Reading

Quickly read the blog and find the author’s opinion on the following names?

1. Robert Downey Jr.

2. Gone with the Wind

3. Ashish Sharma

4. Bãhubali

Film records

The record books are full of great film trivia, but only gossip about stars is usually heard. I like the gossip, but what about the film trivia we aren't told about? Some film records are much more interesting. For example, did you know that Robert Downey Jr. was paid more than any other actor for his role as Iron Man in the Avengers films (the huge sum of eighty million US dollars)? And I bet you can’t guess which film has the record for the most tickets sold. I was amazed! Well, apparently more cinema tickets were sold for Gone with the Wind, a 1930s romance, than for any other film. I haven’t even seen it but it sounds terrible! The classic science fiction film Star Wars comes a close second, and I’m sure that it’s a much better movie.

One truly unbelievable film record was set by a man called Ashish Sharma in Mathura, India, in 2008. He sat in a cinema and watched films for an incredible 120 hours and twenty-three minutes – that’s forty-eight films in total.

Another film-related record from India is about the world’s largest film poster. It was made to advertise India’s biggest action film of 2015, Bãahubali. The size of it is extraordinary! At nearly 5,000 square metres, it’s more than half the size of a professional football pitch! It wasn’t made in the usual way. It was designed by the film’s director S. S. Rajamouli and it was made by a team of thirty people who worked around the clock for three days.

Read and listen to the blog again. Choose the correct answers.

1. The writer believes that gossip about film stars …

a. is usually only about awards that stars win.

b. is less interesting than some other film facts.

c. isn’t interesting.

2. Gone with the Wind …

a. is not a modern film.

b. holds many film records.

c. made eighty million dollars.

3. Ashish Sharma …

a. plans to watch the film that will be 120 hours long.

b. has watched forty-eight films in his lifetime.

c. has had a film record for several years.

Read the Study Strategy. Practise reading the blog out loud.

Film records

The record books are full of great film trivia, but only gossip about stars is usually heard. I like the gossip, but what about the film trivia we aren't told about? Some film records are much more interesting. For example, did you know that Robert Downey Jr. was paid more than any other actor for his role as Iron Man in the Avengers films (the huge sum of eighty million US dollars)? And I bet you can’t guess which film has the record for the most tickets sold. I was amazed! Well, apparently more cinema tickets were sold for Gone with the Wind, a 1930s romance, than for any other film. I haven’t even seen it but it sounds terrible! The classic science fiction film Star Wars comes a close second, and I’m sure that it’s a much better movie.

One truly unbelievable film record was set by a man called Ashish Sharma in Mathura, India, in 2008. He sat in a cinema and watched films for an incredible 120 hours and twenty-three minutes – that’s forty-eight films in total.

Another film-related record from India is about the world’s largest film poster. It was made to advertise India’s biggest action film of 2015, Bãahubali. The size of it is extraordinary! At nearly 5,000 square metres, it’s more than half the size of a professional football pitch! It wasn’t made in the usual way. It was designed by the film’s director S. S. Rajamouli and it was made by a team of thirty people who worked around the clock for three days.

VOCABULARY PLUS Use a dictionary to check the meaning of the words in blue in the text.

Film records

The record books are full of great film trivia, but only gossip about stars is usually heard. I like the gossip, but what about the film trivia we aren't told about? Some film records are much more interesting. For example, did you know that Robert Downey Jr. was paid more than any other actor for his role as Iron Man in the Avengers films (the huge sum of eighty million US dollars)? And I bet you can’t guess which film has the record for the most tickets sold. I was amazed! Well, apparently more cinema tickets were sold for Gone with the Wind, a 1930s romance, than for any other film. I haven’t even seen it but it sounds terrible! The classic science fiction film Star Wars comes a close second, and I’m sure that it’s a much better movie.

One truly unbelievable film record was set by a man called Ashish Sharma in Mathura, India, in 2008. He sat in a cinema and watched films for an incredible 120 hours and twenty-three minutes – that’s forty-eight films in total.

Another film-related record from India is about the world’s largest film poster. It was made to advertise India’s biggest action film of 2015, Bãahubali. The size of it is extraordinary! At nearly 5,000 square metres, it’s more than half the size of a professional football pitch! It wasn’t made in the usual way. It was designed by the film’s director S. S. Rajamouli and it was made by a team of thirty people who worked around the clock for three days.