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‘Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the Shadows’ opens in IMAX theaters

Paramount Pictures, Nickelodeon Movies and IMAX Corporation announced recently that “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the Shadows,” the latest installment in the blockbuster franchise, will be digitally re-mastered into the immersive IMAX® format and released in all IMAX® 3D theaters across the Philippines beginning June 1st (simultaneous with its bow in 2D and 3D cinemas).

Leonardo, Raphael, Donatello and Michelangelo return to theaters this summer in “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the Shadows” to battle bigger, badder villains alongside April O’Neil (Megan Fox), Vern Fenwick (Will Arnett), and a newcomer: the hockey-masked vigilante Casey Jones (Stephen Amell). After super villain Shredder (Brian Tee) escapes custody, he joins forces with mad scientist Baxter Stockman (Tyler Perry) and two dimwitted henchmen, Bebop (Gary Anthony Williams) and Rocksteady (WWE Superstar “Sheamus”), to unleash a diabolical plan to take over the world. As the Turtles prepare to take on Shredder and his new crew, they find themselves facing an even greater evil with similar intentions: the notorious Krang.

“We are pleased to collaborate once again with our long-time friend and partner Michael Bay, as well as the entire team at Paramount, in offering international audiences the opportunity to see ‘Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the Shadows’ in IMAX® 3D,” said Greg Foster, Senior Executive Vice President, IMAX Corp. and CEO of IMAX Entertainment. “This latest installment raises the bar in an already highly entertaining and imaginative franchise, and we believe the film fits right in with a robust overseas IMAX summer line-up.”

From Paramount Pictures and Nickelodeon Movies. Produced by Michael Bay, p.g.a., Andrew Form, p.g.a., Brad Fuller, p.g.a., Galen Walker and Scott Mednick. Based on the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles characters created by Peter Laird and Kevin Eastman. Written by Josh Appelbaum & André Nemec. Directed by Dave Green. Starring Megan Fox, Will Arnett, Laura Linney, Stephen Amell, Noel Fisher, Jeremy Howard, Pete Ploszek, Alan Ritchson, Brian Tee and Tyler Perry.

The IMAX® 3D release of “TMNT” will be digitally re-mastered into the image and sound quality of The IMAX Experience® with proprietary IMAX DMR® (Digital Re-mastering) technology. The crystal-clear images, coupled with IMAX’s customized theatre geometry and powerful digital audio, create a unique environment that will make audiences feel as if they are in the movie.

“Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the Shadows” opens June 1, 2016 as distributed in the Philippines by United International Pictures through Columbia Pictures.

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‘The Girl King’ presents contemporary queen of LGBT

For the first time, a transgender, Geraldine Roman, is elected to a post at The House of Representatives. Ms. Roman is the duly elected congressman of the first district of Bataan. In Spain, she worked as a senior editor of a newspaper and speaks Spanish, French and Italian. A Catholic practitioner while married to her male partner and equipped with degrees in journalism and politics, Geraldine chose to become a public servant, like her father.

In the 17th century, Queen Kristina at age 18 was crowned the king of Sweden, but was also regarded as the queen. Her sexuality and brilliance considered her as the “queen” of the contemporary LGBT members. During her time, she was accepted and respected by her constituents.

During her coronation, Kristina pronounced her intention to end thirty years of war between Catholics and Protestants and to educate her subjects. Her quest for knowledge drew her to the philosopher René Descartes and the French Ambassador Pierre Hector Chanut, and became life-long friends.

“The Girl King”, directed by Mika Kaurismaki, is a true-to-life story of Queen Kristina of Sweden. Back in 1933, the first film version, “Queen Christina”, starred the popular and “mysterious” Greta Garbo. It was critically acclaimed and was a box-office hit.

Hollywood insiders knew Garbo’s sexual preference. The gossip mill lingered that she was a lesbian. But none was openly revealed regarding her private life. She remained in demand and was the highest paid actress during her time, until her self-imposed retirement.

The latest movie version of “The Girl King” portrays Queen Kristina (played by Malin Buska) as an enigmatic young woman, beloved by her father, rejected by her mother and raised in a conservative Lutheran court. Falling deeply in love with her lady in waiting, the stunning Ebba Sparre (played by Sarah Gadon), she is left confused and wanting. She is torn between reason and passion, between the ancient and modern worlds, and the brilliance of her educated and curious mind and the pressures in an empire determined to uphold tradition.

