All articles by Jeremy Kay – Page 1430
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Broderick launches website of political cinema
Peter Broderick,the head of Paradigm Consulting and former president of Next Wave Films, haslaunched the political cinema resource website Films To See Before You Vote.The siteprovides information on current and previous documentary and narrative releasesand advice on arranging screening parties."It's impossibleto claim any longer that politics is box office poison ...
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Godard goes to US with Wellspring
Wellspring haspicked up all US rights to Jean-Luc Godard's Notre Musique (Our Music) and plans to release the picture on Dec22 in New York followed by a nationwide roll-out.TheToronto-bound title premiered at Cannes earlier this year and is styled as ano-holds barred meditation on 20th century Europe, war, Middle Eastern ...
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The Village opens its doors in Australia, Brazil
Buena VistaInternational's (BVI) The Village has been quietly gathering momentum in recent weeks and shouldboost its $30.8m running total with launches this weekend in Australia on Sept2 and Brazil on Sept 3.Strong debutsare expected bearing in mind that M Night Shyamalan's previous mystery Signs opened top in both markets, grossing$2.7m ...
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MGM hits back at imminent takeover talk
MGM hit backover press reports concerning a possible take-over deal yesterday (sept 1),issuing a statement saying it was continuing to consider strategicalternatives.The statement,which also dismissed as inaccurate speculation that the studio was worth $5bn,follows a Reuters report last week that implied an announcement was about tobreak after employees were temporarily ...
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Passion DVD breaks records on first day of US release
The DVD and VHSversions of The Passion Of The Christ sold 4.1million units on first day of release (Aug 31) inthe US, setting a string of records for Fox Home Entertainment.The distributorclaimed first-day sales have made Passion the number one selling independent release of all time, thenumber one selling drama, ...
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McInnis named festival director at Slamdance
Kathleen McInnishas been named as the new festival director at Slamdance and will also overseeand initiate new year-round programmes.The appointmentends a four-month global trawl by the festival's co-founders."Kathleen'sreputation in general and her filmmaking experience specifically makes her anatural choice for Slamdance," Peter Baxter, president and one of the fouroriginal co-founders ...
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Hall named programming head at Sarasota Film Fest
Tom Hall has been nameddirector of programming for the 7th Annual Sarasota Film Festival (SFF), whichruns from Jan 28-Feb 6 2005.Hall, who remains programmedirector at the Nantucket Film Festival held annually in June, will travel toToronto to scout for material for the SFF."We were determined to bringin a new programmer ...
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BVI passes $1bn gross mark for tenth consecutive year
Fuelled by suchhits as Finding Nemoand Brother Bear,Buena Vista International (BVI) has passed $1bn in international tickets salesin record time this year, becoming the first distributor to achieve the feat in10 consecutive years.BVI passed the milestone on Aug 22, continuing a streakthat started in 1995,since which time it has amassed ...
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Foxx, Knightley, Shrek 2 join Hollywood Film Awards lineup
Jamie Foxx willreceive the Hollywood Breakthrough Male Performer Award and Keira Knightley theHollywood Breakthrough Female Performer Award at the 2004 Hollywood FilmAwards.DreamWorks'animated hit Shrek 2will be honoured with the Hollywood Animation Award at the awards gala on Oct18.Foxx currentlystars opposite Tom Cruise in the DreamWorks thriller Collateral and is already ...
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Newmarket takes North American rights to three from Trust
Newmarket Filmshas acquired North American rights to a trio of Scandinavian pictures fromTrust Film Sales - Old, New, Borrowed And Blue, In Your Hands, and Daybreak.Natasha Arthy'sDanish bittersweet romantic comedy Old, New, Borrowed And Blue won the 2003 Grand Jury Award in the AFIFEST's International Feature Competition; it stars Sidse ...
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Cannes premiere Cronicas seals US deal with Palm
Palm Pictureshas picked up North American and Caribbean rights to Sebastian Cordero's Spanish-languagecrime thriller Cronicas,which is set to receive its North American premiere at Toronto after a worldpremiere in Un Certain Regard at Cannes.Palm plans a second quarter 2005 release followed by DVDroll-out later in the year.Cronicas centres on a ...
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Newmarket takes domestic rights to three from Trust
Newmarket Filmshas acquired North American rights to a trio of Scandinavian pictures fromTrust Film Sales - Old, New, Borrowed And Blue, In Your Hands, and Daybreak.Natasha Arthy'sDanish bittersweet romantic comedy Old, New, Borrowed And Blue won the 2003 Grand Jury Award in the AFIFEST's International Feature Competition; it stars Sidse ...
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Heavenly results from Passion US DVD release
The US DVD/VHSrelease of The Passion Of The Christ on Aug 31 already appears to be mirroring the picture'sremarkable theatrical release earlier this year, selling more than 2.4m unitsby lunchtime.According todistributor Fox Home Entertainment the release has bucked the trend oftraditional retail patterns, with most consumers buying an average of ...
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Garfield is top cat for Fox Int'l, raises total to $65m
Fox International's Garfield was the number one international picture at theweekend, clawing in $9.7m on 3,360 screens to elevate its running total to$65m.Highlights were $932,000 on184 screens in Russia for an unconfirmed ranking, an excellent $418,000 on 63in Norway for an unconfirmed ranking, and a number one $440,000 debut inHungary ...
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Hero scores record debut for Asian picture in Hollywood
After a considerable delay, Miramax released Zhang Yimou'smartial arts epic Hero in the US and it was easily the highlight of asluggish weekend, opening top and setting a record for an Asian picture on anestimated $17.8m.The picture, which stars Jet Li as a nameless fighter inthird century China, earned great ...
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Hero dominates lacklustre weekend at US box office
After a considerable delay, Miramax released Zhang Yimou'smartial arts epic Hero in the US and it was easily the highlight of asluggish weekend, opening top and setting a record for an Asian picture on anestimated $17.8m.The picture, which stars Jet Li as a nameless fighter inthird century China, earned great ...
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House Of The Flying Daggers scores mighty Japanese debut
Warner Entertainment Japanopened Zhang Yimou's epic Lovers (aka House Of The Flying Daggers) in top spot in Japan at the weekend on an excellent estimated $3.6m on 361screens.Elsewhere Catwoman grossed an estimated $2.3m on 1,986 screens in 21 territories through Warner Bros Int'l at the weekend, raising its international running ...
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Starsky & Hutch scores strong Italian debut
Miramax's Starsky & Hutch launched in its final international market of Italyat the weekend, opening top on an impressive $2.3m including previews through BuenaVista International (BVI).Miramax International executives originally had exhibitorsupport to release the police caper in June, but decided against such a movewhile the Euro 2004 football championships were ...
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Anacondas grips India with mighty $1m launch for CTFDI
Sony's action sequel Anacondas scored a huge resultin India at the weekend as Columbia TriStar Film Distributors International(CTFDI) released it day-and-date with the US in several markets.Anacondas opened number one in thesub-continent on an estimated $1m on 275 prints to record the fifth biggestdebut by a Hollywood release in the ...
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Universal's Bourne is supreme in Australia with $3.4m debut
Universal's spy sequel The Bourne Supremacy scoredthe studio's biggest international debut of the year at the weekend as itopened top in Australia on an estimated $3.4m on 231 screens.The mighty launch through UIP took 52% market share and wasUniversal's sixth biggest ever opening in the territory, grossing 117% more inUS$ ...