Projects matching: John Williams

Synopsis

The tale Sophie- a young girl, the Queen of England and a benevolent giant known as The BFG (The Big Friendly Giant), who set out on an adventure to capture the evil, man-eating giants who have been invading the human world.
Based on Roald Dahl's beloved and best-selling novel.
Official Selection Cannes 2016 - Out of Competition

Synopsis

Two lads meet when one goes looking for his real father. Throughout the course of the day, they realise they have more in common than they think.

Synopsis

A teenage boy discovers his unruly neighbour is really a disgraced rock god who "died" eight years ago owing a fortune in unpaid tax. The boy agrees not to reveal his secret on condition that he teaches him the dark arts of rock guitar.
Berlin International Film Festival 2015 - World premiere

Synopsis

Albert Narracott, a young farmer, enlists for the British Army in WWI after he is parted from his beloved horse Joey who has been sold to the cavalry and deployed to France. Albert's epic journey takes him across Europe and eventually back to England.

Adapted from the novel of the same title War Horse is a story of adventure, friendship, loss and war.

Synopsis

1985. A secret tree house. Two children disguised in animal costumes experiment on reviving a bee. But they are searching for a way to bring back something much bigger.

A magical and moving story about a journey of discovery and revelation.

Synopsis

In Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, Harry Potter and his friends Ron and Hermione return as teenagers to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry for their third year of study, where they delve into the mystery surrounding an escaped prisoner who poses a dangerous threat to the young wizard.

Synopsis

Harry Potter has learned to live with his bullying uncle Vernon, his callous aunt Petunia and the constant whining of his greedy, spoiled cousin Dudley. He's even learned to live with sleeping in the cupboard under the stairs.
Harry's relatives have just as reluctantly learned to live with the unwelcome presence of their orphaned relation, a constant reminder of Petunia's 'wayward' sister and brother-in-law and their mysterious and untimely demise.
Even the impending arrival of his 11th birthday offers no excitement for Harry - as usual, there's little chance of cards, presents or any kind of birthday treat.
This year, however, is different.
Based on the first of J.K. Rowling's popular children's novels about Harry Potter, telling the story of a boy who learns on his 11th birthday that he is the orphaned son of two powerful wizards and possesses unique magical powers of his own. Invited to attend Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, Harry embarks on the adventure of a lifetime. At Hogwarts, he finds the home and the family he has never had.

Synopsis

This programme tracks the demise of three redundant robots as they attempt to re-assert meaning into their empty lives. The film takes a satirical view of this popular television format, combining stop motion animation and computer layering to explore the characters and their emotional dispositions.

Synopsis

In 1935, when it was more common for Irish families to leave their famine-stricken country for America, the impoverished McCourt family does the reverse. Angela and her alcoholic husband Malachi set sail from New York Harbour to Cork with their four children, Frank, Malachy Jr. and twins Eugene and Oliver to a land which a mystified young Frank had only heard of as 'where there was no work and people were dying of the starvation and the damp'.

A cold greeting awaits them in Limerick by Angela's Catholic family. Grandma lends them money for a small place but any hope of their luck changing soon disappears with Dad not being able to find employment, and Oliver and Eugene dying from malnourishment and the damp. Dad's spirits sink lower and he drowns his sorrows in alcohol.

Edinburgh Film Festival - nbx write up:

As soon as he finished reading Frank McCourt's Angela's Ashes, the devastating portrayal of a child growing up in Ireland, British film-maker Alan Parker tried to option the film rights. Although they had already been acquired by US producers David Brown and Scott Rudin, Parker soon signed on as director, taking a production credit via his London-based Dirty Hands Productions. The director then updated the first draft of the script written by Australian writer Laura Jones.

"Adapting any famous literary work is problematic in that, in the compression to a manageable cinematic shape, inevitably, certain characters and situations will be excluded," Parker said.

At that time in 1998, Dirty Hands had a first-look deal with PolyGram Filmed Entertainment, now known as Universal Pictures International (UPI). UPI agreed to back the project along with Paramount Pictures. With two-times Academy Award nominee Emily Watson and Robert Carlyle in place as the leads, and three boys cast for the three ages of Frank, production began in September 1998. "Our film had the advantage of being financed by two studios and so we had the luxury of moving this huge travelling circus around Ireland," says Parker.

The team decided to shoot in Dublin and Cork as well as Limerick, the western Irish town where the majority of the book is set. "It was obvious that a patchwork quilt, a mosaic of different places, would have to be put together to accurately replicate the Limerick of 50-odd years ago," says Parker.

Angela's Ashes wrapped in December 1998 after a 75-day shoot. It was released in the US in December 1999.