Latest – Page 489
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Lionsgate to open Aus/NZ distribution outfit
After many rumours that it was seeking to buy an existing Australian distributor, US-based producer-distributor Lionsgate has confirmed that it is establishing its own operation to cover Australia and New Zealand. ' Australia is a key territory and to not be the person selling your own content is crazy,' said ...
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Shochiku picks up Kadokawa's Genghis Khan
Japanese major Shochiku has acquired international rights excluding Asia to legendary producer Haruki Kadokawa's $25m Genghis Khan - To The Ends Of The Earth And Sea. Shochiku will distribute the film in Japan and also handle all international sales, excluding Asia, which will be handled by co-producer Avex Entertainment. Domestic ...
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Korea's Showbox signs up for Confession
Hong Kong 's Media Asia Distribution has sold Korean rights to thriller Confession Of Pain to Showbox Mediaplex. Directed by the Infernal Affairs team, Andrew Lau and Alan Mak, the film has grossed $8.8m (RMB68.4m) in China and a further $2.6m in Hong Kong since its release at Christmas. 'Media ...
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Dreamgirls leads Oscar nominees but shut out of Best Picture race
Dreamgirls led the Oscar race with eight nominations this morning but the hit musical was shut out of the best picture and director categories. It also took three nominations in the best song category, meaning that it could only win five Oscars at most. Best picture nominees were Alejandro Gonzalez ...
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CJE to invest $85m in local productions in 2007
Leading Korean distributor CJ Entertainment (CJE) has announced its 2007 business plan which includes investing $85m in more than 20 local productions this year, while at the same time expanding its global ties. 'While our local film industry was concentrating on sharing the pie instead of growing the market, domestic ...
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Death Note 2 passes $40m at Japanese box office
The second installment in Warner Bros Japan 's Death Note franchise, Death Note 2: The Last Name, has surpassed the Y5bn ($41.2m) mark at the Japanese box office from more than 4.15 million admissions. In a movie industry first, the sequel was released on Nov 4, following the first installment's ...
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King Naresuan tops Thailand's box office
Pegu's Hostage , the first part of the long-awaited Legend Of King Naresuan trilogy, raided Thailand 's box office over its four-day opening weekend, grossing $2.2m (80m baht) in Bangkok alone, according to distributor Sahamongkolfilm International. Although it was certainly the biggest opening weekend since 2005 action film Tom Yum ...
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Sakuran to premiere in Berlinale Special section
Mika Ninagawa's debut feature Sakuran will have its world premiere on Feb 9 as the opening film of the Berlinale Special section at this year's Berlin International Film Festival, distributor Asmik Ace has announced. It will be the only Japanese film to screen as an official selection at the festival. ...
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Rings producer Osborne signs up for Kiwi racing driver biopic
Barrie M. Osborne has signed up as producer of the planned biopic of New Zealand Formula One racing driver Bruce McLaren.Osborne, whose credits include the Lord Of The Rings trilogy and The Matrix, will work alongside co-producer and motor racing fanatic Michael Garlick, for whom the project has been a ...
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Eight major territories, led by Italy, show box-office increases this week
Eight major territories collectively saw box-office increases compared to the same week last year, due to the success of big-name studio films this week, according to Screen International's own Screen Index. Italy leads the increase - the territory was up 43% after The Pursuit Of Happyness grossed $4.7m in its ...
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Easternlight picks up worldwide rights to Fatal Contact
Arclight Films' Asia-focused label Easternlight has picked up worldwide rights to Hong Kong action film Fatal Contact, which stars wushu champion and up-and-coming action star Wu Jing. Wu, who trained at the same Beijing martial arts school as Jet Li, most recently drew notice for his role as a cold-blooded ...
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Universal picks up North American rights to Dororo
Universal Pictures has bought North American rights to TBS' period action-fantasy Dororo which has already sold to 20 countries throughout Asia and Europe. The film is based on a manga created by Osamu Tezuka (Astro Boy) in the 1960s, which went on to become a famous animated TV series. The ...
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Hwang Jin Yi gains permission to shoot in North Korea
South Korean production Hwang Jin Yi, based on a North Korean novel dramatising the life of Korea 's most famous courtesan, has been granted permission to shoot in North Korea 's Diamond Mountains for a week starting Jan 28. Directed by Chang Yoon-hyun (Tell Me Something), the film portrays the ...
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Revived Yubari film festival to reopen under new name
The Yubari International Fantastic Film Festival (YIFFF), which was forced to suspend operations last July due to the bankruptcy of its host town, is set to re-open under a new name and mandate. The temporarily re-named Yubari Ouen Eigasai (translation: Yubari Support Film Festival) will run from Feb 22-25 and ...
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MK Poly Cinemas to open first multiplex in Zhengzhou
Korean producer-distributor MK Pictures has announced that the first multiplex to emerge from its joint venture with Beijing-based Poly Group will open in the Chinese city of Zhengzhou on Jan 26. The six-screen multiplex, known as the 'MK Poly Cinema - Zhengzhou ', has already been through a month of ...
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Production IG lines up live-action Ghost In The Shell
Japanese animation house Production I.G has reached an agreement with local publisher Kodansha to act as an agent in developing a live-action feature film based on popular manga series Ghost In The Shell. Production I.G will represent Kodansha, which owns the rights to the original manga series created by Masamune ...
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China launches fund for small to mid-budget films
China's State Administration of Radio, Film and Television (SARFT) is setting up a fund to support young Chinese directors in the making of small to mid-budget films. During the first year of the fund, 16 filmmakers will each receive $64,300 (RMB500,000) to help finance a low-budget project, in addition to ...
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Kim Ki-duk returns to the Korean fold with Breath release
Reversing his declaration that he would leave the Korean film world, controversial director Kim Ki-duk has announced a deal with Korean arthouse distributor Sponge to release his 14th film Breath in local cinemas. Sponge formerly released Kim's last film, Time, on eight screens last summer. It took in 30,000 admissions, ...
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Shanghai International Film Festival to launch film market
The Shanghai International Film Festival (SIFF) is launching a film market at this year's edition which is scheduled to run June 16-24. In addition to creating an environment for the buying and selling of film rights, the 'Film Mart' aims to stimulate the development of co-productions between China and other ...
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Cowan to head Adelaide Film Festival jury
Adelaide Film Festival director Katrina Sedgwick today named the 12 films in its inaugural competition and announced that Toronto International Film Festival director Noah Cowan is president of the jury. She also revealed that Adelaide filmmaker Rolf de Heer will be presented with the 2007 Don Dunstan Award in recognition ...