Latest – Page 488

  • News

    Golden Flower leads Hong Kong Film Awards nominations

    2007-02-01T14:35:00Z

    Zhang Yimou's Curse of the Golden Flower is the clear frontrunner in the 26th edition of the Hong Kong Film Awards after earning 14 nominations, including best film, best director, best actor for Chow Yun Fat and best actress for Gong Li. The lavish historical drama also garnered nods for ...

  • News

    Fortissimo takes on non-Asian sales for Blood Brothers

    2007-02-01T12:24:00Z

    Fortissimo Films has picked up worldwide sales rights excluding Asia for Blood Brothers from CMC Entertainment and John Woo and Terrence Chang's Lions Rock Productions. Fortissimo will commence sales at the upcoming European Film Market. The London and New York University-educated Alexi Tan, discovered by Woo and Chang, is making ...

  • News

    Korean Film Commission plans US office led by Sun-young Moon

    2007-02-01T11:20:00Z

    The Korean Film Commission (KOFIC) has announced plans to open an LA office within the first half of the year, as part of an initiative to step up support for Korean films and filmmakers in the US. 'The initiative works on two planes - the industry side and the academic,' ...

  • News

    Global box office down slightly this week, as Germany and Japan slip

    2007-02-01T11:17:00Z

    Global box office takings took a slight dip of 2.9% this week in comparison to the same week last year and fell by less than 1% from last week, according to the Screen International Screen Index.The marginal decrease was led by year-on-year falls in major territories such as Germany, Japan, ...

  • News

    Lionsgate Australia makes a takeover bid for Magna Pacific

    2007-02-01T10:41:00Z

    The newly launched Lionsgate Australia has finally confirmed that it is hoping to get a quick leg-up into the Australian market by taking over Magna Pacific, the biggest independent DVD distributor in the country. Macquarie Private Portfolio Management Limited, the largest institutional shareholder in Magna Pacific, yesterday indicated that it ...

  • News

    Kadokawa to sell library online through BitTorrent

    2007-02-01T01:02:00Z

    Kadokawa Group Holdings has announced plans to set up an online pay service in the US offering 200 films from its library beginning this February. The service will use BitTorrent's peer-to-peer (P2P) file-sharing software to distribute the titles. Kadokawa's stateside subsidiary, Kadokawa Pictures USA, will handle digitisation of the library ...

  • News

    Thailand 's box office up by 2.5% in 2006

    2007-01-31T10:03:00Z

    Thailand 's box office scored a hat trick in 2006 by breaking the $87m (BHT3bn) milestone for three years running. Total box office in the major cities of Bangkok and Chiangmai reached $91.69m (BHT3.15bn) in 2006, up by 2.5% from the previous year. The results were better than the Thai ...

  • News

    AFC selects eight projects for low-budget development lab

    2007-01-31T09:23:00Z

    Chopper producer Michele Bennett and Robyn Kershaw, whose credits include Looking For Alibrandi, are among the eight teams that have projects selected by the Australian Film Commission's (AFC) development laboratory for low-budget films. The series of workshops aim to simultaneously develop a film's script, the director's vision and the production ...

  • News

    Adlabs, MTV Networks ink three-picture deal

    2007-01-31T07:50:00Z

    India 's Adlabs Films and MTV Networks India have signed a deal to co-produce three youth-oriented films to be released in specific Indian markets. The three films will be produced over the next 12-18 months under the 'MTV Fully Faltoo Films' banner. Budgets for each film have been pegged at ...

  • News

    Universal unveils regional film-buying network across its labels

    2007-01-31T00:08:00Z

    Universal Pictures and Focus Features are consolidating their worldwide acquisitions operations to support NBC Universal's global theatrical distribution network.Universal Pictures chairman Marc Shmuger, co-chairman David Linde, and Focus Features and Rogue Pictures chairman James Schamus will oversee the restructured division along with Universal executive vice president Michael Joe and Focus ...

