HARD POWDER INTERNATIONAL RIGHTS ALMOST SOLD
Upcoming action thriller Hard Powder, starring Liam Neeson, has sold almost all international rights, with US under negotiation, European film – TV group
Studiocanal stated recently said. The sale of the Rocky Mountains set movie to 9 of the dozen biggest markets for international productions marks the 1st ever to independent distributors for a big title at this year’s Berlin Film Festival. Hard Powder, which is fully financed & sold by Studiocanal, will be distributed directly by the company in its 4 home territories: UK, France, Germany & Australia – New Zealand. The other major licensing deals comprise of. Italy (Eagle), Spain (A Contracorriente Films), Latin America (Leda Films), China (Bona Films) & Scandinavia (Svensk). Other territories sold include Benelux (The Searchers), Poland (Monolith), Eastern Europe (Freeman), Greece (Spentzos), Middle East (Salim Ramia), South Africa (Times Media), Indonesia (PT Amero) & Singapore (Shaw). Japan is in final talks. A number of other territories are still in negotiation, but Anna Marsh, Studiocanal’s head of international film sales, is confident that, apart from North America, Hard Powder will be sold out soon after the European Film Market. Hard Powder stars Neeson as a snowplow driver and pillar of his Colorado community whose life is up -ended by his son’s killing at the hands of a powerful local drug lord. The film is written by Frank Baldwin, directed by Hans Petter Moland & produced by Pulp Fiction’s Michael Shamberg. It is due to go into production next month, shooting at varied locales in Canada. Although the script was sent to buyers just a week before the Berlinale, international sales were boosted by Neeson & Shamberg’s visit to the EFM.
STALIN PROVES A HOT TITLE
On top of selling to IFC Films for North America rights, Armando Iannucci’s The Death Of Stalin has pre – sold to several other territories at EFM, where Gaumont is shopping the pic. Gaumont has inked pre -sales for Switzerland (Ascot Elite), Poland (Kinoswiat), Greece & Romania (Odeon), Israel (Lev films), former Yugoslavia (MCF Megacom), Baltics (Latvian Theatrical Distribution). Previous sales were closed with Madman in Australia & Concorde in Germany. Gaumont is in negotiations to close deals for UK, Latin America, Hungary, CIS & Portugal. The sale to IFC Films followed a bidding war that involved several distributors, including A24 & The Orchard, according to insiders. Adapted from the French graphic novel by Fabien Nury & Thierry Robin, The Death Of Stalin is a comic look at how Joseph Stalin’s stroke in 1953 threw USSR into chaos and inspired a mad power grab among his top advisers. Iannucci, who earned critical acclaim for In The Loop, Veep & The Thick Of It, wrote the screenplay of The Death Of Stalin with David Schneider & Ian Martin with additional material by Peter Fellows. The picture was produced by Main Journey, Yann Zenou & Laurent Zeitoun’s Montreal based banner & Quad Films, the Paris based outfit ran by Nicolas Duval – Adassovsky, Zenou & Zeitoun. The cast includes Jason Isaacs, Steve Buscemi, Simon Russell Beale, Rupert Friend, Michael Palin & Jeffrey Tambor.
SHUDDER ACQUIRES SLASHER MOVIE LAKE BLOOM
Shudder, the AMC Networks backed genre
streaming service, has picked up exclusive US, Canada & UK rights to the Finnish slasher film Lake Bodom in advance of its premiere at SXSW. Fabien Westerhoff’s Film Constellation is handling worldwide sales in Berlin. Wrter / Director Taneli Mustonen’s film, inspired by real – life events, follows 4 teenagers on a pilgrimage to Lake Bodom, the site of a brutal killing of a group of teenagers in 1960s, where they quickly find themselves repeating history. The film, nominated for 3 Finnish Film Awards including “Best Film”, will be available to stream exclusively on Shudder starting May, 2017. Aurelie de Troyer, VP, global acquisitions, averred: “Lake Bodom perfectly complements the service’s wide – ranging slate of exclusive content, as we continue to grow the variety of thrilling, suspenseful & horror film & TV content available to Shudder subscribers.” Don Films’ Aleksi Hyvarinen, Lake Bodom’s producer & co -writer, averred: “We are absolutely thrilled to be bringing Lake Bodom to a wider audience with Shudder following its successful festival run.” Shudder debuted its 1st ever exclusive premiere in Oct, 2016 with the supernatural miniseries Beyond The Walls. Recent & upcoming exclusives include Sadako vs. Kayako, Dearest Sister, Blind Sun, Always Shine & Prevenge.
