Small MPU – Page 1759
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News
Johnny English closes on $100m in international BO
Universal's smash spy spoof Johnny English grossed $3.9m from 2,679 sites in 29 countries over the weekend, raising its international running total to $98.6m.Holding firm in second place in the UK behind X2, Johnny English took $1.1m from 418 sites in its fifth week, dropping 41% from last weekend.The film ...
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George Lucas launches digital animation unit
Seventeen years after selling Pixar to Apple co-founder Steve Jobs for $10m, George Lucas has launched his own digital animation unit called Lucasfilm Animation.These days Pixar is riding high on a market capitalisation of $3.3bn, fuelled by the wolrdwide success of titles like Toy Story and Monsters, Inc. Its films ...
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Greenaway's Suitcases open for business
Peter Greenaway's opus The Tulse Luper Suitcases, has secured a clutch of key sales ahead of the world premiere on the last day of competition (Sat 24) of the first instalment: The Moab Story. Handled by Fortissimo Film Sales, the picture has been sold to Triangel Films for Scandinavia, Atalanta ...
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Sundance in Bed with Lions Gate comedy
Lions Gate Films International has sold US rights to Spanish comedy The Other Side Of The Bed to The Sundance Channel for theatrical release as part of its Sundance Film Series. The film, which marks the first ever US deal for Lions Gate International outside its domestic sister operation, rounds ...
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ProSieben, Sat1 mull collaboration options
German commercial broadcasters Sat1 and the ProSieben Media Group are considering forming a joint family of channels according to ProSieben's new chief Urs Rohner.The two groups are understood to be examining three scenarios. One involves Sat1 being brought into ProSieben with Sat1's shareholders becoming shareholders in ProSieben; while another sees ...
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Hong Kong sellers journey to Cannes
Media Asia has chosen to stay at home but several other Hong Kong sellers and buyers have made the trip to Cannes as the SARS crisis in the territory appears to be diminishing. Among the Hong Kong sellers who can be found either on the Croisette or in the Riviera ...
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CJ shoots first fully financed film
After years as a co-investor or distributor, Korean major, CJ Entertainment has begun production on its first fully financed picture. Filming started this week on comedy The Greatest Expectation, by first time director Oh Sang-hoon. Production is handled through CJ's new production division, which is headed by Seok Dong-jun, senior ...
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New Benelux buyer grabs Shara
Newly formed Dutch distributor Bright Angel Distribution has inked its first acquisition. It has bought all-Benelux rights to Cannes competition film Shara (Sharasoyju), which screens on the last Saturday of the festival. The deal was struck through French sales house Flach Pyramide International.The film, directed by Japanese director Kawase Naomi, ...
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Groundhog remake completes cast
Amores Perros star Goya Toledo has joined the cast of Il Giorno della Civetta, the Italian-Spanish remake of Groundhog Day, which starts shooting in the Canary Islands on Wednesday. Toledo will feature alongside popular local comedian Antonio Albanese, who will star in the lead role played by Bill Murray ...
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Young Hannibal Lecter joins Dino-sized slate
The grandfather of international sales Dino De Laurentiis arrives in Cannes next Tuesday (May 19) with seven major territories to sell on his $150m Alexander The Great epic as well as a brand new Hannibal Lecter project currently being plotted by Lecter's creator Thomas Harris.The Lecter Variation, which is being ...
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Shoreline launches Riptide horror division
Shoreline Entertainment CEO Morris Ruskin has teamed up with former advertising executive Steve Chicorel to form Riptide Entertainment, a new division of horror and action films for worldwide sales.The first two films from Riptide are based on the Judge Dredd comic book series about law enforcement in an apocalyptic future ...
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Shochiku flies with Scorsese's Aviator
Japan's Shochiku has stepped in as the first distributor to buy Martin Scorsese's The Aviator from Graham King's Initial Entertainment Group (IEG). IEG is producing as well as handling international sales on the film which is set to star Leonardo DiCaprio and Barry Pepper. Nicole Kidman, who was attached to ...
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HanWay adds Binoche, Fishburne thriller to Cannes slate
UK-based sales company HanWay has added thriller Scheherazade, starring Juliette Binoche and Laurence Fishburne, to its busy Cannes slate.Director Michael Apted, whose credits include Enigma and The World Is Not Enough, is to start shooting the thriller in the autumn, according to buyers. The film, named after the king's wife ...
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Vapor rises with Bullock, Fiennes
Buyers are abuzz at the casting attachments of Sandra Bullock and Ralph Fiennes to Renaissance Films' romantic fable Vapor which has been written and will be directed by Neil LaBute. Set to start production in the second half of the year, the film is the story of a struggling actress ...
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Senator closes Grudge sales
Senator International has closed a slew of deals leading into Cannes on The Grudge, the English-language remake of the hit Japanese film Ju-on. The film has been sold to Nippon Herald for Japan, Planeta for Spain, I Vision for South Korea and A Film for Benelux.Takashi Shimizu, who directed the ...
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Carlton, United merger hits competition snag
The proposed merger between UK media congloms Carlton Communications and United News & Media has hit a setback after being referred to the Competition Commission.The widely-expected decision by trade and industry secretary Stephen Byers comes after the Office of Fair Trading (OFT) raised concerns regarding both TV programming and advertising. ...
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Buena Onda: by filmmakers, for filmmakers
Over the last year or so, many events have deeply affected the way we live and the way we (have to) think about the world. Wars have been waged, diseases have struck, ecological disasters are becoming so common we are immune to their being reported and people have been moved ...
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Filmmakers unite to form sales agency
A band of festival-calibre filmmakers and producers are seeking a radical overhaul of the film sales business through a new agency that has secured financing for the initial year from the International Filmmakers Collective based in the UK and Monaco. Buena Onda Films was formally established last month as a ...
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Kinowelt back in distribution business
The reincarnated Kinowelt will be back in business as a theatrical distributor from July 1 under the management of Michael Koelmel and Bertil le Claire.Kinowelt's distribution activities will concentrate in future on 10-12 select titles each year and the distribution arm is set to begin in August with the animation ...
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German-UK development venture formed
Germany's MagicWorx has formed a development joint venture with What's The Story, the production outfit of UK casting directors Ros and John Hubbard (Lord Of The Rings) to join forces on developing high-profile feature projects budgeted at between $2m-$20m, with the majority being between $5m-10m.This move comes after the two ...