Skyscraper

[GeneChing]

7 figure deal. Everyone wants that major Chinese+Hollywood blockbuster.

MAY 26, 2016 5:59pm PT by Borys Kit
Legendary Wins Bidding War for China-Set Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson Action Movie (Exclusive)
Rawson Marshall Thurber, who worked with Johnson on the upcoming 'Central Intelligence,' will write the 'Skyscraper' script and direct the feature.


From left: Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson, Beau Flynn, Rawson Marshall Thurber Johnson: Alberto Rodriguez/MTV1415/Getty Images for MTV. Flynn: Steve Granitz/WireImage. Thurber: Todd Williamson/Getty Images for CinemaCon.

Rawson Marshall Thurber, who worked with Johnson on the upcoming 'Central Intelligence,' will write the 'Skyscraper' script and direct the feature.

In a major seven-figure deal, Legendary has won the furious bidding war for the China-set action movie Skyscraper that has Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson attached to star.

The package also includes Rawson Marshall Thurber as director and writer (he directed Johnson in June’s New Line comedy Central Intelligence) and producer Beau Flynn, who has worked with Johnson on several major projects, among them Journey 2: The Mysterious Island, San Andreas and the recently wrapped Baywatch.

Skyscraper hit the town earlier this week and immediately caused a sensation, with bids quickly hitting the seven-figure mark as Universal, Sony and Paramount joined Legendary in the fray. Legendary, acquired by Chinese conglomerate Dalian Wanda in January, came out on top, paying at least $3 million for the script alone.

Based on an original idea of Thurber’s, the project logline is being kept under wraps but has been described as an adventure thriller that takes place in a mega-skyscraper set in China. The planned project also is said to have shades of Die Hard, the classic Bruce Willis action movie set in an office building, as well as Towering Inferno, the 1974 disaster movie that starred Paul Newman and Steve McQueen and featured a gargantuan office building engulfed in flames.

Johnson and Flynn seem to be doing their part to keep original tentpoles alive in a town awash in remakes, reboots and sequels. Johnson's Central Intelligence is being released in June, with The Conjuring 2, Now You See Me 2, Finding Dory and Independence Day: Resurgence among the other high-profile releases that month. Johnson and Flynn were also behind San Andreas, the earthquake disaster movie which was Warner Bros.' highest-grossing movie last year.

Flynn will produce Skyscraper via his FlynnPictureCo. with Johnson's Seven Bucks Productions. Thurber will also produce. Universal will distribute per its deal with Legendary.

Wendy Jacobson will oversee for FlynnPictureCo.

Johnson is repped by WME and Gang Tyre, while Thurber is repped by WME and Hansen Jacobson.

[GeneChing]

How do you say "Towering Diehard Inferno" in Mandarin? I think Skyscraper is motian dalou.

Dwayne Johnson’s ‘Skyscraper’ To Rise Up During Summer 2018
by Anthony D'Alessandro
March 15, 2017 1:00pm


REX/Shutterstock

Skyscraper, the Universal/Legendary film written and directed by Rawson Marshall Thurber, will open on July 13, 2018. Pic marks the second time the director and global star Dwayne Johnson will work together after last summer’s hit comedy Central Intelligence ($217M global B.O.).

Johnson plays former FBI Hostage Rescue Team leader and U.S. war veteran Will Ford, who now assesses security for skyscrapers. On assignment in China he finds the tallest, safest building in the world suddenly ablaze, and he’s being framed for it. On the run, he has to save his family still in the building.

Beau Flynn is producing with Johnson and Thurber. EPs are Dany Garcia and Hiram Garcia. Wendy Jacobson is co-producer.

Currently on July 13 next year, there’s Sony Pictures Animation’s Hotel Transylvania 3, Warner Bros.’ Conjuring 2 spinoff The Nun, and Paramount’s animated movie Amusement Park.

[GeneChing]

I still haven't seen GitS. I guess I'm waiting for it to come to Netflix or Amazon Prime, some platform that I don't have to pay extra for it.

