ITV

Category: Movies

  • Rapid Eye Movies bags German rights of Peepli Live

    MUMBAI: The German rights of UTV Motion Pictures and Aamir Khan Productions‘ Peepli Live, directed by Anusha Rizvi, has been bagged by German distribution company Rapid Eye Movies.


    Rapid Eye has also acquired the Home Video and Television for the territory.


    Commenting on the acquisition, Rapid Eye Pictures founder Stephan Holl said, “We are thrilled to bring to the German audience a true Indian art house film that entertains whilst telling a serious story.”


    Peepli Live is Anusha Rizvi‘s first feature. It is a fresh and intelligently spun satire of the real-life epidemic of farmer suicides that have plagued India for the past decade.


    Said UTV Motion Pictures VP, International Distribution and Syndication Amrita Pandey, “Rapid Eye is an ideal distribution partner for us to plan a theatrical Germany release for the film.”


    Peepli Live is the first Indian film ever that was selected at the Sundance Film Festival (World Cinema Dramatic competition) and was also screened in out of competition at the Berlin Film Festival.


    Peepli Live will be released in Germany in the third quarter of this year.

  • Reliance Big Home Video releases 20 Oscar titles on DVD

    MUMBAI: With the Oscar awards fast approaching, Reliance Big Home Video is celebrating the Oscar Fever in style.


    In keeping with the Oscar spirit, Reliance Big Home Video has introduced a new series consisting of 20 titles that have won the ‘Best Picture‘ Oscar awards from the year 1942 till 2000.


    Some of these films include Gladiator (Best Picture 2000, Rs 499), The Godfather (Best Picture 1972, Rs 499), Ben-Hur (Best Picture 1959, Rs 599), Gone with the Wind (Best Picture 1939, Rs 599),The Departed (Best Picture 2006, Rs 499),Shakespeare in Love (Best Picture 1998, Rs 499) , The Godfather Part 2 (Best Picture 1974, Rs 499), Around the World in 80 days (Best Picture 1956, Rs 599) ,Casablanca (Best Picture 1943, Rs 599) and Mrs. Miniver (Best Picture 1942, Rs 499).


    The ‘Best Picture‘ collection is available across retail outlets in the country.
     

  • Avatar still on top globally in ninth week

    MUMBAI: James Cameron‘s Avatar has emerged numero uno globally with a collection of $ 59 million from 8,543 screens in seventy one markets in its ninth week.


    Cameron‘s blockbuster epic in 3D pushed its record-setting overseas gross total to $1.690 billion and its unprecedented worldwide total to $2.350 billion.The 20th Century Fox release was the sole holdover in the weekend‘s top five titles.
     


    Topping market for Avatar in the weekend was Japan that generated $5.8 million from 569 spots drawing $121.9 million. Other big markets in order of market total are France ($156.4 million), China ($155.5 million), Germany ($125.3 million), the UK (124.4 million) and Russia ($108.5 million.)


    Warner Bros‘ Valentine‘s Day followed Avatar in the second spot kicking off its foreign run at 4,562 venues in 52 markets for a weekend tally of $30.4 million at an average of $6,664 per-screen.


    The Garry Marshall romantic comedy opened strongest in Australia (No. 1 with $6.4 million from 373 sites), the UK (No. 2 with $4.7 million from 432 spots) and Germany ($2.5 million from 410 sites). Domestically, in the US, the film grossed $52.3 million in the weekend.


    Percy Jackson & the Olympians: The Lightning Thief opened in the third spot.


    It grossed $28 million from 5,800 screens in 40 territories. It secured the No. 1 spot in South Korea, Brazil, Thailand, the Philippines, Indonesia and Venezuela.
     

  • Hangover, Up, Locker in top three in ACE honors

    MUMBAI: The 60th annual American Cinema Editors‘ Eddie Awards saw The Hurt Locker, The Hangover and Up winning the feature film competitions.


    The editors of Locker Bob Murawski and Chris Innis earned the top trophy in a category that included Avatar, District 9, Star Trek and Up in the Air.


    Hangover editor Debra Neil-Fisher topped the category for comedy or musical that included competitors like 500 Days of Summer, Julie & Julia, A Serious Man and It‘s Complicated.


    Editor Kevin Notling earned the award for best edited animated feature film for Up. This category included films like Coraline and Fantastic Mr. Fox.
    The Cove editor Geoffrey Richman won best edited documentary that had nominees like Food, Inc. and Michael Jackson‘s This Is It.”


    Christopher Guest presented Rob Reiner with the ACE Golden Eddie Filmmaker of the Year Award.


    Paul F. LaMastra and Neil Travis were honoured with career achievement awards. Travis had earlier won an Oscar and ACE Eddie for Dances with Wolves.
     

