All Screen articles in 26 December 2005

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  • News

    Narnia claims international crown over holiday season

    2005-12-26T00:00:00Z

    Buena Vista International (BVI) was celebrating two foldthis weekend as Santa brought a sleigh full of international number ones for TheChronicles Of Narnia: The Lion, The Witch And The Wardrobe.Doubling its international territory count from 13 to 26 overthe Christmas weekend the family fantasy film brought a blow to King ...

  • News

    Kong gets bigger Christmas stocking at North American box office

    2005-12-26T00:00:00Z

    It was a closely fought battle but King Kong bested TheChronicles Of Narnia: The Lion, The Witch And The Wardrobe over theChristmas weekend to retain its North America crown.Despite new comedy openers headlining Jim Carrey, SteveMartin and Jennifer Aniston and the wide release of Sony's Memoirs Of AGeisha the fight ...

  • Reviews

    The Promise (Mo Gik)

    2005-12-23T06:30:00Z

    Dir/scr: Chen Kaige. China. 2005. 102 mins.Chen Kaige's first attemptat the Chinese adventure epic which has become a global box-office staple sinceAng Lee's CrouchingTiger, Hidden Dragon and Zhang Yimou's Hero and House Of FlyingDaggers is a commercial, entertaining addition to the genre.Already hyped as one of themost expensive films ever ...

  • News

    Kong, Narnia vie for international control

    2005-12-23T04:00:00Z

    King Kong is in pole position heading into the holiday weekendas impressive weekday business boosted last weekend's mighty $82.8m globallaunch to $113.5m.Universal's three-hour epic has no major releases scheduled through UIP thisweekend, however the picture's strong word of mouth should ensure solid holdsand be enough to fend off the considerable ...

  • News

    Korea's MK Pictures signs second China deal

    2005-12-23T00:00:00Z

    Korea's MK Pictures has signed a deal to provide China's largest internet protocol TV (IPTV) serviceprovider, Zhejiang Huaying Media, with video-on-demand and pay-per-view content.Under the terms of the deal,MK Pictures will act as the company's exclusive agent for Korean films and willstart providing content from its in-house library following censorship ...

  • News

    Asia Focus: China and the international market

    2005-12-23T00:00:00Z

    Due to its location and perhaps also timing, the recent CineAsia conference in Beijing (Dec 13-15) turned out to be an opportune platform for the US studios to air some of their long-held opinions and grievances about the China film market. Likewise, China's major film organisations didn't hold back on ...

  • News

    Screendaily wishes you a Happy Holidays

    2005-12-22T16:20:00Z

    We will be running a reduced service during the festive season until the New Year

  • News

    British Film Institute to refurbish its South Bank venue

    2005-12-22T13:02:00Z

    The British Film Institute (bfi)announced on Tuesday that a significantly refurbished and improved venue on theSouth Bank will open in Autumn 2006, intime for the Times bfi50th London Film Festival.. Work starts at the beginning of January 2006 to revitalisethe existing National Film Theatre (NFT) building and to transform the ...

  • News

    Report confirms difficult times for Irish film industry

    2005-12-22T11:58:00Z

    The Audiovisual Federation of Ireland's employer's lobbyIBEC has released its annual report for 2005, reviewing production andemployment statistics across the film and TV sectors in 2004 and givingestimates for 2005.Produced just as the new measures were being adopted in Britainthe foreword to the report by producer James Flynn of Octagon ...

  • News

    Pride & Prejudice Leads London Critics nominations

    2005-12-22T11:40:00Z

    The London Critics Circlehas announced nominees for its annual film awards, with Pride & Prejudice leading the way with eight nominations. The Constant Gardener was close behindwith seven nominations. UIP was the UK distributor with the most nominations at 20 ahead ofPathe's 14.The winners will beannounced on Feb 9 at ...

