Large MPU – Page 113
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News
The casting cash
Stars can be important elements when it comes to packaging elaborate European co-productions. Obviously, casting a German lead may help sell the film in German-speaking territories or raise funding in those territories. The Weinstein Company's Colin Vaines acknowledges that with lower-budget European films, directors are often what sell the work ...
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European stars: France
In France, movie-goers will eagerly line up for the latest from revered auteurs or even more mainstream directors - think Jean-Pierre Jeunet, Luc Besson or Francis Veber. But the old-guard of French actors like Gerard Depardieu and Catherine Deneuve are no longer guarantees of box office.Many of the personalities driving ...
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News
European stars: Germany
Berlinale director Dieter Kosslick highlights the increasing global appeal of Germany's talent base when he points out that more than 10 German actors and actresses had roles in international productions at this year's festival. These range from Julia Jentsch in Jiri Menzel's I Served The King Of England through Moritz ...
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News
European stars: Spain
The lack of a star system in Spain has long been lamented by the local industry, but the tide appears to be changing. It is no longer just the one-off Hollywood success of actors like Antonio Banderas, Penelope Cruz and Javier Bardem, or other actors with cachet in specific territories, ...
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European stars: Italy
A host of Italian actors have been making headway in large international productions recently. Giovanna Mezzogiorno (The Last Kiss, Facing Windows) stars alongside Javier Bardem in the upcoming adaptation of Gabriel Garcia Marquez's Love In The Time Of Cholera; Pierfrancesco Favino (Crime Novel) played Christopher Columbus in Night At The ...
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News
Daydream believers
Blood Diamond and The Pursuit Of Happyness significantly expanded into the international marketplace earlier this month. About six months ago, the marketing and distribution staffs of the films' respective studios sat down and weighed different release scenarios. Based on available materials and the timing of the domestic debuts, they had ...
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Features
Analysis - Museum revels in its encore call
Fox's Night At The Museum refuses to be beaten as it climbs back up to the top spot, generating over $14m in its eighth week despite being dropped from four territories. Oscar contender Blood Diamond did not trail far behind, raking in $13.1m in its sixth week as it opens ...
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Features
Market focus - Does size really matter'
A Dutch study suggests that in order to influence early box-office takings, film studios and distributors of arthouse films should focus energy on persuading critics to write about their movie instead of merely adopting strategies to avoid negative criticism.In a recently conducted study dubbed The Impact Of Film Reviews On ...
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News
Sogecable shares up 80% since IPO
Spanish audiovisual group Sogecable's shares have gained in value by more than 80% after one year on the Spanish stock exchange.Closing share price on Friday was Euros43.02, up from Euros23.50 at the launch of Sogecable's initial public offer one year ago. Sogecable has trailed Telefonica internet subsidiary Terra this year ...
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Reviews
Desert Dream (Hyazgar)
Dir. Zhang Lu. Kor-Fr. 2007. 123mins. The joint efforts of a Chinese director, a Franco-Korean production team and Mongolian locations results in Desert Dream, a kindly, well intentioned but over-extended allegory which spreads itself thinly over slightly more than two hours. Zhang Lu's follow-up to his festival hit Grain In ...
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News
German-Indian film agreement signed in Berlin
Germany's Federal Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier, India's Minister for Information, Broadcasting and Parliamentary Affairs Shri Priya Ranjan Dasmunsi, and Germany's Minister of State for Culture and the Media Bernd Nuemann signed a German-Indian film agreement in Berlin on Friday afternoon providing a legal framework for cooperation between producers from Germany ...
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New Brizzi film sets Italy Wednesday opening record
Italian director Fausto Brizzi's second feature Night Before Finals: Today (Notte prima degli esami - oggi) broke records for an Italian film released on a Wednesday earning $1.18m (Euros 900,000) on its Valentine's Day opener. The picture is the sequel to last year's local sleeper hit Night Before Finals. Today's ...
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News
Sony launches web promotion for Spider-Man 3
Sony is launching a competition to find two online correspondents to report on breaking news about Spider-Man 3 in the run-up to the May 4 release. Two fans of the franchise - one male and one female - will be charged with creating videos presenting news, information and special promotions. ...
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News
Banderas' Summer Rain wins Europa Cinemas prize in Berlin
Antonio Banderas' Summer Rain (El Camino de los Ingleses) won the Europa Cinemas Label prize for Best European film in Berlinale Panorama. The award comes with theatrical exposure and additional promotion from the Europa Cinemas network of 690 cinemas. The jury for the Europa Cinemas prize was comprised of four ...
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News
Opus Dei to consult on Lux Vide feature film
Opus Dei - the controversial Catholic religious order exposed in Dan Brown's runaway bestseller The Da Vinci Code - announced they will act as consultants on an upcoming feature film on the life of their founder, Josemaria Escriva de Balaguer. The announcement was made at a Friday press conference held ...
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Reviews
Don't Touch The Axe (Ne Touchez Pas La Hache)
Dir: Jacques Rivette. Fr-It. 2007. 137mins Elegance, austerity, high seriousness, barbed wit: this heady combination might not be to everyone's taste, but anyone susceptible to literary costume drama at its most intellectually substantial will be bowled over by Don't Touch The Axe, Jacques Rivette's surprisingly faithful adaptation of Balzac's novel ...
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News
Hot Fuzz rocks UK box office with preview figures
Universal's cop comedy Hot Fuzz has generated over $2.9m (£1.5m) in its first two days in the UK box office, hinting at the film's potential weekend success. British lovers preferred the spoof to romantic rival Music And Lyrics as it generated $1.8m (£946,448) on Valentine's Day - its opening day ...
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News
Sony Classics gets North American rights for The Children Of Huang Shi
Sony Pictures Classics has taken North American rights to Roger Spottiswoode's The Children Of Huang Shi. The epic tale is set in war-ravaged China in 1938. Production on the project ends today in Shanghai, with a cast including Jonathan Rhys Meyers, Radha Mitchell, Chow Yun-Fat and Michelle Yeoh. Arthur Cohn ...
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Oz distribs warn against day and date releases
Although simultaneous global release dates are being encouraged by some US distribution executives, their Australian counterparts have cautioned against not carefully weighing up all factors when dating blockbusters, including the competition and timing of the school holidays."There is a lot of merit in tent-pole pictures going simultaneously in as many ...