Latest – Page 920
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Miramax acquires Bridget-style diary of its own
Has MiramaxFilms found the next Bridget Jones' The New York film studio appears to have the recent Working Title transatlantic smash firmly in mind when it acquired the film rights yesterday to Allison Pearson's upcoming novel, I Don't Know How She Does It, based on her popular weekly newspapercolumns in ...
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UK studios suffer decline in Hollywood production
The investment by Hollywood productions shooting in the UK has plummeted by more than 65%, according to figures from the British Film Commission. The total value of overseas productions to start shooting in the UK in the first six months of 2001 crashed to $109m as UK studio facilities were ...
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Irreversible re-teams Bellucci and Cassel
Real-life couple Monica Bellucci and Vincent Cassel, lately seen in French film-maker Christophe Gans' hit title Brotherhood Of The Wolf, are joined again in Gaspard Noe's Irreversible, which started shooting at the end of July.In Irreversible, which is Noe's second film after the award-winning horror Seul Contre Tous (I ...
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Cronenberg's Spider starts to roll
After financing through the UK's Cobalt Media Group fell apart at the last-minute, David Cronenberg's Spider finally started shooting last week with Capitol Films on board as sales agent and key pre-sells to buyers including Helkon SK for the UK.The psychological thriller is also being backed by Metropolitan Films in ...
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Highbinders gets off to flying start
Production has got underway in Ireland on The Highbinders, the Jackie Chan starring action-comedy that is the biggest budget film ever to emerge from Hong Kong.The $35m picture is produced by Emperor Multimedia Group (EMG) and is directed by Gordon Chan with veteran stuntman Sammo Hung responsible for directing the ...
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'Father of Korean cinema' starts 98th film
Following the worldwide success of his previous feature Chunhyang, Veteran Korean director Im Kwon-taek has started production of his 98th film. Titled Chwi-hwa-seon in Korean, the film chronicles the true story of 19th century painter Jang Seung-eop, whose free lifestyle and eccentric personality earned him as much fame as his ...
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Roadshow plots to become Bollywood powerhouse
Working with its Delhi-based exhibition partner, Australia's Village Roadshow is set not only tobecome India's first nationwide multiplex chain but is now looking to expand into local film production and distribution as well. The venture says it is already discussing deals with both Miramax Films and Intermedia to supply films ...
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Kidman puts pen to paper on Dogville contract
Zentropa now claims Nicole Kidman has signed on the dotted line to star in Lars von Trier's Dogville after all - an agreement clearly hastened by noises from the film's producers earlier this week that a new lead was being sought because of the Australian actress' apparent hesitancy to commit.Zentropa ...
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Universal Pictures picks up Women
Universal Pictures has picked up all UK rights to Women Talking Dirty, the first picture from Elton John and David Furnish's Rocket Pictures.The co-production with Jean Doumanian Productions is expected to get a platform release though UIP, Universal's international theatrical distribution outlet. Helena Bonham Carter and Gina McKee star in ...
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UK's lukewarm development culture heats up
Last week, the UK Film Council announced its first round of long-term slate funding deals with six production outfits. The $7m (£5m) annual development fund is designed to give promising companies long-term support in beefing up their development capabilities, both in terms of property acquisition and personnel. Fragile Films, Archer ...
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Antonia Bird swoops on Run adaptation
Antonia Bird is to direct an adaptation of crime novel Run for recently-formed UK production outfit Hanthum Films and the director's own company, 4Way Pictures.Written by Douglas E Winter, the book revolves around the character of Burdon Lane, a gunrunner-businessman on a so-called milk run which goes wrong. Winter is ...
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Warner grabs French comedy from Gaumont
Warner Bros' French division is to produce Ma Femme S'appelle Maurice, the next film by French comedy specialist Jean-Marie Poire (The Visitors). The $13m (Ffr100m) title, which is also to be backed by Germany's Babelsberg Studios, Canal Plus and French public broadcaster France Television, starts shooting on July 23 in ...
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Chen Kaige to direct big-budget Korean epic
Chinese director Chen Kaige has signed on to direct a $6.2m Korean film as his next project.The film, a period piece set on the Korean Peninsula during the era of the three kingdoms (200-660 AD), was reportedly conceived by Chen together with Lee Joo-ik, president of Korean production company Big ...
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Galfin joins Alquimia on Callas Forever
Olivier Granier from France's Galfin has joined Spain's Alquimia as a co-producer of Franco Zeffirelli's upcoming drama Callas Forever. Fanny Ardant stars in the film which focuses on the last few months of the opera diva's life. Other cast members include Spanish actors Angela Molina, Manuel de Blas and the ...
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Edinburgh announces 2001 festival line-up
The 55thEdinburgh International Film Festival, the last under the tenure of departingfestival director Lizzie Francke, will once again have a strong British showingwith world premieres for Udayan Prasad's Gabriel And Me written by Billy Elliot's Lee Hall, as well as for Film Four's TheWarrior and twodigitally-shot BBC features directed by ...
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Eurimages supports 14 European co-productions
At its 73rd meeting, the Council of Europe Eurimages Fund Board of Management agreed to support 14 feature films for a total amount of Euros 4,665,000.The feature films are :Scheme 1 - Assistance awarded mainly on the basis of the project'scirculation potentialAfrodita, el sabor del amor - Fernando Pino ...
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Toho announces production of Seoul
Toho has announced the production of Seoul, a Japan-Korea co-production with all-Korean locations and a budget of one billion yen ($8.1 million) -- nearly double the budgets of the Korean mega-hits Shiri and JSA. The film, which starts production on July 20, stars Japanese TV heartthrob Tomoya Nagase and Korean ...
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Almodovar's Tarantula may weave in Cruz, Banderas
Pedro and Agustin Almodovar's El Deseo production company has optioned film rights to French novel Tarantula, marking it as a potential next project for the director and igniting local speculation that this may well be the project that will re-unite Almodovar with Spanish acting superstars Antonio Banderas and Penelope Cruz.The ...
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Food Of Love fills out cast
UK actors Kevin Bishop, Juliet Stevenson, Paul Rhys and Allan Corduner have signed on to star in Spanish director Ventura Pons' English-language debut, Food Of Love, for start-up company 42nd Street Productions. Other actors had been attached initially, but finally it will be Bishop (Treasure Island) who takes the lead ...
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Spain's Alquimia tunes up for Zeffirelli's Callas
Fledgling Spanish producer-distributor Alquimia Cinema has boarded Franco Zeffirelli's widely anticipated forthcoming film Callas Forever about the famed opera diva.Veteran Spanish actors Angela Molina (Live Flesh) and Manuel de Blas (Goya In Bordeaux) have also joined the cast, which is set to star Fanny Ardant in the title role alongside ...