• Hollywood still prefers men.
• New Line Cinema's $300-Million Gamble Crowning Achievement ... Or Its Undoing
• Miramax's Cricket in Times Square
• Diane Arbus: A Biography
• Magellan Filmed Entertainment You Can't Win
• Cameron Diaz To Don Pricey Halo For "Angels" Sequel
• Queen of the Rodeo For Fox
• Warriors of God For Phoenix Pictures
• Ralph Fiennes A Serial Killer Called Red Dragon
• Kenneth Lonergan The Once and Future King
• Matt Dillon Playing Tough Guy
• The Price Of Cyborgs Has Apparently Gone Up.
• Runaway Renegades Open Fire On Canada
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  • Monday Dec 03
  • Thuesday Dec 04

Miramax's Cricket in Times Square

Miramax Films, a company long allied with Gotham's creative and political worlds, has optioned one of the town's classic tales.

In a deal valued at seven figures if the project goes into production, the studio has optioned "The Cricket in Times Square," along with six sequels, based on George Seden's children's book series about a six-legged inhabitant of a subway-station newsstand and his friends Tucker Mouse and Harry Cat.

Several million copies of the books have sold since "Cricket" was first published by Farrar Straus & Giroux in 1960.

Like "Stuart Little," "Cricket" centers on the interplay of animals and humans. In fact, Miramax's deal for "Cricket" came together after negotiations for the title with Steve Waterman, one of the producers of "Stuart Little," fell apart.

By now, many of the CGI effects created for the first wave of pictures such as "Stuart Little," which mix animation and live action, are cheaper, and a project such as "Cricket" can be made for much less than $100 million.

Miramax has not yet decided what form the feature will take, but it has ruled out a fully animated version of the story.

"Cricket" follows the adventures of Chester, a Connecticut cricket who arrives in New York in a picnic basket and winds up the most famous musician in Gotham.

There's been a run on classic children's titles recently, as Universal develops both Dr. Seuss tales and "Curious George," and Warner Bros. forges ahead with plans to remake "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory."

But since many of these books were written long before most people imagined a robust Hollywood market for children's titles, film rights to a remarkable number of them are retained by their publishers, not their authors.

The Paul Kohner Agency, which represents Scholastic, Farrar Straus & Giroux and Holt for film rights, has done a brisk business with the backlists of these houses. The agency also brokered the film deals for "Shrek" by William Steig and "Tuck Everlasting" (upcoming from Disney) by Natalie Babbitt, both titles from FSG's back catalog.

Diane Arbus: A Biography

Writer/director Tamara Jenkins ("Slums of Beverly Hills") will shoot a movie about photographer Diane Arbus, who captured haunting images of society's outcasts.

Jenkins adapted the Patricia Bosworth book "Diane Arbus: A Biography," which producer Bonnie Timmermann optioned with Edward Pressman after Barbra Streisand allowed her multiyear option on the material to lapse.

Timmermann will produce with Pressman and Ted Hope, both of whom will make the picture outside of their respective shingles -- ContentFilm and Good Machine. Writer-director Mark Romanek had been developing the material with Timmermann and Pressman prior to Jenkins' attachment.

"We had all seen 'Slums of Beverly Hills,"' Timmermann said. "Tamara has always been a dynamic director and she also has a great sense of humor. She wrote a beautiful screenplay that is both very serious and has a wonderful humor to it, and I am passionate about getting it made."

Timmermann said she and her fellow producers are in the process of setting up the project and casting the leads. "There are two extraordinary roles in the film, and both are for women," she said.

Arbus, who died in 1971, shot provocative black-and-white images of such fringe-dwellers as transvestites, midgets and nudists.

Magellan Filmed Entertainment You Can't Win

Indie financing/production outfit Magellan Filmed Entertainment has paid an undisclosed six-figure sum to option the rights to the spec script "You Can't Win," a 1970s-themed game show comedy from "187" scribe Scott Yagemann.

The picture, which Marc Fusco will direct, is based on true characters and real events that Yagemann encountered while working in various capacities with his game show-producing father, Bill Yagemann.

"Win" follows the fortunes of a bigger-than-life game show producer and host during the late '70s. Shooting is expected to start in late spring.