‘Ghost In The Shell’ Star Chin Han To Scale ‘Skyscraper’ With Dwayne Johnson
by Dino-Ray Ramos
July 26, 2017 6:57pm


Kross Ross

EXCLUSIVE: Legendary’s upcoming 3D action-thriller Skyscraper has added Chin Han to the cast. The Ghost In The Shell actor will join Dwayne Johnson and Neve Campbell in the movie written and directed by Rawson Marshall Thurber.

The movie stars Johnson as Will, a former FBI Hostage Rescue Team leader and U.S. war veteran who now assesses security for skyscrapers. On assignment in Hong Kong, he finds the tallest, safest building in the world suddenly ablaze, and he’s been framed for it. A wanted man on the run, Will must team up with the building’s visionary owner & designer to find those responsible and rescue his family who are trapped inside the building.

Johnson also serves as a producer under his Seven Bucks Productions banner. Thurber will also producer alongside Beau Flynn via his FlynnPictureCo. Executive producers are Dany Garcia and Hiram Garcia with Wendy Jacobson co-producing. The movie will be released by Universal Pictures on July 13, 2018.

In addition to the sci-fi action pic Ghost In The Shell, Chin Han recently starred in Independence Day: Resurgence and the Chinese/German feature A Different Sun. He can be seen next in the Chinese feature A Sweet Life. His TV credits include Netflix’s Marco Polo and HBO Asia’s original series Serangoon Road opposite Joan Chen.

Chin Han is repped by CAA, The Van Johnson Company and Echelon Talent Management, Inc. and Derek Kroeger of Myman Greenspan Fox Rosenberg Mobasser Younger & Light LLP.

[GeneChing]

[GeneChing]

Man, where would the Rock be without CGI?

[GeneChing]

Dwayne Johnson’s 'Skyscraper' Scores Rare China Release Date During Summer Blackout
9:04 PM PDT 6/26/2018 by Patrick Brzeski

The involvement of Legendary, which is owned by Chinese conglomerate Wanda, may have helped the action thriller score a slot during the lucrative summer window, which Beijing usually reserves for domestic Chinese releases.

Legendary Entertainment and Universal's upcoming Dwayne Johnson action thriller Skyscraper has locked down a July 20 release date in China, securing a rare slot right in the midst of Beijing's usual summer blackout on imported Hollywood fare.

The involvement of Legendary, which is owned by Chinese conglomerate Dalian Wanda Group, and the film's setting in Hong Kong, may have played a hand in Skyscraper getting permission to screen during the lucrative summer window, which is usually reserved for domestic Chinese releases.

Other major Hollywood summer titles, such as Disney and Marvel's Ant-Man and the Wasp (opening in the U.S. on Friday), have yet to land dates in China. Skyscraper will open between two major Chinese tentpoles: Jiang Wen’s Hidden Man (July 13), which Warners is co-producing, and Tsui Hark’s Detective Dee: The Four Heavenly Kings (July 27).

Johnson stars in Skyscraper as former FBI Hostage Rescue Team leader and U.S. war veteran Will Ford, who now assesses security for skyscrapers. On assignment in China he finds the tallest, safest building in the world suddenly ablaze, and he’s been framed for it. A wanted man on the run, Will must find those responsible, clear his name and somehow rescue his family, who are trapped inside the building above the fire line.

Skyscraper is written and directed by Rawson Marshall Thurber (who also helmed Johnson's comedy Central Intelligence), with Neve Campbell and Pablo Schreiber co-starring. The film opens in North America on July 13, with most of the rest of the world following that same week.

The Rock is one of Hollywood's biggest box-office draws in the Middle Kingdom, as he is everywhere. On Tuesday, Johnson sent the Chinese audience a shoutout over Instagram after Rampage, his most recent release, became his biggest star vehicle to date in China. Also Warner Bros’ second-highest grossing film of all time in China, Rampage earned $156.4 million there, compared to the $97.6 million in North America (Johnson clearly isn't counting his Fast and Furious movies as personal star titles, however, given that Furious 7 and Fast 8 both earned over $200 million more than Rampage in China).

"I’m extremely grateful to the people and culture of China for embracing me and my films the way they have over the years," Johnson posted. "Thank you for your love and support — and as always, I look forward to coming back!"

