Broadcast News

Bookmark and Share
23/01/2008

Landmark Indie 'Earth' Tops Japanese Box Office

BBC Worldwide and Greenlight Media's 'Earth' has taken the number one spot at the Japanese Box Office on its opening weekend, beating Will Smith's 'I am Legend'.
Despite being in almost half the number of cinemas around the country, the natural history feature, based upon the BBC's acclaimed Planet Earth series, was over US$400,000 up on the Hollywood blockbuster.
Earth is likely to outshine the success in Japan of its natural history predecessor, Deep Blue, also produced by BBC Worldwide and Greenlight Media.
When it was released in Japan in 2004, Deep Blue became the highest grossing European independent film in Japanese cinema ever, generating revenues in excess of 1bn Yen.
Only three days into its run, Earth had already generated 568m Yen. Commenting on the results, earth's UK producer, Alix Tidmarsh, said: "These are fantastic results and we're delighted that the movie has gone down so well.
"It's not only a real tribute to the breathtaking cinematography of earth, but to the hard work employed by Gaga Communications in giving it such an outstanding start."
German producer of Earth, Sophokles Tasioulis added: "I am absolutely thrilled to see that the hard work of so many people and the many years invested in the movie has come into fruition in this way. We always had high hopes for earth in Japan, but this has by far exceeded our wildest expectations."
Earth takes audiences on an unforgettable journey around the planet, using the sun as guide and the natural history of the planet to show its effects on all of life.
The movie offers audiences a chance to recognise and celebrate the beauty of the earth, but is also a reminder of the ecological fragility of our planet and the creatures that live on it.
The success of Earth in Japan reflects the movies success in Europe. When it opened in France, Earth, beat Brad Pitt's Assassination of Jesse James to become a box office number one, became one of the top 3 films at the French box office in 2007 and received the much-coveted audience approval stamp, the 'coup de foudre'.
In Spain, Earth had the best opening of a nature documentary ever and outperformed nature titles Deep Blue, Microcosmos and Genesis at the box office.
(DS)
VMI.TV Ltd

Top Related Stories
Click here for the latest broadcast news stories.

21/11/2007
Lola Posts Documentary 'Earth: The Power Of The Planet'
'Earth: The Power Of The Planet', a new five-part documentary series, on BBC2, presented by Dr Iain Stewart reveals the role natural forces have playe
28/06/2012
Blue Lucy Media Brings Cloud Down to Earth at IBC 2012
At IBC 2012 Blue Lucy Media (BLM) is launching a metered licencing system for all of its advanced software-based content acquisition, production tool
23/01/2020
Production News : Red Planet Pictures And ITV Launch The 2020 Red Planet Prize
Red Planet Pictures and ITV have launched the 2020 Red Planet Prize, a bi-annual competition that champions talent and diversity by calling on emergin
01/05/2019
'Avengers: Endgame' Breaks Box Office Records
Marvel Studios' 'Avengers: Endgame' had a record-shattering estimated global debut of $1,209.0 million last weekend. It has become the first film in h
08/09/2017
Production News : World Boxing Super Series Heads To ITV Box Office
The new World Boxing Super Series is to air exclusively on ITV Box Office, it has been announced. The coverage will include world title bouts between
04/03/2014
2013 Drop In Box Office Revenues Revealed
2013 saw a "moderate drop" in box office revenues, according to the International Union of Cinemas (UNIC). UNIC territories saw a total box office fal
04/03/2014
IMAX Announces Record Breaking Box Office Quarter
IMAX Corporation has posted fourth quarter 2013 financial revenue of $105.1 million and net income of $27.8 million, citing strong installations as we
28/11/2013
Women Filmmakers Perform Strongly At The UK Box Office
Films written and/or directed by women performed strongly at the UK box office between 2010 and 2012, according to new research released by the Britis
20/03/2012
British Horror Flick Rakes In £20m At UK Box Office
UK horror film, The Woman in Black, is continuing to impress at the UK box office by surpassing the £20m mark. The adaptation of Susan Hill's ghost st
03/01/2012
Paramount Secures Highest Box Office Gross In 2011
It has been announced that Paramount Pictures was the highest earning studio of 2011, ending the year in number one position among all studios, having
10/11/2011
Tom Six's Film Takes Disappointing £942 At Box Office
It has been revealed that controversial horror film, The Human Centipede, did not perform well at the UK box office despite the amount of publicity su
22/10/2010
Northern Ireland Is 'Box Office' Hit
A top US TV broadcaster has received the personal thanks of two of NI's Executive Ministers for involving NI locations in their filming. Stormont Ente
22/07/2009
Potter Tops Box Office
This week's latest blockbuster movie has been confirmed as Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince. It topped the UK box office on its first weekend on
18/09/2007
Neil Jordans 'The Brave One' Reaches Top Spot At US Box Office
Irish director Neil Jordan is No.1 at the US Box Office this week with his latest film 'The Brave One' after it took $14m at the weekend. Starring Jod
13/06/2007
'Once' Not A One Hit Wonder In US With Record Box Office Sales
The award winning Irish film 'Once' continued its expansion in the US this week. After opening in just two screens in May, it played in 95 screens thi