Category: International

MUMBAI: Warner Bros International Film Acquisitions has named Camela Galano as its president.

To be based in Burbank and reporting to Warner Bros executive vice-president of international Richard Fox, Galano will work closely with distribution executives in the studio‘s various distribution business units as well as in-country executives to maximise exhibition opportunities and best exploit the films across all windows.

Galano, who for many years served as president of New Line International, will be responsible for acquiring rights across all media to English-language third party productions.

Galano said, “Warner Bros has built the industry‘s premiere distribution business. I feel privileged to have the opportunity to work alongside Veronika Kwan-Rubinek, Ron Sanders, Jeff Schlesinger and all of the distribution executives and their teams throughout the company to acquire films that will truly augment the studio‘s films.”

Having spent more than 20 years at New Line Cinema, Galano most recently served as president of New Line International Releasing, where she oversaw and managed the release of New Line films in more than 120 territories for Warner Bros Pictures International.

She played a crucial role in international territory sales on the Lord Of The Rings trilogy and also handled international distribution of such franchises as Austin Powers, Blade and Rush Hour, as well as Seven and Wedding Crashers among others.
 

MUMBAI: Sources at Twentieth Century Fox have confirmed that Avatar had overtaken James Cameron‘s earlier film Titanic to become the biggest worldwide release of all time.

By the end of Monday, the film reached $1.859 billion overtaking Titanic‘s $1.843billion mark.

The next target that the film aims to achieve now is to become the first release ever to cross $2 billion. The international running total stands at $1.303 billion while that of the US has reached $554.9 million.

The global theatrical run continues in 122 countries around the world on more than 16,000 screens. Approximately 72 per cent of the global box-office or $1.35 billion has come from 3D screens.

In a statement a Fox spokesperson said, “We are deeply gratified that so many millions of people around the globe have embraced Avatar. The success, results from the efforts of literally thousands of people, who, over the course of several years, worked to bring James Cameron‘s vision of Pandora to life.”
 

MUMBAI: According to new data from the Korean Film Council (KOFIC), film exports from Korea fell by 32.9 per cent in 2009.

Sales companies sold 279 films to 41 countries for a total of $14.1million (KRW16.4bn) last year. In 2008, 354 films sold to the same number of countries for a total of $21million.

KOFIC‘s study attributes the fall to the slump in local production during 2007 and 2008, as well as the indirect effects of the global financial crisis.

Asia still accounts for the majority of sales, taking up 72.43 per cent, up from 61.67% year-on-year with Europe taking 16.8 per cent, down from 42.7 per cent and North America buying 6.31 per cent, down from 71.6 per cent.

While Japanese buyers accounted for 42.1 per cent of the total export, sales to China rose sharply 78.4 per cent to $1million. The figure is similar to that of sales to the much smaller market of Taiwan that also went up by 22.9 to $1 million.

The government body also noted upon international business developments besides the export of completed films.
 

MUMBAI: Director Tim Burton has been named as president of the jury for the 63rd Cannes Film Festival.

Burton follows in the footsteps of recent Cannes jury presidents as Wong Kar-wai, Stephen Frears, Sean Penn and actress Isabelle Huppert, who led the jury last year.

After accepting the appointment from Cannes chiefs Gilles Jacob and Thierry Fremaux, Burton said, “After spending my early life watching triple features and 48-hour horror movie marathons, I‘m finally ready for this. 

“It‘s a great honour and I look forward, with my fellow jurors, to watching some great films from around the world. When you think of Cannes, you think of world cinema. And as films have always been like dreams to me, this is a dream come true.”

Added Cannes festival president Jacob, “It‘s the first time an artist whose origins are in animation will preside over the jury of the Festival de Cannes. A filmmaker with a heart of gold and silver hands, Tim Burton is first and foremost a poet.

“He‘s a magician of visual delights who turns the screen into a fairy wonder. We hope his sweet madness and gothic humour will pervade the Croisette, bringing Christmas to all. Christmas and Halloween.”

Burton was a member of the main jury under Isabelle Adjani in 1997. His feature Ed Wood screened at the festival in 1995. This year‘s festival runs from May 12 to 23.

MUMBAI: Actress Renee Zellweger, Italian writer-director Francesca Comencini and veteran German actress Cornelia Froboess will be part of the international jury at the 60th Berlinale.

Somali-born writer Nuruddin Farah; Spanish producer José Maria Morales and Chinese actress Yu Nan will also sit on this year‘s jury, festival director Dieter Kosslick announced.
Herzog‘s appointment was announced last November.

Meanwhile, this year‘s Amnesty International Prizein the UK will be decided by a three-person jury composed of German actress Barbara Sukowa; documentary filmmaker Pagonis Pagonakis and Chloe Baird-Murray of Amnesty International. They will choose from films nominated from the competition, panorama and forum. Last year, the prize went to Hans-Christian Schmid‘s political drama Storm .

It has also been announced that veteran German filmmaker Michael Verheoven will head the three-person jury for this year‘s Best First Feature Award, which is open to debut feature films from the Panorama, Generation Kplus and 14plus sections as well as debut films from the Forum.

