All News articles – Page 4497

  • News

    Bigas Luna looks to build Juani franchise

    2005-04-25T04:00:00Z

    Media Films, the fledgling production division of Spanishdistributor Manga Films, is developing a franchise around popular directorBigas Luna's latest feature, I Am Juani.The initial feature (Yo Soy La Juani), a 50/50 co-production with Luna's own El VirgiliFilms budgeted at between Euros 4-4.5m, will shoot in late 2005 and is likelyto ...

  • News

    New film options on the books

    2005-04-25T04:00:00Z

    This month the BBC began itsattempt to compete with Channel 4's UK book club dynamos Richard & Judy,whose book show has become the British equivalent of Oprah Winfrey. PageTurners, a new flagship BBC1 series, aims to generate buzz about books andcreate an Oprah-style sales surge.In all, 24 titles have beenselected ...

  • News

    Italy pins hopes on Festa for box office revival

    2005-04-25T04:00:00Z

    Italy is to launch its firstever promotional Festa del Cinema today, in the hope of boosting admissionswhich have been sliding rapidly since January.The Festa del Cinema willenable spectators who buy one full-priced ticket between April 25, a national bankholiday, and April 28, to buy subsequent tickets for the price of ...

  • News

    Halifax, Montreal bury the hatchet over schedule clash

    2005-04-25T04:00:00Z

    Film festivals in Montrealand Halifax have buried the hatchet over a scheduling conflict. The new FestivalInternational de Films de Montreal (FIFM) raised the hackles of theHalifax-based Atlantic Film Festival (AFF) by unilaterally switching the datesof its inaugural event to overlap with those of the AFF, which this yearcelebrates its 25th ...

  • News

    Heyn, Gleasure get promotions in publicity dept at BVI

    2005-04-25T04:00:00Z

    Buena VistaInternational (BVI) has promoted two of its international publicity executives,with Nina Heyn rising from executive director to vice president, and AlisonGleasure becoming director of European publicity. Heyn, who isbased in Burbank, will continue to supervise campaigns on key titles on BVI'sfilm slate, dividing her duties with vice president of ...

  • News

    Connelly to join Winslet in Little Children

    2005-04-25T04:00:00Z

    Jennifer Connelly is in final negotiations to star opposite KateWinslet in the New Line Cinema drama Little Children, which Todd Field will direct. The story centres on a dull suburban world where parentsgroom their children for Ivy League colleges and alleviate their boredomthrough affairs and internet porn.Things take a turn ...

  • News

    China claims world's third largest film industry

    2005-04-25T04:00:00Z

    China hasbecome the third largest film producer in the world following the United Statesand India, one of China's top film industry officials claimed onSaturday. China shot a record number 212 films in 2004, and cinemasnationwide reported a total box office income of $180m (Y1.5bn) said ZhangPimin, vice director of the ...

  • News

    Kids TV classic Land Of The Lost gets Will Ferrell treatment

    2005-04-25T04:00:00Z

    Will Ferrell is attached to star for Universal in comedyadaptation of the hit 1970s sci-fi television series Land Of The Lost to be directed by Adam McKay.Chris Henchy and DennisMcNicholas have signed on to adapt the screenplay, based on the 1973-77 NBCseries about a forest ranger and his children who ...

  • News

    ContentFilm picks up Transamerica for international

    2005-04-25T04:00:00Z

    ContentFilm International has picked up all international rightsto Duncan Tucker's road movie Transamerica, which had its North American premiere at Tribeca FilmFestival over the weekend.Transamerica received its world premiere at the Berlin International FilmFestival. ContentFilm International will represent the picture at the Cannesmarket next month where it will also be ...

  • News

    Spanish producers unveil projects at Malaga Forum

    2005-04-25T04:00:00Z

    Spanish distributor Notro Films introduced its debutco-production over the weekend, one of seven new feature films unveiled in aProjects Forum organised by the Spanish Film Festival of Malaga (April 22-30).The Notro co-production is Albert Serra's ultra-low-budget,Catalan- language Quixotic (Honor De Cavalleria). "We placed emphasis on the poetry, the atmosphere -precisely ...

