All articles by Mark Schilling – Page 7
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Japan swept up by Last Samurai
The Last Samurai took an impressive $8.6m (Y920,354,300) on its opening weekend in Japan, playing on 550 screens for a screen average of $15,639.This compares with its $24.4m take on 2,908 screens for its US opening. In other words, the Japanese gross is more than one-third the US total, on ...
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Production schedules aim for holidays
For full Japanese production listings click hereJapanese production, particularly at the top end of the market, is geared toward the four peak periods of New Year's, spring break, Golden Week, and summer vacation. Spring break in March is nearly a month-long holiday for most college students, while Golden Week, ...
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JAPAN
There was little change in the Japanese box office top ten, with only one new film, Phone Booth, breaking in. Benefiting from heavy rotation of a 'making-of' promo on the local Fox channel, the film debuted at number three, with a screen average of $29,769. Meanwhile number one The Matrix ...
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Incense wins top Tokyo FILMeX prize
Ning Hao's Incense has won the Grand Prize "Kodak Vision Award, at the fourth edition of the FILMeX festival in Tokyo. The award comes with a cash prize of $9,174 (Y1m).Set in a rural town in Shanxi Province, the comic drama about a young monk's attempt to raise money to ...
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Miyazaki breaks with architectural project
Japanese animator Hayao Miyazaki (Spirited Away) has publicly disassociated himself from a planned community to be built on a man-made island in Hakata Bay, near the city of Fukuoka. Earlier this month Fukuoka mayor Kotaro Yamazaki announced a project to build a community for 1,500 families based on sketches drawn ...
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JAPAN
Michael Winterbottom's In This World led all new openers with a screen average of $36,760. Distributor Amuse, now merged into Toshiba Entertainment, saturated leading Tokyo art theatres with trailers prior to the November 15 opening at the Cine Chanter theater in Tokyo and the Kannai MG theatre in Yokohama. Also, ...
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Japanese studio abandons move plans
Game maker Namco has abandoned its plan to move the studio of film subsidiary Nikkatsu from its current location in a Tokyo suburb to a new site in Yokohama. The plan, announced by Namco president Masaya Nakamura in July 2001, called for the construction of a new studio on a ...
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Nuan scoops Tokyo Grand Prix
Huo Jianqui's romantic drama Nuan was awarded the Grand Prix at the 16th edition of the Tokyo International Film Festival. Jury President Gong Li announced the winner, follow-up to Huo's acclaimed Postmen In The Mountains, at the closing ceremony in Tokyo on November 9, together with fellow jurors Irwin Kershner, ...
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JAPAN
The strategy of releasing a made-for-Japan version of Kill Bill Vol. 1 is paying off big time in the world's second largest film market. The film scored a rousing $1,960,630 on 20 major city screens for a $79,564 screen average. This compares with Y74,370,200 ($670,002) on the same number of ...
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Japanese majors to build major Tokyo cinema complex
Toho is joining forces with another Japanese major, Toei, to build a cinema complex in Shinjuku - a major Tokyo entertainment district. The move follows Toho's acquisition of Virgin Cinemas Japan for $83m earlier this year.The partners plan to construct the new complex in a commercial tower that Toei is ...
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Paramount plans Japanese theme park
Paramount Pictures is planing to build a theme park in Hisayama - a town on Japan's southernmost main island of Kyushu. Hisayama mayor Katsushige Saeki announced the plan at a special town assembly session on October 16. According to the mayor, Paramount intends to build on a 50 hectare site ...
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JAPAN
Yin-Yang Master II opened at number two, ahead of all the foreign competition, including Johnny English, Matchstick Men and Ballistic: Ecks vs. Sever. The sequel to the 2001 hit about a magician battling goblins and other supernatural foes in ancient Kyoto did not match the original in either screen average ...
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JAPAN
S.W.AT. opened at the top of the Japanese nine-major-cities box office with a strong $60,011 screen average on 22 screens - despite a free ticket giveaway. To attract the target young male demographic, distributor Sony launched a nationwide campaign offering free admission to anyone in the first year of junior ...
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JAPAN
Lara Croft Tomb Raider: The Cradle Of Life opened at number one in Japan's nine metro markets, taking an average of Y6,629,364 ($59,724) from 22 screens for a total of Y145,846,000 ($1,313,928). This compares with Y212,263,300 ($1,912,282) on 22 screens for an average of Y9,648,332 ($86,922) for Lara Croft: Tomb ...
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Tokyo FILMex focuses on young Asian directors
The Tokyo FILMeX festival has announced its line-up for its fourth edition, to be held from November 22 to 30 at four Tokyo venues. The competition section, which focuses on films by young Asian directors, will include two films from Korea, four from Iran, one each from Hong Kong and ...
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Sony launches Japanese animation unit
Sony Pictures Entertainment Japan has announced plans to make two full-length animated features annually for the local and international markets.The company has set up a new unit to produce the films and distribute them in 67 countries worldwide. The unit will also recruit and train animators for their productions. The ...
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JAPAN
Franco Zeffirelli's Callas Forever may well play in Japan forever, if the film's mostly-female fans have their way. In its 9th week on release, the bio-drama starring Fanny Ardent and Jeremy Irons is still packing them in, with a $49,533 screen average from three urban theatres. Distributor Gaga has released ...
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Bayside Shakedown 2 swells Toho's coffers
Boosted by the smash success of Bayside Shakedown 2, Japan's largest film distributor and exhibitor Toho has announced record six-month earnings. Half year revenues, for the period ending in August amounted to $422m (Y48.9bn), representing a 4.9% gain over the previous period, as well as a huge improvement on an ...