• For The Second Time, "Runaway Jury" Has Been Declared A Mistrial.
• "The Bachelorette” Subject Of Hot Bidding Contest
• David Heyman To Option "Molly Moon's Big Book Of Hypnotism
• One Bad Sista for GreeneStreet Films
• Kate Hudson American Girl in London
• Meg Ryan and Richard Gere, Wedlocked
• David Arquette, Tim Blake Nelson and Emily Mortimer A Foreign Affair
• Levy, Murphy, Kutcher Just Married
• Call It "Jackass," The Movie.
• Joss Whedon Firefly A 13-Episode Commitment From Fox
• Innocen(t)ce Paul Cox In the Race for The Academy Awards
• Boom And Bust Story For Working Title Films
• The Garbo Deception Artisan First Script Project Since Merger
• Norman Rockwell Estate Paints Showbiz Plan
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  • Monday Dec 17
  • Tuesday Dec 18

For The Second Time, "Runaway Jury" Has Been Declared A Mistrial.

Fox-based producer New Regency has abruptly halted plans on its adaptation of the John Grisham bestseller, a courtroom drama that until Monday had a definite March start date on the docket, with Will Smith courted to star for director Mike Newell. Several sources said the project has completely fallen apart.

Smith, who never had a deal but appeared to be near one, has walked away, with Newell also bailing. A Smith spokesman confirmed the "Ali" star had KO'd the project, adding that Smith plans to work with Newell on an unspecified project in the near future. There was no specific reason given for why talks broke off so abruptly.

It is a crushing disappointment for New Regency, which looked to be on the verge of getting a return on the $8 million it paid years ago for rights to "Runaway Jury."

First time around, the film was ready to go with Joel Schumacher directing Edward Norton, Gwyneth Paltrow and Sean Connery. The project crashed at that time because its premise, about a jury foreman steering a precedent-setting verdict in a tobacco liability case, seemed dated when the industry lost several landmark cases.

The drama remained shelved until New Regency execs came up with the clever notion to substitute gun makers for cigarette makers, leaving the principal characters and the thrust of the story intact. By all accounts, the script by Matt Chapman, Brian Koppelman and David Levien was a winner. Until that verdict was overturned on Monday.

"The Bachelorette” Subject Of Hot Bidding Contest

The proposals came fast and furious, but ultimately it was Universal Pictures that said "I do" to "The Bachelorette."

Written by tyro scribe Meghan McCarthy, the project was the subject of hot bidding contest between New Line Cinema and Universal.

The deal marks the first sale for former Disney Fellowship screenwriter McCarthy, and coincides with her own recent wedding.

"Universal gave me the second best wedding present I could have asked for," said McCarthy, adding by way of explanation, "I also just got this great juicer."

She added that the idea for the picture was hatched when she told her manager she didn't have a bachelorette party of her own. The comedy is described as a "Sex and the City" twist on the 1984 Tom Hanks picture "Bachelor Party."

"The Bachelorette" follows a young ad exec who's forced to throw a last-minute blowout after she's informed of an age-old family hex that promises painful and messy marital dissolution for those who do not observe the revelry-making tradition.

When the rambunctious party devolves into a huge mess, she questions whether anyone so straitlaced as her fiance could put up with her.

David Heyman To Option "Molly Moon's Big Book Of Hypnotism

In his first deal since producing "Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone," producer David Heyman has teamed with Fox 2000 to option "Molly Moon's Big Book of Hypnotism," a novel by British author Georgia Byng.

As with the J.K. Rowling novel series he smartly optioned before the book became a sensation, Heyman has once again tapped in early on a book about the adventures of an extraordinarily gifted British half-pint.

The title character is an orphan who gets hold of a book with instructions on how to magically hypnotize anyone. She uses hypnotism to get out of the orphanage and heads to New York, where she searches for an orphan pal who was adopted. In the process, her gift proves so great that she becomes a big theater star but begins to question the wisdom of exploiting her power for personal gain. Also, she's homesick.

