Small MPU – Page 874

  • News

    Focus strikes deals on Jarmusch's Broken Flowers

    2005-05-15T04:00:00Z

    Focus Features has closed major territory sales on Jim Jarmusch's BrokenFlowers ahead of the comedy's competition screening on Tuesday Rights have been sold to Roadshow in Australia, Momentum Pictures in theUK, Tobis in Germany, Bac Films in France, Mikado in Italy, Vertigo in Spain,Europe Films in Brazil, and Nordisk Film ...

  • News

    CAA advances on Asia with Loehr hire, WEB alliance

    2005-05-15T04:00:00Z

    Hollywood talent powerhouse CAA has confirmed itsaggressive moves into Asia,bringing China's Hengdian Group to the Croisette to meetwestern players, unveiling an alliance with start-up Korean entertainmentcompany WEB, and advising both Taiwan's private equity fund Double Edge andJapanese giant Kadokawa.The agency'slatest international hire, Beijing-based Peter Loehr, is working with CAA'sexisting Asian ...

  • News

    Icon Falls for Gere, Neeson action film

    2005-05-15T04:00:00Z

    Icon EntertainmentInternational has taken on worldwide rights to Seraphim Falls, a psychological action film set during CivilWar-era America starring Richard Gere and Liam Neeson.First-time director DavidVon Ancken, whose TV credits include The Shield and CSI NY, is in pre-production, with David Flynn and Bruce Davey producing.Icon's distribution offshoot Icon Film ...

  • News

    Constantin on the Edge with Applebaum

    2005-05-15T04:00:00Z

    Germany's Constantin Filmwill finance and co-produce commercials director Chris Applebaum's featuredebut Water's Edge with SidGanis' Out Of The Blue Entertainment. Set for a September star inArizona's Lake Powell and Los Angeles, the horror-thriller stars JordanaBrewster and follows a group of holidaymakers whose lake trip turns sour when abrutal serial killer ...

  • News

    Arclight strikes US deal for Story, gets All Together

    2005-05-15T04:00:00Z

    ArclightFilms has sold US rights for Benny Chan's action drama New Police Story to a combination ofMiramax, The Weinstein Company and Lions Gate for an undisclosed sum.JackieChan (no relation) stars as a Hong Kong police inspector who breaks down when histeam is wiped out by a vicious gang and eventually ...

  • News

    Fortissimo ices Snow Cake, Shanghai sales

    2005-05-15T04:00:00Z

    Fortissimo Films has closeda string of sales on Competition title Shanghai Dreams and drama Snow Cake, starring Sigourney Weaver, and racked up furtherdeals on The Night Listener and U-CarmeneKhayelitsha.Shanghai Dreams, directed by China's Wang Xiaoshuai, has gone toItaly's Teodora, Brazil's Imagem, A Films for Benelux and Roadshow for Greece.A drama ...

  • News

    Weinstein Company boards Bodrov's Nomad

    2005-05-15T04:00:00Z

    The WeinsteinCompany has acquired a second film from French sales and finance outfit WildBunch this week. Bob and HarveyWeinstein have taken North American, UK, Australian/New Zealand and SouthAfrican rights to Nomad, starring Jason Scott Lee, Kuno Becker and Jay Hernandez. Directedby Sergei Bodrov and Talgat Temenov, it was written by ...

  • News

    Mandate moves Slither, Whisper sales

    2005-05-14T00:00:00Z

    Joe Drake's Mandate Pictureshas struck a raft of major territory sales on Gold Circle Films' horror titles Slither and Whisper.Whisper has been sold toConcorde Films for Germany, Metropolitan Films for France, Vertigo Films forSpain, Pyramid for CIS and Paradiso for Benelux. UniversalPictures will release in the US and Gold Circle ...

  • News

    Ferretti named as Venice festival jury president

    2005-05-14T00:00:00Z

    Legendary production designer Dante Ferretti, who has worked on filmsfrom Fellini's Satyricon to Scorsese's The Aviator, has been namedpresident of the international jury at this year's 62nd annualedition of the Venice Film Festival (Aug 31-Sept 10).Venice Biennale president Davide Croff and Mostra director Marco Muellermade the announcement at the Cannes ...

  • News

    German lobby group rallies round De Hadeln

    2000-05-09T20:06:00Z

    German film industry lobby group SPIO (Spitzenorganisation de Deutschenfilmwirtschaft) has mounted a stern criticism of the Berlin festival organisers and their handling of Moritz De Hadeln's recent dismissal.In a statement, SPIO this week said that De Hadeln had been fired without notice "after successfully heading the second most important A-List ...

