NICK FROST RETURNS AS 'NION' AS JESSICA CHASTAIN AND EMILY BLUNT JOIN SWATH PREQUEL

Deadline reports Nick Frost will be the only dwarf to reprise his role in Universal's Snow White and the Huntsman prequel, 'The Huntsman'. Frost will return as Nion.

Frost rejoins Chris Hemsworth as the huntsman and Charlize Theron as Queen Ravenna with SWATH's Visual Effects guru Cedric Nicolas-Troyan who will direct after the controversial departure of Frank Darabont. The first-time director received an Oscar nomination for his work on SWATH's VFX. This will most likely guarantee continuity between the two films. 

Also returning will be Joe Roth as producer and Palak Patel who will executive produce, according to Deadline.

Jessica Chastain (Zero Dark Thirty) and Emily Blunt (Into the Woods) joined the cast. Blunt is reported to play a villain. No word on Chastain's role. 

'The Huntsman' is set to be released April 22, 2016.

WATCH OUT SNL, THE EVIL QUEEN CHARLIZE THERON WILL BE A HOST

Charlize Theron will be hosting one of the last three remaining shows of the season for Saturday Night Live, according to E! News. 

Theron's second appearance as host is just in time to promote her new western comedy A Million Ways to Die in the West which was produced, directed and written by Seth McFarlane of Ted fame.  The film will be distributed by Universal Pictures. 

Theron will host on May 10th. The other hosts are Andrew Garfield who will be promoting his next installment of The Amazing Spiderman on May 3rd and SNL alum Andy Samberg will close out the season on May 17th.

The Black Keys will be the musical guest joining Theron.

A Million Ways to Die in the West which hits theaters on May 30th will be in tough company with SWATH producers Palak Patel and Joe Roth's Maleficent starring Angelina Jolie being released on the same day.

Check out Theron's first SNL monologue during the promotion of Monster which eventually gave her an Oscar.










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Photo: Getty

KRISTEN STEWART'S 'CAMP X-RAY' & 'SILS MARIA' BATTLE IN MTV'S MOVIE BRAWL OF 2014

MTV is back at it again this year pitting movies against movies to determine what film fans are looking forward to seeing this year. 

MTV's Movie Brawl 2014 voting has begun and Kristen Stewart has two films in the contending contest. 

Stewart's Camp X-Ray and Sils Maria are on opposite sides of the battle map but are up against stiff competition.

More after the jump

SWATH FAMILY SUPPORTS 
SNOW WHITE (KRISTEN STEWART) FOR MTV MOVIE AWARDS 
BEST HERO

The SWATH family is on board trying to get Snow White a win for the 2013 MTV Movie Awards Best Hero.

SWATH dwarf double Edd Osmond participated by tweeting a photo of Kristen and himself at the SWATH premiere after party on Instagram. Yesterday, producer Palak Patel cast his vote as well. 

..doing my bit for the kstew, #votesnowwwhite #kristenstewart #mtvmovieawards instagram.com/p/X0OIP3kjID/

— Edd Osmond (@EddOsmond) April 7, 2013

I just voted for Best Hero at the 2013 MTV #movieawards! #votesnowwhite. Go to on.mtv.com/XhsEOU to see who’s winning and vote!

— Palak Patel (@palakspatel) April 6, 2013

Snow White started out in a tough fight with Iron Man, now it is with Bilbo Baggins. It's been a cat and mouse fight between the two for the past few days.  With one week to go, hopefully she will pull it out. Here's how you can vote:

1. Go to MTV and click on the Twitter icon on Snow White's picture and cast as many votes as you want, or

2. Hashtag all of your tweets with #votesnowwhite, or

3. Hashtag a photo of Snow White or Kristen with #votesnowwhite.  Make it a photo with you with Kristen, you in a Snow White or SWATH costume etc... and make it creative. Stand out so MTV will post the photo. 

So go vote and keep voting as much as you can. The MTV Movie Awards will air next Sunday at 9pm EST on MTV.  




Source: Edd Osmond & Palak Patel

VIDEO & STILLS OF MARSAN & MCSHANE IN 'JACK THE GIANT SLAYER'

Here are movie stills featuring SWATH's Eddie Marsan (Photo above on left) and Ian McShane (below) in the newly released Jack the Giant Slayer. 

In an interview with MovieWeb, Marsan talks about the film and his character. Check out the video below.

While the film is currently not "slaying" at the box office in North America, the excuses are mounting regarding its lackluster performance from complaints about the movie poster artwork to the changing of the movie title from "Killer" to "Slayer".

Now with SWATH producer Palak Patel's Oz: The Great and Powerful set to hit theaters Friday at midnight, Jack will have less IMAX 3D screenings. 

Jack the Giant Slayer is based on a children's classic fairy tale Jack and the Bean Stalk with a modern twist by Warner Bros.  Audiences liked it giving a B+ CinemaScore although it received mixed reviews from critics.

