All articles by Jeremy Kay – Page 1403
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Barquet joins Universal as svp production finance
Veteran finance executive Arturo Barquethas joined Universal Pictures as senior vice president of production finance.Barquet will oversee projects through pre-production, production andpost-production and coordinate all financing vehicles for specified projects onUniversal's theatrical slate and all theatrical stage productions.Reporting to Universal chief financial officer Patti Hutton, Barquet will alsobe responsible for ...
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Williams-Jones stepping down as Miramax Intl chief
Michael Williams-Jones will step down from his role as president ofMiramax International on Mar 1 after less than a year in the role.His departure comes as the rumour mill about the future of Miramax hits overdrive. Company co-chiefs Harvey and Bob Weinstein are expected to wrap their lengthy contract talks ...
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Pollack wraps Sketches Of Frank Gehry documentary
Sydney Pollack has completedshooting on his first documentary Sketches Of Frank Gehry, about thefamed architect whose creations include the Walt Disney Concert Hall in LosAngeles and the Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao. Cinetic Media is handling sales ofthe film in Berlin.Pollack, a close friend ofGehry's for more than 25 years, spent ...
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New Line ready to go Running Scared
New Line Cinema has paid high seven figures for North Americanrights to Running Scared, Wayne Kramer's follow-up to The Coolerthat stars Paul Walker as a low-level mobster who must find a gun used in acontract killing.Chazz Palminteri, Vera Farmiga, Alex Neuberger and Cameron Bright also star inthe picture, a co-production ...
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Universal acquires Magic Kingdom For Sale series
Universal Pictures haspicked up rights to Terry Brooks' book series Magic Kingdom For Sale which The Mummy creator Stephen Sommers willdirect.Lowell Ganz and Babaloo Mandel will adapt the story, the first in a series ofsix books about an attorney widower who buys a magical kingdom and must save itfrom an ...
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Kino picks up Happily Ever After, Or for US
Kino International has pickedup US rights to Yvan Attal's Happily Ever After and Keren Yedaya's Or.The romantic comedy Happily Ever After (Ils Se Marierent Et Eurent Beaucoup D'Enfants) stars Charlotte Gainsbourg, Emmanuelle Seigner andAttal and centres on the sexual politics that engulf two Parisian couples and asingle man.French-Israeli co-production Orwon ...
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UK Directors Guild picks Mendes for lifetime award
SamMendes will receive the Lifetime Achievement Award at the upcoming secondannual Directors Guild Awards for Outstanding Directorial Achievement inLondon.The event is scheduled to take place on Mar 20. Michael Winterbottom and PeterJackson were big winners last year for In This World and The Lord Of The Rings: The Return Of ...
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Williams to star in inner city drama Brother
Vanessa Williams has signed to play the lead in Liberty Artistsand My Brother Productions' inner city drama Brother.Williams will play a dying mother of two young boys who tries to put herchildren up for adoption. The experience forms an intense sibling bond as thebrothers grow into adults.Fredro Starr and newcomer ...
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I-On buys German home ent rights to Murder-Set-Pieces
MSP Productions has soldGerman home entertainment rights for the horror title Murder-Set-Pieces to I-On New Media.Nick Palumbo's picture premiered last December at the Sitges International FilmFestival in Barcelona and played in limited release in Los Angeles and NewYork.Murder-Set-Pieces follows theexploits of a homicidal fashion photographer and stars Sven Garrett, Tony ...
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Meet The Fockers soars past $100m for UIP
DreamWorks International'sMeet The Fockers grossed an estimated $20.8m on 3,166 screens in 39territories through UIP at the weekend as it became UIP's first 2005 release topass $100m.The comedy sequel currently stands at $111.5m following 10 fresh openings, thebiggest of which was a strong number one launch in Italy that produced ...
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Delbonnel takes top cinematography prize
Bruno Delbonnelwon top honours for his work in A Very Long Engagement in the 19thAnnual American Society of Cinematographers (ASC) Outstanding AchievementAwards in Los Angeles yesterday (13).It was the first ASC award for Delbonnel, who was nominated for Jean-PierreJeunet's Amelie in 2002.Delbonnel beat off stiff competition from Dion Beebe and ...
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Hitch opens top in US on $45.3m
Sony's romantic comedy Hitchopened on an estimated $45.3m at the weekend in what was the biggest everlaunch for a romantic comedy.Will Smith stars as a date doctor who claims he can find anybody's perfectmatch within three days. Eva Mendes and Kevin James also star in Andy Tennant'spicture, which drew strong ...
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Hitch hikes up US box office
Sony's romantic comedy Hitchopened on an estimated $45.3m at the weekend in what was the biggest everlaunch for a romantic comedy.Will Smith stars as a date doctor who claims he can find anybody's perfectmatch within three days. Eva Mendes and Kevin James also star in Andy Tennant'spicture, which drew strong ...
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Fockers closing on $100m at international box office
DreamWorksInternational's Meet The Fockershas a shot at passing $100m this weekend following an explosive run that hasalready produced $31.4m in the UK, $24.9m in Australia and $8.3m in Mexico.Currently on an $88.4m cumulative total from all its markets, Fockers goes out through UIP in Italy today (11)and should prosper, bearing ...
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MPAA announces pair of new policy posts
Capitol Hill veteran John Feehery has been appointedexecutive vice president and chief communications officer at the MPAA, whileRich Taylor becomes senior vice president of external affairs and education.Feehery formerly served as press secretary to the Speaker of the House ofRepresentatives, Dennis Hastert. Based in Washington, the newly created postwill require ...
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Daniel Taylor appointed MGM president
DanielTaylor has been appointed president of MGM following completion of the sale tothe Sony-led LOC Acquisition Company consortium.Taylor will be responsible for overseeing all operations of MGM, includingdevelopment and production of a smaller slate of theatrical and televisionproduct through co-financing and distribution with Sony.He will play a major role in ...
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Columbia TriStar, SPRI pick up Brown Bunny
Columbia TriStar has pickedup DVD and television rights from Wellspring to Vincent Gallo's The BrownBunny, with Sony Pictures ReleasingInternational (SPRI) acquiring a slew of international rights from Kinetique.SPRI picked up rights to the UK, Italy, Scandinavia, Australia, New Zealand,India, Lebanon, Israel, Turkey, and Asia, excluding Japan and Thailand.The Brown Bunny ...
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Flightplan on cruise control after second weekend
Touchstone's thriller Flightplan stayed topof the charts as it added an estimated $15m haul to raise the domestic runningtotal to $46.2m after two weekends.Opening in second place on $10.1m was Serenity, Universal's sci-fi thriller starring Nathan Fillionand Gina Torres. Joss Whedon's picture drew very strong reviews and averaged$4,634 on 2,188 ...
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NBC Universal signs distribution deal with Japan's Broadmedia
NBC Universal and Broadmedia Studios Corporation have signed anexclusive, multi-year distribution agreement for free and basic subscriptioncable television rights to a wide selection of Universal's features andtelevision product in Japan.Under the terms of the agreement, Broadmedia Studios Corporation becomes NBCUniversal's exclusive television distributor for these titles in Japan.The agreement includes ...
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Wild Bunch buys world rights to Sundance comedy Dirty Love
Wild Bunch has picked up international sales on Dirty Love,John Asher's Sundance comedy that played in the Park City at Midnight programme.Written by and starring Jenny McCarthy, Dirty Love is a send-up ofLos Angeles life and centres on a jilted women who embarks upon a bizarre questto "find the white ...