  • News

    Chinese box office to double by 2010, says report

    2007-01-30T21:40:00Z

    Chinese box office revenues will almost double over the next three years, according to analyst Screen Digest and Nielsen NRG, from last year's $336m to $720m by 2010.The rapid box office growth that has been driven by the opening up of the Chinese market and the fast development of modern ...

  • News

    Japanese films take 53% share of local box office

    2007-01-30T14:26:00Z

    As predicted, Japanese films had their most successful year ever at the local box office in 2006, grossing $884.48m (Y107.75bn) for a 53.2% market share, according to the Motion Picture Producers Association of Japan (Eiren). The strong results mark an increase of 31.8% over 2005 when the local industry had ...

  • News

    Hong Kong to host region-wide Asian Film Awards

    2007-01-29T07:14:00Z

    Hong Kong is set to host the first ever Asian Film Awards (AFA), recognising talent from across the region, on the first night of the 31st Hong Kong International Film Festival (HKIFF) on March 20. Organised by the HKIFF and held in conjunction with Entertainment Expo, the awards will feature ...

  • News

    Thai director turns on Chinese-language Pleasure Factory

    2007-01-29T05:20:00Z

    Thai writer-director Ekachai Uekrongtham has wrapped principal photography of his first Chinese-language feature, Pleasure Factory, financed by his new Singapore-based production company Spicy Apple Films. The HD feature, set in Singapore 's red-light district Geylang, stars Taiwanese Golden Horse best actress Yang Kuei Mei and up-and-coming Thai actor Ananda Everingham. ...

  • News

    Screen Index down 17% this week but Italy is booming

    2007-01-26T17:27:00Z

    Collective global box-office takings of nine major territories fell 17% this week compared to the same week last year, largely due to drops in North America, France and South Korea, according to the Screen International Screen Index. This week, North America saw a 19.3% dip in its top 30 films ...

  • News

    New chairman for Korea Film Producers' Association

    2007-01-26T10:03:00Z

    The Korea Film Producers' Association (KFPA) has voted in a new chairman - Tcha Seung-jai, head of leading production company Sidus FNH. He replaces Guardtec president Jonathan Kim, whose four years in the position have expired. Part of the first generation of Korean film renaissance producers, Tcha has shown increasing ...

  • News

    Oscar nominees Dreamgirls, Blood Diamond hit major territories

    2007-01-26T06:24:00Z

    Dreamgirls, the recipient of eight Oscar nominations on Tuesday, gets its first major international push this weekend.Paramount/PPI executives will be looking to convert the recognition into healthy overseas returns when it opens the hit musical in Italy, Mexico and Spain on Jan 26.Meanwhile the family film Charlotte's Web opens in ...

  • News

    Asian locations: sets appeal

    2007-01-26T00:00:00Z

    Asia has been attracting international productions for decades, but in recent years it has become a prime destination for footloose international producers in search of the cheapest and most exotic locations.In addition to low-cost labour, equipment and transport, the region offers stunning landscapes and architecture - but there are many ...

  • News

    Indonesian box office for US studios up 30%

    2007-01-25T09:01:00Z

    Indonesian box office for Motion Picture Association (MPA) member films soared to new heights in 2006, increasing 29.5% to $33.8m (Rp307.55bn) from 67 releases. The strong results were mainly driven by two record-breaking titles: Superman Returns took $2.68m (Rp24.43bn) and Casino Royale collected $2.37m (Rp21.56bn), to become the highest and ...

  • News

    Films Distribution picks up Lost In Beijing

    2007-01-25T07:19:00Z

    France's Films Distribution has acquired worldwide rights to Chinese female director Li Yu's Lost In Beijing (Pingguo), produced by Fang Li's Laurel Films, which has been selected for competition at this year's Berlin film festival. The film is currently in post-production and is scheduled to be submitted to Chinese censors ...