Small MPU – Page 138

  • News

    High Point takes on Australian teen story 48 Shades

    2007-03-19T22:00:00Z

    High Point Films has taken on world sales for Australian coming-of-age teen story 48 Shades. Actor Daniel Lapaine makes his directorial debut with the adaptation of Nick Earls' cult novel 48 Shades Of Brown. Fiona Crago and Rob Marsala produced for Prima Productions. Richard Wilson, who stars in ...

  • News

    Nutty Professor II is huge with $42.7m opening

    2000-07-31T02:06:00Z

    Universal enjoyed a much-needed box office boost - the first since news of its takeover by Vivendi - over the weekend with the opening of Nutty Professor II: The Klumps, one of the summer's more predictable hits. With an estimated $42.7m grossed from Friday to Sunday on 3,243 screens, the ...

  • News

    Three Dots backs first-time directors on 2007 slate

    2007-03-19T22:00:00Z

    Continuing its support for developing new talent, Taiwan's Three Dots Entertainment is to back two feature films by young first-time directors in their twenties. Gavin Lin will start filming his feature debut Tears (working title) this June. The low budget production is a warm-hearted animal film about a young woman ...

  • News

    Studio 2.0 pacts for eight titles with VOD outfit RealNetworks

    2007-03-19T22:00:00Z

    Korean investment and distribution company Studio2.0 has pacted with RealNetworks on multiple internet video-on-demand (VOD) deals for eight of its titles including recent horror film Cello.The deals see RealNetworks acquiring internet VOD rights to Studio2.0's films for Japan, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Thailand Singapore, Malaysia, Australia, and New Zealand.'By partnering ...

  • News

    Singapore/US financier Upside Down commits to Exodus

    2007-03-19T22:00:00Z

    New Singapore-US film financing venture Upside Down Entertainment (UDE) is to back Daniel Chan's $12.8m Exodus, the first installment of the Battle of Hong Kong trilogy, as its first project. The new entity, a joint venture between Singapore's production house Upside Down Concepts and Mark Byers' Quixotic Media Group of ...

  • News

    Hong Kong's Filmko unveils five to be financed

    2007-03-19T22:00:00Z

    Hong Kong's Filmko Entertainment will put aside up to HK$70 mn this year for five productions including Pang Ho Cheung's Exodus and Law Chi Leung's Kidnap, both currently in post-production, according to president Dominic Yip.Exodus, featuring Simon Yam and Annie Liu as husband and wife, revolves around how men stumble ...

  • News

    Korean Film Council reorganises in wake of new ticket tax

    2007-03-19T22:00:00Z

    With a 3% ticket tax going into effect July 1, the Korean Film Council (KOFIC) is reorganizing its in-house structure to manage the new funds.Initially, concerns were voiced over who would shoulder the burden of the tax - filmgoers, exhibitors or producers - but 'the industry realizes that taking on ...

  • News

    Chang's Butterfly reborn with CMC backing

    2007-03-19T22:00:00Z

    Taiwan's CMC Entertainment has boarded Chang Tso-chi's gangster drama Butterfly. The long-gestating film has been a regular participant at project markets since it was first announced in 2003. Chang is attending Filmart's HAF with his forthcoming feature, The Dream.Production of Butterfly halted one year ago when funds ran out. CMC's ...

  • News

    Fortissimo boards Pen-ek's Ploy as co-producer, sales agent

    2007-03-19T22:00:00Z

    Fortissimo Films has come onboard as co-producer on Pen-ek Ratanaruang's latest film Ploy, an erotic psychological drama about jealousy produced by the Thai writer-director's longtime producer Thailand's Five Star Production. Fortissimo is also selling the film, which is currently in post-production in Thailand.The story, written by Pen-ek, is an exploration ...

  • News

    Degeto gets TV rights to Getting Home from Fortissimo

    2007-03-19T22:00:00Z

    German broadcaster Degeto Film, making its first trip to Filmart, has closed its first deal with Fortissimo Films for the TV rights to Getting Home.Zhang Yang's Hong Kong/China co-production was selected for the 2006 Hong Kong-Asia Film Financing Forum and recently won the ecumenical jury prize after its screening in ...

