All articles by Jeremy Kay – Page 1466
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Fox makes Passion play
20th Century Fox, which has a first-look production deal with Mel Gibson and Bruce Davey’s Icon Productions, has quietly become far more involved in The Passion Of The Christ than originally thought.Fox is understood to have sealed the lucrative domestic home entertainment rights tithe film as well as theatrical rights ...
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Ripley returns with Lions Gate Int'l
Lions Gate International will handle foreign rights on Cinerenta'sthriller Mr Ripley's Return, the latest addition to the Ripley canon that features anall-star cast including Barry Pepper, Alan Cumming, Claire Forlani, WillemDafoe and Tom Wilkinson.Based on Patricia Highsmith's novel Ripley Underground, Roger Spottiswoode's picture is inpost-production and will be available for ...
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AFM: First Look gets new overseas look
FirstLook Media, one of the founding AFMA members, has changed the name of itsinternational sales division Overseas Filmgroup to First Look International toreflect a greater confluence of company operations.Atthe same time, First Look Pictures revealed that it is releasing three of its domestictitles through IDP, the US distribution partnership through ...
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AFM: Rubin launches US independent distribution outfit First Independent
Former Artisan Televisionexecutive vice president Gary Rubin has launched the domestic distributionoutfit First Independent Pictures and expects to announce an initial slateshortly.The Santa Monica-basedcompany is backed by private investors and Rubin is in discussions with DavidHutkin of The Lewis Horwitz Organization and Mercantile National Bank's ArtStribley for production financing and ...
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AFM: Lightning strikes twice
Los Angeles-based production and distribution outfit Lightning Entertainment has picked up international sales to the drama This Girl's Life starring James Woods and the romantic comedy Perfect Opposites with Piper Perabo and Martin Henderson.In This Girl's Life a porn star hides her profession from the man she loves and her ...
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AFM: RS Entertainment takes US for Unspeakable
Pav Films has named Randy Slaughter's LA-based RS Entertainment as US theatrical distributor for its debut feature, the psycho-thriller Unspeakable starring Dennis Hopper as an unbalanced prison warden opposite Dina Meyer, Lance Henriksen, Jeff Fahey and newcomer Pavan Grover.MGM has domestic television and DVD/home video rights while 20th Century Fox ...
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THINKFilm acquires Sundance winner
THINKFilm has picked up all North American rights to ShaneCarruth's micro-budget thriller Primer, which won the Grand Jury Prize at this year's SundanceFilm Festival.Carruth wrote, directed, produced and starred in the picture,which centres on the discovery by two men of a device that enables them to doanything they want. Newcomer ...
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Film Bridge strikes three-picture deal with Philippe Mora
Santa Monica-based financingand sales outfit Film Bridge International has signed a three-picture deal withproducer-director Philippe Mora for When We Were Modern, Strange Matters and Hamlet Unzipped.When We Were Modern is due to shoot later this spring In Australia and Londonand tells the story of the Australian painter Sidney Nolan who ...
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The Return Of The King passes $1bn at the box office
Finally, after weeks of anticipation, The Lord Of The Rings:The Return Of The Kingofficially passed $1bn in worldwide ticket sales at the weekend.New Line International'spicture grossed $13.9m from 3,655 screens in 60 markets to raise its internationalrunning total to $644.3m. Added to the weekend's $2.8m US gross for a $361.1mdomestic ...
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Cheaper By The Dozen adds $4.3m from 11 markets for Fox
Fired by a second place $1.5m opening on 250 screens in Spain CheaperBy The Dozen added $4.3mfrom 994 screens in 11 markets at the weekend to raise its internationalrunning total to $27.1m.In its second week in the UK the comedy climbed 23% and grossed$2.4m on 369 screens for $8.9m.Stuck On ...
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AFM claims 11% rise in buyers
AFMA's three top executives sounded a confident noteyesterday ahead of the American Film Market's opening day of trading in Santa Monica,highlighting the trade body's 40% non-American contingent and high projectedattendance as key drivers in what they expect to be a vibrant AFM this week.Speaking at a press conference to launch ...
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Showcase adds Dorm Daze, Italian Husband to AFM slate
Showcase Entertainment has secured international distributionrights to the comedies National Lampoon's Dorm Daze and Our Italian Husband in addition to worldwide rights to thrillerPuerto Vallarta Squeeze,as previously announced.Directed and produced by David and Scott Hillenbrand based on ascreenplay by Patrick Casey and Worm Miller, National Lampoon's Doom Daze centres on ...
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John Malcolm enlisted to head MPAA's worldwide anti-piracy ops
John G Malcolm, a former Department of Justice deputy assistantAttorney-General, has been named senior vice president and director ofworldwide anti-piracy operations at the Motion Picture Association of America(MPAA).Malcom's tenure begins on Apr 5 and he succeeds Ken Jacobsen, whowill retire at the end of the month.Malcolm oversaw the Dept of ...
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Tartan Films gets UK rights to My Architect from Film Sales Co
Tartan Films has picked up all rights in the UK and Ireland toNathaniel Kahn's Oscar-nominated documentary My Architect from The Film Sales Company.Andrew Herwitz negotiated on behalf of Kahn and producer SusanRose Behr with Jane Giles, head of acquisitions, on behalf of Tartan, andwith Keith Calvert on behalf of the ...
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Richard Propper elected new president of IDA
Richard Propper, the founder and chief of documentary licensingfirm Solid Entertainment, has been elected president of the InternationalDocumentary Association (IDA).Propper will be formally introduced as the IDA's president at the22nd annual celebration of Academy Award documentary nominees in Los Angeles onWednesday."The IDA was visualised as a place where non-fiction film-makerscould ...
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New fantasy trilogy emerges from four-company indie partnership
Franchise Pictures is partnering with Story Island Entertainment,Origin Entertainment (which will operate under the new banner of CanyonlightEntertainment), and Entertainment Business Group (EBG) on production of the$80m fantasy franchise The Runelords.Based on David Farland's bestselling novels The Runelords,Brotherhood Of The Wolfand Wizardborn, thestory is set in a magical world where ...
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Gosling named male star of tomorrow at ShoWest
Ryan Gosling has been namedShoWest 2004 male star of tomorrow and will collect his award once the industryconvention kicks off in Las Vegas on Mar 22."In his short career to date,Ryan Gosling has delivered one tremendous performance after another and is wellon the way to establishing himself as an acting ...
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New Films International makes first international acquisitions led by Grand Theft
Hot on the heelsof launching its film production and sales division at Sundance, New FilmsInternational has acquired worldwide rights excluding North America to GrandTheft Parsons, Easy 6and Undermind.David Caffrey's GrandTheft Parsons screenedat Sundance and stars Christina Applegate and Johnny Knoxville in a true-lifeaccount of the theft of country-rock singer Gram ...
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Oscar nominee Watanabe is the latest addition to Batman cast
Ken Watanabe hasjoined the cast of Christopher Nolan's Batman project, which is due to begin shootingin London in March and will be released by Warner Bros in 2005.Watanabe, who garnered a best supporting actor Oscarnomination for his role in The Last Samurai,will play the villainous Ra's Al Ghul opposite Christian ...
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Samurai soars with new grand total of $310m for Warner
Warner Bros' The Last Samurai added an estimated $8.4m with 1.4madmissions from 3,361 screens in 57 territories at the weekend for a $310.6minternational running total.This makes the Japan-set epic the third biggest R-rated picture ofall time, the second biggest Tom Cruise title ever behind Mission Impossible2 and fourth in theWarner ...