Latest – Page 453

  • News

    Korea's M&FC makes market debut with Sword Of Zen

    2007-11-02T05:00:00Z

    Korean film and music company M&FC is making its debut as a seller at the AFM with a varied slate including Park Heung-sik's action epic A Sword Of Zen. Set during the Goryeo Dynasty, the film follows a female contract killer who is wracked with guilt after accidentally killing the ...

  • News

    Phat Phishteams up with Morgan for international push

    2007-11-02T05:00:00Z

    Start-up Indian production company Phat Phish has brought on board veteran sales agent Kathy Morgan as a consultant in its aim to secure international distribution for a slate of independent Indian features. Morgan will be helping the company pre-sell some of its upcoming projects and will advise on finding a ...

  • News

    Weed leads nominations for Asian Festival of 1st Films

    2007-11-01T20:04:00Z

    Chinese director Wang Liren's feature debut Weed is the frontrunner at the 3rd Asian Festival of 1st Films (AFFF) with five nominations, including best film and best director. The picture which premiered at Rotterdam this year is about a day-wage worker in Beijing who falls for a prostitute which leads ...

  • News

    Chengtian acquires 25% stake in Golden Harvest

    2007-11-01T14:45:00Z

    Beijing-based Chengtian Entertainment Group has reached a deal with Raymond Chow, chairman of Hong Kong 's Golden Harvest Entertainment, to buy his shareholding in the company. Chengtian will pay $26m (HK$202m) in cash for a 24.78% stake and $2.6m (HK$20m) in convertible notes in Golden Harvest from Chow and related ...

  • News

    O'Toole and Northam gear up for Dean Spanley's UK shoot

    2007-11-01T05:00:00Z

    Peter O'Toole, Jeremy Northam, Sam Neill and Bryan Brown have lined up to start shooting Dean Spanley on Nov 10 in eastern England.Kathleen Drumm at NZ Film is handling sales for the Atlantic Film Group and General Film Corporation project.New Zealand film-maker Toa Fraser, who won the world cinema audience ...

  • News

    Muay Thai Chaiya kicks its way to France, Germany

    2007-11-01T05:00:00Z

    Thailand 's Five Star Entertainment has sold action title Muay Thai Chaiya to France 's Wild Side Films, Germany 's EMS and Brazil 's Global Media Holdings, among other territories. Five Star has now sold the film to more than 30 territories since it had its world premiere at the ...

  • News

    J.A. Media picks up Lin's Somersault Punk

    2007-11-01T05:00:00Z

    Beijing-based J.A. Media has picked up worldwide rights to Taiwanese filmmaker Lin Yu-hsien's upcoming sports drama Somersault Punk. Based on a true story, the film tells the story of a talented but disabled gymnast who becomes a street fighter when his mother prohibits him from practising the sport. Produced by ...

  • News

    Showbox snaps up Konchalovsky's Nutcracker

    2007-11-01T05:00:00Z

    Major Korean distributor Showbox Mediaplex has bought Andrei Konchalovsky's Nutcracker: The True Story from Odyssey Entertainment. The deal follows Showbox's acquisition of Chilled In Miami from Mandate International, which was announced yesterday.Nutcracker is based on the story that inspired the well-known ballet and stars John Turturro, Nathan Lane and Dakota ...

  • News

    Pretty Pictures stares into Jiang Wen's Sun

    2007-11-01T05:00:00Z

    France 's Pretty Pictures has acquired Jiang Wen's Venice competition entry The Sun Also Rises from Hong Kong 's Emperor Motion Pictures (EMP). The deal was negotiated by EMP's Alan Ng and James Velaise of Pretty Pictures. Produced by Jiang's Buyilehu Films and backed by EMP, the $10m drama comprises ...

  • News

    Asian buyers eat up Show East's Le Grand Chef

    2007-11-01T01:21:00Z

    Korean seller Show East has closed a raft of Asian deals on foodie drama Le Grand Chef. Among sales concluded so far at AFM, Festive Films has acquired the film for Singapore and Taiwan, Sundream Motion Pictures for Hong Kong, M-Pictures for Thailand and AOE for Malaysia. Show East is ...