  • News

    ...and remains international number one with $11.9m weekend

    2005-04-25T00:00:00Z

    Universal's The Interpreter remained the top international picture at the weekend,grossing an estimated $11.9m through UIP on 2,340 screens in 31 territories toraise its international running total to $25m.The UN-set thriller, which opened top in North America on $22.8m,thrived with number one debuts in many territories, strong holds and smalldrops ...

  • News

    The Interpreter debuts at number one in North America

    2005-04-25T00:00:00Z

    A strong rally by theover-35 crowd powered Universal's The Interpreter to the top of the North American charts at theweekend on an estimated $22.8m, while Touchstone's A Lot Like Love opened fourth on a disappointing $7.7m.Meanwhile Sony PicturesClassics' martial arts romp Kung Fu Hustle demonstrated its box office chops in ...

  • News

    Interpreter assassinates the competition at US box office

    2005-04-25T00:00:00Z

    A strong rally by theover-35 crowd powered Universal's The Interpreter to the top of the North American charts at theweekend on an estimated $22.8m, while Touchstone's A Lot Like Love opened fourth on a disappointing $7.7m.Meanwhile Sony PicturesClassics' martial arts romp Kung Fu Hustle demonstrated its box office chops in ...

  • News

    Hong Kong veteran steps in as new Barber director

    2005-04-25T00:00:00Z

    Veteran Hong Kong filmmaker Ng See Yuen has stepped in todirect mainland Chinese production The Barber following the death ofShanghai-based director Chen Yifei.Thefilm, which is backed by Century Hero Film Investment Co and the China FilmGroup, has had a troubled production history. It started shooting in 2002 withChen at the ...

  • News

    Disney looking to renew Pixar relationship

    2005-04-25T00:00:00Z

    The chairmanof the Walt Disney Studios, Dick Cook, has said that Disney wants to renew thestudio's deal with animation powerhouse Pixar.Just over a year after thetwo film studios announced an end to their partnership, which has produced sixconsecutive global blockbusters and box office receipts of $2.7 billion (£1.4billion), a new ...

  • News

    Pipeline wins top prize at Nyon documentary fest

    2005-04-25T00:00:00Z

    Nino Kirtadze's The Pipeline Next Doorwas the winner of this year's Grand Prix Visions du Reel at this year'sinternational documentary festival in Switzerland's Nyon (April 18-24).Kirtadze's drama of asmall Georgian village facing the dragon of globalisation in a BP oil pipelinepassing over the villagers' land also received the John Templeton ...

  • News

    German DVD distributor e-m-s launches production arm

    2005-04-24T04:00:00Z

    Leading German DVD distributor e-m-s new mediahas set up its own in-house production arm 3L Filmproduktion to serve as aco-producer on German feature film projects.The new division will be managed by Berlin-basedUlf Israel who previously worked for X-Filme creative pool for three years andthen as an independent producer on such ...

  • News

    Swiss launch film fund to support world cinema

    2005-04-24T04:00:00Z

    Films from Asia, Africa,Latin America and Eastern Europe are set to receive support for theirproduction and international promotion through the creation of the newSwiss-based Visions Sud Est (VSE) fund.The fund, which hasstart-up capital of $424,000 (CHF 500,000), has been set up by Nyon's"Visions du Reel" International Documentary Festival, FribourgInternational Film ...

  • News

    South Korea's The Road gets best feature prize at Philadelphia

    2005-04-24T00:00:00Z

    Bae Chang-ho's South Korean picture The Road won best feature and Peter Raymont'sRwandan story Shake Hands With The Devil won best documentary honours at the 2005 Philadelphia FilmFestival, which closed on Apr 20.Audience awards went to Andres Wood's Chilean political drama Machuca for best feature and Marilyn Agrelo'sSlamdance sensation Mad ...

  • News

    Two Malaga festival films get sales agents

    2005-04-22T04:00:00Z

    Two films competing in theofficial section of the Spanish Film Festival of Malaga (April 22-30) havefound international sales agents on the eve of the event: Sogepaq has picked upRamon Salazar's 20 Centimeterswhile Grupo Pi will handle romantic comedy Semen, A Love Sample.International buyers willget a first look at Semen duringMalaga's ...