All articles by Leon Forde – Page 12
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Pearl Harbor video scores $130m in single week
Michael Bay's Pearl Harbor has become the highest week-one selling DVD of all time in the US, racking up over 3.7 million unit sales in the seven days following its Dec 4 release.Across the DVD and video formats, distributor Buena Vista Home Entertainment sold around 7 million units, with a ...
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India's film industry 'poised' for massive growth
Studio revenues in India are predicted to double over the next five years as the territory begins a period of rapid growth, both in terms of cinema infrastructure and production investment.According to a new report, Bollywood: India's Film Industry, from UK-based industry analysis firm Dodona Research, production investment will rise ...
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O'Sullivan's Heart Of Me set to roll in UK
The Heart Of Me, a drama set in 1930s London starring Helena Bonham Carter, Olivia Williams and Paul Bettany, starts production this week in the UK.Directed by Thaddeus O'Sullivan, the film tells the story of two sisters, one of which has an affair with the other's husband. Years later the ...
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UK targeted for high volume 'easyCinemas'
easyGroup, the UK company which operates the no-frills airline easyJet, is contemplating a move into the densely populated UK exhibition sector.easyCinemas, a concept currently being researched by the company, could see the 'easy' concept shaking up the UK exhibition sector with its focus on low-cost tickets and high customer turnover.The ...
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Release patterns: Potter wide, Wars simultaneous
Harry Potter And The Sorcerer's Stone is set to break records in the US this Friday when it opens in 3,672 US theatres.The previous record for the widest US release was held by Mission: Impossible 2, which opened last year on 3,653 theatres. Shrek still holds the record for the ...
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IMAX sees diminishing returns, improving prospects
Canadian large format operator IMAX Corporation has announced its third quarter results, which continue the company's downwards slide, exacerbated by economic downturn and the US exhibition sector's ill health.Third quarter revenues for the company, which has 220 large format theatres in 30 countries, hit $23.3m - down from $32.9m last ...
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A Ma Soeur passed uncut for UK release
A Ma Soeur, controversial French director Catherine Breillat's exploration of childhood sexuality, has been passed uncut by the British Board of Film Classification (BBFC) despite misgivings about some of the film's sexual content.According to a statement, the BBFC took legal advice about some of the film's sexual scenes, particularly those ...
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Carlton closes Thai, South Korean sales
The UK's Carlton International has closed a string of video and DVD sales in South Korea and Thailand ahead of this month's Pusan market.In South Korea, Ally Entertainment has licensed 19 classic Rank and ITC catalogue titles from Carlton's Film Collection, including Steve Kloves' The Fabulous Baker Boys and Gus ...
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UK French Festival to benefit from Amelie success
The 10th instalment of the French Film Festival UK will get underway on Nov 16 with an Amelie-like air of optimism.The festival includes screenings of Eric Rohmer's The Lady And The Duke (L'Anglaise Et Le Duc), Gabriel Aghion's Absolutely Fabulous (Absolument Fabuleux), Claude Miller's Betty Fischer And Other Stories and ...
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UK trade gap narrows in film and TV sectors
The positive trade balance of the UK film industry has plunged between 1999 and 2000, dropping from $409m (£278m) to $107m (£73m) last year.According to figures from government agency National Statistics, UK film exports fell by 20% - or $60.1m (£41m) to $899m (£612m) - between 1999 and 2000, while ...
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Harry Potter mega-release smashes advance records
Harry Potter And The Philosopher's Stone was this week on course for the biggest opening ever in the UK, racking up record-breaking advance bookings for its release on a record number of sites and prints.UGC Cinemas reported that, with two weeks still to go before the release, bookings have equalled ...
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Ross exits Ster Century to launch art-house plexes
Mike Ross, managing director of pan-European exhibition circuit Ster Century Europe, has exited the company. He is replaced by Selwyn Grimsley, previously European operations director. Both Ross and Grimsley are founding directors of Ster Century, which now operates 190 screens across the UK, Ireland, Greece, Spain, Poland, Hungary, the Czech ...
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UK govt seeks opinion on cross-media ownership
The UK government is to publish a consultation paper next month to canvass opinion on how best to regulate cross-media ownership, culture secretary Tessa Jowell has announced.The consultation paper will inform the government's forthcoming Communications Bill, due to be published next year.According to Jowell, who plans to be as "deregulatory ...
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Phillips, Vennis launch Moviehouse sales company
Former J&M Entertainment head of sales Gary Phillips has partnered with Mark Vennis, formerly a director of film financiers Mansfield Associates, to launch UK-based independent sales company Moviehouse Entertainment. The partners aim to handle five or six UK and US theatrical projects per year. The company is backed by private ...
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LaPlante & Balhetchet launch UK Cougar Films
Established UK television drama producers Lynda La Plante and Sophie Balhetchet have launched Cougar Films, an outfit geared towards the development and production of commercial features.The company, which has started development on several projects, will also serve as an outlet for developing Balhetchet's future television projects. La Plante will continue ...
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Baltic states embark on exhibition growth
Cinema admissions in Scandinavia and the Baltic region are set to top 60 million by 2005, as cinema development begins to take hold in the relatively under-established Baltic markets of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania, according to a report by industry analysts Dodona Research. Lithuania, the largest of the Baltic States, ...
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UPI shrinks video & DVD rental-to-retail windows
Universal Pictures International (UPI) has announced long-term plans to narrow its international rental-to-retail release windows for video and DVD to between four to eight weeks. The normal international standard window between rental and retail markets stands at around four to six months.UPI, the London-based international video distribution arm of Universal ...
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UPI launches operations in Japan, Korea & Brazil
Universal Pictures International (UPI), the London-based international video distribution arm of Universal Pictures, has launched new video distribution operations covering Japan, Korea and Brazil, following the expiration of a CIC distribution agreement.The local offices will focus on expanding the rental and home video sell-through markets, driven by DVD growth, as ...
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BBC, Film Council launch UK director-driven slate
The UK's Film Council, BBC Films and BBC 2 are to co-produce and co-finance a slate of four features in a package worth around $3.6m (£2.5m), aimed at breaking new UK directors and guaranteeing at least some exposure through broadcast on BBC 2.The scheme, which is expected to run for ...
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Odeon plans digital screening of Broadway musical
UK cinema circuit Odeon is to digitally screen a Broadway production of Stephen Sondheim's musical Putting It Together at its flagship 2000-seat Odeon Leicester Square cinema in London's West End.Four screenings of the pre-recorded musical will take place over two days in November, with a standard evening ticket price of ...