Hollywood
‘Fast and Furious 7’ retitled
MUMBAI: All set to launch the new edition of the famous Fast and Furious series, Universal Studios announced the latest installment will be renamed to Furious 7 and that the first trailer of the movie will be premiered on 1 November.
The trailer launch will be a part of ‘The Road to Furious 7: Trailer Launch Event at Universal Studios’ which will be held in Los Angeles. The event will also be live streamed exclusively on the Fast & Furious official Facebook page and E! Network.
Fans can also attend the event by purchasing ticket available on 27 October on the official Fast and Furious social pages.
The new synopsis posted reads, “Continuing the global exploits in the unstoppable franchise built on speed, Vin Diesel, Paul Walker and Dwayne Johnson lead the returning cast of ‘Furious 7.’ James Wan directs this chapter of the hugely successful series that also welcomes back favorites Michelle Rodriguez, Jordana Brewster, Tyrese Gibson, Chris ‘Ludacris’ Bridges, Elsa Pataky and Lucas Black.”
“They are joined by international action stars new to the franchise including Jason Statham, Djimon Hounsou, Tony Jaa, Ronda Rousey and Kurt Russell. Neal H Moritz, Vin Diesel and Michael Fottrell return to produce the film written by Chris Morgan.”
The movie will hit US theaters on 3 April 2015, after being pushed back a year due to Paul Walker’s untimely death. Also it is rumoured that Paul’s character will be retired rather than killed in the film. His final scenes have been created using his brothers Caleb and Cody as stand-ins and with the help of body double’s to recreate his voice and face.
Meanwhile, the pic’s official YouTube page posted two new videos. One titled ‘The Road to Furious 7’ contains footage from the franchise’s previous films while the other one titled ‘7 Seconds of 7’ is a short behind-the-scene video featuring the cast.
Hollywood
US theatre group opposes Paramount, Warner Bros. merger, calls it ‘harmful’
Exhibitors warn mega deal could shrink film output and weaken cinema ecosystem
LAS VEGAS: Cinema United has come out strongly against the proposed merger between Paramount Skydance and Warner Bros. Discovery, warning it could concentrate too much power in the hands of a single player and disrupt the global film ecosystem.
Speaking at CinemaCon in Las Vegas, the group’s chief executive Michael O’Leary did not mince words as he addressed thousands of theatre owners. The deal, reportedly valued at $110 billion, was agreed in March after Netflix exited the bidding process.
“We believe this transaction will be harmful to exhibition, consumers and the entire entertainment ecosystem,” O’Leary said, cautioning that greater consolidation would allow fewer distributors to dictate terms around release windows, scheduling and access to film libraries. Theatre owners argue that such scale could reduce competition and ultimately mean fewer films making it to cinemas.
Pushing back, a spokesperson for Paramount Skydance said the merged entity plans to release 30 films annually in theatres, while continuing to operate both studios separately. The company added that the deal would expand opportunities for creators and strengthen competition by backing more projects globally.
However, exhibitors remain unconvinced. Drawing parallels with The Walt Disney Company’s 2019 acquisition of Fox, O’Leary noted a drop in wide theatrical releases post-merger, reinforcing concerns that consolidation often leads to fewer films.
“Unfortunately, history shows us that consolidation results in fewer films being produced for movie theaters,” O’Leary said.
Beyond output, Cinema United also flagged concerns around theatrical windows, warning that a combined Paramount-Warner entity could exert greater control over how long films remain exclusively in cinemas before shifting to other platforms.
With the debate set to intensify, the clash highlights a familiar tension in Hollywood: scale versus diversity. For theatre owners, the stakes are clear, as they push to ensure that bigger does not mean fewer stories on the big screen.
