NEWS XLrator revs up Turbo


BY JEREMY KAY XLrator Media has launched action label Turbo and the slate will kick off with Hong Kong title Naked Soldier, Blood Money and US production Brawler. XLrator CEO Barry Gordon and


president of marketing and distri- bution Mike Radiloff will curate the Turbo by XLrator line-up. Naked Soldier is the sequel to martial arts release Naked Weapon


from producer Wong Jing. Marco Mak directs Jennifer Tse as an assassin. Gordon negotiated the deal with Gordon Cheung of worldwide rights holder Mega- Vision Project. Blood Money, directed by Gre-


gory McQualter, stars martial-arts sensation Zheng Liu, rapper Pit- bull and Hong Kong veteran Gor- don Liu. Gordon negotiated the story of a vengeful Shaolin warrior


who wages war on drug cartels with worldwide rights holder Vision Films’ CEO Lise Romanoff. Brawler is set in the world of


underground mixed martial-arts contests as two brothers face off after a betrayal. Nathan Grubbs and Marc Senter play the siblings and Chris Sivertson directed. Gor- don brokered the acquisition with Michael Paszt and James Fler of Raven Banner.


Kampusch drama draws buyers


BY ANDREAS WISEMAN David Garrett’s new sales outfit Mister Smith, a joint venture with Constantin, has seen strong demand for Natascha Kampusch drama 3,096 Days directed by Sherry Hormann. Market buyers include South


Korea (Bloomage), Eastern Europe (Media Pro), Hong Kong (Lark/UA Films), Baltics (Acme), India (PVR), Israel (United King), Latin America (Sun Distribution), Middle East (Jaguar), Philippines (Pioneer), Poland (Monolith), Sin- gapore (Shaw), South Africa (Nu


in a dark, windowless cellar. Shooting is under way in Germany. Mister Smith will add a number


Antonia Campbell-Hughes


Metro), Croatia and Slovenia (Blitz), Taiwan (Long Shong) and Thailand (Sahamongkol). Former Screen Star of Tomor-


row Antonia Campbell-Hughes stars in the true story of Kam- pusch’s 3,096-day imprisonment


Cinema Libre has Marxist plan The parties say it is the first


BYJEREMYKAY Cinema Libre Studio has closed a co-production deal with the Algerian Ministry of Culture to make a feature starring Max- imilian Schell about the last days of Karl Marx.


Farr tells A Tale


Of Two Cities BY ANDREAS WISEMAN Origin Pictures and BBC Films are developing a feature update of the classic Charles Dickens novel A Tale Of Two Cities. David Farr has delivered the


script, which is now going out to directors. Origin is in Cannes seeking


potential investors on the project, which it aims to shoot next year. In-demand writer Farr, who co-


wrote the script for Joe Wright’s Hanna and is associate director of the Royal Shakespeare Com- pany, has also written episodes of popular BBC television series Spooks. The update marks the third


recent Dickens feature backed by the BBC, after Great Expectations and The Invisible Woman.


agreement of its kind between Algeria and a US company. The Algerian Agency for


Cultural Influence (AARC) will underwrite 30% of the film’s $3.5m budget.


of pieces to its operation in the coming months. Garrett told Screen: “We are aiming to do six to eight films with theatrical pedi- gree per year. Over the summer I’ll be building a team and forging working relationships with two or three other producer entities.” Garrett has almost sold out on


the first instalment in young-adult fantasy franchise The Mortal Instruments.


AARC general manager Mus-


tapha Orif will oversee production and shooting will get under way in Algeria this autumn. Philippe Diaz will direct the


story of how the ailing Marx, with- out a passport and devastated by the death of his wife, found safe haven in Algeria.


