Category: International

MUMBAI: Maya Entertainment has acquired the US rights of the gritty new thriller Greetings to the Devil from Celluloid Nightmares. On its part, Maya will release the film theatrically and on its video-on-demand platform.

“The Orozco brothers, based in Columbia, are creating some of the most exciting and visceral cinema to come from Latin America and we’re proud to bring their edgy new film with a gripping performance by Edgar Ramirez to the U.S. market,” said Tonantzin Esparza, Director of Acquisitions for Maya Entertainment.

Directed by Juan Philipe Orozco and written by Carlos steban Orozco (At the End of the Spectra), the film stars Edgar Ramirez, Ricardo Velez, Salvador del Solar and Patrick Delmas.

The film centers around Angel, a former guerilla rebel, is seeking a fresh start after turning in his arms and giving up his violent ways in exchange for amnesty. But after a victim from his former life kidnaps his daughter, Angel is given 72 hours to track down and murder the members of his former guerilla unit.

In addition to the Maya acquisition, the film was also sold to multiple foreign territories including Canada (Mongrel), UK (Revolver), Australia (Madman), France (Wild Side), Germany (Senator), Peru/ Ecuador/Bolivia (Star), Turkey (Calinos), Middle East and Indonesia (Pt Amero).

MUMBAI: Though the sequels of Kung Fu Panda and Hangover opened strongly in the foreign theatrical circuit, but it was Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides went on to wear the weekend’s No. 1 box-office crown.

On Stranger Tides reached the $600 million worldwide box office mark in just 12 days with a accumulated total of $623.7 million, making the sequel 2011’s biggest-grossing title globally.

The film’s foreign gross total has already surpassed that of the franchise original, 2003’s Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl, which racked up $352.9 million.

The fourth sequel in producer Jerry Bruckheimer’s fantasy-action franchise captured $122.8 million that was a 48% drop from the film’s record-setting opening of $260.4 million. The film’s total foreign box-office total so far comes to $470.8 million, more than three times its domestic gross of $152.9 million.

The sequel of Hangover II namely The Hangover Part II, that grossed $191.6 million on the foreign circuit, opened at 5,170 screens in 40 territories for $59 million, that is said to be three times higher than the comparable opening gross of Hangover in the same markets. The film finished second overall on the weekend.

Hangover II drew huge numbers from its No. 1 UK bow ($16.4 million from 920 screens, the biggest market opening for a U.S. comedy) and from Australia ($11.6 million from 424 screens). A first place debut in France kicked in $5.8 million from 445 screens, which Warners calculates was 154% higher the comparable market opening gross for the original. Germany and Russia will open this week.

On the other hand, Kung Fu Panda 2 in 3D opened in just 11 markets and drew $57 million from 8,023 locations. It ranked No. 3 on the weekend. The sequel to 2008’s Kung Fu Panda — which grossed a total of $416 million overseas — finished in the top spot in nine of its debut territories with China, Russia and South Korea leading the list. Paramount is the distributor in almost all markets.

In China the weekend threw off a humongous $18.5 million from 5,540 situations. Russia came up with $15 million from 700 sites while Korea (via C.J. Entertainment) chipped in $13 million from 1,080 venues. All-time opening box office records for an animation title were set in Singapore, the Philippines, Malaysia and in India.

This week will see Kung Fu Panda 2 opening in another 11 markets as it rolls out gradually over the summer month to capitalize on school holidays, topped by a Japan bow on 19 August.

MUMBAI: Warner Bros.‘ Todd Philips-directed The Hangover Part II grossed an estimated $30 million in a record showing for an R-rated comedy and is poised to gross $135 million in its first five days.

The film that earned $31.7 million on Thursday, is well on its way to gather more than $60 million in a total of Friday and Saturday.

Paramount and DreamWorks Animation‘s Kung Fu Panda 2, the film to release earned an estimated $13.5 million on Friday in a good showing. Opening on Thursday, the film‘s two-day total came to around $19.3 million.

Trade pundits believe that the film should pick up steam on Saturday as families become fully available. Thus it will be on track to gross between $65 to $70 million in its five-day run.

Coming in third position at Friday‘s box-office was Disney‘s Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides that is expected to gross between $9 to $10 million on Friday.

In the fourth position was Universal‘s R-rated female-comedy Bridesmaids.

MUMBAI: Seventy one-year old veteran Hollywood actor Al Pacino was recently honoured, when he received the Lee Strasberg Artistic Achievement Award from The Actors Fund that benefits members of the performing arts community.

On receiving the honour Pacino admitted that he was delighted to receive the prize.”I‘m honoured to receive the Lee Strasberg Artistic Achievement Award from The Actors Fund. From my decades of work in theatre and film, I know firsthand the importance of our community giving back to support those in need,” Pacino said.

Cheers and Frasier star Bebe Neuwirth was also feted at the event when she received the Actors Fund Medal of Honor.

Personalities including Alec Baldwin and Annette Bening co-chaired the ceremony.

MUMBAI: Kim Cattrall’s Meet Monica Velour will open the 2nd annual Aruba International Film Festival (AIFF) that is scheduled to go on from 10 to 16 June.

