All News articles – Page 4524

  • News

    Focus takes international rights on Benigni's latest.

    2005-02-24T00:00:00Z

    Focus Features has acquiredinternational sales rights excluding Italy on Roberto Benigni's The TigerAnd The Snow.The film, written anddirected by and starring two-time Academy Award-winner Benigni, is inpost-production and will be released first in Italy on Oct 14. Benigni plays a poet desperately wooing thewoman of his dreams until they suddenly ...

  • News

    Fullenbach returns to Canal Plus

    2005-02-24T00:00:00Z

    Former head of acquisitionsat the Canal Plus premium channel, Evi Fullenbach, will return to the foldafter a little over a year away. Fullenbach, who wasresponsible for many of the output deals signed by Canal with Hollywoodheavyweights over the years resurfaces as director of cinema for the Canal PlusGroup, a new ...

  • News

    McClure leaves First Look and joins 2929

    2005-02-23T04:00:00Z

    Former First Look Mediageneral counsel and senior vice president of business and legal affairs DougMcClure has joined 2929 Productions as senior vice president of legal andbusiness affairs. McClure will report to 2929president Marc Butan and help the company develop its slate and businessoperations. 2929 produces projects inthe $10m-$40m range and ...

  • News

    Italian production start-up to shoot controversial erotic drama

    2005-02-23T04:00:00Z

    Cameras will start rollingon March 7 on the controversial adaptation of an erotic diary written by a17-year-old Sicilian schoolgirl, which is being produced by Italian actressFrancesca Neri.The literary sensation,entitled Cento Colpi Di Spazzola Prima Di Andare A Dormire (literally,one hundred brushes before bed time), was written by a student known ...

  • News

    THINKFilm launches kids DVD division

    2005-02-23T04:00:00Z

    Toronto and New York-basedNorth American distributor ThinkFilm is launching a child-oriented specialtydivision, ThinkFilm Kids, to tap what it calls the expanding "KidVid" DVDmarket children under nine years of age. The division will concentrate oneducational product and has two franchise series available at launch, Braincandy and My First Day. ThinkFilm ...

  • News

    German home entertainment market doubles over five years

    2005-02-23T04:00:00Z

    Turnover in the German home entertainment market has more than doubled since 1999, when DVDs firstregistered significant business in Germany, according to figures compiled byGfK Panel Services Consumer Research for the video trade association BVV.Revenues from sell-throughand rental videos and DVDs increased by 103% from 1999’s Euros 860m to a ...

  • News

    Sokurov plans 'free fantasy' version of Faust

    2005-02-23T04:00:00Z

    Having tackled Hitler, Leninand Hirohito, Russian director Alexander Sokurov is to round off his four filmproject on "Men Of Power" with his own version of Faust. The new film, loosely basedon works by Goethe and Thomas Mann, promises to be in a very different registerto its dark and brooding predecessors, ...

  • News

    UPI to set up operations in Russia

    2005-02-23T04:00:00Z

    Universal PicturesInternational (UPI) is taking its home entertainment operations into Russia, acountry widely seen as one of the major sources of video piracy.It has set up a wholly-ownedaffiliate covering Russia and the CIS that will handle all the titles that werepreviously distributed through licensees. The operation is headed bymanaging director ...

  • News

    Bielinski's Aura shines on Celluloid

    2005-02-23T00:00:00Z

    France'sCelluloid Dreams has picked up international sales rights to The Aura (ElAura), the latest film by Fabian Bielinsky, the Argentinian director ofbreakout hit Nine Queens. Nine Queens and Son Of The Bride star RicardoDarin plays a taxidermist whose fantasies about setting up the perfect crimecome unexpectedly to life. The film ...

  • News

    Belfast cinemas reduce ticket prices

    2005-02-23T00:00:00Z

    Northern Ireland exhibitorMichael McAdam of the Movie House chain of cinemas has hit back at the localWarner Village cinema's 'Cheap Tuesday' promotion, alleging that it is thelatest episode in a long line of promotions that threaten the viability of theexhibition sector in Belfast.The promotion, currentlyavailable at several Warner Village sites, ...

