Small MPU – Page 1225

  • News

    China takes major steps in consolidation march

    2001-07-13T00:22:00Z

    China this weekconfirmed a major step in its programme of building media conglomerates andalso unveiled the country's first approved video-on-demand (VoD) service.Xu Guangchun, minister at the State Administration of RadioFilm & Television (SARFT), unveiled the details of a three-way merger thatwould combine the giant China Central TV (CCTV) with both ...

  • News

    Sony buys Alliance Atlantis' State for Screen Gems

    2001-07-13T02:06:00Z

    Sony Pictures' mid-level releasing division Screen Gems has acquired US rights to Alliance Atlantis Motion Picture Production's action comedy The 51st State starring Samuel L Jackson and Robert Carlyle. Screen Gems plans to release the film in 2002.Directed by Ronny Yu, The 51st State was financed by Alliance Atlantis with ...

  • News

    Anschutz-backed Crusader hires Immerman, Morton

    2001-07-13T02:08:00Z

    Crusader Entertainment, the recently formed LA-based production outfit backed by Philip Anschutz's Anschutz Corporation and run by Howard Baldwin, has made two key appointments. Entertainment attorney William J Immerman has been named executive vice president, while former Phoenix Pictures executive Nick Morton has been named vice president of development.Immerman joins ...

  • News

    Alex Massis to represent

    2001-07-13T02:11:00Z

    CineSales Inc, the worldwide sales representative for the "Something Weird" library of films, has retained Alex Massis and his New York-based Film Source Co as consultants on the sales of the films. The collection includes 13 pictures from cult director Herschell Gordon Lewis including Blood Feast (1963), Two Thousand Maniacs ...

  • Reviews

    High Heels And Low Lifes

    2001-07-13T02:25:00Z

    Dir: Mel Smith. UK. 2001. 86 mins. The film's title implies a commercially canny mix of grrrl power and gangsters, but Mel Smith's first directorial outing since Bean (1997) is unlikely to replicate its success, or that of writer Kim Fuller's last film, SpiceWorld (1996). Here, males will be turned ...

  • News

    Branson's entertainment locations to show content

    2001-07-13T17:28:00Z

    Richard Branson's Virgin Group is investing $4.2m in a joint venture with Toronto-based leisure centre operator MagiCorp to create two location-based entertainment facilities - one in Manchester, one in Toronto - featuring digital content delivered over cinema-sized screens and personal table-top monitors. Dubbed Lucid, the joint venture's concept seeks to ...

  • News

    France's TF1 sees revenues rise

    2001-07-13T17:31:00Z

    Leading French terrestrial broadcaster TF1 has announced a nine per-cent increase in its revenues for the first half of 2001, largely due to the consolidation of cable and satellite channels Eurosport International, TV Sport and Series Club and production company Telema.TF1 revenues rose to Euros 1.3bn (against Euros 1.2bn for ...

  • News

    South Africa's film industry looks forward

    2001-07-13T17:38:00Z

    The South African film industry seems to produce more conferences than films; several have been held over the past few years, including a symposium with the EU on plans to boost the local film industry. But filmmakers themselves are still suffering from the 'begging bowl' syndrome when it comes to ...

  • News

    Four films break Australian drought

    2001-07-13T17:39:00Z

    Australian government agency: the Film Finance Corporation (FFC) has approved investment in features for the first time since March, when funds for the 2000/2001 year ran dry.First is Craig Lahiff's Black And White starring Robert Carlyle, based on the true story of injustice done to an Aboriginal man. A rare ...

  • News

    Film Council hands development sums to UK six-pack

    2001-07-13T18:25:00Z

    The Film Council's development fund has announced slate development deals with six UK production companies, worth $1.767m (£1.262m) from its annual coffers of $7m (£5m).Long term deals have been struck with Fragile Films, Archer Street Tiger Lily, Kuhn & Co, Autonomous, Dragon Pictures and The Jim Henson Company.A separate slate ...

  • News

    Local films boost Euro box office bumper year

    2001-07-14T13:44:00Z

    Screen Daily's analysis of international box office results for the first half of 2001 reveals that all major European territories are enjoying an unexpectedly robust year so far. Even more encouraging is the revelation that, in almost all markets surveyed, it has been local films that have fuelled the upward ...

  • Reviews

    Made

    2001-07-16T04:06:00Z

    Dir: Jon Favreau. US.2001. 93 min.The same offbeatsensibility that informed Swingers, Miramax's 1996 hit, is also in evidence in Made, the new crime comedy directed, written, andstarring Jon Favreau - except that, unlike the former picture, which dealt withreal issues, the new one is a basically plotless, character-driven film.Reuniting for ...

  • News

    Scotia injunction request against Miramax rejected

    2001-07-16T05:40:00Z

    A California State Court has rejected a request by German independent distributor Scotia Film for an injunction to stop the AFMA arbitration proceedings Miramax Films filed against Scotia in April. The ruling was made last Thursday.Scotia, run by Sam Waynberg, sued Miramax in June claiming that it breached its ...

  • News

    The Mummy Returns crosses $200m internationally

    2001-07-16T05:43:00Z

    A day before its domestic gross passed $200m, Universal Pictures' The Mummy Returns sailed past $200m at the international box office bringing its worldwide total to a spectacular $400m.The film topped the $200m international mark on Friday, becoming the first of the year to do so. It has been on ...

  • News

    New Line launch Rush Hour 2 Hong Kong promotion

    2001-07-16T05:59:00Z

    New Line Cinema has struck a promotional deal with United Airlines and the Hong Kong Tourism Board for its August 3 release Rush Hour 2.During July and August, travellers on domestic United Airlines flights will see an in-flight film focused on travel to Hong Kong, where much of Rush Hour ...

  • News

    Global box office to grow 36% over next decade

    2001-07-16T19:15:00Z

    Research conducted by the Informa Media Group reveals that global box office revenues are expected to climb by 36% - or $6bn - between 2001 and 2010 to $24bn. Over the same period, the global screen count is predicted to remain virtually static - at 149,000, as several territories shed ...

  • News

    global box

    2001-07-16T19:25:00Z

    Research conducted by the Informa Media Group reveals that global box office revenues are expected to climb by 36% - or $6bn - between 2001 and 2010 to $24bn. Over the same period, the global screen count is predicted to remain virtually static - at 149,000, as several territories shed ...

  • News

    Global box office to grow 36% over next decade

    2001-07-16T20:27:00Z

    Research conducted by the Informa Media Group reveals that global box office revenues are expected to climb by 36% - or $6bn - between 2001 and 2010 to $24bn. Over the same period, the global screen count is predicted to remain virtually static - at 149,000, as several territories shed ...

  • News

    Warner grabs French comedy from Gaumont

    2001-07-16T20:31:00Z

    Warner Bros' French division is to produce Ma Femme S'appelle Maurice, the next film by French comedy specialist Jean-Marie Poire (The Visitors). The $13m (Ffr100m) title, which is also to be backed by Germany's Babelsberg Studios, Canal Plus and French public broadcaster France Television, starts shooting on July 23 in ...

  • News

    Karlovy Vary fest fetes Amelie

    2001-07-16T20:34:00Z

    Jean-Pierre Jeunet's Amelie grabbed the $20,000 grand prize at the 36th Karlovy Vary International Film Festival, which closed on Saturday 14 July. Jeunet's comedy about the adventures of a Parisian girl stood out from a slate of films dominated by darker themes this year, including drug addiction and Alzheimer's.Special jury ...