Universal To Unveil New Animated Logo Ahead Of The Lorax

Los Angeles, CA, March 1, 2012 As part of Universal Pictures yearlong Centennial celebration, the studio will reveal an updated animated logo in honor of its 100th anniversary, it was announced today. The new animated logo will make its debut with Universal and Illumination Entertainments 3D-CG feature Dr. Seuss The Lorax, which is being released in theaters nationwide on March 2, and it will be used on all film releases going forward. The new logo honors the authenticity of the brand and pays homage to the studios rich film history, cultural impact and global vision (A static version of this logo is featured at the top of this release). This is the seventh incarnation of an animated logo created for the motion-picture studio since its inception. Our Centennial year is the perfect opportunity to create a new logo that reflects our future while honoring our past, said Ron Meyer, Universal Studios President and COO. Universals new logo celebrates the studios extraordinary legacy in creating lasting movie memories and connecting viewers across the globe. For the new animated logo design, Universal teamed up with the Academy Award-winning visual effects artists at New Zealand-based Weta Digital to capture Universals vision for a contemporary logo that stayed true to the companys legacy identity of a global vision. The visual dynamic of the new logo was inspired by satellite imagery that illustrated a view of the world on a clear night from space. Rather than focusing on the continents and physical boundaries that separate people, the new view is highlighted with tiny points of bright lights that pop across the globesymbolizing the thousands of communities brought together by their shared love of film. In combination with the animated logo, award-winning film composer Bryan Tyler (Fast and Furious franchise) provided a new arrangement of Jerry Goldsmiths classic score, which has accompanied the logo since 1997. The iconic theme of Goldsmiths original composition remains, but the orchestration has been bolstered with a choir, new string parts and drum cadence utilizing world percussion instruments. We wanted to utilize the classic melody that we all know and bring it into the 21st century, while still being very respectful of what Jerry Goldsmith did originally, said Tyler. I wanted it to be a celebration of all the great movies Universal has done over the yearsconnecting the past to the present. In addition to the new logo, other key Universal Centennial initiatives include: a major film restoration commitment, home entertainment offerings, theme park celebrations and a special anniversary gala featuring many of the filmmakers and artists who shaped the studios history. In addition, the studio will spotlight the 100th anniversary throughout various worldwide film festivals and other featured events, panels and activities. At the center of all online initiatives lies a rich, robust Website dedicated to all things related to the yearlong celebration of Universals 100th anniversary. For more information, please visit http://Universal100th.com.

Stage helmer Theodore Mann dies

Theodore Mann, a Tony Award-winning director and producer who championed Eugene O'Neill and would be a driving pressure behind Circle within the Square Theatre and it is school, died Friday in NY of complications from pneumonia. He was 87."His contributions to Broadway and Off Broadway are immeasurable in the productions he produced and also the talent he nurtured," stated Charlotte now St. Martin, the executive director from the Broadway League. "He'll be skipped by many people within our community."A co-founding father of Circle within the Square Theatre in 1951, Mann headed in 1956 the acclaimed revival of O'Neill's "The Iceman Cometh" and also the U.S. premiere of O'Neill's "Lengthy Day's Journey Into Evening." Individuals productions brought to some re-evaluation of O'Neill, now acknowledged as America's finest playwright.Mann created or directed a lot more than 175 plays at Circle, which in 1972 moved from Greenwich Village to the current home on Broadway. In 1963, he founded Circle within the Square Theater School, a course for training youthful stars. The school's alumni include Philip Seymour Hoffman, Kevin Sausage, Rhianna, Benicio Del Toro, Idina Menzel, Felicity Huffman and Molly Shannon.Mann received the 1957 Tony Award for the best play for "Lengthy Day's Journey Into Evening," a 1976 Special Tony Award acknowledging 25 continuous many years of quality productions at Circle within the Square, in addition to 12 additional Tony nominations.Along with Paul Libin, Mann presented new and classic works at his theater, including plays by Mike Shepard, Thornton Wilder, Horton Foote, Yazmin Reza, Truman Capote, Arthur Burns, Athol Fugard and Terrence McNally.Some noted Circle productions include "Uncle Vanya," with George C. Scott "The Woman In the Ocean," by which Vanessa Redgrave made her Broadway debut "Salome and Hughie," with Al Pacino "The Iceman Cometh," starring James Earl Johnson and directed by Mann "Candida," with Joanne Woodward and "Dying of the Salesperson," as well as Scott.The Circle has more lately been the place to find the Broadway premiere of Mike Shepard's "True West," the revival of "The Rocky Horror Show," "Sweeney Todd," "The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee," Alan Ayckbourn's "The Norman Conquests," "Lombardi" and also the current revival of "Godspell."Mann also directed operas, including Benjamin Britten's "Turn from the Screw" for that NY City Opera, "La Boheme" for that Juilliard School and "The Evening from the Iguana" for Moscow's Maly Theater.Mann's wife, leading lyric coloratura soprano Patricia Brooks, died in 1993. He's made it by two sons and five grandchildren. Contact the range newsroom at news@variety.com

