|
6 members and 164 visitors online
| |
|||||
 May 9, 2008 iW NEWS | Costantin Films Sets "Pandorum"
Costantin FIlm and Impact Pictures announced that Dennis Quaid and Ben Foster are in final negotiations to join "Pandorum," a science-fiction thriller set aboard an "abandoned pioneer space vessel." The film, to be directed by Christian Alvart will be financed by Constatin under its joint venture deal with Impact, and will be released in North America by Overture Films. Summit Entertainment is handling foreign sales for Constantin Film and will introduce the project to buyers at the upcoming Cannes Film Festival. [Peter Knegt]  [permalink] [ filed under Biz ] May 8, 2008iW NEWS | Warner Bros. Shuts Picturehouse and Warner Independent
Warner Bros. President and COO Alan Horn has announced the closure of studio specialty divisions Picturehouse and Warner Independent Pictures today. The news follows the recent move to severely scale back New Line Cinema and incorporate it into the WB studio apparatus, cutting hundreds of jobs at the company. "With New Line now a key part of Warner Bros., we're able to handle films across the entire spectrum of genres and budgets without overlapping production, marketing and distribution infrastructures, Horn said, continuing, "We're confident that the spirit of independent filmmaking and the opportunity to find and give a voice to new talent will continue to have a presence at Warner Bros." The complete press release from Warner Bros. is available now via indieWIRE Insider. [Eugene Hernandez] [permalink] [ filed under Biz ] iW NEWS | IFP Minnesota Announces Grant
IFP Minnesota, in partnership with ETS Pictures and Twin Cities-based production community, announced the "Fresh Filmmakers Production Grant," intended to assist new narrative filmmakers in Minnesota and Western Wisconsin. The first of its kind for the region, the grant will facilitate the production of one short narrative film directed by a filmmaker who has been making films for no more than five years. The grant is to honor the memory of Dennis O'Rourke, who was a friend to the regional film community for over thirty years before his death in 2006. The application deadline for the grant is August 19, 2008. [Peter Knegt] [permalink] [ filed under Biz ] May 7, 2008NYT: Sundance Is Sold to Cablevision for $496 Million
The twelve-year-old channel, available in nearly 30 million homes, is currently a joint venture of NBC Universal, CBS Corporation and Robert Redford. Mr. Redford, the actor, director and producer, will remain with the network. Brian Stelter reports. [permalink] [ filed under Biz ] LAT | Independent Picturehouse's fate at Warner Bros. is cloudy
Considering the fate of Picturehouse and Warner Independent, the LA Times' Rachel Abramowitz notes, "For the last few weeks, Warner Bros. has been in talks with Picturehouse head Bob Berney about taking over as co-president with Warner Independent President Polly Cohen of some merged entity, though talks appear to have bogged down over the exact parameters of such a venture, according to various inside sources." [permalink] [ filed under Biz ] May 4, 2008iW NEWS | Weekend Estimates: "Mister" Box Office
While "Iron Man" kicked off the summer blockbuster season with an astounding $100.7 million opening weekend, Harmony Korine's "Mister Lonely" impressively led the specialty-focused iW BOT, according to indieWIRE Box Office Tracking (iW BOT) estimates from Rentrak this afternoon. The IFC release took in $19,133 on its one screen, outpacing two other decent openers, David Mamet's "Redbelt" and Garth Jennings' "Son of Rambow." Sony Pictures Classics' "Redbelt" managed $68,646 from 6 screens for an average of $11,441, while Paramount Vantage's "Rambow" was just behind, averaging $10,600 on 5 screens. A less fortunate opener was Jeremy Podeswa's Holocaust drama "Fugitive Pieces," which averaged $3,600 from 30 screens for IDP and Samuel Goldwyn. Among those holdovers reporting, Claude Lelouch's "Roman De Gare," also distributed by IDP and Samuel Goldwyn, saw its average fall only $700 with $12,022, while the continued expansion of Tom McCarthy's "The Visitor" to 130 screens found a decent $663,000, for an average of $5,100 and a cume of almost $1.7 million after 4 weeks. Errol Morris's latest doc, "Standard Operating Procedure," saw its average fall more than 60% in its second weekend, taking in $33,688 from 11 screens. indieWIRE publishes its weekly box office column on Mondays and final weekend numbers for specialty and limited release films on Tuesdays. Get the latest in the indieWIRE Box Office section. [Peter Knegt] [permalink] [ filed under Biz ] May 1, 2008HR | iTunes to sell new films day-and-date
