English Entertainment
Don’t miss the exclusive premiere of ‘Taxi’ this Friday, July 21st on Star Movies
Mumbai, July 18, 2006: If you love fast cars and gizmos make sure you hop on with Queen Latifah and Jimmy Fallon for a crazy action packed joyride. This Friday night, tune in to the exclusive premiere of TAXI only on Star Movies. Produced by Luc Besson, TAXI is an engaging romp that features likeable performances from its lead actors. It grossed US$36,538,318 at the worldwide box-office.
Belle Williams (played by Oscar-nominated rapper-turned-actress Queen Latifah) is a speed demon. Zooming through the streets of New York in her tricked-out taxi, she’s earned a reputation as New York’s fastest cabbie. But driving a hack is only a pit stop for her real dream: Belle wants to be a race car champion. And she’s well on her way–until she’s derailed by overeager cop Andy Washburn (played by Jimmy Fallon), whose undercover skills are matched only by his total ineptitude behind the wheel.
Washburn, whose lack of vehicular skills has landed him in the precinct doghouse, is hot on the heels of a gang of beautiful Brazilian bank robbers, led by Vanessa (played by supermodel Gisele Bundchen). To nab the evasive crooks, drivers’ license-less Washburn convinces Belle to team up with him to pursue Vanessa and crew. With this begins a high-speed game of cat and mouse with the robbers. That is, if Belle and Washburn don’t end up killing each other first.
So hop into this Taxi for a ride through the streets of New York that will have you on the edge of your seats with the thrill of the ride. Don’t forget to tune in to “TAXI” on Friday, July 21st at 9 p.m. only on Star Movies.
About Star
STAR is a leading media and entertainment company in Asia. STAR broadcasts over 50 television services in nine languages to more than 300 million viewers across 53 Asian countries. STAR channels cover all genres including general entertainment (Star Plus, Xing Kong, Star Chinese Channel, Star One, Star Utsav, Star World, Vijay, Phoenix Chinese), sports (ESPN, Star Sports), movies (Star Chinese Movies, Star Gold, Star Movies), music (Channel [V]), and news and current affairs (Star News, Star Ananda, Phoenix InfoNews Channel). STAR controls over 20,000 hours of Indian and Chinese programming and also owns the world’s largest contemporary Chinese film library, with more than 600 titles, featuring superstars including Jackie Chan, Chow Yun Fat and Bruce Lee. In partnership with leading companies in Asia, STAR businesses extend to filmed entertainment, television production, cable systems, direct-to-home services, terrestrial TV broadcasting, wireless and digital services. STAR is a wholly owned subsidiary of News Corporation. www.startv.com
For further information please contact:
In Mumbai
Zeenat Khan
Asst. Vice President – Publicity
STAR (India) Ltd.
Tel No. 91-22-56305555
Shiraz Bhavnani / Aditi Chada
Vaishnavi Corporate Communications
Tel: 91-22-6656 8787
Fax: 91-22-6656 8788
Email:sbhavnani@vccpl.com/achada@vccpl.com
English Entertainment
Ellison takes his Paramount-Warner Bros case straight to theater owners
The Skydance chief goes to CinemaCon with promises and a skeptical crowd waiting
CALIFORNIA: David Ellison strode into a room packed with thousands of cinema owners and executives at CinemaCon in Las Vegas on Thursday and did something rather bold: he looked them in the eye and asked them to trust him.
The chief executive of Paramount Skydance vowed that his company would release a minimum of 30 films a year if regulators greenlight its proposed $110 billion acquisition of Warner Bros Discovery, a deal that has made theater owners deeply, and loudly, nervous.
“I wanted to look every single one of you in the eye and give you my word,” Ellison told the crowd. “Once we combine with Warner Bros, we are going to make a minimum of 30 films annually across both studios.”
It was a confident pitch. Whether it landed is another matter. Cinema operators have already called on regulators to block the deal, and scepticism in the room was hardly concealed.
Ellison pushed back by pointing to recent form. Paramount, born from the merger of Paramount Global and Skydance Media last August, plans to release 15 films this year, nearly double the eight it put out in 2025. Progress, he argued, was already underway.
He also threw theater owners a bone they have long been chasing: all films, he pledged, would run exclusively in cinemas for a minimum of 45 days, drawing applause from a crowd that has spent years fighting for exactly that commitment across the industry.
“People can speculate all they want,” Ellison said, “but I am standing here today telling you personally that you can count on our complete commitment. And we’ll show you we mean it.”
Fine words. The regulators, however, will have the last one.
