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'Pacifier' tops Oz
SYDNEY -- "Sahara" burned up screens in the United Kingdom, "The Pacifier" swiped the top spot in Australia, "The Ring Two" distracted Italians from the pope's funeral and "The Interpreter" translated well in Greece, according to weekend estimates.
New Montreal dates
TORONTO -- Moritz de Hadeln's New Montreal FilmFest, the newest player in an increasingly combative Montreal festival scene, shifted the dates for its inaugural edition to Sept. 18-25 from Oct. 12-23.
Final audience
ROME -- Whether they turned out or tuned in, millions of pilgrims and viewers throughout the world participated in the funeral of Pope John Paul II Friday morning in Vatican City.
Real vs. reel
CANNES -- The eighth MIPDOC factual programming market underlined the increasingly blurred boundary between what counts as a documentary and what is fiction.
Journalist killed
MEXICO CITY -- The head of a Mexican newspaper that wrote about the Gulf drug cartel has been shot to death, the latest in a series of attacks on Mexican journalists, the newspaper said on Sunday.
Drabinsky's trial
TORONTO -- Canadian live-theater producer Garth Drabinsky will stand trial on 18 fraud-related charges after the judge overseeing a preliminary hearing into the 1990s downfall of Livent Inc. on Friday ruled there was sufficient evidence to warrant prosecution.
'Wing' flies to More4
LONDON -- Channel 4 will move the new season premiere of "The West Wing" from digital web E4 to new start-up digital channel More4 when the £33 million ($62 million) a year network launches in October, digital channels head Dan Brooke announced Friday.
BVITV ups four execs
LONDON -- Buena Vista International Television has upped four key European sales execs to new positions, Tom Toumazis, executive vp and managing director of the Europe, Middle East and Africa division announced Friday.
Malaga fest set
MADRID -- The official competition at the eighth annual Malaga Spanish Film Festival will showcase a healthy representation of the current domestic film industry, with new films from Gerardo Herrero, Mariano Barroso, Laura Mana, Ines Paris and Daneila Fejerman, festival organizers announced Friday.
China: Game on for Web
Online video game revenue is the driving force for China's gaming market that comprises 28.8 million users, a new report has found. After all, Chinese gamers spend more money on online games than PC, console and hand-held games combined.
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A new study shows that video gamers in China prefer playing games such as "The Matrix Online," above, online as opposed to on computers, game consoles or hand-held devices.
 Read the story
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Top weekend grosses
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1.
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The Ring Two ($16.6) |
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2.
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Hitch (11.0) |
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3.
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Robots (10.1) |
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4.
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Miss Congeniality 2 (7.4) |
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5.
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Be Cool (5.3) |
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International B.O. figures in $ million for weekend of April 1-3. |
Valiant
This animated film about homing pigeons features a voice cast of big-name British stars, but the comedy doesn't fly.
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Postcard
Executives gathered in Monaco for the International Forum on Cinema and Literature, an event they hoped would produce projects in both worlds.
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MIPTV 2005
The annual television conference stays ahead of the technology curve by spotlighting lucrative new revenue streams for the digital age.
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French toons
French animation companies in the past couple of years have seen U.S. channels emerging as key partners in sales or co-productions.
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Thinking big
Larger budgets and slicker productions are the latest fashion as Japanese studios gear up to compete with Hollywood fare.
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International features
Boxoffice wrap
If international boxoffice returns for 2004 are an indication, global moviegoers might well be in the mood for a little escapism.
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