All News articles – Page 4378

  • News

    Film bodies fear EU budget plans could damage MEDIA Programme

    2005-12-20T04:00:00Z

    Film industry bodies claim the European Union MEDIA Programme's work could be damaged by reductions in spending on culture after 2006.This weekend, the European Union (EU) member states, under the presidency of the UK, agreed a financial framework for the EU from 2007 to 2013.The European Producers Associations Alliance (EPAA) ...

  • News

    Korean film exports increase by 15%

    2005-12-20T00:00:00Z

    Korean film exportsincreased by 15% to $67m this year, according to a report from localinvestor/producer IM Pictures, with Japan a major buyer of star-powered Korean fare.The report states that 80%of sales were concentrated in Asia and estimates that overall investmentprofits were $17.4m, making 2005 the Korean industry's third year in ...

  • News

    Typhoon set to hit North America through DreamWorks

    2005-12-20T00:00:00Z

    CJ Entertainment has announced thatK.T. Kwak's $14.5m action blockbuster Typhoon is set to hit North America throughDreamWorks' distribution network, marking the first Korean film to go through amajor distributor in the US."At a time when Korean films aregaining popularity around the globe, we are very excited to be able to ...

  • News

    Solothurn Film Days to show Maximilian Schell retrospective

    2005-12-19T17:49:00Z

    Stina Werenfels' feature debut Nachbeben willopen the Solothurn Film Days (January 16-22, 2006), the Swiss film community's annualget-together to showcase production by its filmmakers working at home andabroad.Thefestival's Swiss Forum will also present Swiss premieres of Thomas Imbach's adaptation of the Georg Buechner play Lenz,Alain Gsponer's family drama Rose, Michael ...

  • News

    Long promoted to Deputy Manager BVI Ireland

    2005-12-19T17:27:00Z

    Trish Long, Director of Marketing and Publicity at BVI Ireland for the lastfour years, has been appointed Deputy Manager BVI Ireland while retaining herexisting role and responsibility for the BVI Ireland campaigns for releasesfrom the Walt Disney Studios and international and Irish acquisitions. In commenting on her new position, Long ...

  • News

    Barrandov Studios to expand in 2006

    2005-12-19T06:00:00Z

    Barrandov Studios has announcedthat its owners have approved plans to build new stages to handle increasingdemand at the Prague studios. Work is expected to begin in the spring and willcost roughly $4.2m (3.5m Euros). The new complex will include severalsoundproof studios, one of which will be completed in 2006. Other ...

  • News

    Lovefilm to offer 500 titles in new VoD service

    2005-12-19T06:00:00Z

    Lovefilm, the online DVDrental company, has launched the first UK mass-market film download service. Lovefilm expects to offerabout 500 titles by early 2006, and downloads will be priced from £2.99.The VoD servicehas signed content deals with Warner Bros. including titles such as Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone,Alexander, Batman and ...

  • News

    3 Degrees Colder producer launches distribution arm

    2005-12-19T04:00:00Z

    blue eyes Fiction, the producer of FlorianHoffmeister's 3Degrees Colder (3 Grad Kaelter), has launched anin-house theatrical arm blue eyes Pictures to release the Silver Leopard-winnerin German cinemas on March 16.Accordingto the Munich-based production company, blue eyes Pictures will not berestricted to handling its own arthouse productions,but will also operate as ...

  • News

    Fox Searchlight takes US rights to Fast Food

    2005-12-19T04:00:00Z

    Fox Searchlight has picked up North American rights to RichardLinklater's Fast Food Nation, which recently completed principal photography in Mexico, Texasand Colorado.Based on Eric Schlosser's food industry expose of the same name, FastFood Nation is acharacter study of the lives behind the stories in the book.Linklater met Schlosser fouryears ago ...

  • News

    Kong is king of international box office with $80.1m

    2005-12-19T00:00:00Z

    King Kongdestroyed the competition over the weekend as Universal's biggest ever day-and-datelaunch through UIP generated an estimated $80.1m from 8,123 sites over fivedays in 55 territories.Peter Jackson's latest epic took $63.4m over three days and openednumber one in 53 territories in what proved to be Universal's biggest everinternational opening weekend ...

