Small MPU – Page 598

  • News

    BVITV strikes first ever Ukrainian deal

    2004-05-24T00:00:00Z

    Buena Vista International TV struck its first ever filmlicence deal in the Ukraine this week at the Los Angeles Preview Screenings.It licensed a package of series and feature films tocommercial broadcaster Inter TV in a multi-year deal. Current films covered bythe agreement include Pearl Harbor, The Princess Diaries and Sweet ...

  • News

    Kal Ho Naa Ho dominates Indian Academy Awards

    2004-05-25T00:00:00Z

    NikhilAdvani's Kal Ho Naa Ho walked away with eight top honours at thisyear's International Indian Film Academy awards (IIFA) -Bollywood's equivalent to the Oscar's - bagging best film, bestactress (Preity Zinta), best supporting actor (Saif Ali Khan) and actress (JayaBachchan) as well as four out of the five awards in ...

  • News

    Koch Lorber acquires Lipstick & Dynamite

    2004-05-25T00:00:00Z

    Koch Lorber Films has picked up all US and Canadian rightsexcluding pay television to Ruth Leitman's acclaimed documentary Lipstick& Dynamite, Piss And Vinegar: The First Ladies Of Wrestling.The company plans an autumn 2004 or early 2005 release for thepicture, which premiered at Toronto's Hot Docs Festival and played at Tribecaearlier ...

  • News

    Troy plunders $70m international weekend haul

    2004-05-25T00:00:00Z

    Warner Bros enjoyed its third biggest international weekend of alltime as Troy added an estimated $71m from 10,272 screens in 58 marketsfor a $146.9m running total.Driven by mighty bows in the UK, Japan, Italy, Korea and Russiaand solid domestic business the action epic has now amassed $233.2mworldwide.Second week holdovers were ...

  • News

    Lions Gate International strikes J-Horror sales

    2004-05-25T00:00:00Z

    Lions Gate Films International launched its J-HorrorJapanese horror franchise in Cannes with key territory sales on the nascentseries of pictures put together by the prolific producer Take Ichise.The company negotiated worldwide distribution rights to thefranchise, excluding Japan, from Ichise's development and financing companyEntertainment Farm. Ichise's credits include the Japanese and ...

  • News

    TLA Releasing acquires A Loving Father, Moon Child

    2004-05-25T00:00:00Z

    TLA Releasing's International Film Festival label has added JacobBerger's emotional drama A Loving Father and Takahisa Zeze'scrime-horror hybrid Moon Child.Real-life father-and-son pairing Gerard and Guillaume Depardieu teamup on screen for the first time in A Loving Father, in which the formerplays a Nobel prize recipient who encounters his estranged son ...

  • News

    FRANCE 25 May

    2004-05-25T00:00:00Z

    Hot off itspremiere bash in Cannes, Brad Pitt epic Troy scored nearly 1 millionadmissions its first week out in order to grab the top spot away from Van Helsing which boosted its secondweek takings to $7.2m.Also newthis week, Cannes opener Bad Educationfrom Pedro Almodovar which boasted a healthy $7,000 per ...

  • News

    United Artists takes int'l rights to Songcatcher

    2000-03-28T18:55:00Z

    United Artists Films (UAF) has acquired international rights to Maggie Greenwald's Songcatcher, which won the Special Jury Prize for Outstanding Ensemble Performance at this year's Sundance Film Festival.Songcatcher, which stars Oscar nominee Janet McTeer and Aidan Quinn, is produced by ErgoArts in association with the Independent Film Channel (IFP). The ...

  • News

    DENMARK 25 May

    2004-05-25T00:00:00Z

    Troy opened a weeklater in Denmark than the rest of the region, cleverly not trying to competewith the royal wedding for the media's attention, and despite it's coolcritical reception it had no problem conquering the top of the chart with itshigh 72 prints.Neither of this weekend's other two releases - ...

  • News

    GERMANY 25 May

    2004-05-25T00:00:00Z

    While Wolfgang Petersen's Troy held on to the top spot with only a 9% drop in takings overthe previous weekend to gross over $19.9m, the local German film industry wasgiven a welcome boost by the strong opening of Tobi Baumann's Der Wixxer, a send-up of the 1960s EdgarWallace crime mystery ...