Fusco is finishing up work on his feature directorial debut, "Rennie's Landing," starring Peter Facinelli and Scott Foley

Cameron Diaz To Don Pricey Halo For "Angels" Sequel

Cameron Diaz is near a deal to reprise her role in the "Charlie's Angels" sequel with a pact that could eventually bring her $20 million -- making her only the second actress, after Julia Roberts, to hit that benchmark.

Diaz also becomes the second of the heavenly trio to fly again in "Charlie's Angels 2," which is set for a summer 2002 start date under McG, who directed the 2000 original.

Drew Barrymore, who with Flower Films partner Nancy Juvonen produced the first picture with Leonard Goldberg, is set to return in both capacities. Lucy Liu is said to be in negotiations for an encore as well. "Charlie's Angels" grossed $125 million domestically for Columbia.

Roberts became the first actress to reach the $20 million mark for "Erin Brockovich," the film that eventually won her an Oscar this year. Jodie Foster and Meg Ryan are both believed to have hit $15 million, a mark Diaz crossed in "The Sweetest Thing," which Sony will release next year. Sandra Bullock is also at or near that salary range, with Jennifer Lopez also in double digits.

Diaz has two other high profile pictures coming: the Cameron Crowe-directed "Vanilla Sky" on Dec. 14, followed by the Martin Scorsese-directed "Gangs of New York" next year.

The 29-year-old actress just signed again to provide the voice of the princess in the sequel to "Shrek," the year's highest-grossing film. Diaz is to be paid $10 million (based on factors including the picture's profits) for about a week's worth of time to lay down her lines. That's the same salary being earned by Mike Myers and Eddie Murphy.

Queen of the Rodeo For Fox

Amy Talkington will write "Queen of the Rodeo" for Fox and Madonna's Maverick Entertainment.

Based on a Texas Monthly article, the film revolves around four young women competing for the title of Rodeo Queen in a small Texas town. Dewey Nicks, a photographer and director of "Slackers," a feature that Sony plans to distribute next year, is attached to shoot the picture.

Talkington is a Gotham-based Texas native who helmed such shorts as "Second Skin," which won the New Line Cinema Award for best director in 1998, and "Number One Fan," which earned the top student film prize at the Hamptons Intl. Film Fest in 1997.

Warriors of God For Phoenix Pictures

Phoenix Pictures has optioned James Reston Jr.'s bestselling history of the 12th century religious wars, "Warriors of God: Richard the Lionheart and Saladin in the Third Crusade."

The swashbuckling story reverberates with topical themes. It centers on the English king, best known from the legend of Robin Hood, and Saladin, the sultan of Egypt, Syria, Arabia and Mesopotamia.

In the book, Reston recounts how Saladin dispatched Maimonedes, the rabbi and physician, to aid the English king, says Phoenix CEO Mike Medavoy.

"People are a little leery of doing a film that has as one of its central characters Saladin," he said. "He's an Arab who uses a Jew to save a Christian's life."

Medavoy says the project is akin to "Lawrence of Arabia" or "Gladiator," provided he can find the right writer and director. He is talking to possible production partners.

Book Description: (Buy This Book) The epic story of the battle for the Holy Land and the two larger-than-life figures at its center.

James Reston, Jr., the author of Galileo: A Life (called "masterful" and "brilliant" by the Washington Post) and the critically lauded The Last Apocalypse, a stunningly original portrait of the Christian world at the turn of first millennium, now re-creates the collision of the Christian holy wars and the Muslim jihad at the end of the twelfth century. A dual biography of the legendary Richard the Lionheart and the Sultan Saladin, iconic hero of the Islamic world, Warriors of God recounts the life of each man and reveals the passions of the times that brought them face-to-face in the final battle of the Third Crusade.

Richard the Lionheart, commonly depicted as the romantic personification of chivalry, here emerges in his full complexity and contradictions as Reston examines the dark side of Richard's role as the leader of the blood-soaked Crusades and breaks new ground by openly discussing Richard's homosexuality. Reston's compelling portrait of Saladin brings to life the wise, highly cultured leader who realized an enduring Arab dream by uniting Egypt and Syria and whose conquest of Jerusalem not only sparked the Third Crusade but ignited the first jihad and turned Saladin into a hero of epic proportions. In riveting descriptions, Reston captures the fascinating clash of the two armies as they battled their way to the outskirts of Jerusalem. There, Saladin's brilliant maneuvers and Richard's sudden failure of nerve turned the tide. Sweeping readers into a mesmerizing period of history, Warriors of God is a provocative look at two towering leaders and the not always noble causes for which they fought.

