June 29, 2005
32 films get Gold Reels for $100 mil mark
By Stuart Kemp AMSTERDAM -- An all-time high of 32 movies grossed more than $100 million at the overseas boxoffice during the past 12 months, up from 21 the year before, researchers Nielsen EDI said Tuesday.
Nielsen handed out its Gold Reel Awards to honor the high-grossing pictures at an annual lunchtime ceremony during Cinema Expo. Several of them went to newcomers, including Japan's Toho Company and a pair of U.S.-based companies -- Lakeshore Entertainment Group and the Fellowship Adventure Group. Nielsen EDI, like The Hollywood Reporter, is part of parent company VNU Business Media.
Nielsen Entertainment International president Nick King told an audience of largely European-based theater operators that of the 32 honorees, five had hit $100 million in the first five months of 2005 alone.
King said the number of movies crossing that mark internationally now outweighed the number doing that kind of boxoffice in the U.S. and Canada.
King also said research shows concrete evidence that movies no longer need big U.S. launches to enjoy big international boxoffice success.
This year, United International Pictures reeled in a record-breaking nine awards, the distributor's personal best and a record for any one company. UIP distributes the output from three separate studios: Universal, Paramount and DreamWorks.
The UIP titles hitting pay dirt internationally were "The Bourne Supremacy," "Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason," "Collateral," "Meet the Fockers," "The Phantom of the Opera," "Shark Tale," "Shrek 2," "The Terminal" and "Van Helsing."
Accepting the awards, UIP president and chief operating officer Andrew Cripps promised not to go through each title one by one and thanked the exhibitors for their efforts in posting the returns for what was a marked improvement on last year's total of four awards.
Twentieth Century Fox International followed last year's tally of two awards with six this time around, including one for "Robots," which still is to be released in key international territories. Twentieth also walked off with awards for "The Day After Tomorrow," "Garfield," "I, Robot," "Kingdom of Heaven" and "Star Wars Episode III -- Revenge of the Sith."
EDI's King noted that, of the six, only "Robots" had failed to surpass its U.S. domestic gross, and it still had territories including Japan and South Korea to come.
>>>>Warner Bros. Pictures swept up five awards for "Constantine," "Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban," "Ocean's Twelve," "The Polar Express" and "Troy." Warner representatives also took home the evening's award for Intermedia's "Alexander," which scored more than $100 million.<<<<
Buena Vista International walked away from the luncheon with awards for "The Incredibles," "King Arthur," "National Treasure" and "The Village." BVI president Mark Zoradi praised Pixar Animation and Touchstone Pictures, and name-checked producer Jerry Bruckheimer and director M. Night Shyamalan for "important relationships." The company also accepted stablemate Miramax International's plaudit for "Shall We Dance?"
Sony Pictures Releasing International reeled in a pair of awards, with "Spider-Man 2" and "Hitch" hitting the benchmark for the renamed Columbia TriStar Film Distributors International. SPRI senior executive vp Mark Zucker joked that the performance of "Hitch" was excellent because "it's not easy to do (romantic comedy) without Hugh Grant and Julia Roberts."
Newcomers to the reel show, Toho International and reps for Initial Entertainment Group and Lakeshore Entertainment Group, all took to the stage to accept one award each. Toho's "Howl's Moving Castle" achieved the benchmark from its Japanese release alone.
>>Initial picked up an award for "The Aviator," while Dutch distributor A-FILM landed a trophy for Lakeshore's "Million Dollar Baby."<<
This year's Gold Reels also saw one final first as a documentary took home an award. The prize for Fellowship's "Fahrenheit 9/11" was handed out in a separate ceremony in the U.S., organizers said.
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People Nick King Nielsen EDI Bridget Jones Andrew Cripps EDI's King
Companies UIP Toho Company Fellowship Adventure Group. Hollywood Reporter VNU Business Media Inc.
Concepts warner representatives international boxoffice success annual lunchtime ceremony research shows Warner Bros
Categories Awards Distributors Boxoffice International markets Exhibitors
Letztes Jahr warens 22 Filme die abgesahnt haben...dieses Jahr 32 Filme unteranmderem
Alexander und Aviator !
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