Queen Kristina was a revolutionary free thinker, a connoisseur of art and sciences, a precursor of the feminist movement and a strong visionary as a politician. She was truly a “new” European way ahead of her generation. But at the same time, she was a confused, restless, eccentric, and isolated young woman.

“The Girl King” opens June 1, 2016 via Solar Pictures. Rated R-16 without cuts by the MTRCB. For more details about #TheGirlKing, visit @solarpicturesPH on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.

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Award-winning actor Tom Hanks stars in novel-to-movie dramedy ‘A Hologram for the King’

Adapted from the novel by Dave Eggers, “A Hologram for the King,” starring Tom Hanks is set in a rising Saudi Arabian city, far from weary, recession-scarred America, a struggling businessman pursues a last-ditch attempt to stave off foreclosure, pay his daughter’s college tuition, and finally do something great. In A Hologram for the King, author Dave Eggers takes us around the world to show how one man fights to hold himself and his splintering family together in the face of the global economy’s gale-force winds. This taut, richly layered, and elegiac novel turned movie is a powerful evocation of our contemporary moment — and a moving story of how we got here.

This latest Tom Hanks starrer is directed by Tom Tykwer who has solidly established himself as a young Spielberg for this well-endowed type of international co-productionalism that basically milks state funds on a global scale. What Tykwer likes about “A Hologram for the King” Tykwer is its tacky surrealism, and he indulges in it. Tom Hanks is the fool in the dunes, but he gets a nice bath in the end, and even romance. When was the last time anyone thought of putting Hanks in a sex scene? That must have been Philadelphia, again. But then Saudi-Arabia is so strait-laced that even Everyman has an edge.

After Tom Hanks gave Dave Eggers’ National Book Award-nominated novel A Hologram for the King a rave review on his Twitter feed in 2012, only one issue remained unresolved for the two-time Oscar-winning actor. “I was already a big fan of Dave Eggers’ work, having read a bunch of his stuff including things he did with McSweeney’s literary review,” Hanks says. “Then I read A Hologram for the King in one sitting and my only question when I finished it was whether or not he wanted a movie made out of his book.”

German filmmaker Tom Tykwer, who co-directed Hanks in the 2012 sci-fi epic “Cloud Atlas,” felt just as strongly about the source material. “A Hologram for the King hit a very particular nerve in me,” Tykwer recalls. “It was the most contemporary novel I’d read in a very long time so I felt like it couldn’t wait: this story had to be made into a movie. It’s very much about now, yet it still it has the sense of a classic novel in that it’s a book for all times. I found that to be a brilliant mix so I turned into this very pushy machine trying to put the movie together as fast as I could.”

Tykwer, who had worked with author Eggers previously on a miniseries adaptation of the San Francisco-based author’s novel “What Is the What: The Autobiography of Valentino Achak Deng,” arranged a meeting with Hanks and Eggers at a Los Angeles hotel. After pitching his ideas for the book’s cinematic adaptation, Tykwer and Eggers came to a very un-Hollywood-like agreement. “Dave and I trust each other,” the director explains. “I love that he offered to get rid of all the contract stuff and just write on some piece of paper ‘I promise not to be an asshole’ and then we would both sign it. We’re very much on the same page when it comes to artistic exchange. Dave understands that once you let somebody take over your vision, you have to keep some distance.”

Tykwer was equally excited about partnering once again with Hanks. “Working with Tom is liberating for a filmmaker because he’s so open-minded to every moment and every situation,” Tykwer says. “He’s like a superintelligent child who comes into a room and says, ‘Okay, what are our toys?’ And then, ‘Let’s explore what we can do with them!’ That’s super inspiring because when you come up with a new idea, he picks it up really greedily and does something with it in a wonderfully playful way.”

“A Hologram for the King” opens June 1, 2016 in cinemas to be released by OctoArts Films International.

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Cinematheque Centre Manila holds free screenings of Spanish thrillers

Instituto Cervantes and the Embassy of Spain, in cooperation with the Film Development Council of the Philippines (FDCP), present the film cycle “Spanish Thrillers”, a series of Spanish movies to be shown every Saturday in June at the FDCP Cinematheque.

