All articles by Sandy George – Page 47
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News
NEW ZEALAND 24 May
Roadshow's Troyhad no trouble maintaining its title as the most popular film at the box officefor the second consecutive weekend and UIP's Van Helsing held on to second place but three of the next fourspots in the chart were occupied by new releases.They were Columbia TriStar's You Got Served, which ...
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Saddle Club set for big screen
Australia's CrawfordProductions and Canada's Protocol Entertainment are preparing to shoot afeature that is based on the hit TV series TheSaddle Club, which is currently screening on Discovery Kids in the US and,when last screened in Sydney, attracted an astounding 95% of all five to12-year-olds at its peak.Matt Carroll, who was ...
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NEW ZEALAND 17 May
As is happening around the world, Roadshow's Troy had no trouble claiming the crownof top film at the box office on the weekend. It grossed NZ$987,503 from 73screens, pushing UIP's Van Helsingdown to second place with a gross of NZ$358,049 from 66 screens, a fall ofabout 45%. Troy's screen average ...
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Becker boards Islamic omnibus
LeBrocquy FraserProductions, whose first feature credit was Osama, has signed on BeckerFilms International to help finance and later sell Five Worlds - anomnibus of 20-minute films from different Islamic countries by fivehighly-regarded local directors.Each of the five films is avery personal story but also demonstrates the effects of recent political ...
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NEW ZEALAND 11 May
As expected, Van Helsing had no trouble claiming thecrown as the most popular film at the New Zealand box office on the weekend,grossing NZ$658,698 from 65 screens for UIP.It pushed Kill Bill: Volume 2, which is in its secondweekend, off the top spot. Kill Bill also got a battering from ...
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AUSTRALIA 10 May
Van Helsing sold more tickets on its opening weekendthan any other film released so far this year in Australia. It grossedA$4,596,027 from a whopping 338 screens for UIP. This was nearly six times morethan the second placed, Gothika, while its screen average, at A$13,597,was more than A$3,000 ahead of every ...
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NEW ZEALAND 4 May
Kill Bill: Volume 2opened on the weekend and claimed the top spot from another BVI/Miramax film, Starsky& Hutch, just as it did in Australia on the previous weekend. KillBill took NZ$364,251 from 32 screens while Starsky & Hutch, inits second weekend on release, snapped at its heels with A$347,516 from ...
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Moneypenny expands into SA, NZ
Financial services company Moneypenny, which has been anintegral part of Australia's film industry for 25 years, is expanding intoSouth Africa and New Zealand within the next few months.Principal Jane Corden (pictured) relocates to Capetown for 12 monthsfrom late June - one of her first tasks will be to find a ...
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Arclight, Instinct capitalise on Strange Bedfellows
On the eve of the film'sinternational premiere in the Cannes market, Arclight Films has signed on as'subagent' for the Australian comedy Strange Bedfellows, which openedstrongly enough to claim third place in the local weekend box office charts.The film sold A$1,373,957worth of tickets from 194 screens during the five-day long weekend ...
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AUSTRALIA 27 April
Despite a cold receptionfrom the critics, Australian comedy Strange Bedfellows was able to claimthird place in the charts on the five-day holiday weekend due to its verystrong A$1,373,957 gross from 194 screens.Obviously there remains alot of affection for the Becker film's stars, Paul 'Crocodile Dundee'Hogan and Michael Caton from The ...
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NEW ZEALAND 26 April
The NZ$555,222 gross for Starsky& Hutch on its opening weekend was the biggest at the New Zealand boxoffice since The Last Samurai opened over three months ago. TheBVI/Miramax comedy went out on 48 screens, considerably less than the screencount of each of the next four films in the chart.Starsky & ...
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NEW ZEALAND 19 April
After Columbia TriStar warmed up audiences on previews starting a week ago, 50 First Dates confidently claimed the top spot in the box office charts with a gross of NZ$505,506 from 56 screens. It also had the highest screen average of the weekend at NZ$9,027.It replaced UIP's Along Came Polly, ...
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Oz film set for radical funding overhaul
In an attempt to drag Australian films out of the doldrums, Film Finance Corporation Australia (FFC) has unveiled a plan to radically overhaul its funding procedures.The proposals would give the government-owned financier much more control over which films get funding.Under the existing model other industry players make the decisions and ...
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Sydney to get two more sound stages by July
Two additional sound stages, each with a floor area of 1,000 square metres, are to be open for business in Sydney by July."We have been a little behind schedule due to building delays but as promised we will have fully sound proofed stages available for hire," said Serenity Cove Studios ...
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News
NEW ZEALAND
Along Came Polly's NZ$300,945 gross for UIP from 40 screens was enough to knock Scooby-Doo 2 - Monsters Unleashed down into second position at the New Zealand box office over the Easter weekend. In dollar terms there wasn't much between the two films, but Scooby-Doo 2, which is in its ...
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AUSTRALIA
Starsky & Hutch grossed A$4,350,736 for BVI from 288 screens, which was more than double the result of any other film in Australia during the extra long Easter holiday weekend - the figure is for five days instead of the usual four and includes two public holidays. The film's A$15,106 ...
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AusFILM's Pratt to step down as LA-based film commissioner
AusFILM's LA-based film commissioner David Pratt is to leave his job after six years in the post.AusFILM is responsible for marketing Australia as a location for film and television production."David has been a wonderful asset," said Sydney-based chief executive Trisha Rothkrans. "We are very grateful to him for the outstanding ...
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AUSTRALIA
Two high-profile family-friendly openers, UIP's The Cat In The Hat and Roadshow's Scooby-Doo 2, failed to make a dent in the popularity of 50 First Dates, despite the latest Adam Sandler romantic comedy being on fewer screens and in its second week.50 First Dates grossed A$2,573,524 from 286 screens, The ...
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Shoots attracted to new studios, locations and low costs
For full Australia and New Zealand production listings, click HEREMany internationally known women adorn the cast lists of Australia's upcoming films, although not all of them are known for being on the big screen.Rachel Hunter, who plays a caravan park Goddess and mother to an indeterminable number of children ...
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Wincer readies Pasternak epic, seeks investors for Clancy
Australian director Simon Wincer is scheduled to start shooting the epic love triangle The Loneliness Of Always from September 13 in Moscow.His own Billabong Productions is the producing entity and he will also take a producer credit alongside Robert Katz. The "highly complicated co-production" involves partners in Germany, Britain, Russia, ...