All articles by Jason Gray – Page 7
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FeaturesJapan, caution
The collapse in Japan’s independent distribution sector has made the territory one of the most difficult for foreign films to crack ‹ and nor are Hollywood studio films working. Jason Gray reports
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NewsFukuda to head home video and digital for WB Japan
Taichi Fukuda has been appointed as general manager for Warner Home Video (WHV) and Warner Bros Digital Distribution (WBDD) in Japan.
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NewsJapanese court acquits creator of Winny P2P software
Japanese courts in Osaka and Tokyo have handed down rulings on two closely watched cases involving intellectual property rights in the peer-to-peer (P2P) file sharing and DVD arenas.
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NewsThird film in Boys trilogy rules Japanese box office
The third installment in NTV-Toho’s 20th Century Boys trilogy has become the most successful entry in the series, with an unbroken reign of six weeks at the top of the Japanese box office.
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NewsKadokawa produces remake of Malle’s Elevator
Japanese producer-distributor Kadokawa Pictures is producing a remake of Louis Malle’s 1958 thriller Elevator To The Gallows.
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NewsTokyo Filmex to open with Tsai Ming-liang's Face
Taiwanese director Tsai Ming-liang’s Face will open the 10th anniversary edition of Tokyo Filmex, which runs from November 21-29 in the city’s Yurakucho and Tsukiji districts.
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NewsTokyo International Film Festival to screen The Cove
The Tokyo International Film Festival (TIFF) has unveiled the line-up for this year’s edition (Oct 17-25), including the last-minute addition of controversial documentary The Cove, which chronicles the annual dolphin hunt in the Japanese town of Taiji.
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NewsNobody To Watch Over Me selected as Japan's Oscar entry
Director Ryoichi Kimizuka’s Nobody To Watch Over Me (Dare Mo Mamotte Kurenai) has been selected as Japan’s official entry for the best foreign-language film category of the Academy Awards.
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NewsKore-eda’s Ship, Swarup adaptation among TPG projects
Hirokazu Kore-eda’s Brazilian co-production Ship Is Yet To Come and an adaptation of Slumdog Millionaire author Vikas Swarup’s Six Suspects are among the 25 projects that have been selected for this year’s Tokyo Project Gathering (TPG).
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NewsJapanese distributor Xanadeux goes out of business
Xanadeux has become the latest in a string of small to medium-sized Japanese distributors to go out of business, following a contraction in the territory’s independent film and DVD markets.
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NewsJapan's Movie-Eye files for bankruptcy
Japanese producer-distributor Movie-Eye Entertainment, distributor of Oscar-winners Crash and Million Dollar Baby, has filed for bankruptcy according to a fax sent to creditors yesterday.
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NewsJapanese box office up 17.6% in first half of 2009
Japanese box office earnings for the first half of 2009 totaled $990.87m (Y93.9b), a 17.6.% increase over the same period last year.
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News
Nikkatsu takes over AMG’s acquisitions unit
Japanese studio Nikkatsu has acquired the buying and selling operations of Japan’s AMG Entertainment in a move designed to strengthen its own acquisitions activities.
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NewsNo Puedo continues winning streak at Japan's Skip City
Following its recent win at the Taipei film festival, Leon Dai’s No Puedo Vivir Sin Ti won the grand prize at Japan’s Skip City International D-Cinema Festival (July 10-20).
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NewsGokusen wins three-way battle at Japanese box office
Big-screen TV adaptation Gokusen: The Movie earned $5.27m (Y489.5m) from 402,440 admissions on its opening weekend in Japan, beating out Hollywood newcomers Knowing and Monsters Vs. Aliens.
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FeaturesDay-and-date and world premieres raise the spectre of increased piracy
Jason Gray on Japan’s zero-tolerance policy on content piracy.
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NewsYoda, Kinoshita reach agreement for Gaga buy-out
Gaga Communications chairman Tom Yoda has reached an agreement to finalise a management buy-out of the indie distributor from Japanese media and telecoms conglomerate Usen.
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NewsEvangelion rules the Japanese box office
Animated sci-fi feature Evangelion: 2.0 You Can (Not) Advance opened strongly at the Japanese box office at the weekend, earning $5.37m (Y512m) on 355,000 admissions.
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NewsKadokawa slate heavy on local productions
Kadokawa Pictures has unveiled a 12-picture distribution slate for 2009-10, headed by in-house productions such as $20m drama Shizumanu Taiyo starring Ken Watanabe.
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NewsJDC Trust forced to suspend business for three months
Japan’s Financial Services Agency (FSA) has suspended ailing film and contents fund management firm Japan Digital Contents Trust Inc (JDC) from doing business for a period of three months.