Small MPU – Page 1791
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News
The Works scores with Bend It Like Beckham
UK-based sales outfit The Works has closed a slew of deals on its eagerly awaited comedy Bend It Like Beckham, directed by Gurinder Chadha, including a sale to Metropolitan Filmexport in France.The film, which stars Parminder Nagra, Jonathan Rhys Meyers, Shaznay Lewis and Juliet Stevenson in a story of an ...
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Madonna's Maverick Pictures teams with Splendid
Splendid Pictures, the new production and sales outfit formed on the merger of Germany's Splendid Medien and LA-based Cutting Edge Entertainment, has announced its first-look deal with Maverick Films, the film production arm of Madonna's company Maverick.Splendid will finance and produce Maverick's projects for the next year with an option ...
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MGM joins Korean remake rush
Korean seller Cineclick Asia has sold Hollywood remake rights on its hit martial arts comedy Hi Dharma to Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM).The film, about conflict and compromise between gangsters and some ass-kicking monks, was one of the top five in Korea last year, scoring a gross of $20.4m from its 207-print Nov ...
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New Latin buying group bids on seven big titles
Sun Distribution Group, a new Latin American buying consortium, has made its debut at the AFM with bids for up to seven of the largest films on offer, it says. The Buenos Aires-based distributor aims to acquire all Latin American rights to around eight theatrical titles its first year and ...
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New French buyer debuts with Filmax titles
The paint may still be wet on the shingle, but brand new production and distribution company Wild Side Films has made two purchases in its first market outing. By picking up Second Name and Oblivion from Spanish mini-major Filmax, the new company announces its arrival on the international market scene.Second ...
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News
Murdoch's Star goes theatrical across Asia
Star TV, Rupert Murdoch's pan-Asian satellite broadcast group, is making a major play to become a theatrical film distribution and production player across Asia.Under the management of the former Media Asia deputy general manager Peter Poon and production head group Michael Mak, the outfit has launched Fortune Star Pictures Limited.Stressing ...
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Columbia TriStar buys international on Mindhunters
Columbia TriStar Motion Picture Group has acquired the majority of international rights to Renny Harlin's action thriller Mindhunters from Intermedia. CTSMPG bought rights in France, Italy, the UK, Japan, Korea, Latin America and Australia & New Zealand among other territories to the movie that is being distributed by Dimension Films ...
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News
Boorman's wizardry casts Overseas spell
Director John Boorman is going back to Camelot with Knight's Castle, a $35m family fantasy movie about a boy's quest for Excalibur, being financed byFirst Look Media and Cinerenta.Based on the book by Edward Eager, the film is being produced with Boorman and Kevin Corrigan's Merlin Films and sold internationally ...
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News
Shochiku fights back with Samurai epics
After a production slowdown lasting 18 months, Japanese publicly-quoted movie powerhouse Shochiku is back in business, bringing to the AFM a new slate that includes a brace of high-profile Samurai epics.The Japanese company is making a teaser available on Tasogare Seibei (working title), which is set to be the first ...
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News
British Academy bestows awards on Fellowship
The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship Of The Ring was the big winner at last night's British Academy Film Awards with five awards including best film and best director for Peter Jackson.Moulin Rouge, which like Lord Of The Rings had 12 nominations, went away with three lower profile prizes ...
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News
Michael Jackson to make movies with Mark Damon
Michael Jackson is gettinginto film production through an unlikely alliance with international salesveteran Mark Damon. The pop superstar's Neverland Entertainment willinvest between $15m and $20m in Damon's production, financing and salesoutfit MDP Worldwide Entertainment Inc which is publicly traded on the TorontoStock Exchange.The agreement will seeNeverland become a major shareholder ...
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News
Korea's Nabi Pictures launches with epic roster
Jo Min-whan, the producer behind Korea's epic, Musa The Warrior, has launched a new production company and a slate that includes the most expensive Korean film of all time.The production roster of Jo's new outfit, Nabi Pictures, is headed by Musa director Kim Sung-soo's new project 625, an epic war ...
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News
Hong Kong's Emperor reveals five-picture slate
Hong Kong's Emperor Multimedia Group (EMG), which is on its way towards becoming one of the territory's major studios has unveiled a new five picture development slate.The company, which is now wrapping Jackie Chan comedy-action vehicle The Highbinders, has set Swordbearer, a $20m martial arts drama as the next project ...
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News
Berlusconi controversy builds to a climax
The controversial debate over Silvio Berlusconi's conflict of interest law, to be held in the Italian parliament this week, is set to co-incide with a 100,000-strong mass protest against the government in Rome. Justice Minister Roberto Castelli has expressed fears that the event could develop into violence. Last weekend, 40,000 ...
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News
Italy's state-backed film fund is cut by 50%
The Italian film industry has lost almost 50% of its state funding for local production, following an announcement by cultural minister Giuliano Urbani. The cut, from Euros 97.5m in 2001 to this year's budget of Euros 55.5m, is part of a widespread reduction in government funding for entertainment.Urbani said the ...
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Reviews
We Were Soldiers
Dir: Randall Wallace. US. 2002. 140min.The war genre, vigorously energised with such seminal films as Spielberg's Saving Private Ryan and Ridley Scott's visually impressive Black Hawk Down, takes several steps backwards with We Were Soldiers, an old-fashioned, moralistic Vietnam war movie that pays tribute not just to the soldiers in ...
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Reviews
Dragonfly
Dir Tom Shadyac. US. 2002. 104min.The Mothman Prophecies meets Patch Adams in Dragonfly, a preposterously plotted, highly sentimental supernatural thriller that lacks suspense or credibility even on its own terms. A star vehicle for Kevin Costner, who has not had a decent role in a long time, this manipulative hokum ...
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Spain's Quiero appoints Sahun as general manager
Spanish DTT platform Quiero TV has appointed Luis Sahun its new general manager following former GM Ildefonso de Miguel's resignation Friday (Feb 22). Sahun, a former executive at Quiero majority backer Auna (Retevision), moves up from his position as sub-director general at Quiero. Having directed the beleaguered platform since before ...
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Fortissimo celebrates strong AFM deals
Fortissimo Film Sales celebrated a successful AFM with sales of Tsai Ming-liang's Cannes 2001 competition film What Time Is It There' to the ICA for the UK and Pegasos for Germany. The ICA also bought Iwai Shinji's All About Lily Chou Chou. Japanese film Hush! Went to Crown Films for ...
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Fantasporto unveils new film festival of Gaia
The organisers of Portugal's premiere film festival, Fantasporto, have unveiled plans to launch a new annual event, the International Film Festival of Gaia, with a first edition scheduled for June 14-22, 2002.Set in the neighbouring city of Oporto, the Gaia festival will be non genre-specific, thus setting it apart from ...