Outsider Pictures plucks 'Juan'

Outsider Pictures has picked up Cuba-set horror comedy "Juan of the Dead" for U.S. theatrical release. Film had already been acquired by Focus World, the digital-platforms arm of Focus Features, for release on VOD and DVD, among other formats. Satire, written and directed by Alejandro Brugues, centers on Juan (Alexis Diaz de Villegas) and a group of friends who attempt to beat back zombies that have invaded Havana. Outsider will open the film in Miami soon after the Miami Intl. Film Festival, during which the pic will unspool as part of the gala series of the fest that runs March 2-11. The exclusive theatrical run will subsequently screen at Miami Dade College's Tower Theater. Focus World's digital and homevideo release will follow later this year. Contact Gordon Cox at gordon.cox@variety.com

Heidi Klum and Seal Divorcing

Heidi Klum and Seal Heidi Klum and Seal are divorcing, the pair confirmed to individuals. "In the end have loved seven very loving, loyal and happy many years of marriage, after much soul-searching we've made the decision to split up,Inch the happy couple stated inside a statement. "We've had the greatest respect for each other throughout our relationship and then love one another greatly, but we've grown apart. It is really an friendly process and safeguarding the well-being in our children remains our main concern, especially throughout this time around of transition. Report: Heidi Klum to divorce Seal Klum, 38, and Seal, 48, started dating in 2003 and also got involved in December 2004. They married in Mexico in May 2005. The happy couple has three children together: Henry, 6, Johan, 5, and Lou, 2. Seal adopted Klum's 7-year-old daughter Leni from Klum's previous relationship to Flavio Briatore. "We thank us, buddies, and fans for his or her kind words of support," the happy couple added. "As well as for our children's sake, we appreciate you improving our privacy."

'Joyful Noise' preems at the Chinese

Broderick Johnson and Michael G. Nathanson Jeremy Jordan, Keke Palmer and Dexter DardenTodd Graff shares a laugh with Queen Latifah. Dolly Parton and DeQuina Moore Monday night's preem of Warner Bros.' "Joyful Noise" at the Chinese carried a strong sense of kismet for writer-director Todd Graff."I grew up in NY City around choirs because my mother was a choirmaster and my dad was a musician," he said at the afterparty at the House of Blues. "So I had the idea of a gospel choir movie for about 15 years."Two years ago, he'd worked out a half-hour pitch that he began taking around town before landing it with Alcon's Broderick Johnson -- whose mother is in a gospel choir in Georgia. "We decided that we'd do it but only if we could get Queen Latifah and Dolly Parton as the leads," Johnson recalled.Graff was particularly pleased that Sly Stone allowed him to use "I Want to Take You Higher" for the film's climactic scene -- with one small change."It's hard to get Sly to license his songs," Graff said. "He allowed us to change it so it's now 'He wants to take you higher.' "

USA Renews Psych for Seventh Season

Psych USA has restored Psych for just about any seventh season. The cable network gave the good thing to fans (also called Psych-Os) first on Tuesday, with the show's Facebook page and Twitter account. Clients received multiple items of a pineapple-created puzzle that revealed a distinctive message. The fourth and final little bit of the puzzle contained videos featuring stars Dulé Hill and James Roday, who told fans he needed help acquiring a brown belt. "Oh, in addition to, Psych is formally coming back for just about any seventh season, that's very awesome, however i am kinda concentrating on this belt situation at this time around,Inch Roday mentioned before Hill thanked their fans. Watch full cases of Psych Season 7 will contain 16 episodes and begin airing some time later this year. "We are always searching for techniques to reward our Psych brand ambassadors for loyalty and passion and social media plays an important role in the manner we communicate with individuals who matter most - the fans," USA Co-Presidents Chris McCumber and Rob Wachtel mentioned in the statement. "It absolutely was exciting to supply this historic news on their behalf first and before traditional media." Psych, presently USA's longest-running series, returns for your partner of Season 6 on Got married., Feb. 29 at 10/9c. Are you currently presently psyched for further Psych?