  • News

    Oscar nominees benefit from pre-awards hype

    2005-02-23T00:00:00Z

    With a week to go before theOscar winners dominate the charts, the films nominated for best picture wereenjoying their status at the international box office.Leading the pack TheAviator, now on $76.6m internationally, added seven Asian and smaller Europeanterritories including South Korea, Hong Kong and Poland. Handled by KoreaPictures in South ...

  • News

    Berlin hit Paradise gets US & UK deals with WIP

    2005-02-23T00:00:00Z

    WarnerIndependent Pictures (WiP) has acquired all rights in North America and the UKto Hany Abu-Assad's Berlin Audience Award winning drama Paradise Now.The film, which was one of the most talked about at thefestival, follows two Palestinian childhood friends whose planned suicide bombstrike on Tel Aviv is thrown into chaos after ...

  • News

    Wendy finds US home at Wellspring

    2005-02-23T00:00:00Z

    Wellspring has picked up allUS rights to Thomas Vinterberg's jolting cautionary tale Dear Wendy, which was one of the most talked about pictures atSundance when it premiered in January.Based on a screenplay byLars Von Trier, Dear Wendy starsJamie Bell and Bill Pullman and centres on a group of young misfits ...

  • News

    Sixth Lanzarote Screenings attracts buyers from 20 countries

    2005-02-22T04:00:00Z

    Fifty buyers from more than20 countries are expected to attend the sixth annual Spanish Film Screenings ofLanzarote (Feb 24-26).Newly dubbed the WinterScreenings - due to a move from lateNovember to February, Lanzarote offers buyers the opportunity to see more than30 new Spanish films from the last year.Three premieres will getgala ...

  • News

    Half A Confession tops 28th Japanese Academy Awards.

    2005-02-22T04:00:00Z

    Half A Confession(Hanochi), Kiyoshi Sasabe'scourtroom drama about a man who confesses to murdering his wife, has been named2004 Best Picture at the 28th Japan Academy Awards. Based on a best-sellingnovel by Hideo Yokoyama, the film was also one of 2004's biggest domestic hits,grossing $18.1m (Y1.9 bn) for distributor Toei. Half ...

  • News

    Eastern European Acquisition Pool adds Slovenian partner.

    2005-02-22T04:00:00Z

    Berlin-based Eastern European Acquisition Pool (EEAP) has expandedits influence in the Central and East European market with the Slovenian mediacompany Cinemania Group coming onboard as a new shareholder with a 26% stake.The agreement was signed by Cinemania's general manager SretenZivojinovic with EEAP's other shareholders, Berlin-based A Company Consulting& Licensing and ...

  • News

    NonStop makes host of acquisitions at Berlin

    2005-02-22T04:00:00Z

    NonStop Entertainment hasannounced the following acquisitions at the recently closed Berlin FilmFestival.From Celluloid Dreams:The Beat That My Heart Skipped, which was awarded the Silver Bear for BestMusic at the Berlinale 2005. NonStop will distribute The Beat in Sweden,Norway, Denmark, Finland and Iceland. Me And You And EveryoneWe Know, the US ...

  • News

    De Laurentiis re-affirms Alexander project with DiCaprio and Kidman, to be directed by Luhrmann.

    2005-02-22T04:00:00Z

    Dino De Laurentiis has announced that he is pressing ahead with plans to shoot his Alexander the Great project, which is set to star Leonardo DiCaprio and Nicole Kidman and will be directed by Baz Luhrmann. "We will shoot the film in one year's time, and it will be the ...

  • News

    Angola's Hero to open New Directors/New Films in NYC

    2005-02-22T04:00:00Z

    Zeze Gamboa's Angola-Portugal-France civil war drama The Hero will open the upcoming 34th NewDirectors/New Films 2005 event, which is set to run in New York from Mar 23-Apr3.The picture recently won the inaugural world dramatic competitionat Sundance and takes its place among a varied line-up that includes otherSundance entries Junebug, ...

  • News

    ShoWest awards watch: Jennifer Aniston

    2005-02-22T04:00:00Z

    Jennifer Aniston has been named ShoWest 2005 Female Star of the Year and will collect her award at the closing night ceremony on March 17.Aniston's upcoming roles include the romantic comedy Rumor Has It oppposite Kevin Costner, and the thriller Derailed opposite Clive Owen.Her previous credits include Bruce Almighty, Along ...