Markets

China’s Bona Film Group , producer of such hits as The Battle At Lake Changjin , made its debut on the Shenzhen stock exchange on Thursday, with shares closing the day at RMB 7.24 ($1.07). This was a 44% increase from the initial public offering price of RMB 5.03 ($0.74) per share and put the market capitalization at just under RMB 10B ($1.47B), according to the South China Morning Post . The company raised RMB 1.38B ($203M) from the deal. Bona returned to the China exchange after exiting the Nasdaq and going private in 2016. It had previously become the first Chinese film studio to trade on the Nasdaq beginning in 2010. During the pandemic, Bona was behind China’s top-grossing movie ever, The Battle At Lake Changjin and its sequel, The Battle At Lake Changjin II (aka Water Gate Bridge ). Collectively, the patriotic films grossed RMB 9.83B ($1.45B at current rates) in China. In an interview posted to Bona’s website earlier this week, Chairman and … [Read more...] about China’s Bona Film Group Valued At $1.5B In Shenzhen Trading Debut

EXCLUSIVE : Sweden’s Arvet Agency is producing horror film The Deacon from Venice Award-winning filmmaker Tequoia Urbina . The Stockholm-based company has acquired script and media rights to the project following a deal with Magnolia Tree Productions. Pic is described as a horror story set in the present day about a family who are given shelter by a church community, but all is not what it seems. Atlanta-based filmmaker Urbina directed, wrote and produced Venice Short Film Award winning pic Gehenna and has packaged The Deacon as a “high concept indie horror,” according to Arvet CEO Grace Maharaj. She added: “We are looking for IP to enter the North American market with and when we read Tequoia’s script, we loved the themes she has touched on with family secrets and the vulnerable in society who have nowhere to turn for help when there is an economic downturn.” Maharaj said the project speaks to Arvet’s dual strategy of seeking IP with a “unique Nordic … [Read more...] about ‘The Deacon’: Sweden’s Arvet Agency Behind Horror From Venice Award-Winning Filmmaker Tequoia Urbina

New York (ANI): Christine O'Donnell is rumoured to be under consideration for the next season of 'Dancing with the Stars". According to AOL"s Popeater blog, Sarah Palin, who watched her daughter Bristol finish third on the show Tuesday night, has been whispering in the ear of the show"s producers to get O'Donnell added to the cast. "Sarah is a genius at marketing herself and her message. She doesn't care about all the old rules about how political people are meant to behave and act. Sarah believes the best way is to go directly to the people - use Twitter, Facebook, 'Dancing With the Stars' and 'Entertainment Tonight' to get potential voters excited and leave 'Meet The Press' and those boring Sunday morning shows to the old-school politicians," the New York Daily News quoted a source as saying. O'Donnell is a fan of the show, and tweeted her support for Bristol on Monday. "I just voted for Bristol on DWTS!" she wrote, encouraging others to vote. A network executive with … [Read more...] about DWTS season 12 could star Christine O’Donnell

EXCLUSIVE: Greenwich Entertainment has acquired U.S. and Canadian rights to the edge-of-your-seat documentary thriller Buried: The 1982 Alpine Meadows Avalanche , a “gripping account of the deadliest avalanche in U.S. ski resort history.” Greenwich plans to release the documentary — winner of the Audience Award at Telluride’s Moutainfilm festival – in theaters in New York, San Francisco and Northern California on September 23, expanding to additional markets thereafter. A 45-day exclusive theatrical window will be followed by a release on TVOD/EST (transactional video on demand/electronic sell-through) and DVD on November 8. Jared Drake and Steven Siig directed the film, which takes viewers back to the catastrophic events of March and April 1982 near Lake Tahoe, California. A massive storm had dumped huge quantities of snow onto the area beginning in late March. Then, on the afternoon of March 31, tragedy struck. “[W]ithout warning, millions of pounds of snow … [Read more...] about Greenwich Entertainment Acquires Rights To “Gripping” Doc ‘Buried: The 1982 Alpine Meadows Avalanche,’ On Historic Ski Resort Disaster

UPDATED with confirmation: USC and UCLA made it official Thursday: the schools are moving from the Pac-12 Conference to the Big Ten Conference in 2024. The jump, which both schools confirmed late in the day amid swirling media reports of a deal in the works, is the latest major disruption of the college sports landscape, which has been altered by players gaining rights to name, image and likeness (NIL) revenue and the rise of the five conferences in the top tier of the ultra-lucrative sport of football. While the realignment would apply to all sports, football controls the vast majority of the dollars flowing to schools from media rights. In USC’s statement today, it noted that the schools’ move date is effective August 2, 2024, “enabling both schools to remain in the Pac-12 Conference for the duration of the Pac-12’s existing media rights agreements.” “Over the past three years, we have worked hard to ground our university decisions in what is best for our … [Read more...] about USC And UCLA Confirm Jump From Pac-12 To Big Ten Conference In Latest Upheaval In College Sports – Update

EXCLUSIVE : Brad Peyton ( Rampage ) and Toni Calderon ( The Gentleman Driver ) have partnered on a new docuseries focused on the high-energy, high-intensity world of amateur sportscar drivers. The as-yet-untitled project will spotlight the arena of IMSA pro-am racing, following the lives of the everyday men and women who look to compete against the best professional race car drivers in the world, including Katherine Legge and Filipe Albuquerque. The project will have unprecedented, behind-the-scenes access to the amateur drivers, and to how racing against professionals can risk their relationships, their businesses, and more importantly, their lives. In addition to executive producers Peyton and Calderon, the producing team includes former Netflix executive Justin Price; Mike Zhu, who formerly served as Head of Strategy and Planning for wiip; Hardpoint Motorsports’ President & CEO, Rob Ferriol; The Gentleman Driver producer Beaux Jackson; and the … [Read more...] about ‘Rampage’ Director Brad Peyton Teams With Toni Calderon For Pro-Am Racing Docuseries