All Asia articles – Page 552

  • News

    Korea's Megabox snaps up Penelope, Ramen Girl

    2007-11-05T05:00:00Z

    Continuing the Korean buying spree at the AFM, Seoul-based exhibitor Megabox has snapped up two titles - romantic comedy Penelope, starring Reese Witherspoon, from Hyde Park International, and The Ramen Girl, starring Brittany Murphy, from Media 8 Entertainment. Megabox entered acquisitionsat this year's European Film Market (EFM) in Berlin andwas ...

  • News

    Korea's Mirovision startscreating Tomorrow News

    2007-11-05T02:03:00Z

    Korea's Mirovision has unveiled two new productions - disaster thriller Tomorrow News and epic romantic comedy Once Upon A Time. Tomorrow News is based on the cult manga of the same name for which Mirovision has acquired rights for both big screen and TV formats. The project is currently in ...

  • News

    Import/Export wins best film at Bangkok World fest

    2007-11-05T01:32:00Z

    Austrian director Ulrich Seidl's Import/Export was named best film at the 5th World Film Festival of Bangkok on Saturday night. Best director was awarded to Semih Kaplanoglu for Egg, which recently swept the Antalya Golden Orange Film Festival in Turkey. Nina Menkes' Phantom Love bagged best artistic achievement with US ...

  • News

    Japan's Madhouse sells Ninja Scroll remake rights

    2007-11-05T00:30:00Z

    Japanese animation studio Madhouse has sold live-action remake rights to cult anime title Ninja Scroll to Warner Bros Pictures. Directed by Yoshiaki Kawajiri, the film sold more than 1 million DVD copies in the US and had a successful theatrical run in its home market. The remake deal with Warner ...

  • News

    Mirovision leads Korean buying charge at AFM

    2007-11-04T06:40:00Z

    South Korea is re-emerging as a buying force at this market with several Korean distributors making multiple acquisitions of hot US and international product. Mirovision has been the most aggressive on the buying front, acquiring nine titles, including Ed Zwick's Defiance from Essential Entertainment, The Women from Inferno Distribution and ...

  • News

    CJ pre-sells Park Chan-wook's new project to France, Russia

    2007-11-04T06:20:00Z

    Korea's CJ Entertainment has pre-sold Park Chan-wook's Untitled Project, set to star Song Kang-ho, to France's Wild Side Films and Russia's Maywin Media. Currently in pre-production, the film is about a small-town priest who volunteers for a medical experiment which fails and turns him into a vampire. It was previously ...

  • News

    Jang to direct Korean remake of A Better Tomorrow

    2007-11-04T06:00:00Z

    Veteran Korean filmmaker Jang Hyun-soo is attached to direct the Korean remake of John Woo's classic 1980s Hong Kong action film A Better Tomorrow. Jang's most recent film, Everybody Has Secrets (2004) starring Lee Byung-hun and Choo Sang-mee, was a sexy romantic comedy, but he is best remembered for noirish ...

  • News

    iDream takes on Santosh Sivan's Boy With Grenade

    2007-11-04T06:00:00Z

    Mumbai and London-based iDream Independent Pictures has boarded Boy With Grenade, the latest project from Indian filmmaker Santosh Sivan whose Before The Rains screened at Toronto this year. iDream will fully finance and handle international sales on Boy With Grenade which was one of the selected projects at this year's ...

  • News

    Asian Content Center launched with NHK support

    2007-11-03T05:00:00Z

    Former Amuse executives Hisashi Yamamoto and Takaomi Deguchi have launched a film and TV production outfit, Asia Content Center (ACC), with an innovative financing model backed by its ties to Japanese public broadcaster NHK. NHK has first option to pre-buy ACC productions for up to 80% of each project's budget ...

  • News

    UFO beams up Empress And The Warriors

    2007-11-03T05:00:00Z

    Hong Kong production house United Filmmakers Organization (UFO) is attending the AFM to directly sell romantic action picture An Empress And The Warriors, directed by Tony Siu-Tung Ching. The $15m production, which recently wrapped in mainland China, features a top Asian cast including Donnie Yen, Leon Lai and Kelly Chen. ...

