All articles by Robert Mitchell
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Will 2007 boast the biggest summer box office in history'
Every summer has tentpole releases but there are five titles next summer for which the term is an understatement. In any other year each could the highest-grossing film. Their strength is their brand.Four of the films are sequels - all third instalments in established franchises (see below).But the fifth, the ...
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Casino Royale sets UK record for Bond
After just three weekends onrelease in the UK and Ireland, the 21st official James Bond film CasinoRoyale has already become the highest-grossing film of the franchise in theterritory. Grossing $73.45m (£37.1m) asof Sunday Dec 3, Casino Royalesurpassed 2002's Die AnotherDay, which grossed $69.6m (£36m), over the weekend. The new film ...
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Casino Royale off to strong start in UK
Casino Royale has set a strong early pace, and given a glimpse of theanticipation and intrigue surrounding the title, in the UK on its first day ofrelease. Launching Thursday in the UK the film, which reinvents theJames Bond franchise as a gritty, more real-world action adventure with DanielCraig taking the ...
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Cars speeds past $200m for BVI
Pixar Animation Studio's Cars has become only the sixth film released in 2006 to pass$200m at the international box office this week.The film is actually the seventh film to achieve the mark duringthe year and third for distributor Buena Vista International (BVI), as Decemberholdover, The Chronicles Of Narnia: The Lion, ...
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Strong Dutch opening for Verhoeven's Black Book
Paul Verhoeven's acclaimed Black Book (Zwartboek) has given localfilms a welcome boost in The Netherlands this week, scoring the best localopening of the year and the fifth best opening for any title. The World War II thriller,which is this year's Dutch Oscar entry for best foreign language film consideration,claimed $863,524 ...
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Mission: Impossible III crosses $250m internationally
Mission: Impossible III passed the $250m mark at the international boxoffice yesterday (Aug 3). The action blockbuster, which was first out of thegates this summer season, received the boost to reach the mark after receivingits belated opening in Japan on July 8. Traditionally one of starTom Cruise's strongest territories, Japan ...
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UIP takes on UK release for Clerks II
United InternationalPictures (UIP) will distribute Kevin Smith's Clerks II in the UK. The deal was official confirmed as UIP set thebelated sequel to Smith's 1994 cult hit for a Sept 22 release in the territory.Clerks IIsaw its world premiere out of competition as Cannes in May and will receive its ...
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UIP crosses $1bn mark on July 21
UIP has joinedthe $1bn club in the international market this year. Following TwentiethCentury Fox International, which achieved the mark in record time in mid-June,UIP crossed $1bn in international returns on July 21.The result comes after two record-breaking years for the company, both of whichsurpassed $2bn in international grosses by the ...
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Superman Returns sets London IMAX record
Superman Returns may not have been able to move Pirates Of The Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest from the top of the UK chart but its run at the British Film Institute's London IMAX has proven a triumph. Superman Returns, which opened at the venue including 20 minutes of 3D scenes ...
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'Everything's being done right this time that wasn't done right back in the 1950s'
Long regarded as afilm-making pioneer, James Cameron is a self-described "evangelist" for digital3D. The director recently talked to Screen International about his vision ofcinema's future. A shorter version of this interview appears in the July 28print edition of Screen International as part of a cover feature on digital 3D.Screen International: ...
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Pirates bounty gives boost to UK box-office
Box-office figures from thefirst half of 2006 may have seen a 3% year-on-year deficit in the UK but Pirates Of The Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest has almostsingle-handedly turned fortunes around in just two weeks. After its third weekend (18days on release) Buena Vista International's sequel had already become thehighest-grossing film ...
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James Cameron to shoot Avatar next
Director James Cameron hasbeen in pre-production on his next two features, Avatar and Battle Angel,but Avatar has won the race and willbe the first to shoot.Cameron told Cine Expoattendees in Amsterdam that he plans to continue to work in the 3D digitalformat for both projects. Cameron hopes to have Avatar, ...
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Happy Feet draws strong response at Cine Expo
Followingthe UIP and Fox presentations, Warner Bros was next in line to present itsproduct reel to exhibitors at Cinema Expo in Amsterdam. WarnerBros Pictures International's Monique Esclavissatrevealed that in the last five years 60-62% of Warner Bros theatrical revenuehad come from international box office. She also stressed the importance oflocal ...
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Fox draws Cine Expo cheers for Night At The Museum
Day two of the 15thanniversary Cinema Expo International saw strong response to the presentationfrom Twentieth Century Fox. Paul Hanneman, Tomas Jegeus, Fox Searchlight's Rebecca Keareyand a mix of on-screen and off-screen talent provided introductions to thecompany's product reel and evening screenings.A key scene from The Last King OfScotland, starring Forest ...
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Gold Reel awards go to 18 films crossing $100m
Yesterdayat Cinema Expo, Nielsen EDI International handed out its annual Gold ReelAwards.The awardsare given to distributors whose films have crossed $100m at the internationalbox office in the 12 months since the last Cinema Expo.This year18 films achieved the mark, but while this did not match the record number toreceive the ...
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Glickman stresses importance of international markets
Day two of the15th anniversary Cinema Expo International got underway with a typicallyrousing speech from MPAA chairman and CEO Dan Glickman.Glickman praised the international and European marketsquoting figures that the international market had grown 89% in the past fiveyears, that 19 of 2005's top 20 films made more money internationally ...
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German industry fights piracy with innovative campaign
Attendees at Cinema Expo in Amsterdam heard how real progress is being made in getting themessage to consumers about copyright theft.Jan Oesterlin,managing director of Zukunft KinoMarketing,explained that the problem in Germany was that previous education-oriented campaigns didnot show results, so a decision was made in September 2003 to become more ...
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CineExpo told of great threat from closing release windows
Theproblem of closing release windows is 'the only issue that can end cinemaas we know it,' John Fithian of the National Association of Theatre Owners(Nato) in the US told Cinema Expo Internationaldelegates in Amsterdam yesterday on the thornyissue.'Thepreservation of theatrical release windows is the most important issue weface,' he said, ...
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The Holiday gets strong response for UIP at CineExpo
Anyregular attendee of Cinema Expo International knows that Monday has becomeknown as UIP day. This year was no different, although CineExpo'sBob Sunshine introduced the beginning of the UIP presentation yesterday as'the end of an era' as chairman and CEO Stewart Till and presidentand COO Andrew Cripps prepared to deliver the ...
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Geertsen says European industry should pay its share for digital revolution
As the 15th CinemaExpo International got underway in Amsterdam today Anders Geertsen,director of distribution at the Danish Film Institute and director of the commercialmodule at the European Digital Cinema Forum, delivered a call to arms to theEuropean industry.Delivering the convention's firstkeynote address on the subject of digital cinema - a ...