Fantastic Almanac: Maleficent Brad Pitt Attack, Wonder Woman, StarGate, Avatar & Hollywood Job Losses

5/30/2014

Maleficent Brad Pitt Attack, Wonder Woman, StarGate, Avatar & Hollywood Job Losses - MOVIE NEWS WEEK IN REVIEW

This weeks big studio release/Maleficent/Disney

Mark Turner
Fantastic Almanac
05/30/2014

Some of the headlines making the rounds this week in filmland;

At the Maleficent premiere, Brad Pitt was attacked by a man who was seemingly out for some attention. The Ukranian journalist 'prankster' Vitalii Sediuk, who only 2 weeks earlier stuck his head under actress America Ferrera's dress at Cannes, was fired from his job for the peeping-tom incident, but decided that he needed more attention and showed-up at the LA premiere of Maleficent and made Brad the object of his latest bizarre stunt, striking the actor, before he was quickly apprehended by security.

But enough about that weirdo. The other big news at the Maleficent Premiere was the Male-fabulous Queen in drag that stood next to Angelina Jolie. You see Vitalii Sediuk, there are better ways to get close to the stars - no groping or punching required.

In film franchise news, Stargate will be heading back to the big screen since its debut in 1994, this time with 3 films in the works! The magic will be back too, since the original creators, Dean Devlin and Roland Emmerich will once again be producing, writing and directing. They also have plans to make sequels to their very successful Independence Day.

In Superhero news: With the sequel to Man of Steel in the works, there is a rumor that Wonder Woman will be in the film and that her look will be based on 2010's DC comics The All New Wonder Woman.

In live-show news; the world of James Cameron's Avatar will be realized as a live Cirque Du Soleil show in 2015. James Cameron previously worked with the acrobatic troupe to bring to life a live 3D show titled; Worlds Away. And if you can't get enough of Avatar, be on the look out for the upcoming Avatar films slated for 2016, 2017 and 2018.

In Studio-Insider news; Sony 'Imageworks', the Oscar winning visual effects company behind titles like this seasons The Amazing Spider-Man 2 and Edge of Tomorrow has announced that it is moving its facilities to Vancouver Canada. That's 270 jobs that are leaving California because of the increasing amount of money it costs to stay in the troubled state. For years, the sky rocketing expenses of making films in Hollywood's native-land have increased, pushing out production and facilities to cheaper locations.

The mass exodus continues with Sony 'Imageworks' running to Canada to escape California taxes. An image capture from Guardians of the Galaxy, an 'Imageworks' production/Marvel/Disney