  • News

    Chicken Little to get the 3-D treatment Down Under

    2005-12-19T00:00:00Z

    Kodak Digital Cinema and3-D specialist Real D have formed a strategic alliance to install digital 3-Dcinema systems in Australia.Kodak will provide thesystems, which are driven by its unique software and will be equipped with RealD's stereoscopic technologies used to enable 3-D viewing.The plan is for theinstallations to be complete in ...

  • News

    IMAX to install three systems in Latin America

    2005-12-19T00:00:00Z

    IMAX Corp and Rio de Janiero-based gaming consortium RACIMECInternational Group have signed an agreement to install three IMAX cinemasystems in Latin America.Two systems will be installed in Santiago, Chile, and one will go in Caracas,Venezuela.The giant-screen pioneer is now scheduled to open 26 new cinemas in LatinAmerican territories by 2008, ...

  • News

    Box office takings remain buoyant in Russia

    2005-12-19T00:00:00Z

    The last week in Novemberended the fiscal year in the Russian and the Central Independent States (CIS)market, which experienced exponential growth in recent years and seems to bestabilising as key cities become saturated. According to data providedby key trade publication Russian FilmBusiness Today, total box office was $340m ($311m without ...

  • News

    Chen's Promise has record-breaking China opening

    2005-12-19T00:00:00Z

    Chen Kaige's fantasy epic The Promise (aka Master Of The Crimson Armor) scored a record-breaking opening of $9m (RMB74m) in its first four days of release in China (Dec 15-18), according to revised estimates. This makes the film thebiggest opener ever in China breaking the previous record set by Kung-fu ...

  • News

    International outpaces unspectacular domestic opening for Kong

    2005-12-19T00:00:00Z

    King Kongclambered to the top of the Empire State Building despite persistent gunfire ina much-anticipated domestic launch that provided few fireworks but promisedplenty to come.Released through Universal,Peter Jackson's three-hour epic grossed an estimated $50.1m over three days and$66.2m over five. It averaged $14,054 over three days in 3,568 theatres.Buena Vista/Walden ...

  • News

    Mullis, Oz producers win licence to launch FLIC

    2005-12-19T00:00:00Z

    An eclectic team of peopledriven by executive producer Barrie M. Osborne (The Lord Of The Rings), producer Richard Keddie and Bangkok-basedfinancier Robert Mullis have won a licence to raise money in Australia for film production. Others named as part of theMullis Capital Film Licensed Investment Company (FLIC) are actors Hugo ...

  • News

    MK Pictures set to enter China partnership

    2005-12-18T20:30:00Z

    Korea's MK Pictures has signed a memorandum of understanding with China's Eastern Dragon and Beijing Polybona Film Publishingto enter into a partnership encompassing several areas of the film business.The MOU, signed on Dec 14, coverscollaboration in the construction and management of multiplexes, filmproduction and distribution, talent management and advertising. Although ...

  • News

    Korean film industry launches labour union

    2005-12-18T20:30:00Z

    The South Korean filmindustry's first official labour union has been launched in Seoul in response to unstable working conditions. At launch, the Federation ofKorean Movie Workers' Union has around 400 members with the primary aim of improvingwork conditions through collective negotiation.Despite the phenomenalgrowth of the Korean industry since the late ...

  • News

    Dubai festival ends with buzz about international shoots

    2005-12-18T00:00:00Z

    Thesecond Dubai International Film Festival (DIFF) wrapped on an optimistic notein the Gulf state on Saturday, with a palpable buzz surrounding the DubaiStudio City project and several high-profile expressions of interest in filmingthere following on from Warner Bros' recent shoot for Syriana.Apartfrom producer Barrie Osborne (The Lord of The Rings) ...

  • News

    French pay-TV operators agree merger plans

    2005-12-18T00:00:00Z

    France's biggest pay-TV operations, Canal Plus Group and TPS have announced merger plans. The deal will create a new group, in which Canal owner Vivendi Universal will take an 85% share. TPS owners TF1 and M6 will take 9.9% and 5.1% respectively.Theagreement is subject to approval by the French broadcasting ...