Heyman's Heyday Films has a first-look deal at WB, where he's working on the second "Potter" installment, but the producer took it to Fox 2000 when WB didn't bite.

One Bad Sista for GreeneStreet Films

Gotham-based GreeneStreet Films has acquired the urban romantic comedy "One Bad Sista," which Cheryl Dunye ("Stranger Inside") penned and will direct.

"Sista" concerns a young female rapper who disguises herself as a man in order to make it in the male-dominated rap world.

Dunye's "Stranger Inside," which premiered on HBO in spring, garnered an IFP Gotham Award for breakthrough performance of the year for lead actress Yolanda Ross. Dunye's first feature, "The Watermelon Woman," was included in the Whitney Biennial and also won awards at the Berlin Film Festival.

GreeneStreet Films financed the Miramax release "In the Bedroom," directed by Todd Field and starring Sissy Spacek, Marisa Tomei and Tom Wilkinson.

Kate Hudson American Girl in London

Paramount has nabbed the Matt Brown spec "American Girl in London" for Kate Hudson to topline.

Pic will be produced by Hudson and Cosmic Entertainment -- the shingle Hudson runs with Oliver Hudson, Kurt Russell and Goldie Hawn. Laura Bickford ("Traffic") will produce with Cosmic's Jay Cohen and Emily Cummins. The producers are currently looking for a director. Bickford Prod's Jennifer Dana will serve in a producing capacity as well.

"American" centers on a Southern woman who travels to England and embarks on a wild weekend with a gentleman, only to find that he is engaged to someone else.

Meg Ryan and Richard Gere, Wedlocked

Meg Ryan (interview) and Richard Gere are in talks to team in "Wedlocked," a romantic comedy mobilizing for a spring start.

The duo would play a couple of divorce lawyers who find their marriage is just about over. Desperate to stay together, they seek help from a therapist, who fingercuffs them together for 48 hours.

Ryan and Gere have been circling the film for the past few weeks, a courtship made difficult because each has been busy opening films and prepping follow-ups.

If deals can be completed, the plan is to hire a director and get the film into production after Ryan completes the Charles Dutton-directed boxing pic "Against the Ropes," and Gere wraps up starring alongside Catherine Zeta-Jones and Renee Zellweger in Rob Marshall's Miramax adaptation of "Chicago."

Ryan returns to movie theaters on Dec. 25 opposite Hugh Jackman in "Kate & Leopold," while Gere's next film, "The Mothman Prophecies," will come out in January.

"Wedlocked" will be financed by Columbia-based Escape Artists, which is run by Steve Tisch, Jason Blumenthal and Todd Black.

David Arquette, Tim Blake Nelson and Emily Mortimer A Foreign Affair

David Arquette, Tim Blake Nelson and Emily Mortimer are starring in "A Foreign Affair," a dark comedy based on the "romance tours" designed to pair lonely American men with beautiful Russian women who hope to find freedom through marriage.

Now shooting in St. Petersburg, "Affair" is the story of two brothers from the Midwest who are beside themselves when their mother dies. They decide to go to Russia to find and bring home a traditionally minded wife for the younger brother. Larry Pine also stars.

Nelson and Arquette are executive producers on the film, which is being shot during a real romance tour. Actual American would-be husbands and Russian would-be wives serve as extras and background. Helmut Schleppi directs the Dutch project.

Levy, Murphy, Kutcher Just Married

Helmer Shawn Levy and actors Brittany Murphy and Ashton Kutcher have boarded 20th Century Fox's romantic comedy "Just Married" for producer Robert Simonds. Shooting is slated to start mid-February in Los Angeles and then in Europe.

Levy will direct Murphy and Kutcher in the story of a happy couple who follow their hearts and get married against the wishes of friends and family members who tell them they are too young. Following the wedding, they set off for what they hope will be the perfect vacation, only to experience the honeymoon from hell.

