Small MPU – Page 1582
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News
Financing - Box office - Stars fell to earth
After a disappointing 2008, Indian distributors and exhibitors have high hopes for 2009. Last year began weakly, went on to have a few upswings thanks to some unexpected small-budget successes, and finished with two December hits. Take into account the cost of producing, marketing and releasing the films, however, and ...
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Financing - China - Soft landing or china crisis'
The credit crunch may be inflicting damage on China's export and real-estate industry but major players in the country's nascent film business are optimistic they can escape with just flesh wounds.September 2008 is known around the world as the start of the global meltdown; in China it was also the ...
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Ali Zaoua scores at Stockholm and Mannheim
Morocco's Foreign-language Oscar entry, Ali Zaoua, was awarded the Bronze Horse for best film at the 11th Stockholm International Film Festival which wrapped Sunday. Directed by Nabil Ayouch, the film is about a street urchin and his orphan friends, and was acted by real-life street kids in Casablanca.The festival's other ...
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International - Pounds and dollars
Spri's Seven Pounds weighed in at number one in the international box-office chart for the January 16-18 weekend, with a 58% rise in three-day takings after expanding to 27 territories. The film debuted in several key markets, including Spain, where it placed top (with $4.2m from 322 screens), and France ...
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United Kingdom - Mamma Mia! The numbers!
UK box-office revenues for 2008 saw a 5% increase on the previous year, according to figures released by the UK Film Council (Ukfc). The figures, collated by Nielsen EDI, show box-office takings in the UK and Ireland totalled $1.3bn (£949.5m) in 2008, compared with $1.2bn (£907m) in 2007, making it ...
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Sony leads domestic box office weekend with Paul Blart, Underworld 3
Kevin James, the star of TV's King Of Queens and a familiar supporting player in comedy features, confirmed his place in the big league as his first lead role in Sony's Paul Blart: Mall Cop stayed top in its second weekend, grossing an estimated $21.5m for an impressive $64.8m after ...
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Valkyrie leads international box office with $13.2m in 13 markets
20th Century Fox continues to dominate the International box office in 2009 with another strong showing this weekend, lead by the much anticipated opening ofValkyrie.Tom Cruise sits atop the Hollywood overseas releases after the MGM/UA release Valkyrieplundered an estimated $13.2m through Fox International from 2,283 screens in 13 markets.The wartime ...
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Slumdog takes ensemble cast honours at the SAG Awards
Fox Searchlight's Slumdog Millionaire cemented its status as the Oscar favourite as it won the 15th annual SAG Awards' ensemble cast prize on Sunday night [January 25], while Sean Penn, Meryl Streep, Kate Winslet and Heath Ledger took the top individual acting honours.Penn's acclaimed performance in Focus Features' Milk as ...
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Hardwicke, Hunt, Levine among Film Independent Directors panelists
Directors Catherine Hardwicke, Courtney Hunt and Jonathan Levine will be among the panelists at Film Independent's ninth annual Directors Close-Up: Conversations On The Art Of Filmmaking series, set to run at The Landmark - West Los Angeles from February 4- March 11.Subjects under discussion will include music and sound design, ...
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Holland and Italy threaten to withdraw from Eurimages fund
A potentially serious rift is building at the heart of Eurimages, the Council of Europe fund for the co-production, distribution and exhibition of European cinematographic works. It has emerged that both Holland and Italy are threatening to withdraw from the fund, which currently has 33 members. 'They are unhappy with ...
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Reviews
Endgame
Dir: Peter Travis. 2009. UK. 109 mins. A fascinating subject - the behind-the-scenes negotiations between the ANC and South African government to end apartheid in 1985 - gets an intelligent if unremarkable screen treatment in Endgame, a made-for-TV thriller which had its world premiere at Sundance. Encompassing too many plot ...
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Golden Lion for Lifetime Achievement for Lasseter and Disney-Pixar .
The 66th Venice International Film Festival is to award the Golden Lion for Lifetime Achievement to American director and producer, John Lasseter and to the directors of Disney*Pixar. For the first time in the history of the Venice Film Festival, the Golden Lion will celebrate the contribution of the directors ...
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Top 20 European law firm SJ Berwin to close UK media division
Top 20 European law firm SJ Berwin is to close its four-partner UK media division. The teamspecialises in media asset finance work. The closure of the media division will affect ten staff comprising four-partners, three associates and three secretaries. The partners are Tim Johnson who heads up the team, Sarah ...
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Jupiter Telecom postpones Mothers listing
Japan's largest cable operator, Jupiter Telecommunications, has postponed its scheduled December 8 initial public offering (IPO) on the Mothers market of the Tokyo Stock Exchange.Company management decided that, given the beatings that IPOs have recently taken on Mothers, it would be difficult to raise funds at their asking price. Jupiter ...
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UK 's Cineworld to install additional 74 digital projectors
Cineworld, the UK cinema chain has joined with technology outfit NEC to double its number of digital screens. The investment in digital amounts to $5.57m (£4m) and sets the cinema chain up for forthcoming major 3-D films due out later this year, including James Cameron's Avatar. Under the deal, Cineworld, ...
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Bavaria Film International adds six Berlinale world premieres to EFM sales slate
Bavaria Film International has added six of the forthcoming Berlinale's world premieres to its sales slate for the upcoming European Film Market (EFM). The six titles are: Maren Ade's competition film Everyone Else (Alle Anderen) about a couple during a holiday on Sardinia and their futile attempt to be as ...
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Happy New Year bags four Swiss Film Prize nominations
Christoph Schaub's Happy New Year garnered four nominations for the 2009 Swiss Film Prize QUARTZ in the categories of best fiction film, best screenplay, best actor and best film score. The five episodes intertwine the fates of people of a disparate group of people during Zurich's New Year's Eve celebrations. ...
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High Point Films picks up Dutch hit Winter In Wartime for EFM
Winter In Wartime, the biggest Dutch box-office hit of recent months, has been picked up for international sales by London-based High Point Films. The first market screenings of the film are planned for Berlin next month. The film is proving a minor box-office phenomenon in the Netherlands and attracted over ...
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Reviews
Underworld: Rise Of The Lycans
Dir Patrick Tatopoulos. US. 2009. 92 mins With Kate Beckinsale absent and her ex-partner Michael Sheen as its unlikely star, it's no surprise that the third instalment of the werewolves-vs-vampires Underworld franchise is more of a traditional creature feature than its hip'n'sexy predecessors. The shift might attract a few new, ...
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Ortenberg leaves Lionsgate to run theatrical arm of TWC
The Weinstein Company has issued a bold statement of intent about the strength of its upcoming slate and commitment to theatrical releasing by hiring Lionsgate veteran Tom Ortenberg as president of theatrical films.Ortenberg served more than 12 years at Lionsgate, most recently as president of theatrical films, and will commence ...