First teaser poster revealed for that Bourne Legacy

An initial teaser poster continues to be revealed for that Bourne Legacy, and although we are greatly looking forward to the experience franchise's new direction, we'd need to admit it looks a bit bland.Indeed, the brand new poster is really light on detail, all we are given is Jeremy Renner's title, the title from the movie along with a completely ordinary tag-line, which are mounted against a gray backdrop. Mmm.... gray. Exciting!Anybody who are able to read anything particularly intriguing in to the scratch-like markings on stated background, don't hesitate to enlighten us within the comments box below. For now, we'll be remaining somewhat deflated.The brand new film sees Jeremy Renner star as Aaron Mix, a Treadstone agent operating under numerous assumed details. Jason Bourne won't show up on-screen, however the occasions that occur within the Bourne Legacy may have profound implications for your character some way."What went down within the first three films may be the trigger for which happens [here]," describes director Tony Gilroy. "I am creating a legend as well as an atmosphere along with a wider conspiracy... the planet we are making improves and advances and invites Jason Bourne's return."The Bourne Legacy is going to be launched within the United kingdom on 17 August 2012. Let us hope we obtain a far more inspiring poster sometime until then...

Why J. Hoberman, Fired Village Voice Movie Critic, Matters

Yesterday's news that the Village Voice had laid off its longtime chief film critic J. Hoberman sent shockwaves through the worlds of movie journalism and independent film distribution. Aside from Roger Ebert, it's hard to imagine a current critic who's been at his post longer, who's had more impact on the indie film world and on other critics, or who's departure would leave a bigger void. His layoff marks the end of an era in criticism and may herald the beginning of an uncertain new era for independent filmmakers, who are losing one of their loudest champions. Hoberman started as a freelance movie critic at the Voice in 1978, joined the staff in 1983 and had been its lead critic since 1988. In recent years, readers of the Voice and its affiliated papers outside NY City had come to see him as an institution, along with such writers as chief music critic Robert Christgau and columnist Nat Hentoff, who had also been there for decades, and who helped give the paper its brand identity. Over the last half-dozen years, all those institutional voices were laid off (though Hentoff returned as a freelancer). Hoberman was the last to go, and he said in his statement that he was "shocked, but not surprised" by his own dismissal. Hoberman's absence won't just affect the Voice and its readers, many of whom are now losing their last connection to the newspaper of their youth. It could also affect the fortunes of the independent film distributors who depended on Hoberman to trumpet their work. Five years ago, when the Voice laid off several less senior movie critics, some indie companies threatened to stop buying ads in the Voice if Hoberman were let go as well. No word yet on whether they'll make good on that threat now, but independent distributors can't be happy about his ouster, since they depend on the goodwill of critics like Hoberman to reach their target audience. Under Hoberman, the Voice set the standard, followed by other alt-weekly newspapers across the country (including the 12 others owned by Village Voice Media) for comprehensive coverage of indie film releases, festivals, and local film series. In a statement yesterday, Voice editor Tony Ortega said the Voice remains "committed to providing comprehensive film coverage," but that will be difficult with fewer writers (especially in NY, with its overwhelming number of indie film offerings each year), none of whom has earned the trust of both distributors and readers the way Hoberman has. Hoberman earned his influence not just through sheer longevity but through the power of his ideas, the clarity of his observations, the daunting breadth of his knowledge, and the example he set as both a professional critic and as a teacher at NY University and elsewhere. Countless film critics, especially in the alt-weekly world (but also such mainstream-paper critics as the NY Times' Manohla Dargis), learned their craft either from his reviews or his classes. (One of his acolytes, Karina Longworth, is his heir apparent at the Voice. It's no knock on Longworth, who is young and full of promise, to say that her writing has yet to equal his in terms of its impact upon readers and distributors.) Hoberman has been one of my most influential teachers as well, though I don't know him personally. (Disclosure: I reviewed movies for the Voice from 1996 through 1999 as a freelancer working off-site, so he and I didn't interact.) His reviews taught me that all movies are inherently political, in that they all make a statement (conscious or not) about the way the world is or the way it could be. He also taught me to pay closer attention to the way movies are put together, from the performances to the visuals that fill the frame. Politically, aesthetically, it's all about what the director chooses to include, and what he or she chooses to leave out. (Over at IFC Fix, Matt Singer has some other good film-criticism lessons he learned in Hoberman's class. And fellow critic Glenn Kenny has collected nine choice passages from 35 years of Hoberman's reviews.) I'm not too worried about Hoberman himself. He'll land on his feet. He'll soon be blogging at his "blog of shameless self-promotion!!!" And he can always teach or write another book (he's written five, including one I was re-reading just yesterday, as part of my research for an upcoming article: 1991's 'Bridge of Light: Yiddish Film Between Two Worlds'). But he'll probably never have a platform as far-reaching as the one the Voice gave him. The Voice itself will be poorer for his loss, but so will film criticism, especially if the Voice's action inspires other outlets to accelerate the purging of their most distinctive, well-established critics or cut back on independent movie coverage. And if that happens, mainstream movies probably won't be affected (with their enormous marketing budgets, they're not so dependent on what critics say), but independent movies will be hurt. That would be a shame for moviegoers who search off the beaten path, either for films they might not otherwise hear about, or for the critics who help start the conversations about those films. Here's hoping that Hoberman can continue to be a forceful advocate for such movies, and that his voice won't be lost in the wilderness. [Photo: NYFCC] Follow Moviefone on Twitter Like Moviefone on Facebook Follow Gary Susman on Twitter: @garysusman