  • News

    SWEDEN 25 May

    2004-05-25T00:00:00Z

    With Wolfgang Petersen's Troyeasily dethroned Van Helsing lastweek, nothing much changed this weekend on the Swedish chart. Troy even retained a solid screenaverage of $6,393 on its massive 111 prints.The only new release, ThePrince & Me, posed no threat to any of the top 10 films and opened12th, while last ...

  • News

    NORDIC Production Listings - May 25 2004

    2004-05-25T00:00:00Z

    NORDIC LISTINGS - MAY 25DENMARKIN PRE-PRODUCTIONAMAZON JACK 3(JUNGLEDYRET HUGO - FRAEK SOM ALTID)(PH3) Backer: Danish Film Institute. the third instalment in the popularanimated feature series about Amazon Jack. Prod: Per Holst. Dirs: AndersSoerensen, Joergen Lerdam. Scr: Flemming Quist Moeller.Contact: Per Holst, PH3, (45) 35 55 93 66THE AMBULANCE(AMBULANCEN)(Nordisk Film Production) ...

  • News

    Nordic newcomers emerge - against the odds

    2004-05-26T04:00:00Z

    Although producers throughout the Nordic region are stillstruggling with their various unresolved issues of government funding, thereseems to be no shortage of new talent -or producers willing to back their feature debuts.In Sweden, there are signs that the continued emergence offirst-time feature directors (as well as more box-office success), might ...

  • News

    Pupi Avati steps down as president of Cinecitta.

    2004-05-26T04:00:00Z

    Pupi Avati, the veteran Italian director behind The Heart Elsewhere, has stepped downfrom his position as president of Cinecitta Holding. He has been replaced byformer RAI executive Carlo Fuscagni."I told Cultural Minister Giuliano Urbani that I wantedto resign for professional reasons," Avati said. "I am currentlyshooting a film and should ...

  • News

    Pending tax shelter initiates new Belgian investment outfit

    2004-05-26T04:00:00Z

    A new intermediary companycalled Peloton Pictures is planning to launch in Brussels in as little as sixweeks time to take advantage of the new Belgian tax shelter.Led by Mulholland Picturesproducer Ate de Jong (The Discovery Of Heaven), Peloton Pictures will bean intermediary between 'one or two well-known Belgian banks' and ...

  • News

    Singapore unveils international funding incentive

    2004-05-26T04:00:00Z

    In an attempt to lureinternational film makers to shoot and produce their pictures in thecity-state, Singapore has announced Film In Singapore, a $5.8m (S$10m) fundingincentive set up by the Singapore Tourism Board (STB).Under the scheme, filmmakers will receive a subsidy of up to 50% of the expenses incurred duringfilming in ...

  • Reviews

    Aftermath (Lad De Sma Born)

    2004-05-25T00:00:00Z

    Dir: Paprika Steen.Denmark. 2004. 100 minsAn award-winning presence in a string of Dogme films (Festen, Mifune,Open Hearts etc), actress Paprika Steen takes a very different stylisticapproach in her assured directorial debut. Aftermath is a polished, mournfulexamination of grief distinguished by its careful compositions, deeply feltperformances and rigid avoidance of sentimentality.Its ...

  • News

    Harry Potter 3 prompts new Dutch rating

    2004-05-26T04:00:00Z

    The third Harry Potter film, Harry Potter And The Prisoner Of Azkaban, has received a unique newrating in the Netherlands. Nicam, the organisation responsible for theage-limits assigned to films in Holland, will introduce the advisory age of 9years.Normally, films are branded with one of the four existingratings: All Ages, 6, ...

  • News

    Hofer set to quit Babelsberg

    2000-03-28T16:49:00Z

    Germany's Studio Babelsberg has been rocked by the news that a second executive - Arthur Hofer - is to exit the production centre near Berlin, following the departure of studio boss Friedrich-Carl Wachs at the end of February (Screendaily February 14).Hofer, who moved Babelsberg from Munich's Bavaria Studios in 1997, ...

  • News

    Dendy takes three for Australia

    2004-05-26T04:00:00Z

    Dendy chiefs Andrew Mackie and Richard Payten areparticularly pleased that Mike Leigh's VeraDrake is among the three films they have just picked up for Australia andNew Zealand.This is because it will be the fourth film they have handledfor the UK writer/director under various distribution guises. They fought offvigorous competition for ...