BERLIN -- Constantin Film confirmed Wednesday that director Sonke Wortmann is taking the helm of Pope Joan, replacing Volker Schlondorff, who was fired after criticizing the concept of filming with an eye toward a theatrical release and a TV miniseries version.
Wortmann (Germany: A Summer's Fairytale) reportedly campaigned for the job, beating several high-profile German directors including Uli Edel (Last Exit to Brooklyn) and Mennan Yapo (Premonition).
The project has been plagued with a number of problems including extensive rewrites; a lawsuit against actor John Goodman, who pulled out of the project; and a lack of support from film-funding institutions. The film has been presold, however, to several European territories.
Pope Joan centers on a female pope who passes herself off as a man. The dramatic climax sees her giving birth in public.
Actresses from Nicole Kidman to Natalie Portman reportedly were wooed for the role -- but apparently none of them took the bait. German star Franka Potente still is expected to play the lead.
Wortmann (Germany: A Summer's Fairytale) reportedly campaigned for the job, beating several high-profile German directors including Uli Edel (Last Exit to Brooklyn) and Mennan Yapo (Premonition).
The project has been plagued with a number of problems including extensive rewrites; a lawsuit against actor John Goodman, who pulled out of the project; and a lack of support from film-funding institutions. The film has been presold, however, to several European territories.
Pope Joan centers on a female pope who passes herself off as a man. The dramatic climax sees her giving birth in public.
Actresses from Nicole Kidman to Natalie Portman reportedly were wooed for the role -- but apparently none of them took the bait. German star Franka Potente still is expected to play the lead.
- 8/30/2007
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
COLOGNE, Germany -- Germany's video market is holding steady, but 2007 has been anything but stellar for the country's home entertainment industry.
According to official figures released Thursday by survey group GfK, DVD/video turnover in Germany, both rental and sell-through, stood at 669 million ($897 million) in the first half. That's down slightly from last year's figure of 674 million.
Sell-through figures held steady at 541 million ($726 million) for the half, driven by hits including Sony Pictures' Casino Royale, Kinowelt soccer documentary Germany. A Summer Fairytale and Disney's "Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest." But the German rental market slipped 4%, with 121.9 million ($164 million) in total sales.
Piracy and stiff price competition among Germany's big retailers were cited as the main reasons for the poor showing.
According to official figures released Thursday by survey group GfK, DVD/video turnover in Germany, both rental and sell-through, stood at 669 million ($897 million) in the first half. That's down slightly from last year's figure of 674 million.
Sell-through figures held steady at 541 million ($726 million) for the half, driven by hits including Sony Pictures' Casino Royale, Kinowelt soccer documentary Germany. A Summer Fairytale and Disney's "Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest." But the German rental market slipped 4%, with 121.9 million ($164 million) in total sales.
Piracy and stiff price competition among Germany's big retailers were cited as the main reasons for the poor showing.
- 8/17/2007
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
COLOGNE, Germany -- Soenke Wortmann's record-breaking soccer documentary Germany. A Summer Fairytale will not be eligible for the country's top film prize, the Lola, organizers said Thursday.
Germany's film academy ruled Thursday that A Summer Fairytale could not compete in the Best German Documentary category because the film has already screened on German television.
According to the organization's rules, only films that haven't had a television release can compete in the Lolas.
Kinowelt, the film's distributor, and German broadcaster WDR, one of the producers, had lobbied to make an exception for Wortmann's documentary.
A Summer Fairytale, which is still running in theaters here, aired Wednesday night on pubcaster ARD, where it drew an impressive 10.5 million viewers, or a 31% overall share.
A behind-the-scenes look at Germany's national soccer team at the 2006 World Cup, the film has already become the most successful documentary ever in Germany, selling almost 4 million tickets for a boxoffice take of more than $30 million.
Germany's film academy ruled Thursday that A Summer Fairytale could not compete in the Best German Documentary category because the film has already screened on German television.
According to the organization's rules, only films that haven't had a television release can compete in the Lolas.
Kinowelt, the film's distributor, and German broadcaster WDR, one of the producers, had lobbied to make an exception for Wortmann's documentary.
A Summer Fairytale, which is still running in theaters here, aired Wednesday night on pubcaster ARD, where it drew an impressive 10.5 million viewers, or a 31% overall share.
A behind-the-scenes look at Germany's national soccer team at the 2006 World Cup, the film has already become the most successful documentary ever in Germany, selling almost 4 million tickets for a boxoffice take of more than $30 million.
- 12/12/2006
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
COLOGNE, Germany -- German indie distributor-producer Kinowelt has caught soccer fever.
The phenomenal success of Soenke Wortmann's World Cup documentary Germany. A Summer Fairytale has led the German indie to up its year-end forecasts.
Kinowelt says it will earn more than 100 million ($132 million) in a fiscal year, for the first time since emerging from bankruptcy in 2002.
The Leipzig-based group had originally forecast earnings of 95 million ($125 million) for 2006.
But that was before Wortmann's documentary hit theaters in October.
Germany. A Summer Fairytale has sold almost 4 million tickets in Germany for a boxoffice haul of 23.8 million ($31.4 million), making Fairytale the most successful documentary ever in the territory.
Now, Kinowelt head Michael Koelmel is predicting revenues "above 100 million and a sharp rise in profits" for the year.
In 2005, Kinowelt saw revenues jump 41% to 78.5 million and net profits more than double to 3.6 million.
The phenomenal success of Soenke Wortmann's World Cup documentary Germany. A Summer Fairytale has led the German indie to up its year-end forecasts.