Legendary East splits with Huayi Siblings

Legendary's Chinese venture Legendary East has separated ways with Chinese distributor Huayi Siblings. The split can lead to restored investor curiosity about Legendary East's fundraiser efforts, based on sources with understanding from the discussions.On Friday, news broke that Legendary investor Paul Y. Engineering Number of Hong Kong put its suggested $220.5 million investment on hold because of shaky real estate markets. A part of that shakiness originated from traders, say sources with understanding from the fundraiser effort. Underneath the original proposal, PYE planned to consider a 50% stake in Legendary East. Thomas Tull's Legendary Entertainment might have a 40% stake in Legendary East and also the Huayi Siblings would go ahead and take remaining 10%. However the Huayi Brothers' share demonstrated too big for many bankers to swallow, based on sources with understanding from the discussions, and led to Legendary East's decision to allow lapse its self-enforced deal deadline of 12 ,. 31. Legendary East had initially enforced a random deadline, and also the company's relationship with Huayi Siblings dissolved when that deadline passed. Several U.S. companies including Legendary and Relativity will work challenging a toehold within the massive Chinese market, however the tough financial weather conditions are making some deals harder to finalize. Inside a statement on Friday, PYE stated it meant to restructure the proposal and re-launch the transaction within the year.InchWe maintain that diversification by having an purchase of Legendary East is advantageous to PYE," PYE chairman James Chiu mentioned within the release.PYE, a openly exchanged company around the Hong Kong stock exchange, is trying to boost the Legendary East funds by placing new company stock with private equity finance firm AID Partners, and thru UBS AG, with other institutional and individual traders. Using its 10% stakeholder out and the deal being reworked, sources with understanding from the discussions state that traders appear interested in closing a regular arrangement. Since 10% demonstrated unpalatable for traders, the chances are multiple distribs could replace Huayi's exclusive arrangement.Legendary Pictures' Thomas Tull merged with Chinese-born Hong Kong media and finance entrepreneur Kelvin Wu to produce Legendary East in June. The parties suggested making a couple of large-budget photos annually, beginning the coming year, with commercial appeal in China and worldwide. Company would make this happen simply by creating mainly British-language photos which include styles according to Chinese history, mythology or culture.A representative for Legendary and Legendary East rejected to comment, but launched an argument a week ago that confirmed the second would relaunch its planned fundraiser effort. "Legendary East will problem a proper announcement once the new structure and transaction is hard."Huayi Siblings couldn't be arrived at for comment. Contact Rachel Abrams at Rachel.Abrams@variety.com

Times Square New Years Eve Bash Warmer This Year

First Published: January 1, 2012 11:52 AM EST Credit: Ed Graff NY, N.Y. -- Caption Lady Gaga performs at New Years Eve 2012 in Times Square in NY City on December 31, 2011The crowds were getting primed in Times Square for the big New Years Eve ball drop with music by Lady Gaga, Pitbull, Justin Bieber with Santana and others. Hundreds of thousands people were crammed into spectator pens ringed by barricades, enjoying surprisingly warm weather for the Northeast this time of year. The National Weather Service said Saturday it was about 49 degrees in Central Park. Thats about 10 degrees warmer than normal. One reveler from Ecuador says the weather was amazing. Ron Martin says hes super-excited to be in the city to mark the beginning of 2012. Meanwhile, dozens of Occupy Wall Street demonstrators returned Zuccotti Park, the plaza they held for two months before police kicked them out in November. On Saturday night, they were again met by police. Copyright 2012 by The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.