About the Author: James Reston, Jr., is the author eleven previous books, including The Last Apocalypse and Galileo: A Life. He has written articles for The New Yorker, Esquire, Vanity Fair, Time, Rolling Stone, and many other publications, and the scripts for three "Frontline" documentaries. He lives in Chevy Chase, Maryland.

Ralph Fiennes A Serial Killer Called Red Dragon

Ralph Fiennes has been cast in the title role of Universal Pictures' "Red Dragon" for director Brett Ratner and producers Dino and Martha De Laurentiis. The project is scheduled to go into production next month.

Anthony Hopkins is reprising his role as psychiatrist-cannibal Hannibal Lecter for the film, which is based on Thomas Harris' 1981 best-selling crime-thriller novel of the same name. Edward Norton and Emily Watson also star. Last month, Harvey Keitel, Philip Seymour Hoffman and Mary-Louise Parker came aboard.

Ted Tally adapted the screenplay, which centers on a serial killer called Red Dragon (Fiennes) who is on the loose, bringing FBI agent Will Graham (Norton) out of retirement because he has a special talent for catching such killers.

Fiennes, repped by CAA, next stars in David Cronenberg's feature "Spider." He most recently starred in "The End of the Affair," "Sunshine" and "Onegin."

About the Book: (Buy This Book) Even if you think a book can't really scare you   lock the door and leave the bright lights on when you read.

Meet "Hannibal the Cannibal"--for the very first time! A serial killer is on the loose. He bites, he maims, he murders entire families in hideous ways. The police have no leads. They're afraid they can't stop him. That's why FBI agent Will Graham has come out of retirement. He has a special talent for catching serial murderers. The last one, Dr. Hannibal Lecter, nearly killed him. Maybe you've heard of Dr. Lecter? Even in jail, he's still dangerous. Graham knows that. But he's going to ask for Dr. Lecter's help. And it may be the most terrifying mistake of his life. .

About the Author: A native of Mississippi, Thomas Harris began his writing career covering crime in the United States and Mexico, and was a reporter and editor for the Associated Press in New York City. His first novel, Black Sunday, was published in 1975, followed by Red Dragon in 1981, The Silence of the Lambs in 1988, and Hannibal in 1999.

Kenneth Lonergan The Once and Future King

Having successfully launched "Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone," Warner Bros. is developing another tale of magic, wizardry and medieval chivalry.

Filmmaker Kenneth Lonergan, writer-director of the Oscar-nominated drama "You Can Count on Me," has been tapped by Warners to adapt a big-screen version of author T.H. White's "The Once and Future King," a retelling of the tale of King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table, for producer Mark Gordon.

"King" reteams Lonergan with Warners, for whom he wrote the 1999 comedy "Analyze This" starring Robert De Niro and Billy Crystal. Sources said Lonergan is also interested in directing the Arthurian project.

Published in 1958 as a single volume, "King" is actually a quartet of novels that comprises "The Sword in the Stone" (1938), "The Queen of Air and Darkness" (1939), "The Ill-Made Knight" (1940) and "The Candle in the Wind" (1958). It tells the story of King Arthur from his birth to the end of his reign and incorporates such fabled characters as Guenevere, Lancelot, Merlyn, Mordred and Gawaine. (After White's death, the conclusion to "King" was found among the author's papers and was published in 1977 as "The Book of Merlyn.")

For the past couple months, Lonergan has had the daunting task of adapting the book's 700 pages into a workable script, which he is expected to turn in to the studio as early as this month. Warners executive vp production Kevin McCormick is overseeing the project.

The first novel in the quartet was previously the basis for the 1963 Disney animated film "The Sword and the Stone."

Composer Frederick Loewe and lyricist Alan Jay Lerner based their 1960 Broadway musical "Camelot" starring Julie Andrews, Richard Burton and Robert Goulet, on the remaining three novels, and Warners adapted the musical for the big screen in 1967 with a cast headlined by Richard Harris and Vanessa Redgrave.

