Large MPU – Page 1246

  • Reviews

    Ghosts Of Mars

    2001-08-23T15:41:00Z

    Dir: John Carpenter. US. 2001. 98 mins. A sci-fi/horror yarn with a touch of Western thrown in, Ghosts Of Mars has the kind of cheerful genre tackiness that we've come to expect lately from the John Carpenter 'brand.' What it doesn't have, in sufficient quantity at least, is the sort ...

  • News

    UK's Film Council says spending under budget

    2001-08-24T00:40:00Z

    Government-backed UK support body the Film Council has said that it will come in under budget at its first annual review in October after accusations that it exceeded personnel cost by more than 60%.The Film Council, which oversees National Lottery support for film activities, declined to reveal details about how ...

  • News

    Just 5% separates all US majors in first half

    2001-08-24T01:27:00Z

    US box office for the first six months of 2001 is up 7.6% against last year, with strong results from both winter and summer seasons. In addition, the top distributors are all more evenly matched than at any time in the last five years, with the difference between the market ...

  • News

    Paradise plans Russian exhibition boom

    2001-08-24T01:39:00Z

    Abstracted from the weekly edition of Screen InternationalRussian distributor Paradise Productions is set to become the country's leading exhibitor when it opens its new $3.7m, five-screen multiplex in central Moscow this autumn. Taken together with a single-screen cinema opened in Vyborg last week and two more complexes opening soon in ...

  • News

    Lantana lights up Melbourne Film Festival

    2001-08-24T01:47:00Z

    Melbourne International Film Festival (MIFF) audiences stuck by their homegrown talent and gave the crown of most popular film to Ray Lawrence's Lantana, which closes the Toronto International Film Festival in a couple of weeks. The next biggest crowd pleasers were, in order, Zacharias Kunuk's Canadian film Atanarjuat The Fast ...

  • News

    Germany pioneers new director opportunities

    2001-08-24T01:57:00Z

    Aspiring film-makers have it good in Germany. "No other country on earth enables so many film-makers to shoot their first film," says Gebhard Henke, head of the film department at the powerful Cologne-based public broadcaster WDR.Indeed, there are so many film prizes and stipends for young screenwriters, directors and producers ...

  • News

    Sarajevo anticipates exhibition growth

    2001-08-24T02:03:00Z

    The number of cinema screens in Sarajevo could more than double by the end of next year if plans to create the city's first multiplex are realised.Bosnian exhibitor-distributor-producer Forum Film Company, which currently operates three cinemas - Apolo, Tesla and Imperial - in Sarajevo, is planning to convert the former ...

  • News

    Women directors to open Filmfest Hamburg

    2001-08-24T02:08:00Z

    Films by two up-and-coming female German directors, Vanessa Jopp and Nathalie Steinbart will open this year's Filmfest Hamburg (September 24-30). Engel & Joe, Jopp's first feature since graduating last year from Munich's Academy for Television & Film with the award-winning Vergiss Amerika (Forget America), will open the festival at a ...

  • News

    International box office

    2001-08-24T11:02:00Z

    Having long since disappeared from most territories The Mexican has made a late summer comeback with a wave of impressive international openings in several major European countries over the weekend (August 16-19). The romantic action comedy, which grossed $66.8m during its domestic run for DreamWorks SKG, opened in Germany and ...

  • News

    Toronto World Premieres

    2001-08-26T18:34:00Z

    26th Toronto Int'l Film Festival-World Premieres and Int'l Sales by ProgrammeGALASDirectorCountryInt'l Sales contactHearts In AtlantisScott HicksUSCastle Rock: (1) 310 285 2300Last OrdersFred SchepisiUKWinchester Films: (44) 20 7851 6505Last WeddingBruce SweeneyCanThinkFilm: (1) 416 488 0037Life As A HouseIrwin WinklerUSNew Line Int'l: (1) 310 854 5811NovocaineDavid AtkinsUSSummit: (1) 310 309 8400SerendipityPeter ChelsomUSMiramaxInt'l ...

  • News

    San Sebastian reveals competition line up

    2001-08-26T23:12:00Z

    The San Sebastian International Film Festival has announced 16 of the films which will compete in the official section of this year's 49th edition, which runs from September 20 to 29. The line-up, which will likely receive at least a couple of last minute additions, has a distinct European flavour. ...

  • News

    Audiences rise in the West, decline in the East

    2001-08-26T23:17:00Z

    The Western European cinemagoing trend is riding a steadily upward curve, while Eastern European admissions continue to decline. In fact, the year-on-year decline in ticket sales between 1999 and 2000 that was experienced in Eastern European markets substantially outstrips the gains enjoyed in the western territories as a whole. While ...

  • News

    Gas Attack takes Edinburgh by storm

    2001-08-26T23:20:00Z

    Topical, highly controversial Scottish production Gas Attack was named Best New British Feature at the Edinburgh International Film Festival closing ceremony on Sunday night. A first feature from former actor and theatre director Kenny Glenaan, it uses a documentary style to tell of a right-wing terrorist attack on the community ...

  • News

    Vif International launches German film fund

    2001-08-26T23:23:00Z

    Potsdam-based Vif International Films has launched its fourth tranche to raise Euro 50m from private individuals each investing a minimum of Euro 25,000 for the financing of internationally marketable feature film and television projects Among the projects set to benefit from this latest Vif fund are Broken Silence director Wolfgang ...

  • News

    People's Choice - Euro film award nominations

    2001-08-26T23:29:00Z

    Forty eight European directors and actors from Jean-Jacques Annaud to Ray Winstone have been nominated for this year's People's Choice Awards which will be presented during the European Film Awards in Berlin on December 1. Cinemagoers throughout Europe will have the chance to vote in three categories "Best European Director", ...

  • News

    Ricci joins Granada's Gathering

    2001-08-26T23:32:00Z

    Christina Ricci has signed to star in The Gathering, a $17m UK supernatural thriller, scheduled to start shooting on Sept 3 for Granada Film and Samuelson Productions. Directed by Brian Gilbert, the film will also star Kerry Fox, and rising UK actors Ioan Gruffudd, Stephen Dillane and Simon Russell Beale. ...

  • News

    Garci announces The Story Of A Kiss

    2001-08-26T23:35:00Z

    Popular Spanish director and four-time Academy Award nominee Jose Luis Garci has announced his next feature, The Story Of A Kiss (Historia De Un Beso), set to shoot in northern Spain in October or November.The romantic drama will star Ana Fernandez (Alone), Alfredo Landa, Carlos Hipolito and youngster Manuel Lozano, ...

  • News

    Dutch box office on the increase

    2001-08-26T23:37:00Z

    Cinema admissions in The Netherlands were up year-on-year for the first six months of 2001. Rising 5.7% from 10.6m in the first half of 2000 to 11.2m for the same period this year, ticket sales in the territory continue to show positive growth aided by strong performances from Bridget Jones's ...

  • News

    American Pie 2 makes it three in a row

    2001-08-27T03:40:00Z

    North American youths continued to gobble American Pie 2, keeping the gross-out comedy at the top spot for its third weekend and easily vaulting it over the $100m mark. Its take of $12.9m gives it an estimated 17-day gross of $109.6m. The other sequel of the moment, Rush Hour 2, ...

  • News

    Distribution revs Alliance Atlantis revenues

    2001-08-27T18:07:00Z

    Alliance Atlantis Communications announced a record 91% increase in first quarter revenue at its Motion Picture Group. The big numbers -- $45.6m compared to $23.9m in the first quarter 2000 -- were driven by strong performances at the box office and in home video. In a statement, company CEO Michael ...