Fox 2000 optioned Carl Hiaasen, "Basket Case"

 Fox 2000 has optioned the latest crime caper from novelist-columnist Carl Hiaasen, "Basket Case," with Oscar-nominated screewriter Michael Tolkin ("The Player") commanding seven figures to pen the script.

"Basket Case" storyline; Once a hotshot investigative reporter, Jack Tagger now bangs out obituaries for a South Florida daily, “plotting to resurrect my newspaper career by yoking my byline to some famous stiff.” Jimmy Stoma, the infamous front man of Jimmy and the Slut Puppies, dead in a fishy-smelling scuba “accident,” might be the stiff of Jack’s dreams—if only he can figure out what happened.

Standing in the way are (among others) his ambitious young editor, who hasn’t yet fired anyone but plans to “break her cherry” on Jack; the rock star’s pop-singer widow, who’s using the occasion of her husband’s death to re-launch her own career; and the soulless, profit-hungry owner of the newspaper, whom Jack once publicly humiliated at a stockholders’ meeting.

With clues from the dead rock singer’s music, Jack ultimately unravels Jimmy Stoma’s strange fate—in a hilariously hard-won triumph for muckraking journalism, and for the death-obsessed obituary writer himself. “Always be halfway prepared” is Jack Tagger’s motto

The book was just published by Knopf. In an unusual tie-in, Hiaasen's friend, singer Warren Zevon, has recorded a song called "Basket Case" for his upcoming album, "My Ride's Here."

There has been a run on Hiaasen's work in Hollywood of late. British film company Seminal Films recently optioned "Double Whammy," the author's 1987 novel set at a big-money Florida bass tournament.

And Hiaasen is developing a one-hour TV series for Carsey-Werner-Mandabach.

Author of madcap tropical crime novels like "Sick Puppy" and "Stormy Weather," Hiaasen watched his Hollywood stock dip briefly after his 1994 novel "Striptease" was transformed into a tepid Demi Moore vehicle.

Hiaasen is on the staff of the Miami Herald, where he continues to write three columns a week. The "Basket Case" film deal with Fox 2000 and producer Laurence Mark is worth six figures.

Tolkin's previous screenwriting credits include Paramount's upcoming "Changing Lanes," starring Samuel L. Jackson and Ben Affleck.

Miramax Gets 'Pokemon' Rights

Miramax Films has acquired the distribution rights to the next two "Pokemon" movie sequels, both in North America and internationally outside of Asia.

The movie company, which is owned by the Walt Disney Co., completed the deal late Tuesday but no financial details were disclosed. A source close to the negotiations told the Los Angeles Times that Miramax paid $1 million up front and promised the rights holders a 75 percent share on back-end profits.

The deal gives Miramax the theatrical, home-video and television distribution rights, and the option of releasing future "Pokemon" films.

Warner Bros. had the distribution rights to the first three "Pokemon" movies, which grossed more than $145 million domestically, and was bidding for the fourth and fifth installments. It still controls the rights to two "Pokemon" television series airing on the Kids WB! Network.

Miramax negotiated the deal with Pokemon USA Inc., the brand management licensing subsidiary of the Japanese consortium that owns the "Pokemon" franchise. All the "Pokemon" cartoons are produced in Japan.

The Pokemon deal was negotiated on behalf of Miramax by Stuart Ford, co-head and senior vice-president of acquisitions and international operations, Sean McPhillips, director of acquisitions, and Michael Helfant, senior executive vice-president of Dimension Films.

Masakazu Kubo, the film's executive producer, negotiated in Japan on behalf of the Japanese movie partners. Chiba and Kei Taoka, vice-president, negotiated in the US on behalf of Pokemon USA, Inc. Bruce Loeb, Pokemon USA's vice-president of marketing, will oversee the film's release with Miramax.

The frenzy over the animated, warring monsters has subsided in recent years. The first "Pokemon" movie released in 1999 grossed more than $85 million in the United States, but the last film only tallied $17 million.

Miramax co-chairman Harvey Weinstein said the company will reinvigorate the "Pokemon" franchise, using the company's marketing savvy.

"We'll come up with a bolder, smarter marketing campaign," he said. "For us, this is a big fish and a valuable brand."

