Large MPU – Page 840
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News
Lucas, Hamm to star in A2/Code's The Boy In The Box
Josh Lucas and Golden Globe TV nominee Jon Hamm will star in A2 Entertainment Group and Code Entertainment's thriller The Boy In The Box.Lucas will play the father of a boy that went missing years ago and whose case bears striking parallels to a current investigation.James Van Der Beek, Rhona ...
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News
Wild Bunch, Senator form joint German distribution venture
Wild Bunch and Senator Entertainment are to form a joint distribution venture in Germany as part of a broader agreement that will see the partners collaborate on co-productions and financing.The German distribution deal comes after Wild Bunch acquired 50% of Senator's shares of distribution subsidiary Central Film Verleih GmbH, which ...
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Almost Famous shines at Olympics-struck box office
The North American box office reached a stunning low over the weekend as the Olympic Games TV coverage began. The weekend grosses were down 33% from the same period last year and represent the lowest since Sept 11-13, 1998.Only DreamWorks SKG's Almost Famous - which is co-financed by Columbia TriStar ...
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Entertainment One, Image expand Canadian distribution pact
Image Entertainment and Entertainment One have renewed and expanded their Canadian distribution agreement. The deal, which now runs through 2012, covers Image product in theatrical, home entertainment, television and digital as well as giving EOne subsidiary Seville Canadian rights to Image's 3000-title film and TV library. Seville will handle theatrical, ...
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UPI celebrates $1bn gross in year one of operations
Universal Pictures International (UPI) crossed $1bn on December 16, marking a successful launch year for the company and Universal's biggest annual overseas gross since 2001.The top four titles for the year were The Bourne Ultimatum on $213m, Mr Bean's Holiday on $192m with Japan still to go in January 2008, ...
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Focus Features launches online film portal Film InFocus
Focus Features has launched the film portal FilmInFocus featuring editorial content that the company said highlighted 'the most original stories from the world's most innovative filmmakers'.The site will feature original content from Refresh Content's crew of Filmmaker Magazine writers and editors Peter Bowen, Scott Macaulay and Nick Dawson, as well ...
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Czech box office climbs but 2008 might not continue trend
The Czech box office is trending toward another healthy year, but questions remain whether the upward trend will continue in 2008. Czech admissions passed the 11m mark in October, well ahead of last year's numbers, which were at 10.4m at the end of November. Box office sales were at $57.3m ...
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Berlin Talent Campus expands short film competition
The Berlin Today Award (BTA), the Berlinale Talent Campus's short film competition, is being expanded for its next edition which will see the films focusing on the theme of 'My Wall' to mark the 20th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall in 2009. Participants of previous Talent Campuses ...
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Reviews
National Treasure: Book Of Secrets
Dir: Jon Turteltaub. US. 2007. 124mins.The first National Treasure reaped sizable international box-office fortunes with a loopy gee-whiz amalgam of Indiana Jones derring-do and Mission: Impossible-style set pieces. Three years later, the inevitable sequel, dubbed Book Of Secrets, is as derivative of its sources as it is of the first ...
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Reviews
St Trinian's
Dirs: Oliver Parker & Barnaby Thompson UK. 2007. 101 minsA modern make-over may have worked wonders for James Bond but it fails to rejuvenate another great British institution in the lacklustre return of Ronald Searle's unruly schoolgirls. The St Trinian's films were a commercially viable franchise for twenty-five years until ...
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News
Indigenous film-makers line up To Hell And Back, Samson and Delilah
Australia 's indigenous film-makers are telling their own stories with two features being prepared. Richard Frankland's road movie To Hell and Back finished its six-week shoot in Western Australia last week. Financed by Film Finance Corporation Australia and the local state agency ScreenWest, it has been dubbed the Australian version ...
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Berlinale's Generation unveils titles including Buddha Collapsed
The first 15 titles unveiled by the Berlinale's Generation section include 19-year-old Hana Makhmalbaf's debut feature shot in Afghanistan Buddha Collapsed Out Of Shame, Danish masters Jannik Hastrup and Flemming Quist Moeller's action-packed animated love story A Tale Of Two Mozzies and Elissa Downs' The Black Balloon, a sensitive portrayal ...
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Even guided by Compass, UKbox office down 8.3% from 2006
Entertainment Film Distributors' The Golden Compass led the running in the UK for the second weekend in a row with a $6m (£3m) take across 509 sites.The top 20 films in the UK/Ireland generated $20.9m across 3,779 screens from the period of December 14-16. This was collectively down 8.3% compared ...
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Lions Gate buys worldwide rights on comedy Vulgar
Reflecting its ambitious expansion plan among North American independents, Lions Gate Films announced its second acquisition at the Toronto Film Festival on Friday, taking worldwide rights on Vulgar, the comedy starring and executive produced by Kevin Smith and Scott Mosier, the talents behind Dogma, Chasing Amy and Clerks, and directed ...
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New Line, MGM team for two Hobbit movies with Peter Jackson
Peter Jackson and New Line have buried the hatchet and will return to Middle Earth together in a two-film deal with MGM to bring JRR Tolkien's The Hobbit and an original sequel to the big screen.MGM and New Line will co-finance and co-distribute the projects, which New Line will release ...
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Palm Springs unveils 'streamlined' festival line-up
The Palm Springs International Film festival (PSIFF) will screen 222 films culled from more than 66 countries featuring four world, 40 US and 25 North American premieres.Pierre Salvadori's French romantic comedy Priceless starring Audrey Tautou and Gad Elmaleh will close the festival on January 14 2008 and as previously announced ...
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China Film raises capital for digital production centre
Continuing its capital-raising streak, Chinese state-owned conglomerate, China Film Group Corporation, has issued $67.7m (RMB500m) in corporate bonds to finance digital film production and cinemas. The seven-year bonds have a fixed annual coupon rate of 6.1% and are available to domestic institutional investors. China Merchants Securities is the lead underwriter. ...
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Toronto film critic John Harkness dies at 53
Toronto-based film critic John Harkness died at his home on Tuesday. A one-time Canadian correspondent for Screen International and the lead film writer for Toronto weekly NOW Magazine since its 1981 inception, Harkness was a constant figure at Cannes and widely-respected by Toronto cinephiles -- and feared by Canadian filmmakers. ...
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No Country For Old Men gets top votes from Toronto Critics
No Country For Old Men was named Best Picture and directors and screenwriters Joel and Ethan Coen took Best Direction and Best Screenwriting honours as the Toronto Film Critics Association announced its 2007 selection Wednesday.Javier Bardem was also named Best Supporting Actor for his role as the methodical killer in ...
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Maximum takes international rights to Rossellini's Green Porno shorts
Maximum International has picked up international rights on Isabella Rossellini's short film series Green Porno. Commissioned by The Sundance Channel, the eight mobile-oriented short films feature the actress re-enacting the mating ritual of various insects and other creatures. The first three pieces -- Firefly, Dragon Fly, Spider -- will premiere ...