With the arrival of the Democracy to Spain in 1976, these thrillers reflect a fresh outlook brought about by a new generation of filmmakers. Thanks to their intriguing storyline, out-of-the-box concepts combined with clever acting and direction as well as a perfect execution, Spanish thrillers have won popularity worldwide. This film cycle is an opportunity to enjoy four gems of a genre that is booming in Spanish cinema.

June 4 (Saturday) • 4:00 PM

The film series will kick-off on Saturday, 4 June at 4 p.m. with “Tesis” (Thesis), a disturbing thriller about the depiction of violence by the media. Angela is a university student who is preparing a thesis on media violence. To complement her work, her adviser agrees to search the reserved area of the university library for material, but the next day he is found dead. Angela meets Chema, a fellow student and expert of gore and porn films, and Bosco, a strange boy and close friend of a young woman who was murdered in a snuff movie. Released in 1996, the opera prima of Spanish filmmaker Alejandro Amenábar garnered seven Goya Awards (Best Film and Best Script among them), and has become over the years a classic of the genre.

June 11 (Saturday) • 4:00 PM

Enrique Urbizu’s “La caja 507” (Box 507) will be the second installment of this film cycle. The movie, to be shown on June 11, at 4 p.m., is a gripping thriller with a social message, as well as a prime example of the film quality Spain is known for.

Modesto, an honest and responsible professional, is a manager of a small bank branch in the Costa del Sol. His daughter dies in a forest fire that is believed to be accidental. One day due to a robbery that takes place in the bank several safety-deposit boxes are pried open. Modesto mistakenly looks into one of the deposit boxes and stumbles across documents that prove that his daughter’s death was not an accident. From that day on, he sets on a personal crusade for justice. A movie that is well-directed and acted, La caja 507 won several awards both in Spain and abroad, and enjoyed a very successful career at film festivals around the world.

June 18 (Saturday) • 4:00 PM

Also directed by Enrique Urbizu, who has become a master of the genre, is “No habrá paz para los malvados” (No Rest for the Wicked). This film will be shown on Saturday, 18 June, at 4 p.m. The film, produced in 2011, tells the story of Santos Trinidad (played by José Coronado), a cop with an outstanding record but was relegated after an obscure incident that ruined his career and turned him into an alcoholic and angry loner. One night Santos finds himself implicated in a triple homicide in an after-hours club. José Coronado’s monumental performance rewarded him several acting awards, as did Urbizu’s fine directing win him two Goyas as the Best Director and Best Screenplay.

June 25 (Saturday) • 4:00 PM

Directed by Jaume Balagueró in 2011, “Mientras duermes” (Sleep Tight) will close the film series on the 25th of June at 4 p.m. César works as a doorman in an apartment building in Barcelona. He goes about his day to day work mainly unnoticed by the residents of the building yet he pays close attention to them. He knows all the intimate details of their lives, everything about them and one in particular –Clara, a happy-go-lucky young woman, who always looks on the positive side of things, and whose cheery attitude to life makes Cesar’ skin crawl. In Clara he has found the perfect target, and he will go to extreme lengths to make her life miserable. An artistic and commercial success, Mientras duermes enjoyed quite a success in film festivals worldwide, receiving more than 30 awards and nominations.

All films will be shown in original version in Spanish with English subtitles. The screenings will take place at the Cinematheque of FDCP, at 855 T. M. Kalaw Street, Ermita, Manila. Time: 4 p.m. ADMISSION is FREE on a first-come, first-served basis. For further information please log on to Instituto Cervantes’ website www.manila.cervantes.es, or call 526-1482.

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‘Me Before You’ gets support from stellar, reliable cast

Lending creative and emotional support to the lead stars of New Line Cinema’s “Me Before You” are three actors: one on the verge of stardom, two are established stars on their own right. They are Stephen Peacocke (“Hercules”), Charles Dance (HBO’s “Game of Thrones”) and Janet McTeer (“Insurgent”).

“Me Before You” is based on the critically acclaimed, bestselling novel by Jojo Moyes. The story revolves around Will Traynor (Sam Claflin) whose world, at one time, was all-encompassing; he lived a “no limits” lifestyle. Now, two years on, we find him utterly confined. Betrayed by his own body due to a spinal cord injury, he resides at his parents’ countryside home. Lou (Emilia Clarke), on the other hand, has rarely stepped outside this little town, and even stepping into the grand Traynor estate—the “castle,” as it’s called by the locals—is foreign to her. Yet they meet, whether by chance or by fate.

