No. 6 ‘Maleficent’ – 2014 Most Valuable Blockbuster Movie Tournament
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- Published on Sunday, 15 March 2015 11:55
- Written by Deadline
When it comes to evaluating the financial performance of top movies, it isn’t about what a film grosses at the box office. The true tale is told when production budgets, P&A, talent participations and other costs collide with box office grosses, and ancillary revenues from VOD to DVD and TV. To get close to that mysterious end of the equation, Deadline is repeating our Most Valuable Blockbuster tournament, using data culled by seasoned and trusted sources. We’re counting down from No. 20 and will present the data en masse Monday.THE FILM: Two in a row for Disney, this one with another fractured fairy tale from Joe Roth. He practically qualifies as one of the Grimm Brothers for the way he has remade himself by producing revisionist public domain classics, from Alice In Wonderland to Snow White And The Huntsman and Oz The Great And Powerful. This one starred Angelina Jolie and marked the first major studio feature for production designer extraordinaire Robert Stromberg. Let’s see how they did.
THE BOTTOM LINE: The film had a whopping opening weekend of $69.4 million on May 30, and the domestic box office was $241.4M, with $469.3M foreign and another $47.7M from China (worth $11.9M), for a total worldwide box office gross of $758.4M. According to our experts, Jolie had a big upfront payday but not a big gross position. So that means a fairy tale ending for Disney, which kept a whopping $190.77M in net profit. The Cash on Cash Return is 1.37.
The sweetest sculptor: Angelina Jolie turned into sponge and icing by talented Welsh baker
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- Published on Sunday, 15 March 2015 10:57
- Written by Mirror
The sweet creations were designed and decorated by 27-year-old Vicki Smith after she was made redundant.A talented baker makes cakes so life-like they look as if they should move.The sweet creations, made of sponge and icing, were designed and decorated by 27-year-old Vicki Smith from North Wales.One of her most striking pieces is a cake based on Angelina Jolie in her recent film Maleficent.Vicki has turned a variety of characters into cakes, including Finding Nemo, Betty Boop, the Corpse Bride and Wallace and Gromit.She started baking in 2011 after being left disappointed by a cake that arrived for her lorry driver boyfriend’s 27th birthday.She said: “I ordered a lorry cake for him and when it arrived it wasn’t what I thought it would be and I wasn’t happy with it."I had a go at doing it myself and when I took the cake to the restaurant everybody liked it. That was when I realised this was something I could do.“I just took it from there. I did one for myself and I did one for my mum and dad and I kept getting compliments. People really liked the cakes I was producing but I was just doing it as a hobby really.”After being made redundant from her job as a ceramic artist in April, 2014 Vicki began to concentrate on turning her talents into a business.She now has a string of awards under her belt for her creations.She scooped three gold awards for her amazing creations at last year’s Cake International competition in Birmingham.
She spent more than 150 painstaking hours crafting three special cakes for the contest. The masterpiece was a four foot cake of Angelina Jolie as Maleficent which was made from cake and Rice Krispies and also features a flashing staff. It took Vicki 85 hours to create and it weighed in at a whopping 55kg.She also created a tiger cub which took 45 hours to make. It won gold and first place in the sculpted novelty cake category.Vicki also scooped a gold and second place in the wedding cake (three tiers or more) category with an impressive three-tiered creation based on the Corpse Bride films.For all her cakes, she begins by sketching an image of the cake design on to a board and chooses a variety of tin sizes to suit it - before baking around 15 to 20 smaller, individual cakes.She then sandwiches the bits of cake together using jam or butter cream, carefully carves them with a knife and finally starts the lengthy process of decorating the entire cake.Vicki said: “The turtle one is probably my favourite. It won gold at Cake International in Manchester in 2013 and went on to get the best marks out of all the cakes in the competition. A lot of people who have seen the cake said it was so real they almost thought it would walk off the table.”The designer said she had always had a keen eye for detail and added: “My teachers were always impressed by my intricate detailing, especially in ceramics. I have an art background as I have done art all my life. I studied all types of different creative fields at Deeside College, where we looked at life drawing and sketching.”Vicki now wants to turn her hobby into a business but needs to buy a new oven to make happen.“Being unemployed makes it really difficult,” she said.She has set up a GoFundMe account for anyone who is able to donate at http://www.gofundme.com/IncredibleEdibles.
Envoy Angelina Jolie Pitt statement as the conflict in Syria entered its fifth year
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- Published on Saturday, 14 March 2015 13:58
- Written by UNHCR
As the conflict in Syria entered its fifth year, UNHCR Special Envoy Angelina Jolie Pitt said:"It is deeply alarming that the international response so clearly falls short of what is needed to end the conflict in Syria.People are entitled to feel bewildered and angry that the UN Security Council seems unable to respond to the worst crisis of the 21st century.It is shameful that even the basic demand for full humanitarian access has not been met. Meanwhile, neighbouring countries and international humanitarian agencies are being stretched beyond their limits.And it is sickening that crimes are being committed against the Syrian people on a daily basis with impunity.The failure to end this crisis diminishes all of us.I urge governments around the world to put aside their differences and mount a new attempt to solve the conflict politically.And I appeal for urgent steps to demonstrate that the international community is serious about accountability in Syria: to show that we will not turn a blind eye to war crimes, and that we will not fail refugees, the displaced, and the survivors."
Angelina Jolie Covers 'Marie Claire Australia' April 2015
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- Published on Friday, 13 March 2015 07:56
- Written by Just Jared
Angelina Jolie puts her arm tattoo on display for the new April 2015 cover of Marie Claire Australia.The 39-year-old actress of course filmed her critically-acclaimed Unbroken out and about around New South Wales and Queensland.“Political power player, mother of six and fearless Hollywood icon – Angelina Jolie is also our April cover star! On sale now or download from the App Store,” the mag’s Facebook page read.For more on Angelina, visit Marie Claire Australia.
Chloe Sevigny likes Angelina Jolie and Emma Stone but thinks Jennifer Lawrence is 'annoying' and 'too crass'
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- Published on Thursday, 12 March 2015 11:49
- Written by The Celebrity Cafe
It’s difficult to find anyone that doesn’t think Jennifer Lawrence is charming, but that’s exactly what actress Chloe Sevigny thinks.In a new interview with V Magazine, Sevigny praised Angelina Jolie and Emma Stone but didn’t have anything nice to say about the Silver Linings Playbook star.“Jennifer Lawrence I find annoying. Too crass,” she told the magazine."I love when a movie star is a great movie star," she also said. “I think Angelina is a great movie star. I like Emma Stone. Whenever she's herself, she's really cute.”But Sevigny was also a critic of herself in the interview, saying what Lawrence’s successful career might have over hers is that she’s got a lot of personality.Sevigny has had a thriving career in her own right, with Big Love, American Psycho and most recently The Cosmpolitans, but she thinks she can “always have more” opportunities. She points out she might never reach the level of fame that Lawrence has because of the need for personality and marketing to sell movies.“I’m afraid that maybe people think there’s more personality than acting ability,” adding, “I understand star quality, how much value it carries. I don’t think I have charisma. Which is probably why I never reached another level.”