All articles by John Hazelton – Page 9
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News
Martin to direct Cadillac Records for Sony BMG Film
Sony BMG Film has chosen Darnell Martin (Their Eyes Were Watching God) to direct Cadillac Records, a feature about the world of rock and roll in 1950s Chicago, from her own script. Production is set to begin later this year on location in Chicago, with Sofia Sondervan and Andrew Lack ...
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News
Kerry McCluggage to give keynote at IFTA conference
Kerry McCluggage, chairman of Allumination FilmWorks and former chairman of Paramount Television Group, is to deliver the keynote speech at the Independent Film & Television Alliance's (IFTA) annual Production Conference next month. The event, which takes place on June 15 at the Beverly Hills Hotel, will also feature panels on ...
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News
CineVegas to honour Hopkins, Kingsley, Theron
The Cine Vegas Film Festival has set Anthony Hopkins, Ben Kingsley, Mike Newell and Charlize Theron to receive awards during its June 6-16 run at the Palms Casino Resort in Las Vegas. Hopkins will get the event's Marquee Award; Kingsley the Vanguard Actor Award; Newell the Vanguard Director Award; and ...
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News
Kindred's Erb and Nicolo start production outfit Feverpitch
Distribution and production executives Jeffrey D. Erb and Joe Nicolo have left distribution company Kindred Media Group to form their own production operation, Feverpitch Pictures. Feverpitch plans to produce two to four films a year in the $1m-$5m range. The company says it will also set up one or two ...
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News
Peace Arch starts US distribution arm under Balsam
Peace Arch Entertainment is setting up a US theatrical distribution division to be headed by the Canadian company's president of US distribution Mark Balsam. First release for the new Peace Arch Releasing division will be Tom DiCillo's Sundance premiere Delirious, which will open in New York City on Aug 8. ...
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News
Sony challenges Disney's Pirates box-office record figures
Walt Disney Co has released final box office figures for the opening of Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End, producing a slightly increased six-day worldwide total of $404m. At the same time, however, Sony, distributor of this month's earlier global blockbuster Spider-Man 3, has raised doubts about some of ...
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News
Pirates reaches $156m domestic, $245m international
Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End ended the four-day North American holiday weekend with an estimated domestic gross of $156m, a new record for the Memorial Day weekend. And distributor Buena Vista issued a new international figure of $245m (including estimates for Monday), pushing the film's worldwide total ...
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News
Pirates raids international market with $205.5m opening
Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End grossed an estimated $205.5m in the international marketplace this weekend, the biggest standard opening of all time, according to distributor Buena Vista International (BVI).If early estimates putting the film's North American total at $126.5m stand up, At World's End, the third installment of ...
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News
Third Pirates gets global launch
Pirates Of The Caribbean: At World's End invades the global marketplace this weekend, opening in North America and 101 international markets in what will be Buena Vista's biggest day-and-date launch ever. The third installment of Disney and Jerry Bruckheimer's swashbuckling franchise - with regulars Johnny Depp, Orlando Bloom and Keira ...
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Reviews
Pirates Of The Caribbean: At World's End
Dir: Gore Verbinski. US. 2007. 167mins.Disney's Pirates Of The Caribbean trilogy coasts to its conclusion with At World's End, a third instalment that adds nothing very exciting to the franchise's formula but spins out the familiar elements with just about enough energy and inventiveness to warrant an almost three-hour running ...
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News
Spidey stays strong in international markets
Displaying strong international legs, Spider-Man 3 dominated the international box office again this weekend, falling a modest 41% to $49.6m. Shrek The Third, meanwhile, added to its huge domestic haul with an extremely promising international debut in Russia. Sony Pictures Releasing International's Spider-Man 3 took its $49.6m from 15,850 screens ...
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News
Shrek The Third makes $122m domestic debut
Shrek The Third had a fairy tale beginning at the North American box office this weekend, grossing an estimated $122m and beating Shrek 2's record for the biggest ever opening by an animated film. The DreamWorks Animation CG outing becomes the third biggest domestic opener of all ...
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News
Zodiac, Shrek open in pre-Pirates international lull
The lull between the global assaults of Spider-Man 3 and next week's Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End continues this weekend, though the debut of Zodiac and the Russian opening of Shrek The Third could produce some new action in the international marketplace. David Fincher's acclaimed Zodiac, with ...
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News
Spidey on top in US, in spite of 60% drop
Spider-Man 3 took a 60% hit in its second weekend at the North American box office, but it still ruled the marketplace, leaving slimmer than expected pickings for three new releases. After re-writing the record books last weekend with its $151m domestic debut, Sony's Spider-Man 3 grossed ...
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News
Spider-Man still dominates after 50% international drop
Spider-Man 3 once again dominated the international box office this weekend, falling a respectable 50% from its record-shattering opening to gross $85.5m. International debutant 28 Weeks Later came a very distant second with an estimated $4.7m. With no new competition in most markets, Spider-Man 3 stayed top in all major ...
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Reviews
Shrek The Third
Dir: Chris Miller. US. 2007. 92mins. The 'greatest fairy tale never told' (as the original tag line put it) is missing a bit of its magic in this, the DreamWorks Animation CG fable about the big green ogre and his oddly familiar friends. With a new director and writers but ...
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Features
In focus - Specialty divisions - Niche labels reveal new look
These are changing times for the specialised divisions of the Hollywood studios. Over the past two years, Fox Searchlight and Universal's Focus Features have restructured their management teams, Warner Independent Pictures has replaced its president, Disney's Miramax Films has started a new life without Harvey and Bob Weinstein, and Paramount ...
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Features
Digital rights - Unions - The bill of rights
The start of a new round of labour talks often has Hollywood on edge. But this summer the anxiety level will be higher than usual when representatives of the Writers Guild of America (WGA) and the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (Amptp) begin negotiations over a new contract ...
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Features
Digital Rights - Talking points - Any other business'
Home-video residualsThe home-video residual formula established in the mid-1980s before the video market took off has been a thorn in the guilds' sides ever since. The formula is variously characterised as being based on the 20% royalty on video sales that goes to the producer of a film, or as ...
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Reviews
Wind Chill
Dir: Gregory Jacobs. US. 2007. 91mins. It isn't hard to see why Wind Chill is getting left out in the cold in the US theatrical market. As messy and confusing as it often is, however, this misfit horror thriller - produced, originally for Revolution Studios, by the UK's Blueprint Pictures ...