Though Will was very social at one time, the only mainstay in his life when Lou comes along, apart from his parents, is his nurse/occupational therapist, Nathan. Amidst a solidly British cast, Aussie actor Stephen Peacocke plays the role.

me before you movie

“Nathan functions as Will’s carer, or occupational therapist, or nurse, whatever you want to call it,” Peacocke offers. “But in the scheme of things, he’s probably been with Will the longest out of just about anyone since his accident, and they’ve got a kind of friendship as well. At the end of the day, Nathan’s the bloke that Will can talk to about things.”

To aid both Peacocke and Claflin in preparing for their characters’ interactions, Peacocke says, “We had some lovely occupational therapists come in to help us. Someone in Will’s condition can do virtually nothing for himself; the little things we take for granted like scratching your nose, stretching, getting in and out of the chair, are things that Nathan has to do for Will, so there’s a lot of trust that exists between the two lads. The great thing about the script was that, wherever possible, there was a bit of humor in the way these two fellows work together. They can have a joke about things, and Will’s got a pretty sharp wit, so I think Nathan enjoys the experience.”

Will’s mother, Camilla Traynor, strives to temper her motherly concern with characteristic English self-control, though she’s still coping emotionally with what happened to her son. His father, Stephen Traynor, primarily wants what any parent wants for their child: to live a life that makes them happy. He simply realizes, better than his wife, that Will may have reached his limit on that score. To play the couple, the filmmakers cast veteran stage and screen actress Janet McTeer and distinguished actor and filmmaker Charles Dance.

me before you movie supporting cast

“The reason I like the story is that it’s multi-facted,” McTeer says. “It’s not just a love story between these two; it’s also about life and the many things that make that interesting. “It’s also very English in terms of it’s about class and how we can all make assumptions about people based on that.

“It’s a substantial, moving story, but there are a lot of laughs along the way,” says Dance. “When Louisa comes in to this not-so-easy setup, she brings a kind of eccentricity with her; she’s a bit wacky. But she also keeps Camilla’s hopes alive that Will will change his mind. My character, however, is past that point and has accepted what his son wants to do and, as much as he hates the idea, will help him do it.”

Director Thea Sharrock says that both actors’ performances “are incredibly moving. They managed to capture the shared pain of what the Traynors must be going through…those moments when a parent realizes that what he or she wants is not necessarily the best thing for the child. That sometimes you have to let them do what they think is the best thing for them,” she concludes.

“Me Before You” is a presentation of New Line Cinema and Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures (MGM). Set for release across the Philippines on June 15, 2016, it will be distributed by Warner Bros. Pictures, a Warner Bros. Entertainment company.

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Timeless classic story told in latest ‘Pinocchio’ adaptation

The most rewarding family bonding experience is about to happen at SM Cinemas with its latest Family Movie Day weekend promo on May 28 and 29 featuring the latest version of the timeless story of “Pinocchio.”

“Pinocchio” is the latest recipient of the Gold World Medal at the recently concluded New York Festival from Carlo Collodi’s classic story. Directed by Stepan Gajdos, the latest reimagining of “Pinocchio” is a blend of real film and computer animation. “Pinocchio” comes to life when a good-hearted old toymaker named Gepetto carves a puppet from a wood that he found. To Geppetto’s delight, Pinocchio comes to life – and like most little boys, he’s full of reckless whims and wild ideas. His crazy escapades lead him into a series of madcap adventures from joining the circus to visiting the inside of whale! Along his journey, and throughout all the fun, Pinocchio learns to be considerate and courageous and learns what it takes to become a real boy.

From CrystalSky Multimedia, “Pinocchio” stars Germany’s most acclaimed actors, led by Mario Adorf, best-known for his appearance in the Academy Award®-winning “The Tin Drum”, Inka Friedrich (“Summer in Berlin”), Sandra Huller (“Requiem”), Ulrich Tukur (“The White Ribbon”) and Benjamin Sadler (“Dresden”), in a suspenseful and humorous adventure.

With SM Cinemas’ latest promo, families can choose to buy two tickets with two free tickets for kids, provided that children must be below 4ft. in height in qualify. Patrons can also opt to buy four tickets and SM will give free coupons from their (malls’) partner merchants. For further details, please check SM Cinemas’ and CrystalSky Multimedia’s social sites (Facebook, Instagram, Twitter).

