Small MPU – Page 641
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News
Four, Madagascar vie for international crown
Fox International's Fantastic Four added an estimated $22.9m over theweekend for a $78.4m running total and a possible top international spot.However the weekend champion may still be DreamWorks' Madagascar, which added more than $20.3m, a resultthat will swell once full weekend results are confirmed.Key drivers for Fantastic Four were the ...
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IFG, Working Title strike two-year pact
International Film Guarantors (IFG) has sealed a multi-picture agreement with Working Title Films whereby IFG will the principal completion guarantor on films from the company for the next two years.The deal - overseen by IFG's London and Los Angeles offices - also covers films to be produced by Working Titles ...
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Charlie remains victorious, but The Island disappoints
Charlie And The Chocolate Factory stayed top and passed $100m in itssecond weekend at the North American box office over the weekend, butDreamWorks' The Islandflopped in fourth place and overall box office fell back into its familiarslump.The Warner Bros champion added an estimated $28.3m for a $114.1mrunning total, while New ...
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Audiences prefer the Factory to The Island
Charlie And The Chocolate Factory stayed top and passed $100m in itssecond weekend at the North American box office over the weekend, butDreamWorks' The Islandflopped in fourth place and overall box office fell back into its familiarslump.The Warner Bros champion added an estimated $28.3m for a $114.1mrunning total, while New ...
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MPAA's Glickman welcomes new US anti-piracy czar
MPAA chief Dan Glickman has welcomed the announcement thatPresident Bush has created a new anti-piracy czar as the high-profile waragainst counterfeit films continues."I heartily applaud the President for today's action andappreciate the Administration's commitment to fighting and winning the battleagainst intellectual property theft," Glickman said in a statement."Our industry alone ...
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Philadelphia's TLA expands, outlines UK distribution venture
TLA Releasing is expanding operations and its staff roster, withJohn Rayser coming aboard as managing director and Andrew Chang joining asbooking agent.Rayser will oversee the company's sales team and operations and ischarged with expanding the customer base.He most recently served as regional sales manager of MGM HomeEntertainment.Executive director of sales ...
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Reviews
The Skeleton Key
Dir: Iain Softley. US.2005. 104mins.Iain Softley'sLouisiana-set The Skeleton Key is a horror film which does not alwaysseem to know which doors it is trying to unlock. The film is at once apsychological chiller in similar vein to Amenabar's The Others, a ratheroverwrought and inadvertently comic slice of Southern Gothic, and ...
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Reviews
Must Love Dogs
Dir:Gary David Goldberg. US. 2005. 9s7mins.With itscyber-dating-driven plot and plays on modern romantic mores, Must Love Dogssets itself up as a contemporary take on the time-honoured search for love.Deep down, though, this resolutely lightweight romantic comedy is just tootradition-bound and familiar seeming to be very effective. It is only perked ...
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Low budget horror Nailed cranks up in Belfast
Productionhas begun in Belfast on low budget horror feature Nailed from first-timedirector Adrian O'Connell and writer Stephen McAnena. The film,which is set in Brooklyn but being shot entirely on location in Belfast, starsCharles Porter and Sam Sarpong (American History X) as two pettycriminals on the run who hide out in ...
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Jarmusch's Flowers takes Cambridge prize
Jim Jarmusch's BrokenFlowers starring Bill Murray has won the audience award at the CambridgeFilm Festival (7-17 July).The Jarmusch film nudgedStudio Ghibli's Howl's Moving Castle into second position and ThomasVinterberg's Dear Wendy into third place. The 25th Cambridge FilmFestival saw audiences of over 13,000 watch 137 feature films from 29countries, 57 ...
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News
String of international projects gear up for China shoots
IfChina wasn't such a big place, the film crews would be tripping over each otherthis summer. Several international productions are gearing up to shoot in thecountry which, following a temporary Sars-induced blip, has once again become ahot production base. On August 15, The Painted Veil, which John Curran isdirecting for ...
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UK film distributors boost media advertising spend
UK film distributors are investing more money intomedia advertising according to the Film Distributor's Association (FDA), thetrade body for UK theatrical film distributors. Inthe first six months of this year the territory's distributors spent $139m (£79.8m)on media advertising, a massive increase of 16% over the same period of 2004when $120m ...
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News
French DVD revenues plateau as prices plunge
French consumers spentEuros 770.3m on DVD and VHS purchases in the first half of 2005, a one percentfall on the same period last year. The total number of units sold was up, however,with a 22.6% increase. The discrepancy can be explained by a shift inpricing. During first half of 2005, ...
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News
Innocent Voices scoops top Giffoni prize
Mexican director LuisMandoki's Innocent Voices has scooped the top GoldenGryphon prize at the 35th Giffoni Film Festival, one of theworld's leading events dedicated to childrens' films. Innocent Voices, which is based on the true life story of co-screenwriterOscar Torres, is set in El Salvador in the 1980s against the back ...
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Media Luna takes on sales for Three Degrees
Media Luna Entertainment has picked up international distributionrights for Florian Hoffmeister's Three Degrees Colder (3° Kaelter) whichwill have its world premiere in the forthcoming International Competition atthe Locarno Film Festival.Starring Bibiana Beglau, Sebastian Blomberg, Meret Becker, Johannvon Bülow, Katharina Schüttler, and Alexander Beyer, the drama among a group offriends reacting ...
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Battsek finally confirmed as new Miramax president
Daniel Battsek was finallyconfirmed as the new president of Miramax Films today, ending speculation overone of the industry's most widely known open secrets of the year.Battsek, the highlyrespected executive vice president and managing director of distribution andproduction at BVI UK, will be based in New York and reports directly to ...
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Story of Canadian killers gets world premiere at Montreal
The world premiere of Karla, Joel Bender's true-life account of Canada's mostinfamous criminal couple, will take place at the Montreal World Film Festivalnext month.The story of Karla Homolkaand Paul Bernardo, who were arrested in 1993 following the kidnapping, rape andmurder of two young girls, will play in special screening on ...
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McInnis programmes Palm Springs short film festival
Kathleen McInnis has been named director of short film programmingat this year's 11th Annual Palm Springs International Festival of Short Films& Short Film Market.The festival and market screens approximately 350 films from more than40 countries each year, and this year organisers are reporting a record 2,400submissions to date, up 10% ...
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Six composers line up for Sundance Composers Lab this week
The Sundance Institute has announced the six musicians chosen forthe 8th Annual Sundance Institute Composers Lab, which runs from Jul 26-Aug 11.This year's Composers Lab Fellows are Don Byron, Barbara Cohen,Marco d'Ambrosio, Andrea Kapsalis, Ljova (Lev Zhurbin), and Gyan Riley.Over the course of the intensive two-week lab Fellows willparticipate in ...