Small MPU – Page 2139
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News
Norwegian hit Elling to get prequel and sequel
Following its latest triumph at Spain's Peniscola international comedy film festival, Norway's Maipo Film is preparing two further films based on the Elling franchise, now that the comedy has become one of the most successful Norwegian films ever.Theatre director Peter Naess' second big screen effort Elling became the biggest local ...
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Village Roadshow stock continues to tumble
Shares in Village Roadshow continued to dive following an announcement last Friday that it would suspend payment of its stock dividend.At the close of trading on Tuesday (June 11) the shares stood at A$1.17, down 32% compared with their A$1.72 prior to the announcement. In a statement the company said ...
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Czech arthouse flourishes during mainstream boom
With a boom in multiplex building and cinema admissions rising over the 10 million mark for the first time in half a decade, mainstream film is more popular than ever in the Czech Republic. And yet it is experimental film making that is grabbing most of the attention.Of all the ...
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Bac Majestic to seek $12.2m cash lifeline
Bac Majestic, arguably France's most admired distribution group, is to raise $12.3m (Euros13m) in a bid for survival.In a statement to the Paris stock-market yesterday, Bac revealed that it has teamed up with an unnamed "European investor" with a view to "rebuilding its equity capital". The company, which put out ...
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Italian directors team for Israeli-Palestinian conflict documentary
Eleven Italian filmmakers, including celebrated veterans Ettore Scola, Mario Monicelli and Francesco Maselli are currently on location in Palestine shooting a documentary on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.The group of directors, from Italy's Cinema del Presente Foundation have visited parts of Israel including Jerusalem and Tel Aviv and are currently examining ...
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Russian films return to Moscow film festival
Three Russian titles feature in this year's Moscow International Film Festival competition line-up, after last year's total lack of any local films in competition at all. The Festival, which runs June 21-30, this week unveiled its competition programme of sixteen feature films including, Alexander Rogozhkin's Cuckoo, Roman Pregunov's Solitude Of ...
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8 Femmes, 8 1/2 open Bangkok film festival
The Bangkok International Film Festival (Nov 15 - 26) will open with a double bill of Federico Fellini's classic 8 1/2, followed by Francois Ozon's 8 Femmes - to introduce this year's theme of 'From Masters To Present'.The 11-day event expects to present 50 international features, including movies from South ...
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Reviews
Divine Secrets Of The Ya-Ya Sisterhood
Dir: Callie Khouri. US. 2002. 116 mins. With millions of loyal readers waiting eagerly to see their fictional heroines made real on screen, Divine Secrets Of The Ya-Ya Sisterhood, based on Rebecca Wells' 1996 international best-seller, is primed to become the must-see chick flick of the 2002 summer. Fans will ...
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News
Collapse of Germany's Kirch empire now complete
The collapse of German media mogul Leo Kirch's empire was sealed on Wednesday with the filing for insolvency of two more divisions of the KirchGroup Management holding TaurusHolding and the KirchBeteiligung unit which holds shareholdings in other companies such as Axel Springer Verlag and Formula 1, both sought protection from ...
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Spider-Man sets yet more international records
The release of Sam Raimi's Spider-Man set yet more records following a host of new openings.In Paris, the June 12 opening saw a massive 10,645 admissions from 27 prints for its first screening. This beat French film Asterix and Obelix : Mission Cleopatra (8,818 tickets sold from 28 screens ...
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News
India scraps $2m limit on bank financing for films
The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has withdrawn the $2m ceiling on banks for film financing, opening the way for much-needed boost to industry investment.The RBI stated that banks should fix an overall exposure limit to the film industry and ensure that advances are distributed over a number of films ...
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News
Entertainment is UK distribution champion
Entertainment Film Distributors has had the largest share of the UK box office for the first five months of 2002, a sustained domination never before achieved by a UK independent.With strong performances from Blade II ($13.3m) and Gosford Park ($17.9m) and the continuing success of The Lord Of The ...
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TV audience determines German blockbuster director's next movie
Michael "Bully" Herbig, director-producer of German box-office phenomenon Manitou's Shoe, is planning a spoof of cult TV series Star Trek as his next film after asking viewers of his TV show Bullyparade to vote among four alternatives "Basically, the whole thing was an act of desperation", Herbig explained. "I asked ...
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News
New manager to oversee BAC Majestic restructure
Alain Mamou-Mani has been named general manager of BAC Majestic and will oversee the financial restructuring of the beleaguered French distribution outfit. Bac Majestic, which issued a profit warning for 2002, lost Euros 13m in 2001 and is seeking an equivalent cash injection, announced on June 7 a draft agreement ...
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News
Cannes prizes boost international box office performance
Several of last month's Cannes Film Festival prize-winners are reaping the box-office benefits of the prestige and, more importantly, the free publicity generated by the high-profile event.In 2000 Palme d'Or winner Dancer In The Dark gained massive pre-release publicity that saw it take $14m from international markets and another $4m ...
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Celador Films appoints head of production and development
Leading UK independent TV producer Celador Films, best known for hit quiz show Who Wants To Be A Millionaire', is stepping up its film activities.The company has appointed Christian Colson, head of development at Miramax Films' UK arm, to oversee production and development. Colson and Celador have just collaborated on ...
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Lions Gate, TVA pact for Canadian distribution
Canadian entertainment companies Lions Gate Films and TVA Films have formed a joint venture to share distribution operations in English Canada. The new entity, JV Media, will handle theatrical, video/DVD and television product with a staff from both companies.Headquartered in Toronto, JV Media will be headed by Lions Gate's Brad ...
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Metro Tartan adds to Cannes acquisitions
Independent UK distributor Metro Tartan Distribution has acquired Un Certain Regard title Angel On The Right and Respiro, which won the Grand Prize at the Cannes Critics Week.Other recent additions to Metro Tartan's line-up include Full Time-Killer, a Hong Kong film directed by Johnny To and starring Andy Lau, and ...
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Sony Pictures Classics snares Spider for US
Sony PicturesClassics has picked up US rights to David Cronenberg's Cannes competitionentry Spider, payingbetween $1.5m and $2m. The deal was finalized with Spider's sales agent Capitol Films onlyyesterday, according to SPC co-president Tom Bernard.Bernard told ScreenDaily he plans on releasing the $12m Canada/UKcoproduction for an Oscar-nomination run at Christmas. "It's ...
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Reviews
A Map Of The Heart (Der Felsen)
Dir: Dominik Graf. Germany, 2002. 117mins.The second of three German films in competition at Berlin, A Map Of The Heart is a story of mixed-up emotions and crossed destinies set on the island of Corsica. Shot in mini-DV, the film is also unusual in its narrative structure - based on ...