Small MPU – Page 388

  • News

    First Independent takes slew of territory rights on Green

    2006-11-07T00:00:00Z

    GaryRubin's First Independent Pictures is extending its global reach and has pickedup US, Australian/New Zealand and South African rights from ShorelineEntertainment to the comedy Everything's Gone Green.FirstIndependent plans a spring 2007 US release for the project, based on the firstscreenplay by Generation X writer Douglas Coupland.Thestory centres on a slacker ...

  • News

    MPD/Arclight joint venture Union Station buys Dark Corners

    2006-11-07T00:00:00Z

    UnionStation Media has picked up all domestic rights from Shoreline Entertainment toRay Gower's psychological thriller Dark Corners. Thepicture stars Thora Birch and Toby Stephens in the story of a troubled youngwoman who wakes up one day as a different person and discovers she is beingstalked by malevolent creatures.Gowerwrote the screenplay ...

  • News

    Venture capitalist Hoff to finance Vertigo chiller Echo

    2006-11-07T04:00:00Z

    Roy Lee and Doug Davison'sprolific LA-based production outfit Vertigo Entertainment has secured thebacking of venture capitalist Robert Hoff and his new company RightOffEntertainment to fully finance The Echo, aremake of 2004 Filipino thriller Sigaw.Hoff, a general partner atCrosspoint Venture Partners since 1983, will executive produce the film whileLee and Davison ...

  • News

    Gheko buys rights to Spanish remake of Saving Grace

    2006-11-07T15:00:00Z

    Spain's Gheko Films has bought the rights to remake Saving Grace in the Spanish language - with Carmen Maura attached in the Brenda Blethyn role for a Galicia shoot.This will follow the outfit's upcoming La Mula, to be directed by Il Postino's Michael Radford. La Mula's shoot is set for ...

  • News

    Swipe takes UK rights to Frankie and Princesses

    2006-11-07T15:00:00Z

    London-based Swipe Films picked up UK rights to the Diane Kruger drama Frankie and the Spain's Goya-winning Princesses at the American Film Market. The feature film debut of Fabienne Berthaud, Frankie follows the vicissitudes of a top fashion model, played by Diane Kruger, who co-produced.The film was sold by MK2 ...

  • News

    France Telecom to open cinema investment arm

    2006-11-07T20:00:00Z

    France Telecom is to open a film rights arm with plans to co-produce 10 to 15 French and European films a year.The new division will be operational in the first quarter of 2007 and run by Frederique Dumas. Dumas is an independent producer who formerly consulted on film to the ...

  • News

    IFFI promises to show Indian diversity to film world

    2006-11-07T20:00:00Z

    The theme of the 37th International Film Festival of India Goa 2006 is 'Diversity of Indian cinema' and The Whole World Is One Family.The press conference to unveil the festival plans saw a predominance of Bollywood personalities, including Anupam Kher, Rahul Bose, Ashoke Pandit and Madhur Bhandarkar who all have ...

  • News

    Scorsese signs four-year, first-look deal with Paramount

    2006-11-07T00:00:00Z

    Martin Scorsese and Paramount Pictures have signed a four-yearfirst-look deal under which the filmmaker will direct and produce features,made-for-DVD, digital content and television for the studio and specialty labelParamount Vantage.The deal marks Scorsese's first overall pact in several years, andwill commence on Nov 1. Paramount will have the opportunity co-finance ...

  • News

    PorchLight picks up international rights to VC Andrews pic Rain

    2006-11-07T00:00:00Z

    PorchLight Entertainment has picked up international theatrical,broadcast and DVD rights to Rain starring Faye Dunaway and Robert Loggia.Based on the novel by VC Andrews, Rain follows the story of a witness to acrime who discovers the identity of her true mother while in protective custodyand goes on to become a ...

  • News

    TWC takes US rights to Death Defying Acts

    2006-11-08T00:00:00Z

    The Weinstein Company (TWC) has picked up US rights to Gillian Armstrong's Harry Houdini drama Death DefyingActs.The project stars Guy Pearce as the master escapologist who goeson tour in 1926 and embarks upon an affair with an exotic psychic played byCatherine Zeta Jones.The psychic and her daughter attempt to con ...