So check it out in theaters now.

Ian McShane on left Ewan McGregor on right

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Images belong to Warner Bros.
All photos secured from Google Images

SWATH PRODUCERS JOE ROTH & PALAK PATEL SHINE ON 'OZ' YELLOW BRICK ROAD

Joe Roth & Palak Patel

SWATH and now 'Oz' producers Joe Roth and Palak Patel ease on down the yellow brick (carpet) road Wednesday at the world premiere of their next venture Oz: The Great and Powerful held at the  El Capitan Theatre in Hollywood.  The yellow brick road (carpet) was colorful and fantastical. Not only did it include the stars of the film, it boasted a hot air balloon too.

'Oz' stars James Franco (Oz) , Mila Kunis (Theodora),  Michelle Williams (Glinda), Rachel Weisz (Evanora) and Zach Braff (Frank/Finley).

The story is kind of prequel of sorts to The Wizard of Oz. Oz (Franco) is whisked away to the Land of Oz where he thinks he going to obtain fame and fortune only to find himself trying to determine who is friend or foe.

The film will be shown in IMAX 3D and will still have the visual traditions of the the original Oz film having the dullness of Kansas turn into the vibrancy of Oz.

Check out a few photos of the premiere below and visit the official website and follow the latest news on Twitter.  Oz: The Great and Powerful opens March 8th.  

From left to right: Walt Disney Studios Chairman Alan Horn, actors Abigail Spencer, James Franco, Mila Kunis, Michelle Williams, Joey King, Rachel Weisz, Zach Braff, Producer Joe Roth and Director Sam Raimi

Roth

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WILL SWATH & STEWART RECEIVE MOVIE GUIDE AWARDS NOMINATIONS? OR 
HAVE THEY?

Producer Palak Patel shared a photo of the gift basket received from MOVIEGUIDE 

On January 26, SWATH Producer Palak Patel tweeted the photo above to celebrate the nomination Snow White and the Huntsman received on behalf of MOVIEGUIDE®.

While researching the specifics of the nomination, their website was located.  It listed a host of nominees in several categories. 

Before the story was completed, the site had removed all of the nominee information replacing it with "Nominees to be announced shortly." An attempt was made to secure a recent press release. However, none could be located.

Read more after the jump

SWATH GETS OSCAR NOMS:
 ATWOOD (COSTUMES) 
VISUAL FX (DWARFS & MORE)

Although there was a hope for Original Song and even Hair and Makeup, however the pride is still there for the nominations received for Snow White and the Huntsman for the 85th Academy Awards.  

As expected previous Academy Award winner Colleen Atwood was nominated for Costume Design.  Her work immediately in the opening scene.  A well deserved nomination.

Next was for the Visual Effects team (Cedric Nicolas-Troyan, Philip Brennan, Neil Corbould and Michael Dawson) which is another well deserved nomination for their work particularly with the dwarfs and troll.  

Read more about their work on SWATH here and here. 

Universal Pictures received even bigger nominations with their film Les Miserables which received nominations for Best Picture, Best Actor, Best Supporting Actress and more. 

Their successful R-rated comedy Ted also received a nomination for Original Song for "Everybody Needs a Friend."

Read the rest of the Oscar nominations here.

Costume Design

"Anna Karenina" Jacqueline Durran 

"Les Misérables" Paco Delgado 

"Lincoln" Joanna Johnston 

"Mirror Mirror" Eiko Ishioka 

"Snow White and the Huntsman" Colleen Atwood

Visual Effects 

"The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey" Joe Letteri, Eric Saindon, David Clayton and R. Christopher White

"Life of Pi" Bill Westenhofer, Guillaume Rocheron, Erik-Jan De Boer and Donald R. Elliott 

"Marvel's The Avengers" Janek Sirrs, Jeff White, Guy Williams and Dan Sudick 

"Prometheus" Richard Stammers, Trevor Wood, Charley Henley and Martin Hill 

"Snow White and the Huntsman" Cedric Nicolas-Troyan, Philip Brennan, Neil Corbould and Michael Dawson Writing (Adapted Screenplay)

SWATH PRODUCER TWEETS HOLDIAY GREETINGS WITH A 
SNOW WHITE TREE SURPRISE

Seems like the SWATH family are in cheery holiday spirits with greetings on Twitter.  A tweet sent by SWATH Producer Palak Patel gave a little surprise when it included a photo of a Christmas ornament of Snow White and the dwarves.  With all the sequel talk in the air, this was surely a nice surprise.  

We will be retweeting cast holiday greetings as the send them but here are a few recently tweeted:

@palakspatel Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays! #snowwhite 

@mrjohnnyharris I wish you all a happy and peaceful Christmas holiday and thank you for all the kind words and messages over the past year... HAPPY XMAS X 

@samclaflin Back at home, all cosy on the couch with @laurajhaddock watching #Elf. Yey for Christmas.

