All articles by Jeremy Kay – Page 1388
-
News
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 ...
-
News
IRA - King Of Nothing to shoot in Belfast, Bray this month
Benelux-based BBIProductions is preparing to shoot the drama IRA - King Of Nothing in Belfast and the Irish town of Bray later thismonth.Damian Chapa will direct andstar alongside Joe Estevez and Rachel Hunter in the story of a diehard IRAterrorist who threatens to destroy the tentative peace process.BBI owns worldwide ...
-
News
Canada's Brault to receive Iris award at New Montreal FilmFest
Michel Brault will receivethe New Montreal FilmFest's Iris Achievement Award at the end of aretrospective of his work set to take place during the festival's inauguraledition running from Sept 18-25.Brault earned more than 200credits as director, producer, cinematography and cameraman on such titles as PourLa Suite Du Monde, Les Noces ...
-
News
Kennedy moves from politics to head corporate comms at SPE
Capitol Hill heavyweight JimKennedy is replacing Susan Tick as senior vice president of corporatecommunications at Sony Pictures Entertainment (SPE).Beginning in September,Kennedy will oversee communications strategy, media relations and issuesmanagement and will also serve as communications counselor to the executiveteam.He will partner with SPE'sgovernment and community relations, internal communications and otherdepartments ...
-
News
Mr And Mrs Smith obliterates the competition in France
Mr And Mrs Smith opened number one in France through SND over theweekend on $6.1m following a storming opening day.The picture launched on$1.8m on Jul 27 in the third biggest French opening day of the year behind StarWars: Episode III and War Of TheWorlds, producing 895,806 nationwideadmissions.Overall Mr And Mrs ...
-
News
Nightwatch to kick off inaugural Libertas fest
The Croatian premiere ofTimur Bekmambetov's Night Watchwill kick off the inaugural Libertas Film Festival in the Croatian town ofDubrovnik on Aug 26.Twenty features arescheduled to play at the four-day event, including the European premieres ofAndrew Wagner's The Talent Given Usand Antonio Campos' Buy It Now.A Croatian film-makersshowcase and Croatian premieres ...
-
News
Charlie has spectacular $13.1m opening in UK
Life is sweet for Warner Bros Pictures International as asensational UK debut helped Charlie And The Chocolate Factory dominate the markets outside NorthAmerica over the weekend.Tim Burton's Roald Dahl adaptation grossed an estimated $19.8m onmore than 2,300 screens in 15 countries for an early international cumulativetotal of $36.3m.However there was ...
-
News
Wedding Crashers tops box office against three newcomers
New Line's Wedding Crashers roared to the top of the domestic charts and passed $100m inits third weekend as Sony's high-tech action romp Stealth virtually stalled on take-off and openedweakly in fourth place on $13.5m.Disney's superhero family picture Sky High opened well enough in third place on$14.6m, while Warner Bros' ...
-
News
Alison Thompson takes up top job at Focus International
Moving to boost its Europeanpresence and ramp up worldwide sales, acquisitions and overseas production,Focus Features has hired former Pathe Pictures International sales chief AlisonThompson as president of its international division.Thompson will remain inLondon and oversee all international sales, distribution, and publicityactivities, reporting to Focus co-presidents David Linde and James Schamus ...
-
News
Neame to receive BAFTA/LA Britannia Award
Ronald Neame, the English director who earned three Oscarnominations for his work as a writer and producer with David Lean, is toreceive BAFTA/LA's Britannia Award for Lifetime Contributions to InternationalFilm.The son ofsilent film star Ivy Close, Neame got his break as a teenage cameraman onAlfred Hitchcock's Blackmail and trained under ...
-
News
Mitchell steps into Battsek's shoes at BVI (UK)
Robert Mitchell (pictured)has been promoted to senior vice president and managing director of Buena VistaInternational (UK) in the wake of Daniel Battsek's departure to head up thenew-look Miramax.Mitchell will be responsiblefor BVI UK's marketing, publicity and distribution operations and reports toBVI president Mark Zoradi and BVI Europe executive vice president ...
-
News
Wedding Crashers finally takes domestic box office crown
New Line's Wedding Crashers roared to the top of the domestic charts and passed $100m inits third weekend as Sony's high-tech action romp Stealth virtually stalled on take-off and openedweakly in fourth place on $13.5m.Disney's superhero family picture Sky High opened well enough in third place on$14.6m, while Warner Bros' ...
-
News
Colonna leaves The Firm to join Brillstein-Grey
Sarah Michelle Gellar’smanager JoAnne Colonna has left The Firm to join the senior ranks ofBrillstein-Grey Management.Colonna, whose other clientsinclude Andy Garcia, Brittany Murphy, Brendan Fraser and Anna Paquin, servedsix years at Artists Management Group (AMG) and The Firm, which eventuallyacquired it, as co-head of the talent department.It is understood she ...
-
News
Fabrication closes multiple sales on Game
LosAngeles-based sales company Fabrication Films has completed a raft of sales onDavid Anspaugh's real-life sports drama The Game Of Their Lives.Film division presidentWendy Reeds reported sales to 21st Century in Australia, Wise Policy in Japan,Aurum in Spain, NoShame Films in Italy, Conquest Films in Brazil, and HollywoodEntertainment in Greece.Rights also ...
-
News
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 ...
-
News
Brown named programming director at Miami
Film critic andformer HBO executive and Dwight Brown has been appointed programming directorat the Miami International Film Festival (MIFF). Brown will scout, screen andrecommend films for the festival in all categories, oversee staff, seek out newtalent, and develop outreach programmes and special presentations."Our rapidlyexpanding festival needs a programming executive and ...
-
News
Sony launches Stealth in Russia, Mexico, Korea
UIP executivesexpect to record two significant milestones this weekend, as Paramount's WarOf The Worlds is poisedto pass the $300m gross mark and DreamWorks International's Madagascar prepares to cross $200m.Both titles have been market leaders over the past monthor so, and have grossed $298.9m and more than $190m respectively.Meanwhile FantasticFour will ...
-
News
NBC Universal keeps mum on DreamWorks acquisition report
Studio sources have declined to comment on yesterday's report thatNBC Universal is in talks to acquire live-action unit DreamWorks SKG.According to the New York Post the studios were in the earlystages of talks but a deal was not imminent.DreamWorks SKG issued a statement in which it said any commentsabout a ...
-
News
US studios, exhibitors united on digital cinema standard
Hollywood'svision for a brave new world took a step closer to reality yesterday as leadingstudio and exhibition representatives unveiled an industry standard governingdigital cinema rollout.The move comesmore than three years after studios and exhibitors formed the Digital CinemasInitiative (DCI), the umbrella group charged with devising a set of unanimoussystem requirements ...
-
News
Stein named senior vp for Dimension at The Weinstein Co
Matthew Stein has been named senior vice president of productionfor Dimension Films at The Weinstein Company.Stein will continue to work at Miramax in his current position asvice president of production for Dimension until Sept 30, after which time hewill assume his new full-time role at The Weinstein Company.Based in New ...