Miramax plans to release Pokemon 4: The Movie -- Celebi: A Timeless Encounter," this autumn around Thanksgiving, and distribute the sequel throughout the rest of the world. The film opened in Japan last July, and has grossed 3.8bn yen ($32m) to date, making it one of Japan's top ten grossing films of 2001. This fourth installment stars the newest Pokemon character, the winged green Celebi, whose time-traveling skills bring new adventures to Ash, Pikachu, and their friends.

Pokemon 4, which is based on the original creation by Satoshi Tajiri, is produced by Shogakukan Productions, executive produced by Masakazu Kubo and Kouji Kawaguchi, and supervised by Tsunekazu Ishihara. The American "localization" will be handled by 4Kids Production.

C-2/Intermedia leads 'Sophia Bush to T3

Actress Sophia Bush -- appearing in "National Lampoon's Van Wilder," which opens today via Artisan Entertainment -- has nabbed one of the two female lead roles in the Arnold Schwarzenegger starrer "T3: Rise of the Machines" for C-2 Pictures/Intermedia and director Jonathan Mostow.

The 19-year-old Bush, crowned the 2000 Tournament of Roses queen, will star opposite Nick Stahl ("In the Bedroom") as Kate Miller, a young, athletic professional in the medical field.

The story line of the project picks up 10 years after "Terminator 2: Judgment Day," and follows John Connor (Stahl) as he reteams with his cyborg protector (Schwarzenegger) to battle the latest Terminator, the indestructible T-X, played by newcomer Kristanna Loken (ABC's "Philly").

The project is being produced in association with the Munich-based production entity IMF and Mostow/Lieberman Prods. C-2's Mario Kassar, Andy Vajna and Joel B. Michaels are producing with Hal Lieberman and Colin Wilson. Intermedia co-chairmen Moritz Borman, Nigel Sinclair and Guy East will executive produce.

Warner Bros. is distributing the project Stateside, with Columbia TriStar Film Distributors International taking on overseas territories.

Bush once was set to make her feature acting debut in the MGM teen pop-star project "I Want Kandee". After that project fell apart, she went on to act in the dramatic feature "College" and the HBO miniseries "Point of Origin," both of which can be seen later this year.

She is repped by UTA, Joan Green of Joan Green Management and attorney Darren Trattner at Armstrong, Hirsch, Jackoway, Tyerman & Wertheimer.

Sam Raimi, to direct 'Spider-Man 2'

Four weeks before the release of its highly anticipated "Spider-Man" feature, Columbia Pictures has closed a deal with Sam Raimi to direct a sequel and hired "Smallville" executive producers Miles Millar and Alfred Gough to pen the script.

Production is slated to begin in first-quarter 2003, with Tobey Maguire and Kirsten Dunst reprising their roles as Peter Parker (aka Spider-Man) and Mary Jane Watson, respectively.

Laura Ziskin and Avi Arad also are back on board to produce the sequel.

Columbia executive vp production Matt Tolmach, who is overseeing the project for production president Peter Schlessel, said it always has been the studio's intent to produce a sequel, with the two lead actors signed to sequel commitments in their original contracts. But Raimi was not, he said.

"It was always our hope (to do a sequel), but it was our belief in the movie and what a great job Sam and the actors did that made us feel very strongly about doing a sequel," Tolmach said. "This is the big movie we hoped it would be. We are so proud of it -- there's no better endorsement than going back to Sam."

Schlessel said of Raimi: "We never considered anyone else. After we saw the first cut of the film, you could see from an early standpoint that Sam had got emotional performances out of the actors and that the film would work on all levels."

The duo confirmed that a take for the new film is already in place, though they declined comment on any plot scenarios.

However, Tolmach said the studio has long wanted to be in business with scribes Millar and Gough, the duo behind such feature films as "Showtime," "Shanghai Noon" and its upcoming sequel, "Shanghai Knights."

"They are excellent writers," Tolmach said. "We honestly have been trying to get them to work here for a long time. We love not only the movies they've written, but also their show 'Smallville.' They felt like they were of this world. It was incredibly serendipitous. We now feel like we have absolutely the right team and the right movie in place to head into the sequel."

The studio releases the first installment May 3, with the development of the franchise being a top priority for studio chairman Amy Pascal. Raimi is repped by CAA. The writers are repped by WMA.

John Malkovich, Natalie Imbruglia and Rowan Atkinson to Star in 'Johnny English

John Malkovich and U.K.-based Australian pop star Natalie Imbruglia have signed to star opposite British comedian Rowan Atkinson in Working Title Films' spy spoof "Johnny English," the film's producers said Thursday.