Verhoeven will be joined in his deliberations by actor Ben Foster and the leading Asian film industry figure Lorna Tee.

MUMBAI: The Hurt Locker took home the Darryl F. Zanuck Producer of the Year Award in the Theatrical Motion Pictures category at the 21st annual PGA Awards.

The award was shared by producer and director Kathryn Bigelow, screenwriter Mark Boal, Nicolas Chartier and Greg Shapiro. Bigelow thanked the PGA, saying “no other group of filmmakers could so understand the logistical challenges of making a film — particularly a tough little war film — in the middle of the summer in the Middle East.”

It may be recalled that Locker has so far picked up numerous critics awards.

But at the Golden Globes, Avatar walked off with the best drama prize, while at Saturday‘s SAG Awards, Inglourious Basterds picked up the film ensemble award, that Guild‘s equivalent of the best picture award.

In the other film categories, Up, produced by Jonas Rivera, floated to the top in the animated category. Rivera accepted on behalf of his grandfather, who recently returned home after an illness.

In the documentary categoy, The Cove that investigates the exploitation of dolphins, was awarded with the trophy going to Fisher Stevens and Paula DuPre Pesman.

The PGA also feted Sony Pictures Entertainment chairman and CEO Michael Lynton and co-chairman Amy Pascal with its 2010 Milestone Award, which was introduced by Will Smith.
 

MUMBAI: Pulling off its first pickup at Sundance, Lionsgate, acquired the North American rights of the Ryan Reynolds man-in-a-coffin thriller Buried for a sum of $ 4 million. The studio plans to release the film this year.

Besides Loinsgate, Screen Gems and Fox Searchlight were also in race to acquire the rights.

Rodrigo Cortes‘ thriller launched the first heated bidding war in Park City after its Saturday midnight premiere.

The thriller aims its camera at Reynolds as he attempts to break out of a coffin, from inside the coffin for 90 minutes.
 

MUMBAI: On Saturday, Avatar overtook Titanic‘s box-office record to become the biggest film of all time at the international box-office after it grossed $107 million in the weekend.

Still showing on approximately 11,800 screens in 111 markets, the film grossed more than $100 million for the sixth consecutive weekend and is already ahead of Titanic‘s $1.242 billion international mark by $46m.

Combined with North American gross of $552.8 million, Avatar‘s global running total stood at $1.84 billion and if everything goes well, the film is bound to overtake Titanic‘s $1.842 billion to become the biggest worldwide release in history.

In another spectacular result in China, the film added $11.7 million from 1,013 screens to cross $100 million, despite losing 1,500 2D screens last week to Confucius. The running total stands at an extraordinary $102.3 million after three weeks.

In its second weekend in Italy, Avatar added $13.6 million for $ 37.8 million. With France already on $123 million, several other territories are closing in on the $100 million mark. The film generated a further $8.9 million in Germany, $8 million in the UK and $3.9 million in Russia.

Avatar has become the first non-South Korean film to cross 10 million admissions and is now the biggest film of all time in Spain, Australia, Hong Kong and Chile having previously attained the distinction in China and Russia.

MUMBAI: Inglourious Basterds won the SAG cast performance award as Jeff Bridges and Sandra Bullock took the lead individual acting honours at the body‘s 16th annual awards in Los Angeles on 23 January.

Both Bridges and Bullock cemented their status as Academy Award front runners.

While Bridges won for his performance in Crazy Heart, Bullock won for the box-office smash The Blind Side.

Meanwhile Christoph Waltz for Inglourious Basterds and Mo‘Nique for Precious repeated their Golden Globe wins in the supporting actor category. At this stage it will take a major upset to deprive either of their Oscar come 7 March.
 

MUMBAI: A Superior Court Judge Peter Espinoza judge has ruled that Roman Polanski must return to the US to be sentenced in a decades-old sex case. Espinoza said that he ruled “in defense of the integrity of the justice system, he needs to surrender.”

His ruling is likely to be appealed.

Attorneys of the 76-year-old director have argued that their client should be sentenced in absentia to time already served after pleading guilty in 1978 to one count of unlawful sexual intercourse with a 13-year-old girl.

Prosecutors insist Polanski must appear in a Los Angeles courtroom and not be permitted to manipulate the justice system.

Polanski, arrested on a U.S. warrant, spent more than 60 days in a Swiss jail before being transferred to house arrest in his Swiss vacation home Dec. 4.

An attorney for Polanski‘s victim also urged Espinoza to have the director sentenced in absentia.

Attorneys of Polanski who fled to France and has been a fugitive ever since said that the judge‘s promise is binding and Polanski has served his full sentence. They have asked Espinoza for a full hearing with witnesses about allegations of judicial and prosecutorial misconduct in the case.

Polanski‘s victim, Samantha Geimer, was 13 when she met Polanski for a modeling shoot in Los Angeles in 1977. Polanski was accused of plying her with champagne and part of a Quaalude pill then raping her at Jack Nicholson‘s house.