FILM MOVEMENT ACQUIRES AMNESIA
New York based distributor Film Movement has secured North American rights to Amnesia, the latest film from Barbet Schroeder. The announcement was made at Berlin Film Festival. Film Movement will open Amnesia theatrically at the Cinema Village in New York before a VOD bow on 21st Jul, 2017 and then a home – video release. Film stars Marthe Keller & Max Riemelt. Film played in 2015 Cannes. “Barbet Schroeder is a master of character studies,” averred Film Movement’s president Michael E. Rosenberg. “And Amnesia is no exception.” Film Movement’s recent acquisitions take in Andrzej Wajda’s Afterimage, Koji Fukada’s Harmonium & Jan Hrebejk’s The Teacher. Amnesia is sold by Les Films du Losange, the company Schroeder established in Paris in 1963.
SODA PICTURES MAKES ITS MOVE
Soda Pictures has acquired UK rights to action thriller Your Move from Premiere Entertainment Group, it announced recently. The film, which marks the directorial debut of singer – turned – actor Luke Goss, is currently in post production. Also starring Goss, alongside Robert Davi & Patricia De Leon, it tells the story of a man who must go to extreme lengths to discover what happened to his kidnapped wife & daughter. Soda intends to launch the film to coincide with the reunion concert tour of Bros, the 1980s’ pop band Luke performed in with his brother Matt. The reunion was originally intended as a one – off concert at London’s O2 Arena on 19th Aug, 2016, marking the anniversary of the band’s last concert in 1989. However, when that show sold out within a minute of going on sale the tour was expanded to include 6 further dates at the O2 and at other venues around UK in Aug, 2016. “We saw an excellent opportunity to distribute Your Move in UK in concert with Luke’s UK arena tour this summer,” averred Ed Fletcher, managing director of Soda Pictures. Premiere Entertainment Group, which is handling international sales, has secured deals for the film in many other markets including VSC for Canada, DBS Star for China, F. I. P. for France, Notorios for Italy, Aya Pro for Japan, California Filmes for Latin America, Flins y Piniculas for Spain, Moby Dick for South Korea, Pictureworks for India, Major Kantana for Thailand, Olin Arts for Turkey, Eagle for Middle East & Daro for Eastern Europe / Africa.
WARNER BROS RESTRUCTURES UK TV OPERATION
Warner Bros. is restructuring & consolidating its UK television development & production operations by bringing together its 5 UK production companies with London based Warner Bros International Television Production. The announcement, made recently by president of Warner Bros Worldwide Television Distribution Jeffrey R. Schlesinger, will see CEOs of UK production outfits Wall to Wall, Twenty Twenty, Ricochet, Yalli & Renegade report directly to Ronald Goes, executive vice – president of Warner Bros Worldwide Television Distribution. Schlesinger stated the move would offer the individual companies better access to the resources of the global production & distribution operations unit already based in London. It will see the companies work more closely with creative & business executives across the global group, designed to offer a more integrated strategic focus and greater ability for the companies to grow & broaden their local audiences while also creating more local versions of their shows around the globe. “With this restructure, we can better empower the experienced & the talented executives of our production companies here in UK to do what they do best – develop & produce great programming & franchises,” concluded Schlesinger. Wall to Wall produces celebrity genealogy show Who Do You Think You Are? for BBC. Twenty Twenty produces reality dating show First Dates for Channel 4.
LA LA LAND BAGS TOP PRIZE
Damien Chazelle’s La La Land dominated the 70th British Academy Film Awards recently, claiming 5 prizes including “Best Film”, “Best Director” & “Best Leading Actress” for Emma Stone. The triumph maintained the musical’s momentum through this year’s awards season ahead of the Oscars on 26th Feb, 2017. “I think film, when at its best, reveals there is more that ties us together than tears us apart,” averred producer Jordan Horowitz. Fellow producer Fred Berger praised UK industry for “challenging us and setting the bar.” Stone also averred, “The film was “one of the greatest working experiences of my life” and went on to thank BAFTA for bringing the industry together to “celebrate the positive gift of creativity, how it can transcend borders and make people feel a little less alone.” Composer Justin Hurwitz scored La La Land’s 1st ever award of the night for “Best Original music. Linus Sandgren also won the BAFTA for the film as “Best Cinematographer”. Casey Affleck claimed the “Best Actor” award for his performance in Kenneth Lonergan’s Manchester By The Sea,” which also won Lonergan the BAFTA for “Best Original Screenplay”. “This is an honor I’ll never forget,” averred Casey Affleck. “The reason I act is when I was a young kid my mom took me to Al – Anon meetings for children of alcoholics. It was therapy but it was acting and acting has sort of been that for me ever since.” BAFTA chair Jane Lush took the stage ahead of the ceremony’s official start, hitting the 1st of many political notes of the evening as she commented on diversity issues within the industry.