Warners co-owns the book with the estate of Lerner and Loewe. Lonergan is repped by WMA.

Matt Dillon Playing Tough Guy

Matt Dillon has signed on to play the title character in "Tough Guy: The Eddie Maloney Story," a fact-based story about a low-level hitman.

"Crazy" Eddie Maloney, who successfully straddled the worlds of the Irish and Italian mobs, soon realized he could make more money kidnapping and ransoming mob bosses. He recounted his exploits in his memoirs "Tough Guy," which he co-wrote with William Hoffman.

"I've always wanted to do a film set in this world. In spite of Eddie's violent background, he is still somehow an endearing character. It's hard to believe he's still alive after all that he's been through," Dillon said in a statement.

Production on the GreeneStreet Films project is slated to begin next fall. Dillon will receive a producer credit. He is in post-production on his feature directorial debut, "City of Ghosts," in which he stars, for MGM/UA.

The Price Of Cyborgs Has Apparently Gone Up.

When the auction is concluded for domestic rights to the Intermedia-financed "Terminator 3" and production begins in April, Arnold Schwarzenegger will have a guaranteed payday of $30 million. And for succeeding James Cameron as director, Jonathan Mostow will be paid upward of $5 million.

Sources close to the production are denying the $30 million salary precedent. But other sources maintain Schwarzenegger's sequel payday will slightly exceed the $25 million he made five years ago on "Batman and Robin." The salary isn't an issue for studios bidding for domestic rights, as they aren't privy to the budgetary breakdown. All they have seen is the script, and an asking price of $50 million against 50% of gross receipts in exchange for domestic theatrical, TV, VHS and DVD rights.

Bidders were told the film could cost $180 million, but that it is hoped that it would be closer to $165 million. It is the boldest play so far by financier and producer Intermedia, whose partners Nigel Sinclair, Guy East and Moritz Borman add it to a string of nine pictures it has financed that include the Harrison Ford starrer "K-19" and the John Travolta/Samuel L. Jackson drama "Basic." They'll executive produce, while C-2 partners Mario Kassar and Andy Vajna produce with Hal Lieberman.

Though the auction hasn't fully played out, it's believed that Paramount, Disney, Universal and possibly DreamWorks were players, but it was unclear whether any had yet reached Intermedia's asking price. Universal is often mentioned as a contender, partly because it has a deal with Mostow/Lieberman, and because the "Terminator 3-D" ride is a star attraction in three of its theme parks.

The only studio clearly out of the bidding is Fox, which has an acrimonious history with Kassar and Vajna in trying to get "T3" for Cameron, the director of the first two films. The writer-helmer had creatively worked out a second sequel, only to drop it when Kassar and Vajna won rights in the Carolco bankruptcy sale for $8 million. A last-ditch attempt to patch things up fell apart after the rights-holders sold Japanese distribution to Toho Towa and German rights to VCL. Kassar and Vajna also paid a comparable sum to buy out the original picture's co-writer and producer Gale Anne Hurd. She had held half the franchise's rights since before production began on "Terminator," when Cameron sold his half share to her for $1 and the promise that she would not let the movie get made unless the newcomer director helmed it.

Little of that baggage is in the budget, and none is of interest to bidding studios, which are sparking to the Terminator brand, the quality of script and the track record of a director who seems ready to step up to event-film fare after the smart thrillers "Breakdown" and "U-571." Mostow brought on longtime collaborators John Brancato and Michael Ferris to write the script, and the three of them spent eight months sharpening it.

The "T3" storyline takes place 10 years beyond "T2," with a twentysomething John Conner and his cyborg pal battling a female TX model, a Terminatrix whose powers and morphing abilities go beyond anything seen before.

As their Pandemonium-based script "Doubting Thomas" heads toward casting and a director, former Fox studio chief Bill Mechanic has signed screenwriters Bob Hilgenberg and Rob Muir to a two-picture deal at his Pandemonium shingle.

