Small MPU – Page 1420

  • News

    UK's Entertainment extends New Line output deal

    2002-05-20T04:05:00Z

    Leading UK independent Entertainment Film Distributors has extended its output deal with New Line Cinema for two years, whereby Entertainment will handle all New Line product in the UK until Dec 2003.The last deal between the two companies expired in Dec 2001 when Entertainment enjoyed its biggest ever hit with ...

  • News

    Studio Canal: minus to equal plus

    2002-05-20T04:05:00Z

    StudioCanal is to slash its production to just 15 films a year as part of a dramatic streamlining of operations. However, closing Vivendi Universal's European production and distribution arm is not on the agenda, insists chairman Richard Lenormand, despite rumours to the contrary.StudioCanal's production policy will now firmly focus ...

  • News

    Brosnan to broaden range with two new projects

    2002-05-20T04:05:00Z

    Pierce Brosnan and producing partner Beau St Clair have announced two new projects - romantic comedy The Laws Of Attraction and 11th century epic Legend Of Lochenbar for an autumn and early-2003 shoot respectively. Both are to star Brosnan.Brosnan, wearing his producer's hat, and St Clair met with potential ...

  • News

    Zentropa unleashes 'Dogumentary' label

    2002-05-20T04:05:00Z

    Under a new 'Dogumentary' label, Denmark's Zentropa has finalised deals for a slate of docs to be mentored by Lars von Trier as a documentary equivalent to his Dogme-movement.Organised by documentary arm Zentropa Real and headed by Carsten Holst, the idea has so far attracted filmmakers from Denmark (Sami Saif, ...

  • News

    France's TF1 looks to enter Noe territory

    2002-05-20T04:05:00Z

    Miramax's new French partner TF1 is understood to be close to buying into Noe Productions, the company which despite having co-produced this year's foreign-language Oscar winner No Man's Land, was recently forced into receivership.With a production track record also including such festival-friendly titles such as Jan Kounen's feature film debut ...

  • News

    24hr party - no Cannes do

    2002-05-20T04:05:00Z

    Outraged guests were pushed and knocked to the floor by bouncers as scenes of violence erupted in Cannes at Saturday night's party for Michael Winterbottom's 24 Hour Party People.One guest saw bouncers lock a man's arms behind his back and throw him through a gap in the barriers so he ...

  • News

    Heather Graham to star in Stardust

    2002-05-20T04:05:00Z

    Nick Hurran, whose Plots With A View was sold to Miramax Films for domestic, has signed to direct romantic comedy Stardust for Luxembourg-based The Carousel Picture Company with Heather Graham attached to star and James Purefoy and Brenda Blethyn in leading roles. Mark Damon's MDP Worldwide is handling sales on ...

  • News

    Spanish thriller Intacto connects with Cannes' buyers

    2002-05-20T04:05:00Z

    Intacto, the Spanish thriller that opened Cannes' Critics' Week sidebar, has scored highly with international buyers.Handled by Lions Gate Films International, Intacto was bought by Nippon Herald for Japan, Momentum for the UK, Lady Films for Italy, Scanbox Entertainment for all of Scandinavia, Spentzos for Greece, Cosmopol for Russia and ...

  • News

    Attack Of The Clones opens new episode in international box office records

    2002-05-20T04:05:00Z

    Star Wars: Episode II - Attack Of The Clones has established a new box office record for a simultaneous international opening weekend.According to 20th Century Fox, Episode II grossed $67m internationally from 70-plus territories, in a combination of opening weekend revenues that included Thursday to Sunday tallies as well as ...

  • News

    Attack Of The Clones enjoys $116.3m US four-day opening

    2002-05-19T00:00:00Z

    Star Wars: Episode II - Attack of the Clones unleashed The Force over the weekend, zapping the competition and storming to the top of the charts with an estimated four-day gross of $116.3m. George Lucas's fifth Star Wars instalment becomes the second fastest picture to pass $100m behind Columbia's Spider-Man ...