NAZI THEMED THRILLER SS – GB INVADES EUROPE
BBC Worldwide has pre – sold thriller SS -GB, which receives its world premiere at the Berlin Film Festival this week, across Europe. The counter factual series, set in a Nazi – occupied Britain post – World War II, stars Sam Riley & Kate Bosworth. It has been licensed to Germany (RTL), Croatia (Pickbox), Sweden (SVT), Greece (Cosmote), Israel (HOT / Cellcom), Iceland (RUV) & Poland (Showmax). SS-GB, a Sid Gentle Films production, will appear on BBC First Channels in Africa, Australia, Benelux & Middle East, as well as UKTV in New Zealand. The series was adapted from Len Deighton’s 1978 novel by screenwriters Neal Purvis & Robert Wade, whose credits include Skyfall & Spectre. In the series, Hitler’s Germany has defeated Britain and the population of 1940s Britain struggles to adjust to life under German occupation.
MILLENNIM FILMS IN SALES TALKS
Avi Lerner’s Millennium Films / Nu Image may be in sale talks with Chinese financier Recon group, according to reports. Bloomberg News recently reported 2 unnamed sources close to Recon suggesting that Recon might attempt to buy Los Angeles based producer & sales agent Millennium. Bloomberg’s sources stated that Recon might use Shenzhen – listed subsidiary Recon Wenyuan Cable. Recon is headed by Chinese businessman Tony Xia (aka Xia Jiantong.) In 2016 Recon bought control of the English soccer club Aston Villa in a deal reported to have been worth $101 million. Millennium, which has previously produced The Expendables action franchise movies, is known to have been in talks with several Chinese firms over the past year. Sources in China have put the asking price north of $300 million. The company has regularly turned to China for movie finance. Parts of The Expendables franchise were financed in association with China’s Le Vision Pictures, part of the LeEco cluster of companies. Earlier this week in Berlin, it was announced that Chinese distributor & financier Hishow had come on board 2 of Millennium’s current movies, Hunter Killer & Escobar. Recon bought Aston Villa from American businessman Randy Lerner. The relationship, if any, between between Randy Lerner & Avi Lerner is currently unclear. Aston Villa reported that Recon is a “privately owned holding company that owns the controlling interest in 5 publicly listed companies on Hong Kong & Chinese stock exchanges.”
HISHOW SNARES HUNTER KILLER & ESCOBAR
China’s Hishow Entertainment has boarded a pair of upcoming movies from Nu Image /Millennium Films: Hunter Killer & Escobar. The deal is one of the biggest completed so far at the European Film Market, alongside the Berlin Film Festival, and also one of the biggest by a Chinese indie in recent months. The Chinese distributor – investor has paid more than $10 million to buy into 2 films. In both cases it is co – financing the movies and acquiring distribution rights for China. Nu Image / Millennium produces the Expendables series, which also has Chinese co – producers. Directed by Donovan Marsh, Hunter Killer features Gerard Butler as an untested American captain who teams with Navy Seals for a mission to rescue the Russian president. Butler has significant name – recognition in China after the success there of London Has Fallen. Gary Oldman & Billy Bob Thornton also star in the action thriller, which was previously set up at Relativity but shifted after the company’s financial meltdown. Escobar, starring Penelope Cruz, Javier Bardem & Peter Sarsgaard, is a fact based drama about a female journalist who strikes up a relationship with the notorious Colombian drug lord. Fernando Leon de Aranoa directs; Bardem shares the production credits.
XXX: XANDER CAGE DRIVES TO $60 MILLION
Released last week, Vin Diesel starring action movie xXx: Return of Xander Cage sped off to a blistering start at the Chinese box office turnstiles and never needed to look in the rear – view mirror. In 3 days of release it grossed $60.2 million, according to data from local tracking service Ent Group. Paramount reported the figure at an estimated $61.9 million. With an opening $20.6 million on Fri, followed by $23.2 million on Sat, it had driven past the North American total of $41.6 million inside 2 days. On Sun it enjoyed a further $16.4 million. The film played a total of some 85,000 screenings per day, more than double the 2nd placed picture, Kung Fu Yoga. Within the film’s 3 day haul, IMAX screens amassed $6 million, the 2nd biggest Feb, 2017 opening in China behind the recent The Monkey King 2. IMAX reports that 8 of the film’s top 10 locations were IMAX theaters. (Prior to this weekend, xXx: Xander Cage had an international score of $114 million and a global total of $156 million.) A long way behind in 2nd place, Jackie Chan starring holdover Kung Fu Yoga earned $15.6 million. That propelled its total to $217 million after 16 days on release, including the Chinese New Year holiday period. Cook Up A Storm, a comedy action romance starring Hong Kong’s Nicholas Tse, started with over 51,000 screenings on its opening Fri, but the number of outlets were sliced back to 42,000 by Sun as its scored slipped. In its 3 opening it managed $12.2 million.