Wow THANK YOU CHINA and I’m TRULY blown away and humbled by this monumental news. RAMPAGE becomes my highest grossing film of all time in the Middle Kingdom. RAMPAGE becomes the 2nd highest grossing Warner Bros film of all time. This stat is mind boggling considering we’ve now surpassed, HARRY POTTER and BATMAN just to name a few. RAMPAGE has officially hit the rare $1BILLION RMB mark and has become a TOP 20 all time grossing international film. I’m extremely grateful to the people and culture of CHINA for embracing me and my films the way they have over the years. THANK YOU for your love and support - and as always, I look forward to coming back! #RAMPAGE #CareerAllTimeHigh #CHINA

Jiang Wen’s Hidden Man (July 13)
Tsui Hark’s Detective Dee: The Four Heavenly Kings (July 27)

We got invited to a screener of this - I think that might have even been for this week. But it's too close to some deadlines and I don't have the bandwidth to crank out a decent review, so we respectfully declined.

[GeneChing]

https://www.dailymotion.com/video/x6odlq1

THREADS:
Skyscraper
Celebrities studying martial arts?

[GeneChing]

There it is again - the Warcraft Redemption.

JULY 22, 2018 3:48PM PT
‘Skyscraper’ Tops China Box Office With $48 Million Opening
By PATRICK FRATER
Asia Bureau Chief


CREDIT: KIMBERLEY FRENCH/UNIVERSAL/KOBAL

“Skyscraper” comfortably topped the Chinese box office on its opening weekend. It enjoyed a 50% market share and earned $48 million, according to local data tracker Ent Group.

The prospect of a burning tower block should terrify audiences in China, where so many citizens live in vertical cities. But with the hugely popular Dwayne Johnson leading the rescue, the film was able to overcome fear of heights and only modest ratings on popular ticketing and ratings sites.

Despite being produced by Wanda-owned Legendary Entertainment, the film is considered as a revenue-sharing quota import, and is distributed by state-owned China Film Group and Huaxia Distribution. The connections to Wanda, China’s largest cinema circuit, as well as a powerful marketing machine, can only have helped. The film rated 7.1 of out 10 on the Wanda-owned Mtime ticketing and merchandise site, and 6.6 on Douban. The weekend total, however, makes “Skyscraper” only the sixth best opening for a Legendary title in the Middle Kingdom.

With close to 120,000 screenings per day, “Skyscraper” enjoyed $13.4 million on Friday, having previously taken some $400,000 in previews and midnight sessions. It continued its run with $17.6 million on Saturday, and $17.0 million on Sunday. Its $48 million total included $4.4 million from 519 IMAX screens.

The $48 million in China is higher than the film’s $46 million in two weeks in North America. In China, compared to other recent Johnson vehicles, “Skyscraper” bisects “Rampage” and “Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle.” Earlier this year, “Rampage” opened with $55 million and went on to score $156 million. “Welcome to the Jungle” opened with $39.2 million, before scoring a cumulative $77.9 million.

China’s own box office and social phenomenon, “Dying to Survive,” took second place in its third weekend on release. It added $26.6 million, for a cumulative score of $426 million after 18 days on release.

Jiang Wen’s “Hidden Man” slipped from second to third place. It earned $10.9 million, for a 10-day cumulative of $77.9 million.

Animation films took the next five chart places. International venture, “Animal Crackers” (aka “Magical Circus”) opened on Saturday and scored $3.68 million. That was good enough for fourth place behind the top three. Chinese holdover animation “New Happy Dad and Son 3: Adventure in Russia” earned $1.21 million for a 17-day cumulative of $20.4 million.

Global Road’s “Showdogs” saw its screen count halved from Friday to Saturday, but managed $1.20 million in three days. “Sherlock Gnomes” detected $1.02 million. Chinese fantasy-animation “Wind Guardians” scored $980,000, with nearly all of that coming on Sunday, when it ranked fifth overall.

Live action, “Animal World” brought up tenth place. It earned $540,000 for a 24-day cumulative of $74.4 million.

THREADS:
Skyscraper
Hidden Man
Animal World