Swordfish in the computer scene!

Nancy

[jo]

The film site DEN OF GEEK thinks that the critics got it wrong -- it ranks the movie as 8TH best for 2015!

www.denofgeek.com/movies/chappie/38313/the-top-10-films-of-2015-chappie

[mamaleh]

Interesting analysis. But CHAPPIE remains one film of HJ's that I will not purchase.

Ellen

[jo]

Tyler Swift ‏@tylermoliterno · 23m23 minutes ago

I want to be Hugh Jackman from Chappie for Halloween...

Great and unique idea! Can be easily recognized if they saw CHAPPIE






*Mullet hairstyle!

*Lanyard!

*Tight khaki shorts!

*Gun on holster!

*Fierce expression on face!

*Optional: Binoculars...and big machine gun!

*Optional 2 : Muscles! There is time to work on it till October 31

[hughmanity]

Two years later, Neill Blonkamp discusses what his vision was.

collider.com/neill-blomkamp-chappie-movie/#elyisum

[mamaleh]

The mullet and the shorts arrive on Netflix November 1.

Ellen

[jo]

CHAPPIE was on our local HBO channel - of course I watched it but mostly for the scenes when the supervillain was on screen

Hugh can portray such evil-ness! Maybe because he is such a good actor? And his ubermasculine image makes it easy to conjure of him as a very bad or badly motivated person.

This was filmed right after he had his first skin cancer surgery ( and the surgical procedures show its resulting temporary disfigurement -- but that actually helps build the evil persona of Vincent). He also just came off filming Days Of Future Past so he carried over all the musculature. Lol - from superhero to supervillain with the same set of muscles


Jo

[jo]