Sky’s announcement that they are to invest heavily in British film, news about this week’s “leaked” Cannes list and Tom Cruise’s rock star debut are amongst the international stories in today’s Daily Bite.
Sky’s film investment may benefit Ireland… In news that could be beneficial for the Irish film industry, Sky has announced that it is to invest millions in British feature-length films for its Sky Movies TV channel, as well as documentary films for Sky Atlanic. The feature films will be aimed at a family audience and be similar to the broadcaster’s recent mini-serials, ‘Treasure Island’, starring Elijah Wood and Eddie Izzard, and ‘Neverland’, which featured Anna Friel. Both productions were filmed in Ireland with ‘Treasure Island’ filmed in Dublin and Cork, and ‘Neverland’ in Swords, Dublin. The feature films will have medium-sized budgets of around €6m.
“Leaked” Cannes list is false… The Guardian are reporting that Cannes festival director Thierry Frémaux has rubbished a list of films that appeared online earlier this week reportedly revealing the films competing at this year’s festival. The list included new films from Terrence Malick, David Cronenberg and Paul Thomas Anderson. Frémaux told Deadline: “The selection is in my head. It's disgusting to play with such a thing. There is a code of conduct for Cannes and it must be respected. Those who don't respect the code, will never come back to Cannes.” The festival runs from May 16-27.
Legendary raise $275m in new financing… Legendary Pictures, co-producers of films like ‘The Dark Knight’ has raised debt and equity funding, according to The Hollywood Reporter. The cash will be used to retire and refinance its debt and to provide additional working capital. The company is hoping to move beyond financing movies and into producing. The deal includes $128m in financing from new investors including Google executive Eric Schmidt’s Tomorrow Ventures, Morgan Stanley Investment Management and Peter Thiel’s Thiel Capital.
If you watch one trailer today… Tom Cruise flexes his vocal muscles as a rock singer in ‘Rock of Ages’, the film-version of the hit Broadway musical, which also stars Russell Brand, Catherine Zeta Jones, Paul Giamatti and Alec Baldwin. It will be released in Ireland on June 15.
