ITV

Category: Movies

  • Galaxy Pictures debuts with release of Psych 9

    MUMBAI: UK distribution outfit Galaxy Pictures‘ debut feature Psych 9 will be the first film released theatrically.


    The $4m supernatural thriller set in an abandoned hospital and starring Sara Foster, Cary Elwes, Michael Biehn, and Gabriel Mann will roll-out across 30 digital screens in the UK on 5 February.


    Galaxy is handling international sales and will be selling Psych 9 at the European Film Market in Berlin.


    Universal Pictures UK has acquired UK home entertainment rights of the film through its indi VISION label.

  • Polanski granted $4.5m bail; will be under house arrest

    MUMBAI: After the Swiss Criminal Court granted him a $4.5m bail on 25 November, filmmaker Roman Polanski will leave prison and return to his Swiss chalet immediately.


    He is considered to be a high flight risk by the authorities and will remain under electronic tagging, effectively placing him under house at his Alpine residence.


    The 76-year-old Polanski will stay in Switzerland while authorities take a decision whether to extradite him to the US to face a court in connection to a series of charges that go back to 1997.


    Polanksi‘s lawyers requested for a cash bail against his Paris apartment. It is understood that the LA County district attorney‘s office didn‘t want to comment on the development.


    Polanski was arrested and taken into custody by Swiss authorities on 26 September after he arrived in Zurich to receive a lifetime achievement award.


    Polanski is understood to have been working from prison on The Ghost that is set to have its world premiere in Berlin in February next.

  • MGM in a deal with You Tube; starts posting content

    MUMBAI: After entering into a deal, MGM has begun posting TV episodes and full-length movies to YouTube from Monday, it is learnt. However, the content would be very limited.


    As per the deal, MGM will partake of YouTube‘s Video ID copyright protection system and may, in some cases, elect to leave pirated clips up alongside advertising that provides revenue to MGM.


    The initial offering will include the old-school version of American Gladiators, action movies like Bulletproof Monk and The Magnificent Seven, and clips from popular movies such as Legally Blonde. 


    MGM already has a YouTube channel – which says the studio has actually been a member of the site since October 2005. As of Sunday evening, the channel only has three pieces of content, all trailers of Valkyrie posted in the last month or so. Also, for now, the channel allows embeds (many other major media companies disable them).


    Hulu also offers MGM content, and has done so ever since it initially came out last year. One of MGM‘s largest shareholders, Providence Equity Partners, also ponied up Hulu‘s $100 million in outside funding.


    Insiders say that other studios that might start posting full-length content on YouTube soon include Time Warner and Sony.

  • Kurbaan fails to allure

    MUMBAI: The pre-release hype of Karan Johar‘s Kurbaan was so much that people presumed it to be the biggest hit of the year. On the contrary, the film opened below expectations.


    Going by the paid previews held a day earlier, no one could even guess that the film would fare dismally once it opened in regular shows.


    The collections of the first day was around 55-60 per cent at multiplexes while in single-screens it was between 35 to 40 per cent. The film, a UTV release, did a net business of approximately Rs 40 million on day one in India with the Bombay territory contributing Rs 15 million.


    Reacting to the box-office performance of Kurbaan in his multiplex, Fun Cinema COO Vishal Kapur said, “While the response to the paid preview was very good all over, the opening has not been all that good; the reactions not being very positive. Though the weekend occupancy was on the higher side, to expect the same from Monday to Thursday was a bit dicey.”


    Reacting to the collections over the weekend, trade analyst Amod Mehra says, “No one wants to see films on terrorism anymore. Yes we had New York in between, but the film was not publicized as a film based on terrorism. On the other hand, the Dharma Productions film was publicised in a wrong manner.”


    Said Cinemax senior vice president Devang Sampat, “Our expectations to rake in around 85 to 90 per cent collections went awry on Sunday when we recorded just 50 per cent sales.”