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WATCH: Enterprise crew explores the unknown in new trailer for ‘Star Trek Beyond’

The new trailer for “Star Trek Beyond” has been unveiled by Paramount Pictures and may be viewed below.

“Star Trek Beyond,” the highly anticipated next installment in the globally popular Star Trek franchise, created by Gene Roddenberry and reintroduced by J.J. Abrams in 2009, returns with director Justin Lin (“The Fast and the Furious” franchise) at the helm of this epic voyage of the U.S.S. Enterprise and her intrepid crew. In “Beyond,” the Enterprise crew explores the furthest reaches of uncharted space, where they encounter a mysterious new enemy who puts them and everything the Federation stands for to the test.

“Star Trek Beyond” stars Chris Pine, Zachary Quinto, John Cho, Simon Pegg, Zoë Saldana, Karl Urban, Anton Yelchin and Idris Elba.

“Star Trek Beyond” opens across the Philippines on July 20, 2016 and distributed by United International Pictures through Columbia Pictures.

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Fil-Am stunt experts choreograph fight scenes in ‘Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 2’

Action is the operative word when it comes to the four brother Turtles, but the filmmakers of “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the Shadows” are careful to intersperse every skirmish with humor.

“Fun energy,” as director Dave Green likes to call it. “It’s important that the audience feels that the Turtles are always in danger,” he says. “But at the most serious or scary moments, we often have a joke to punctuate that moment just to give you relief from the tension. Jojo is brilliant at that.”

Green is referring to Filipino-American stunt coordinator Jonathan Eusebio, known on set as Jojo, who designed the fight scenes for the 2014 film. This time around, he brought fellow Fil-Am veteran multi-martial artist Jon Valera to help in training and articulating much of the action in the film.

Eusebio and his team begin by planning and working out the action in a warehouse, videotaping the sequences using stuntmen in place of actors, to give filmmakers and idea of what they have in mind. Once they receive notes, Eusebio and Valera refine their routine and begin working with talent to prepare them for filming.

“The biggest challenge on sequels is always to try and out do the original, whether in magnitude of the action or the complexity of the story,” says Eusebio. “We tried things we didn’t get to do on the original, but at the same time preserved the fun and humor of the Turtles’ camaraderie. We listened to feedback from the previous movie and fans can expect something even bigger and better this time around.”

Given that Eusebio had trained the actors who played the Turtles for the first movie, Noel Fisher (Michaelangelo), Pete Ploszek (Leonardo), Jeremy Howard (Donatello) and Alan Ritchson (Raphael) had a foundation from which to begin learning new moves for the sequel.

“Even though the guys appear more often in this film, they actually trained less than they did on the previous movie,” says Eusebio. “On the first movie there was a learning curve when to use the actor’s movements and when to use their stunt double’s movements. We figured out how to be more efficient and save time in terms of scheduling. Stunts and visual effects handle the bulk of the action movements for the Turtles.”

Eusebio’s team had also developed a shorthand with Megan Fox from their work on the previous film. “Megan isn’t afraid to get into the thick of things and she’s always willing to do as much as she can,” he says.

To the film’s benefit, Eusebio and Valera were able to spend a significant amount of rehearsal time with actor Stephen Amell. They credit his experience on his television series “Arrow” for his ability to learn the moves quickly.

“It was always a cognizant decision to make Stephen’s version of Casey Jones handle the action differently than his Oliver Queen/Green Arrow character on Arrow,” says Eusebio. “Unlike the Green Arrow, Casey is not a proficient martial artist, his movements are bigger and not as refined. He wins fights and gets out of situations incidentally rather than by using a methodical and well-planned design.”

When it came to a big stunt piece in which Casey must skate through a treacherous escape route while taunting his pursuers, Amell was determined to perform the action himself.

“One day Stephen looked at me and said, ‘You know I can skate?'” recalls producer Andrew Form. “I knew he played ice hockey and I cautioned him that he would be skating through cars, chased by moving vehicles. He said, ‘Get me some roller blades,’ so we did. I have to say, the guy can skate. Stephen didn’t want anyone doing his stuff, so pretty much every stunt, every time you see Casey, from his foot on the gas pedal, his hands on the steering wheel to fighting or zigzagging through a crowded garage, it’s Stephen.”

