Small MPU – Page 649

  • News

    Saperstein joins Weinsteins to head production for Dimension Films

    2005-06-27T04:00:00Z

    Richard Saperstein (pictured),the former president of development and production for Artisan Pictures, hasjoined the Weinstein brothers as executive vice president and head ofproduction for Dimension Films.He also assumes the title ofexecutive vice president of production for The Weinstein Company, and will workclosely with Harvey Weinstein on films being produced by ...

  • News

    Jellysmoke, Grain Of Sand win top prizes at LAFF

    2005-06-27T04:00:00Z

    The Los Angeles FilmFestival (LAFF) closed last night with its annual prize-givingceremonywhere Mark Banning's Jellysmokewon the Target Film-maker Award for best narrative feature and Beth Bird's EveryoneTheir Grain Of Sand won thedocumentary prize. Each award carries with itan unrestricted cash prize of $50,000 - one of the largest cash prizes ...

  • News

    ...and holds strong in international markets

    2005-06-26T00:00:00Z

    Batman Begins stayed impressively strong in itssecond weekend on international release, falling off just 36% in its holdoverterritories and performing better than its franchise predecessors in a trio ofnew markets. And Batman wasn't the only US studio releasedelivering healthy numbers: in spite of continuing hot weather in some Europeancountries, Madagascar ...

  • News

    Batman beats Bewitched, stays top in US...

    2005-06-27T00:00:00Z

    Warner Bros' Batman Begins held off Columbia's Bewitchedand two other new competitors over the weekend to retain the top spot on theNorth American box office chart.Overall box office for the weekend, however, was down onthe previous year for the eighteenth consecutive weekend, a new record. After its strong five-day opening, ...

  • News

    Batman beats Bewitched, stays top in US...

    2005-06-27T00:00:00Z

    Warner Bros' Batman Begins held off Columbia's Bewitchedand two other new competitors over the weekend to retain the top spot on theNorth American box office chart.Overall box office for the weekend, however, was down on theprevious year for the eighteenth consecutive weekend, a new record. After its strong five-day opening, ...

  • News

    Russian Dolls overpower Batman's beginning in France

    2005-06-27T00:00:00Z

    Batman Begins may have punched its way to impressive first-weekfigures Europe-wide, but in France it was beaten to the top spot by amulti-lingual sequel about soul-searching twentysomethings.Russian Dolls, Cedric Klapisch's follow-up to L'AubergeEspagnole (also known in other territories as The Spanish Apartment,Europudding and Pot Luck) registered 662,329 admissions duringits first ...

  • News

    Initial D burns box-office records across Asia

    2005-06-27T00:00:00Z

    Media Asia's Initial D zoomed to the top ofthe box office chart in five Asian territories on its opening weekend (June23-26).The $12m car racing drama has also smashed records inall five territories. It scored the biggest opening of all films so far thisyear in Hong Kong, China and Malaysia and ...

  • News

    Munich Previews notch sales to Spain, Australia

    2005-06-28T04:00:00Z

    The Munich Previews, amarket taster for the Munich Film Festival, have seen some early business, with Beta Cinema, and Kinowelt International allconcluding deals.Spain's Civite has picked upPeter Lichtefeld's Playa Del Futuro, which screened in competition atthe Shanghai International Film Festival this month, from Kinowelt, while BetaCinema confirmed that Sergei Bodrov's ...

  • News

    Dogwoof barks at UK theatrical windows

    2005-06-28T04:00:00Z

    Dogwoof Digital, therecently-formed arm of new UK distributor Dogwoof pictures, has announced itwill simultaneously release the low-budget feature EMR in cinemas, overthe internet and on DVD in a first for the UK market.EMR will be released at one theatre each in London,Scotland and northern England on July 12, as well ...

  • News

    Asian film commissions move to draw more US shoots

    2005-06-28T04:00:00Z

    The Asian Film CommissionsNetwork (AFCNet) is gearing up for a push to draw more Hollywood productions tothe region.The move comes as AFCNet hasadded Singapore and Cambodia to its membership roster, which now boasts 22commissions from across the region.AFCNet, which offers supportfor location shoots, will hold a seminar on attracting US ...

