All United States articles – Page 1321

  • News

    du Toit named director of programming at Palm Springs

    2008-11-24T22:20:00Z

    Helen du Toit will serve as director of programming at the 2009 Palm Springs International Film Festival (PSIFF), set to run from January 8-19.Du Toit recently served as co-director with Carl Spence, who has segued into the role of lead programmer.She served in the festival's programming department in 1991 for ...

  • News

    Twilight's international numbers bigger than first thought

    2008-11-24T22:16:00Z

    Twilight grossed $9.6m from 1,275 venues in five international territories in a significant rise from initial estimates released by Summit International over the weekend.The vampire romance stormed to number one in Italy in the sixth biggest launch of the year on $5.8m from 601 prints and topped the charts in ...

  • News

    Tribeca Film Festival Doha to be launched November 2009

    2008-11-24T12:07:00Z

    Qatar Museums Authority (QMA) and New York's Tribeca Film Festival (TFF) are to launch a new international film festival, Tribeca Film Festival Doha. The first festival will take place November 10 - 14, 2009 and be presented at Doha's Museum of Islamic Art and in cinemas across Doha.The announcement was ...

  • News

    Italian distribution of Oliver Stone's W. secured by Dall'Angelo Pictures

    2008-11-24T11:10:00Z

    W., Oliver Stone's biopic of outgoing US president George W. Bush has been picked up by independent Italian distributor Dall'Angelo Pictures. The deal was agreed immediately following the film's Italian premiere on opening night of the 26th Turin Film Festival.It was brokered between QED International's executive vice-president of international distribution, ...

  • News

    SAG call for strike authorisation even as economic crisis deepens

    2008-11-24T01:07:00Z

    The Screen Actors Guild (SAG) said on Saturday [Nov 22] that it will ask its 120,000 membership to authorise a strike after negotiations with the studios collapsed despite the assistance of a federal mediator.The vote would take more than a month and require more than 75% approval to pass. The ...

  • News

    Quantum leads international pack, but Twilight draws blood in four markets

    2008-11-24T01:00:00Z

    Sony Pictures Releasing International's Quantum Of Solace remained the number one overseas title as an estimated $40.6m from 10,400 screens in 72 markets raised the running total to $309m.Combined with the $109m running total in North America the James Bond saga stands at $418m worldwide. Key international drivers were number ...

  • News

    Summit exceeds expectations with $70.6m opening for Twilight

    2008-11-24T00:48:00Z

    Summit Entertainment's Twilight exceeded grand expectations to deliver the biggest pound-for-pound launch of the year with an estimated $70.6m three-day debut that will instill confidence in an independent sector rattled by the financial crisis and the renewed prospect of an actors strike.Tween power turned out en masse for Catherine Hardwicke's ...

  • News

    Weinstein Company lays off 24 employees, 11% of workforce

    2008-11-23T16:26:00Z

    The Weinstein Company has become the latest prominent Hollywood business to cut staff in the economic crisis, laying off 24 employees or approximately 11% of the workforce.Sources did not name individuals or specify which departments have been hit, although it is understood the redundancies affect all departments and go across ...

  • News

    Summit greenlights New Moon after spectacular Twilight opening

    2008-11-23T16:00:00Z

    Buoyed by spectacular opening day results for Twilight, Summit Entertainment has taken the widely anticipated step of greenlighting the sequel New Moon. The vampire romance is estimated to have grossed $35.7m on Friday, an astonishing amount driven by record pre-sales. Approximately $7m of that amount comes from Thursday midnight screenings. ...

  • News

    LA-based Producer's Utopia launched as new production tool

    2008-11-21T16:55:00Z

    Los Angeles-based producer Andria Litto is one of the partnerslaunching Producer's Utopia, a new technology platform for the filmindustry.The secure Web-based programme (www.producersutopia.com) is used for storing and sharing documents related to film development and production, including scripts, contracts, budgets, call sheets, correspondence, deal memos, budgets, schedules and distribution agreements. ...

  • News

    Danish dark comedy Terribly Happy to get English-language remake

    2008-11-21T11:44:00Z

    Stillking Films and Fine & Mellow are planning an English-language remake of the Danish film Terribly Happy, with Henrik Ruben Genz remaining in the director's chair.Speaking to ScreenDaily.com from his Prague office, Stillking managing director Matthew Stillman said the film would be a scene-by-scene remake of the original, which won ...

  • Reviews

    Bolt

    2008-11-21T07:00:00Z

    Dir: Byron Howard & Chris Williams. US. 2008. 96 mins.

  • News

    Summit's Twilight arises in Russia, Italy, Mexico, Sweden

    2008-11-21T01:35:00Z

    Quantum Of Solace should cross $300m this weekend after racing to $267.4m through Sony Pictures Releasing International (SPRI).The latest James Bond saga opens in Australia on November 19 followed by Spain on November 21 and is expected to deliver strong holds in all its territories. Casino Royale amassed more than ...

  • News

    Image Entertainment merges with Nyx Acquisitions in $100m deal

    2008-11-21T01:33:00Z

    Nyx Acquisitions and Image Entertainment have merged in a $100m deal whereby Image stockholders will receive $2.75 per share in cash.The parties said the acquisition price represented a 299% premium to Image's closing share price of $0.69 on November 20 and a 267% premium to the 30-day average closing price ...

  • News

    Mila Kunis joins Denzel Washington, Gary Oldman in The Book Of Eli

    2008-11-21T01:31:00Z

    Mila Kunis has joined Denzel Washington and Gary Oldman on Alcon Entertainment and Silver Pictures’ $85m action thriller The Book Of Eli.Albert and Allen Hughes, whose last feature From Hell was released in 2001, will commence principal photography in New Mexico in February and Warner Bros has earmarked the North ...

  • News

    Columbia acquires comedy pitch by Perez for Happy Madison

    2008-11-21T01:29:00Z

    Columbia Pictures has acquired a comedy pitch by Mark Perez that Happy Madison Productions will develop at the studio.The story centres on a man in a troubled marriage who discovers a new way to create the perfect wife.Doug Belgrad, who is president of Columbia Pictures along with Matt Tolmach, will ...

  • News

    Columbia signs Mullens to adapt Moore's novel The Swap

    2008-11-21T01:27:00Z

    Columbia Pictures has signed the writing team of Tim and Tom Mullen to adapt Antony Moore's comedy novel The Swap.The story centres on an out-of-shape comic book dealer who loses a priceless part of his collection and follows that up by getting involved in romance and murder at his high ...

  • News

    Profile: Martin Gaiss

    2008-11-21T00:00:00Z

    Martin Gaiss leads a double life. By day he is Los Angeles-based vice-president of creative content at Twentieth Century Fox International. But in whatever spare time his job leaves him, the widely travelled German native is a writer-director whose first completed short, a witty tale of urban neurosis called Jarred, ...

  • News

    Seattle Film Festival announces $780,000 in grants

    2008-11-20T23:17:00Z

    The Seattle International Film Festival has received $750,000 in grants from The Wallace Foundation and $30,000 from The Academy Foundation Of The Academy Of Motion Picture Art And Sciences.The Wallace Foundation award will be spread out over four years to develop ethnic, youth and family outreach.The $30,000 received from The ...

  • News

    Bruce Tuchman promoted to president of MGM Networks

    2008-11-20T23:15:00Z

    Bruce Tuchman has been promoted to president of MGM Networks and will continue to be based in New York City.Tuchman reports to MGM chairman and CEO Harry Sloan and will continue to oversee the division, which manages and develops the company's activities in MGM and non-MGM branded international television channels ...