Large MPU – Page 1440
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News
Lucasfilm spins off THX as independent company
George Lucas'Lucasfilm has spun off theatrical audio standard outfit THX as an independentcompany. Originally a division of Lucasfilm, THX is now a privately heldcompany with Lucasfilm among several corporate and private investors. The movewas made to allow the company to expand into markets outside Lucasfilm'score areas of expertise.THX has also ...
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Bank loan saves RTV Family Entertainment
Animation production house RTV Family Entertainment has moved out of temporary insolvency after receiving a bridging credit line from its bank syndicate backed by a letter of credit from majority shareholder Ravernsburger AG. This step restores RTV to full financial solvency, but additional cash funds of Euros 4m will be ...
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Pandora returns to German distribution with Kaurismaki
Karl "Baumi" Baumgartner and Reinhard Brundig's distribution venture Pandora Filmverleih is staging a comeback on the German market nearly four years after being swallowed up by the Kinowelt empire in July 1998. Its first theatrical release - on 14 November - will be Aki Kaurismaki's Cannes prize-winner The Man ...
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Kissing Jessica Stein proves effective counter-programming
Spider-Man continued its box domination while Kissing Jessica Stein scored as effective World Cup counter-programming in a weekend that saw little change at the box office.Spider-Man eased off 28% in its second week, a modest fall reflecting its sluggish start due to last weekend's World Cup tournament matches. The ...
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Reviews
No Regrets (Nichts Bereuen)
Dir: Benjamin Quabeck. Ger. 2001. 104mins.A blend of comedy and pathos, No Regrets is a light-hearted coming of age story that flags up its lead, newcomer Daniel Bruehl, as one of Germany's upcoming talents to watch. The film has done well in German-speaking territories, where it has taken DM 468,065 ...
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Mike Newell to pilot Deighton's Bomber
Mike Newell is to direct an adaptation of Len Deighton's World War II novel Bomber.Roger Randall-Cutler, whose credits include Dance With A Stranger and The Commitments, is producing Bomber with Robert Cheek at the First Film Company. Leigh Jackson is adapting the book, which follows 24 hours in an Allied ...
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Tough times see Spanish producers adopt novel approach
The tough climate for film financing in Spain is causing producers to turn to literary adaptations, especially works which have already proven popular with audiences and critics. Indeed, there are currently more than a dozen films based on novels in advanced stages of production in Spain.The current batch includes director ...
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VU's fifth board member exit leaves Messier on the brink
Jean-Marie Messier has retained his position as chairman of the world's second-largest media group - despite the departure of the fifth board member this year and a temporary dive in Vivendi Universal share value to a 13-year low.Yesterday, June 25, Vivendi Universal shares rebounded to $19.80 following a turbulent slide ...
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German TV rights package boosts market optimism
RTL Television, Germany's leading private broadcaster, has acquired a package of films and TV series from Warner Bros. International Television (WBIT), including the free TV rights to Harry Potter And The Philosopher's Stone, The Lord Of The Rings, Ocean's Eleven, The Matrix, and The Perfect Storm.RTL's CEO Gerhard Zeiler declared ...
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Alliance Atlantis posts 35% increase in net earnings
Canada's Alliance Atlantis recorded improved year-end results, ending a bad run for the company with net earnings of $31m (C$47.3m), a 35% increase over the previous fiscal year. In January, the company reduced its LA office, cutting 80 staff and paring down distribution and marketing operations. A further 35 positions ...
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Larry Meyers turns consultancy gig at Trilogy into evp job
Veteran executive Lawrence Steven Meyers aka Larry Meyers has joined LA-based independent production outfit Trilogy Entertainment Group as executive vice president. Meyers has been consulting for Trilogy since Sept 2000.Working with Trilogy co-chairmen Pen Densham and John Watson, Meyers is charged with helping to grow the company, particularly the feature ...
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Alan Parker re-appointed chairman of UK Film Council
Alan Parker has been re-appointed as chairman of UK support body the Film Council for a further two years, film minister Kim Howells announced on Wednesday.Parker is understood to feel he needs another two years to see through changes begun by the council, which launched two years ago. He said ...
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Singapore's Raintree strikes joint production deal with Media Asia
Singapore's Raintree Pictures is planning a substantial production expansion after signing a deal with Hong Kong major Media Asia.The deal sees the two companies agree to jointly produce between four and six films per year. Production costs will be equally shared. "It resembles a first look deal, but with a ...
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European Film Awards to travel to Rome
Following an invitation by Rome's cinephile mayor Walter Veltroni, the European Film Awards will be travelling for the first time to the Italian capital. Traditionally alternating between the European Film Academy's home town of Berlin and other European cities, the relocated ceremony will take place on December 7th 2002. The ...
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Spider-Man takes Spain's opening gross record - by a whisker
Spider-Man's Spanish release has seen the film claim the all-time biggest opening gross in the territory, by a slender margin of just $4,088.The film grossed $4,966,824 (Euros 5,014,686) for Columbia TriStar Films de España, narrowly beating previous record-holder Harry Potter And The Philosopher's Stone, which earned $4,962,736 (Euros 5,010,559) on ...
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Shaolin Soccer is still the talk of the town
One of the hottest topics of conversation at the Hong Kong international film & TV market (FilMart) is not the level of deal-making at the event, or even the forthcoming World Cup final, but the enduring box-office success of local hit comedy Shaolin Soccer.As World Cup fever continues to dominate ...
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Teze confirmed as head of Miramax and TF1's TF/M Distribution
TF1 has confirmed the appointment of Perrine Teze as head of TF/M Distribution, the French broadcaster's theatrical joint venture with Miramax. Teze, formerly deputy general manager of TF1's foreign sales division TF1 International, has developed close ties with Miramax. "In fact, it was them who suggested my candidature," she ...
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Reviews
Women In The Mirror (Kagami No Onnatachi)
Dir: Kijyu Yoshida. Japan. 2002. 129mins.Kijyu Yoshida's first feature in 14 years, Women In The Mirror, is a throwback to the humanistic films with a political slant that once flowed from Japan's 1960s Nouvelle Vague, of which he was a key member. It is also a reminder of why such ...
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Reviews
Angela
Dir: Roberta Torre. Italy. 2002. 95mins. Dispensing with the musical numbers that peppered her first two films, but remaining true to her fascination with the character and people of Palermo, Roberta Torre still adds little new to the well-worn themes of Angela. Based on true events from the mid-1980s, the ...
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Reviews
Black And White
Dir: Craig Lahiff. Australia/UK. 2002. 99mins.The Sydney Film Festival traditionally opens with the world premiere of a quality Australian feature: last year it was the free-flowing, cinematically intense Lantana. This year's opener was an altogether more stolid affair - the worthy dramatisation of a 1958 South Australian murder trial and ...