New Best Exotic Marigold Hotel Clip

Judi Dench & Bill Nighy versus phoneIt's out tomorrow, however when you continue to be identifying if you should start to see the Best Exotic Marigold Hotel, this is a fresh clip that gives you an idea what you're looking for. And OK, yes, it'll occur in the hotel, and that means you maybe stood a clue already.This bit sees Judi Dench's Evelyn, recently widowed and away and off to Jaipur to check a new challenge, wrestling while using phone in their room and taking advantage of the assistance of Bill Nighy's Douglas to do the repair. It's fair to convey that he's no technological whizz.The film also stars Maggie Cruz, Celia Imrie, Tom Wilkinson and Dev Patel(discover much more about him in this particular month's problem), which is directed by Shakespeare InLove's John Madden. The Most Effective Exotic Marigold Hotel is going here on February 24 or, since the kids think of it as, tomorrow.

MPTF unveils fund-raising campaign

The Motion Picture and Television Fund has unveiled a $350 million fund-raising campaign to be held over the next three years. MPTF Foundation chair Jeffrey Katzenberg and board member George Clooney made the announcement Thursday at a breakfast event at the Beverly Hills Hotel. The campaign has already generated $238 million in pledges. The push is aimed at ensuring MPTF facilities and services will continue operating in the face of the rising health care needs of aging baby boomers in the entertainment industry. "Over the next 20 years, approximately 100,000 industry members and their families, our very own baby boomers, will be retiring," said MPTF chief exec Bob Beitcher said. "And the fact is that today we can't anticipate what kind of help and support they'll need from MPTF. But we can be certain that there will continue to be needs that otherwise won't be filled without the support of our charity." Besides Clooney and Katzenberg, donors include Steve Bing, Tom Cruise, Barry Dilller, Fox Entertainment Group, David Geffen, Michael Lewis, Jerrold Perrenchio, Todd Phillips, Joe Roth, Patrick Soon-Shiong, Steven Spielberg, Thomas Tull, Casey Wasserman and John and Marilyn Wells. "This campaign is the way my generation can ensure that MPTF will be there to serve future generations forever," Katzenberg said. Katzenberg touted the campaign as a "transformational" milestone for the MPTF, which has been in turnaround mode from its January 2009 announcement that rising costs would force it to shutter its long-term care unit, which had 136 patients at the time, and its acute-care hospital. The MPTF has faced a barrage of criticism for the past three years over that decision, with some questioning the fund's commitment to its stated goal of "taking care of our own." Earlier this year, the MPTF disclosed it would begin admitting new patients for the first time in three years, going from 29 patients to as many as 40. It also announced last week that it was launching a geriatric psychiatric unit on its Woodland Hills campus in a partnership with UCLA Health System and its Resnick Neuropsychiatric Hospital. Katzenberg, CEO of DreamWorks Animation, credited Clooney with working effectively behind the scenes over the past year since he joined the MPTF board, adding, "The worse our situation, the more interested he got." Clooney unveiled a vintage coin box emblazoned with the charity's original name -- Motion Picture Relief Fund. "We want to remind everyone that every gift counts," he said. Beitcher said Thursday that the long-term care facility won't be expanded past the current capacity of 40. He didn't give details as to specifics on possible new initiatives for funds from the campaign other than saying, "We have a long list." MPTF execs have emphasized that the fund will continue to operate its independent and assisted-care facilities in Woodland Hills, and half a dozen health centers in the Los Angeles area, along with modernizing the Woodland Hills campus and expanding its medical and social services for biz retirees. Contact Dave McNary at dave.mcnary@variety.com