  • News

    Golden Network pacts with Dadi Century for three

    2007-11-03T05:00:00Z

    Hong Kong-based sales agent Golden Network Asia has picked up three titles from China 's Dadi Century Film, including martial arts drama Wushu, which now has Jackie Chan on board as executive producer. Directed by Antony Szeto, the $6m drama follows a group of children under-going a gruelling training programme ...

  • News

    First Look takes US rights to Blood Brothers

    2007-11-02T06:02:00Z

    First Look Studios has acquired US rights to John Woo and Terence Chang-produced Blood Brothers, which is being sold by Fortissimo Films. The $10m gangster noir closed this year's Venice Film Festival and features a top Asian cast including Daniel Wu, Chang Chen, Liu Ye and Shu Qi. Directed by ...

  • News

    Korea's M&FC makes market debut with Sword Of Zen

    2007-11-02T05:00:00Z

    Korean film and music company M&FC is making its debut as a seller at the AFM with a varied slate including Park Heung-sik's action epic A Sword Of Zen. Set during the Goryeo Dynasty, the film follows a female contract killer who is wracked with guilt after accidentally killing the ...

  • News

    Phat Phishteams up with Morgan for international push

    2007-11-02T05:00:00Z

    Start-up Indian production company Phat Phish has brought on board veteran sales agent Kathy Morgan as a consultant in its aim to secure international distribution for a slate of independent Indian features. Morgan will be helping the company pre-sell some of its upcoming projects and will advise on finding a ...

  • News

    Jaman seals strategic partnership with Terra.com

    2007-11-02T05:00:00Z

    Online film community Jaman.com has signed a multi-year strategic partnership with leading Latino internet portal Terra.com. The deal see Jaman become a featured provider of Spanish-language and Latino-themed movies for Terra.com's community of 6.6 million unique users. In addition, Jaman will showcase to its users, the four short films that ...

  • News

    Weed leads nominations for Asian Festival of 1st Films

    2007-11-01T20:04:00Z

    Chinese director Wang Liren's feature debut Weed is the frontrunner at the 3rd Asian Festival of 1st Films (AFFF) with five nominations, including best film and best director. The picture which premiered at Rotterdam this year is about a day-wage worker in Beijing who falls for a prostitute which leads ...

  • News

    Chengtian acquires 25% stake in Golden Harvest

    2007-11-01T14:45:00Z

    Beijing-based Chengtian Entertainment Group has reached a deal with Raymond Chow, chairman of Hong Kong 's Golden Harvest Entertainment, to buy his shareholding in the company. Chengtian will pay $26m (HK$202m) in cash for a 24.78% stake and $2.6m (HK$20m) in convertible notes in Golden Harvest from Chow and related ...

  • News

    Muay Thai Chaiya kicks its way to France, Germany

    2007-11-01T05:00:00Z

    Thailand 's Five Star Entertainment has sold action title Muay Thai Chaiya to France 's Wild Side Films, Germany 's EMS and Brazil 's Global Media Holdings, among other territories. Five Star has now sold the film to more than 30 territories since it had its world premiere at the ...

  • News

    O'Toole and Northam gear up for Dean Spanley's UK shoot

    2007-11-01T05:00:00Z

    Peter O'Toole, Jeremy Northam, Sam Neill and Bryan Brown have lined up to start shooting Dean Spanley on Nov 10 in eastern England.Kathleen Drumm at NZ Film is handling sales for the Atlantic Film Group and General Film Corporation project.New Zealand film-maker Toa Fraser, who won the world cinema audience ...

  • News

    J.A. Media picks up Lin's Somersault Punk

    2007-11-01T05:00:00Z

    Beijing-based J.A. Media has picked up worldwide rights to Taiwanese filmmaker Lin Yu-hsien's upcoming sports drama Somersault Punk. Based on a true story, the film tells the story of a talented but disabled gymnast who becomes a street fighter when his mother prohibits him from practising the sport. Produced by ...