All Finance articles – Page 255
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Grosvenor Films nears thriller Messages wrap
Grosvenor Films wraps itsnew £1.2m supernatural thriller Messageson August 7 in London.Thefilm, directed by David Fairman, tells the tale of pathologist Dr. RichardMurray who receives cryptic messages from his dead wife which enable him totrack down the identity of a serial killer.He eventually becomes a suspect after turning up at ...
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Barclay signs on for Suburban Mayhem
Emily Barclay, who came toattention via the critically acclaimed New Zealand film In My Father's Den,has been cast in the lead role of a conniving single mother with murder on hermind in the Australian black comedy Suburban Mayhem.Playing her besotted boyfriendwill be Michael Dorman, who is named as one of ...
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Gonzo, Fuji TV and Mosaic Media pact for Afrosamurai
Samuel L Jackson will starin a live-action adaptation of Takashi Okazaki's Afrosamurai comic franchise that is being put together byJapanese teen animation company Gonzo KK, Fuji Television Network and LA-basedMosaic Media Group.Mosaic's Charles Roven andAlex Gartner are producing the project and The Firm's Eli Selden and Julie Yornwill serve as ...
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Grosvenor Park weighs in behind Highlander trilogy
The new trilogy of Highlander films being prepared byDavis-Panzer Productions and Sequence Films are to use a "one-stop"financing structure created by Grosvenor Park.Highlander V,budgeted between $12-$14m, is due to start shooting in Lithuania inOctober. Although there will be some Lithuanian backing, Grosvenor Park is effectively fully financing theproject. Bret Leonard ...
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Da Vinci Code set to join Maltese influx
The Malta FilmCommission Act, which came into force on July 15, has already attracted a raftof high-profile international films to the island, led by Steven Spielberg's Munichand now a confirmed one-week shoot for The Da Vinci Code thisNovember.Under the terms of theAct, the Malta Film Commission is empowered to grant ...
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Lions Gate announces second family film Sylvester
Lions GateFamily Entertainment (LGFE) has announced its second feature film project Sylvester, based on the late William Steig'saward-winning children's book "Sylvester And The Magic Pebble".LGFE acquiredthe rights from Simon & Schuster Children's Publishing and will begindevelopment immediately on the story of a donkey that finds a magic pebble.'To havethis much ...
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UK Film Council boss responds to 'unrealistic' Kuhn speech
UK FilmCouncil chief executive John Woodward has written a strongly worded letter toMichael Kuhn following the ex-Polygram Filmed Entertainment boss' speech to UKproducer's association, PACT. In his Mayspeech, titled 'UK Film Crisis And What Can Be Done', Kuhn argued that Britishproducers currently face the "bleakest prospects" since the mid-1980s.In ...
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Misher signs first-look deal with Paramount
Paramount Pictures hasbrought Kevin Misher, the producer of The Interpreter and The Scorpion King, into the fold with a three-year first look deal. Misher Films executivesPatrick Baker and Andrew Berman will join Misher at Paramount; the termcommences once Misher's deal with Universal Pictures expires. Titles in developmentinclude an adaptation of ...
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Fraser in frame for Spottiswoode's Sea in China
Brendan Fraserhas been lined up to star in historical drama The Bitter Sea which Roger Spottiswoode is set todirect in China later this year. The US$19mproject, also known as The Children Of Huang Shi, is based on the true story of Britishjournalist George Hogg who saved a group of children ...
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Focus unveils debut animated feature - 9
Focus Features has unveiledfirst animated picture - 9, whichis being directed by Shane Acker and produced by Tim Burton, Timur Bekmambetov,Jim Lemley and Dana Ginsburg.Focus will finance thefeature and holds worldwide rights to the story, which is set in a postapocalyptic parallel universe where humanity faces extinction.The project is an ...
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Armstrong's Houdini feature wins crucial FFC backing
A UK/Australian co-production from director GillianArmstrong (Little Women, Charlotte Gray), a new film by the team behind2002 local comedy hit Crackerjack, and two documentary features, will gointo production as a result of decisions made today by Film Finance CorporationAustralia (FFC).Myriad Pictures is handling international sales onArmstrong's Death Defying Acts, based ...
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Searchlight acquires rights to life story of Notorious BIG
Fox Searchlight has acquired rights to the story about the lifeand death of Christopher Wallace, better known to millions of fans as theinfamous rapper Notorious B.I.G.Notorious B.I.G.'s mother Voletta Wallace will produce the projectalong with the late star's former music managers Wayne Barrow and Mark Pitts.Antoine Fuqua is in talks ...
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Holocaust love story revived and set to shoot in 2006
Atlantic Alliance Pictureshas changed its name to Atlantic Overseas Pictures (AOP) and has revived itslong gestating holocaust drama The Fence (formerly Love Is A Survivor), which is back on track with a European shoot scheduled for early2006.The $10m picture will shootin Hungary, Germany and the UK and is being co-produced ...
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Zhang Ziyi boards Feng's $15m Banquet
Zhang Ziyi is attached to star in Feng Xiaogang's $15mperiod drama The Banquet which has been set up as a co-productionbetween Beijing-based Huayi Brothers and Hong Kong's Media Asia. Thefilm's stellar cast also includes Feng regular Ge You, hot up-and-comingactress Zhou Xun and Hong Kong star Daniel Wu. Production is ...
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Auteuil joins Bellucci for Napoleon comedy
Daniel Auteuil has joined Monica Bellucci in the cast ofPaolo Virzi's new comedy, which is entitled "N."The Euros 8.5m film, adapted from Ernesto Ferrero'sprize-winning novel, tells the story of Napoleon's exile on the island ofElba, where he lived for 300 days, and a librarian who closely observes histurmoil and his ...
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Japanese producers look to spark animal magic
Animal films are big again in Japan, after the thumpingsuccess last year of Yoichi Sai's Quill. Based on a true story, thisheart-warmer about a lovable blind dog and its grumpy middle-aged mastergrossed $20m (Y2.2bn) in Japan and was a hit across Asia. Japan's first cinematic animal wave -- or rather ...
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Lions Gate gets with LL Cool J
Lions Gate Filmshas signed a multi-year, multi- picture development and production deal with LLCool J (aka James Todd Smith).LL Cool J andJason Barrett of Alchemy Entertainment will produce all pictures under theventure, while Lions Gate's president of production Michael Paseornek andsenior vice president of production John Sacchi will oversee for ...
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Weinsteins team with Vertigo on Harry remake
The Weinstein Company hasteamed up with hot UK production outfit Vertigo Films to shoot Paranoia,an English language remake of French hit thriller Harry, He's Here ToHelp.The film will be directed byJonathan Jakubowicz (Secuestro Express) and will see its settingrelocated to New England in the US. However, the film will shoot ...
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Photography begins on LGF's Madea's Family Reunion
Lions Gate Films has announcedthat principal photography has begun in Atlanta, Georgia, on Madea's FamilyReunion, the directorial debut from DiaryOf A Mad Black Woman screenwriter TylerPerry.Based on Perry's stage play - like its predecessor that grossed more than $50min North American theatres through Lions Gate Films earlier this year - ...