The project marks a coup for Murphy as "Married" ups her to leading-lady status after starring turns in such films as "Don't Say a Word," "Girl, Interrupted" and the untitled Eminem-Curtis Hanson project, which she is shooting for Universal Pictures and Imagine Entertainment.

Sam Harper penned the script for "Married," with a rewrite by writer-director Andrew Bergman, who was set to direct the film but dropped out late last month in favor of the Fox comedy "Sonny Bright

Under TCF president of production Hutch Parker, senior vp Josie Rosen is shepherding the project. Simonds is producing through his Walt Disney Co.-based the Robert Simonds Co., with the company's Tracey Trench executive producing with Lauren Shuler Donner.

Levy, repped by Endeavor and Artists Management Group, makes his feature directorial debut on Universal Pictures' "Big Fat Liar," starring Frankie Muniz and Amanda Bynes. He also is on board to direct and produce "Zits" for Universal Pictures and studio-based Shady Acres and Marc Platt Prods.

Murphy, repped by ICM and AMG, next stars in Jonas Akerlund's indie feature "Spun." She most recently has starred in such films as "Sidewalks of New York," "Riding in Cars With Boys" and "Summer Catch." Kutcher, repped by Endeavor and Untitled Entertainment, starred last year in "Dude, Where's My Car?"

Call It "Jackass," The Movie.

MTV is taking its controversial reality series, starring stunt daredevil Johnny Knoxville, to the big screen, signing him and his production company to a multiplatform deal that includes a Hollywood theatrical film based on his show, MTV officials said Tuesday.

Knoxville and his production team also will produce three TV specials based on the "Jackass" character to air next year on MTV. MTV is talking to Knoxville about several other projects, but there are no plans to bring "Jackass" back for a third season. The show has been in reruns since August.

During the summer, Knoxville said he and his production company wanted to go to Hollywood to pursue a movie career.

"They wanted to evolve the relationship," MTV president of programming Brian Graden said. "The great news is that we kept (Knoxville) in the MTV family, which was our goal."

Graden said MTV also is talking with Knoxville about developing other projects, but nothing has been sketched out yet.

"To some degree, Johnny Knoxville got beat up, literally, by the series," Graden said. "It's a very hard series to keep doing."

Launched in October 2000, "Jackass" became an overnight hit, drawing a heavy dose of 18- to 34-year-old male viewers.

The Sunday night series also cultivated a national controversy and the ire of Washington politicians after several teenage boys were hurt when they imitated such dangerous stunts as setting themselves on fire, which they saw performed by Knoxville on "Jackass."

Joss Whedon Firefly A 13-Episode Commitment From Fox

Fox Broadcasting Co. has given a 13-episode commitment to "Firefly," a sci-fi action-drama from "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" creator/executive producer Joss Whedon.

The series will be produced by Whedon's Mutant Enemy Prods. in association with 20th Century Fox Television, where Whedon has an overall deal. Whedon will executive produce "Firefly," which is eyed for a fall 2002 debut and marks Fox's first series commitment for next fall. The series will launch with a two-hour pilot episode, which Whedon is writing and will direct.

Set 400-500 years in the future in a newly established Union of Planets, "Firefly" centers on the crew of Serenity, a small transport spaceship of class firefly who will take any job -- legal or not -- to stay afloat and put bread on the table.

The project reunites Whedon and Fox entertainment president Gail Berman. As head of Sandollar Television and an independent producer, Berman shepherded the development of "Buffy" as well as the series' spinoff "Angel," which Whedon co-created and is executive producing.

"I personally couldn't be happier to be back in business with Joss, and on the whole, FBC is tremendously excited that we have the opportunity to finally get him working for us," Berman said.

There is speculation that the drama might get "The X-Files' " Sunday 9 p.m. slot, but Berman said no decision has been made on the scheduling of "Firefly." "We hold out hope that we wouldn't have to fill that time period with anything else, but if we did, this would certainly be something that we would consider," she said.

