All Screen articles in 19 May 2003
View all stories from this month.
-
News
Johnny English closes on $100m in international BO
Universal's smash spy spoof Johnny English grossed $3.9m from 2,679 sites in 29 countries over the weekend, raising its international running total to $98.6m.Holding firm in second place in the UK behind X2, Johnny English took $1.1m from 418 sites in its fifth week, dropping 41% from last weekend.The film ...
-
News
X2 powers to $120.3m in international box office
Fox's X2: X-Men United was still the top international film in its second weekend, grossing $30.9m on 7,462 screens in 94 territories for a superb $120.3m international running total.Russia was the only new market following last week's sprawling day-and-date global release. The sci-fi sequel grossed just under $2.1m on 175 ...
-
News
Back to school: new releases can't touch X2
Despite four new entries hitting the UK top ten this week none were able to come close to 20th Century Fox's X-Men sequel, X2. With a vast lead the comic-book title took $4.9m (£3.1m) in its second weekend, a 48% drop from its opening.X2 has already grossed $21.7m (£13.5m) in ...
-
News
UK's Warner Village Cinemas sold to SBC for $402m
Independent UK exhibitor SBC International Cinemas has acquired Warner Village Cinemas, the UK exhibition joint venture between Warner Bros International Theatres and Village Roadshow, for $402m (£250m).At the same time, SBC is rumoured to be eyeing another local circuit, Cine-UK, which, with a current estate of 30 sites and 329 ...
-
News
George Lucas launches digital animation unit
Seventeen years after selling Pixar to Apple co-founder Steve Jobs for $10m, George Lucas has launched his own digital animation unit called Lucasfilm Animation.These days Pixar is riding high on a market capitalisation of $3.3bn, fuelled by the wolrdwide success of titles like Toy Story and Monsters, Inc. Its films ...
-
Reviews
The Barbarian Invasions (Les Invasions Barbares)
Dir. Denys Arcand. Canada-France. 2003. 111mins.On paper, The Barbarian Invasions is a conventional drama about a dying man's reconciliation with his son and his acceptance of impending non-existence. In the hands of writer-director Denys Arcand, the result is an intensely personal exploration of life as a fifty-something Quebecois intellectual.. Ostensibly ...
-
News
Buena Onda: by filmmakers, for filmmakers
Over the last year or so, many events have deeply affected the way we live and the way we (have to) think about the world. Wars have been waged, diseases have struck, ecological disasters are becoming so common we are immune to their being reported and people have been moved ...
-
Reviews
Down With Love
Dir: Peyton Reed. US. 2003. 96minsDesigned as an affectionate send-up of the Doris Day-Rock Hudson romantic comedies of the early 1960s, the campy and colorful Down With Love a cinematic souffle that never fully rises. Fox is boldly opening the film in the US on May 16, as counter-programming to ...
-
Reviews
Present Perfect (Passato Prossimo)
Dir: Maria Sole Tognazzi. Italy. 2003. 89minsFive friends meet up in a country house somewhere outside Rome over a long winter weekend. Each has unresolved relationship problems, some have problems with each other, and memories of other weekends in the same house hang in the air like distorting mirrors. More ...
-
News
Inside Pictures announces final 14 participants
Inside Pictures, the UK Film Council's film business training programme run by Qwerty Films (previously Kuhn & Co) has announced its 14 successful participants for its second annual intensive training programme. Fourteen participants were chosen from over 250 applications through a committee selection process and a shortlist of interviews. ...
-
News
Spanish network to dramatically reduce acquisition of US films
Spanish broadcaster Telecinco plans to cut its spending on US films by 20% by the end of 2005, according to CEO Paolo Vasile. In statements made to local financial newspaper Expansion and confirmed independently to Screen Daily by the private free-to-air network, Vasile said the cut-backs aim to reduce ...
-
News
Constantin to explore alternatives to Highlight takeover bid
Constantin Film's supervisory board has given its management board headed by Fred Kogel the green light to explore 'alternative measures' to counter a takeover bid by Swiss media concern Highlight Communications.At a specially convened meeting of the supervisory board at the weekend, the management board was also "authorised to ...
-
News
Two Spanish festivals announce retrospectives
Two Spanish film festivals, the Huesca Film Festival (June 5-14) and the Cinema Jove International Film Festival (June 14-21), have both announced retrospectives for their upcoming editions.Huesca, now in its 31st year, hosts two short film competitions and a showcase of feature films from Europe. A cycle of Spanish coming-of-age ...
-
News
Australia's Rialto swoops on Broken Wings
On the eve of the Cannes Film Festival, Rialto Entertainment has bought Australian and New Zealand rights for Broken Wings from Pathe. The film was Israel's best foreign film contender at this year's Academy Awards. Rialto principal Kelly Rogers describes the film, which he saw for the first time at ...
-
News
New sales company, AV Pictures, launches debut slate
Angad Paul, co-financier of Guy Ritchie's Lock, Stock & Two Smoking Barrels and Snatch, and ex-Victor Film Company chief Vic Bateman are launching sales on fashion world comedy Hatter through their new sales company AV Pictures.X-Men star Alan Cumming will star in the film, which newcomer James Killough will direct. ...
-
News
Sequels awarded Bavarian fund backing
Sequels of Dennis Gansel's 2001 teen-comedy hit Girls On Top (Maedchen Maedchen) and 2002's most successful German film Bibi Blocksberg are among nine projects awarded Euros 6.6m by Bavaria's regional fund, FFF Bayern.Maedchen Maeedchen II, which will reunite screenwriter Maggie Peren and producer Olga Film's Viola Jaeger with lead actresses ...
-
News
Film Council, British Film Commission renamed
The UK's public agency for film, the Film Council and its inward investment arm, the British Film Commission (BFC) are undergoing a name change to provide a single, identifiable entity able to raise the industry profile, both at home and overseas.From 13 May the Film Council is being renamed the ...
-
News
Spain's Wanda Vision takes local rights on two Cannes titles
Spanish distributor Wanda Vision has picked up local theatrical distribution rights on two Cannes titles: Un Certain Regard entry Where Is Madame Catherine' (Les Mans Buides) and Directors' Fortnight screener The Hours Of The Day (Las Horas Del Dia).Wanda head of distribution Miguel Morales said the deals were closed just ...
-
News
Flanders Image selects producer for Cannes showcase
Flanders Image has picked Bart Van Langendonck of the young Brussels-based production house CCCP as its very first 'Producer in the Picture' to be showcased during the Cannes Film Festival.Only eight months after its launch in September 2002, CCCP has some 15 projects at different stages of production or development, ...
-
News
Costa-Gavras, Ozores to get Valladolid tributes
Greek director Costa-Gavras and Spanish actor Jose Luis Ozores will receive tributes at this year's 28th annual Valladolid International Film Week (aka Seminci) (Oct 24-Nov 1).Other sections will be dedicated to Belgian cinema and films shot in Tehran. The festival's traditional Film Schools section, which highlights works from film schools ...