All articles by Geoffrey Macnab – Page 183
-
News
Buyers take plunge for Pathe's Descent
Buyers have been lapping up Neil Marshall's gorefest TheDescent, one of many new British horror films being touted at last month'sCannes market. After screening footage to buyers early in the festival,Pathe Pictures International (PPI) clinched deals with Avex in Japan, SquareOne Entertainment in Germany, Vertigo in Spain, CDE Videa in ...
-
News
DreamWorks wins Match Point as UK buyers circle
After a ferocious bidding war, DreamWorks has picked upNorth American rights to Woody Allen's Match Point for a reported $4m.The deal comes as UK buyers continue to circle what is considered one ofAllen's strongest commercial prospects in several years. The film, his first tobe made in England, is being sold ...
-
News
Zelenka's Wrong Side Up wins Moscow slot
Wrong Side Up, the latest film from Czechdirector Petr Zelenka, has been chosen for competition at the 27th MoscowInternational Film Festival (June 17-26). The film, released in the Czech Republic in February 2005, has already rackedup more than 200.000 admissions in its domestic market. 'We're very happyto see Wrong ...
-
News
The Works closes multiple deals on Cannes slate
As the dust settles onanother Cannes market, UK-based sales agents The Works announced yesterday thatit had closed multiple deals on its Cannes slate. "It was a busymarket and we were there then to the bitter end closing deals," said TheWorks' Joy Wong. Among The Works' titles to catch buyers' eyes ...
-
News
Viggo Mortensen takes lead in Nazi drama
Viggo Mortensen is to star in Good, the screen adaptation of CP Taylor's award-winning stage play set during the Nazi era. British actors Jason Isaacs and Mark Strong will also appear in the film, which will be directed by Vicente Amorin. The screenplay has been written by John Wrathall.Good tells ...
-
News
Artificial Eye loads up with Cannes titles
Leading UK independent distributor Artificial Eye has comeaway from Cannes with a haul of six titles in official selection including thisyear's Palme D'Or winner, the Dardennes brothers The Child, andDirector's prize winner, Hidden, by Michael Haneke.The other Artificial Eye pick-ups are Francois Ozon's Le Temps Qui Reste,which screened in Un ...
-
News
Menzel ready to Serve The King
Oscar-winningCzech director Jiri Menzel is edging ever closer to a starting date for hislong-gestating I Served The King Of England. The Euros 3m project, puttogether by producers AQS and Bioscop as a Czech/Hungarian/German/Slovakianco-production, is close to being fully financed. The first part of the 61-dayshoot is slated to take place ...
-
News
Julian Richards gets Prolific with new slate
Prolific Britishdirector/producer Julian Richards (The Last Horror Movie) has announced a slate of new projects through hisdevelopment and production outfit, Prolific Films.Krizia is a supernaturalhorror film scripted by Andrew Miller (Cube, Nothing) about a schizophrenic girl with telekinetic powers.Long Dark Hours, backed by the Arts Council of Wales, is billed ...
-
News
Kaurismaki embarks on Nightwatchman shoot
Shooting has begun inFinland on Nightwatchman, thethird part of Aki Kaurismaki's Finland trilogy. Having dealt withunemployment in Drifting Cloudsand homelessness in Man Without A Past, the Finnish auteur is now taking as his subject "loneliness in suburbanHelsinki." The film is being made through Kaurismaki's production companySputnik.Among the starsis Paju, the ...
-
News
Verhoeven's Black Book closes financing
VIP Mediafondshas boarded Black Book,Paul Verhoeven's long-gestating $20m wartime thriller, as majority financier,finally giving a start-date to the project in August on location in TheNetherlands and at Studio Babelsberg.The cast is ledby Dutch star Carice van Houten, Halina Reijn and Dutch actor Thom Hoffman. Thelead German parts are played by ...
