All News articles – Page 4433
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Warner Bros Japan swoops on Seven Swords
In a coup for sales agentFortissimo Films, Warner Bros Pictures Japan has boarded Tsui Hark'sVenice-opener Seven Swords, which screens in Toronto on Sunday.The deal, which wasconcluded in Venice, is the largest-ever for Fortissimo in Japan, where the $18m Seven Swords will now open onOctober 1 on 200 screens.Warner Bros has ...
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Rosem secures international deals for Chinese pair
Frenchproduction house Rosem Films has secured international distribution for two ofits upcoming features from Chinese auteurs Lou Ye and Wang Chao. Wild Bunch has picked up worldwide rights outside China andFrance to Lou's Summer Palace, currently in post-production, while OceanFilms has acquired French rights to the film.Co-produced by Rosem and ...
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Lions Gate, Lakeshore team up for Statham-starrer Crank
Lions Gate Films and LakeshoreEntertainment have begun pre-production on the thriller Crank starring Jason Statham, currently riding high as thestar of the number one North American picture The Transporter 2.Lakeshore is producing theproject, which is set to begin principal photography in Los Angeles in lateOctober. Lions Gate will release in ...
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Park swaps Vengeance for Cyborg sci-fi
Cult Korean auteur ParkChan-wook is set to take the sci-fi route. The director (whoseSympathy For Lady Vengeance screened in Venice last week) is to make I Am A Cyborg for CJEntertainment. Casting details are yet tobe confirmed on the story of a young woman in a mental asylum who believes ...
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Mueller reiterates resignation threat despite Venice success
Asthe Venice Film Festival draws to an end, artistic director Marco Mueller canbreathe a sigh of relief: he has managed to largely satisfy the critics withhis selection, while also ironing out the organisational problems that marredlast year's event. However,Mueller's eye is also firmly placed on the festival's appeal as a ...
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Focus reshuffles international sales division
Focus Features hasrestructured its international division following the appointment of AlisonThompson as president.In the move announced toScreen by co-presidents David Linde and James Schamus, Heta Paarte becomessenior vice president of international marketing and publicity and Tim Spenceris named senior vice president of international sales.Both executives formerlyheld the roles of vice ...
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Hong Kong's Focus takes on hit Indonesian feature
Hong Kong-based Focus Films is to handle international saleson its first ever Indonesian feature.Janji Joni, which willreceive international market screening at AFM, is also the only Asian titlethat Focus Film (not to be confused with US outfit Focus Features) has pickedup this year. Earlier at Cannes, it acquired Hong Kong ...
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Universal takes world rights on HBO's Outkast musical
Universal Pictures has acquired worldwide rights to HBO Films'untitled original musical starring Outkast's Andre Benjamin and Antwan Patton,as well as Terrence Howard, Ving Rhames, Cicely Tyson and Macy Gray, among others.Regular Outkast music video director Bryan Barber makes hisfeature directorial debut on the project, which shot in Wilmington, NorthCarolina, and ...
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BVI hopes for Cinderella story in six key territories
The international crown is up for grabs this weekend as CinderellaMan launches in itsfirst international territories as strong holdover business is expected from Madagscar,The Island and CharlieAnd The Chocolate Factory.Buena Vista International (BVI) holds all rights outside NorthAmerica to Cinderella Man, which has notched up $61.6m in domestic ticket sales ...
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Wellspring grabs Manson murders musical comedy
New York-based Wellspringhas picked up all North American rights to Live Freaky! Die Freaky!, astop-motion animation musical-comedy retelling of the Manson family murders.The action takes place inthe year 3069 when a man discovers a copy of Helter Skelter, VincentBugliosi and Curt Gentry's true crime classic detailing the Charles Manson cultand ...
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Rai Cinema to remake Euros 20m Iron Crown
Rai Cinemais lining up a big-budget English-language remake of classic Italian 1941picture, The Iron Crown.Theoriginal film, directed by Alessandro Blasetti, focuses on a crown, supposedly made from a nail out of the Cross ofChrist and the metal of Roman swords, which becomes a legend and a symbol ofjustice. The newfantasy-gothic ...
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Producer Burton joins Swank and Lowe as partner in accomplice
Producer Mark Burton(pictured), whose credits include Santosh Sivan's The Terrorist, Finn Taylor's Cherish, Richard Jobson's 16 Years Of Alcohol and Deepa Mehta's Water, is joining Hilary Swank and Chad Lowe as a partnerin their production company accomplice films.The company, which plans tomake film and TV programming, recently struck a first-look ...
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StudioCanal names new president, unveils acquisitions
StudioCanal has announcedthe appointment of a new president, Olivier Courson. Courson, who is alsosecretary general of the Canal Plus Group, takes over from Bertrand Meheut whoremains as Canal Plus CEO.StudioCanal managingdirector Frederic Sichler is unaffected by the change in management and willcontinue in his role as head of operations.Meanwhile, in ...
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Mikado snaps up Venice competition pair
Rome outfitMikado Film has acquired Italian distribution rights to two films that areplaying in competition at the Venice Film Festival, bringing its total tally tofour.The veteranarthouse distributor has picked up Manoel de Oliveira's Magic Mirror, and Abel Ferrara's controversialdrama Mary.Sold byFirst Hand Films, Magic Mirror is adapted from Agustina Bessa-Luis's ...
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The Sun rises in Japan for The Works
On the eve of thisyear's Toronto Festival, UK sales agent The Works has closed a deal with Japanfor Alexander Sokurov's The Sun, his film about Emperor Hirohito's last days of power beforeJapan's surrender to the US in 1945. Kabocha hastaken Japanese rights to The Sun and will be giving it ...
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Egoyan's Truth loses MPAA appeal against NC-17 rating
Atom Egoyan's Where TheTruth Lies has lost its appeal tothe Motion Picture Association of America to overturn its restrictive NC-17rating. The decision, handed downyesterday in Los Angeles, means the film will be restricted in the US topersons 18 years and over. More important, the decision could be detrimental interms of ...
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Alliance Atlantis renews Focus output deal until 2008
Canada'sAlliance Atlantis' Motion Picture Distribution and Focus Features have extendedtheir output agreement to December 31, 2008. Under the termsof the agreement, MPD will continue to distribute all Focus Features films aswell as those of Focus' genre label Rogue Pictures in all media in Canada.One of thosepictures, Ang Lee's Brokeback Mountain, ...
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European Film Academy honours legend Connery
The European FilmAcademy announced that it will present its 2005 lifetime achievement award toSir Sean Connery. The academy citedthe acting legend's "impressive dedication to the world of film,"appearing in more than 70 films in his lengthy career. Last year's recipientwas Spanish director Carlos Saura.This year'sEuropean Film Awards will be held ...
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Japan's Index Corp acquires Nikkatsu
Japan's Index Corp, a company offering mobile phone and internet content services,has announced its acquisition of film producer and distributor Nikkatsu fromits current corporate owner, Namco. The deal, which is expectedto be finalised by mid-September, will result in Index buying a more than 50%stake for $36m-$45.5m (Y4bn-Y5bn). Namco, which currently ...
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Sheffield sharpens its act with extended programme
The 12th Sheffield International Documentary Festival,running October 10-16, will kick off a new strand of industry events with thisyear's festival. The new "Sharp End" programmes for industry professionals andfilmmakers will feature "meet the commissioners" briefings, interviews with BBCdirector general Mark Thompson and film-maker Peter Kosminsky, and discussionsabout alternative distribution and ...