Small MPU – Page 423

  • News

    HONG KONG

    2003-09-08T00:00:00Z

    Thanks to strong word-of-mouth, local comedy Dragon Loaded 2003 held on to the top spot for the second week in a row, beating off four openers - including US films Spy Kids 3-D: Game Over, Bad Boys II and Down With Love.The film's success has surprised the local industry as ...

  • News

    NEW ZEALAND

    2003-09-08T00:00:00Z

    BVI's animated hit Finding Nemo spent its second week at the top of the New Zealand chart this week despite only opening on Sep 4. The Pixar film managed to take the top spot the previous weekend (Aug 28-31) off previews alone. This week's official launch saw it gross more ...

  • News

    Callahan set to acquire Deutsche cable assets

    2000-02-22T18:33:00Z

    Deutsche Telekom is expected to confirm today the sale of a 55% stake in its cable television network in North Rhine-Westphalia, for about $3bn to Denver investment company Callahan Associates International (CAI).In addition, DB Investor, an investment unit of Deutsche Bank, is expected to take a minority stake in the ...

  • News

    Goodmorning, Night (Buongiorno, Notte)

    2003-09-08T00:00:00Z

    Dir: Marco Bellocchio. Italy. 2003. 105 mins.Marco Bellocchio's passionate but controlled psychological study of Red Brigade terrorism is not the masterpiece that some Italian critics would claim; nor was Bellocchio 'robbed' of the Golden Lion at this year's Venice festival, which went to a better film, Andrey Zvyagintsev's The Return. ...

  • Reviews

    Goodmorning, Night (Buongiorno, Notte)

    2003-09-08T00:00:00Z

    Dir: Marco Bellocchio. Italy. 2003. 105 mins.Marco Bellocchio's passionate but controlled psychological study of Red Brigade terrorism is not the masterpiece that some Italian critics would claim; nor was Bellocchio 'robbed' of the Golden Lion at this year's Venice festival, which went to a better film, Andrey Zvyagintsev's The Return. ...

  • News

    JAPAN

    2003-09-08T00:00:00Z

    Boosted by its warm reception at the Venice Film Festival, Takeshi Kitano's samurai swashbuckler Zatoichi soared to $4.3m (¥500m) on its opening weekend in Japan - the strongest local start for any of Kitano's 11 films. Awarded the Open 2003 Mimmo Rotella Foundation prize midway through the festival, Kitano found ...

  • Reviews

    Out Of Time

    2003-09-08T00:00:00Z

    Dir: Carl Franklin. US. 2003. 114 mins. This lightweight sub-noir thriller from director Carl Franklin is not merely implausible, it is preposterous. A star vehicle for Denzel Washington, who was reportedly paid $20m for his efforts, the film just about gets by on his megastar screen presence but stretches the ...

  • News

    Calendar Girls date with Odeon pays off

    2003-09-09T04:00:00Z

    Buena Vista International's Calendar Girls has put in a highly impressive performance since it opened last Wednesday (Sep 3) for an exclusive run at London's Odeon Leicester Square.The cinema, which boasts the biggest auditorium in the country able to seat nearly 2,000 people, saw receipts of $92,772 (£58,539) over the ...

  • News

    NETHERLANDS

    2003-09-08T00:00:00Z

    David Mackenzie's acclaimed beat adaptation Young Adam received its world box office debut this week in The Netherlands.Launching for independent distributor Three Lines Pictures, the smallest of the territory's distributors, the film got off to an inauspicious start over its four-day opening. However the 12 screen release had already taken ...

  • News

    Fox supplies easyCinema with first ever first-run film

    2003-09-09T04:00:00Z

    UK no-frills exhibitor easyCinema has struck a deal with 20th Century Fox to screen its first ever first-run film, Down With Love, starring Ewan McGregor and Renee Zellweger. Until now the company has been frustrated by its inability to secure first run titles from distributors in the UK. EasyCinema is ...