Michelangelo, Donatello, Leonardo, and Raphael return to Philippine cinemas on June 1st in “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the Shadows” to battle bigger, badder villains, alongside April O’Neil (Megan Fox), Vern Fenwick (Will Arnett), and a newcomer: the hockey-masked vigilante Casey Jones (Stephen Amell).

After supervillain Shredder (Brian Tee) escapes custody, he joins forces with mad scientist Baxter Stockman (Tyler Perry) and two dimwitted henchmen, Bebop (Gary Anthony Williams) and Rocksteady (WWE Superstar Stephen “Sheamus” Farrelly), to unleash a diabolical plan to take over the world. As the Turtles prepare to take on Shredder and his new crew, they find themselves facing an even greater evil with similar intentions: the notorious Krang.

“Earth to Echo” filmmaker Dave Green directs from a script by Josh Appelbaum & André Nemec. The producers are Michael Bay, Andrew Form, Brad Fuller, Galen Walker and Scott Mednick.

Opening on June 1, 2016, “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the Shadows” is distributed in the Philippines by United International Pictures through Columbia Pictures.

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‘X-Men: Apocalypse’ reigns supreme at PH box-office with P230-M opening weekend

20th Century Fox’s “X-Men: Apocalypse” reigns supreme at the box-office with its PhP 230 million opening weekend (first five days) in the Philippines in 476 screens. It also dominated and opened number one on its first day of release (opened May 18) in the country with PhP 45 million in box-office receipts.

In the Philippines, “X-Men: Apocalypse” has taken the franchise to new heights with its strong box-office results. It now holds as the Biggest Fox Opening Weekend All-Time, tracking 131% higher than “X-Men: Days of Future Past.” It is also now the Biggest Non-Holiday May Opening Weekend All-Time. Ultimately, “X-Men: Apocalypse” records show that it is now the Biggest Opening Weekend in the X-Men franchise.

In addition to its opening weekend box-office results, it has become the Biggest Fox Opening Day All-Time, Biggest Non-Holiday May Opening All-Time and the Biggest Opening Day in the X-Men franchise. “X-Men: Apocalypse” also cemented its apocalyptic power on Philippine soil as it now stands as the 2nd Biggest Opening Weekend for the year, after “Captain America: Civil War.”

“X-Men: Apocalypse’s” powerful presence recorded strong box-office receipts from the following top twenty (20) cinemas:

  1. SM MEGAMALL (11M);
  2. SM MALL OF ASIA (10.1M);
  3. TRINOMA (8.1M);
  4. SM NORTH EDSA/THE BLOCK (8M);
  5. GLORIETTA (6.2M);
  6. POWERPLANT (4.3M);
  7. SM CEBU (4.3M);
  8. GREENBELT 3 (4.1M);
  9. GATEWAY CINEPLEX (3.99M);
  10. ALABANG TOWN CENTER (3.95M);
  11. BONIFACIO HIGH STREET (3.8M);
  12. AYALA CEBU (3.6M);
  13. THEATRE MALL (3.6M);
  14. SHANG CINEPLEX (3.38M);
  15. MARKET!MARKET! (3.31M);
  16. EASTWOOD (3.25M);
  17. ROBINSONS MAGNOLIA (3.15M);
  18. SM AURA (3.13M);
  19. UPTOWN (3.03M);
  20. NEWPORT (2.7M).

Indeed record-breaking, “X-Men: Apocalypse’s” Phil. box-office feat is also cited in major news organizations as one of the top performing markets in international territories. As reported in http://www.Variety.com “The launch featured the biggest Fox opening weekend ever in half a dozen markets including Philippines ($4.9 million), India ($3.5 million), Indonesia ($3.1 million), Singapore ($3 million), Thailand ($2.7 million) and Colombia ($1.9 million).”

Bryan Singer’s return at the helm of the franchise in “X-Men: Apocalypse” along with beloved mutant characters pitted against the most powerful of their kind has generated coherent rave buzz among its fan base round the globe despite polarizing reviews from some critics. “X-Men: Apocalypse” brings returning and new characters on the big screen led by James McAvoy, Michael Fassbender, Jennifer Lawrence, Nicholas Hoult, Evan Peters and Rose Byrne with young and equally powerful mutants played by Sophie Turner, Ben Hardy, Tye Sheridan, Alexandra Shipp. Kodi Smit-McPhee and Oscar Isaac. In the movie, the invincible and immortal Apocalypse is set free after being entombed for several millennia. Enraged that his kind are no longer treated as gods, Apocalypse assembles a team of powerful mutants, including a disheartened Magneto, to destroy humankind and create a new world order, over which he will reign. To end Apocalypse’s path of global destruction, Raven (Jennifer Lawrence) and Professor X (James McAvoy) lead a team of young X-Men in an epic showdown with a seemingly unstoppable enemy.