-
News
Petit embarks on Unrequited Love shoot
Shooting hasbegun on Unrequited Love, the latest feature from cult British filmmaker Chris Petit (LondonOrbital, Asylum). Adapted from abook by Greg Dart, the film is an essay-drama exploring the links betweenunrequited love and stalking.The film is aco-production set up by Illuminations with Mediopolis in Berlin, LondonFilm,.MDM, ZDF/ARTE, YLE and the ...
-
News
Blue Star launches Tracker, My Favourite Game
London-basedBlue Star Movies is handling international sales on two new projects.Tracker is a $20mdrama-thriller set in New Zealand. It will be co-produced with the UK's EdenFilms. David Burns (Eden Films) and Pete Maggi (Blue Star Movies) will produce,while Nicolas van Pallandt, who also wrote the script, is set to direct.Set ...
-
News
Svankmayer project headlines Barrandov Studios slate
Theproduction arm of Barrandov Studios has announced further details of itscurrent slate.It is shortly to appoint asales agent for Lunacy, the newproject from cult Czech animator Jan Svankmayer. A co-production withAthanor, Czech TV and C-GA Film, Lunacy is inspired by Edgar Allan Poe and the Marquis De Sade. Combining liveaction ...
-
News
Lucky Red embarks on Cannes buying spree
Upscale Italian arthousedistributor Lucky Red has been on a buying spree in Cannes, snapping up rightsto three new titles. It has picked up Korean gangster drama A BittersweetLife from CJ Entertainment, Thaihorror hit Shutter from GMM ThaiHub and Carlos Reygadas' competition entry, Battle In Heaven from The Co-Production Office.Just prior ...
-
News
Bond plots shooting defection from UK to Prague
Having boosted the Britishproduction sector for decades, James Bond is in advanced negotiations to headto Eastern Europe for his next outing, Casino Royale.A spokesperson for Prague'sBarrandov Studios confirmed that the studio is well along in talks with EonProductions, the production outfit behind the James Bond franchise, to come to the ...
-
News
Starfield's Rabbit sex comedy arouses interest
UK-basedStarfield Productions has been enjoying some enjoyable tremors with its raucousnew sex comedy about a vibrator, Rabbit Fever, directed by Ian Denya. An all-starcast has been assembled for the project, about the best-selling vibrator in theworld, known as The Rabbit. Sienna Guilroy, Tom Conti, Stephanie Powers, Tara Summers,Flora Montgomery, Sam ...
-
News
High Point scores Vinci sales to Japan, US
UK outfit High Point Filmshas announced sales on Juliusz Machulski's Vinci, which screened at Cannes earlier in the week. The comedy crime caper hasbeen picked up by New Select Co in Japan, Bonton Film for the Czech Republicand Slovakia and Pegaz Art Production for North America.Vinci officially opens its festival ...
-
News
Participant gobbles up Fast Food Nation
eBay mogul Jeff Skoll'sParticipant Productions has munched up North American rights as well a healthymouthful of equity in Fast Food Nation, it was announced in Cannes yesterday by Participant ProductionsPresident Ricky Strauss. The deal was done with London-based Hanway Films.Fast Food Nation is a Recorded Picture Company production. It isbeing ...
-
News
Slimline Rotterdam festival to roll back the years
The Rotterdam Festival(IFFR) is to downsize, festival director Sandra den Hamer has confirmed inCannes. Aiming torecapture some of the intimacy which characterised the festival's early yearsunder founder Hubert Bals, Den Hamer says she is planning to cut the programmeby around 20%."One of the biggest challenges for me isto make it ...
-
News
Storitel funding rouses horror Arising
Manchester-based producerPaul Sherwood's Storitel Films is to fully finance Arising, a new Britishhorror film marking the directorial debut of veteran TV director Bob Baldwin. Scripted by Dan Spencer,Nick Ryan and Mark Barron, the film moves into production next month. Also new on Storitel's slateis (Seymour's Adventures in) Bookworld, billed as ...