Small MPU – Page 845

  • News

    Le Pogam exits post as Gaumont marketing chief

    2000-05-03T17:43:00Z

    Pierre-Ange Le Pogam is understood to be leaving his position as Gaumont's worldwide distribution and marketing chief in the latest of a string of upheavals at the French film group.News of Le Pogam's departure, coming on the eve of Gaumont's Vatel opening the Cannes Film Festival, follows hard on the ...

  • News

    Sales veteran Aguilar leaves Spain's Aurum

    2005-04-04T00:00:00Z

    Salesveteran Mocha Aguilar has left her position as director of international salesat Spanish distibutor Aurum Producciones to launch her own El DoradoInternational.Aguilar, who was with Aurum from its launch in 1995, willcontinue to represent Aurum's catalogue of Spanish films and is also looking toindependently pick up third-party titles in advance ...

  • Reviews

    Fever Pitch

    2005-04-04T00:00:00Z

    Dirs: Peter Farrelly,Bobby Farrelly. US. 2005. 103mins.Predictably, and not toopainfully, the Hollywood version of Nick Hornby's Fever Pitchsubstitutes baseball for football and a cutesy comic tone for the wistful moodof the British author's classic memoir about having 'measured out my lifein Arsenal fixtures.' The result is a slight but sweet ...

  • Reviews

    Sometimes In April

    2005-04-04T00:00:00Z

    Dir/scr: Raoul Peck.US-Rwa. 2005. 140mins.The biggest obstacle to SometimesIn April, Raoul Peck's worthy, emotionally-stirring and thought-provokingaccount of 1994's Rwandan massacre of the Tutsi minority lies, paradoxically,in the success of rival feature Hotel Rwanda.Sometimes In April is superior to Hotel Rwanda on severalfronts, including the fact that it has less of ...

  • Reviews

    Silentium

    2005-04-04T00:00:00Z

    Dir.Wolfgang Mumberger. Austria. 2004. 117mins.Unsubtle,blunt and brutal, Wolfgang Murberger's comedy thriller assaults Austria'sfavorite sacred cows one after the other with a relish whose rough charms willbe difficult to appreciate beyond German-language territories.Basedon the novel by Wolfgang Haas, Silentium is not so much a sequel as arepeat performance by one of ...

  • News

    Katzenberg to address UK's Animated Encounters festival

    2005-04-04T00:00:00Z

    Jeffrey Katzenberg,co-founder of DreamWorks SKG, has been lined-up to speak at this year'sAnimated Encounters Festival in Bristol (April 21-24). Katzenberg, who has producedfilms such as Shrek, is delivering the Industry Summit keynote speech onApril 22. He will outline his view onanimation and its future and then open the floor for ...

  • News

    Studio Babelsberg plans initial stock market float

    2005-04-04T00:00:00Z

    Germany's Studio Babelsberg plans to go public and begintrading on Frankfurt's Stock Exchange on April 29.The company said it will offer 10% of a total of 15million shares. The remaining shares will be held by Carl Woebcken and co-proprietorChristoph Fisser as well as financial investors and employees. Studio Babelsberg is ...

  • News

    Downfall gains Momentum in UK

    2005-04-04T00:00:00Z

    Germanhit Downfall (Der Untergang) continued its strong international run overthe weekend, claiming the highest opening ever for a German-language film inthe UK through Momentum Pictures.Thecritically-acclaimed drama, about the last days of Hitler, took $308,495(£163,336) from 49 locations over its opening weekend in the UK. This put itahead of 2003's Good ...

  • News

    Ring Two opens top in UK

    2005-04-04T00:00:00Z

    TheRing Two won over UK audiences on another hot weekend taking$3.9m (£2.1m) from 419 sites including $558,783 (£295,853) of previews.UIP'shorror sequel finished top ahead of 20th Century Fox's Be Cool which expandedinto wide release (336 sites) after a single-week single-site platform releaseat the UCI Empire Leicester Square in London's West ...

  • News

    Italian box office slumps in wake of Pope's death

    2005-04-04T00:00:00Z

    The Italian box officeslumped 37% over the weekend as Italians and the world mourned the passing ofPope John Paul II. The government has decreedthree days of national mourning starting from Monday April 4 and a day ofmourning on Friday April 8, when the Pope's funeral will be held in St. ...

