All articles by Liz Shackleton – Page 148

  • News

    Fortissimo picks up Woo's next project 1949

    2008-05-20T11:51:00Z

    Fortissimo Films has acquired worldwide rights outside China to the next project to be directed by John Woo, $40m historical epic 1949. Produced by Woo and Terence Chang's Lion Rock Production, the film is set to star Korean actress Seong Hye Gyo and hot Taiwanese actor Chang Chen, who appears ...

  • News

    Katapult dives in for Ocean Flame

    2008-05-19T21:13:00Z

    Katapult Film Sales has picked up Chinese director Liu Fendou's Un Certain Regard title Ocean Flame, produced by Hong Kong 's Filmko Entertainment. Liu previously gained international acclaim for Green Hat, which won best film and best director at the Tribeca Film Festival in 2004. Based on Wang Shuo's ...

  • News

    Japanese buyers take Antique, Love First

    2008-05-19T21:06:00Z

    Korean sales agent Fine Cut has pre-sold Min Kyu-dong's Antique to Showgate in Japan for a mid six-figure sum. In addition, Japan 's SPO Entertainment has snapped up romantic drama Love, First from Fine Cut, founded by former Cineclick Asia chief Youngjoo Suh. Currently in post-production, Antique is ...

  • News

    The Warlords march into France, Germany

    2008-05-18T19:39:05Z

    Hong Kong 's Media Asia Distribution has sold Peter Ho-sun Chan's The Warlords, starring Jet Li, Andy Lau and Takeshi Kaneshiro, to KSM in Germany and ARP in France. The big-budget historical epic was the top-grossing local film at the Chinese box office last year, grossing around $29m (RMB200m). ...

  • News

    India's Reliance becomes financier to Hollywood stars

    2008-05-18T10:11:00Z

    India's Reliance Big Entertainment has unveiled plans to provide development funds to the production vehicles of seven Hollywood stars, including Brad Pitt's Plan B Entertainment and Tom Hanks' Playtone Productions.The deals were brokered by Creative Artists Agency (CAA) which represents the seven stars.Reliance will create a development silo for each ...

  • News

    India's Studio 18 signs five-film Acme deal

    2008-05-18T07:20:00Z

    The Indian Film Company-Studio18 is pushing Bollywood into new territories, including the Baltics, where the company has signed a five-picture deal with Acme Films. Titles covered by the deal include Awarapan, 1971, Kya Love Story Hai, Jab We Met and Welcome. Acme has acquired all rights for Lithuania, Latvia ...

  • News

    Tokyo festival goes green to boost global profile

    2008-05-18T07:11:00Z

    The Tokyo International Film Festival (TIFF) is launching a new section and award around the theme of ecology as part of a push to reposition the festival as a more international event. Tentatively titled Natural TIFF, the section will screen 20 new and old films that focus on ...

  • News

    Thai Studio GTH sells Body to Germany, Indonesia

    2008-05-16T19:28:00Z

    Thai studio GMM Thai Hub (GTH) has sold suspense thriller Body to Germany 's I-On New Media and Indonesian distributor PT Cakarwala Pesona Jaya Film. Meanwhile, horror portmanteau 4bia has been pre-sold to a string of Asian distributors including Panasia for Hong Kong and Taiwan, Golden Screen for Malaysia and ...

  • News

    India's Reliance Big Entertainment sets out $1bn ambitions

    2008-05-16T18:50:00Z

    Reliance BIG Entertainment, owned by India 's massive Reliance ADA Group, is poised to become one of the most aggressive players in the global film business. The upstart studio unveiled its debut slate of 69 pictures in nine languages at Cannes yesterday, along with plans to invest $1bn in ...

  • News

    Fortissimo climbs on board Magic Bus

    2008-05-16T18:24:00Z

    Fortissimo Films has acquired worldwide rights, excluding the US and UK, to Jigsaw Film's upcoming documentary Magic Bus. The film charts the LSD-fueled 1964 bus journey of author Ken Kesey and his cohorts, including Jack Kerouac's notorious sidekick Neal Cassady. Directed by Alex Gibney (Gonzo: The Life And ...

