Global Showbiz Briefs: ‘Keeper Of Lost Causes’ Tops Danish Box Office; ‘Victor Young Perez’ Wins Bout For U.S.; More

By NANCY TARTAGLIONE, International Editor

25-11-2013

 

‘Keeper Of Lost Causes´ Is No. 1 In Denmark
Now in release for seven weeks, The Keeper Of Lost Causes keeps on climbing. The Danish film directed by Mikkel Nørgaard has become the No. 1 film of the year in Denmark with approximately $10M at the box office. It overtook Thomas Vinterberg´s The Hunt, Denmark´s Oscar entry, to land the top spot this week. This is a strong year for Danish movies with The Hunt having previously held the No. 1 position since January, and with local heist comedy All For Two and family film My African Adventure also outperforming Hollywood fare on the 2013 chart. Lost Causes is the first installment in Zentropa´s Department Q franchise that´s based on the best-sellling books by Jussi Adler-Olsen. It was penned by A Royal Affair‘s Nikolaj Arcel and focuses on chief detective Carl Mørck, who´s banished to a basement office to run a cold case division. Nikolaj Lie Kaas (Angels & Demons) and Fares Fares (Zero Dark Thirty) star. TrustNordisk has sold the film around the world, and has U.S. buyers circling.

‘Victor Young Perez´ Sells To U.S.
Picture Tree International has sold U.S. rights on boxing movie Victor Young Perez to Florida-based Synkronized. The film will be released theatrically by Synkronized´s distribution partner, Millennium. It´s based on the true story of the French-Arab boxer who was deported to Auschwitz in 1943 and forced to fight for the entertainment of the Nazis. Brahim Asloum stars in Jacques Ouaniche´s movie that opened in France on Wednesday. It has also sold in Latin America, South Korea, CIS and the Baltics. Picture Tree also closed deals on Mary Queen Of Scots with Australia´s Curious Film taking Oz and New Zealand rights, and Caravella DDC/Carmen Group taking the CIS countries. The film screened at AFI Fest earlier this month. Negotiations are underway on a U.S. deal.

Dogwoof Bites For ‘Manakamana´
The UK´s Dogwoof has taken all rights to documentary Manakamana by directors Stephanie Spray and Pacho Velez. The latest pic from the Harvard Sensory Ethnography Lab had its North American debut in Toronto where Cinema Guild acquired all U.S. rights. The film records a journey taken by pilgrims in a cable car high above a jungle in Nepal to worship at the legendary Manakamana temple.

‘NCIS´ Eyes Japan Marathon TV Record
Fox Japan is attempting a new Guinness World Record for “the longest uninterrupted transmission of a TV series.” The network, part of Fox International Channels, will broadcast all 234 episodes of NCIS from Seasons 1 through 10 starting at 11 PM on December 29th. The marathon broadcast is set to end on January 8th at 5 PM. Season 11 of NCIS kicks off on Fox Japan in February 2014.