  • News

    Dot-coms tie up with MIF, MITIC, American Pavilion

    2000-05-04T04:05:00Z

    Dot coms will invade the Croisette this Cannes Film Festival with several online companies firmly aligned with staple institutions such as The Cannes Market, The American Pavilion and MITIC.Communications giant Intel is equipping the American Pavilion with a high-speed internet capability to support new sponsors POP.com, InternetStudios.com, ReporterTV.com, E! Online ...

  • News

    German box office plunges in first quarter of 2005

    2005-04-05T04:00:00Z

    German box office and admissions plunged by 11% in thefirst three months of 2005 compared to the same period last year.German cinemas took Euros 181.5m in box office, while thenumber of cinema-goers slipped from 34.8m to 31.1m in the first quarter.The sobering statistics have dispelled any optimism feltby German exhibitors ...

  • News

    Olmi cranks up One Hundred Nails

    2005-04-05T04:00:00Z

    Italian writer-directorErmanno Olmi is currently lining up a new film, entitled Cento Chiodi(literally, One Hundred Nails).Rai Cinema is believed to bein advanced negotiations to co-produce the film, which is produced by Olmi'sMilan-based company, Cinemaundici.Olmi, one of Italy's mostacclaimed directors, is currently writing the film whose budget is said to beset ...

  • News

    Goldman honoured at Monaco Cinema and Literature Forum

    2005-04-04T00:00:00Z

    The fourth edition of theInternational Cinema and Literature Forum wrapped up Sunday night in Monacowith producer Alain Goldman picking up his second producing award in twostraight years at the event. Last year,Goldman was named producer of the year and this year took home a statue for hishand in L'Enquete Corse ...

  • News

    Brogliatti to leave Warner Bros after 18 years

    2005-04-05T04:00:00Z

    Warner Bros executive vicepresident and chief corporate communications officer Barbara Brogliatti isretiring from the company after 18 years to focus on teaching, philanthropy andwine-making in the Napa Valley.Brogliatti's full-timeduties as official spokesperson and chief press officer and strategist for thestudio will end on May 31, however she will continue as ...

  • News

    The Ring Two leads international box office

    2005-04-04T00:00:00Z

    DreamWorks' TheRing 2 grossed anestimated $17.4m in 36 territories in 3,079 venues through UIP over theweekend, distinguished by four number one debuts in major markets.The horrorsequel opened top in the UK on an estimated $3.3m ($3.9m including previews)from 419 sites, roughly 15% ahead of 2002's The Ring.In Spain TheRing Two ...

  • News

    New York's Steiner Studios to host Arbus biopic Fur

    2005-04-05T04:00:00Z

    Brooklyn-basedSteiner Studios has struck a deal with River Road Productions to host the shootof Steven Shainberg's Fur, an imagined chronicle of the life of New York photographer DianeArbus starring Nicole Kidman and Robert Downey Jr.Set constructionwill begin immediately on the 16,000 sq ft sound stage, one of two that will ...

  • News

    Apted signs on for Walden's Wilberforce pic Amazing Grace

    2005-04-05T04:00:00Z

    Michael Aptedhas signed on to direct the political thriller Amazing Grace, a Walden Media, Sunflower Productionsand FourBoys Films co-production about 18th century British politician WilliamWilberforce's campaign to abolish the slave trade in the British Empire. Dirty PrettyThings screenwriterSteven Knight will write the script, while Terrence Malick and Ed Pressman willproduce ...

  • News

    Reno, Franco star in Electric's World War I actioner Flyboys

    2005-04-05T04:00:00Z

    Jean Reno andJames Franco will star in the epic wartime adventure Flyboys, which is being directed by Tony Billand will be produced by Electric Entertainment principal Dean Devlin and MarcFrydman.Lions Gate Films International will handle worldwiderights excluding the US and Canada, which are being represented by ICM.Principalphotography is due to ...

  • News

    Graham King signs first-look production deal with Warner Bros

    2005-04-05T04:00:00Z

    Graham King has signed afirst-look deal with Warner Bros that will bring him in as producer on twoprojects for the studio and shifts Initial Entertainment Group's deals withLeonardo DiCaprio's Appian Way and Johnny Depp's Infinitum Nihil to Warner Bros.Initial Entertainment willremain an international sales entity for projects that King does ...