  • Madonna to direct her second film WE

    MUMBAI: Madonna is all set to direct her second film, a period drama that explores the scandalous affair of Kind Edward VIII.


    W.E. will be a biopic about the relation between King Edward VIII and Wallis Simpson that led to the British royal abdicating from the throne to marry his divorcee lover. 


    Madonna will script the film with Alex Keshishian, who had earlier directed the singer Truth or Dare in 1991.


    Madonna debuted as director in Filth and Wisdom which she directed in 2008.


    While actress Vera Farmiga is said to be eyeing the role of Simpson, there is still no word yet on who will play the role of King Edward.
     

  • Avatar, Hurt Locker lock horns at Oscars

    MUMBAI: James Cameron‘s Avatar and the war movie The Hurt Locker have locked horns claiming nine Oscar nominations each including best film, pitting the two against each other as front runners for the world‘s highest film honours.


    The contrast between the two presents several intriguing elements. James Cameron and Kathryn Bigelow, his ex-wife and director of Hurt Locker will compete against each other in the category for best director. 


    Avatar is a big-budget science-fiction space adventure from major studio 20th Century Fox is the highest-grossing movie of all time after it eclipsed the‘s previous blockbuster Titanic.


    O the other side is Hurt Locker, a low-budget film about soldiers who defuse bombs in Iraq. The film has been made by Summit Entertainment. Its worldwide ticket sales stand at a mere $16 million.


    Only one nod behind Avatar and Hurt Locker was Quentin Tarantino‘s World War Two fantasy, Inglourious Basterds that is also in the best film and best director race.
     

  • Kanade bags first IFFLA Film Fund Development Grant

    MUMBAI:Pune-based filmmaker Kranti Kanade, whose award-winning film ‘Mahek’ has been recommended for school children in Ohio and Toronto, is the recipient of the first Film Fund Development Grant of $10,000 announced by the Indian Film Festival of Los Angeles.


    The grant has been awarded in addition to Final Draft and Sony Creative software for his script ‘Against Itself’. This work will be showcased at a stage-reading during the Eighth annual IFFLA taking place from 20 to 25 April at ArcLight Hollywood in Los Angeles.


    The script centers on a secular expatriate American schoolmaster in India who struggles against a tide of anti-Christian sentiment that threatens his students, his school and his life. “I am absolutely overcome with happiness by this beautiful news,” said Kanade. “I am truly grateful to IFFLA for giving me this award and this amazing opportunity.”


    The development grant jury included acclaimed screenwriters Gill Dennis (‘Walk the Line’, ‘The Tatooed Soldier’), Anurag Kashyap (Dev D, Black Friday) and Sooni Taraporevala (The Namesake, Little Zizou).


    Dennis said “This script is haunting, gripping, and gritty. Stunningly done, beautifully good, it dissects the great mess of our humanity with equal measures of humor and horror, while capturing the hectic multiplicity of India.”


    IFFLA had shortlisted ten finalists to vie for the first Grant. Apart from Kanade, the other finalists were ‘Aravan’ by Raghu Jeganathan; ’Engineers of Rock’ by Sushrut Jain and John Thompson; ‘Love in the time of Genocide’ by Thenmozhi Soundararajan; ‘Scandalous!’ written by Claire Ince; ’Sebastian wants to remember’ by Vasant Nath; ‘The story of Ram’ by Ritesh Batra; ’Sweet Dreams’ by Avani Batra; an untitled desert war film by Richie Mehta; and ‘Untouchable Glory’ by Mo Ramchandani.


    Kanade’s last film ‘Mahek’, made for the Children’s Film Society, India, has been suggested as a necessary tool for school children in Canadian schools, though it appears to have gone unrecognized within the country. The film in Hindi and English was made in 2007 and won awards in the United States and elsewhere.


    In a project written by Ernest Agbuya on the initiative of the Teacher Advisory Committee of the Sprockets Toronto International Film Festival for Children, this film has been recommended to be shown to children from grades four to six. In the words of an educationist: “This is a wonderful film that celebrates the power of dreams and imagination as key forces for change, creativity, leadership, invention and guilt-free leisure.”


    Reacting to the news, CFSI Chief Executive Officer Sushovan Banerjee told indiantelevision.com: “It is a matter of great pride and honour for CFSI that our film “Mahek” has founds its way into the school curriculum in Canada as well. Earlier it was introduced as part of the syllabus in Ohio University . Mahek is a film that is simple to understand, rich in content and beautifully portrays the power of dreams in our quest for excellence. Through the charming character of Mahek, the director has brought out the importance of imagination and how we all need to discover our inherent talents in order to achieve success. I only hope that after its success in US and Canada, Mahek will surely find its pride of place in Indian school curriculum as well.”


