Attracted by the steady cash flow from box-office returns, venture capitalists have acquired all five UK-owned multiplexes in Dublin. Vue Entertainment, which acquired the Warner Village cinema chain in the UK two years ago, this week announced its acquisition of the Ster Century chain, which comprises seven sites, six in the UK and one in Dublin.
The rebranding of the Ster Century chain is expected to take 10 to 12 weeks.
Last December the Blackstone Group, a buyout firm, acquired the UGC cinemas in the UK and Dublin. This followed the firm's purchase of the Cine UK chain two months earlier. The UGC cinemas are now part of Blackstone's Cineworld chain, the largest in the UK and Ireland. In August last year another venture capital firm, Terra Firma, bought the UCI chain, including its three Dublin sites.
The UGC and Ster Century multiplexes in Dublin have the highest admissions of all cinema complexes in the UK and Ireland.
Streep dons Prada
Meryl Streep has signed on to star in the fashionista comedy, The Devil Wears Prada, based on Lauren Weisberger's best-selling novel in which a young woman goes to New York to work for an all-powerful magazine editor named Miranda Priestly (played by Streep). Weisberger formerly worked as an assistant to Vogue editor Anna Wintour. The screenplay is by Aline Brosh McKenna, who scripted the Irish-made Laws of Attraction. David Frankel, whose credits range from Band of Brothers to Sex and the City, will direct.
In marked contrast, Streep is also set to take the title role in Brecht's Mother Courage and Her Children, to be staged in New York's Central Park in summer 2006.
SPI names new chief
Screen Producers Ireland, the representative body for more than 200 film and TV producers, has appointed David McLoughlin as its new chief executive with effect from Monday next. He will take a sabbatical from his position as joint chief executive and producer with Distinguished Features, which he co-founded in 2000 and which produced the award-winning films Dead Bodies, Cinegael Paradiso and Zulu 9. McLoughlin is also chairman of the Dublin International Film Festival.
Pitchers get beer prize
The 17th Galway Film Fleadh, which runs from July 5th to 10th, will introduce an award for the best pitch. Five shortlisted teams will present their projects before a film industry panel, and the winner will receive the Stella Artois Pitching Award, which is worth €5,000. "This award is hugely important, both for the fleadh itself and for the film-makers," commented fleadh managing director Miriam Allen.
Big money for local cinema
The Cultural Cinema Consortium, a joint initiative of the Arts Council and the Irish Film Board, has announced capital investment funding valued at €750,000 each for the development of arthouse cinema exhibition to Solas in Galway and the Lighthouse@ smithfield development in Dublin. The objectives are to enhance and expand the range of cinema available in the State.
Additional funding was offered to Letterkenny Arts Centre (€150,000); IFI, Dublin (€120,000), North Tipperary County Council (€70,000); Siamsa Tíre, Tralee (€40,000); Model Arts and Niland Gallery, Sligo (€30,000); Cavan County Council (€18,442); Droíchead Arts Centre, Drogheda (€17,545); Town Hall Theatre, Galway (€15,000); Dara Cinema, Kildare (€10,000); and Caherdaniel Film Club, Co Kerry (€9,862).
In July 2003, under the first phase of the scheme, the consortium awarded capital investment funding valued at €750,000 each to Kino in Cork and Belltable Filmhouse in Limerick.
Penn goes loco over logo
Sean Penn was most displeased to notice that a poster for his new movie, The Interpreter, featured a logo he had not authorised, forcing Universal Pictures to publicly apologise. Penn, whose agreement with the studio stated that he was to be consulted on all promotion-related decisions, was reported to be infuriated by an ad for the film in the Los Angeles Times because it sported a banner for the mobile phone company T-Mobile.
Universal ran another ad in the same paper which read: "Sean Penn was not consulted about this advertisement, as is required in his agreement with the film's production company . . . Universal Pictures regrets this oversight."
Just a kid-friendly flick
Surely some mistake: Scanning the Xtra-vision website to check out imminent DVD releases, I noticed that the remarkably prolific Michael Winterbottom's sexually graphic and highly controversial 9 Songs is listed for rental release from June 27th - with a 12 certificate on both sides of the Border. www.xtravision.ie