The duo will first script a remake of "The Patsy," the 1964 comedy that Jerry Lewis wrote, directed and starred in as a bellboy whom Hollywood execs attempt to mold into a replacement for a dead comedian. After that they'll rewrite the Steve Franks script for "When I Grow Up," the story of a guy who discovers each of childhood friends turned out to be exactly who they set out to be, except for him.

"They are emerging to be among the best comic talent in the business," said Mechanic.

When they aren't tinkering with Mechanic vehicles, the scribes also just signed on to rewrite the Conundrum-produced Fox comedy "Stuck On You," the film originally crafted as a directing vehicle for Conundrum partners Bobby and Peter Farrelly with a deal nearly done for Jim Carrey and Woody Allen to play conjoined siamese twins. It's now being produced by the Farrellys and partner Bradley Thomas and will be directed by "Tommy Boy" helmer Pete Segal.

Taye Diggs has boarded the John McTiernan-directed Intermedia/Phoenix Pictures drama "Basic."

The picture surrounds the investigation of a legendary army drill instructor and his charges, with Diggs playing one of them in the James Vanderbilt-directed picture.

Diggs, best known for "How Stella Got Her Groove Back" and "Go," will next be seen in Dimension's "Equilibrium," and he just completed the Fox Searchlight romantic comedy "Brown Sugar" opposite Sanaa Lathan and Queen Latifah.

Runaway Renegades Open Fire On Canada

Despite opposition from mainstream Hollywood labor groups, a coalition of entertainment industry workers Tuesday sought to fire a broadside against "runaway" production by asking the U.S. government to investigate the legality of Canadian film and TV subsidies that entice movies and TV shows north of the border.

"America is under attack," declared Joel Joseph, chief of protectionist lobby group Made in the USA Foundation, at a news conference outside the Commerce Dept. "Not from Osama bin Laden, but from our peaceful neighbors to the north. The Canadians are stealing tens of thousands of good-paying jobs from us with illegal subsidies."

The petition, filed with the Commerce Dept. and the Intl. Trade Commission, alleged that annual subsidies of up to $1 billion have cost the U.S. 25,000 jobs and $30 billion in economic loss during the past three years. Commerce has 20 days to decide on the validity of the filing; a favorable ruling would trigger investigations by the department and the ITC.

"It is unconscionable at a time like this to be sending U.S. jobs out of the country," said Film & Television Action Committee (FTAC) chief Brent Swift. "There's no excuse for it."

The petition -- backed by FTAC, the national board of the Screen Actors Guild, five Teamster locals and 12,000 signers of an FTAC petition -- is opposed by the Motion Picture Assn. of America (MPAA), the Directors Guild of America, the American Film Marketing Assn., the American Federation of Television & Radio Artists, the Intl. Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees and the Film U.S. coalition of movie commissions. The petition, which claims the Canadian incentives lead to a 26% cost saving, contends subsidies are illegal under the General Agreement of Trade & Tariffs.

MPAA president Jack Valenti issued a strong statement opposing the filing Tuesday, dubbing the petition dangerous and asserting that it was opposed by the vast majority of the film industry.

"It is a direct incentive to trade war and goes against the trade policies of the U.S. government," he said. "It is a bad petition that deserves to be denied by the Commerce Dept. It also puts in jeopardy the tax incentive legislation sponsored in the House by Reps. David Dreier (R-Calif.) and Howard Berman (D-Calif.) and in the Senate by Sen. Blanche Lincoln (D-Ark.) -- legislation that is supported by all segments of the creative community."

Joseph countered that the MPAA opposes the filing simply because studios do not want to lose subsidies. While leaders of unions also oppose it, rank-and-file members support it strongly, he added.

"I feel the DGA is talking for the studios," Joseph said. The petition has disappointed the Canadian government.

"Canada strongly regrets that some in the entertainment sector have filed this petition with U.S. authorities," Martine Lagace, a spokesperson for the Dept. of Foreign Affairs and Intl. Trade, told Daily Variety. "We firmly believe that Canada's support for the film and video sector is consistent with our international trade obligations. We will review all the allegations and decide shortly on a response, but we are committed to defending Canadian interests in this sector."

The filing includes a 20-page petition, a 90-page 2001 Commerce report on runaway production and a 1999 Monitor Co. report funded by SAG and DGA. The event drew a dozen media representatives, half of them reporting for Canadian outlets.