Apple will announce a deal to offer new releases on its iTunes store day-and-date with the film's DVD release, to The Hollywood Reporter. The deal will include Fox, Walt Disney Studios, Warner Bros., Paramount, Universal, Sony Pictures, Lionsgate and New Line, according to the Hollywood trade, adding, "The deal does not include new titles from MGM but does extend to boutique firms such as Magnolia and Image Entertainment." [permalink] [ filed under Biz ] April 29, 2008iBOT UPDATE | "Yangtze" Tops Chart
Yung Chang's doc "Up The Yangtze" from Zeitgeist Films is atop the weekly iW BOT box office chart, which was published this afternoon. The film earned $15,831 on 1 screens over the weekend. More in this week's box office column, which was published last night. [Peter Knegt] [permalink] [ filed under Biz ] April 27, 2008iW NEWS | Weekend Estimates: Lelouch Leads Trio of Specialized Openers
Claude Lelouch's "Roman De Gare," distributed by IDP and Samuel Goldwyn looks to top the iW BOT, according to indieWIRE Box Office Tracking (iW BOT) estimates from Rentrak this afternoon. On 2 screens the film took in $25,545, averaging a potent $12,772. Just behind "Gare" were two other openers, Helen Hunt's directorial debut, "Then She Found Me," and Errol Morris's latest doc, "Standard Operating Procedure." Hunt's ThinkFilm release averaged $8,266 on 9 screens, while Morris's Sony Pictures Classics entry averaged $7,458 on 2. Two holdovers continued to exemplify their promise as Spring's specialty hits. In their third weeks, Tom McCarthy's "The Visitor" and Stephen Walker's "Young@Heart" expanded nicely. "Visitor" went to 76 screens, maintaining a $6,684 average and bringing its cume to $856,579. "Heart" expanded to 56 screens for a $4,018 average and a $530,487 total. In more unfortunate news, Morgan Spurlock's "Where in the World Is Osama Bin Laden?" fell hard in its second weekend, averaging just $819 from its 72 screens. indieWIRE publishes its weekly box office column on Mondays and final weekend numbers for specialty and limited release films on Tuesdays. Get the latest in the indieWIRE Box Office section. [Peter Knegt] [permalink] [ filed under Biz ] April 22, 2008iW BOT | "The Visitor" Tops Chart Again
Tom McCarthy's "The Visitor" from Overture Films is atop the weekly iW BOT box office chart, which was published this afternoon. The film earned $166,499 on 18 screens over the weekend, for an average of $9,250. More in this week's box office column, which was published last night. [Peter Knegt] [permalink] [ filed under Biz ] iW NEWS | CFC and NFB Launch Doc Development Program
The Canadian Film Centre (CFC) and the National Film Board (NFB) have joined forces to create Canada's first program to develop theatrical documentaries. The CFC NFB Feature Documentary Program, announced Tuesday at a Hot Docs event in Toronto, will launch in January 2009 with the goal of developing "successful original feature documentaries for international cinema audiences." The six-month program is designed to help directors develop cinematic documentaries that will combine weeks of residency at the CFC with project-specific mentorship from documentary talents."From 'Manufactured Landscapes' to the most recent critically acclaimed 'Up The Yangtze,' Canadian feature documentaries continue to dazzle audiences worldwide with their cinematic vision and masterful storytelling," said Slawko Klymkiw, CFC Executive Director, in a statement. "s CFC commences our 20th year of leadership in training content creators, we are proud to launch this new program with the NFB." The submission deadline is August 28, 2008. [Peter Knegt] [permalink] [ filed under Biz, Documentary ] April 21, 2008DHD | New Joint Premium TV Channel Venture...