    According to Agbuya, a key element in the plot is an essay competition in Mahek’s class. The full Writing strand of the Language Curriculum is relevant to the ideas presented in this Teacher Resource. There are science connections through references to Isaac Newton and James Watt, two scientists who made key contributions to the studies of energy and forces. Links can also be made to the Grade 3 study of Growth and Changes in Plants. One of the film’s key themes is perseverance, June’s trait for Character Education.


    The film is about young Mahek who seems to be a failure in everything, until a woman claiming to be her fairy godmother tells the young girl to “Look within yourself and you’ll find your strengths.” A writing contest at school seems like the chance for Mahek to use her powerful imagination. The film celebrates the importance of imagination, self-confidence and perseverance, and reminds us that everybody is great at something.

  • My Name Is Khan off to an electrifying start

    MUMBAI: Despite sporadic incidents of violence and a limited release, My Name Is Khan has got off to an electrifying start and is on course to becoming a mega hit at the box-office.


    Says trade analyst Taran Adarsh, “Marvelous is the right word to describe the initial response of My Name Is Khan. Practically every multiplex has generated a 100 per cent collection, while single screens in mass-dominated centres opened to a 70 to 80 per cent response.”


    As reported earlier, the film had opened in Mumbai yesterday across ten multiplexes and a few single-screens. But today, all the concerned single-screen theatres and multiplexes are showing the Karan Johar film to full capacity. 


    Avers Cinemax Vice President Devang Sampat, “The response to this Shah Rukh Khan (SRK) starrer has been terrific. The film has been running to full houses in all our properties for all the shows yesterday and even today. In fact, we are booked till Sunday.”


    My Name Is Khan was the star attraction at the Berlin Film Festival that opened yesterday.


    Surprisingly, tickets of the film were not sold at ticket windows. While tickets available online were sold out in five seconds, e-bay auctioned tickets, each ticket costing 1000 Euros (Rs 60,000).


    If the response sustains as the days go by, the film will garner enough eyeballs that will help its box-office soar to unheard-of proportions.

  • F&ME to make The Spy Princess at $15 million

    MUMBAI: London-based feature film production outfit Film and Music Entertainment (F&ME) will soon embark on its biggest project yet.


    The outfit, celebrating its 10th anniversary this year, is developing the $15 million The Spy Princess currently being written by Happy Feet and Babe: Pig in the City screenwriter Judy Morris.


    Based on the biography by Shrabani Basu, The Spy Princess tells the true story of Noor Inayat Khan, a Muslim Sufi female secret agent who was awarded the George Cross and the Croix de Guerre.


    A director will be announced shortly for the project, due to go into production in the fourth quarter of 2010.


    Morris, a long time collaborator with George Miller was nominated for an Annie for her work on Happy Feet. Another (F&ME), project in pre-production in Durban and set to start shooting in 10 days, is Streetkids United.


    Directed byTim Pritchard, Streetkids is about group of British and African street kids preparing for the Street World Cup. Produced by Downey, Taylor and Sandy Markwick the film is executive produced by Stephen Daldry.


    The film, which is backed sports and media celebrities including Simon Mayo, Jamie Redknapp, Gary Lineker, Nancy Dell‘Olio and Alastair Campbell, will be ready in time to coincide with the 2010 World Cup.


    Another film is Dominic Murphy‘s A Gift From the Culture that will also be shot in South Africa in September next. Shane Smith, who wrote Murphy‘s White Lightnin‘ has scripted the film based on a short story by Iain M. Banks.
     

  • Upcoming slate of Nimbus released

    MUMBAI: Prolific Danish outfit Nimbus has announced details of its upcoming films. Nimbus is in Berlin with titles like Thomas Vinterberg‘s Submarino and Alice de Champfleury Sun Shine (Sol Skin).


    The slate is led by comedy-drama Superclasico, director Ole Christian Madsen‘s follow-up to his World War Two epic, Flame And Citron which starts shooting in Argentina on 10 May and is about a man seeking to patch up his marriage. Next in line is Louise Friedberg‘s The Experiment, which is still in the post-production stage. 


    Shot in Greenland, the film shows an ill-fated 1950s experiment to turn 16 children into model citizens in the post-war Danish welfare state. Also in the post-production stage is Kaspar Munk‘s debut feature Hold Me Tight.


    Other films under development are a European love story from Madsen; S?ren Kragh-Jacobsen‘s long-gestating Chopin drama Incognito, Charlotte Sieling‘s Maestro; Natasha Arthy‘s Ziggy; Nils Gr?b?l‘s My Friendship With Jesus Christ and Hans Fabian Wullenweber‘s Bora Bora Bora.