Month: April 2010

Film fans will have chance to bet on ticket sales of future movies with Cantor Exchange

Move over corn, pork bellies and cotton futures, make way for movie futures trading. THR reports that U.S. regulators have approved the creation of a futures market for the movie industry. Under the proposed plan, called Trend Exchange, film industry pros and other investors will be able to trade on predicted boxoffice receipts. According to ….

William Shatner, Stan Lee, Bionic Woman, Futurama, and Adam West headline Anaheim Comic Con this weekend

William Shatner, Stan Lee, Ilya Salkind and the original cast of Batman and TV show and movie screenings highlight the daily programming at Anaheim Comic Con this weekend at the Anaheim Convention Center. Friday begins with a special session with Academy Award-winning make-up artist Barney Burnham (5 p.m., Room 202A), followed by the popular “Wizard ….

Weinsteins close to snatching Miramax back from Disney?

According to THR, the Weinsteins are close to a winning bid in the Miramax auction and could take back operating control of the arthouse studio they founded in 1979, then sold to Disney for $80 million in 1993. Disney’s recently shuttered niche division boasts a 611-title film library. Miramax founders Harvey and Bob Weinstein have ….

Fox wants to turn you into a Na’vi to celebrate Avatar DVD release

To commemorate the launch of Avatar on Blu-ray and DVD, Fox Home Entertainment technology company Inwindow Outdoor, will unveil an interactive digital exhibition. The exhibition uses state-of-the-art facial recognition technology to morph shoppers’ faces in real time into the natives of Pandora, the Na’vi. The Avatar face-morphing exhibition is a large, freestanding structure that will ….

Actor James Caan’s Openfilm to award $1 million film financing prize in indie film contest

Online global independent film community Openfilm announced that it will award $1 million to independent filmmakers over the next 20 months. One independent filmmaker will be selected to receive $50,000 in cash and $200,000 in financing every 5 months by the Openfilm community of 20,000 registered film enthusiasts, along with some of the world’s preeminent ….

Indie filmmakers continue to find a voice during upcoming 32nd Annual Independent Film Week

Independent Film Week is the oldest and largest forum in the U.S. for the discovery of new projects in development and new voices on the independent film scene. The Project Forum is a meetings-driven forum connecting filmmakers who have new narrative and documentary projects with key industry executives interested in identifying projects with which to ….

Writer helps Man From U.N.C.L.E. big-screen adaptation take shape

Max Borenstein (Swordswallowers and Thin Men) will pen a new draft of Man From U.N.C.L.E., Warner Bros.’ big-screen take the 1960s cult TV espionage show, according to HeatVisionBlog. David Dobkin – who helmed Shanghai Knights, Wedding Crashers and Fred Claus – is already set to direct the long-in-development project. The Man From U.N.C.L.E. ran from ….