All News articles – Page 4675
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TLA picks up Godforsaken, The Last Great Wilderness for video
TLA Releasing has acquired North American home entertainmentrights to Pieter Kuijpers' award-winning Dutch crime drama Godforsakenand David Mackenzie's Scottish comic mystery The Last Great Wildernessand plans to release both under its International Film Festival DVD/VHS label.These are the third and fourth films picked up by TLA at Cannesfollowing Srdjan Karanovic's ...
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Coalition to dial 911'
The Weinstein brothers areclose to buying back Fahrenheit 9/11from The Walt Disney Co, but they are no nearer to deciding on a third-partydistributor. Which is curious because the brothers require that the MichaelMoore movie hits US theatres in six weeks time on July 2.Word on the Croisette has itthat the ...
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New film festival set for Amazon
In conjunction with thegovernment of Amazonas, Le Public Systeme has announced the creation of a newfilm festival in Amazonas, Brazil.Le Public Systeme is thegroup behind the Deauville Festival of American Film, the Cognac ThrillerFestival and the Gerardmer Fantastic Film Festival. Amazonas will be an adventure-themed event but will includeaspects of ...
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Media Asia initials racing deal with Japan
Hong Kong producer and seller Media Asia has struck one ofthe largest ever intra-Asian deals for its forthcoming car-racing thriller Initial D.The film, which goes into production in Japan on June 2, hasbeen bought jointly by Gaga Communications and Avex Inc, the multimedia companywhich has previously handled the Japanese comics ...
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Motorcycle revs up embattled Cannes
Last month, festival programmer Thierry Fremaux promised thatCannes 2004 would be a festival of Confirmations and Discoveries. TheFestival's reputation depended on it after widespread criticisms of the eventin 2003. It has been touch and go at times but the competition titles have justabout delivered on his promise.Walter Salles' stirringly compassionate ...
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Cineclick ties up Kim Ki-duk financing
South Korean director Kim Ki-duk's latest project 3-Iron has secured a co-financing dealfrom Japan's Happinet equal to 50% of the film's budget.Sales agent Cineclick Asia says that a deal has also beencompleted with France's Pretty Pictures which, together with Japan, means that80% of the budget is covered.Kim's previous two filmshave ...
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Mifed proposes compromise
With the tide of industryopinion possibly beginning to flow against it, Mifed's chief executive CarloBassi yesterday put forward a proposal for autumn markets to alternate betweenMilan and Los Angeles."It is impossible to go onwith this battle between us and the AFM," said Bassi. "Our proposal makeseconomic sense as it reduces ...
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Croisette witnesses rebirth of the salesman
Cannesmay have been slim pickings for American buyers, but business was refreshinglybrisk for the rest of the world.Pre-sellswere particularly buoyant, with international buyers snapping upmodestly-budgeted pictures in commercial genres such as Summit's The Alibi and The Dark, Nu Image/Millennium's Edison,Focus' Assault On Precinct 13 andEuropa's Revolver. With budgets kepttight and ...
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Dagur Kari directs Grown Up People
Icelandic filmmakerDagur Kari, who charmed audiences and critics alike with his unusualmultiple-award winning debut Noi Albinoi,started shooting his new film Grown UpPeople (Voksne Mennesker) this week in Copenhagen.Kari graduated fromthe National Film School of Denmark, but this will be his first Danish film -and it will be in black and ...
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Venice gets its own Directors' Fortnight section
In another sign of change, the Venice festival will boastits own Directors' Fortnight section this year.The section is to be headed by journalist and Courmayeurprogrammer Giorgio Gosetti with the backing of the Italian DirectorsAssociation. Gosetti will resign from his post as head of promo agencyAudiovisual Industry Promotion from the end ...
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Shrek 2 scores record $11.8m opening day
Shrek2 gotoff to a storming start at the US box office on Wednesday (19), grossing anestimated $11.8m for the biggest ever mid-week opening of an animated picture."Thiswas a spectacular opening and one that exceeded all of our expectations,"DreamWorks head of distribution Jim Tharp said in a statement."Wehad hoped to come ...
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Do Angels Fly scoops Hartley-Merrill screenwriting prize
Croatia'sIva Kapetanovic haswon top honours at the 15th Annual Hartley-Merrill International ScreenwritingPrize for her harrowing war drama Do Angels Cry.England'sDavid Grieg was runner-up with his Scotland-set thriller The Darkest Hour and third prize went toMexico's Mauro Altschuler for Julia, about a world of children without adults.All threewere presented with their ...
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Odeon appoints new chief executive
The UK's Odeon Cinemas has appointed Tim Schoonmaker as itsnew chief executive, taking over from Richard Segal, who left the company lastAugust.Schoonmaker joins Odeon from media group Emap Plc. where heworked in general management across a number of Emap's businesses and was chiefexecutive of Emap Performance and chairman of Emap ...
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Berry, Jackson, Young on board at LAFF
Halle Berry andSamuel L Jackson will serve as honorary co-chairs of the 2004 Los Angeles FilmFestival, which runs from Jun 17-26 and will also feature the services ofsinger and film-maker Neil Young as artist in residence.Berry will host closing night festivities and hand out two TargetFilmmaker Awards for best narrative ...
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Toronto megastudio bid down to final two
The bid to builda megastudio in Toronto has narrowed to two finalists: a local film studioplayer and a famous outsider.On the home frontis Toronto Film Studios, which operates the city's largest facility. The othercontender is Pinewood-Shepperton Studios, the UK-based operators of England'stwo most famous soundstages.According to theToronto Economic Development Corporation ...
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Palm Pictures picks up Larry Clark's upcoming Wassup Rockers
Chris Blackwell's Palm Pictures has acquired worldwide rights toand will go into production on Larry Clark's upcoming Los Angeles youth drama WassupRockers.Production is due to begin in Los Angeles this summer and Palmexpects to release the film theatrically in North America in 2005. WouterBarendrecht and Michael Werner's Fortissimo Films will ...
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GreeneStreet, Kosinski take Fade Out into pre-production
GreeneStreetFilms and Geyer Kosinski have commenced pre-production on writer-directorMichael Cristofer's psychological thriller Fade Out starring Billy BobThornton and Kate Beckinsale.Kosinskiis producing with GreeneStreet's John Penotti and Fisher Stevens.Principal photography is scheduled to begin on Jul 5 and GreeneStreet FilmsInternational is representing worldwide rights in Cannes.FadeOutisabout a fragile screenwriter confused by ...
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Hong Kong tycoon acquire a 17% stake in movie powerhouse Golden Harvest
Hong Kong property andtelecoms tycoon Li Ka Shing looks set to acquire a 17% stake in moviepowerhouse Golden Harvest Entertainment from Taiwan's computer giant Acer,which was brought in as a shareholder in 2000.The transaction between Liand Acer is understood to be a done deal. An official announcement - nowpending approval ...
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2046 too late for the press
The officialCannes press screening for Wong Kar-wai's competition entry 2046tomorrow morning at 8.30 am has been cancelled, Palais officials have confirmed.While WongKar-wai has always had a close-to-the-wire relationship with Cannes deadlines,"only a miracle will save the 8.30am screening now," said a source close to theproduction yesterday. The problem has arisen ...
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Optimum takes Tube's Aachi for UK
Optimum Releasing has picked up UK rights for Aachi & Ssipak, a BeavisAnd Butthead-style Korean animated feature about a futuristic world poweredby human feces. Represented by TubeEntertainment, the film has also been pre-sold to AB Films for Italy andProopitiki for Greece, and negotiations are underway with two major USstudios.In addition, ...