All articles by Jeremy Kay – Page 1485
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Lombardo says ciao to Miramax Italia
Miramax'stop executive in Italy, Fabrizio Lombardo, will now switch to a "bigger-picturerole" for the company, serving as a personal European investment advisor toco-chairmen Bob and Harvey Weinstein. Lombardo'snew role means that London-based senior vice president of production GinaGardini will now become Miramax's primary executive liaising with the Italianfilm and television ...
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Bad Boys 2 tops Spanish, UK charts
Bad Boys 2 grossed$9.8m at the weekend for Columbia TriStar Film Distributors International(CTFDI), raising its international running total to $43.4m.The action sequel opened film number one in the UK on $4.5m from619 venues ($5.2m including previews), while Spain produced an estimated $3.1mnumber one bow in Spain from 403.Bad Boys 2is ...
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Cinema Park secures $20m for Russian multiplex chain
Cinema Park, the verticallyintegrated Russian production, distribution and exhibition outfit, has secureda $20m loan from World Bank Group member The International Finance Corporation forits ongoing theatre-building project.At a time ofmassive growth in the country's exhibition sector, Cinema Park plans to build achain of 20 multi-screen cinemas at a cost of ...
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BVI hits milestones with Pirates, Bruce Almighty
In a milestone weekend for Buena Vista International (BVI), PiratesOf The Caribbean passed$300m and Bruce Almighty crossed $200m at the international box office.Piratesadded $11.1m from all territories and raised its cumulative score to $310.1m,becoming the distributor's third title to reach that threshold after TheLion King and Armageddon and its second ...
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BVI hits milestones with Pirates, Bruce Almighty
In a milestone weekend for Buena Vista International (BVI), PiratesOf The Caribbean passed$300m and Bruce Almighty crossed $200m at the international box office.Piratesadded $11.1m from all territories and raised its cumulative score to $310.1m,becoming the distributor's third title to reach that threshold after TheLion King and Armageddon and its second ...
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Lieberfarb makes noise on DTS board
In his first appointment since exiting Warner Home Videoin December 2002 DVD evangelist Warren Lieberfarb has joined the board ofdigital audio technology specialists Digital Theater Systems (DTS).Lieberfarb is one of three new arrivals alongside fellow industryveterans Joerg Agin and Joseph Fischer.Agin, who has held top executive roles at Eastman Kodak ...
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LXG tops weekly international box office
Fox International's The League Of Extraordinary Gentlemen (LXG) was the number one internationalperformer of the weekend after grossing $14.6m from 3,327 screens in all itsterritories.In its first wave of major European openings, LXG scored a sensational $5.1m from 706screens in Germany for star Sean Connery's biggest ever bow in a ...
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DreamWorks puts Oscar faith in extra House screenings
The trickle-down effect of the MPAA's ban on screener tapescontinued this week as DreamWorks SKG announced it has booked one month ofprivate screenings in Los Angeles for its awards contender House Of Sand AndFog.Vadim Perelman's drama, which is being handled forinternational sales by Winchester's Cobalt Pictures, will play twice a ...
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School Of Rock rocks for Paramount with $20.2m
Paramount's comedy School Of Rock shook the charts at the weekend, openingnumber one on an estimated $20.2m.The film, which stars Jack Black as a struggling guitarist whouses a stint as a substitute teacher to spread his love of heavy metal music,enjoyed sensational reviews and averaged $7,728 from 2,614 sites.It was ...
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Pie 3 opens top in Italy, New Zealand for Universal
Universal's American Pie: The Wedding opened number one in Italy on anestimated $2m from 337 sites through UIP at the weekend, grossing 40% more thanthe prequel's equivalent bow in 2001.The third instalment in the comedy franchise also opened top inNew Zealand, grossing $332,000 from 47, which was 23% ahead of ...
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Gentlemen begins European tour, Pirates eyes $300m
Pirates Of The Caribbean is expected to pass $300m in international ticket sales this upcoming weekend, which also sees the first major European assault by The League Of Extraordinary Gentlemen (LXG).Buena Vista International's (BVI) Pirates has no major openings but strong holdovers should be enough to hoist its $295m running ...
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New York indies send written objections to MPAA over screeners
Under the nominal leadership of IFP/New York executive directorMichelle Byrd, more than 30 prominent members of the independent community havesigned a joint statement condemning this week's ban on awards season previewtapes by the MPAA.Robert Altman, John Waters, Killer Films' Christine Vachon and PamKoffler, GreeneStreet's John Penotti and Fisher Stevens, This ...
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NORTH AMERICA
In the North American limited release arena there was another strong weekend for Focus Feature's slow burner Lost In Translation, which stayed in 10th place adding $3.7m for a $8.6m running total. It expanded by 305 to 488 sites and should be in 700-800 venues next weekend. Newmarket's acclaimed ...
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Sharif to be feted at AFI FEST, Minghella to show 20 mins of Mountain
Omar Sharif will be honouredat the upcoming AFI Festís annual tribute on Nov 11 in Los Angeles.'A Tribute To Omar'will feature clips, anecdotes, an on-stage discussion and a retrospective ofhis films including J Lee Thompson's Mackenna's Gold (1969), William Wyler's Funny Girl (1968), Youssef Chahine's The Blazing Sun (1954) and ...
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Weir to receive Schlesinger BAFTA/LA award
Peter Weir will receiveBAFTA/LA's John Schlesinger Britannia Award for Artistic Excellence atthe 12th Annual Britannia Awards in Los Angeles on Nov 8.'We are delighted tobe honoring director Peter Weir, who has made some of the finest films of ourtime,' BAFTA/LA chairman Gary Dartnall said in a statement.'His films, including Witness,Dead ...
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UK's Rabiger gets IDA Preservation & Scholarship Award
Film-maker andeducator Michael Rabiger will receive the 2003 International DocumentaryAssociation (IDA) Preservation and Scholarship Award at the body's annual awardsin Los Angeles on Dec 12.The honour isawarded to an individual or organisation that, in the words of the IDA'spresident Michael Donaldson, has made "substantial and enduring contributionsto non-fiction film-making"."Michael Rabigerhas ...
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Hollywood nine commit to MPAA screener ban
The seven major studios,their subsidiaries and DreamWorks and New Line will not send out preview"screener" tapes this awards season after committing to a MotionPicture Association of America (MPAA) anti-piracy drive.The move was announced today(Sept 30) by MPAA president Jack Valenti, who cited a "determinedcommitment to combat digital piracy and to ...
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Gordon moves to Columbia, brings in Toho-Towa
Mark Gordon, the veteranproducer whose credits include Saving Private Ryan and The Patriot, is in final negotiations to sign a first-look deal with ColumbiaPictures, a deal which would involve Japanese major Toho-Towa which had backedGordon in his former venture Mutual Film Co.Gordon, whose output dealwith Fox ended earlier this year, ...
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Revolutions to open day and date in 60 territories
Hoping to hit the pirates where it hurts and capitalise on aninternet-savvy global fan base, Warner Bros will open its sci-fi trilogy finaleThe Matrix Revolutions simultaneouslyin 60 territories including the US on Nov 5.Orchestrated in association with Village Roadshow by Warner Bros'president of domestic distribution Dan Fellman and president of ...
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Pontecorvo classic gets US re-issue via Rialto, Classic Collection
Italian director Gillo Pontecorvo's The Battle Of Algiers, the legendary re-telling of thestruggle for Algerian independence from France, will be re-released in the USby Rialto Pictures in association with The Classic Collection, a joint ventureof Janus Films and Homevision Entertainment, in January 2004.The film will open in New York, Los ...