ASCAP to recognition Carly Simon

The American Society of Composers, Authors and Entrepreneurs (ASCAP) features Carly Simon since the people receiving its 2012 Founders Award, being presented at its 29th Pop Music Honours on April 18.The honours gala will occur just right before the start of the performance rights org's "I Create Music" expo in La. Last year's Founders Award visited Fly fishing rod Stewart, and former visitors include Paul McCartney, Stevie Question, Elvis Costello, Joni Mitchell and Tom Waits.Most broadly known on her behalf 1972 hit, "You're So Vain," Simon has collected two Grammys, an Academy Award together with a Golden Globe over her multi-decade career. Contact the number newsroom at news@variety.com

Exclusive: Wild Bill Poster Online

Knives for show, knuckles for a proArriving soon on a tailwind of London FilmFestival buzz and general goodwill is Dexter Fletcher's directorial debut, Wild Bill, a family crime drama that'll bring a touch of the old West to the East End of London. With its release date hoving into view with spurs clinking, it has a new quad to dazzle a bus stop near you in the very near future. The story sees ex-con Bill Hayward (Charlie Creed-Miles), the Wild Bill of the title, get out of jail after eight years to find his young sons Dean (Will Poulter) and Jimmy (Sammy Williams) left to fend for themselves by their absent mum. Bill's appetite for parenting hasn't sharpened during his years inside, though. Pretty soon social services are involved and his son is tipping the police off on his dad's shady dealings.{Will Bill poster}At this point, given the Hollywood treatment, rough-diamond Bill would discover his inner dad and treat his adoring sons to years of freshly-flipped pancakes and wise-but-entertaining advice about girls.Happily, Dexter Fletcher's film doesn't look remotely like the Hollywood treatment. What ensues should be as messy, murky and funny as life itself - especially if your life involves having a sharp-suited gangster Andy Serkis threatening to kill you on a daily basis.Joining Creed-Miles, Serkis and co. in Fletcher's manor is his old Lock, Stock mucker Jason Flemyng, as well as Jaime Winstone, Olivia Williams and Kill List's Neil Maskell. It's coming soon, so keep eyes peeled for news on the release date.

Lionsgate shares jump 7%

Lionsgate's shares jumped Wednesday in part due to strong prospects for its upcoming 'Hunger Games' franchise.1Shares of Lionsgate have soared again on Wall Street's bullishness over the mini-major's leveraged buyout of Summit and strong prospects for its "The Hunger Games" franchise.Lionsgate stock closed up 7% on Wednesday, jumping 81 to $12.15, with 2.63 million shares changing hands -- three times average volume over the past three months -- despite a downbeat performance overall by issues on the NY Stock Exchange. The stock had also risen 7% on Friday in the wake of multiple analyst upgrades.The stock is now 41% above its $8.60 price on Jan. 13, the day Lionsgate closed the $412.5 million Summit deal. It's nearly doubled in price from a year ago, when the issue was held down by Lionsgate's ongoing battle with investor Carl Icahn. "Mad Money" host Jim Cramer issued an optimistic outlook earlier this week, touting Lionsgate as a stock that could go as high as $15. He said, "You need to get in this stock ahead of the March release date, even as Lionsgate has already run up massively since the beginning of the year, rallying 35% all on the buzz for 'The Hunger Games.'""The Hunger Games," starring Jennifer Lawrence, opens March 23. Lionsgate CEO Jon Feltheimer announced last Friday during an analyst call that the trailer for the fifth "Twilight" film will be attached to "Hunger Games" and that the two franchises will generate "highly visible" cash flows in coming years.Feltheimer also pointed out that total sales of the Suzanne Collins' book trilogy have grown by 7.5% during the past quarter to 23.5 million. Lionsgate plans to open "Catching Fire," based on the second "Hunger Games" title, in November 2013. Contact Dave McNary at dave.mcnary@variety.com

