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Category: Movies

  • Fox to release Avatar in 4 languages in India

    MUMBAI: Fox Star Studios has acquired the India distribution rights of James Cameron‘s 3D film Avatar, touted to be the most expensive movie made on a budget of Rs 12 billion ($230 million).


    The movie will release in English, Hindi, Telugu and Tamil languages, Fox Star Studios India CEO Vijay Singh tells Indiantelevision.com.


    Avatar will release across the globe on 18 December. “For a big-budget film, there needs to be big-time marketing. Avatar is going to be the biggest-ever Hollywood release in India. We have designed a 360 degree marketing strategy with the film ads and trailers splashed across press, TV and outdoor.”


    Fox expects the movie to be a big hit in India. “A couple of years ago, we had just twelve 3D screens and today we have 50. 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,” avers Singh.
     

  • First deal inked at MAMI

    MUMBAI: The Mumbai Film Festival, organised by MAMI, has ushered in business opportunities for the film trade in India.


    The first deal has happened with Mumbai-based Enlighten Film Society, a NGO dedicated to the cause of spreading good cinema, buying the home video rights of Antichrist.


    Venus, sources say, is in advanced talks with James P. Mimikos, producer-owner of Argovela Films to exhibit Indian films in Greece.


    MAMI had introduced the Film Business Centre this year to boost Indian films in overseas markets. 


    Says Festival director S Narayan, “All that is happening or is going to happen at the Film Business Centre. Deals don‘t happen all of a sudden, it takes time. Wait and watch!”


    The Film Business Centre is a first step towards setting up a full-fledged ‘Film Market.‘ It aims to provide a networking platform for Indian distributors, producers, television channels and the foreign sales agents, festival directors and producers to enhance the international sales of Indian films under the aegis of the Mumbai Film Festival.


    Adds Narayan, “The UK Film Council is also using this platform provided by Mumbai Film Festival to launch distribution of British independent films in India. We are also aware that business discussions have been taken place with Japanese companies and other European sales agents. This indicates that the seed which we have sown has started to grow.”

  • Eros in a multi-film content syndication deal with Star

    MUMBAI: Eros International has signed a multi-film content syndication deal with Star Network.


    The deal with Star comprises a package of films from the Eros library including the recently released Aladin that stars Amitabh Bachchan, Riteish Deshmukh and Jacqueline Fernandes among others.


    Additionally the company has also inked television syndication deals with other networks in Asia like CCTV China, Vietnam TV, Astro TV, RTM TV Malaysia, IRIB TV Iran, Media Corp TV Singapore and MBC TV Dubai.


    Talking about the deal, Star Gold general manager Sameer Rao says, “We are pleased to have acquired the satellite rights for various films including Aladin from Eros International. For us, this represents yet another significant deal in our continuing and fruitful business relationship with Eros International.”


    Avers Eros president – distribution Pranab Kapadia, “Further strengthening the association between Eros and Star, we are delighted to see our films being showcased on one of the largest network of Asian TV Channels and we are sure that this invaluable content will deliver consistent viewership for Star.


    “Consistent with our strategy, we have once again executed a combination of pre-sales with Aladin and some recent and catalogue films to make an attractive package for Star.”

  • Helen Mirren in action thriller Red

    MUMBAI: Helen Mirren will join Bruce Willis and Morgan Freeman for Summit Entertainment‘s Red, a action thriller based on the WildStorm/DC Comics title originally written by Warren Ellis and illustrated by Cully Hamner.


    The film is about Paul Moses, a C.I.A. agent whose unique talent for killing took him around the world, from one hotspot to another, carrying out the deadly orders of his superiors. And when he retired, he wanted to put his bloody past behind him. But when a new administration takes over the White House, the powers that be decide that Moses knows too much, forcing him back into the game against the agency that trained him.  


    Willis will play the retired CIA agent, Paul Moses. He must thwart a hit team sent by the new leader of the CIA (Freeman) intent upon tying up loose ends.
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    Mirren will play Freeman‘s predecessor, Moses‘ former handler, with whom the agent has stayed in touch while living in seclusion. The size of Mirren‘s part and how much screen time she will have, if any, is as yet unknown.


    Produced by Lorenzo di Bonaventura and Mark Vahradian and directed by Robert Schwentke, Red is slated to shoot in Toronto and Louisiana.

  • Sony Classics acquires US rights of Mother and Child

    MUMBAI: Sony Pictures Classics has acquired the United States rights of Rodrigo García‘s Mother and Child from WME Global.


    The film debuted at the 2009 Toronto International Film Festival, where it was actively pursued by several US distributors.


    The deal actually came together shortly after Toronto but took some time to close and marks yet another late buy out of the festival where at the time few deals actually took place.


    Mother and Child stars Annette Bening, Naomi Watts, Samuel L. Jackson and Kerry Washington in three parallel stories that come together to emphasis the bond between mother and child. 


    “We have known Rodrigo García for a long time,” said Sony Pictures Classics jointly in a statement, “first as the cinematographer of ‘Mi Vida Loca‘ in the early ‘90s, then as a writer and director, and have always been impressed with his incredible skill at creating roles for actors, especially for women.


    “With Mother and Child, Rodrigo has managed to define characters that allow for career best performances for all of the actors he has cast in a film that we feel will connect with people all over the US We are excited to be working with him, his remarkable cast and his producers Julie Lynn and Lisa Maria Falcone.”