  • News

    Bruce Beresford named jury president of Asia Pacific Screen Awards

    2008-05-16T18:12:00Z

    Bruce Beresford will be president of the international jury for the second Asia Pacific Screen Awards (APSAs), to be held on the Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia on Nov 11, 2008. Beresford is currently filming Mao's Last Dancer, an adaptation of the book of the same name, which is partly ...

  • News

    Shanghai turns spotlight on co-production

    2008-05-16T07:40:00Z

    The Shanghai International Film Festival (SIFF) has announced the line-up of projects for its Co-production Film Pitch and Catch (Co-FPC) initiative, which aims to stimulate co-production with an emphasis on the Asian region. The three-day event (June 16-18), at the Crown Plaza Hotel in Shanghai, will bring together potential ...

  • News

    NonStop acquires Park Chan-wook's vampire film

    2008-05-16T05:26:00Z

    Sweden 's NonStop Entertainment has acquired two vampire features - Park Chan-wook's highly-anticipated Thirst and Not Like Others from Swedish director Peter Pontikis. Both films are still in production and will premiere later this year. Nonstop has acquired rights to both films for Scandinavia, Iceland and the Baltics. ...

  • News

    Infinity Film Completion Services launches financing and production arms

    2008-05-16T05:25:00Z

    Indian completion bond outfit Infinity Film Completion Services has launched a film financing and production company which is producing Colours Of Passion from The Rising director Ketan Mehta and a slate of martial arts movies.The new outfit, Infinity Filmed Entertainment, plans to produce four to five features a year for ...

  • News

    Zhang Ziyi heads cast for Susanne Bier's Lost For Words

    2008-05-16T05:21:00Z

    Chinese actress Zhang Ziyi is set to star in romantic comedy Lost For Words, which Susanne Bier is directing for the UK's Working Title Films. Hugh Grant is also in talks to join the film. The film is scheduled to start shooting in September in London and possibly ...

  • News

    TF1 picks up worldwide rights to Rosem's Wang Chao project Starting Over

    2008-05-15T06:34:00Z

    TF1 International has picked up worldwide rights to drama Starting Over from Chinese director Wang Chao, whose last film Luxury Car won the top prize in Un Certain Regard in 2006. Sylvain Bursztejn's Paris-based Rosem Films, which co-produced Luxury Car, is again working with Wang on his new project. ...

  • News

    Star licenses 20 titles to Japan's Tsutaya Discas

    2008-05-14T18:45:00Z

    Pan-Asian broadcaster Star has signed a deal with Japanese online content provider Tsutaya Discas, which will distribute 20 movie titles from Star's Fortune Star library via internet in Japan. The titles include Bruce Lee's Fist Of Fury and Way Of The Dragon, Jackie Chan's Project A series and the popular ...

  • News

    Osian's Cinefan festival to honour Sen, Lacaba

    2008-05-14T16:37:00Z

    Osian's-Cinefan Festival of Asian and Arab Cinema is presenting two lifetime achievement awards at this year's edition (July 10-20). The Osian's Lifetime Achievement Award for Contribution to Cinema will be awarded to filmmaker Mrinal Sen, while the Aruna Vasudev Lifetime Achievement Award for Writing on Cinema will go to Jose ...

  • News

    Fortissimo is big in France with ARP, La Fabrique de Films

    2008-05-14T16:34:00Z

    Fortissimo Films has sealed a raft of sales to various distributors in France, including ARP, which has acquired out-of-competition title Ashes Of Time Redux, and La Fabrique de Films, which has snapped up Madonna documentary I Am Because We Are.In addition, Films sans Frontieres has acquired Iranian director Majid Majidi's ...

  • News

    Nikkatsu unveils Miike's $20m Yatterman

    2008-05-13T20:48:00Z

    Japanese studio Nikkatsu is unveiling Takashi Miike's $20m manga adaptation Yatterman at Cannes, the cult director's biggest project.The live-action picture is in production at the Nikkatsu studios, scheduled for a wide Japanese release in spring 2009. Nikkatsu and Shochiku are co-distributing in Japan.Nikkatsu was acquired by Index Corp in 2005 ...