  • News

    Local Christmas comedies top Italian box office

    2005-12-22T04:00:00Z

    On its opening weekend in Italy, King Kong paled in comparison to two local Christmas comedies,which stormed into the Italian box office, beating the giant ape into thirdplace. Filmauro's Christmas inMiami grossed a huge $3,659,566from 447 screens on its opening weekend, registering a massive screen averageof $8,148 per screen. The ...

  • News

    Czech producers enter winter of content

    2005-12-22T00:00:00Z

    There's acertain cockiness in the Czech film industry at the moment. Maybe it's theholiday spirit or the professional-strength optimism that is required in thebusiness - but Prague is definitely feeling its oats.Don't call it a comeback, insiders caution. The dip in foreign orders during 2004 was,local producers say, a coincidence ...

  • News

    Palm picks up Who Gets To Call It Art'

    2005-12-22T00:00:00Z

    Palm Pictures haspicked up North American and Caribbean rights to Peter Rosen's Who Gets ToCall It Art' and plans an early 2006release through its fledgling Arthouse Films DVD label.Head of acquisitions and production David Koh negotiated the deal for Palm andArthouse Films with David G Lubell of Propp Lubell & ...

  • Reviews

    Angel-A

    2005-12-22T00:00:00Z

    Dir/scr: Luc Besson. Fr. 2005. 90mins.Absent from behind the camera since his 1999 medievalepic, The Messenger: The Story of Joan ofArc, Luc Besson makes a modest directorialcomeback with Angel-A.The French film industry'sbest-kept secret of 2005, the offbeat romance was shot on the sly in Paris last summer(while media attention was ...

  • News

    Alliance Atlantis, New Line renew output deal

    2005-12-22T00:00:00Z

    Alliance Atlantis' Motion PictureDistribution and New Line Cinema have agreed to renew their distributionagreement through Dec 31, 2008.The deal commenced in 1989 and covers all media in Canada.The parties did not disclose financial terms at time of going to press.

  • News

    Depp, Winslet to narrate IMAX Deep Sea 3D

    2005-12-22T00:00:00Z

    Johnny Depp and Kate Winslet will jointly narrate and DannyElfman will score the IMAX and Warner Bros. giant-screen documentary DeepSea 3D.Set for release in IMAX cinemas on Mar 3, 2006, the film marks the secondoriginal giant-screen documentary for Warner Bros following the successfulrelease of NASCAR 3D, whichgrossed nearly $23m worldwide ...

  • News

    China box office, production levels up in 2005

    2005-12-22T00:00:00Z

    China's box office grew by 30% to $248m (RMB2bn) in 2005, according tofigures announced on Wednesday by the Film Bureau of the State Administrationof Radio, Film and Television (SARFT). The growth is lower thanlast year when box office receipts increased by 50% to $186m (RMB1.5bn). Localfilms accounted for 55% of ...

  • News

    VOD release dates agreed by French film, TV and Internet providers

    2005-12-21T12:40:00Z

    Evokinga move towards "the responsible spreading of film," French culture minister Renaud Donnedieu de Vabres announced Tuesday the signing of a new accordbetween French film and television groups and Internet providers.Centeredaround video-on-demand (VOD), the signatories agreedto a 33 week window following a theatrical release before films becomeavailable. In the case ...

  • News

    Spanish Film Screenings at Lanzarote cancelled

    2005-12-21T11:45:00Z

    The Spanish Film Screenings of Lanzarote, a three-day mini-market for Spanish cinema heldevery winter in the Canary Islands, have been cancelledafter six editions.The Screenings drew anywhere from50 to 90 international buyers each winter to the Spanish archipelago off thenorthwest coast of Africa. After five years running inlate November and early ...

  • Reviews

    Fun With Dick And Jane

    2005-12-21T05:00:00Z

    Dir: Dean Parisot. US. 2005. 89mins.For such a big star, Jim Carrey's career has featureda remarkably stark push-and-pull between appreciative audience reception andstubborn resistance to his whims. While his comedies as a leading man havetypically made a mint, more dramatic-minded turns in The Truman Show, Man On The Moon and ...