All articles by Liz Shackleton – Page 146
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Maggie Q heads cast of Tian's Warrior And The Wolf
Maggie Q has been cast to play the lead role in Chinese Fifth Generation director Tian Zhuangzhuang's epic drama The Warrior And The Wolf, which is being produced by Hong Kong's Bill Kong and partners from Japan, China and SingaporeShe will star opposite Japanese actor Joe Odagiri (Tokyo Tower, Shinobi) ...
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In Focus: Is Asia Crunch proof'
On a macro level, the credit crunch is only just starting to bite in Asia, a year after North America and Europe, but is not expected to have the same impact. Most pundits agree the major economies of the region will continue to grow in 2009, albeit more slowly than ...
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Magnet draws Thai martial arts hit Chocolate
Magnet, the recently launched genre arm of Magnolia Pictures, has acquired North American rights to Thai martial arts action title Chocolate from Sahamongkolfilm International. Directed by Prachya Pinkaew (Ong Bak) and starring newcomer Jeeja Vismistananda, the film recently screened in the Midnight Madness section at Toronto and took the Audience ...
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Universal, Focus team with CJ on Park's Thirst
Universal Pictures International (UPI) and Focus Features are teaming up with Korea's CJ Entertainment to co-produce award-winning director Park Chan-wook's upcoming vampire thriller Thirst. As part of the deal, Focus will release the film in North America. CJ is handling Korean distribution and international sales.The deal was announced by UPI ...
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Vicky Cristina, Langkasukatoopen Bangkok fest
Despite current political unrest in Thailand, the Bangkok International Film Festival (BKIFF) will kick off as planned on Sept 23 with a screening of Woody Allen's Vicky Christina Barcelona. Thai director Nonzee Nimibutr's Queens Of Langkasuka will mark the launch of the Thailand Entertainment Expo (TEE) with a red carpet ...
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Singapore selects My Magic as foreign-language Oscar entry
The Singapore Film Commission (SFC) has selected Eric Khoo's My Magic as Singapore's entry to the best foreign-language film category of next year's Academy Awards. The mostly Tamil-language film, which played in competition at Cannes this year, follows the complex relationship between a father, who is analcoholic magician, and his ...
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Kerala film festival announces dates, makes call for entries
The organisers of the International Film Festival of Kerala (IFFK) have announced that this year's edition will be held December 12-19 in Trivandrum, Kerala. The festival is also calling for entries for sections including the Competition Section, which will screen films produced and co-produced in Asia, Africa and Latin America ...
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Star group to sell its 26% stake in India's Balaji Telefilms
Regional broadcaster Star Group and India's Balaji Telefilms have agreed to terminate the deal signed in August 2004, in which Star bought a 26% stake in the Mumbai-based film and TV producer. Balaji Telefilms is now entitled to buy back the shareholding itself, or sell it to a third party, ...
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Bona Group set toraise $30m in second funding round
Beijing-based producer-distributor Bona International Film Group is set to raise $30m in its second funding round from venture capital groups Sequoia Capital China and SIG Asia Investments. The funding comes ahead of a planned overseas listing for Bona Group, which is the holding company of distributor Polybona, talent management company ...
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Celluloid Dreams picks up Birdwatchers, Plastic City
Celluloid Dreams has added two Venice competition titles to its autumn slate - Yu Lik-wai's Plastic City and Marco Bechis' Birdwatchers - both of which are set in Brazil and are co-productions with Brazil's Gullane Filmes. Produced by Italy's Classic Film, Karta Film and Rai Cinema with Fabiano and Caio ...
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Celestialsigns distribution deals withUS trio
Hong Kong's Celestial Pictures has signed distribution agreements with BCI, Media Blasters and Well Go USA to release Shaw Brothers martial arts titles on home video in the US and Canada. The three partners, which specialise in distributing Asian-language content, have licensed the rights to 45 martial arts titles from ...
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Avex Group, Media Asiaestablish $50 film fund
Hong Kong's eSun Holdings, parent of the Media Asia Entertainment Group, and Japan's Avex Group have announced the creation of a film fund of $50m over five years, to be jointly financed by both parties. The two companies have formed a joint venture company, PAMIEM Film Fund Limited, incorporated in ...
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RGM Entertainment launches $400m production fund
Singapore-based RGM Entertainment is launching a fund to back $400m worth of commercial English-language film and TV projects over a period of four years. The fund combines debt provided by Oceana Media Finance LLC, along with investment from RGM and institutional investors from Singapore.RGM previously financed Winged Creatures, starring Forest ...
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India's NFDC set to host second edition of Film Bazaar
India's National Film Development Corp (NFDC) has unveiled details of the second edition of its co-production market, Film Bazaar, to be held November 26-29 at the Marriott Resort in Goa. A total of 15 feature film projects, which are Indian-centric and seeking to reach global audiences, will be selected to ...
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Celestial pacts with Netmovie for cyber cafe distribution
Celestial Pictures has signed a deal with Beijing Netmovie Co which will see 662 Shaw Brothers films distributed through chains of internet cafes in mainland China. Netmovie has licensed internet, IPTV and mobile platform rights to the titles which include classics such as The Kingdom And The Beauty, The 36th ...
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Palisades, Media Asia clash over Tartan library titles
New York-based Palisades Media Corp has reasserted its ownership of the Tartan Films' library, after Hong Kong producer-distributor Media Asia announced last week that it was retrieving rights to seven films it had previously licensed to the UK distributor. Media Asia issued a notice last Friday (July 25) asserting that ...
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Thai star Tony Jaa goes missing from Ong Bak sequel
Thai film studio Sahamongkol held a press conference in Bangkok on Friday (July 25) to confirm that Ong Bak star Tony Jaa has been missing for the past two months. The martial arts star was directing and starring in the sequel to 2003 hit Ong Bak when he disappeared. However, ...
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Hong Kong's Media Asia takes back Infernal rights
Hong Kong's Media Asia has announced that it has retrieved rights to seven films it had previously licensed to UK-US distributor Tartan Group, including its hugely successful Infernal Affairs trilogy. In a legal notice, the Hong Kong company said that, as of July 4, it has terminated all licence agreements ...
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Disney acquires home video rights to Hindi hit
Walt Disney Co has acquired home video rights for North America, the UK and Australia to hit Hindi movie, Taare Zameen Par, directed by and starring Aamir Khan. Mumbai-based UTV Motion Pictures holdsinternational rights to the film which was a big hit when it was released in December last year, ...
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Tokyo Sonata wins best film at Osian's Cinefan
Japanese director Kiyoshi Kurosawa's Tokyo Sonata was awarded best film at the Osian's Cinefan Festival of Asian and Arab Cinema on Saturday night (July 19). Best director went to Turkey's Nuri Bilge Ceylan for Three Monkeys, echoing his best director win at Cannes earlier this year. Tokyo Sonata also screened ...