The Damned United play in France, UK gets Glorious 39

France:

Under the shadow of The Twilight Saga: New Moon, nine other films took the chance of going up against the vampire behemoth on Wednesday (November 18).. Arguably the highest-profile picture to be released was Rapt, Lucas Belvaux’s latest film which is based on the true story of a wealthy executive who finds himself kidnapped and held for ransom. Yvan Attal plays the lead character, Anne Consigny and Francoise Fabian also star.

Also out this week is The Damned United, Tom Hooper’s biopic of former Leeds United manager Brian Clough. Starring Michael Sheen, the film is only out on six screens this week via SPRI, but this is a bittersweet week for France when it comes to football so perhaps the quite limited release was particularly prescient.

Another UK production, In The Loop made its debut on Wednesday on 36 screens. The comedy is one of the best reviewed of the year and stars a bevy of folks familiar to discerning French audiences including  James Gandolfini and Steve Coogan. CTV International released the picture which has its own take on the relationship between the US and Britain in the lead up to the Iraq war.

UK:

Stephen Poliakoff’s Glorious 39 opens in the West End from November 20, distributed by Momentum Pictures. The UK production is set in England on the eve of the Second World War, and focuses on a beautiful young actress (played by Romola Garai).

Metrodome Distribution gives The First Day Of The Rest Of Your Life a limited release, also from November 20. The French drama follows the life of a family on five significant days. The film has grossed $11.8m worldwide to date.

Germany:

Carsten Ludwig and Jan-Christoph Glaser’s 66/67 - Fairplay Is Over, starring Fabian Hinrichs and Christoph Bach as members of a gang of football hooligans, has been released by Farbfilm in around 20 cities throughout Germany. The Frisbee Films production was a prize-winner at the Zürich Film Festival and had its German premiere at last month’s Hof Film Days.

Swiss director Bettina Oberli follows her comedy Late Bloomers with the crime mystery Tannöd, based on the bestseller of the same name, starring Julia Jentsch and the late Monica Bleibtreu. Constantin Film has a nationwide release for the German-Swiss co-production.

Matthias Glasner’s latest feature film This Is Love opens at 40 towns and cities throughout Germany for Kinowelt. The first production by Badlands Film - a company set up by Glasner with fellow director Lars Kraume and actor Jürgen Vogel - had its world premiere at the San Sebastian International Film Festival.

Spain:

Oscar winning director Sam Mendes’ comedy drama Away We Go has so far passed under the box office radar, taking only $9m in the US and less than $1m in most foreign territories. But Universal will be hoping Spain can break the trend where comedies tend to perform well. Based on a script by acclaimed authors Dave Eggers and Vendela Vida, Away We Go stars John Krasinski and Maya Rudolph as a couple expecting a baby who travel the US looking to find a place to settle down.

In a complete shift from Monsoon’s Wedding, Mira Nair’s latest film Amelia is a biopic starring Hilary Swank as the famous American pilot Amelia Earhart who disappeared over the Pacific Ocean in 1937 while attempting to fly around the world. Despite some rather unfavourable reviews, the film has already taken $13m in the US and Swank picked up the best actress prize at the Hollywood Film Festival. Fox will distribute in Spain.

Catalan director Isaki Lacuesta’s politically charged film The Codemned (Los Condenados) hits Spanish screens through local outfit Barton Film following its Fipresci award win at the San Sebastian film festival  in September where it featured in Official Selection. The film stars Daniel Fanego as an exiled Argentinian living in Spain who returns to his home country to find the remains of a political activist who was killed in the 1970s during the dictatorship.