(500) Days Of Summer in the UK, Germany samples Whisky With Vodka.

UK:

Indie rom-com (500) Days Of Summer rolled out wide in the UK through 20^th Century Fox from Wednesday (September 2). The offbeat film stars Joseph Gordon-Levitt as a man with an idealised view on love, who falls for a woman (Zooey Deschanel) who does not believe true love exists. The film has made more than $25m in the US.

Revolver Entertainment gives Big Man River a limited release in the market from today (September 4). John Maringouin’s documentary follows Martin Strel, an eccentric endurance swimmer in his attempt to swim the 3,375 miles of the Amazon river.

Canadian First World War epic Passchendaele also gets a limited release, through High Fliers. Paul Gross’s film has enjoyed home success, but to date has as failed to connect to audiences elsewhere.

Germany:

Andreas Dresen’s Whisky With Vodka gets its German release, after its world premiere at Munich’s Filmfest and picking up the best direction award at Karlovy Vary. Many industry observers consider it a brave move from distributor Senator Filmverleih to release the film on 120 prints, but producer Christoph Müller and Senator chief Helge Sasse are convinced that it will repeat the success of Dresen’s last film, Cloud 9 (Wolke 9) , and reach the 500,000 admissions mark.

The Finnish box office hit Tears Of April (Käsky) is opening in Germany for Venusfilm after its September 1 premiere at Berlin’s Central Kino with director Aku Louhimies and lead actors Samuli Vauramo (a European Shooting Star at the Berlinale this year) and Pihla Viitala in attendance.

Production company Pop Tutu Film has stepped in distribution to release its documentary Halfway To Heaven by Andrea Lammers and Ulrich Miller. The film centres on former refugees living in the Guatemalan jungle to create a global vision of a peaceful life in their village, Aurora. A year later, their dream is destroyed when a military patrol leaves several dead and many wounded. The villagers’ struggle for justice sees the first trial against the military in a civil court in Latin America. The film is being released in seven German towns in original versions or with German subtitles.

France:

Christophe Honore’s anticipated second feature Non Ma Fille, Tu N’Iras Pas Danser was released from September 2 on 198 screens nationwide. The Le Pacte release scored a very solid 21,335 admissions on its first day of release to take the top spot at the box office in a crowded week of indie releases. Chiara Mastroianni and Marino Fois star in the comedy/drama.

Les Regrets, released through Mars Distribution, went out on 130 screens on Wednesday. The film stars Yvan Attal and Valeria Bruni Tedeschi in a love story about high-school sweethearts reunited later in life. It is director Cedric Kahn first film since 2005’s L’Avion.

Eyes Wide Open came in third this week on its first day of release. The Haut et Court film went out on just 54 screens to bring in 4,265 admissions on Wednesday. From director Haim Tabakman, the film is a drama about an Israeli man who falls for a young male student. It ran in Un Certain Regard this year in Cannes.

Spain:

Sci-fi thriller Gamer, starring Gerard Butler and backed by Lionsgate, hits Spanish screens this weekend through local outfit On Pictures. Directed by Mark Neveldine and Brian Taylor, the duo behind the Crank films, Gamer is set in the near future where humans can control other humans through computer games.

Sony will release Spanish thriller Guts (Agallas) on 180 prints in Spanish cinemas, following its critical success at the Malaga Film Festival. Described as a mixture of Scorsese and Coen Brothers in style, Andres Luque and Samuel Martin’s film tells the story of a confident young man, Sebastian (Hugo Silva), who leaves prison and goes to work at a fishmongers, which is a front for a drugs operation. He soon finds himself in deep trouble.

French director Josiane Balasko’s romantic drama Cliente hits Spanish cinemas following a successful run in France where it took close to $5m. Vertigo Films will release the drama, starring Nathalie Baye, as a successful, middle-aged divorcee who pays young male escorts for sex, including Marco (Eric Caravaca) who leads a double life as a construction worker.