Peel must up bid to secure film business April 10, 2011 Peel Holdings, the majority shareholder in Pinewood Shepperton, will be forced to pay substantially more than its initial 190p per share approach for the film studio, according to a source close to the deal. On Friday, Pinewood disclosed that it had received an offer of 190p per share from Peel Holdings, which owns 29.7 per [...]
Murphy hoping to make it Big at the Festival again March 13, 2011 Colm Murphy trains 50 horses in Ballinadrummin, Killena, Gorey – an address more Harry Potter than Dick Francis, but apparently it’s in the heart of County Wexford. We didn’t meet face-to-face and only spoke on the phone – he was too busy finalising his Festival plans and I couldn’t find platform nine and three quarters. [...]
Cineworld looks for 3D boost March 10, 2011 Cineworld said yesterday new blockbusters should lift business this year as its profit was hit by the poor weather before Christmas. The group said 2011 promised to be a big year with a schedule which includes new Harry Potter and Sherlock Holmes films and a number of 3D movies, following the success of Avatar. Cineworld [...]
Pinewood to invest in British film March 8, 2011 PINEWOOD Studios says it will set aside millions over the next few years to help finance small British films. The firm says it will invest heavily in productions with a budget of around £2-3m, saying it was keen to get involved in the next surprise hit like The King’s Speech. It will snap up a [...]
Lego builds on UK success March 3, 2011 Toy brick maker Lego yesterday announced booming sales figures as its new Harry Potter figures gave the comp-any a boost. The Danish group says 2010 profit before tax rose by 63 per cent to £563m, while sales were up 32 per cent to £1.8bn. It says it is now the fourth?largest toy manufacturer with a [...]
Bloomsbury predicts year of the e-book February 28, 2011 PUBLISHER Bloomsbury yesterday heralded the year of the e-book as it unveiled an 18 per cent increase in electronic sales. The firm reported overall revenues of £90.7m, up four per cent year-on-year, while profits excluding one-off items rose to £8.4m from £7.7m. E-book sales now account for 10 per cent of Bloomsbury sales. Nigel Newton [...]
Cineworld boosted by string of blockbuster film smashes January 6, 2011 CINEMA chain Cineworld said 2010 sales rose 4.7 per cent as a series of blockbusters packed its venues. The Twilight Saga: Eclipse, Inception and Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows (part one) were among the big hits which drove sales. The company said it expected full-year profit to be within the range of market expectations [...]
Stockholm Syndrome and Dementors rule the law December 21, 2010 A HARD year for the City’s legal market is drawing to a close, and lawyers at those firms that haven’t cancelled their Christmas parties are looking forward to a booze-filled lead up to the New Year. And giving their two cents in RollOnFriday’s annual Firm of the Year survey. There seems to be little festive [...]
Show your love with a good book December 15, 2010 OK, Christmas is closing in. Chances are you’ve done the bulk of your shopping, or at least you know what you’re getting for your friends and family. But there may still be some holes to be filled, and if there are, there’s no better way to fill them than with a well-chosen book. Books as gifts [...]
HARRY POTTER BATTLES HAIRY PRINCESS November 28, 2010 HARRY Potter led the worldwide box office for a second weekend yesterday, but the boy wizard had a close shave with a hairy princess – Walt Disney’s Rapunzel story “Tangled – in North America. The seventh movie in the hit franchise, “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1,” sold $163.5m (£104.9m) worth of tickets [...]