Across the Universe

[Melonballer]

SO when I saw Stardust yesterday, I was quite surprised by this trailer. I am looking forward to hearing more about the movie as it gets closer to release.

Watch the trailer and we'll discuss it later.

http://www.fandango.com/videos/v+++331031

Edit: here's the website with a better quality trailer.

http://www.acrosstheuniverse.com/

[ALIASd]

An interesting article on this troubled production from a few months ago:

Sony's 'Across the Universe': Two versions in conflict - The New York Times 3/20/07
http://www.micechat.com/forums/showthread.php?t=57993&highlight=across+the+univer se+joe+roth

[BFJen]

so, its a story made out of beatles songs?

[Melonballer]

Originally Posted by BFJen

so, its a story made out of beatles songs?

I think so. There may be a few others, but the Beatles seem to be the focus. Its also a musical. It looks very trippy. Its got a bit of Moulin Rouge to it. I not sure what to think of it yet, other than trippy.

[cal4iri]

I saw this trailer a few months back and thought the movie looked amazing!! It reminded me of a movie like Forest Gump that would be released and then just take over and be a hit.

It's scary how much that Max character looks like Kurt Cobain!

[ALIASd]

The film opens in Los Angeles and New York September 14th
Nationwide September 21st

From Revolution Studios:

At once gritty, whimsical and highly theatrical, Revolution Studios' "Across the Universe" is an original movie musical springing from the imagination of renowned director Julie Taymor ("Frida," "Titus," and the Broadway smash hit musical "The Lion King") and writers Dick Clement & Ian La Frenais ("The Commitments").

A love story set against the backdrop of the 1960s amid the turbulent years of anti-war protest, mind exploration and rock 'n roll, the film moves from the dockyards of Liverpool to the creative psychedelia of Greenwich Village, from the riot-torn streets of Detroit to the killing fields of Vietnam. The star-crossed lovers, Jude (Jim Sturgess) and Lucy (Evan Rachel Wood), along with a small group of friends and musicians, are swept up into the emerging anti-war and counterculture movements, with "Dr. Robert" (Bono) and "Mr. Kite" (Eddie Izzard) as their guides. Tumultuous forces outside their control ultimately tear the young lovers apart, forcing Jude and Lucy – against all odds – to find their own way back to each other.

[sorceress1986]

To be honest, I hope this movie bombs. I really don't like that it uses washed out Beatles covers, has the nerver to try and be political in a way I simply think is counter-productive. Everytime I see this trailer, I like it less. I actually read a review where the auther said he didn't realize how really bad it was until the next day, when he pulled out Abbey Road and started listening. He said he felt like it has been stolen from him.

I mean, I admire the idea, I just don't think the execution looks good at all.

[Trac]

It looks like a cross between Hair and Moulin Rouge - I don't know I'll wait for HBO or the DVD

[brigeet]

In the trailer, the "I've Just Seen a Face" part looks cute and happy, but the rest that they cut to looks pretty unejoyable.

[aimster]

I saw the trailer for this when I saw Hairspray the other night. At first, my friend & I thought that made some trippy remake of Hair. But this looks like it has potential.

[ALIASd]

Across the Universe Director Julie Taymor Reinvents the Movie Musical With Classic Songs That Defined a Generation

Interscope Records To Release ACROSS THE UNIVERSE Original Motion Picture Soundtrack Featuring Songs Like 'I Am The Walrus', 'Come Together', and'All You Need is Love' Performed by Bono, Joe Cocker, Evan Rachel Wood, Jim Sturgess, Dana Fuchs and Others

LOS ANGELES, Aug. 27 /PRNewswire/ -- Visionary writer-director JulieTaymor (Frida, Titus, Broadway's The Lion King) and co-writers Dick Clementand Ian LaFrenais (The Commitments) bring the 1960s to life with Across the Universe. On September 18, Interscope Records will release the Across The Universe-Original Motion Picture Soundtrack.

At once gritty, whimsical and highly theatrical, Revolution Studios' Across the Universe is a groundbreaking movie musical that brings together an original story and 33 revolutionary songs -- including "Hey Jude," "I Am the Walrus," and "All You Need is Love" -- that defined a generation. A love story set against the backdrop of the 1960s amid the turbulent years of anti-war protest, mind exploration and rock 'n roll, the film moves from the dockyards of Liverpool to the creative psychedelia of Greenwich Village, from the riot-torn streets of Detroit to the killing fields of Vietnam. The star-crossed lovers, Jude (Jim Sturgess) and Lucy (Evan Rachel Wood), along with a small group of friends and musicians, are swept up into the emerging anti-war and counterculture movements, with "Dr.Robert" (Bono) and "Mr. Kite" (Eddie Izzard) as their guides. Tumultuous forces outside their control ultimately tear the young lovers apart,forcing Jude and Lucy -- against all odds -- to find their own way back to each other.