In an apparent split with Showtime, an announcement Sunday indicated that Viacom, Paramount (including Paramount Vantage), MGM, and Lionsgate will join forces to launch a new premium movie network and VOD outlet, Deadline Hollywood Daily details. [permalink] [ filed under Biz ] April 20, 2008iW NEWS | Weekend Estimates: "Visitor" Leads, "Bin Laden" Stumbles
Tom McCarthy's "The Visitor" (from Overture Films) expanded nicely in its second week, taking in an estimated $163,000 on 18 screens, for an estimated $9,056 per screen average, according to indieWIRE Box Office Tracking (iW BOT) estimates from Rentrak this afternoon. "The Visitor," which expanded from its 4 screen opening, has now taken in $279,901. It beat out the opening of Morgan Spurlock's "Where In The World Is Osama Bin Laden?," which opened on an ambitious 102 screens for The Weinstein Company. The film averaged only $1,405, below two other reported limited openers: IFC's "Anamorph," which averaged $3,024, and Sony Repertory Pictures' "Zombie Strippers," which averaged $2,250. Among holdovers, Fox Searchlight's "Young@Heart" expanded from 4 to 33 screens, and took in $144,703 for a $4,385 average. In its third weekend, IFC Films' "Flight of the Red Balloon" also continued to show promise, averaging $3,570 on 11 screens and taking its total to $124,685. indieWIRE publishes its weekly box office column on Mondays and final weekend numbers for specialty and limited release films on Tuesdays. Get the latest in the indieWIRE Box Office section. [Peter Knegt] [permalink] [ filed under Biz ] April 19, 2008VAR | TF1's Binet in police custody
TF1 International president Patrick Binet was taken into police custody in Paris late this week after the death of a man at Binet's apartment, Variety confirmed yesterday. [permalink] [ filed under Biz ] April 17, 2008AP: SAG signs interim pact with independent film company
The Screen Actors Guild has cut a deal that would let its members work for an independent film company regardless of a future strike against the major studios. AP reports. [permalink] [ filed under Biz ] April 16, 2008NYT: Guild Chief for Actors Is No Pacifist
To understand why Hollywood is taking the threat of a strike by the Screen Actors Guild seriously, look no further than Alan Rosenberg's actions during a solidarity march last November with striking screenwriters. Brooks Barnes reports. [permalink] [ filed under Biz ] April 15, 2008iW BOT | "The Visitor" Tops Chart
Tom McCarthy's "The Visitor" from Overture Films is atop the weekly iW BOT box office chart, which was published this afternoon. The film earned $86,488 on four screens over the weekend, for an average of $21,622. More in this week's box office column, which was published last night. [Peter Knegt] [permalink] [ filed under Biz ] iW NEWS | HBO Doc Films Announces Summer Slate
Beginning June 9, 2008 and running through August 25, 2008, HBO Documentary Films will air a new film every Monday night at 9:00pm (ET/PT). The slate was announced Tuesday, and includes Marina Zenovich's "Roman Polanski: Wanted and Desired" on June 9th; Greg Whiteley's "Resolved" on June 16th; Jezza Neumann's "China's Stolen Children" on July 14th; Edet Belzberg's "The Recruiter" on July 28th; Ivan O'Mahoney and Laura Winter's "Baghdad High" on August 4th; Paul Taylor's "We Are Together" on August 11th; and Timothy Greenfield-Sanders' "The Black List, Vol. 1" on August 25th. For full programming, check out HBO's website. [Peter Knegt] [permalink] [ filed under Biz, Documentary ] VAR | Time Warner drops ax on New Line
As expected, Time Warner is cutting up to 450 jobs at New Line Cinema this week, according to Variety, leaving as few as 40 people at the company, which is being significantly downgraded from an independent studio to a small niche label within WB. [permalink] [ filed under Biz ] April 14, 2008iW NEWS | AMPAS Releases Dates for 81st Oscars
The Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences announced key dates for its 81st edition of the Academy Awards. Academy President Sid Ganis noted that the ceremony will take place Sunday, February 22, 2009, at the Kodak Theatre in Hollywood, and will be televised by ABC. Other dates include the mailing of nomination ballots on December 26, 2008, the nomination announcement on January 22, 2009 a the Samuel Goldwyn Theater, and final polls closing at 5pm PT on February 17, 2009. The dates coincide with those since the move of the Oscars from March to February, with exception of a move of nomination announcement from a Tuesday to a Thursday, to avoid conflicting with the 2009 Presidential Inauguration. [Peter Knegt] [permalink] [ filed under Awards Watch, Biz ] Older Buzz/Rumors about BizApril 13, 2008 April 10, 2008 April 8, 2008 April 7, 2008 April 7, 2008 April 6, 2008 April 6, 2008 April 4, 2008 April 1, 2008 April 1, 2008 April 1, 2008 