If 'The Conjuring' Gave Nightmares, 'IT' Writer Making 'Annabelle 3' Might Mean Death For You

 Celebrities
Apr 292018
 

If the year 2017 has taught us anything, ANYTHING at all, it is that – a) Dolls aren’t cute, they’re f**king scary, b) Clowns aren’t any great either, c) Hollywood directors will go to any lengths to scare the f**k out of you and make you pee your pants, and d) They can make insane amount of money by tapping on our fear.

At least, the insane success of movies like ‘IT’ and ‘Annabelle Creation’ can testify for me. Call it luck, a new found success mantra or birth of ‘Nothing Scares Me’ community, but horror genre has surprisingly managed to blow our minds away and probably that’s the reason why more directors are now trying their hands on that genre.

'Annabelle 3' Is Happening & Will Release In July 2019Warner Bros.

Both ‘Annabelle’ and ‘Annabelle: Creation’ worked wonders at the box office and clearly became one of the highest grossing movies in ‘The Conjuring’ series, with the latter minting over $100 million. So, it only makes sense to tap on people’s fear and bring another doll that will probably be scarier than her previous sisters or versions. And, as I write this story, talks of making ‘Annabelle 3’ have already begun.

If this wasn’t enough for you to hold the edge of your bed tightly, let me break another piece of news for you. ‘Annabelle 3’ is going to be helmed by Gary Dauberman, the man who co-wrote the script for Stephen King’s ‘IT’ and is currently working on ‘IT: Chapter Two’ and ‘The Nun’.

'Annabelle 3' Is Happening & Will Release In July 2019Warner Bros.

So, don’t be shocked if you see Pennywise casually making a cameo and haunting you in your nightmares along with the doll. Although, we know this won’t happen (not as of now), but being the ultimate thrill-seekers, I am sure you’re low-key praying for it to happen. Am I the only one who loves to watch horror movies, especially in the night only to get scared and have nightmares later on?

According to a report in The Hollywood Reporter, Dauberman who earlier wrote scripts for the first two Annabelle movies will now don the director’s hat. 

'Annabelle 3' Is Happening & Will Release In July 2019Warner Bros.

The report stated, “Details are being kept secret but the story will once again focus on the porcelain doll that is possessed by a demonic force.” Wow, now that was totally unpredictable and unexpected, right? But, what more do we need from ‘Annabelle 3’? Definitely, we don’t want to see the doll growing up in ‘The Conjuring’ cinematic universe and going to school and leading a normal life. We want to see her killing people on-screen. But, if the directors are listening to our prayers, can we please have Pennywise in the frame, even if it’s for a minute?

'Annabelle 3' Is Happening & Will Release In July 2019New Line Cinema

While we have no doubts about Dauberman’s scripting skills, given the huge list of movies he has to boast about, his directing debut is something to look forward to. You won’t have to wait for long for the movie to release. The makers are planning for a July 3, 2019 release for the movie. So, folks! Mark the dates because July is going to be the scariest month next year.

Sensex drops 73 points ahead of RBI policy meet

 Economy
Dec 172012
 

The author has posted comments on this articlePTI | Dec 17, 2012, 05.22PM IST
MUMBAI: The BSE benchmark Sensex today closed 73 points lower on profit-selling in blue-chips, including HDFC group firms and the IT pack, amid a lower GDP growth projection for current fiscal even as some are expecting RBI to spring a surprise tomorrow.

The 30-share Sensex resumed lower at 19,290.92 and hovered in a narrow 130-point range, before ending at 19,244.42, a loss of 72.83 points or 0.38 per cent.

Similarly, the NSE 50-share Nifty also moved down by 21.70 points, or 0.37 per cent, to 5,857.90.

Brokers said trading sentiment dampened after government lowered the growth projection for the current financial year to 5.7-5.9 per cent from 7.6 per cent estimated earlier.

Moderating inflation has raised hopes of rate cut by the Reserve Bank tomorrow, but experts believe it is more likely to cut the Cash Reserve Ratio for banks than go for rate cut.

HDFC and HDFC Bank shares slipped 1.6-1.8 per cent. Most investors remained cautious and refrained from enlarging any fresh positions before the RBI mid-quarterly policy meeting tomorrow, brokers added.

However, ICICI Bank and SBI shares gained 0.6-1 per cent. “Market is likely to stay cautious in anticipation of the RBI move tomorrow. Rates are most likely to remain unchanged …yet some are expecting RBI to spring a surprise,” said Amar Ambani, Head of Research, IIFL.

Reliance Industries and ITC fell 0.6-0.8 per cent on profit-booking activity. Bharti Airtel, which fell 3.7 per cent, was the worst performer in Sensex today.

Weak sentiment from Europe also hit domestic markets on concerns over the so-called US fiscal cliff.

IT stocks, including TCS and Wipro fell in 1.4-2.8 per cent. Infosys also dropped 0.56 per cent on growth worries, dealers said.

India Inc to focus on women talent next year

 Economy
Dec 112012
 

The author has posted comments on this articleMini Joseph Tejaswi, TNN | Dec 12, 2012, 01.50AM IST
BANGALORE: A key HR agenda in 2013 would be to invest in women talent, says a survey conducted across 130 companies in India that operate in multiple domains. Some 79% of the companies polled believe that investing in women would bring them sustainable growth and increased productivity.

Enterprises surveyed said more than 75% of their diversity & inclusion (D&I) investments for 2013 would go into inducting, developing, training and retraining women talent. Currently, the D&I budget is spread between many diversity activities around gender, generation, culture, people with disabilities (PWD) and differences in sexual orientation.

The study found that 55% of the companies surveyed have a D&I budget of Rs 10-20 lakh, 10% have Rs 20-50 lakh and another 10% between Rs 50 lakh and Rs 1 crore for the calendar year 2012. Some 22% of the respondents said they were yet to allocate a D&I budget and they would do so from the coming year.

The average annual D&I spend of the 130 companies surveyed is Rs 17.13 lakh. “If one were to go strictly by the amount of money being invested in the quest of a diverse workforce, India certainly lags behind countries like the US where companies spend between $2,00,000 and $3,00,000 per annum on D&I training and consulting,” said Saundarya Rajesh, founder president of Avtar Career Creators and Flexi Careers India, the organizations that conducted the survey.

IT, BPO, KPO and FMCG companies have higher budgets for gender diversity compared to other industries. TOI had reported in July that companies were putting an extraordinary amount of effort this year into increasing the number of women in their workforce, including paying higher fees to third party recruiters for finding appropriate women candidates.

“D&I is a relatively recent aspect of workplace culture which has found traction in the US and UK, where studies have convincingly proved the existence of a direct correlation between a diverse workforce and improved business performance. And many companies want to explore it in India as well,” Rajesh said.

Sangeeta Gupta, vice-president in IT industry body Nasscom, said Indian corporates were keen to move beyond policies and frameworks to actually doing things to increase the share of women and train them for leadership roles.

Rajashree Nambiar, a general manager at Standard Chartered Bank said, “We are going to invest additional energies and resources to cultivate our women talent. There is no reason why we should not have equal participation from the other half of the population.”

As much as 83% of respondents in the survey said they were keen on hiring second career women – those who took career breaks for marriage or childbearing.

The survey also found that 70% of the companies in traditional industries had well-structured D&I committees as compared to only 58% in the IT/BPO segment.

This suggests that the general view that industries such as manufacturing, engineering and infrastructure are not very evolved in their D&I practices is perhaps a myth.