Malkovich will play a Machiavellian French business magnate, while Imbruglia makes her feature debut playing a special agent.

The film, to be directed by Peter Howitt ("Sliding Doors"), also stars Ben Miller ("The Parole Officer") as the sidekick to Atkinson ("Bean: The Ultimate Disaster Movie"), who stars as a bumbling MI6 character.

"English" was penned by Neal Purvis and Robert Wade ("Die Another Day") and William Davies and is scheduled to begin shooting April 15 at Shepperton Studios and on location in Britain.

"I am absolutely delighted to be working with such revered actors on my first movie," Imbruglia said. "This is a really exciting project, and I can't wait to get started."

Working Title co-chairmen Tim Bevan and Eric Fellner are producing with Mark Huffam. No budget was revealed.

Malkovich is repped in Europe by Charles Finch at Artists' Independent Network. Imbruglia is repped by Anne Barrett at Deangelis Management. The deals were brokered on behalf of Working Title by chief operating officer Angela Morrison and the film's independent producer, Huffam.

Working Title Films has a long-term agreement with Universal Pictures, which in turn has an agreement with France's StudioCanal, whereby films produced by Working Title are distributed in the United States through Universal Pictures and internationally through Universal and StudioCanal.

John Travolta and Manager Re-Evaluating Pairing

 It appears that one of Hollywood's more enduring manager/client relationships may be on the rocks, with Jonathan Krane and actor John Travolta considering an end to their 17-year association.

Krane and Travolta have been together through thick and thin -- though lately, things have been pretty thin for Travolta. Since the start of the new century, Travolta has appeared in several box-office duds, from "Battlefield Earth" to "Lucky Numbers" to "Domestic Disturbance."

Paul Block, Travolta's publicist at Rogers & Cowan, acknowledged he had received queries on the matter, but categorized an online gossip site's report about a breakup as "phony," adding he'd made no such confirmation. Bloch added, "Jonathan and John are both re-evaluating their relationship, which is something they do every few years."

Pressed for details about when that evaluation process began, or when it might end, Bloch said he had no way of knowing, as Travolta was in Panama shooting a final few scenes for Intermedia's military thriller "Basic," in which he stars with Samuel L. Jackson.

A call to Krane was returned by an assistant, who referred all inquiries on the matter to Krane attorney James Clark, of counsel to the powerhouse litigation firm Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher.

Clark, reached in New York, said he had not been able to reach Travolta's attorney, Phil Davis at the West L.A. law offices of Mitchell Silberberg Knupp.

Davis told Variety he had no knowledge of a change to the Travolta-Krane relationship, though he acknowledged he had heard rumors of a falling-out between the two. Krane is a famously entrepreneurial manager with 33 films under his belt as producer. (Copyright Claude Brodesser)

Artists Independent Network London is merging with New York-based Widescreen

The Artists Independent Network in London is merging with New York-based Widescreen to create the first management/production company with a presence on both sides of the Atlantic.

The deal brings together two client rosters packed with darlings of the U.S. independent film scene, including AIN's John Malkovich, Willem Dafoe and Harvey Keitel, and Widescreen's Frances McDormand, Parker Pose and director Mary Harron. The merger also reunites several former William Morris colleagues.

AIN was launched two years ago by Charles Finch, Luc Roeg and Vanessa Pereira after they exited WMA's London office. Widescreen was founded in October 2000 by Frank Frattaroli, former vice president and co-head of the agency's New York talent department.

Former WMA chief Arnold Rifkin also owns a small stake in AIN along with his business partner, Bruce Willis, and both sit on the company's creative board.

AIN will provide the financing for the new joint venture. It continues its first-look deal with StudioCanal, which was renewed in January for another year, and has an ongoing development relationship with USA Films.

"It was always our dream to find a partner in New York who could build with us a management and production business focused on representing like-minded intelligent independent artists," Finch said. "We have worked with Frank for some time and value his taste and vision."

AIN's clients include Monica Bellucci, Julia Ormond, Gerard Depardieu and Sophie Marceau. Other names on Widescreen's list are Lili Taylor, Benno Furmann, Annabella Sciorra and directors Michael Cuesta and Daniel Minahan.