20th TV president Dana Walden said she and 20th TV president Gary Newman "were extremely excited to hear that Joss would be ready, willing and able to create something for fall. The guy is an extraordinary visionary who year in and year out creates some of the most compelling, entertaining television out there."

To do a science fiction project has been a longtime dream for Whedon, a big sci-fi fan. "It's a great way to tell stories because you can tell very cool human stories, but they all have a grandness to them that science fiction brings," he said.

Whedon got the idea for "Firefly" while reading an account of the battle of Gettysburg. The time period in the series is a version of the Reconstruction era, Whedon said. The captain of Serenity is a war veteran of a big war to unite the planets.

"('Firefly') is kind of a Western in the sense that they ride to the border towns -- these planets that are barely inhabited -- because they want to stay away from the big government, the big radar," he said.

As for the trademark latex masks of sci-fi stalwart "Star Trek," "I've been determined to make a show with no latex before I die," Whedon said. Unlike "Buffy" and "Angel," " 'Firefly' will have some extraordinarily scary people in it, but no monsters," he said.

It will be a busy fall for Whedon, who is on track to run three series with the launch of "Firefly." As part of 20th TV's deal with UPN, "Buffy" is set to return for at least another season, and "Angel" is expected to stay on the air -- either on the WB Network or on UPN, if the WB chooses to drop it.

Whedon received an Academy Award nomination for co-writing the Walt Disney Co.'s "Toy Story" and an Emmy nomination for penning an episode of "Buffy." His feature credits include the feature "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" and "Alien Resurrection." He also has worked on the screenplays for "Speed" and "Twister." Whedon's TV writing credits also include "Parenthood" and "Roseanne." Whedon is repped by UTA and attorney Sam Fischer.

Innocen(t)ce Paul Cox In the Race for The Academy Awards

 A low-budget Australian film about septuagenarian love, "Innocence," is on the campaign trail for at least four Academy Awards, including best picture.

U.S. distributor Fireworks and worldwide sales agent CinemaVault have mounted a marketing push aimed at getting Oscar nominations for best picture, director and original screenplay, they said on Wednesday in a statement.

"Innocence" was made for A$1.2 million (US$619,000) by Paul Cox who wrote, directed and co-produced it with Mark Patterson.

Released so far in Australia, Canada and the United States, it has so far made four times its budget, a big take for a little independent film from Australia.

The campaign, to feature in Hollywood trade publications, also aims to secure a best actress consideration for Julia Blake, who plays Claire, the female lead in the story of young lovers who passionately rediscover each other 50 years later.

Dutch-born Cox (Interview) has made some 25 films in Australia over nearly 30 years. Although some have screened at Cannes and other high-profile cinema gatherings to positive reviews, his budgets have remained small and his movies relatively obscure.  Cox said he was embarrassed by the Oscar attention.

"I never thought such a little film about the human condition could travel so far," he said in the statement.

The campaign comes amid growing acclaim for Australian cinema. Earlier this month, U.S.-based film society the National Board of Review named frenetic musical "Moulin Rouge" the best film of the year.

Filmed in Sydney, "Moulin Rouge" could garner Oscar attention for Australians director Baz Luhrmann and actor Nicole Kidman.

Weighty drama "Lantana," which has attracted glowing reviews at home in Australia, opened on Friday in Los Angeles and New York, taking in a weekend total of US$66,700 on six screens.

The cast of "Lantana" includes well known Australian-born actors, Oscar-winner Geoffrey Rush and Tony award-winner Anthony LaPaglia, and is expected to be an Oscar contender in a number of categories, including best picture.

Low-budget Australian musical drama "One Night the Moon" has been invited to the Sundance Film Festival, the prestigious independent moviemakers' gathering co-founded by actor Robert Redford, and the Berlin International Film Festival.

Boom And Bust Story For Working Title Films

Working Title Films is to make a film about the spectacular boom and bust story of on-line fashion store boo.com.

