Small MPU – Page 644
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Batman set to land on 8,000 screens and over 70 territories
Batman Begins takes off through Warner Bros Pictures International thisweekend on a massive day-and-datelaunch that sees the picture open onapproximately 8,000 screens in more than 70 markets.The comic book adaptation opened in France and Mexico on Jun 15and in Australia and Germany a day later. The UK, Spain, Italy, Brazil, ...
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Bignardi to step down as Locarno artistic director
This year's edition of the Locarno International FilmFestival (August 3-13) will be the last one under the mantle of artisticdirector Irene Bignardi.Bignardi, 62, said that she had made it clear from thebeginning that she hadn't wanted to head the festival for any longer than fiveyears. She described her time at ...
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Lau revs up debut First Cuts project in Taiwan
Hong Kong star Andy Lau flewinto Taiwan yesterday with three directors to promote the first production inhis Focus: First Cuts project, six features shot on HD in collaborationwith Star Chinese Movies Network.Lau's company Focus Films will oversee the series' production andinternational sales.Announced at Hong Kong'sFilMart in March, the films bring ...
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Alliance goes back-packing
Gurinder Chadha, director of Sundance opener What's Cooking and Bhaji On The Beach, is directing an adaptation of William Sutcliffe's best-selling novel Are You Experienced for Canada's Alliance Atlantis.The story, likened to The Beach with a sense of humour, is about back-packing teenagers in India looking for love, sex and ...
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Greeks look to bed down tax financing initiative
Launching a film financing initiative worth up to 30% ofa budget to attract foreign shoots is probably the best thing has ever happenedto the Greek film industry.Foreign productions, which used to be welcome source offoreign exchange, have dried up in recent years dueto the lack of studios and the emergence ...
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Stargate, Magic Hour launch£30m 'protected' UK fund
A new £30m "capital protected" film financing fundhas been launched in London. MagicGate is a joint venture between fund managerStargate Capital Management and UK production company Magic Hour Media whosecredits include MIke Barker's A Good Woman.MagicGate aims to invest in four films in the £5m to £10m range over the ...
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Kinowelt snares Drum, Prokino gets Hidden
Kinowelt has acquired all rights for German speakingterritories (Germany, Austria and Switzerland) to Zola Maseko's SouthAfrica-set drama Drum which will be theopening film at this year's Munich Film Festival on June 24.The co-production between VIP 2 Medienfonds, ArmadaPictures, Nova Films, and Black Roots Productions is set to open in Germancinemas ...
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Emily Watson embarks on pan-European Crusade
Oscar nominated Dutchdirector Ben Sombogaart (Twin Sisters) has started shooting the Euros 12m Crusade In Jeans, which stars Emily Watson and Belgian actor JanDecleir.An English language adaptationof the popular Dutch novel by Theo Beckman, Crusade in Jeans tells the story of a young boy, Dolf, who isaccidentally transported to the ...
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Icon wins Allen's Match Point for UK
Icon Film Distribution has won the battle for UK rights toWoody Allen's Match Point.The highprofile deal with sales agent HanWay Films was sealed by new Icon UK presidentAlex Hamilton. Match Point has now sold to 46 territories around the world,including DreamWorks for North America. The UK was one of the ...
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Picturehouse assembles distribution team
Picturehouse, the USdistribution joint venture formed by New Line Cinema and HBO, has unveiled theNew York-based distribution team which will handle the release of the films intodomestic theatres.Rob Schwarz has been namedchief operating officer, Bill Thompson (pictured) is senior vice president andco-general sales manager, John Lange is senior vice president ...
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Batman Begins hits $71.1m after five days in US
Batman Begins swooped to the top of the NorthAmerican box office chart over the weekend with an estimated three-day gross of$46.9m, bringing its tally since opening last Wednesday to $71.1m. The impressive, if not spectacular totals were within therange expected by Warner Bros. But the weekend take was not big ...
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News
Batman Begins hits $71.1m after five days in US
Batman Begins swooped to the top of the NorthAmerican box office chart over the weekend with an estimated three-day gross of$46.9m, bringing its tally since opening last Wednesday to $71.1m. The impressive, if not spectacular totals were within therange expected by Warner Bros. But the weekend take was not big ...
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News
Village Album picks up top prize at Shanghai fest
The Village Album, from Japanese director Mitsuhiro Mihara, picked upbest film and best actor in the main competition of the Shanghai InternationalFilm Festival (SIFF) on Sunday night.Produced by Japan's WakoCompany, the film tells the story of a father and son who photograph theinhabitants of a village that is about to ...
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Batman takes $41.7m in tricky international marketplace
Batman Begins grossed an estimated $41.7m over the weekend from 8,000 screens in 73territories, making it the latest in a series of wide day-and-date openers totop the international box office chart.The international take (achieved over five days insome territories) added to an impressive domestic gross -- $71.1m -- to givethe ...
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News
Batman Begins hits $71.1m after five days in US
Batman Begins swooped to the top of the NorthAmerican box office chart over the weekend with an estimated three-day gross of$46.9m, bringing its tally since opening last Wednesday to $71.1m. The impressive, if not spectacular totals were within therange expected by Warner Bros. But the weekend take was not big ...
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News
In Memory Of My Father wins jury award at CineVegas
The CineVegas Film Festival, which closed on Saturday night in LasVegas with the premiere of George A Romero's Land Of The Dead, gave its grand jury award to InMemory Of My Father. Written and directed byChristopher Jaymes, the film is the story of three siblings at their father'swake and stars ...
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Nantucket Film Festival gives top prize to Hustle & Flow
The Nantucket Film Festival finished its tenth edition last night(Sunday) with its prize-giving closing ceremony which saw Craig Brewer win thebest writer/director award for Hustle & Flow.Jessica Sanders won a prize for best storytelling in a documentaryfilm for After Innocence, Murderball won the audience award for best feature, Mighty Times: ...
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UK anti-piracy trailers switch emphasis from studio losses
A new anti-piracy campaign in the UK is shifting emphasisaway from crime and financial losses towards promoting a positive image ofcinema going.A new trailer, drawn up by major exhibitors anddistributors, contrasts the big-screen "cinema experience" with a scratchypirated DVD."There has been a strategic shift because research showsthat the industry's messages ...
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Distributors flock to German Films' preview event
Morethan 40 international film distributors and TV film buyers will attend the German Films' Munich Previews starting on Wednesday.NewLine Cinema, Focus Features, the UK's Soda Pictures, France's MK2, Hungary'sBudapest Film, and Russia's Most Media are among the visitors to the event atthe Munich Filmfest.Othercompanies confirmed include the UK's City Screen, ...
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Atonement opts for the Wright stuff after Eyre departure
UK theatre director Sir Richard Eyre has stepped down from theadaptation of Ian McEwan's bestselling novel Atonement.Eyre reportedly wanted a delay while he worked on other theatreprojects but instead Working Title has decided to replace him.The new director is Joe Wright, who has just finished filmingPride And Prejudice. He was ...