All articles by Liz Shackleton – Page 174
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Applause chief to direct $10m musical in Shanghai
Peter Ho-sun Chan's $10mmusical Perhaps Love startsshooting in Shanghai next month with a hot pan-Asian cast and backing frombroadcasters TVB and Astro. A co-production between Chan'sApplause Pictures and the Ruddy Morgan Organisation (RMO), the film is directedby Chan and stars Takeshi Kaneshiro (House Of Flying Daggers) and leading Chinese actress ...
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China centennial takes Centre Stage at HK Fest
Thisyear's Hong Kong International Film Festival (March 22 - April 6) plans tocelebrate the 100th anniversary of Chinese cinema by screening a digitallyremastered version of Stanley Kwan's 1992 period drama Centre Stage.Theaward-winning film, one of a series of special digital presentations at thefestival, stars Maggie Cheung as 1930s Chinese actress ...
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HONG KONG 22 February
Pixar animation TheIncredibles was the undisputed winner over the Chinese New Year holidayperiod racking up US$1.9m from 54 screens in it second week for a cumulativegross of US$3.5m.Warner Bros' Constantinetook second place in the chart with US$1.5m from 38 screens in the week to Feb16 for a nine-day cumulative gross ...
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Hong Kong film industry calls for greater anti-piracy measures
Hong Kong's nine major filmcompanies and representatives from five trade organisations gathered yesterday(Feb 17) to present their official response to the government's current reviewof the territory's copyright laws.The Hong Kong governmentissued a consultation paper last December that proposes changes to theCopyright Ordinance but doesn't directly mention the growing threat of ...
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Emperor names Tse as international sales chief
Hong Kong production and distribution outfit Emperor MotionPictures (EMP) has appointed Ricky Tse to oversee its international salesactivities in the role of distribution general manager.Tse, who was formerly assistant general manager at MediaAsia Distribution, will take on responsibility for EMP's new distribution teamreporting directly to the company's chief executive Albert ...
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HONG KONG 14 February
The Incredibles has beaten both of this year's Chinese New Yearproductions to the top of the Hong Kong box office, grossing US$1.56m from 57screens in its opening week. The film's opening tallytook in the first day of the Chinese New Year holiday period - Wednesday Feb 9- but as the ...
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Hong Kong has a new box-office champion
Stephen Chow's Kung-fuHustle has become the highest-grossing local film ever at the Hong Kong boxoffice, overtaking the previous record holder, Shaolin Soccer, alsostarring and directed by Chow. As of Feb 7, the comedyblockbuster, which was backed by Columbia Pictures Film Production Asia, hadgrossed $7.81m (HK$60.89m) in 47 days.In comparison Shaolin ...
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HONG KONG 7 February
Universe Entertainment's CrazyN' The City held onto the top spot in its third week, grossing US$268,948from 21 screens and seeing off competition from US openers Elektra and SeedOf Chucky. Crazy N' The City, a police comedy starring Eason Chan, Francis Ng andJoey Yung, has benefited from positive reviews and strong ...
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Chinese film giant moves towards Hong Kong listing
China's Asian Union Film and Media has sold a 50%stake to Hong Kong's Universal Holdings, in a move that leads toward aback-door listing in Hong Kong.The Beijing-based company sold half its equity for $70m(HK$550m) to Universal (not to be confused with Universe InternationalHoldings), a digital broadcasting equipment distributor which is ...
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Hong Kong pay-TV leader moves into film production
Hong Kong's leading pay-TV operator, i-CABLECommunications, has unveiled plans to move into film production by investing upto $38.5m (HK$300m) in 10-20 features over the next two years. The company is in talks with several Hong Kong productionhouses about providing funding for a slate of productions to be selected on aproject-by-project ...
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Warner Bros to open five more cinemas in China
WarnerBros has signed an agreement with the state-owned Shenzhen International Trust& Investment Corp to open five joint venture cinemas in China, according tothe Xinhua news agency.Warner Bros will hold a controlling 51% stake in the fivecinemas with the Shenzhen-based investment firm holding the rest. In additionto Shenzhen, the partners will ...
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Task force to investigate production decline
Although hopes were high atthe beginning of the year, the number of films produced in Hong Kong has fallento an all-time low of around 65 this year and many films performed belowexpectations over the summer. As a result, 20 film professionals have set up anemergency task force to find solutions ...
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Kung-fu Hustle scoops Hong Kong Film Award nods
Stephen Chow's Kung-fuHustle heads the pack in the nominations for this year's Hong Kong FilmAwards, bagging 16 nods including best film, best director and best actor forChow.The box office smash wasnominated in every category apart from best supporting actress and best song.It picked up two best supporting actor nods for ...
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HONG KONG 31 January
Good word-of-mouth helpedpropel Universe Entertainment's Crazy N' The City from fourth to firstposition in its second week.The US$2m action dramaleapfrogged an almost spent Kung-fu Hustle and opener Blade Trinitywith US$284,289 from 22 screens. Directed and written by James Yuen, the filmtells the story of a spineless cop who is inspired ...
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Anytime strikes Asian VoD deal with US studios
Singapore-basedvideo-on-demand company Anytime has signed content supply deals with three USstudios, resulting in what it claims is the largest single offering in Asia ofHollywood product for VoD.The three deals with Twentieth Century Fox, Sony PicturesTelevision International and Warner Bros International Television Distributionjoin an existing supply deal with Universal Pictures. The ...
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Hong Kong industry urges anti-online piracy action
Hong Kong's film, TV and music industries have jointlycalled on the government to address the growing problem of online piracy whichthey say is "threatening the very survival" of the territory's content supplyindustries.Thecall was made at a symposium held by the Film, Television and RecordingIndustries' Copyright Concern Group on Sunday (Jan ...
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HONG KONG 21 January
National Treasure held on at the top of the Hong Kong box office butAlexander stormed in behind it, grossing US$348,131 for second position in itsopening week. Distributed by GoldenHarvest's Panasia label, Oliver Stone's sword-and-sandals epic scored a healthyscreen average of US$11,604. Meanwhile, Kung-fu Hustle, which dropped tothird position, continues to ...
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28 projects set for Hong Kong financing market
The organisers ofHong Kong's first ever Entertainment Expo (March 22 - April 6) have unveiledthe 28 projects that will participate in the Hong Kong-Asia Film FinancingForum (HAF), one of eight events to take place during the 16-day film andentertainment mega event.Among thefilmmakers that will be presenting projects at the three-day ...
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HONG KONG 14 January
National Treasure dislodged Stephen Chow's mega-hit Kung-fu Hustlefrom the top spot at the Hong Kong box office after a two-week reign.Distributed by Buena Vista's local partner, Intercontinental Film Distributors,the action adventure grossed US$816,527 from 40 screens. In its third week, Kung-fuHustle added US$662,721 from 63 screens bringing its cume to ...
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2004: Hong Kong film flattened by US competition
There was cautious optimism among Hong Kong producers at thestart of the year as the box office appeared to be recovering and mainlandChina opened its doors through the much-vaunted Cepa trade agreement.But after a dispiriting summer - during which localsfilms were flattened by the US competition and production levels started ...