Newmarket Films

What may seem an unlikely summer film -- about a 12-year-old girl who battles her tradition-minded grandfather and beached whales -- opens Friday in the thick of the blockbuster movie season. "Whale Rider," a mystical tale about a Maori girl in New Zealand who tries to convince her grandfather she has the ability to lead their tribe, stars newcomer Keisha Castle-Hughes and is directed by Niki Caro.

With a cast including Natalie Portman, Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Rainn Wilson, "Hesher" rode a wave of anticipation into the Sundance Film Festival in January 2010. But when audiences actually got a look at the movie, the response was decidedly mixed, leaving some enthralled and others scratching their heads. The story of a boy and his father dealing with the death of the boy's mother and the arrival of an anarchic speed-metal enthusiast who wanders into their lives, "Hesher" is deliriously odd. Many who saw it at Sundance wondered: Is it a sad comedy or a rambunctious drama?

The film distributor who helped turn Mel Gibson's "The Passion of the Christ" from a risky bet into a box-office smash was hired Wednesday by two Time Warner Inc. units looking to form a specialty films group. HBO Films and New Line Cinema will buy for an undisclosed price Newmarket Films, the distribution arm of producer Newmarket Entertainment Group, and hire its well-regarded president, Bob Berney.

The film distributor who helped turn Mel Gibson's "The Passion of the Christ" from a risky bet into a box-office smash was hired Wednesday by two Time Warner Inc. units looking to form a specialty films group. HBO Films and New Line Cinema will buy for an undisclosed price Newmarket Films, the distribution arm of producer Newmarket Entertainment Group, and hire its well-regarded president, Bob Berney.

Director Mel Gibson, who won a best picture Oscar for his 1995 epic, "Braveheart," may have hit the box-office jackpot this year with "The Passion of the Christ." Yet he's come up empty on the awards front: No year-end kudos, not even a Golden Globe nomination. And given Hollywood ambivalence toward his controversial film, an Oscar nomination on Jan. 25 seems unlikely. Shot in Aramaic and distributed by tiny Newmarket Films, the $30-million project became the unlikeliest of blockbusters.

Prominent directors such as Francis Ford Coppola, Norman Jewison and Robert Altman and other Hollywood power brokers are mounting a letter-writing campaign against the Motion Picture Assn. of America's decision to stop distributing copies of current releases for awards consideration.

Tom Bernard, co-president of Sony Pictures Classics, has 11 films at the Toronto International Film Festival this year. You'd think he'd be happy about that, or at least happier than he is. "They're going to get less attention" than in years past, he says of his slate. "If 'Les Triplettes de Belleville' screens at the same time as 'The Human Stain,' the press is not going to see it. What are you going to do when you're up against star power?"

With a cast including Natalie Portman, Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Rainn Wilson, "Hesher" rode a wave of anticipation into the Sundance Film Festival in January 2010. But when audiences actually got a look at the movie, the response was decidedly mixed, leaving some enthralled and others scratching their heads. The story of a boy and his father dealing with the death of the boy's mother and the arrival of an anarchic speed-metal enthusiast who wanders into their lives, "Hesher" is deliriously odd. Many who saw it at Sundance wondered: Is it a sad comedy or a rambunctious drama?

The filmmakers from Down Under were on top of the entertainment world Sunday evening as "The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King," the final installment of the hugely successful trilogy, made a clean sweep at the 76th annual Academy Awards held at the Kodak Theatre in Hollywood. In an abbreviated awards season that cut short Oscar campaigning by a month, the epic adventure of hobbits, elves and wizards conjured from the pen of the late novelist J.R.R.

Mel Gibson's "The Passion of the Christ" became the top grossing R-rated film ever with $611 million in worldwide box office receipts. Now, Newmarket Films is rolling the dice on an unrated version. Aimed at those who were kept away by the movie's graphic material, "The Passion Recut" is due out in 950 theaters on Friday, in advance of the Easter holiday. Gibson had hoped that a seven-minute cut would bring him a PG-13 rating. But his Icon Productions was informed by the Motion Picture Assn.

Mel Gibson's "The Passion of the Christ" became the top grossing R-rated film ever with $611 million in worldwide box office receipts. Now, Newmarket Films is rolling the dice on an unrated version. Aimed at those who were kept away by the movie's graphic material, "The Passion Recut" is due out in 950 theaters on Friday, in advance of the Easter holiday. Gibson had hoped that a seven-minute cut would bring him a PG-13 rating. But his Icon Productions was informed by the Motion Picture Assn.

Director Mel Gibson, who won a best picture Oscar for his 1995 epic, "Braveheart," may have hit the box-office jackpot this year with "The Passion of the Christ." Yet he's come up empty on the awards front: No year-end kudos, not even a Golden Globe nomination. And given Hollywood ambivalence toward his controversial film, an Oscar nomination on Jan. 25 seems unlikely. Shot in Aramaic and distributed by tiny Newmarket Films, the $30-million project became the unlikeliest of blockbusters.

The filmmakers from Down Under were on top of the entertainment world Sunday evening as "The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King," the final installment of the hugely successful trilogy, made a clean sweep at the 76th annual Academy Awards held at the Kodak Theatre in Hollywood. In an abbreviated awards season that cut short Oscar campaigning by a month, the epic adventure of hobbits, elves and wizards conjured from the pen of the late novelist J.R.R.

Prominent directors such as Francis Ford Coppola, Norman Jewison and Robert Altman and other Hollywood power brokers are mounting a letter-writing campaign against the Motion Picture Assn. of America's decision to stop distributing copies of current releases for awards consideration.

Tom Bernard, co-president of Sony Pictures Classics, has 11 films at the Toronto International Film Festival this year. You'd think he'd be happy about that, or at least happier than he is. "They're going to get less attention" than in years past, he says of his slate. "If 'Les Triplettes de Belleville' screens at the same time as 'The Human Stain,' the press is not going to see it. What are you going to do when you're up against star power?"

What may seem an unlikely summer film -- about a 12-year-old girl who battles her tradition-minded grandfather and beached whales -- opens Friday in the thick of the blockbuster movie season. "Whale Rider," a mystical tale about a Maori girl in New Zealand who tries to convince her grandfather she has the ability to lead their tribe, stars newcomer Keisha Castle-Hughes and is directed by Niki Caro.

CNN and National Public Radio said they won't accept ads for the controversial film "Death of a President," about the fictional assassination of President Bush. CNN told the movie's distributor, Newmarket Films, in an e-mail Tuesday that it "has decided not to take the ads because of the extreme nature of the movie's subject matter."

Mel Gibson's "The Passion of the Christ" maintained a solid hold on the nation's box office in its third weekend, taking in an estimated $31.7 million, distributor Newmarket Films reported Sunday. The Johnny Depp thriller "Secret Window" opened in second place with an estimated $19 million, and the kid-spy sequel "Agent Cody Banks: Destination London" slinked into the No. 5 spot with about $8 million, just over half the opening weekend total of $14.