  • News

    Ben Ammar moves into Besson's Cinema City

    2005-05-15T04:00:00Z

    Producer-businessman Tarak Ben Ammar hasannounced plans to move most of his post-production facilities into Frenchfilmmaker Luc Besson's Cinema City complex just outside Paris.In the past few years, Ben Ammar has beenon a buying spree of most of the post-production and sound facilities in Franceincluding LTC, Ex-Machina, Les Audis de Joinville ...

  • Reviews

    Kiss Kiss Bang Bang

    2005-05-15T00:00:00Z

    Dir Shane Black, US. 2005. 103 mins.A hugely entertaining mix of film noir, comic buddy movie andmetacinematic romp, Kiss KissBang Bang marks the directing debut of one-time wunderkind scripter Shane Black (LethalWeapon, The Long Kiss Goodnight), who has been off the radar for the best partof a decade. From ...

  • Reviews

    The Power Of Nightmares

    2005-05-15T00:00:00Z

    Dir Adam Curtis, UK, 2005, 157 mins.Unlike most political documentaries made in the US, this highlyentertaining and informative BBC production refreshingly offers itself as astraightforward, almost academic essay, with thesis statement, development and demonstration,and concluding restatement of thesis. Its basic argument is that theAmerican neo-conservative political movement (exemplified by the ...

  • Reviews

    Quando Sei Nato Non Puoi Piu Nasconderti (Once You're Born You Can No Longer Hide)

    2005-05-15T00:00:00Z

    Dir Marco Tullio Giordana.Italy/UK/Fr. 2005. 118 mins The latest film by The Best of Youth director Marco Tullio Giordana is, like Gianni Amelio's Lamerica, a portrait of an Italy that is trying to get to grips with its newstatus as a multicultural society, whose immigrant population has increasedthirty-fold since 1970. ...

  • News

    Myriad tunes up Copying Beethoven deals

    2005-05-16T04:00:00Z

    Kirk D'Amico's MyriadPictures has concluded sales on Copying Beethoven to Japan's Tohokushinsha, Brazil's VideofilmCorporation, Portugal's LNK Home Entertainment, Greece's PCV, Eastern Europe'sParadise/MGN, Iceland's Myndform and Singapore's Shaw Renters. Ed Harris and Diane Krugerstar in the Sidney Kimmel Entertainment and Film & Entertainment VIPMedienfonds co-production, which is produced by Kimmel, Michael ...

  • News

    High-tech revolution cuts production costs

    2005-05-15T00:00:00Z

    Digital technology is in theprocess of revolutionising the economics of film-making, according to ahigh-powered panel of experts at an HP-sponsored event on Saturday.At the heart of the changeis a clear trend: wide and easy access to higher computing capabilities atlower costs.Huge changes are alreadyunderway, panellists said. "Technology that was once ...

  • News

    Alzheimer Case wins China entry deal

    2005-05-16T04:00:00Z

    The Alzheimer Case is China-bound. Erik Van Looy'spsychological thriller has been chosen as one of the quota of 20 westernfeatures that the Chinese Government has passed for release this year. The dealwas negotiated with Hong Kong distributor Domo Media and China Film by UK-basedsales agent, The Works. The Chinese Censorship ...

  • News

    Indican takes US for Wedding comedy

    2005-05-15T00:00:00Z

    US distributor IndicanPictures has picked up rights to Laurent Firode's comedy My First Wedding, which stars Rachel Leigh Cook. The deal was negotiated byDavid Gordian of Paragraph Pictures and Shaun Hill of Indican Pictures. ChrisDavis International handling foreign sales.Cook plays blushingbride-to-be Vanessa who enlists the help of her local Priest ...

  • News

    Slimline Rotterdam festival to roll back the years

    2005-05-16T04:00:00Z

    The Rotterdam Festival(IFFR) is to downsize, festival director Sandra den Hamer has confirmed inCannes. Aiming torecapture some of the intimacy which characterised the festival's early yearsunder founder Hubert Bals, Den Hamer says she is planning to cut the programmeby around 20%."One of the biggest challenges for me isto make it ...

  • News

    New Films takes the world for Prodigy, Last Run

    2005-05-16T04:00:00Z

    Nesim Hason's LosAngeles-based production and distribution company New Films International haspicked up worldwide rights to William Kaufman's assassination thriller TheProdigy and Jonathan Segal's comedy-drama The Last Run.Both pictures have been soldas part of a package deal to Brazil's Conquest Films.The Last Run, starring The Wonder Years' Fred Savage as a ...