TUESDAY, MAY 17 2011
TODAY The Big Fix
www.ScreenDaily.com Tom Hooper Editorial (33) 4 97 06 85 35
AT THE CANNES FILM FESTIVAL Advertising (33) 4 97 06 85 37
Noyce boards Bloodsport as Moth flies to Venice
Tom Hooper joins BFI board
BY WENDY MITCHELL At a reception last night here in Cannes, BFI chair Greg Dyke announced that The King’s Speech director Tom Hooper has been appointed to the BFI’s board of governors. The King’s Speech received fund-
ing from the UK Film Council, whose funding responsibilities have now been transferred to the BFI. The Oscar-winning director is
the final addition to the BFI’s revamped board of 15. Other new governors include
Matthew Justice, managing direc- tor of Big Talk, and Warner Bros’ Josh Berger. UK culture minister Ed Vaizey
also spoke at the reception last night, saying that he will unveil details of the government’s new film policy research “in the next few weeks”.
Chelsom to direct
Tossell’s Hector Peter Chelsom is to direct Egoli Tossell’s film adaptation of Francois Lelord’s novel Hector And The Search For Happiness. UK director Chelsom (Shall We Dance? and Hannah Montana: The Movie) will return to Europe to make the film. Hector tells the story of a
charming but confused young psychiatrist and his search for happiness. His quest takes him from Paris to China, Africa and California. Berlin-based Egoli Tossell,
which went into insolvency in January, is at Cannes with a slate of projects following a refinancing of the company through Film House Germany AG, a division of merchant bank ABL Group. Mike Goodridge
Terrence Malick was not on hand for The Tree Of Life press call and conference but producers Grant Hill, Sarah Green, Bill Pohlad, Dede Gardner, Brad Pitt (above, who also stars in the film) and female lead Jessica Chastain (above) were all present. The reason given for Malick’s absence was simply that “Mr Malick is very shy.” Sean Penn arrived in Cannes from Haiti, where he has been doing humanitarian work, in time for the red carpet. For The Tree Of Life review, see page 14.
BY MIKE GOODRIDGE Veteran producer Ed Pressman has signed with Phillip Noyce to direct and Robert Mark Kamen (Taken) to write a reinvention of 1988’s iconic Jean-Claude Van Damme actioner Bloodsport. Alberto Lensi is also producing.
The story follows an American who goes to Brazil to recover from the violence he has experienced in Afghanistan. He becomes involved in a martial-arts contest. Mark DiSalle is executive producing.
Bunch and domestically by Cinetic Media, the fi lm stars Lily Cole and Sarah Bolger as girls caught in a web of jealousy and betrayal at an elite boarding school. Pressman is to start production
Ed Pressman Mary Harron’s The Moth Diaries,
which is in post, has been invited to the Venice Film Festival in Sep- tember after festival director Marco Mueller saw a recent cut in New York. Sold internationally by Wild
on his reinvention of The Crow in January. The fi lm, which is being fi nanced by Relativity Media, is to be directed by Juan Carlos Fresna- dillo with Bradley Cooper in nego- tiations. Producers include Ryan Kavanaugh, Tucker Tooley and Apache Films’ Enrique Lopez.
Winding Refn plays Game
BY GEOFFREY MACNAB Nicolas Winding Refn, who is in Competition with Drive, and pro- duction company Zik Zak (Vol- cano) are partnering on thriller Black’s Game. TrustNordisk han- dles international sales. Oskar Thor Axelsson will direct.
The film is based on true events taking place in Iceland’s criminal underworld. Refn will executive-produce. Zik
Zak will produce, along with pro- duction company Filmus and Chris Briggs (Hostel). Winding Refn said: “As a fan of
Nancy Tartaglione
the gangster genre, I saw in Black’s Game a true freshness.”
Buyers like HanWay’s Expectations, Psychopaths Lionsgate has also acquired
BY GEOFFREY MACNAB UK sales outfi t HanWay Films has sold Mike Newell’s Great Expecta- tions to Lionsgate for the UK, Sena- tor for Germany, Videa for Italy and Daisy for Korea. Seven Psychopaths, starring
Colin Farrell, Sam Rockwell, Chris- topher Walken and Mickey Rourke, was snapped up by Wild Side for France, Carmen Film for Russia, Hopscotch for Australia, Momentum for the UK and Alli- ance for Canada. Deals in Ger- many, Italy and Scandinavia are in negotiation.
Michael Hoffman’s Girl’s Night Out for the UK and Canada. Other sales closed at Cannes are Australia and New Zealand (Transmission/Para- mount) and Italy (Videa). Icon Film Distribution snapped
up UK rights to home-invasion thriller You’re Next and Momen- tum took UK rights to Dustin Hoff- man’s directorial debut Quartet, set to shoot this autumn. CinemaNX’s UK box-office hit
TT3D: Closer To The Edge went to Scandinavia (Smile), Korea (Darae) and Australia/NZ (Icon).
Let The Bullets Fly
Buyers take EMP’s Bullets
BY LIZ SHACKLETON Hong Kong-based Emperor Motion Pictures (EMP) has closed a trio of deals on Jiang Wen’s blockbuster Let The Bullets Fly, including a sale to Amuse Soft in Japan. The genre-bending action
adventure, which is a Chinese box-office hit, has also sold to Kaleidoscope for the UK and to Vendetta for Australia and New Zealand. The film stars Chow Yun-Fat and Ge You, alongside Jiang.
Warp serves for Kurzel’s Lendl
Warp Films Australia is re-teaming with Snowtown director Justin Kurzel for his next film, Ivan Lendl Never Learnt To Volley. Following their collaboration
Ecosse’s The Decoy Bride went to Italy (Videa), Australia (Pinnacle) and Brazil (Mares). Kon Tiki, currently in produc-
tion, has gone to Germany (Del- phi) and Australia/New Zealand (Transmission). Scandinavian powerhouse Nordisk is co-produc- ing. Following multiple deals in Berlin, Kevin Macdonald’s Life In A Day has sold to Japan (IMG) and Korea (Korean Film Centre). Meanwhile Wim Wenders’ Pina
has concluded its worldwide sell- out by going to Italy (BIM) and Canada (Mongrel).
on Critics’ Week title Snowtown, brothers Justin and Jed Kurzel will co-write and direct. Like Snowtown, the film is
inspired by true events, about a 13-year-old tennis player whose obsessive father pushed him to emulate tennis great Lendl, with disastrous consequences. Snowtown was the first
feature produced by newly launched Warp Films Australia, helmed by Anna McLeish and Sarah Shaw. The outfit is also producing Partisan by Ariel Kleiman.
Wendy Mitchell
DIARY Oil & Water The Big Fix: oil doc hits Cannes » PAGE 10
REVIEW That’s Life Terrence Malick’s The Tree Of Life is a cinematic symphony » PAGE 15
BREAKING NEWS Summit has acquired US rights to the Dwayne Johnson action thriller Snitch, which Exclusive is selling overseas
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