Kinowelt says it will earn more than 100 million ($132 million) in a fiscal year, for the first time since emerging from bankruptcy in 2002.
The Leipzig-based group had originally forecast earnings of 95 million ($125 million) for 2006.
But that was before Wortmann's documentary hit theaters in October.
Germany. A Summer Fairytale has sold almost 4 million tickets in Germany for a boxoffice haul of 23.8 million ($31.4 million), making Fairytale the most successful documentary ever in the territory.
Now, Kinowelt head Michael Koelmel is predicting revenues "above 100 million and a sharp rise in profits" for the year.
In 2005, Kinowelt saw revenues jump 41% to 78.5 million and net profits more than double to 3.6 million.
- 12/11/2006
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
COLOGNE, Germany -- Soenke Wortmann's record-breaking soccer documentary Germany. A Summer Fairytale will not be eligible for the country's top film prize, the Lola, organizers said Thursday.
Germany's film academy ruled Thursday that A Summer Fairytale could not compete in the Best German Documentary category because the film has already screened on German television.
According to the organization's rules, only films that haven't had a television release can compete in the Lolas.
Kinowelt, the film's distributor, and German broadcaster WDR, one of the producers, had lobbied to make an exception for Wortmann's documentary.
A Summer Fairytale, which is still running in theaters here, aired Wednesday night on pubcaster ARD, where it drew an impressive 10.5 million viewers, or a 31% overall share.
A behind-the-scenes look at Germany's national soccer team at the 2006 World Cup, the film has already become the most successful documentary ever in Germany, selling almost 4 million tickets for a boxoffice take of more than $30 million.
Germany's film academy ruled Thursday that A Summer Fairytale could not compete in the Best German Documentary category because the film has already screened on German television.
According to the organization's rules, only films that haven't had a television release can compete in the Lolas.
Kinowelt, the film's distributor, and German broadcaster WDR, one of the producers, had lobbied to make an exception for Wortmann's documentary.
A Summer Fairytale, which is still running in theaters here, aired Wednesday night on pubcaster ARD, where it drew an impressive 10.5 million viewers, or a 31% overall share.
A behind-the-scenes look at Germany's national soccer team at the 2006 World Cup, the film has already become the most successful documentary ever in Germany, selling almost 4 million tickets for a boxoffice take of more than $30 million.
- 12/7/2006
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
COLOGNE, Germany -- German independent film firm Kinowelt has acquired art house distributor/producer Pegasos Filmverleih, the companies said Tuesday.
The deal gives Kinowelt the rights to the more than 80 feature films in the Pegasos library.
Titles in the library include 1998 Palme d'Or winner Eternity and a Day from Greek director Theo Angelopoulos, Emir Kusturica's Super 8 Stories and Christian Petzold's terrorist drama The State I Am In.
Of particular interest to Kinowelt are the documentaries in Pegasos' archives, including Ulrich Koch's Aesshaek, Tales From the Sahara and Darshan the Embrace from Dutch helmer Jan Kounen.
Leipzig-based Kinowelt said it sees potential in Pegasos because a majority of its films have not yet been released on DVD. Kinowelt plans to rectify this, bringing out Pegasos' titles on its Arthaus label.
Previously released films will, starting in March, be handled by Kinowelt's flagship brand, Kinowelt Home Entertainment, the company said. Good Movies was the firm's previous release partner.
Kinowelt's theatrical arm, Kinowelt Filmverleih, will take over distribution of Pegasos films beginning in January.
Pegasos founders Ernst Szebedits and Karl Baumgartner will remain with the company as consultants. Financial terms of the deal were not announced.
Kinowelt has been breaking records in German theaters in recent weeks with the documentary Deutschland. Ein Sommermaerchen (Germany. A Summer Fairytale) about the German soccer team's journey from preparations to winning third place in this summer's soccer World Cup in Germany. The film has won its third straight weekend at the boxoffice and passed the 2.7 million ticket sales mark. This has made it the country's most successful documentary ever, beating the 1.45 million viewers that March of the Penguins attracted.
Georg Szalai in New York contributed to this report....
The deal gives Kinowelt the rights to the more than 80 feature films in the Pegasos library.
Titles in the library include 1998 Palme d'Or winner Eternity and a Day from Greek director Theo Angelopoulos, Emir Kusturica's Super 8 Stories and Christian Petzold's terrorist drama The State I Am In.
Of particular interest to Kinowelt are the documentaries in Pegasos' archives, including Ulrich Koch's Aesshaek, Tales From the Sahara and Darshan the Embrace from Dutch helmer Jan Kounen.
Leipzig-based Kinowelt said it sees potential in Pegasos because a majority of its films have not yet been released on DVD. Kinowelt plans to rectify this, bringing out Pegasos' titles on its Arthaus label.
Previously released films will, starting in March, be handled by Kinowelt's flagship brand, Kinowelt Home Entertainment, the company said. Good Movies was the firm's previous release partner.
Kinowelt's theatrical arm, Kinowelt Filmverleih, will take over distribution of Pegasos films beginning in January.
Pegasos founders Ernst Szebedits and Karl Baumgartner will remain with the company as consultants. Financial terms of the deal were not announced.
Kinowelt has been breaking records in German theaters in recent weeks with the documentary Deutschland. Ein Sommermaerchen (Germany. A Summer Fairytale) about the German soccer team's journey from preparations to winning third place in this summer's soccer World Cup in Germany. The film has won its third straight weekend at the boxoffice and passed the 2.7 million ticket sales mark. This has made it the country's most successful documentary ever, beating the 1.45 million viewers that March of the Penguins attracted.
Georg Szalai in New York contributed to this report....
- 10/25/2006
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
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