All Screen articles in 23 March 2001
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Highlights from this week's SCREEN INTERNATIONAL
AS STOCK MARKETS PLUNGE IT'S TIME TO ASK WHETHER THE FILM INDUSTRY REALLY IS RECESSION-PROOFMillions may have been wiped from the investment portfolios of the wealthy few that drive the entertainment industry, but the film business itself seems to be clinging to the age-old belief that cinema is recession-proof. ...
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Kinowelt CEO still mulling stake in UK's Momentum
Kinowelt has yet to acquire a 50% stake in Momentum Pictures, chief executive officer Michael Koelmel told Screen Daily on Friday, contradicting a popularly-held belief that the UK distributor is already a jointly-owned venture between his German company and Alliance Atlantis of Canada. "Either we will become a shareholder or ...
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Zhang Ziyi to star in Wong Kar-Wai's 2046
Zhang Ziyi, the newcomer who stole the plaudits as rebellious princess Jiao Long Yu (Jen) in Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (Wo Hu Zang Long), is to star in Wong Kar-Wai's forthcoming 2046.Zhang currently on set in Hong Kong with New Line's Jackie Chan film Rush Hour 2, this week revealed ...
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German animation house to expand abroad
Animation producer BKN International (BKNI), which has been listed on Frankfurt's Neuer Markt since March 2000, has won approval from its shareholders to buy back up to 10% of the issued share capital by mid-September 2002 as part of a programme of expansion.In an official statement, the Cologne-based company, producer ...
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Norway backs Music For Weddings And Funerals
Four new productions: two feature films and two documentaries, have been greenlighted by Norway's Audiovisual Production Fund. Christiania Film, the company that started in the local film business last year with the suprise box office hit Detector, was granted $1.2m for director Unni Straume's new project: Music For Weddings And ...
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AOL Time Warner expands US online ticketing
AOL Time Warner has formed two separate alliances to expand online ticketing services to over 5,000 entertainment venues in the US, covering more than 85% of cinemas capable of offering internet ticketing.A multi-year pact - dubbed AOL Box Office By Ticketmaster - was struck to distribute the company's ticketing services ...
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Danish funds overcome Dogville's language barrier
Lars von Trier will always be regarded as the exception to any rule, so while there is still some dispute over the Danish Film Institute's reluctance to back Thomas Vinterberg's It's All About Love with more than $357,000 (DKR3m) on the grounds of it being an English-language project, no one ...
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New player enters Spain's frenetic cinema market
Amid talk of the Spanish exhibition industry growing too big for the market to sustain, a new, and unexpected, player has entered the highly competitive sector. Premiere Megaplex, a 50-50 joint venture between broadcaster Telecinco and distributor Tri Pictures, is set to unveil its first multiplex next week.An 8-screen complex ...
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Oscar hopefuls exploit the hype
With the 73rd Academy Awards ceremony on Sunday, this year's Best Picture candidates are taking full advantage of their nominations to build their box office before one of them walks off with all the glory.Chocolat and Traffic in particular have seen a host of last minute pre-Oscar openings. Lasse Hallstrom's ...
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Spy Kids
Dir: Robert Rodriguez. US. 2001. 90 mins.Best known for indie action flicks like El Mariachi and From Dusk Til Dawn, Robert Rodriguez turns his hand to family adventure with Spy Kids, aiming to mix the effects and thrills of James Bond with the warmth and colour of more traditional children's ...
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Palm buys North American rights to Scratch
Chris Blackwell's Palm Pictures has acquired US and Canadian rights to Scratch, the hip-hop documentary directed by Doug Pray which premiered at this year's Sundance Film Festival.Intermedia bought international rights to the film, which documents the history of today's turntablist movement, after Sundance. Featured in the documentary are iconic DJs ...
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Miramax smells victory with Apocalypse Now Redux
Miramax Films has acquired North American theatrical rightsto Apocalypse Now Redux, the officialname given to Francis Ford Coppola's extended cut of his 1979 classic Vietnamwar opera that will be given its world premiere as a special screening at this year's Cannes Film Festival in May.The film, which includes an additional ...
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Murdoch daughter's film ambitions Shine through
Elisabeth Murdoch, former programming head of UK satellite broadcaster BSkyB, is expected to make small-to-medium budget features though her newly-launched TV and film production outfit, Shine Entertainment. Shine, jointly owned by Murdoch and former production director at Carlton Television Waheed Alli, is armed with an output deal with BSkyB, which ...
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UPC cable giant fights watchdogs as shares slide
UPC, Europe's largest cable group, hit back at Dutch regulators which have promised to bring in competition to the broadband market. But that was not enough to prevent its shares hitting a record low for the second day running.On Thursday evening UPC shares closed down 26% at Euros5.90 on the ...
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Exorcist beats Star Wars re-release in France
Warner Bros' director's cut of The Exorcist turned heads in France on its release, beating the Star Wars re-release with a massive 131,387 admissions from 440 prints on its opening day.The horror classic topped the weekly chart, selling 621,727 tickets in the seven days to March 20. The film, for ...
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Mexican heat rises as Warner grabs Guadalajara hit
Warner-Videocine has swooped on De La Calle, the latest title from the explosive Mexican cinema scene to set its sights on repeating the success of Academy Award nominee Amores Perros.Warner-Videocine, a joint-venture between Warner Bros and local TV giant Televisa, has committed to a release of at least 150 prints ...
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Chopper star Eric Bana returns to comedy roots
Having burst onto cinema screens as violent Australian criminal Mark "Chopper" Read, Eric Bana is to return to comedy, the genre in which he made his name as a stand-up and TV comedian.Bana's second Australian film after last year's Chopper will be Nugget, the story of three road workers who ...
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Jackie Chan takes action against organised crime
Warning that overseas productions could be scared off, action star Jackie Chan has called for measures to fight organised crime after a triad member was arrested for blackmailing a Hong Kong location on New Line Cinema's Rush Hour 2.Speaking at a function that included film professionals and some of the ...
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Universal creates dedicated studio franchise unit
Every Hollywood studio conglomerate talks in terms of creating multimedia "franchises" around their most popular properties and commodified characters; now one of them, Universal Pictures, has taken the full plunge and created an entire division dedicated to unlocking theglobal franchising potential of its content across every conceivable distribution outlet.Louis A. ...
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Workspace stands by Three Mills Island Studios
Workspace Group, owners of UK indie studio Three Mills Island Studios, are insisting that the site will remain a studio facility despite ousting managers Edwin Shirley Productions (ESP) from four sound stages in a High Court dispute.The commitment comes after an increasingly bitter dispute over lease contracts and rent payments ...