ITV

Category: Movies

  • The Good Guy is Roadside Attractions’ global attraction

    MUMBAI: Roadside Attractions has acquired worldwide rights of Julio DePietro‘s romantic film The Good Guy that stars Alexis Bledel, Scott Porter, Anna Chlumsky and Bryan Greenberg.

    The distribution house has scheduled a March 2010 US theatrical release for the film.

    Linda Moran and Rene Bastian of Belladonna Productions and DePietro produced the film that is about an ambitious Manhattanite who falls for a Wall Street whizz kid saddled with a jealous co-worker.

    Greg S Bernstein and Roadside‘s Howard Cohen brokered the deal with Andrew Herwitz of The Film Sales Company on behalf of the film-makers.

    Said Cohen,”This is an entertaining, provocative film about three great subjects – love, money, and New York City. We think the cast will attract a lot of young fans, but anyone who‘s ever dreamt of making it in the big apple will relate to this story.”

  • CBS Studios Intl opens office in Munich with Oliver Kreuter at helm

    MUMBAI: CBS Studios International has strengthened its presence in Europe with a new office in Munich which would be led by former Bavaria Media Television executive Oliver Kreuter.

    Kreuter joins CBS Studios International from Bavaria Media Television, where he headed its television section for the last four and a half years.

    Krueter, as managing director of CBS Studios International Germany, will report to Joe Lucas, the executive VP of sales at CBS Studios International. He has been assigned the task of driving the studio‘s programming and format sales in German-speaking European territories across all media platforms.

    With the Munich office, CBS Studios International now has a total of 11 offices worldwide.

  • Dual premiere of Anderson’s Fox film at London Film fest

    MUMBAI: The 53rd BFI London Film Festival opened with a dual world premiere of Wes Anderson‘s animated adaptation Fantastic Mr Fox.Wes Anderson and his cast namely George Clooney

    , Bill Murray, Jason Schwartzman, Wally Wolodarsky, Eric Anderson and Jarvis Cocker attended both the screenings. However, Meryl Streep was unable to attend the screenings due to ill health.

    The total capacity of the dual premiere was around 3000, significantly higher than last year‘s opening night.

    Introducing Anderson, Festival director Sandra Hebron said “The opening night is always exciting for us, but never more so than this year, when the world premiere has seen us spread across Leicester Square and occupy London‘s two largest cinemas.”

  • Asian Film Market closes with $2 mn sales

    MUMBAI: The Asian Film Market (AFM) 2009, held on the sidelines of the Pusan International Film Festival (PIFF), closed on Thursday after its four-day run showing an increase both in sales and participants.

    This year‘s event brought to the fore fruitful achievements in terms of sales, with its total amount of deals estimated at approximately $ 2 million.

    The AFM, held for the fourth time, showed an increase in various dimensions, including the number of sales offices, participating companies, and screenings.
    Starting on 11 October, the event attracted 75 firms from 25 countries and regions.

    This year, the sales grew 9 per cent to 45 per cent from last year‘s 41 per cent. The number of films screened at the market also increased from 38 to 43 that included 40 market premieres that almost doubled in size from that of last year.

  • Osian’s Film Festival from 24 to 30 October

    NEW DELHI: About 100 feature and short films from across 25 countries including India will be screened in the 11th Osian’s-Cinefan Festival of Asian and Arab Cinema. The festival will be held in Delhi from 24 to 30 October.

    As in previous years, the festival is being organised by Osian’s Connoisseurs of Art in association with the government of the NCT of Delhi.

    The opening film of the festival will be a France-Romanian co-production, Hooked, directed by Adrian Sitaru.


    For the first time, India will be in the spotlight at the festival. Said Osian‘s chairman Neville Tuli, “With Osian’s entering the world of learning and education with Osian’s Learning Experience (OLE), the programming lineup of the festival has altered profoundly providing a radical platform for OLE. The role of learning and education will henceforth be taken up in an explicit manner.”


    Tuli denied that the festival had been scaled down but said priorities had been re-defined.

    The NewStream Cinema section with six prominent Hindi films takes this concept further and will showcase and explore exhaustively films that have dared to redefine mainstream cinema.


    These films are Amir, Dev D, Kaminey, Love Aaj Kal, Luck by Chance and Oye Lucky! Lucky Oye!.

    In a new initiative, there is the InDialogue section of 34 films from 28 countries that show a dialogue of sensibilities amongst the makers of a certain kind of cinema dedicated to the subtlest and most intelligent employment of the possibilities of the cinematic, all over the world.


    The Indian features in the InCompetition section are 033, Khargosh and Man’s Woman and other stories.

  • Diwali releases set to sparkle

    MUMBAI: The countdown has begun. Like every year, this Diwali has three big releases lined up.

    The releases, Shree Ashtavinayak‘s Blue, Ajay Devgn Ffilms‘ All The Best and Sohail Khan‘s Main Aurr Mrs Khanna, are set to sparkle with viewers thronging theatres to watch their favourite films.

    Insiders in the trade feel that the three films would revive and rejuvenate the industry that has been ailing since the last few months except for a couple of good films like Wanted and Wake Up Sid.

    Thanks to the festive season and three big films in the fray, there is expectancy of good business all-around.

    Brisk bookings have been noticed in cinema halls and multiplexes. Says Cinemax COO Devang Sampat, “The bookings for all the three films are satisfying because they cater to different genres. People who want action will want to see Blue first, while viewers who want to see comedy will opt for All The Best and people who like love stories will opt for Main Aurr Mrs Khanna. I have heard of people who have booked one film after another in simultaneous shows.”