The film's creators drew their inspiration for the characters from the songs written by John Lennon & Paul McCartney, as well as by George Harrison and Ringo Starr. Unlike most musicals where the story comes first then songs are inserted, the songs themselves defined the characters and shaped the plot.

"It was a tremendous challenge and privilege to create an original movie musical using the Beatles' songs as inspiration for the story," said Taymor. Academy Award(R)-winning composer Elliot Goldenthal (Frida, Drugstore Cowboy, Interview With a Vampire) wrote the score to the film and produced and rearranged the songs along with Grammy(TM) winner T Bone Burnett (OBrother Where Art Thou?, Walk the Line) and Teese Gohl, who has worked with Goldenthal as a music producer on more than 20 films.

Interscope Records will be releasing the Across The Universe film soundtrack. Featured on the soundtrack are 16 songs, including Joe Cocker singing "Come Together," Evan Rachel Wood singing "Blackbird," and Bono performing "I Am the Walrus" and the end title track "Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds." Also featured on the album are cast performances of "All My Loving," "I Want To Hold Your Hand," "It Won't Be Long," "I've Just Seen A Face," "Let It Be," "Something," "Oh Darling," "Across the Universe," "Helter Skelter,""Strawberry Fields," "Happiness Is A Warm Gun," and "Hey Jude."

"The entire concept of this musical," Taymor describes, "is that the lyrics will tell the story. They are the libretto, they are the arias, they are the emotion of the characters." To give the music authenticity, the team recorded many of the songs using period appropriate equipment, such as analog tape and vintage microphones. Gohl recalls, "We were all on the same page in taking thisapproach and in our desire to avoid the digital pitfalls." "With this material, everybody knows it so well," Goldenthal explains."So the challenge was try to find an honest way -- staying within oneself-- of getting to the core of these songs and try to find other ways tosupport the beautiful words and music."

Revolution Studios presents a Matthew Gross/Team Todd production, afilm by Julie Taymor, Across the Universe will be in select theaters onSeptember 14, 2007. The Across The Universe -- Original Motion PictureSoundtrack will be released by Interscope Records on September 18, 2007.

http://www.myspace.com/acrosstheuniversemusic

[ALIASd]

Toronto

Across the Universe

Evan Rachel Wood, Jim Sturgess and T.V. Carpio star in
the sometimes-hallucinatory Beatles jukebox tuner 'Across the Universe.'

A Sony Pictures Entertainment release of a Columbia Pictures, Revolution Studios presentation of a Matthew Gross/Team Todd production. Produced by Suzanne Todd, Jennifer Todd, Gross. Executive producers, Derek Dauchy, Rudd Simmons, Charles Newirth. Co-producers, Richard Barratta, Ben Haber. Directed by Julie Taymor. Screenplay, Dick Clement, Ian La Frenais; story, Taymor, Clement, La Frenais; songs written by John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison, Ringo Starr.

Lucy - Evan Rachel Wood
Jude - Jim Sturgess
Max - Joe Anderson
Sadie - Dana Fuchs
Jo-Jo - Martin Luther McCoy
Prudence - T.V. Carpio

By Justin Chang
Variety
September 11, 2007

All you need is love -- for the Beatles, for psychedelic visuals, for ideas about being young in the ‘60s -- to fully enjoy “Across the Universe.” Julie Taymor has delivered an audacious, idiosyncratic creation that plays like a riff on “Hair” with Fab Four cachet, stretching a thin love story across one tumultuous decade. It’s all played with such conviction, that it’s hard to dislike but hard to take seriously. Pic’s commercial prospects look more in line with those of “Rent” than of “Chicago,” though the Taymor touch achieves enough sporadic moments of invention and punch-drunk romanticism to steal the hearts of baby boomers and young female auds in particular.

Full review at:
http://www.variety.com/review/VE1117...goryid=31&cs=1

[Missviolet]

I'm SO seeing this movie in the theater... I've had a movie itch for it ever since I saw the preview for it while seeing Harry Potter and the Order of the Pheonix... It looks fantastic.. a visual feast!