    Come Monday, the business fell 55 per cent lower than that recorded on Friday and the release of Venus Records & Tapes‘ De Dana Dan next week will impact further business of Kurbaan.


    In the overseas market too, the film has under-performed in the three key markets of UK, US and Australia.

  • Mariah Carey to be honoured at Palm Springs fest

    MUMBAI: Mariah Carey will receive the breakthrough performance award at the 21st Palm Springs International Film Festival in January. She will receive the award at the 21st Annual Palm Springs International Film Festival.


    The singer-and-actress will receive the coveted honour in recognition of her portrayal of a dowdy social worker in Precious.


    Said Festival chairman Harold Matzner, “We‘re delighted to be able to present the Breakthrough Performance Award to the extraordinary, very beautiful and versatile Mariah Carey, who, in a critically acclaimed role, completely transformed herself from a glamorous music icon to a forthright social worker for the role of Ms. Weiss in Precious.”


    Earlier winners of the prize include Jennifer Hudson, Marion Cotillard and Freida Pinto, who all went on to win an Oscar for their performances.

  • Joana Vicente is interim executive director of IFP

    MUMBAI: Joana Vicente will serve as interim executive director of IFP after Michelle Byrd stepped down from her chair after 16 years.


    Vicente currently serves on the board of IFP and is part of the executive search committee to replace Byrd.She will take over as executive director effective 1 December and work with Byrd throughout the month of to ensure a smooth transition. 


    She will remain interim executive director until the search committee finds a permanent replacement. During this time she will manage the IFP, continue fundraising efforts, and develop and implement key elements of the body‘s strategic plan.


    Said IFP board chairman Jeffrey Levy-Hinte, “Michelle has been with the organization for 16 years and filling her shoes has proven to be a Herculean task.


    “Her long standing commitment to and intimate knowledge of IFP, as well as her business, film, and non-profit experience makes her an extremely qualified candidate for the position.”

  • Works of Julien Temple and Paul Andrew at European networking event

    MUMBAI: New projects from Julien Temple and Paul Andrew Williams will be among those who will be presented at the inaugural European networking event in the French Alps, Co-Production Village Arc 1950.


    The three-day co-production market that runs from 6 to 8 December will run as part of the first Les Arcs European Film Festival in Les Arcs, France.


    Temple‘s Fake is being produced by UK‘s F&ME, while Williams, will direct Wisdom‘s Last Legs produced by Steel Mill Pictures.


    Other projects being presented include Peter Hewitt‘s The Giraffe, Yesterday and Barnaby Southcombe‘s I, Anna.


    Ten European films will compete for the Crystal Arrow award, including Daniel Monzon‘s Cell 211, Damjan Kozole‘s Slovenka and Luca Guadagnino‘s Io Sono L‘Amore.

  • Katherine Brooks to direct female jockey biopic for Gravity Films

    MUMBAI: LA-based Gravity Films has signed Katherine Brooks to direct its first film Freak that will be based on the life of Julie Krone, the only female jockey in the US to win a Triple Crown race.


    The casting of the film is underway ahead of a scheduled April start in Michigan and New York. Brooks wrote the screenplay based on Krone‘s autobiography Riding For My Life.


    Brooks and Gravity Films will produce the film while John Manulis will serve as executive producer.


    Krone achieved close to 4,000 career wins and claimed more than $90m in purse earnings. She also bears the distinction of becoming the only female jockey to be inducted into the National Museum of Racing and Hall Of Fame.


    Brooks recently directed the drama Waking Madison starring Elisabeth Shue, Sarah Roemer, Taryn Manning, Will Patton and Frances Conroy. Her credits include the feature Loving Annabelle

  • Multiplexes in race for 3D screens before Avatar release

    MUMBAI: Such is the buzz around James Cameron‘s Avatar that multiplexes across India are gearing up to encash on it before the movie hits theatres on 18 December.


    Filmed with a fusion camera developed by Cameron himself, Avatar is expected to revolutionise film-watching experience for which multiplexes are investing huge amounts for upgrading their infrastructure to bring this extravaganza to moviegoers in 3D.