After exec producing the Brit box office hit "Mike Bassett; England Manager" and David Cronenberg's "Spider," which is expected to surface at Cannes, AIN is set to produce "The Romford Matador," starring Ryan Reynolds, which Momentum Pictures will distribute in Britain.

"This year we will put two additional films into production, both of which were developed inhouse," Roeg said. "We expect Frank and our combined clients will bring us opportunity to make more movies, and we will bring them additional access to finance available in the international market."

Industry: Foes of SAG/agents deal raise antitrust issues

Hollywood actors who oppose their union's tentative deal to relax investment limits for talent agents vowed Thursday to seek federal government intervention on antitrust grounds if the agreement is approved.

"We'll take this legal fight all the way to the Supreme Court," promised Tom Bower ("High Crimes") during a noon rally outside Screen Actors Guild headquarters in Hollywood. Ballots went out this week to SAG's 98,000 members and results of the referendum will be announced April 19.

Bower, a member of the SAG negotiating team, told about 60 supporters at the event that the deal could violate antitrust laws because it will enable large agencies to become significantly more powerful through vertical integration.

The key provision of the deal, signed with the Assn. of Talent Agents, eases ownership restrictions on talent agencies to allow for 20 percent investments by advertisers, ad agencies and independent TV and film producers.

Foes argue would effectively scuttle conflict-of-interest safeguards intended to prevent agents from having too big an ownership interest in the companies for which their clients -- the actors -- work.

Bower noted that in 1962, the Justice Deptartment, then led by Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy, forced MCA out of the talent-agent business a decade after SAG had granted the company a waiver to guild rules governing agent-actor relations. Bower dismissed the notion that the Justice Department has become less likely in recent years to explore antitrust issues.

"It's not a matter of the current climate," Bower added. "It's a question of how strong your case is."

Deal supporters have insisted that agents will not become producers under the agreement, but board member Peter Richman, who was working at the time of the MCA bust-up, said the deal represents a return to that scenario.

"The federal government said then that you can't be an agent and run a studio," Richman added. "It didn't work in 1962 and it shouldn't work now."

DOUBTS U.S. ACTION

But SAG first vice president Mike Farrell ("M*A*S*H," "Providence"), who was also on the negotiating team, responded with skepticism that the feds would intervene since the deal provides that the California labor commissioner retains approval over investments in talent agencies. He stressed that the agreement's legal implications had been thoroughly checked by attorneys during the negotiations.

"I can't imagine any circumstances under which the federal government would object to this agreement," Farrell said. "The deal has been made very much in accordance with state law. There is nothing further from the truth than the idea that this re-creates the MCA situation."

Supporters of the deal have argued that killing the pact would prompt many talent agencies to break with the decades-old dictates of SAG's "master franchise agreement" and follow a course of deregulation.

SAG spokeswoman Ilyanne Kichaven had no comment.

In 1952 under then-president Ronald Reagan, SAG's national board gave MCA a waiver of Guild rules against talent agencies producing TV shows. That waiver was renewed in 1954.

The Justice Department charged MCA in 1962 with violations of federal antitrust laws; SAG also was charged as a co-conspirator. The accusations were dismissed two months later in an out-of-court settlement under which MCA chief Lew Wasserman agreed to sell the agency business in exchange for being allowed to acquire Universal Studios and Decca Records.

CHANTS MARK EVENT

The half-hour rally featured chants of "ATA, no way" and "This is a bad deal" and placards with slogans such as "SAG: Don't Sell Out" and "Jimmy Cagney is rolling over in his grave," referring to Cagney's term as fifth president of SAG.

Speakers, who derided SAG's warnings of chaos if agents are deregulated, included national board members Seymour Cassel, Sally Kirkland and David Huddleston, along with negotiating team member Scott Wilson, who resigned in protest from the committee prior to the start of negotiations.

"Our leaders have bought into a theory of chaos and fear if this deal is not approved," Wilson said. "They have twisted and distorted the truth. We have the right to franchise our agents whether or not the ATA walks away. That power is ours, not theirs."

Farrell said the pact includes safeguards to protect actors, establishes programs to improve access and preserves actor-agent relationships. "Without a Franchise Agreement, SAG's ability to fight for the rights of actors will be weakened and members may be faced with choosing between their guild and their agents," he added.

But national board member George Coe said the deal supporters are mistaken in questioning whether stars would support SAG if the deal is voted down. "The guild's high-profile members have never turned their backs on SAG," he added