  • News

    Singapore's I Not Stupid franchise goes to China

    2007-03-19T22:00:00Z

    Following the phenomenal success of I Not Stupid and I Not Stupid Too, which is nominated for best Asian film at this year's Hong Kong International Film Festival, MediaCorp Raintree Pictures is set to extend the franchise to the vast China market with a follow-up to be shot entirely in ...

  • News

    Hong Kong's Hippopotamus signs up Wang for Wushu

    2007-03-19T08:25:00Z

    Hong Kong production outfit Hippopotamus Films has signed China's Wang Wenjie to play the lead role in Antony Szeto's Wushu. Golden Network Asia is handling international sales on the $1.5m contemporary coming-of-age martial arts drama which is expected to shoot in China later this year. The story follows a teen ...

  • News

    Russian authorities drop charges against Gusinsky

    2000-07-31T13:23:00Z

    Media Most chief Vladimir Gusinsky left Russia to join his family in Spain last week after the criminal case against him of defrauding the Russian government of $10m was dropped due to lack of evidence.Gusinsky spent four days in prison earlier this year when the charges were first brought against ...

  • News

    Film London and ITV hook up to profile local talent

    2007-03-19T10:30:00Z

    London 's regional broadband TV service ITV Local London has partnered with Film London to champion the city's up and coming film-making talent. ITV Local will be an official media partner of the next financial year's round of Film London's local support fund, the London Borough Film Fund Challenge. The ...

  • News

    Hong Kong's Mei Ah Entertainment scales Red Cliff

    2007-03-19T20:30:00Z

    Mei Ah Entertainment has acquired all Hong Kong rights to John Woo's upcoming military epic Red Cliff. Hong Kong is the last major Asian territory to sign on for the $75m picture which is scheduled to start shooting on March 29 in and around Beijing. Woo and his producer partner ...

  • News

    Yuen to wreak Vengeance for Celestial

    2007-03-19T20:00:00Z

    Hong Kong-based Celestial Pictures has added a remake of Chang Cheh's Vengeance, to be directed by Corey Yuen, to its slate of productions inspired by titles in its Shaw Brothers library. Yuen is attached to direct the project from a script by Jeff Lau, the writer-director behind iconic Hong Kong ...

  • News

    Shooting begins on Formosa Films '80s period feature Clubbed

    2007-03-19T11:12:00Z

    Gritty rites-of-passage tale Clubbed is to begin shooting this week at east London's Three Mills Studio and on location in the West Midlands, with a scheduled release date of early 2008.The script was written by BAFTA-winning writer Geoff Thompson, adapted from his best-selling autobiography Watch My Back. It follows factory ...

  • Reviews

    TMNT (TMNT)

    2007-03-19T11:11:00Z

    Dir: Kevin Munroe. US. 2007. 87mins.Seventeen years after their cinematic debut, the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles return with their sweetness and boyish tomfoolery intact. TMNT may substitute CG animation for the earlier films' live-action treatment, but the strongest ingredient remains the four reptiles' incorrigible charm, which easily outclasses a muddled ...

  • News

    Astoria avoids bankruptcy

    2007-03-19T11:29:00Z

    Swedish cinema chain Astoria Cinemas was saved from bankruptcy Friday (16 Mar), as a Stockholm court accepted a majority decision by 260 creditors to write off 75% of the company's debts, totalling $8.9 million (Euros 6.7m). Only two voted against the accord, including the main creditor, the Swedish Film Institute, ...

  • News

    Regional fund MDM backs new features with over $6.1m

    2007-03-19T11:52:00Z

    New feature films by John Irvin, Michael Hoffman, Aktan Arym Kubat and Oskar Roehler are among projects backed with over $6.1 million (Euros 4.6m) by the Leipzig-based regional public fund Mitteldeutsche Medienfoerderung (MDM). The largest single amount - $1.2m (Euros 900,000) - was awarded to UK director John Irvin's planned ...