  • Reviews

    24 Hour Party People

    2002-03-14T15:19:00Z

    Dir: Michael Winterbottom. UK. 2001. 110mins.Anarchic, exasperating and ambitious, Michael Winterbottom's boisterous celebration of 16 rollercoaster years in Manchester's club scene is a real oddball item whose eventual cult status could - like that of the music it portrays - outstrip its commercial performance by miles. A young urban crowd ...

  • Reviews

    All Or Nothing

    2002-05-20T00:00:00Z

    Dir: Mike Leigh. UK-France 2002. 127 mins.After a brief detour into history (and real-life individuals) with his 1999 Gilbert and Sullivan drama, Topsy Turvy, Mike Leigh returns to more familiar terrain with this subtle, precisely observed contemporary story of ordinary South London folk. Comic but also melancholy - although it ...

  • News

    Svensk Filmindustrie to set up Danish specialist arm

    2002-05-21T04:05:00Z

    Nordic major Svensk Filmindustrie's Danish branch SF-Film is to launch a new division in a bid to take a greater share of the booming local market."We will set up a branch focusing exclusively on the marketing and distribution of Danish films," said Michael Fleischer, who has been the managing director ...

  • News

    Arclight, Spice Factory launch UK slate

    2002-05-21T04:05:00Z

    Horror adaptation Possession, modern-day Count of Monte Cristo story Lazarus Ash and thriller Perfect People head the slate of $10m - $25m productions in a partnership between Gary Hamilton's Arclight Films, the UK's Spice Factory and best-selling horror novelist Peter James.The announcement follows last month's unveiling of plans for ambitious ...

  • News

    Babelsberg to co-fund and house Myriad's Borgia

    2002-05-21T04:05:00Z

    Studio Babelsberg Motion Pictures, the holding company for Vivendi Deutschland's media activities, has cut a deal with Myriad Pictures to house, co-finance and co-produce Neil Jordan's Borgia and the Ed Pressman production The Tenth Victim. Babelsberg CEO Gabriela Bacher has accessed state guarantees from the state of Brandenberg with which ...

  • News

    Fox Searchlight selects Beckham for North & South America

    2002-05-21T04:05:00Z

    The Works has confirmed that Fox Searchlight Pictures has acquired North and South American rights UK hit Bend It Like Beckham.Fox Searchlight president Peter Rice and The Works chief executive Aline Perry said Fox Searchlight will handle North America and Twentieth Century Fox South America. Fox is understood to have ...

  • News

    Tristan And Isolde involved in double shooting

    2002-05-21T04:05:00Z

    Start-up production company Octagon Films will co-produce a version of Tristan And Isolde with Ridley Scott's Scott Free, to be directed by Kevin Reynolds - while at the same time Intermedia and Metropolitan Filmexport have teamed to finance and sell their own Tristan & Iseult, to which Rupert Wainwright (Stigmata) ...

  • News

    Focus outlines its global strategy

    2002-05-21T04:05:00Z

    Focus - the new Universal-owned company merging Good Machine International and USA Films - is starting to outline its modus operandi, pledging a commitment to original-language films and representing a new source of studio movies to independent buyers.Talking to Screen International yesterday, Focus co-chiefs David Linde and James Schamus said ...

  • News

    Granada closes German pre-sale on All American

    2002-05-21T04:05:00Z

    The UK's Granada Film has closed a significant pre-sale to Germany with Telepool on romantic comedy All American Man.The German company bought all rights to the film, which writer-director Craig Ferguson is to shoot in January. "It's a real coup," said Penny Wolf, head of sales. "We have not heard ...

  • News

    Sex doll horror adds to ContentFilm slate

    2002-05-21T04:05:00Z

    After just eight months in operation New York's ContentFilm, run by indie stalwarts Ed Pressman and John Schmidt, has announced its fifth fully-financed film to go into production, a sexually-twisted psychological horror called Love Object.Said to combine elements of Demon Seed and Chucky with those of Roman Polanski's early classics, ...