April 1, 2008 March 31, 2008 March 30, 2008 March 28, 2008 March 28, 2008 March 28, 2008 March 28, 2008 March 27, 2008 March 26, 2008 March 25, 2008 March 25, 2008 March 25, 2008 March 24, 2008 March 23, 2008 March 20, 2008 March 19, 2008 March 19, 2008 March 18, 2008 March 16, 2008 March 9, 2008 March 6, 2008 March 5, 2008 March 5, 2008 March 2, 2008 February 29, 2008 February 28, 2008 February 28, 2008 February 27, 2008 February 26, 2008 February 26, 2008 February 25, 2008 February 22, 2008 February 21, 2008 February 21, 2008 February 21, 2008 February 20, 2008 February 20, 2008 February 19, 2008 February 18, 2008 February 17, 2008 February 16, 2008 February 14, 2008 February 13, 2008 February 12, 2008 February 12, 2008 February 10, 2008 February 9, 2008 February 8, 2008 February 7, 2008 February 7, 2008 February 6, 2008 February 6, 2008 February 5, 2008 February 5, 2008 February 5, 2008 February 5, 2008 February 4, 2008 February 3, 2008 February 3, 2008 February 2, 2008 February 1, 2008 January 31, 2008 January 31, 2008 January 31, 2008 January 29, 2008 January 27, 2008 January 20, 2008 January 20, 2008 January 18, 2008 January 17, 2008 January 17, 2008 January 17, 2008 January 15, 2008 January 15, 2008 January 15, 2008 January 15, 2008 January 13, 2008 January 11, 2008 January 11, 2008 January 10, 2008 January 10, 2008 January 9, 2008 January 8, 2008 January 7, 2008 January 7, 2008 January 7, 2008 January 7, 2008 January 7, 2008 January 6, 2008 January 3, 2008 January 3, 2008 December 30, 2007 December 27, 2007 December 23, 2007 December 23, 2007 December 20, 2007 December 20, 2007 December 19, 2007 December 19, 2007 December 19, 2007 December 18, 2007 December 18, 2007 December 18, 2007 December 18, 2007 December 18, 2007 December 18, 2007 December 17, 2007 December 17, 2007 December 17, 2007 December 16, 2007 December 13, 2007 December 11, 2007 December 11, 2007 December 9, 2007 December 9, 2007 December 9, 2007 December 7, 2007 December 5, 2007 December 4, 2007 December 2, 2007 November 30, 2007 November 30, 2007 November 30, 2007 November 29, 2007 November 28, 2007 November 27, 2007 November 27, 2007 November 27, 2007 November 25, 2007 November 20, 2007 November 20, 2007 November 18, 2007 November 17, 2007 November 13, 2007 November 13, 2007 November 13, 2007 November 12, 2007 November 11, 2007 November 8, 2007 November 8, 2007 November 8, 2007 November 8, 2007 November 6, 2007 November 5, 2007 November 5, 2007 November 4, 2007 November 2, 2007 November 2, 2007 October 30, 2007 October 29, 2007 October 29, 2007 October 29, 2007 October 29, 2007 October 28, 2007 October 26, 2007 October 25, 2007 October 24, 2007 October 23, 2007 October 23, 2007 October 23, 2007 October 22, 2007 October 21, 2007 October 18, 2007 October 17, 2007 October 16, 2007 October 16, 2007 October 14, 2007 October 11, 2007 October 11, 2007 October 10, 2007 October 7, 2007 October 3, 2007 October 3, 2007 October 2, 2007 September 25, 2007 September 25, 2007 September 24, 2007 September 21, 2007 September 18, 2007 September 17, 2007 September 16, 2007 September 12, 2007 September 5, 2007 August 30, 2007 August 30, 2007 August 27, 2007 August 21, 2007 August 21, 2007 August 15, 2007 August 13, 2007 August 12, 2007 August 10, 2007 August 9, 2007 August 8, 2007 August 6, 2007 August 6, 2007 August 3, 2007 August 3, 2007 July 30, 2007 July 28, 2007 July 26, 2007 July 25, 2007 July 23, 2007 July 20, 2007 July 19, 2007 July 17, 2007 July 16, 2007 July 11, 2007 July 8, 2007 July 8, 2007 July 1, 2007 July 1, 2007 June 27, 2007 June 26, 2007 June 25, 2007 June 24, 2007 June 18, 2007 June 14, 2007 June 13, 2007 June 11, 2007 June 7, 2007 June 5, 2007 June 4, 2007 June 3, 2007 May 23, 2007 May 18, 2007 May 18, 2007 May 16, 2007 May 14, 2007 May 10, 2007 May 9, 2007 May 7, 2007 May 7, 2007 May 3, 2007 May 3, 2007 May 1, 2007 April 26, 2007 April 24, 2007 April 23, 2007 April 20, 2007 April 17, 2007 April 17, 2007 April 17, 2007 April 16, 2007 April 13, 2007 April 12, 2007 April 12, 2007 April 11, 2007 April 10, 2007 April 10, 2007 April 9, 2007 April 9, 2007 April 2, 2007 April 1, 2007 April 1, 2007 March 26, 2007 March 26, 2007 March 20, 2007 March 20, 2007 March 19, 2007 March 13, 2007 March 12, 2007 March 11, 2007 March 8, 2007 March 5, 2007 March 4, 2007 March 1, 2007 February 25, 2007 February 23, 2007 February 21, 2007 February 16, 2007 February 14, 2007 February 12, 2007 February 11, 2007 February 7, 2007 February 7, 2007 February 5, 2007 February 2, 2007 February 1, 2007 January 31, 2007 January 31, 2007 January 30, 2007 January 24, 2007 January 23, 2007 January 22, 2007 January 21, 2007 January 20, 2007 January 19, 2007 January 17, 2007 January 17, 2007 January 10, 2007 January 10, 2007 January 8, 2007 January 4, 2007 January 3, 2007 December 27, 2006 December 26, 2006 December 22, 2006 December 22, 2006 December 21, 2006< |