All articles by Mike Goodridge – Page 164
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AFM: Intertainment sells Franchise pair to France
Barrie Baeres' pan-European rights-broker Intertainment AG has sold two of its specialised Franchise Pictures titles - Things You Can Tell Just By Looking At Her and The Green Dragon - in France, signalling a move by Baeres to sell off select pictures in certain territories where appropriate. Lisa Wilson of ...
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AtomFilms teams up with Forefront
Seattle-based Internet distributor AtomFilms has boosted its catalogue through a partnership with off-line short film distributor Forefront Films.Forefront's library of short films will be added to AtomFilms own catalogue which has recently been expanded through a deal with the UK's Aardman Animation and with South Africa's Primedia Pictures to acquire ...
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AFM: Harlin tapped for Stallone's Champs
Renny Harlin is in talks to direct Sylvester Stallone's long-cherished motor racing thriller for Franchise Pictures. Formerly titled Champs, the movie is now simply known as Untitled and will be executive produced by Franchise's Andrew Stevens.Untitled would reteam Harlin, hot off worldwide hit Deep Blue Sea, and Stallone, who has ...
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AFM: Harrison Ford drops out of Traffic
Harrison Ford has dropped out of Traffic, the highly publicised drug trafficking movie to which Initial Entertainment Group (IEG) bought international rights last week. Director Steven Soderbergh, domestic distributor Fox Searchlight and IEG are already talking to other major male stars with a view to replacing him and are hoping ...
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New Line locks down Japanese package deals
New Line International (NLI) has sealed two high-profile package deals in Japan - with Nippon Herald for 15 Minutes starring Robert De Niro and ensemble piece Knockaround Guys, and with Gaga Communications for Jennifer Lopez-starrer The Cell, The Invisible Circus with Cameron Diaz and teen comedy Detroit Rock City.Rolf Mittweg, ...
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Summit has Panic attack
Summit Entertainment has acquired all international rights to Panic - the Sundance American Spectrum entry which was picked up by Artisan Entertainment for domestic release earlier this week.Panic stars William H Macy as a man having a mid-life crisis drawn to a manic young woman (Neve Campbell) he meets in ...
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AFM: Franchise, Mark Canton reteam for Six
Elie Samaha's Franchise Pictures and Mark Canton's The Mark Canton Co - whose first collaboration Get Carter opens later this year and who are about to shoot Angel Eyes with Jennifer Lopez - have pacted to reteam for the third time on action thriller Six.To be directed by Kirk Wong ...
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Hilltop debut slate boasts Miller, Leven
In an attempt to become a new supplier of studio-level pictures, Hilltop Entertainment has unveiled a debut slate featuring Gone To Earth - the second film from director Rebecca Miller starring Oscar nominee Samantha Morton - and Lovers Liars And Thieves which marks the first feature from writer/director Jeremy Leven ...
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AFM: Lion's Gate picks up Race To Space
Lions Gate Films International has acquired foreign rights to Race To Space, a true story drama about the first chimpanzee in space, which stars James Woods, Alex Linz, Annabeth Gish and William Atherton. Columbia TriStar Home Video has domestic rights to the movie which started principal photography this month with ...
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Initial teams with Jodie Foster on Altar Boys
In its third major acquisition of the week, Initial Entertainment Group (IEG) has boarded The Dangerous Lives Of Altar Boys, a project developed by Jodie Foster's Egg Pictures, which Foster will co-produce and take a supporting role in - as a one-legged nun.IEG will fully finance the $15m-$20m film which ...
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Whole Nine Yards, Hanging Up tie for top place
It was a healthy Presidents Day weekend at the North American box office with the three-day Friday-to-Sunday figures (final four-day figures will emerge on Tuesday) proclaiming $15m apiece for both SPE's Hanging Up and Warner Bros' The Whole Nine Yards (pictured).Meanwhile Paramount/Nickelodeon Movies' Snow Day showed legs with a second ...
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First Look Pictures acquires The Opportunists
First Look Pictures has acquired North American theatrical and TV rights to Sundance American Spectrum entry The Opportunists from the film's producers Prosperity Pictures and New Beginnings Media. First Look's parent company Overseas FilmGroup was the international sales agent on the film which stars Christopher Walken and Cyndi Lauper.As reported ...
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IEG to finance historical epic Smoke And Mirrors
Initial Entertainment Group (IEG), which last week bought international rights to high profile Harrison Ford-starrer Traffic, has unveiled another acquisition - the rights to historical adventure Smoke And Mirrors, one of the most famous never-produced scripts in Hollywood in recent years. IEG will fully finance the film and handle worldwide ...
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Oederkerk hits AFM with high-concept comedies
Steve Oedekerk, the writer of Ace Ventura: Pet Detective and The Nutty Professor and the writer/director of Ace Ventura: When Nature Calls and Patch Adams, is entering the international marketplace with his company O Entertainment.O is offering a trio of high-concept comedies to buyers at AFM led by The Thumb ...
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Newmarket, BVFS hold hands along Burns' Sidewalks
Newmarket Capital Group and Buena Vista Film Sales (BVFS) have teamed up to back Sidewalks Of New York, the latest film from Ed Burns, who will write, direct, produce and star in the film alongside his girlfriend Heather Graham and Stanley Tucci.It is the fourth picture on which Burns has ...
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Bronson named international chief at Universal
Nadia Bronson, for years the lifeforce behind Universal Pictures' international marketing department, has been promoted to president, international theatrical marketing, distribution and operations at the studio.Bronson who since 1997 has been president, international marketing, will now be responsible for international distribution and operations related to all feature film releases ...
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American Beauty leads Oscars race
As expected, Sam Mendes' American Beauty led the pack in the nominations for the 72nd annual Academy Awards with eight nominations including those for Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actor, Best Actress and Best Original Screenplay.But the Academy came up with some major surprises including six nominations for box office ...
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Almodovar adds Oscar nomination to glory list
Pedro Almodovar's route to the Oscar podium came one step closer this morning as his All About My Mother ended a year of awards glory and won an Academy Award nomination for foreign language film of the year.The film marks Spain's 18th foreign language film Oscar nomination and could be ...
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Jersey woos Franchise with Caveman's Valentine
The increasingly prolific Franchise Pictures has teamed up with Jersey Films to co-produce and co-finance Caveman's Valentine, a psychological thriller starring Samuel L. Jackson which started shooting in Los Angeles this week.Universal Pictures has all rights to the film in North America, and Franchise will be selling it at next ...
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Scream 3 keeps The Beach off top spot
Miramax/Dimension Films' Scream 3 remained at the top of the US box office with a $16.4m gross over the three-day weekend at a phenomenal 3,467 theatres. That represents a steep drop of 58% from its first weekend opening, although Scream 2 suffered a similar drop-off in its second weekend and ...