  • News

    Mandate pre-sells key territories on Horsemen

    2006-11-08T00:00:00Z

    Mandate Pictures has closed major territory pre-sales on JonasAkerlund's dark crime thriller Horsemen starring Dennis Quaid and Ziyi Zhang.Rights have gone to Icon for the UK and Australia, Concorde forGermany, West Video for CIS, and Sony Pictures Entertainment for Spain,Portugal, South Africa, Latin America and South Korea.Deals also closed in ...

  • News

    Solo Dios Sabe finds domestic home in Palm

    2006-11-08T00:00:00Z

    Palm Pictures has acquired North American and Caribbean rights to CarlosBolado's Brazilian feature Solo Dios Sabe.The distributor plans an early 2007 theatrical release followed byDVD roll-out on the Palm Pictures label.Solo Dios Sabe, which premiered at Sundance this year, follows the relationshipof a Mexican journalist who falls in love with ...

  • News

    Whitaker, Inconvenient Truth honoured at Santa Barbara

    2006-11-08T00:00:00Z

    Forest Whitaker will receive the 2007 Santa Barbara InternationalFilm Festival's American Riviera Award and Al Gore and Davis Guggenheim will berecognised for their achievements in nature filmmaking for An InconvenientTruth.As previously announced Will Smith will collect the Modern Master Awardat the event, which runs from Jan 25-Feb 4, 2007.For more ...

  • News

    Media Asia seals further deals on Confession, Exiled

    2006-11-08T00:00:00Z

    As the AFM draws to a closetoday, Hong Kong's Media Asia has sealed several more sales on its upcomingAndrew Lau and Alan Mak title ConfessionOf Pain and Johnnie To's Exiled. Italy's Lucky Red acquired cop drama ConfessionOf Pain, which stars Tony Leung Chiu-wai and Takeshi Kaneshiro, along with Turkey's Filma, ...

  • News

    Tsai Ming-liang withdraws Sleep from Golden Horse

    2006-11-08T00:00:00Z

    Taiwan auteur TsaiMing-liang has withdrawn his new feature IDon't Want to Sleep Alone from the Golden Horse Film Awards, declaring thathe would no longer participate in the event.Tsai has also withdrawn hisfilm from the affiliated Golden Horse Film Festival, despite its slot as theevent's opening gala on Nov 10.Tsai's film, ...

  • News

    Better Things lie ahead

    2006-11-08T00:00:00Z

    Award winning short film-maker Duane Hopkins has received $486,000 (£255,000) from the UK Film Council's New Cinema Fund towards his debut feature Better Things.Currently in production, Better Things tells the story of a group of young adults struggling to get ahead in life with limited opportunities. Hopkins' script for the ...

  • News

    Cirjanic to head TV sales at FilmFour Int'l

    2000-07-11T12:27:00Z

    The UK's FilmFour has appointed Nada Cirjanic to the newly-created post of TV sales manager at overseas sales arm FilmFour International.Cirjanic joins FilmFour on August 21 from Granada Media International, where she managed TV, video and format sales to France, Italy and Turkey for two years. She will be responsible ...

  • News

    Constantin and ProSieben Sat 1 continue output deal

    2006-11-08T00:00:00Z

    Leading German independentdistributor Constantin Film Verleihhas extended its output deal with the ProSiebenSat.1 Group for a further twoyears.The new arrangement, which takeseffect from February 2007, will cover all of the ConstantinGroup's national and international in-house and co-productions shooting betweenJanuary 1, 2007 and December 31, 2008.Aside from the current deal -which ...

  • News

    WBIC withdraws from Chinese cinema investments

    2006-11-08T00:00:00Z

    Warner Bros InternationalCinemas (WBIC) has decided to stop investing in the Chinese cinema market dueto a tightened policy on foreign investment, the company said in a statement inShanghai today. However, Warner Bros' otherinvestments in China, including local-language production and home video, will not beaffected the statement said.The main reason for ...

  • News

    Vatican world premiere for Hardwicke's Nativity

    2006-11-08T16:00:00Z

    New Line cinema's Virgin Mary themed picture Nativity is to hold its world premiere at the Vatican on November 24.Eagle Pictures, the film's Italian distributor, said the Catholic prelates, academics and experts in Catholicism gave approved the film's "poetic and faithful retelling of the Scriptures" after a private viewing.The premiere ...