  • News

    Lighthouse shines on Zwick, Joffe projects

    2005-06-28T04:00:00Z

    New feature projects by MyBig Fat Greek Wedding director Joel Zwick and veteran UK film-maker RolandJoffe are set to be backed by the new Lighthouse Films media fund, which hasbeen launched by the Munich-based Lighthouse Structured Finance GmbH.Three of the projects on theLighthouse slate - Zwick's romantic comedy Red Lips, ...

  • News

    Corneau set to head up Deauville jury

    2005-06-28T04:00:00Z

    French directorAlain Corneau will preside over the jury for the main competition at theDeauville Festival of American Film, running from September 2-11.American writerand director James Toback will be the subject of a special tribute fromDeauville, while a retrospective of boxing films will also be shown. Tying inwith the pugilistic theme, ...

  • News

    Dreaming becomes reality for Alexei Uchitel with Moscow victory

    2005-06-27T00:00:00Z

    Russian film-maker AlexeiUchitel has taken top honours at the 27th Moscow International Film Festivalwith Cold War era drama Dreaming Of Space.The award on Sunday marksthe second successive year that a homegrown film-maker has won the Golden StGeorge: in 2004 Dmitry Meskhiev's Our Own took best director, film andactor.Set in a ...

  • News

    McCormack to reign in My Kingdom

    2000-05-15T16:08:00Z

    Catherine McCormack has signed to star as the daughter of Richard Harris and Lynn Redgrave in UK gangster movie My Kingdom which is being directed by Don Boyd and produced by Neal Weisman of Close Grip Films, Gabriela Bacher of Primary Pictures and BSkyB's film production arm Sky Pictures. Overseas ...

  • News

    Roadside Attractions buys US rights to Sarah Silverman concert film

    2005-06-28T04:00:00Z

    US independent distributorRoadside Attractions has acquired US theatrical and TV rights to comic SarahSilverman's feature concert film Sarah Silverman: Jesus Is Magic based on Silverman's politically incorrectoff-Broadway show which takes on topics such as Sept 11, AIDS and theHolocaust.The film, selected recentlyfor this year's US Comedy Arts and SWSW film ...

  • News

    Newell named winner of BAFTA/LA's Schlesinger award

    2005-06-27T00:00:00Z

    Mike Newell has been namedthe recipient of this year's John Schlesinger Award for artistic excellence atthe 2005 Britannia Awards ceremony, held by BAFTA/LA in Los Angeles on Nov 10.The award coincides with theworldwide openings of Newell's Harry Potter And The Goblet Of Fire, the fourth instalment in the popular film ...

  • News

    Cine Expo: box-office fears beneath forward-looking agenda

    2005-06-28T04:00:00Z

    "This film has huge expectations of turning around the summer boxoffice," Andrew Cripps, UIP president and COO, told guests before a WarOf The Worlds screening at yesterday's opening of Cinema Expo in Amsterdam.While anti-piracy measures are routine at blockbuster previews, the confiscation of every potential recording device before the screening ...

  • News

    Industry rejoices at Supreme Court's internet piracy decision

    2005-06-27T00:00:00Z

    The US Supreme Court'sunanimous 9-0 decision yesterday to hold file-sharing software accountable forcopyright infringements committed by users of the services was greeted withjubilation by Hollywood yesterday.The case of MGM vs Groksterin which 28 of the world's largest entertainmen companies brought a lawsuitagainst the makers of the Morpheus, Grokster and KaZaA ...

  • News

    Doelger, Scoffield to form new US/UK production company

    2005-06-28T00:00:00Z

    LA-based independentproducer Frank Doelger and Tracey Scoffield, who is currently head ofdevelopment at BBC Films, are teaming up to create a new US/UK productionoutfit which will make both theatrical feature films and TV programming.The as-yet-unnamed companyis currently in negotiations with HBO and the BBC for overall deals with thenetworks and ...

  • News

    Bavaria takes aim with African football doc

    2005-06-28T00:00:00Z

    Bavaria Film Internationalhas taken international sales for Africa United, ahead of its worldpremiere in Karlovy Vary's Documentary Competition on July 6.Directed by Olaf Johannessonand shot on location in Iceland, Serbia, Morocco, England and Germany, itfollows a football-crazy coach and his team - immigrants from Morocco, Nigeria,Columbia, Serbia, Kosovo, Gambia and ...