Along with, the festival organizers have announced the lineup of films that will be screened this year. The festival will showcase a variety of films from 13 different countries and feature several international premieres.

Among the titles, the international premieres at the AIFF include the Massimiliano Bruno directed Italian comedy Nessuno mi puo giudicare (Nobody Can Judge Me), American drama Meet Monica Velour, written and directed by Keith Bearden, the Mario Van Peebles directed drama Things Fall Apart, 50 Cent and Tequila among others.

The Festival’s “In Conversation With…” series will start on 11 June with the participation of Oscar winning director Jonathan Demme who will present his film The Agronomist at the festival.

Among the international stars confirmed to attend AIFF are Italian actress Paola Cortellesi, director Sergio Sanchez Suarez and his leading actress Daniela Schmidt, Mexican actress Barbara Mori, Italian actor and screenwriter Alessandro Calza and Polish director and artist Lech Majewski.

MUMBAI: After an unintentional six-year hiatus Cameron Crowe is coming back in a big way. He is roaring back with not one, but three feature films this year.

The first, The Union, a documentary about the album of the same name by Elton John and Leon Russell recently premiered on the opening night of the Tribeca Film Festival.

The director is still deep in production on another film, We Bought A Zoo scheduled to release this December. The drama, based on the novel by Benjamin Mee and co-scripted by Aline Brosh McKenna (The Devil Wears Prada), is about a father (Matt Damon) who moves his family to the countryside to re-open a struggling zoo. 

The third film scheduled this year will be a doc Crowe has been working on for quite some time now is Pearl Jam Twenty a career-spanning look at the Seattle rock band.

The documentary, that will have a September release, is being assembled from 18 to 20 hours of material from the band‘s long career as well as footage he‘s shot over the last year and a half.

MUMBAI: An independent film on Sarah Palin is all set to release in June, much early before the battle for the 2012 election.

Titled Undefeated, the film is slated to premiere in late June in Iowa and then hit New Hampshire, South Carolina and Nevada before opening in 50-100 markets nationwide. The film will seek a PG-13 rating, although an unrated edition may contain some anti-Palin language and imagery.

The two-hour, Palin-sanctioned documentary feature directed by conservative filmmaker Stephen K. Bannon will release before the HBO‘s Palin-John McCain biopic.

Bannon, who acquired audio rights to Palin‘s bestseller, Going Rogue, uses passages from the book to narrate the film. The film also uses clips of Rosie O‘Donnell, Matt Damon, Bill Maher, David Letterman, Louis C.K. and Howard Stern, all trashing Palin, in the doc‘s opening moments.

It is said that Bannon came onto the project as after being approached by Palin‘s aide Rebecca Mansour. Originally intended as a series of videos, Bannon opted to craft a feature out of the material with a reported budget of $1 million.
 

MUMBAI: Columbia Pictures has picked up the US distribution rights of Kathryn Bigelow and Mark Boal’s project regarding Navy Seal Team 6 and its hunt for Osama Bin Laden. Boal is incorporating the latest developments into the script.

The duo behind the Oscar-winning thriller The Hurt Locker have been working on the project for some time and were eyeing a summer start when real life events — Bin Laden’s killing by the black ops team — overtook the project. 

Boal and Bigelow are producing the film along with Megan Ellison of Annapurna Pictures, who are the financers.

The shoot of the film that is slated to begin in late summer, will be released in the US in the fourth quarter of 2012, according to the studio.

MUMBAI: MPI Media Group has acquired the North American rights of a new offbeat comedy-drama, A Bag Of Hammers, a co-production of Manor Film, Two Ships and Locomotive.

The distribution deal was negotiated by, of MPI Media Group executive vice president, Greg Newman and Josh Braun of Submarine. “We consider ourselves very lucky to have found A Bag of Hammers,” stated Newman. “Brian Crano and his remarkable cast have crafted a unique film whose mixture of comedy and poignancy will move all who see it,” he added. 

A Bag Of Hammers stars Jake Sandvig and Jason Ritter as Alan and Ben, slacker buddies who run a valet-parking scam to steal cars. Their lucrative operation, however, is threatened when a stressed-out single mom moves in next door with her street-smart young son. When Alan’s sister notices that the boy is being neglected, she calls child protective services which sets off a chain of startling events that will change everyone’s lives.

The cast also includes Todd Louiso and Gabriel Macht. The film has been written by director Crano and Sandvig.

Founded in 1976, Chicago-based MPI Media Group remains one of the largest independent entertainment companies producing and distributing a compelling slate of the world’s most respected cinema, documentaries, performances and television programmes.

MUMBAI: According to sources, Charlie Sheen has been offered $3 million to star in a dating website‘s advertisement campaign. He was reportedly approached by Establishedmen.com to front a forthcoming marketing campaign for their service, which matches rich men with needy women.

The company is also keen to install him as its president that would have him in charge of promotions, advertisements and sales.

The 45-year-old is believed to have a clause written in his contract that ensures he does not face the sack for rude outbursts. It is being said that Sheen could receive $2 million per episode of Two And A Half Men, despite being sacked from the show due to his erratic behaviour.