    Commenting on the hype around Avatar, Fox Star Studios India, CEO Vijay Singh says, “There is an incredible buzz building up for Avatar across the India media, our theatrical partners and the core audiences.


    “The dramatic increase in the number of 3D screens, as well as the strong interest that we are getting from the Hindi, Tamil and Telugu language markets reaffirms the strong buzz for the film.”


    While Avatar will be released in 2D as well as 3D formats, theatre owners are particularly expecting a huge demand for 3D version. From the time producers Fox Star Studios screened a 20 minutes footage of the film for exhibitors in August, the number of 2D and 3D screens in India have increased from around 12 to 40 and 60 to 70 screens respectively till 18 December.


    This covers cities across India including major markets like Mumbai, Delhi, Pune, Bengaluru, Chennai and Hyderabad as well as smaller centers like Coimbatore, Amritsar, Kerala, Jaipur and Ahmedabad.


    Says Fame Cinemas AVP – Distribution, Programming and Corporate Sales Aditya Shroff, “I believe that the 3D version of Avatar is going to be the revolutionary movie for this generation and hence we are trying to go as wide as possible with the 3D release. To me Avatar will do to 3D what Reliance did to mobile phone usage in India.”


    Fun Cinemas COO Vikas Kapur avers, ” We had already installed 3D screens in our plexes in Andheri and Chembur by Scrable Entertainment before we screened Journey To The Centre of the Earth last year. Yes, by the time the film is released, our plexes at Bengaluru and Amritsar will have 3D screens in place.


    To a question as to what makes multiplexes interested in fitting their plexes with 3D screens, Kapur avers,” After Titanic, James Cameron has come out with a beautiful film in Avatar, the trailers of which are being show all around. Since, they feel that the film, a mix of animation and action, will do great business, multiplex owners are going in for 3D screens.”


    Adds Scrabble Entertainment CEO Ranjit Thakur, “The askance for 2K Digital and 3D Systems is coming from all corners of the county. Even the single-screen exhibitors want to capitalise on the opportunity of screening Avatar in 3D.”


    “The demand for the film has created a worldwide shortage of digital equipment and even silver screens for 3D are hard to get,” Thakur adds.


    In the past, 3D Hollywood films like Ice Age 3, Final Destination and Journey To The Centre of the Earth have done good business in India.

  • I&B secretary Raghu Menon inaugurates Indian Panorama at IFFI -2009

    GOA: The Indian Panorama at the IFFI – 2009 was inaugurated by the Secretary – Ministry of Information & Broadcasting, (Government of India), Raghu Menon today.


    The chairman and members of feature and non-feature film jury were felicitated on the occasion. Muzaffar Ali, chairperson of the feature film jury introduced the co-members of the jury Leslie Carvalho, Raja Mitra and Bobby Bedi.


    Members of the non-feature film jury who were also present at the inaugural included Paromita Vohra, Sameer Hanchate and Kapilas Bhuyan.


    Speaking on the occasion, Ali said, “Viewing 104 films to arrive at a decision to select the 26 films for the Indian Panorama Feature Film Section on the basis of the theme, structure, treatment and design of the film made for quite an enlightening experience.” 


    He said that he was happy that the films presented a pan-Indian representation and hoped that the language of moving images would bring about a brotherhood world over and help get over armed conflicts.


    Ali later urged the Secretary (I&B) to facilitate screening of such critically acclaimed films on Doordarshan, to not only help ensure a wider audience to these directors, but also to make good quality cinema available to larger number of people.


    While the Konkani film Paltadcho Manis (The man Beyond the Bridge)‘ directed by Laxmikant Shetgaonkar was a unanimous decision of the jury to be the opening film for the Feature Film section, Dot In for Motion opened the Indian Panorama Non-Feature Film section.


    During the 10-day film festival, of the 44 films that would be screened in the Indian Panorama, 26 will be feature and 18 non-feature films.