Small MPU – Page 775
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News
NORTH AMERICA 8 December
The story of the top 10occurred in fifth place this week as Sony's acclaimed stage adaptation Closeropened on limited release with an excellent $7.7m.Mike Nichols' adaptation ofPatrick Marber's harrowing relationship drama averaged $16,193 on 476 screens.Clive Owen, Natalie Portman, Jude law and Julia Roberts star as a London-basedcoterie whose rampant ...
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GERMANY 8 December
National Treasure lasted only one week at the top spot before beingousted by Bridget Jones: The Edge Of Reason which clocked up over $4.2min its first four days and the weekend's top screen average of $ 5,864.The 500,282 admissions werealmost 50% up on the opening performance of the first Bridget ...
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Reviews
Godzilla: Final Wars
Dir: Ryuhei Kitamura.Jap. 2004. 110mins.Godzilla: Final Wars, director Ryuhei Kitamura's send-off to the Big G,going into retirement after a 50-year run, is like one of those documentariesof R&B greats - the old guys can still play the notes, but the heat left along time ago. They once shook the world ...
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France, Switzerland sign co-production agreement
Franceand Switzerland have signed a co-production agreement with a view to "tightenthe bonds between the two cinematographic industries."Swissculture minister Pascal Couchepin was on hand with his French counterpartRenaud Donnedieu de Vabres in Paris for the signing of the new agreement whichreplaces and updates a 1977 accord. The new terms include ...
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German fund to bankroll Mann's Miami Vice
Three high profile big budget feature projects fromMichael Mann, Sam Mendes and Gary Ross have been shortlisted for considerationby the investors of Hannover Leasing's (HL) second Montranus media fund at ameeting in Munich next week (December 17).After consulting with film industry experts, theMunich-based fund has put forward three projects with ...
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Incredibles, Bridget cross $100m international mark
The Incredibles and Bridget Jones: The Edge Of Reason joinedthe ranks of $100m international grossers last weekend, making them the 16th and 17th films topass the mark in 2004.The latest Pixar and WorkingTitle hits join Harry Potter And The Prisoner Of Azkaban, Shrek 2,Spider-Man 2, Troy, The Day After Tomorrow, ...
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Italian industry rails against funding crisis
Italianentertainment body AGIS is once again urging the Italian government toimmediately address the financial problems that have been crippling the localfilm industry for the last 12 months.It is the second time in the last year that the Italianfilm sector has protested against massive cuts to state funds, endless delaysin handing ...
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Golden Network makes first foray into production
Hong Kong-based international sales agent Golden Network is making its first move into production with a three-picture slate which it will co-finance with Korea's NeGa Corporation.The slate includes Japanese picture Fatal End (working title), to be directed by Hibeo Nakata, while local star Fruit Chan is set to direct Public ...
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SERBIA/MONTENEGRO 8 December
Alexander opened this weekend in pole position inSerbia and Montenegro. With only six prints, an unusually low number for apicture of its scope even in such a small territory, Oliver Stone's epic sold16,715 admissions for the weekend, and with previews that started on Tuesday,it has now grossed $110,264 for Mirius.Out ...
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Disney favours Blu-Ray in DVD format face-off
Eight days after Paramount,Universal and Warner Bros announced their support of the next generation HD DVDin a deal with Toshiba, the Walt Disney Company has joined the Sony camp andthrown its weight behind rival technology Blu-Ray.Disney said it would becomea board member of the Blu-Ray Disc Association and Buena Vista ...
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Scullions signs partners to complete Hooligans movie
Mike and Kevin Scullion'sHooligans - The Movie Inc has signed a deal with Calgary-based production houseNomadic Pictures and secured completion funds from Dublin/Glasgow-basedHannaywood Studios and subsidiary Film Das Abra for their inaugural feature Hooligans.Both Hooligans - The MovieInc and Nomadic Pictures bring distribution partners to the table and areexpected to ...
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Samuel Goldwyn says yes to Lila
Samuel Goldwyn Films haspicked up North American rights to Ziad Doueiri's story of sexual awakening LilaSays (Lila Dit Ca).Doueiri's follow-up to WestBeirut stars newcomers Vahina Giacante, Mohammed Khouas and Karim Benhadou andrecently premiered at Toronto.The story centres on anattractive blonde who moves into a predominantly Arab neighbourhood and sets inmotion ...
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Rwanda, Voices get PGA Kramer award
Hotel Rwanda and Innocent Voices will share the Producers Guild of America's (PGA)2005 Stanley Kramer Award honouring work that highlights provocative socialissues.Hotel Rwanda producers A Kitman Ho and Terry George and InnocentVoices producers Lawrence Bender,Luis Mandoki and Alejandro Soberon will accept the honour at the PGA Awards onJan 22."This year's ...
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Parker's Denmead merges with Rogers & Cowan
Nikki Parker's LA-basedpublicity outfit Denmead Marketing has merged with public relations companyRogers & Cowan in a deal announced yesterday (8).Effective immediately,Parker becomes executive vice president of Rogers & Cowan and will team upwith Rogers & Cowan's executive vice president of worldwide film publicityand marketing Michael Dalling, whose clients include film ...
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Reviews
Andrew Lloyd Webber's The Phantom Of The Opera
Dir: Joel Schumacher.UK-US. 2004. 140mins.After Jesus ChristSuperstar and Evita, this is the third feature-version of an AndrewLloyd Webber musical and it suffers from the same problems in translation whichbeset its predecessors. Although filled with pleasures and confidently directedby Joel Schumacher, Phantom remains filmed rock-opera and it fails toignite as dramatic ...
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Reviews
Haven
Dir/scr: Frank E Flowers. UK-Ger-US-Sp. 2004. 115mins.Handsomely, even expensively mounted, and serviceably if notbrilliantly, acted, Haven is a filmso lacking in narrative skill, interesting characters, or anything but the mostshowily attractive situations andthemes that it self-destructs barely 15 minutes in and stays out of servicethroughout its long, long length.Despite the ...
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GREECE: Production Listings - 9 December
GREECE December 8PRE-PRODUCTIONEDUARD(CL Productions), Co-prod: JostHering Filme (Germany), Budget: Euros 1.7m Int'l Sales: The Greek Film Centre ,Distrib: Odeon S.A. Drama. An Albanian illegal immigrant gets involved in akilling in Greece. Fleeing the country returns to Albania where he is facedwith the stormy social and political situation of his birth ...
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Greek film industry faces Olympic cuts
Director KyriakosKatzourakis and producer Costas Labropoulos make a perfect match.The first, a well knownpainter, made a splash in 2003 with hisdebut docudrama The Way To The West.His film, which was hailedas the "best ever" by local critics, stormed the Greek State Cinema awards,toured an impressive round of international festivals (Yamagata, ...
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China Star adds talent to Hundred Years venture
China Star Entertainment has fleshed out its ambitious One Hundred Years Of Film production project, through which it plans to invest $150m a year in Asian production in a bid to woo local audiences back to Hong Kong films.The company - which announced at the AFM that it would produce ...
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Tom Group invests in leading Chinese film outfit
Hong Kong's Tom Group has joined the rush of overseas mediagroups investing in China's film and television industry by acquiring a 35%stake in leading private film producer and distributor Huayi BrothersInternational Holdings.The deal sees Tom Group acquire a 27% stake in HuayiBrothers for US$5m in cash. Tom will also subscribe ...