Pauline Malefane


La Boheme sings on screen


BY WENDY MITCHELL The team behind Berlinale winner U-Carmen eKhayelitsha will make a new film based on Puccini’s La Boheme. South African theatre company Isango Ensemble is bringing La Boheme — Abanxaxhi to London this week. Director Mark Dornford-May is working on the adaptation with musical director Pauline Malefane, who plays Mimi. The film will shoot in Khayelit-


sha township near Cape Town later this year as the first film under the F&ME/Isango banner. F&ME chairman Stephen Daldry will executive produce. Mike Downey and Sam Taylor of F&ME will produce, as one of 16 films on the company’s packed slate. In post are Peter Greenaway’s


Goltzius And The Pelican Company, Andrzej Jakimowski’s Imagine, Jacco Groen’s Lilet Never Hap- pened, Kadri Kousaar’s The Arbiter, Zagreb Stories II and Mira Fornay’s My Dog Killer. Next to shoot are the $4.5m UK-Georgia project Epic written by Ben Hopkins and Pawel Pawlikowski; the $4.4m Cassy And Jude; and Srdjan Drago- jevic’s The Porcupine.


Romeo team could work with Swarovski again


BY WENDY MITCHELL Screenwriter Julian Fellowes and producer Ileen Maisel plan to develop future projects with Swarovski Entertainment, which backed their Romeo And Juliet. Fellowes told Screen: “Ileen and


Nadja [Swarovski] and I want to work together again. We’re look- ing at various things that we’re not ready to talk about yet, but it won’t be long until we launch off again. It’s been a good collaboration.” Sales company Speranza13


showed footage of Romeo And Jul- iet to buyers yesterday. Hot talents Hailee Steinfeld and Douglas Booth star for director Carlo Car- lei. The film recently wrapped its Italian shoot. Fellowes, who is a family friend


of Swarovski’s, brought the com- pany onto the project after Amber’s Maisel had hired him to


n 4 Screen International at Cannes May 20, 2012 Julian Fellowes and Nadja Swarovski


write a new adaptation of the play. “It is one of Shakespeare’s most


economically told plays,” said Fel- lowes, best known as the writer of Gosford Park and TV series Down- ton Abbey. “And it has some of the most wonderful speeches he ever wrote, and I’m happy to say that they are all still in the movie.” Swarovski Entertainment was a


“substantial” backer of the $17m budget. Swarovski announced its first


film project in Cannes two years ago, Shekhar Kapur’s Paani (still in development). “Our investment in movies is an investment in crea- tivity,” said Swarovski, Swarovski Entertainment chairwoman and Romeo And Juliet executive pro- ducer. “We like to embark on rela- tionships that are mutually beneficial and this is a good foun- dation.” The company plans to keep working with films of budg- ets between $10m-$20m.


CANNES BRIEFS


Dulac blows in The Wind Sophie Dulac Distribution has picked up French rights to Directors’ Fortnight entry Le Repenti and Bence Fliegauf’s Berlin competition entry Just The Wind. Both deals were struck with the producers.


Radiant sings Lullaby Garrett Hedlund and Richard Jenkins will star in Ananda Productions’ comedy Lullaby, which Radiant Films International is selling here. The cast also features Amy Adams, Jessica Brown Findlay and Jennifer Hudson.


Pegg finds Solution The Solution Entertainment Group has been touting the Simon Pegg comedy Hector And The Search For Happiness to international buyers here.


Dogwoof deals Becker Dogwoof Global Sales has sold Jason Becker: Not Dead Y KinoSmith for Canada.


et to


Moviehouse scores Love Moviehouse Entertainment has picked up director Tim van Dammen’s pop-rock opera version of Romeo And Juliet. Romeo & Juliet: A Love Song is set in a New Zealand trailer park.


Latido poses Thesis Latido will handle international rights on the new Argentinian- Spanish thriller Thesis On A Homicide, starring Ricardo Darin and directed by Hernan Goldfrid.


Firth becomes a Mad Dog Colin Firth will play Noel Coward in newly announced BiteSize Entertainment’s comedy drama Mad Dogs And Englishmen.


MPI wakes for Sleep Tight MPI Media Group has acquired all North American rights to Jaume Balaguero’s thriller Sleep Tight and will release it theatrically in the autumn through its genre arm Dark Sky Films. Filmax sells.


Strategic strike for Arrow Strategic Film Partners has acquired international sales rights to Crooked Arrows starring Brandon Routh.


Liotta pacts for Devil Image Entertainment has acquired all US rights to action-thriller The Devil’s In The Details starring Ray Liotta. Epic Pictures handles international sales here in Cannes.


» Full stories on ScreenDaily.com


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