All articles by Sandy George – Page 48
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News
NEW ZEALAND
At its first official opening weekend at the box office - audiences were first warmed up on previews - Columbia TriStar's Mona Lisa Smile has pushed The Passion Of The Christ off the top spot with a gross of NZ$309,933 from 53 screens.The Haunted Mansion's NZ$259,523 gross from 50 screens ...
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Oz's FFC bankrolls December Boys, Wolf Creek
The Film Finance Corporation (FFC) has agreed to invest in two new Australian films, the 1960s drama December Boys to be directed by LA-based Rod Hardy, and the low-budget digital horror film Wolf Creek, by first-time writer/director Greg McLean.December Boys has been adapted from Michael Noonan's novel by Marc Rosenberg ...
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Film journalist named new director of Sydney film fest
Film journalist for The Australian newspaper, Lynden Barber, is the new director of the 2005 and 2006 Sydney Film Festival, taking over from Gayle Lake on July 1 after the completion of this year's event.Announcing the appointment, festival president Cathy Robinson said there had been "an exhaustive search in Australia ...
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News
NEW ZEALAND
New Zealanders are proving to be god-fearing types. That is one explanation, anyway, for The Passion Of The Christ being the most popular film for the fifth consecutive weekend. The film's NZ$234,685 gross for the four days to March 21 was higher than each of the two previous weekends but ...
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Irreversible faces second Oz ratings review
Australia's Classification Review Board is to re-examine the "R18+" rating given to director Gaspar Noe's Irreversible next Monday despite the film having been on release for six weeks.George Papadopolous, general manager of the film's distributor Accent Film Entertainment, told ScreenDaily.com that the Australian Family Association had applied for a review ...
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News
AUSTRALIA
Three new films failed to dislodge two Icon films, The Butterfly Effect and The Passion Of The Christ, from the top two spots in the charts and had to settle for third, fourth and fifth in the popularity stakes.The opening trio was UIP's Paycheck, which took A$756,656 from 192 screens, ...
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Oz's Rialto aquires arthouse trio
Rialto Entertainment has picked up three arthouse titles for distribution in Australia and New Zealand as a result of negotiations at the AFM.The three titles are: Joshua Marston's Maria Full Of Grace from HBO Films London, Ken Loach's Ae Fond Kiss from The Works and Ondrej Trojan's Zelary from Menemsha ...
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Oz's Aurora script programme selects Caesar's Prime Mover
Writer/director David Caesar's Prime Mover is one of four projects chosen for Australia's third Aurora intensive scriptwriting programme.The director of Dirty Deeds, Mullet and Idiot Box is working with producer Vincent Sheehan on what is billed as a diesel-fuelled love triangle between Thomas, his wife Melissa, and his truck. Caesar ...
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News
NEW ZEALAND
For the fourth consecutive weekend The Passion Of The Christ has held its position as the most popular film in NZ cinemas. It grossed NZ$192,008 for Hoyts/Icon from 29 screens. UIP's challenger was Paycheck but the NZ$164,695 worth of ticket sales for 38 screens was only enough for it to ...
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News
AUSTRALIA
In its third weekend in cinemas The Passion Of The Christ had to suffer being pushed down into second place by another Icon film, The Butterfly Effect, but not much separated them.The Butterfly Effect's first four-day cinema outing took A$1,341,092 from 172 screens while The Passion took A$1,301,464 from 158 ...
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Foxtel launches Oz pay per view movie service
Australia's Foxtellaunched its new digital pay TV service on Sunday (March 14), givingsubscribers access to 27 pay-per-view near-video-on-demand channels of moviecontent.Each movie will costconsumers $4.4 (A$5.95), although those households which opt to pay $70(A$94.95) per month for the top pay TV tier, will get two per month included.Foxtel Box Office, ...
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King set to surpass Crocodile Dundee in Oz
The Australian film industry should prepare to go into mourning within the next week when The Return Of The King displaces Crocodile Dundee to become the second biggest box office hit of all time in the territory.Crocodile Dundee was top of the hit list from 1986 to 1998, when it ...
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Roadshow pounces on Libertine, Dahlia
Roadshow Film Distributionhas signed up to handle the release of three high-profile films for Australiaand New Zealand: The Black Dahlia, The Libertine and Havoc.Brian De Palma's TheBlack Dahlia is from SignaturePictures International and is an adaptation of the James Ellroy novel about thedeath of an actress in LA in the ...
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News
AUSTRALIA
The Passion Of The Christ took A$2,095,841 from 151 screens to retain first place in the chart during its second four-day weekend on release. This was about two thirds of the gross of the corresponding period a week earlier from a screen count that rose by six prints.Speaking of prints, ...
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Darclight readies Beowulf, Possession
Arclight genre label Darclight has announced that two films are about to go into pre-production.The supernatural thriller Possession, adapted from Peter James's novel, and Beowulf - Alien Meets Braveheart, inspired by the 9th Century Beowulf poem, both involve the UK's Spice Factory and film financier Movision Entertainment.The UK/Canadian co-production Possession ...
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News
AUSTRALIA
Icon's The Passion Of The Christ grossed A$3,610,618 from 145 screens in its first five days in Australian cinemas, giving it a whopping screen average of A$20,504. It opened on Wednesday, instead of the usual Thursday, but without its opening day tally it still came in just short of an ...
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South Australia launches Screen Industry Council
A screen industry council is to be formed in South Australia to bring under one roof all production sectors - from film and television to games and education - with the aim of sharing experiences and market intelligence."Our philosophy is that the industry needs to be more involved in policy ...
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Becker says G'Day to Oz idol
Reiko Bradley from BeckerFilms International has picked up international rights on two unmade films,Australian mainstream teen comedy G'Day LA to be directed by veteran filmmaker Tom Jeffrey, and the edgy LoveJunkie by English-born US-basedindependent writer/director Ash.Australian Idol contestantRobert Mills has been cast in G'Day LA in what is believed to ...
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News
AUSTRALIA
Roadshow's ambitious release of Australian dance party film One Perfect Day - 152 screens is a big number for a local film - earned it the seventh spot in the box office chart with a gross of A$437,248 from 152 screens.Another opener, Mona Lisa Smile from Columbia TriStar, leapt into ...