“X-Men: Apocalypse” is now showing in cinemas across the Philippines from 20th Century Fox distributed by Warner Bros. Available in 2D, 3D, 4D and IMAX screens nationwide.

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‘Finding Nemo’ filmmakers dive again with ‘Finding Dory’

Story is king at Pixar Animation Studios. Whether a film introduces new characters or revisits old friends, it all starts with a story that needs to be told. And this special practice is also true with the production of “Finding Dory.” Watch the main trailer of “Finding Dory” below.

While the conclusion of the 2003 Oscar®-winning film “Finding Nemo” left filmmakers and fans perfectly satisfied—there was something that lingered in the depths of director Andrew Stanton’s mind, though it didn’t surface until a few years ago. “I realized that I was worried about Dory,” he says. “The idea of her short-term memory loss and how it affected her was unresolved. What if she got lost again? Would she be OK?”

Adds producer Lindsey Collins, “Dory seems so happy, but she was never really grounded until she met Marlin. Their happenstance meeting and subsequent friendship marked the first time since she was a kid that she had a family.”

Family is a key theme in “Finding Dory.” “We learn when we first meet Dory that she can’t remember where she’s from,” says Stanton. “But she must have a family. As she said, ‘Where are they?’ – Her confusion got a laugh, but there’s a sad truth to that. I knew there was a story worth telling.”

According to Stanton, the story crew initially showcased Dory as lighthearted, bubbly and funny—attributes that certainly apply to the character, but left her lacking depth. “She seemed a little two-dimensional,” says the director. “I realized that even though I had her full backstory in my head, nobody else did—including the audience. Everyone walked away from ‘Nemo’ with fond memories of how funny she is. But I always saw that as a mask. I realized we’d have to fill in the audience about what happened to her when she was young.”

The story picks up a year after Dory and Marlin journeyed across the ocean to find Nemo. A massive stingray migration cruises through their neighborhood, triggering Dory’s memory. “The experience is viscerally similar to an event that separated her from her parents so long ago,” says Stanton. “She’s flooded with memories and suddenly very motivated to track down her family.”

In an effort to maintain Dory’s drive to find her family, filmmakers had to first understand her memory issues. Says Collins, “While Dory forgets details in her day-to-day life—like Nemo’s name—her emotional memory is fine—she knows she loves Nemo and Marlin. And the love she has for her parents has been with her all along.”

According to co-director Angus MacLane, the memory flash marks the beginning of a new adventure. “It kicks off a quest—both internally and externally—to try to find her family,” he says. “But Dory feels that she can’t do it on her own, so she talks her newfound family—Marlin and Nemo—into coming along.”

“Finding Dory” features an all-star voice cast, welcoming Ellen DeGeneres and Albert Brooks back to the sea as favorite fish Dory and Marlin. Ed O’Neill lends his voice to “septopus” Hank, Kaitlin Olson voices whale shark Destiny, and Ty Burrell gives voice to beluga whale Bailey. Portraying Dory’s parents Charlie and Jenny are Eugene Levy and Diane Keaton. And 12-year-old Hayden Rolence steps in to help bring Nemo to life.
It is directed by Stanton (“Finding Nemo,” “WALL•E”) and co-directed by Angus MacLane (“Toy Story OF TERROR!”), the film is produced by Collins (co-producer “WALL•E”) and executive produced by John Lasseter. With music by veteran composer and long-time Stanton collaborator Thomas Newman (“Bridge of Spies,” “WALL•E,” “Finding Nemo”).

Disney•Pixar’s “Finding Dory” swims into Philippine theaters June 15, 2016 as distributed by Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures International through Columbia Pictures.

Follow the official social media accounts of Disney in the Philippines, namely, (FB) WaltDisneyStudiosPH, (Twitter) @disneystudiosph and (Instagram) @waltdisneystudiosph and use the hashtag #FindingDoryPH.