Mcn Digital

Poland is jumping into the incentives fray in Eastern Europe, with lawmakers expected to approve a 30% rebate for qualifying productions out of an overall kitty of 46 million ($53.8 million). A draft bill in the Polish parliament is intended to make the country more competitive in the contest for international productions by offering the cash back on qualifying filming expenses. The rebate plan, to be administered by the Polish Film Institute, sets aside 10% of the money for animated films & animated series. Producers who submit final reports after spending in Poland will have their claims evaluated within 28 days.

            German media giant ProSiebenSat.1 Group has reported a 4% drop in revenues to 1.8 billion ($2.1 billion) & adjusted the net income at 230 million ($267 million) over the 1st ever half of the year 2018. EBITDA stood at 459 million ($532 million) in the 1st half of the year 2018, on par with last year, while the adjusted EBITDA margin went up by 25.6%,, reflecting cost - management measures taken in the entertainment division as well as higher revenues from distribution activity ProSiebenSat.1's ratings were also on par with last year, with a 26.9% market share, in spite of the Winter Olympics & the FIFA World Cup.

         Italy's Centro Sperimentale Di Cinematografia is ramping up production of restored Italian cinema gems with several high-profile titles set to screen at upcoming fest's including the Taviani Brothers' Good Morning Babilonia which played on Thurs on Locarno's Piazza Grande, Presented by Paolo Taviani.          The fablelike Babilonia, which is about 2 immigrant stonemasons who work on the sets for D.W. Griffith 's Intolerance has been praised by Locarno's artistic director Carlo Chatrian as " not just a homage to the great Italian tradition of art & craft workshops, but also an insightful interpretation of what cinema is all about." The film's restoration was supervised by its original cinematographer Beppe Lanci, as CSC chief Felice Laudadio points out.

           Irish director Nick Hamm 's John DeLorean biopic Driven is all set to close Venice Film Fest. The film is inspired by the true story of FBI's sting operation to bring down maverick auto executive DeLorean. Set in the opulence of early 1980's California, it follows the meteoric rise of Delorean & his iconic DeLorean Motor Company; his friendship with a charming ex-con-turned-informant, Jim Hoffman; and the drug scandal that brought DeLorean low. Driven is scheduled to world premiere out of competition on Lido on 8th Sept 2018.            The fest described Driven as a wickedly comedic look at a bromance gone bad. Lee Pace stars as an automotive engineer 7 designer DeLorean. jason Sudeikis plays Jim Hoffman, Judy Greer stars as Jim Hoffman's wife, Ellen, and Corey Stoll plays an ambitious FBI agent named Benedict Tissa. 

Ursula Meier, one of Europe's most highly rated women film directors, will make her English language debut with Quiet Land, a noirish drama - a thriller set in the US and backed by high pedigree producers. Produced by Switzerland's Bandita Films, France's Cinefacture & US-based Animal Kingdom Films, the movie, Ursula Meier's 3rd full-length feature, marks a palpable attempt to raise the ambition, reach & budget of a striking women auteur's career.

Hello Mr. billionaire continued its dominance of the Chinese box-office turnstiles for a 2nd week. Its 3 day tally of $65.5 million made it the 2nd biggest film worldwide over the weekend. Data from Ent Group show the comedy down exactly 50% in its 2nd weekend, but it opened a gap on 2ndplaced Detective Dee: The Four Heavenly Kings. Hello Mr. Billionaire has a cumulative score of $295 million after 10 days of release. Detective Dee managed $12.5 million over the weekend (to take 10the place worldwide according to comScore) and a 10 day total of $76.9 million.  The weekend total for Hello Mr. Billionaire included $2 million scored from 483 IMAX screens. Operating from an overall screen count largely similar to Detective Dee, new fantasy animation Wind Guardians managed the 3rd place. it had a score of $8.95 million in 3 days. Shoplifters, the Japanese drama which took the Palme d'Or at Cannes this year, opened in 4th place. Distributed (like Detective Dee) by Huayi Brothe