Atari gets a movie deal

Nolan Bushnell (Left) and Actor Leonardo DiCaprio that will be playing his character.


Paramount Pictures has given the go ahead to produce a film based on the history of Atari and its founder Nolan Bushnell, and who would be playing the main character based on its founder? Well this was a shock when we heard it would be Leonardo DiCaprio.
Bushnell actually had another name for his company before deciding on the name Atari which was Syzygy. However a candle maker already had the name and they decided to go with Arari. The name Atari is actually Japanese meaning to take over or conquer.
Leonardo DiCaprio will be the leading character in this movie and is said to be coming out in 2010 which is still a few years away. However it should be a great movie knowing who is playing the main character. DiCaprio has won three Oscars along with numerous other awards for with his latest being in Blood Diamond. DiCaprio is no amature actor and devotes all of his talent into the characters he portrays such as that as The Aviator movie starring the role of Hughes. So we can expect great things with this coming movie in 2010.

Indiana Jones 5 a possibility according to Lucas

George Lucas recently told Fox News that it is more then a strong possibility that another Indy movie is possible. He adds that Steven Spielberg and himself have left an open door to another production into the making of Indy V.

"I haven't even told Steven or the star, Harrison Ford this," Lucas said. "But I have an idea to make Shia LeBeouf the lead character next time and have Harrison come back, like Sean Connery did in the last movie. I can see it working out."

Guess we will soon be seeing the next sequeal to the Indiana Jones franchise.

Who will be the next Terminator

Terminator 4 (previously known as Terminator Salvation: The Future Begins, but now rumored to be Terminator: The Return of the Terminator) is the upcoming fourth installment to the Terminator film series, scheduled to be released on May 22, 2009.

Christian Bale (John Conner)

It is written by David Campbell Wilson, John Brancato, and Michael Ferris, directed by Joseph "McG" McGinty Nichol, and stars actor Christian Bale as John Connor. Anton Yelchin is playing a young Kyle Reese, who befriends Marcus, an early Terminator. Sam Worthington is playing Marcus; he was personally recommended to McG by Terminator creator James Cameron.

Rapper Common (John Conner's Reinforcement)

Josh Brolin has been mentioned in a possible role as the Terminator. Moon Bloodgood is reported to be the female lead of the film. She will play "a no-nonsense and battle-hardened member of the resistance".Shooting of the film is expected to start on May 5, 2008 in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Stan Winston will supervise the visual effects

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Josh Brolin (Rumors to be the next Terminator)

Hollywood Sign

Hollywood sign today

The Hollywood sign as we know it today is a landmark symbolizing where block busters hit movies are made. Well this was the case years ago but today the only filming made in Hollywood are in its studio editing rooms.

Hollywood sign in the late 70's falling apart

The Hollywood sign was actually erected in 1923 and was a marketing tool used to sell real estate in the area. It actually read Hollywoodland back then and was only made to be temporary. The original sign was made to stand on telephone poles and had light bulbs all over it.

The original Hollywoodland sign in 1923

By 1949 the chamber of commerce took it over and decided to get rid of the last 4 letters and kept the name Hollywood in kept up with its repairs. Over the years there have been countless movies that had filmed there but by the late 70's the sign was in desperate need of repairs.

Celebrities such as Alice Cooper and Hugh Hefner donated money to help rebuild the sign and by 1978 the sign had been once again re-erected. Of course that did not stop vandals from trying to destroy the sign so a high tech $100,000 security system was installed. The signs letters are now held in place with steel I beams dug 13 feet into the ground and is not going anywhere.

Paramount Pictures Biography

Paramount Pictures was founded by William Wadsworth Hodkinson in 1914 and was born in Independence, Kansas. He is known as The Man who invented Hollywood. Hodkinson opened his first film theater in Ogden, Utah in 1902 charging 5 cents a show. His studio is older then Universal Studios by 1 month.

W.W. Hodkinson (Founder of Paramount Pictures)

As a young man, Hodkinson was a messenger with the Western Union Telegraph Company, and he worked for other companies as a messenger, callboy, telegrapher, and signal operator. In 1902, he was a trick bicycle rider and later became a salesman with I.C.S

Paramount Pictures

Paramount Pictures was actually a merger of a few other film production companies that Hodkinson brought together. Doing so made Paramount the largest film distribution and production company hands down.

The Paramount Logo was also designed by Hodkinson doodling a mountain and became the companies logo in 1914. Hodkinson left the film industry in 1926 and started the Hodkinson Avaition Corperation and later formed the Central American Aviation Corporation and Companía Nacional de Aviación in Guatemala.

Universal Studios History

The founder of Universal Studios was Carl Laemmle which was a German immigrant who settled in Oshkosh, Wisconsin. His first job in the states was managing a clothing store. In 1905 he was inspired by what was called Nickelodeons. They where a theatre that showed silent films with a piano player that added the drama to the film since sound was not yet invented to add to the films of the time. The name Nickelodeon came from a mixture of two words , Nickel because it cost back then 5 cents to see a movie and Odeon from the Greek word for roofed theatre. Put them together and you have what is called a Nickelodeon.

Carl Laemmle (Founder of Universal)

Carl Laemmle was so inspired by those Nicelodeons that he had decided to buy some of his own. He started making his own silent films but to his dismay Thomas Edison had what was called "The Motion Picture Trust" which mainly prohibited actors from having a star rating, which would lead to higher pay. Carl Laemmle fought this with Edison even though Edison had hired gangsters to damage his sets. Nonetheless Carl Laemmle came out on top and is this very fight that changed the movie industry's standards. Other film producers followed Carl Laemmle by dropping from The Motion Picture Trust as well.

Nickelodeons of the 1900's

Below is an actual video of Carl Laemmle from a trip he took to Europe.

Warner Brothers

Warner Brothers incorporated is one one of the worlds largest producers of film, television and entertainment.The company was started by four brothers from Poland and an ambition they had.

Warner Brothers

Harry, Albert, Sam, and Jack Warner are the founders of Warner Brothers as we know it today. After leaving Poland they went to Ontario, Canada where they first started an exhibition business. They acquired a projector in which they went to the states and opened up their first theater, the Cascade in New Castle, Pennsylvania. Of course they where silent pictures for the time period in which was 1903.In 1904, the Warners founded the Pittsburgh-based Duquesne Amusement & Supply Company (the precursor to Warner Bros. Pictures) to distribute films.Within a few years this led to the distribution of pictures across a four-state area. In 1912 Harry Warner hired an auditor named Paul Ashley Chase. By the time of World War I they had begun producing films, and in 1918 the brothers opened the Warner Bros. studio on Sunset Boulevard in Hollywood. Sam and Jack Warner produced the pictures, while Harry and Albert Warner and their auditor and now controller Paul Ashley Chase handled finance and distribution in New York. In 1923, they formally incorporated as Warner Bros. Pictures, Inc.