Tim Bevan and Eric Fellner's UK production company has optioned the film rights to the book boo hoo: a dot.com story from concept to catastrophe. The story offers an eyewitness account of the internet hype of the late 1990's and the rise and fall of what set out to be the ultimate on-line designer store.

Before the web-site was even launched, boo.com was valued at $390 million. Eighteen months later, the internet bubble burst and the company collapsed.

"boo.com is one of the definitive European stories to emerge from the dot.com bubble," said Working Title's literary executive, Amelia Granger, who brought the project into the company. "The story combines all the human drama that goes with the highs and lows of setting up an unprecedented business on a global scale."

The book was published last month by Random House UK and written by Ernst Malmsten, Erik Portanger and Charles Drazin. Lesley Shaw at Gillon Aitken Associates represented the writers in the deal with Working Title. "I'm really thrilled", said Malmsten, "but it does seem rather surreal."

The Garbo Deception Artisan First Script Project Since Merger

Artisan Pictures has announced its first script project since Artisan Entertainment merged with Bob Cooper’s Landscape Entertainment in Sept and Cooper took over as CEO of Artisan Pictures.

The company has hired screenwriter Bill Wheeler to draft the feature film script The Garbo Deception based on actual source material recounting the activities of Juan Pujol, a creative mastermind, who, during World War II, fabricated a network of non-existent “spies” which succeeded in deceiving the Germans about the Allied Forces’ activities leading up to D-Day. He was code-named “Garbo” by British intelligence.

Charles Weinstock, whose credits include Joe Gould’s Secret and Where The Money Is, will produce.

“This film is designed as more of a character study, than a traditional cloak and dagger piece, where we will examine the man who spun this elaborate web of deception,” said Cooper.  “This project and Bill Wheeler represent Artisan Pictures’ philosophy that a unique feature film begins with a strong idea bolstered by a great writer.”

Wheeler’s screenplay credits include The Man Who Robbed The Pierre, for Image Movers and Dreamworks and Hoax, to be produced by Mark Gordon.

The Garbo Deception was brought into Artisan Pictures by Orin Woinsky, the company’s Vice President of Production and Development.  Wheeler’s writing deal was negotiated for Artisan by Nick La Terza and by Wheeler’s representatives at UTA.

Norman Rockwell Estate Paints Showbiz Plan

The estate of Norman Rockwell, the painter and illustrator famed for his depictions of everyday American life, is bringing wholesomeness to the entertainment world.

His son, Tom Rockwell, has teamed up with producer Gene Kirkwood to form the Norman Rockwell Picture Co., an entity that will be developed as a brand for films, TV movies and movie theater chains.

"Rockwell is the ultimate symbol of Americana," Kirkwood said. "We would like to brand the name like Disney or Hallmark has, and do TV and features that personify his image."

The new company is already talking to two networks that would like the Rockwell brand for movies or a "Waltons" type of show, while theater chains including Crusader Entertainment want to use the name for movie houses playing a certain kind of picture.

"His paintings are slices of life, and he painted life the way he wished it was. That will be our motto for movies and other projects," Kirkwood added.

The alliance comes after a two-year courtship that began while Kirkwood was mounting a remake of the Orson Welles film "The Magnificent Ambersons" and noticed that Norman Rockwell had designed the distinctive one-sheet poster. That film, which is an Alfonso Arau-directed rendition faithful to Welles' original script, will run on cable's A&E next year.

Tom Rockwell, who is the executor of his father's estate, said one of the attractive prospects was to create programming that touched on some of his father's famous paintings.

"We're still figuring out the film company, but there is something in each example of my father's work, an outlook and a point of view, that might be translatable," Rockwell said.

"My father told stories, he covered both World War I and World War II, the civil rights marches of the '60s, all the way to traditions like Thanksgiving dinner. His work has come to represent certain things about America that everybody has gotten nostalgic for." Rockwell said he will be very hands-on.

"You don't want (the films and TV shows) to be too sugary and make everyone sick. On the other hand, they can't be too salty, either."