@combatinternat CI and Clanranald Trust would like to wish all of our friends, colleagues, brothers and sisters, a wonderful Yuletide and peaceful new year.

NEW 'OZ THE GREAT AND POWERFUL' POSTER/BANNER

Although it hasn't been in the news lately, SWATH producers Joe Roth and Palak Patel's Oz the Great and Powerful appears to be gearing up for a little more promo. 

Here is the new poster/banner released.  Oz is a prequel to The Wizard of Oz starring James Franco as Oz. Check out more images below.

Oz the Great and Powerful opens March 8, 2013.

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PATEL'S 'OZ' TRAILER PREMIERES AT COMIC-CON

Disney

SWATH producer Palak Patel's Oz: The Great and Powerful premiered its trailer at the 2012 San Diego Comic-Con Convention.  Check it out below.

The Oz panel convened during the Disney presentations featuring the actresses who play witches, Mila Kunis (Theodora) and Michelle Williams (Glenda) along with Director Sam Raimi.  Collider provided a few notes from the press conference:

~ Raimi confirms that Bruce Campbell is in the picture, although he wouldn’t say in what capacity. His classic car is in the film, but it had to go under major alterations, but the engine and cam shaft are in the flick as part of the Wizard’s machinery.

~ Raimi said they never got the screenplay right on The Shadow, so he chose not to proceed with it. 

~ Great and Powerful takes elements from the second, third, and fourth L. Frank Baum books blended with new material, and then the final film nods “lovingly” to the 1939 film. However, they didn’t have permission to use original ideas from the MGM movie, so the ruby slippers won’t appear in the movie. Additionally, characters like Scarecrow and the Tin Man won’t be in the film because Great and Powerful is a prequel. 

~ Production designer Robert Stromberg and Raimi used Baum’s descriptions as a starting point to design the sets. Additionally, the 3D helped to create more detail in building a world we’ve never seen.

Photos from ET's Behind-The-Scenes Look

  

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NEW POSTER FOR 'OZ: THE GREAT & POWERFUL'

SWATH producer Palak Patel's Oz: The Great and Powerful has began their advertisement campaign with the recent release of their new movie poster just before Comic-Con.  Oz will be formally introduced during the Disney Comic-Con panel presentation this Thursday.


Oz stars James Franco, Zach Braff, Joey King and Abigail Spencer. Oz opens March 8, 2013.




Official synopsis: 


When Oscar Diggs (James Franco), a small-time circus magician with dubious ethics, is hurled away from dusty Kansas to the vibrant Land of Oz, he thinks he’s hit the jackpot—fame and fortune are his for the taking—that is until he meets three witches, Theodora (Mila Kunis), Evanora (Rachel Weisz) and Glinda (Michelle Williams), who are not convinced he is the great wizard everyone’s been expecting. Reluctantly drawn into the epic problems facing the Land of Oz and its inhabitants, Oscar must find out who is good and who is evil before it is too late. Putting his magical arts to use through illusion, ingenuity—and even a bit of wizardry—Oscar transforms himself not only into the great and powerful Wizard of Oz but into a better man as well. 






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STEWART & PATEL'S "OZ" TO HAVE PANELS AT COMIC-CON THIS THURSDAY: PANEL TIMES & INFO

Google Images

Kristen Stewart and SWATH producer will be attending the San Diego Comic-Con this Thursday.  Stewart will be appearing on the Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn Part 2 panel at the famous Hall H.


It is being reported that fans are already camping out for the final Hall H appearance of the cast.  It will have the largest cast appearance since the Twilight cast has been appearing at the Comic-Con. 


The Inquisitor reports that MTV announced the following cast members will be attending alongside Stewart:  


Robert Pattinson (Edward Cullen), new cast member Mackenzie Foy (Renesmee Cullen), Taylor Lautner (Jacob Black), Peter Facinelli (Carlisle Cullen), Nikki Reed (Rosalie), Ashley Greene (Alice Cullen), Jackson Rathbone (Jasper Hale) and Kellan Lutz (Emmett Cullen).


There are rumored reports stating that the wolfpack will appear as well but fans will have to wait and see.  Anything is possible insofar as additional cast members attending since this is the final appearance.

Summit/Lionsgate

The presentation will include a Q & A with the panel and exclusive footage of the highly anticipated film will be shown.


The Breaking Dawn press conference will be held at the Hilton Bayfront Hotel at 11:00AM to 12:15PM PST/2:00PM to 3:15PM EST.  The Hall H panel will be from 12:45 - 1:45PM PST/3:45 - 4:45PM EST.  Convert to your time zone here.


SWATH producer Palak Patel's Oz: The Great and Powerful  will be presented during the Disney panel presentation at 2:05PM to 3:05PM PST/5:05PM to 6:05PM EST in Hall H. 






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