All News articles – Page 4725
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Japanese cinema icon to retire at 50
After 50 years and 27 films, Godzilla is to retire after the latest instalment, Godzilla: Final Wars, which is scheduled for a December release.Toho producer Shogo Tomiyama explained that the studio made the decision to retire its most famous character in the planning stages of the new film. "We could ...
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Sofia film festival launches 8th edition
Director Takeshi Kitano's highly-praised Zatoichi opens the 8th Sofia International Film Festival today.The festival boasts some 100 features, 10 documentaries and 60 shorts as well as a feature competition comprising 14 titles including Karlovy Vary audience favourite, Buddy, Camera D'Or winner, Reconstruction, Locarno award winner, Maria and 16 Years Of ...
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France appoints new national ratings chief
France's film council (CNC) has announced the appointment of Sylvie Hubac to the post of president of the national ratings board known as the Commission de Classification.Hubac was nominated by culture minister Jean-Jacques Aillagon and the proposal was then ratified by Prime Minister Jean-Pierre Raffarin.Hubac studied at France's national administration ...
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Batman Begins begins in Iceland for Warner Bros
Gary Oldman hasjoined the cast of Warner Bros' Batman Begins, which began shooting in Iceland thisweek and is being directed by Christopher Nolan.Oldman will play Lieutenant James Gordon, a detective onthe Gotham police force, and joins an illustrious cast that includes ChristianBale as Bruce Wayne/Batman and Michael Caine as his ...
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Winchester finally becomes Content
The name Winchester Entertainment PLC is set to disappear, it was confirmed yesterday as further details of the merger between Winchester and Ed Pessman and John Schmidt's ContentFilm inc. were announced.Subject to shareholder approval at an extraordinary general meeting on 26 March, the new enlarged entity is to be called ...
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Working Title options best-seller
Working Title Films has optioned Star Of The Sea, Joseph O'Connor's best-selling novel set on a ship full of emigres fleeing the Irish potato famine.Told through the eyes of one passenger, a New York Times reporter, the acclaimed novel charts the fortunes of an array of characters on board the ...
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Universal's Polly set for big openings in Germany, Mexico
Universalexecutives will be hoping the stars continue to shine on Along Came Polly this weekend when the romantic comedygoes out wide in Germany and Mexico through UIP.The picture, which opened top in the UK last weekend andremained number one in its second weekend in Brazil, opens in Germany on Mar ...
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Turner to script BloodRayne for Uwe Boll
AmericanPsycho co-writerGuinevere Turner is writing the screenplay for Uwe Boll's adaptation of BloodRayne, based on the bestselling video gameabout a human-vampire hybrid who hunts down supernatural enemies.Shooting on the$15m production is due to kick off in the Greater Vancouver area and EasternEurope in late summer.Turner, whoseother writing credits include Go ...
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Rentrak hires Springer for global box office tracking system
RentrakTheatrical, a subsidiary of Oregon-based information management companyRentrak, has hired industry veteran Rob Springer to head up the expansion ofits global box office tracking system Box Office Essentials.Springer, whomost recently served as executive director of sales administration atParamount, will be based in Los Angeles and is a key appointment as ...
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Eisner stripped of chairman's title
Walt Disney's powerful chief executive officer Michael Eisner was forced last night to hand over the chairman's title to George J. Mitchell, in order to placate a rising tide of shareholder resentment over what they see as his imperious management style and a poor company performance.The embattled Eisner was put ...
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International co-productions face funding paradox
At the heart of international co-productions lies an essential paradox for Europe. The various national incentive schemes and subsidies upon which they depend are designed to keep filmmaking crews and talents fully employed in their local countries. And yet, co-production treaties are meant to encourage cross-border collaborations.This contradiction may help ...
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Newmark sets domestic release dates for Wake, Pizzas
Newmark/EchelonEntertainment Group has set the US release of Henry LeRoy Finch's drama Wake for late April and Vinnie Sassone'sromantic comedy A Tale Of Two Pizzas for the autumn.In Wake, four brothers gather for a debauchednight of drinking and perversion only to realise they are attending a awake. Martin Landau stars ...
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Art Port, Summit strike first deal on Down In The Valley
Art Port Inc. has acquired Japanese distribution rights toDown In The Valley, the dark thrillerstarring Edward Norton and Evan Rachel Wood, from Summit Entertainment. Thedeal, concluded at AFM, marks the first deal between the two companies.The deal was closed between Art Port president & CEOJunichi Matsushita and Summit president and ...
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Mueller poised to take over as Venice artistic director
Former Locarno and Rotterdam festival director Marco Mueller is poised to be crowned artistic chief of the Venice Film Festival, during a Biennale board meeting that will take place today (March 4) at 5pm.Venice organisers said on Thursday that several names are still in the running, although according to local ...
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Duval to retire from UK film censor BBFC
British Board Of Film Classification Director Robin Duval is to retire in August after five and a half years at the helm.Duval oversaw the Board's first major public consultation exercise resulting in the Classification Guidelines published in September 2000. The Board now classifies 14,000 titles a year - up from ...
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Darclight readies Beowulf, Possession
Arclight genre label Darclight has announced that two films are about to go into pre-production.The supernatural thriller Possession, adapted from Peter James's novel, and Beowulf - Alien Meets Braveheart, inspired by the 9th Century Beowulf poem, both involve the UK's Spice Factory and film financier Movision Entertainment.The UK/Canadian co-production Possession ...
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Von Trier completes Manderlay casting
Lars von Trier has rounded out the cast for Manderlay, the second film in his USA trilogy after Dogville, with a contingent of US stars.Danny Glover and John C. Reilly join the new leading lady Bryce Dallas Howard as well as Lauren Bacall, Jeremy Davies and Chloe Sevigny, who return ...
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Mueller confirmed as Venice festival chief
As expected, former Locarno and Rotterdam festival chief Marco Mueller has been appointed artistic chief of the Venice Film Festival.Rome born Mueller will replace Moritz de Hadeln, the British-born Swiss national who became the first non-Italian to run the world's oldest festival when he was appointed in 2002 on a ...
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CZECH REPUBLIC
French comedy Ruby & Quentin (Tais Toi) saw a strong bow at sixth place in the Czech Republic last weekend. The film, which stars Jeno Reno and Gerard Depardieu, sold over 3,500 tickets more than US title The Rundown despite playing on five less screens. It also demolished Richard Linklater's ...
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Mar del Plata unveils Latino flavoured line-up
Mar del Plata, Latin America's only A grade festival, has unveiled its competition line-up for this year's edition, which runs from March 11-20.Festival head Miguel Pereira has put together a 14-strong line-up that combines titles from established film-makers, a few of which have already appeared at other events out of ...