  • News

    Jeunet's Long Engagement gets French approval

    2003-09-09T04:00:00Z

    France's National Cinema Centre (CNC) has given provisional approval for A Very Long Engagement - the Warner Bros France backed film by Amelie director Jean-Pierre Jeunet - to qualify for access to French state funding. However, the approval does come with some caveats. The $50 million film is set to ...

  • News

    Venice Critics' Week winner scores first foreign sale

    2003-09-09T04:00:00Z

    Dutch distributor Cinemien has snapped up Benelux distribution rights to Salvatore Mereu's Ballo A Tre Passi, following International Week of Film Critics win at Venice.International sales are being handled by Lucky Red, Andrea Occhipinti's Rome outfit which also produced the Sardinian director's debut feature with Gianluca Arcopinto's Pablo Distribuzione. Lucky ...

  • News

    Star mulls Indian Internet drive

    2000-02-22T19:27:00Z

    Star TV has joined the rush to invest in Internet ventures by unveiling plans to pump between $50m-$100m into Asian Internet properties including consumer portals in India.The company is planning to take between 10 and 20 per cent equity stakes in popular Indian consumer portals, according to News Corp India ...

  • News

    GERMANY

    2003-09-08T00:00:00Z

    Distributor X-Verleih scored another local comedy hit this weekend with Learning To Lie (Liegen Lernen). Hendrik Handloegten's film, which tells the story of a West German man between 1982 and 1998 and his inability to forget his first love, sold 88,016 tickets over the weekend for third place and the ...

  • News

    Korean pair crank up Cannes targeted films

    2003-09-09T04:00:00Z

    Two of Korea's leading directors - Im Kwon-taek and Hong Sang-soo - start production this week on new features aimed squarely at next year's Cannes festival.Veteran director Im Kwon-taek's 99th film Haryu-Insaeng, the story of a young man who gets caught up in gang life in 1960s Korea, began shooting ...

  • News

    LXG is number one in Spain, Hong Kong for Fox

    2003-09-09T00:00:00Z

    Fox International's The League Of Extraordinary Gentlemen (LXG) raised its international running totalto $14.6m at the weekend, thanks to number one bows in Spain and Hong Kong.In Spain the fantasy-adventure grossed $3.9m from 374 screens,while Hong Kong yielded $368,000 from 32.Overall LXG took $4.5m from 542 screens in nine markets ...

  • News

    Pirates makes away with $38.5m in stunning weekend for BVI

    2003-09-09T00:00:00Z

    Pirates Of The Caribbean was the runaway international champion at the weekend as itgrossed $38.5m to raise its running total to $189.9 for Buena VistaInternational (BVI).The film opened number one in Germany on a staggering $11.2m from958 screens, scoring the distributor's and producer Jerry Bruckheimer's biggestever bow there.In Italy it ...

  • News

    Final Destination 2 up to $3.1m in Italy for Eagle

    2003-09-09T00:00:00Z

    New Line's Final Destination 2 raised its Italian running total to $3.1min its fourth weekend after a $252,827 four-day haul.Released through EaglePictures, the film dropped off 50% following a 44% screen count reduction. Ithas already taken 96% of the final gross of the 2000 original.Freddy Vs Jason added $44,492 from ...

  • News

    Carmichael, Gardini, Minghella made creative executives at Miramax

    2003-09-09T00:00:00Z

    Miramax Films has appointed Kelly Carmichael, Carla Gardini andHannah Minghella as creative executives while David Greenbaum and Eric Robinsonhave been promoted to directors of production and development.Carmichael will continue to be based in New York and will focusher efforts on casting, while Gardini will work from Miramax's Los Angelesoffices and ...

  • News

    American Pie: The Wedding has $7m weekend for Universal

    2003-09-09T00:00:00Z

    Universal's American Pie: The Wedding was the number two international film atthe weekend, grossing $7m from 2,069 sites in eight countries for a $56.6mrunning total.The comedy sequel opened number one in Mexico on a mighty $1.1mfrom 271 and 31% market share.It was 22% behind the opening of 2001's American Pie ...