Small MPU – Page 3879
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Sabatini named svp physical production at MGM
Veteranproduction executive Diane Sabatini has been named senior vice president ofphysical production at MGM.Sabatinihas worked for the past decade as production supervisor orproductioncoordinator on a dozen movies and her credits include Armageddon, Batman & Robin, The Rock, 21 Grams, and Anchorman: TheLegend Of Ron Burgundy.Executivevice president of production Andy Davis ...
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Universal, Focus strike multi-year deals with Vertigo
UniversalPictures and specialty division Focus Features have signed multi-yearagreements with Roy Lee and Doug Davison's dynamic production outfitVertigo Entertainment.Specifically, Universal Pictures has entered into afirst-look agreement with Vertigo, arguably Hollywood's leading Asiangenre remake specialists, for feature development and production, with Vertigoretaining the option to co-finance certain projects.Focuswill act as Vertigo's ...
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The Village gears up for first major launches through BVI
M NightShyamalan's latestmystery The Village launches in its first major markets in the UK and France this weekendthrough Buena Vista International (BVI).While thepicture's domestic performance has been below par by Shyamalan'sstandards, international prospects should be promising. The picture opened in Franceon Aug 18 and goes out in the UK on ...
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Alliance seeks licence for joint venture with BBC
Several Canadian entertainment companies including Alliance Atlantis Broadcasting, have applied for licences to operate digital specialty channels in the latest request for proposals by the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission. Among Alliance's proposals, which include channels devoted to independent film, books and biographical documentaries, is a partnership with BBC Worldwide ...
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FRANCE 20 August
King Arthur held the number one spot at the box office forits second week out with Spider-Man 2jumping up to the second spot and knocking out I, Robot which fell tonumber five, 37% off the previous week's take.Hellboy debuted at number three with 337,501admissions followed by the Garfieldmovie which performed ...
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Zabaltegi unveils festivals' top titles
Walter Salles' TheMotorcycle Diaries, Joshua Marston's MariaFull Of Grace, Mike Leigh's VeraDrake and three memorable documentaries are among the thirteen titlesselected by the San Sebastian International Film Festival (Sept 17-25) for itspopular "Festivals' Top" selection of hits from other festivals.Calling this year's selection "daring," San Sebastian haschosen three documentaries for ...
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HONG KONG 20 August
Emperor MotionPicture Group's The Twins Effect IIhas scored the highest opening of the year so far for a local film, grossingUS$1.4m from 65 screens.The film has notoutpaced the original, which grossed US$2m in its opening week last July, butis nonetheless a welcome boost for the local industry which has struggledagainst ...
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New film sales company opens in Germany
Germany's film sales community has a new player with thelaunch of Sola Media.Managed by Norwegian-born Solveig Langeland (pictured),Sola Media's initial sales line-upincludes Dito Tsintsadze's San Sebastian-winner Gun Shy (Schussangst), Pepe Danquart's latest feature film C(r)ook, Bernd Sahling's German FilmAward-winning children's film Blindflyers(Blindgaenger), the live-action/animation children's film Alby (Pumuckl) and Tony ...
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Slovenia has new box office champion
Slovenian comedy CheeseAnd Jam has become the most successful local film of all time in theterritory.The film was directed by Branko Djuric, star of the AcademyAward winning No Man's Land.Cheese And Jam wasreleased on 13 November 2003 and as of 4 August 2004 it has been seen by 153,163 viewers. ...
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Lord Of The Rings parody starts Swiss shoot
Shooting has begun this week in Switzerland on The Ring Thing, a Swiss parody of the Lord Of The Rings trilogy, which will bereleased theatrically at Christmas in Switzerland by the local outpost of BuenaVista International (BVI).Speaking exclusively to Screendaily.com,Kristian Widmer of Condor Communications, which is producing the film with ...
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Japanese horror hit to get sequel
Kadokawa Pictures has announced the production of One Missed Call 2, a sequel to theTakashi Miike horror hit that grossed $13.6m in Japan earlier this year and hassince been screened in nearly 30 countries around the world.The new film, however, will have a new director, TV veteranRenpei Tsukamoto, and a ...
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UK Film Council celebrates p&a fund success
The UK Film Council isclaiming a success for the first year and a half of its p&a fund forspecialised films, unveiling figures showing that titles backed by the £1m fundhave grossed £15m at the box-office.The fund, which underwroterelease costs on such films as WhaleRider, Goodbye Lenin! and The StationAgent, has ...
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Freeman to be honoured in PGA's 3rd Celebration of Diversity
MorganFreeman will be among recipients of honorary awards at the Producers Guild ofAmerica's (PGA) third Annual Celebration of Diversity in Los Angeles onOct 7.Freeman'sexecutive producing credits include Along Came A Spider, Levity, and the in-production drama Colours Straight Up.Previoushonorees include Salma Hayek, John Singleton, Phil Roman, Ang Lee, DannyGlover, and ...
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NETHERLANDS: News In Brief
Endemol takes stake in Italy's PalomarEndemol Entertainment, soon to be acquired by Spanish multimedia giant Telefonica, is taking a controlling 51% stake in Italian film and TV producer Palomar. Endemol, which produces successful format Big Brother, already owns Italian sitcom producer Aran and has subsidiaries and joint ventures in 14 ...
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McDonald's adds heat to Super Size Me in UK
Super Size Me directorMorgan Spurlock says a series of national newspaper adverts taken out in the UK by fast food chain McDonald's in response to his filmare both "fantastic" and "laughable"McDonald's has taken out full pageads in The Times, The Guardian, TheIndependent, The Scotsman and TheHerald. The ads, said one ...
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Politics takes centre stage at Edinburgh
Politics - and specifically theimpact of September 11 - has emerged as one of the strong themes among theBritish films showing at this year's Edinburgh International Film Festival (August 18-29).Kenny Glenaan's well received Yasmin, which tracks how the attack onthe World Trade Centre alters the world of a non-devout Muslim ...
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Bourne Supremacy holds well in UK, raises total to $11.2m
Universal'sthriller sequel The Bourne Supremacy added an estimated $5.2m on 698screens in five territories through UIP at the weekend for a $13.6minternational running total.The result was fuelled by a strong second weekend hold in the UK, where thepicture added $2.8m on 414 and dropped 35% for $11.2m. It remained secondbehind ...
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Exorcist rides horror train to the top
Warner Bros' ill-fatedhorror prequel Exorcist: The Beginning opened top at the weekend on anestimated $18.2m, exceeding expectations at the studio, which was so afraid ofa critical mauling it refused to schedule previews.The picture, whose chequeredproduction history entailed a re-shoot and three directors, stars StellanSkarsgard as a young Father Lankester Merrin ...
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Exorcist turns heads with so-so $18.2m debut
Warner Bros' ill-fatedhorror prequel Exorcist: The Beginning opened top at the weekend on anestimated $18.2m, exceeding expectations at the studio, which was so afraid ofa critical mauling it refused to schedule previews.The picture, whose chequeredproduction history entailed a re-shoot and three directors, stars StellanSkarsgard as a young Father Lankester Merrin ...