  • News

    Lau to produce Water Margin trilogy for Media Asia

    2007-10-31T23:36:00Z

    Hong Kong filmmaker Andrew Lau, who was behind the three Infernal Affairs films, is lining up a second trilogy, this time based on the Chinese classic novel, Water Margin. Hong Kong-based Media Asia Films is backing and will sell the films, each budgeted at around $25m, with the first expected ...

  • News

    Fortissimo duo to receive excellence award at CineAsia

    2007-10-31T21:44:00Z

    Fortissimo Films co-chairmen Michael J. Werner and Wouter Barendrecht have been selected to be the recipients of a special CineAsia 'Award of Excellence' for their achievements in promoting Asian cinema worldwide. Barendrecht founded Fortissimo in 1991 after working as a programmer for the Rotterdam Film Festival and press officer for ...

  • News

    Tuya's Marriage pulls out of Golden Horse race

    2007-10-31T19:20:00Z

    Berlin Golden Bear winner Tuya's Marriage has withdrawn from Taiwan's Golden Horse Awards race. Executive producer Wang Le made the official request to the Golden Horse organisers on Wednesday, just four days after nominations were announced. The Mongolian-set drama was one of the highest profile entries set to compete at ...

  • News

    Oz start-up Cyan Films set to produce Auction with Ghobadi

    2007-10-31T17:27:00Z

    Julie Ryan, who has produced director Rolf de Heer's films for the past decade, and new media producer Kate Croser have set up Cyan Films, a new Adelaide-based production company. One of their films, Auction, could be the first co-production between Australia and Iran. The directorial debut of Granaz Moussavi ...

  • News

    Easternlight takes on Japanese project Sasori

    2007-10-31T05:00:00Z

    Easternlight has acquired worldwide rights excluding Japan and several other Asian territories to the Japanese martial arts film Sasori.The saga about a vengeful sword-wielding woman is based on the 1970s comic books and cult film series and was the inspiration for Kill Bill.Easternlight managing director Ying Ye acquired the film, ...

  • News

    Cathay sets up multiplex jv with Dubai's Emaar Malls

    2007-10-30T19:31:00Z

    In its first expansion beyond South-East Asia, Singapore exhibitor Cathay Organisation has set up a joint venture with Dubai 's Emaar Malls. Tapping the expertise of Cathay, a pioneer in the movie entertainment industry since 1935, Reel Entertainment will manage the development of all the multiplexes in 150 malls that ...

  • News

    Millerplanning to tap Australia tax offset for Justice League

    2007-10-30T19:24:00Z

    George Miller (Happy Feet) has confirmed that he hopes to get Australian film status for his next project, a comic book adaptation for Warner Bros starring Batman, Superman and a host of other comic book superheroes. If he is successful, he will be able to claim back 40% of a ...

  • News

    Toho to remake Kurosawa's Hidden Fortress

    2007-10-30T04:54:00Z

    Japanese studio Toho is set to produce a remake of Akira Kurosawa's 1958 samurai film The Hidden Fortress, to be directed by Shinji Higuchi. Special effects expert Higuchi moved into the director's chair two years ago with submarine thriller Lorelei and had a top ten hit last year with Sinking ...

  • News

    Crows: Episode 0 flies to top of Japanese box office

    2007-10-29T22:41:00Z

    Takashi Miike's Crows: Episode 0 grabbed the top spot at the weekend box office in Japan, knocking Fuji TV's Hero down to second place after seven weeks in the number one position. Produced by Fuji rival TBS and released on October 27, Crows grossed $3.49m (Y400m) in its first two ...

  • News

    Favelle launches Sydney-based sales agency

    2007-10-29T22:34:00Z

    Former Arclight Films executive Michael Favelle has been quietly establishing his own sales agency, Odin's Eye Entertainment (OEE), based at Fox Studios Australia in Sydney. Favelle said his intention is to handle six to eight projects per year with a focus on independent, genre-driven features in the $1m to $15m ...