Small MPU – Page 1442
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News
Paramount Classics tools up with Filmax's Machinist
Paramount Classics has acquired multiple territory rightsto Brad Anderson's The Machinist starringChristian Bale from Filmax International.The studio specialized arm bought the psychologicalthriller for North America, UK, South Africa, Latin America, Australia and NewZealand. Paramount Classics, which previously handled Anderson's HappyAccidents, is planning an end of yearrelease for the film which ...
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TF1 Int'l embarks on Leconte's Cambodian voyage
TF1 International has pickedup the new film by in-form French director Patrice Leconte.While finishing his Berlincompetition film Intimate Strangers(Confidences Intimes), Leconteshot Dogora, a voyage throughCambodia. The intensely personal picture uses an imaginary language throughoutand boasts powerful music by Etienne Perruchon, a renowned composer in thetheatre.Warner Bros will release thefilm in ...
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AFM: First Look gets new overseas look
FirstLook Media, one of the founding AFMA members, has changed the name of itsinternational sales division Overseas Filmgroup to First Look International toreflect a greater confluence of company operations.Atthe same time, First Look Pictures revealed that it is releasing three of its domestictitles through IDP, the US distribution partnership through ...
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News
Nelvana launches new media arm as earnings surge
The situation at Cinar may be dire but Canada''s other major children''s entertainment player is in robust health. Toronto-based Nelvana Limited posted strong fourth quarter results as it announced the creation of a new media division and several attendant projects, including the world''s first TV series in Flash Animation.Total revenue ...
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AFM: Bullock, Streep primed for comedic pairing
Universal Pictures and its specialist arm Focus Features areteaming up to distribute Stratus Films' romantic comedy Prime, which is set to go into production inthe autumn and stars Sandra Bullock and Meryl Streep.Universal will release Prime in the US, Focus is handling international sales, anarrangement mirroring that for the Weitz ...
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News
Becker says G'Day to Oz idol
Reiko Bradley from BeckerFilms International has picked up international rights on two unmade films,Australian mainstream teen comedy G'Day LA to be directed by veteran filmmaker Tom Jeffrey, and the edgy LoveJunkie by English-born US-basedindependent writer/director Ash.Australian Idol contestantRobert Mills has been cast in G'Day LA in what is believed to ...
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AFM: Rubin launches US independent distribution outfit First Independent
Former Artisan Televisionexecutive vice president Gary Rubin has launched the domestic distributionoutfit First Independent Pictures and expects to announce an initial slateshortly.The Santa Monica-basedcompany is backed by private investors and Rubin is in discussions with DavidHutkin of The Lewis Horwitz Organization and Mercantile National Bank's ArtStribley for production financing and ...
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Parker steps down as UK Film Council chair
Alan Parker is leaving as chairman of the UK Film Council after five years, the film support body confirmed this week.Stewart Till, vice-chairman of the council and head of UIP, is seen as a potential replacement for the position, which is expected to be filled over the summer. Parker will ...
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Reviews
Pearls And Pigs (Helmia Ja Sikoja)
Dir: Perttu Leppa. Finland. 2003. 113 mins.Feelgood comedy Pearls And Pigs was seen by around 1 in 40 Finns in the weeks after its home release late last year, and while being big in Finland is no watertight guarantee of international success, this likeable teen comedy has some serious Hollywood ...
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AFM: Rohmer floats with Funny Balloons
New French sales outfit Funny Balloons has picked up Latin American rights to Berlin competition film Triple Agent by Eric Rohmer and sold a raft of territories from its Berlin-AFM slate.Triple Agent - a period thriller shot almost entirely in interiors - is brought to market in other territories by ...
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AFM: Lightning strikes twice
Los Angeles-based production and distribution outfit Lightning Entertainment has picked up international sales to the drama This Girl's Life starring James Woods and the romantic comedy Perfect Opposites with Piper Perabo and Martin Henderson.In This Girl's Life a porn star hides her profession from the man she loves and her ...
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News
AFM: Senator strikes pair of Harold And Kumar sales
Senator International has sold two additional territories for its comedy Harold And Kumar Go To White Castle, which has just completed principal photography and is due to be released in the US in July through New Line.Constantin has picked up German rights and Metropolitan Films has acquired for France.John Cho ...
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News
AFM: Amuse buys android fantasy
Korean thriller Natural City has finally been sold to Japan by its producer-sales agent Tube Entertainment.The big budget android fantasy was sold to Amuse Entertainment for a 'first rate price' after negotiations which began in Mifed and wrapped post-Berlin.Ina rare deal, Tube also pre-sold Fighter In The Wind, a fictionalised ...
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News
AFM: RS Entertainment takes US for Unspeakable
Pav Films has named Randy Slaughter's LA-based RS Entertainment as US theatrical distributor for its debut feature, the psycho-thriller Unspeakable starring Dennis Hopper as an unbalanced prison warden opposite Dina Meyer, Lance Henriksen, Jeff Fahey and newcomer Pavan Grover.MGM has domestic television and DVD/home video rights while 20th Century Fox ...
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News
Frankie's Comeback wins Pathe Production Prize
The first Pathe Production Prize has gone to Frankie's Comeback, a comedy that will now be produced through UK National Lottery franchise Pathe Pictures.The project, written by former theatre actor Bernard Wright, was selected from the three winners of the inaugural Orange Prize for Screenwriting. It follows a washed-up showman ...
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News
AFM: Strings ties up key pre-sales
Danish film Strings, which is already being tipped as a contender for Official Selection at Cannes, has tied together a number of key pre-sales.The film, a dark fantasy adventure told with string puppets, was sold by Trust Film Sales to Ascot Elite for Switzerland, Russian Report for Russia, Haut Et ...
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AFM: France's Gemini does due Process
France's Gemini Films has taken on international sales duties for Process, the experimental thriller by CS Leigh, which screened as a special event at this month's Berlin festival.Containing next to no dialogue, only 29 edits and the cinematography of Yorgos Arvanitis, the film is an unusual look at a woman's ...
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AFM: New Select prays on Belgian sex fantasy
Japan's New Select was an early buyer for Belgian sexual fantasy film Praying Mantis.Lou Broclain plays a woman involved in a love triangle, who despite her best intentions feels herself turning into a praying mantis, the female insect that kills its partners immediately after mating. Directed by veteran film-maker Marc ...
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AFM: Sunflower takes root for Zhang
Chinese director Zhang Yang starts production next week in Beijing on Sunflower, a family story set against the backdrop of China's 'Cultural Revolution' in the late 1970s. The film stars Joan Chen as a mother focusing on finding a larger apartment for her family.Fortissimo Film Sales is handling world sales ...
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News
Catholics called on to denounce Gibson's Passion
Following a viewing on Monday of Mel Gibson's The Passion Of The Christ, the Chief Rabbi of Ireland, Dr Yaakov Pearlman, has asked the majority Catholic Church to denounce the film as anti-Semitic.He is reported in the Irish press today as urging the Catholic Church to clarify its official position, ...