'Red Lights' goes global

Rodrigo Cortes' paranormal thriller "Red Lights," which has been shopped by Lisa Wilson via her previous outfit Parlay Films, has virtually sold out around the world.Pic, which screened in Sundance this year and toplines Robert De Niro and Sigourney Weaver, has sold to Alliance Films for Canada and Blighty (the latter through its U.K. arm Momentum Pictures), Germany (Wild Bunch), France (Metropolitan), Spain (Warner Bros.), Italy (RAI), Latin America (Swen) and Benelux (Dutch Film Works).Additional sales have been locked in Russia, the CIS/Baltic States (MGN), Eastern Europe (SPI), Greece and Cyprus (Village Roadshow), Hong Kong (Golden Harvest), Iceland (Myndform), India and Pakistan (Tanweer), Indonesia (PT Amero), international airlines (excluding U.K.) (CineSky), Israel (Forum Film), Malaysia (Golden Screen), Middle East (Eagle), Pan Asia Satellite (HBO Asia), Philippines (Pioneer), Portugal (PRIS Audiovisuais), Scandinavia (Nordisk) and Singapore (Shaw).And pic also sold to South Korea (Daisy), Switzerland (Ascot), Taiwan (Long Shong) and Turkey (Pinema).A Japanese distrib, which cannot yet be disclosed, has been secured while negotiations with an Australian distrib are under way.Cortes and his longtime producer Adrian Guerra produce the pic, which also stars Cillian Murphy and Elizabeth Olsen. Contact Diana Lodderhose at diana.lodderhose@variety.com

Commish dishes on media proposal

The suggested revamping of key European Commission film programs gets a lift at Berlin.Androulla Vassiliou, European commissioner for education, culture, multilingualism and youth, spoken in the commission's proposal because of its new Creative Europe program in the Berlinale on Sunday.Creative Europe will bring together the present culture, media and Media Mundus programs and can include a brand new financial facility to enhance use of gold coin for small- and medium-sized businesses and organizations within the cultural and inventive industries.The Ecu Parliament and also the Council of Ministers are required to election around the proposal the coming year, even though it likes support in the former, it might face problems with the second because from the ongoing financial crisis.Vassiliou, however, stresses the entire cultural sector constitutes a significant contribution to jobs and growth, representing 4.5% of total European GDP and comprising some 3.8% from the labor force.Creative Europe includes a suggested budget of just one.8 billion ($2.37 billion) for 2014-20. Of this, some $1.2 billion could be allotted towards the Media Program, representing a rise in excess of 20%. The Media Program includes a seven-year budget of $996 million through 2013 targeted at supporting Europe's film industry, having a concentrate on film development, promotion and distribution included in its pursuit to support competition and cultural diversity.For that European film industry, EU funding is important in supporting pan-continental distribution of films, European productions abroad and offering incentives to European and worldwide arthouse theaters that showcase European movies.The funding initiatives also generate revenue. The commission claims that each euro ($1.31) committed to the Europa Movie theaters chain, for instance, creates $15 in revenue, and outdoors Europe, every euro committed to the Europa Cinema Intl. chain creates $22.42 of revenue."Europe can offer significant added value through specific purchase of the audiovisual and cultural industries, that are important contributing factors to growth and jobs," Vassiliou stated. "Creative Europe can help the ecu film industry to reply to the difficulties of digitization and globalization, yet still time helping us to guard and promote Europe's cultural and linguistic diversity."One of the nearly 400 worldwide films unspooling in the Berlinale, 18 European productions are based on the Media Program, including competition screeners for example Declan Donnellan and Nick Ormerod's "Bel ami," Nikolaj Arcel's "A Royal Affair," Antonio Chavarrias' "Childish Games," Ursula Meier's "Sister," Spiros Stathoulopoulos' "Meteora" and "Shadow Dancer," by James Marsh.Additionally, it bankrolls initiatives like the EFP's Shooting Stars event at Berlin towards the tune of $660,000 - 50% of their total budget - along with the Berlinale Co-Production Market and also the Talent Campus, while Media Mundus, which will help the ecu industry abroad, is supporting the brand new Berlinale Residency fellowship program. Contact Erectile dysfunction Meza at erectile dysfunction.meza@mannaa.de

U nabs U.K., Scandi rights to 'Marley'

Universal Pictures Intl. Entertainment has clicked on up U.K. and Scandinavian rights to Bob Marley docu "Marley," helmed by Kevin Macdonald. Pic, that's on offer by Fortissimo Films, has furthermore provided to Italia (Lucky Red-colored-colored), The nation (Avalon Distribution), Nigeria (Nu Metro), Portugal (Lusomundo/Film & TV House), Germany and Austria (Studiocanal), Belgium (Best Film), France (Wild Side Films), South Usa (Cinemax South Usa Pan Regional Pay TV), Oz and Nz (Roadshow), Benelux (E1), Middle East (Front Row) and Europe (Elite). Pic is skedded for just about any April 20 release inside the U.K. Shangri-La Entertainment and Tuff Gong Pictures produced, in colaboration with Cowboy Films. Contact Diana Lodderhose at diana.lodderhose@variety.com