PH BLOG ➹

J ohnny Depp is math teacher Frank Tupelo, an American tourist in Venice whose playful dalliance with a stranger (Angelina Jolie) leads to a web of intrigue, romance and danger in Columbia Pictures’ new action thriller “The Tourist.” “My main interest was to play the ultimate ordinary man,” says Depp. “The people who are perceived as ‘normal’ are the ones I find the strangest, really: they have tics and flaws and weird mannerisms. Frank is a guy who hasn’t really lived much of a life, so that was the great challenge – to play him as hyper-normal.” Right after olie signed up for “The Tourist,” the most important step for the filmmakers was to find the right male lead. Says director Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck: “We really needed someone who wouldn’t be eclipsed by Angelina. When we brainstormed over what actor could be a true partner for her in terms of attractiveness, intelligence and acting skill, the only name that kept coming to our minds was Johnny Depp.” The actor and O...

I nspired by true events, New Line Cinema's supernatural thriller “The Rite” follows skeptical seminary student Michael Kovak (Colin O’Donoghue), who reluctantly attends exorcism school at the Vatican. While in Rome, he meets an unorthodox priest, Father Lucas (Anthony Hopkins), who introduces him to the darker side of his faith. Directed by Mikael Håfström (“1408”), “The Rite” uncovers the devil’s reach to even one of the holiest places on Earth. The film stars Oscar® winner Anthony Hopkins (“Silence of the Lambs,” “Wolfman”), Colin O’Donoghue in his feature film debut, Alice Braga (“Predators”), Ciarán Hinds (“Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows” films), Toby Jones (“Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets”) and Rutger Hauer (“Batman Begins,” “Blade Runner”).

C atch the first trailer of Walt Disney Pictures’ and Jerry Bruckheimer Films’ sweeping comedy adventure “Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides.” Directed by Rob Marshall (“Chicago”), “On Stranger Tides” is the fourth entry in the blockbuster franchise which has already reaped $2.7 billion in worldwide box office from the previous three films, and the first to be filmed and presented in Disney Digital 3D™.

A ngelina Jolie plays Elise Ward, a beautiful (of course!) and mysterious woman involved in a romantic relationship with the wanted thief Alexander Pearce – but keeps her true motivations close to the vest, in Columbia Pictures' new romantic thriller “The Tourist.” “She’s instructed by Alexander to take a train from Paris to Venice, and while on the train find a man – someone of Alexander’s height and build,” says Jolie. “She finds Frank (played by Johnny Depp) and throws him into this adventure.” Jolie had been attracted to “The Tourist” by the potential of the strong female character and by the chance to work with director Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck, and to have him co-write the script. After a very early meeting, it was clear that the director and star were on the same page about the kind of movie they wanted to make. “Henckel von Donnersmarck's `The Lives of Others' is a beautiful, intelligent film, but also heavy,” says Jolie. “When we met, he was very cl...

A massive tsunami tears through a small beach town in Indonesia, dragging a French journalist under the waters and into a fleeting death. On the streets of London’s harsh projects, an accident causes a young twin to be cut off forever from the brother that has always guided him. And across the world, in San Francisco, a man disconnects from life to shut out the voices of the dead. What happens after death? How can someone so close just disappear? How can those left behind continue to live? Warner Bros.' new supernatural drama, “Hereafter” explores three characters’ search for answers about their own lives in the face of what lies beyond. “We don’t know what’s on the other side, but on this side, it’s final,” says director Clint Eastwood. “People have their beliefs about what’s there or what’s not there, but those are all hypotheticals. Nobody knows until you get there.”