  • Park Circus in a distribution deal with HanWay

    MUMBAI: Park Circus Films has signed a distribution deal with HanWay Films to theatrically release some of its library titles.
    The deal includes films like Bernardo Bertolucci‘s The Last Emperor, Peter Weir‘s Picnic At Hanging Rock and Wings Of Desire.


    Hanway, that has a 500-strong library including film collections from the British Film Institute, Merchant Ivory and the Recorded Picture Company will work with Park Circus to maximise the portfolio‘s theatrical potential.


    Park Circus represents 10,500 library and has catalogue titles from a range of studios and independent clients. It issues 15,000 theatrical screening licenses every year.
     

  • Steve Martin and Alec Baldwin to co-host next Academy Awards

    MUMBAI: Steve Martin and Alec Baldwin will co-host the 82nd Academy Awards on 7 March at the Kodak Theater in Hollywood.


    Said Martin,”I am happy to co-host the Oscars with my enemy Alec Baldwin.”


    “I don‘t play the banjo but I‘m thrilled to be hosting the Oscars – it‘s the opportunity of a lifetime,” Baldwin, the double Emmy winning star of the TV hit 30 Rock, added.
    “We think the team of Steve and Alec are the perfect pair of hosts for the Oscars,” show producers Bill Mechanic and Adam Shankman said in a joint statement. 


    “Steve will bring the experience of having hosted the show in the past and Alec will be a completely fresh personality for this event,” they added.


    Martin hosted the 73rd and 75th Academy Awards shows and earned an Emmy nomination for the former. He is currently touring with the bluegrass band Steep Canyon Rangers.

  • Kerala High Court lifts stay on Goa film fest’s selection

    MUMBAI: The Kerala High Court has lifted its stay order on the publication of results of the selection of the Indian Panorama for the 40th International Film Festival of India (IFFI), which is scheduled to begin on 24 November in Goa.


    A division bench comprising Chief Justice SR Bannurmath and justice AK Basheer issued the direction today, PTI reported.


    Earlier, last month, in the petition before Justice PN Ravindran of the Kerala High Court, Malayalam film director Ranjith said that a film critic who was a member of the jury had posted a comment on a private website announcing the results. He sought a direction to the Ministry to conduct an inquiry into the selection process immediately with particular reference to leaking of the results by a jury member and to conducting the selection process afresh.


    The Ministry of Information and Broadcasting and Film Festival Directorate had challenged the stay order of Justice Ravindran.


    The bench also stayed the earlier direction relating to the production of minutes of the jury and the record sheet which shows the time taken for viewing movies by the jury members for selection of films in the Indian Panorama.


    The I&B Ministry also announced the list of films to be shown under the Indian Panorama section, following the court order. IFFI 2009 will have 26 feature films and 18 non features.


    Konkani movie Paltadacho Munis will open the section, while other feature films include recent Bollywood releases like Dev. D, Firaaq, Kaminey, Oye Lucky-Lucky Oye and The White Elephant apart from India‘s official Oscar entry Harishchandrachi Factory.

  • Fox Star India to release ‘My Name Is Khan’ on Valentine Day weekend

    MUMBAI: Fox Star Studios India, 20th Century Fox and Fox Searchlight will release My Name Is Khan around the world on 12 February.


    Directed by Karan Johar for Dharma Productions that stars Shah Rukh Khan, My Name Is Khan will releases in 40 countries simultaneously including the US, Canada, the UK, Australia, New Zealand and the Middle East and all destinations having a large South Asian population.


    My Name Is Khan will be the first release from Fox Star Studios, a joint venture between Fox and India‘s Star. 


    Said Fox Star Studios CEO Vijay Singh, “There has been a hugely positive response from exhibitors across the world to My Name Is Khan. The coming together of Shah Rukh, Karan Johar and Kajol is a big event for Bollywood audiences across the world and their fan base is eagerly awaiting the release.”


    With My Name Is Khan, Fox Star and Searchlight are looking to repeat the success of Slumdog Millionaire, which they distributed in India and the US respectively.


    While Fox Star will distribute My Name Is Khan in India, Fox Searchlight will distribute the film in the US and all across the globe.

  • Yash Chopra honoured with APSA-FIAPF award 2008

    NEW DELHI: Filmmaker Yash Chopra has been honoured with the Asia Pacific Screen Award (APSA) 2008 award for outstanding achievement in films by the FIAPF (International Federation of Film Producer’s Associations).


    The award, announced at last year’s APSA Ceremony that Chopra was unable to attend following the demise of his brother B R Chopra, was presented to him late last week in person by FIAPF Director General Benoit Ginisty on the opening night celebrations of the Mumbai Film Festival.


    Receiving the award, Chopra said, “I am very happy that Benoit Ginisty has specially come to present this prestigious award to me which unfortunately I could not collect last year owing to a personal bereavement. Thanking the Asia Pacific Screen Awards and FIAPF, I humbly accept this award as a recognition for the Indian Film industry as a whole and for myself personally.”


    Said APSA Chairman Des Power,“We were delighted when the opportunity came for APSA to formally present Yash Chopra with this award in Mumbai. I congratulate him for serving the film industry with dignity and drive. He deserves our appreciation and well wishes for the future.”


    The 2009 FIAPF Award recipients will be announced in the coming weeks, ahead of the third annual APSA Ceremony at Australia’s Gold Coast on 26 November.


    37 films from 16 countries will vie for the 2009 APSAs. Films are judged by the International Jury on cinematic excellence and the way in which they attest to their cultural origins.