A bang-up summer movie season ends with a whimper

The R-rated comedy "Tropic Thunder" held on to the top box-office slot for the third weekend in a row, ending a summer popcorn movie season dominated by superheroes.The DreamWorks/Paramount action comedy, starring Ben Stiller, Jack Black and Robert Downey Jr., grossed an estimated $14.3 million over the long weekend, beating out 20th Century Fox's sci-fi thriller "Babylon A.D." and trouncing Lionsgate Films' comedy "Disaster Movie," which ranked No. 7 in weekend estimates.

Another Blast From ‘Tropic Thunder’

The summer movie season came to an end with another big week for "Tropic Thunder," which earned an estimated $11.5 million Friday through Sunday to lead the box office for the third straight week. The Paramount Pictures movie, starring Ben Stiller, Robert Downey Jr. and Jack Black, has earned more than $83 million in three weeks, according to Reuters. The sci-fi thriller "Babylon A.D." (20th Century Fox) took the No. 2 spot with $9.7 million in its first weekend. Coming in third was the box-office powerhouse "The Dark Knight," whose $8.8 million take gave it a total of $502 million in seven weeks, making it the second film to top $500 million at the domestic box office. ("Titanic" holds the record with $601 million.) In fourth place was "The House Bunny" (Columbia Pictures), which took in $8.3 million, followed by "Traitor," with $7.9 million. The box-office tracker Media By Numbers reported that total summer revenue for the movie business would be about $4.2 billion, a new record but just slightly better than last summer's $4.18 billion, and that the number of tickets sold, about 587 million, represented a decline of about 3.5 percent

Anniversary for Slamdance

The Slamdance Film Festival will celebrate its 15th anniversary with a series of events, beginning with screenings in Los Angeles and New York of two indie films that originally showed at the festival. Christopher Nolan will host the screening of his film "Following" (1998) on Friday at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art (tickets at slamdance.com) and Steven Soderbergh will be the host for his film "Schizopolis" (1996) on Sept. 16 at the IFC Center in Manhattan (ifccenter.com). Both films will be followed by question-and-answer sessions

Director and Star Defend Tsunami Thriller

The French actress Emmanuelle Béart and Fabrice Du Welz, the director of her latest film, "Vinyan," a thriller centered on the 2004 Asian tsunami, defended it from critics in an interview with Reuters on Sunday. "I don't want to be unpleasant to people who have really suffered from the tsunami," said Mr. Du Welz, who is Belgian. "I tried to be as respectful as I can." The film, which had its debut at the Venice Film Festival on Saturday, has been criticized by families of people who died in the tsunami. It tells the story of a couple who refuse to believe that their son was a victim of the disaster and set out to search for him. Ms. Béart said that the tsunami itself was not its main subject. "The story is that they lost their son," she said of the couple at the center of the film's story. She plays the mother of the child who is presumed lost.

In an unusual move, Fox Searchlight Pictures and Warner Brothers Pictures Group are coming together to release the next movie from Danny Boyle, direct

In an unusual move, Fox Searchlight Pictures and Warner Brothers Pictures Group are coming together to release the next movie from Danny Boyle, director of "Trainspotting" and "28 Days Later." "Slumdog Millionaire" was originally a Warner Independent Pictures release, but last May, Warner Brothers closed its two independent divisions, Picture House and Warner Independent, in an effort to cut costs. Now the company will work with Fox Searchlight Pictures to distribute Mr. Boyle's film in North America. In a statement from Fox Searchlight, Jeff Robinov, president of Warner Brothers Pictures Group, said Warner was working with Fox Searchlight to release the film because of the studio's crowded calendar. "With the recent additions to our slate, it became impossible for us to release 'Slumdog Millionaire' in this calendar year," Mr. Robinov said. "Danny very much wanted to get it released this year," said Peter Rice, president of Fox Searchlight, "and we have a long relationship with him." The movie is based on the novel "Q&A," about an 18-year old orphan from the slums of Mumbai. "Slumdog Millionaire" is scheduled to be released on Nov. 28 and will have its premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival next month.

Flush With Cash, Bollywood Glows

"WHO gives us clout?" Shahrukh Khan, the actor also known as King of Bollywood, asked during a recent interview here. He quickly answered the query himself. "It's the last mile, the audience. My logic is this: Can you beat me at the box office?"In the last 15 years few have challenged Mr. Khan at the top of the Bollywood box office. His string of blockbusters has given him such clout — as well as wax statues in his honor at Madame Tussauds in London and the Musée Gravin in Paris — that India Today, one of the country's leading newsmagazines, placed the 42-year-old Mr. Khan at No. 6 in its annual power list in February. He may have ranked below the billionaire Ambani brothers, but he came in ahead of the former president A. P. J. Abdul Kalam. And it was no accident that that the most powerful man in the Hindi film industry is an actor. In Bollywood the motion picture industry remains resolutely star struck, even as special effects have helped to reduce Hollywood's dependence on big-name actors. "There is a variety of ways in which a picture gets made in Hollywood, but I can say without qualification that in Hindi pictures stars are the determining factor much more than they are in Los Angeles," said Michael Lynton, the chairman of Sony Pictures Entertainment, which helped produce "Saawariya" ("Beloved"), the first Hollywood-Bollywood studio collaboration. Five men dominate the business in Bollywood: Shahrukh Khan, Aamir Khan, Salman Khan (the Khans are not related), Akshay Kumar and Hrithik Roshan. Each of these stars function almost as a one-man studio, with an in-house production company. Two of the most successful films in 2007 — "Om Shanti Om" and "Tare Zameen Par" ("Stars on Earth") — were produced by the companies of Shahrukh Khan ("Om") and Aamir Khan ("Tare"). The last holdout to the production game, Mr. Kumar, co-produced his latest release, "Singh Is Kinng," which set a Bollywood record by making $15 million in its opening weekend earlier this month.Revolving around these stars are favored directors, producers, writers and stylists. And if their films aren't playing in cinemas, the actors are on television selling products or presenting shows. (Mr. Kumar, Shahrukh Khan and Salman Khan are among India's highest-paid television hosts.) "A star guarantees the first weekend box office, and it is this business which decides all the other revenue streams," said Kishore Lulla, chief executive of Eros International, Bollywood's largest overseas distributor. "Without a star it's too risky." Eros plans to produce and finance 50 films over the next year. The company raised $100 million from the Alternative Investment Market on the London Stock Exchange and another $100 million from Citibank and is redirecting substantial funds into several star-led "business adventures," to use Mr. Kumar's expression.

Sunil help the flood victim

We all know that actor Suniel Shetty has turned producer and heads his production house Popcorn Entertainment. What many do not know is that the actor via his company H2O, which has trained sea-men, has been helping the needy for some years now.. These men have been helping the BMC with relief work in and around Mumbai since the dreadful July 2005 floods when the city was drowning. Not just the BMC but also firemen. And now, Suniel's team is back in action! When Indiatimes Movies got in touch with the actor, he revealed that his men are all set to go to Bihar and help with the relief work. Suniel tells us, "A team of 60 men armed with about 30 boats and jet skies is ready. Half of the members are going from Mumbai and others from Goa and they are just waiting to be airlifted."