Paramount Pictures announced it ended 2011 in the No. 1 position among all studios, having achieved the highest total combined gross of any studio for the year, earning a record $5.17 billion worldwide. The studio, which released a total of 16 new releases domestically this year, placed first in the North American market share with $1.96 billion, while also amassing record grosses at the international box office with $3.21 billion.

“This achievement reflects the combined efforts of our entire team across the globe and the careful process by which we select the projects and partners we believe in,” said Paramount Pictures Chairman & CEO Brad Grey. “We produce pictures that aspire to entertain audiences around the world, while at the same time we have sought to find innovative ways to reach movie-goers in this changing entertainment environment.

“This year our studio reached some key milestones, including the release of three vibrant Paramount franchise pictures and our first original CGI animated film. Our studio had its first ever $1 billion worldwide grossing film in Michael Bay’s hit ‘Transformers: Dark of the Moon’; we successfully re-launched our ‘Mission Impossible’ franchise with Tom Cruise, JJ Abrams and Brad Bird; our latest installment in the ‘Paranormal Activity’ franchise had another $100 million dollar success; our first original animated film ‘Rango,’ from director Gore Verbinski, earned rave reviews and more than $100 million at the domestic box office; and  we released global phenomenon ‘Super 8,’ directed by JJ Abrams, who will now direct the newest ‘Star Trek’ for 2013. We also benefited from our distribution partnerships with DreamWorks Animation and Marvel and I want to thank them both.”

“Film President Adam Goodman and his team in production and development, and Vice Chairman Rob Moore and his team in marketing and distribution, did outstanding work and truly delivered. As we prepare to celebrate Paramount’s 100th year in 2012, we are all grateful to be part of this wonderful institution as it continues to prosper,” added Grey.

In 2012, Paramount’s release slate highlights include ‘World War Z,’ a zombie thriller starring Brad Pitt and directed by Marc Forster, ‘G.I. Joe: Retaliation,’ the next installment in the global franchise starring Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson and Channing Tatum, a new chapter in the ‘Paranormal Activity’ franchise, and ‘The Dictator,’ starring Sacha Baron Cohen and directed by Larry Charles, the team behind ‘Borat.’

The 2011 box office results seen from the studio were built on a wide reaching range of titles, including the following (with current domestic grosses): ‘True Grit’ ($85 mil this year, $171.2 million total), Ivan Reitman’s ‘No Strings Attached’ ($70.7 mil), Jon Chu’s ‘Justin Bieber: Never Say Never’ ($73 mil), Gore Verbinski’s ‘Rango’  ($123.5 mil), Marvel Studio’s ‘Thor’ ($181 mil), DreamWorks Animation’s ‘Kung Fu Panda 2’ ($165.2 mil), JJ Abrams ‘Super 8’  ($127 mil), Michael Bay’s ‘Transformers:  Dark of the Moon’ ($352.4 mil), Marvel Studio’s ‘Captain America: The First Avenger’  ($176.7 mil), Craig Brewer’s ‘Footloose’ ($51.7 mil), the third installment in the hit ‘Paranormal Activity’ franchise ($104 mil), DreamWorks Animation’s ‘Puss In Boots’ ($145.8 mil), Sundance prize-winner ‘Like Crazy’ ($3.4 mil), Martin Scorsese and GK Films’ ‘Hugo’ ($50.2 mil), Jason Reitman’s ‘Young Adult’ ($12.8 mil), Brad Bird’s ‘Mission: Impossible — Ghost Protocol’ ($142.8 mil) and Steven Spielberg’s ‘Tintin’ ($51.4 mil).

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Fresh out of the Air Force and a stint as a copy boy at Time Magazine, future Gonzo journalist Hunter S. Thompson moved down to San Juan, Puerto Rico in 1960, briefly worked at the soon-to-fold sporting magazine El Sportivo, and unsuccessfully pursued a job at The San Juan Star.

The people he met and the experiences he had in Puerto Rico inspired him to write ‘The Rum Diary’, which remained unpublished for decades. In the 1990s, Johnny Depp, Thompson’s close friend, accidentally discovered the manuscript for ‘The Rum Diary’ while visiting Thompson’s house in Woody Creek.

That same night they decided to publish the novel and adapt it into a film. Bruce Robinson, the director of ‘Withnail and I’, was brought out of retirement by Depp to write the script as well as direct the film. Their version of ‘The Rum Diary’ is both a labor of love and a clear-eyed tribute to Thompson.

“I felt Hunter with me throughout the shoot,” says Depp in the new movie’s production notes. “It was great to be close to him again, in that sense; it was great to have him around me. I knew what he would say in every circumstance. I just knew, because I knew him very well. If he’d seen the finished film, he’d be whooping.

He’d be making those Hunter noises that anyone close to Hunter knew. They meant, ‘Yes man, we’ve done it! Fantastic!’ He would have been celebrating. Ultimately, the film is a celebration of Hunter, his language and his discovery of his voice. He’d be super happy, I’m sure.”

Based on the early novel by Hunter S. Thompson, ‘The Rum Diary’ tells the increasingly unhinged story of itinerant journalist Paul Kemp, played by Johnny Depp. Tiring of the noise and madness of New York and the crushing conventions of late Eisenhower-era America, Kemp travels to the pristine island of Puerto Rico to write for a local newspaper, The San Juan Star, run by downtrodden editor Lotterman (Richard Jenkins).

Adopting the rum-soaked life of the island, Paul soon becomes obsessed with Chenault, played by an enchanting Amber Heard, the wildly attractive Connecticut-born fiancée of Sanderson (Aaron Eckhart). Sanderson, a businessman involved in shady property development deals, is one of a growing number of American entrepreneurs who are determined to convert Puerto Rico into a capitalist paradise in service of the wealthy.

When Kemp is recruited by Sanderson to write favorably about his latest unsavory scheme, the journalist is presented with a choice: to use his words for the corrupt businessmen’s financial benefit, or use them to take the bastards down. The Academy Award nominated writer and director Bruce Robinson directs from his screenplay based on the original novel by Thompson.

‘The Rum Diary’ represents the debut film of Infinitum Nihil, the production company headed by Johnny Depp and Christi Dembrowski, together with Academy Award Winner Graham King’s production company GK Films. The film is being produced by Johnny Depp, Christi Dembrowski, Anthony Rhulen, Robert Kravis, and Graham King.

Image Courtesy of   http://www.facebook.com/RumDiaryMovie

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