    Avers Fun Cinemas CEO Vikas Kapoor, “We are booked for the entire weekend and also for Monday when we will see maximum footfalls. Going by its promotions, tickets for Blue was most sought-after, followed by All The Best and Main Aurr Mrs Khanna.

    Another clash akin to the one this week will be seen on 30 October when Vipul Shah‘s London Dreams clashes with Eros Entertainment‘s magic film Aladin.

    Coming to last week‘s solo release, Acid Factory has made a dent into the pocket of its distributors. The film had a poor opening at the box-office with it doing a business of Rs 15 million on its first day run with as many as 800 prints.


    From the previous week‘s releases, Dharma Productions‘ Wake Up Sid collected Rs 160 million in its first-week run while Vashu Bhagnani‘s Do Knot Disturb collected around Rs 145 million.


    Meanwhile, the Salman Khan starrer Wanted has done a net business of over
    Rs 500 million while Yash Raj



    Films‘ Dil Bole Hadippa has garnered approximately Rs 225 million.


  • Blockbuster.co.uk adds 100 Bollywood films for DVD rental

    MUMBAI: In time with the Diwali celebration, UK-based DVD rental outlet Blockbuster has made available 100 essential Bollywood films including Hindi classics on its DVD rental online service, Blockbuster.co.uk.

    Among the films are Namesake, Hum Hain Rahi Pyar Ke, Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge, Swades, We The People, Sarkar and Lagaan.

    Details of other films in the list could be had from Blockbuster.co.uk. The essential Bollywood collection is part of a brand new section called Blockbuster Essentials, available exclusively at Blockbuster.co.uk.

    Founded in Dallas, Texas, in 1985, Blockbuster Inc. is a leading global provider of in-home rental, retail movie and game entertainment.

    Blockbuster.co.uk provides the latest releases and also gives its customers much more choice from classic titles, foreign films, music DVDs, interactive game DVDs, language DVDs and popular TV series.

    In 20 years, Blockbuster has grown from a single video rental store to become the biggest rental company with many stores around the world.

  • Polish director Krzysztof Kieslowski on UTV World Movies in October

    MUMBAI: In its In-Focus category, UTV World Movies will feature Krzysztof Kieslowski for the entire month of October on Wednesdays at 8.30 pm. It will focus on the unmatched and impeccable works of the most influential Polish writer-director.

    Kieslowski was a leading director of documentaries, television and feature films from the 1970s to the 1990s. The social and moral themes of contemporary times became the focus of his many significant films and his humanist treatment of those themes secured his place as one of the greatest of modern film directors.

    His film career began when he served as assistant director on Abbas


    Kiarostami‘s Through the Olive Trees.

    His last work, a trilogy, is regarded by many as the finest single collection of films ever made. Also made in both France and Poland, the trilogy was titled Trois Couleurs (Three Colors), each based on a different colour of the French flag and representing its social slogan evolving from the Revolution.


    While Blue is the showcase piece for artistic direction, White is the starkly contrasting but highly articulate portrait and Red is the graceful and warmest of the three films. The films were scheduled to be released three months apart from each other while each could stand on its own; they were designed to be seen as a single entity.


    The Decalogue (1988), a series of ten short films each nominally based on one of the Ten Commandments, was created for Polish television with funding from West Germany.


    Said UTV World Movies programming head Manasi Sapre, “With his Three Colours and Decalogue series – Kieslowski is one of the best loved and most well-known of European directors in the world. His films, especially A Short Film About Love (which was remade in Hindi!!) and Three Colours Blue always top the favourite film lists of Indian media and film fans. Lyrical, controversial and a true master of his craft: Kieslowski is a director whose films have an unlimited potential of emotional and intellectual enlightenment every time you view them.”


  • Sanjeev Lamba joins Reliance Big Pictures as CEO

    MUMBAI: Reliance Big Entertainment has roped in Sanjeev Lamba as Reliance Big Pictures CEO.

    Prior to this, Reliance‘s motion pictures arm had no CEO. Mahesh was heading the division as Reliance Big Pictures COO.


    Lamba moves in from Zee Entertainment Studios, the motion pictures arm of Zee Entertainment Enterprises Ltd (Zeel), where he was COO.


    Says Lamba, “We are currently undergoing a significant change in the way Indian movies are made, distributed and marketed. Reliance is well positioned to be a long term global media and entertainment player, particularly in movies. I am looking forward to working with the senior team already in place to build a strong profitable global movie business.”


    Apart from Zee, Lamba has also worked with Ogilvy and Mather in Mumbai and New Delhi, The Walt Disney Company in Hong Kong, Tokyo and California and the Weinstein Company in New York.


    Says Reliance Big Entertainment chairman Amit Khanna, “I am sure he will help build Reliance Big Pictures into a pre-eminent film studio in India and overseas.”

  • Michael Jackson’s hair up to go under the hammer

    MUMBAI: The hair salvaged from the scalp of Michael Jackson after he was burned during the filming of a soft-drink commercial is to be sold at auction.

    The 12 strands of hair from the late pop legend‘‘s mane, collectively valued at USD 1,600 will be auctioned in London on 17 October 17.

    Jackson‘‘s hair was famously set alight on the sets of the Pepsi by pyrotechnics in the 1984 accident, leaving him with second degree burns. Jacko‘‘s fire-damaged locks were collected by the executive producer of the commercial, Ralph Cohen, who helped rescue the star by extinguishing the blaze with his coat.

    A clump of singing legend Elvis Presley‘‘s hair will also go under the hammer


    this month, with the clipping expected to raise up to $ 14,400.