Paramount, Intertainment a 'Blackout' for Kopelson

Paramount Pictures and Intertainment AG have pre-emptively plunked down $1 million to acquire the spec "Blackout" from screenwriter Sarah Thorp for Kopelson Entertainment to produce.

The project's story line has been guarded closely and is described only as a female-driven gritty thriller. If Thorp remains the sole writer on the project, the deal could escalate to $1.2 million. Paramount and Intertainment -- which has a production financing agreement with Kopelson -- jointly fronted the cost.

Kopelson senior VP production Sherryl Clark brought the script to the company. Academy Award-winning producers and Kopelson toppers Arnold and Anne Kopelson will produce with Barry Baeres and Linne Radmin. Stephen Brown and Robyn Meisinger will executive produce. Radmin and Meisinger developed the script from an idea by Thorp.

"(The project) is extraordinarily commercial and one of the finest first drafts that I have ever been presented with," Arnold Kopelson told the media, adding that he hopes to have "Blackout" in production within six months.

The Kopelsons recently produced "Don't Say a Word," starring Michael Douglas and Brittany Murphy, and "Joe Somebody," starring Tim Allen, both for 20th Century Fox and Regency Enterprises. Together, they also have produced "A Perfect Murder," "U.S. Marshals," "The Devil's Advocate," "Mad City" and "Eraser," among other films.

Brown is president of USA-Intertainment Inc. and deputy CEO of the board of directors of Intertainment AG.

Thorp wrote and directed the 2000 indie release "See Jane Run," starring Clea DuVall and Kevin Corrigan. She is repped by attorney Gretchen Bruggeman at Hansen, Jacobson, Teller and Hoberman as well as Radmin and Meisinger at management/production outfit the Radmin Co. Radmin has produced "The Next Best Thing" for Paramount, and Meisinger was a producer on "Jane."

Andie MacDowell Lands CBS Drama Pilot

In the latest flurry of pilot season developments Thursday, CBS ordered a drama starring Andie MacDowell as a North Carolina veterinarian.

Tentatively dubbed "Jo," the pilot was one of two dramas greenlit by CBS. The network also gave a cast-contingent order to "Georgetown," a D.C.-based project about power in the nation's capital.

Meanwhile feature filmmaker Gary Fleder ("Don't Say a Word") has signed to direct the CBS drama "Rush." Fleder previously shot two CBS drama pilots later picked up for series: "L.A. Doctors" and "Falcone."

Over at Fox, the network greenlit an untitled ensemble drama about the people who protect the president. The pilot script was written by Jeff Rake, co-creator of the short-lived Fox drama "The Street."

Mike Myers to play Keith Moon

The Who's Roger Daltrey has auditioned Canadian funny man Mike Myers to play Keith Moon in a warts-and-all movie tribute to the band's late drummer, Britain's Sun tabloid reported on Friday.

"Moon the Loon" died in 1978 at 32 after a drug overdose, but his legend as the original wild man of rock lives on.

Daltrey, the rock group's 57-year-old singer, told the Sun: "Mike is a genius. I can really see him as Keith. I went to some of the filming of his new Austin Powers film and it's hysterical. He's amazing when you meet him, so clever." Comedian Myers plays a spoof James Bond-style spy in the Austin Powers series of films.

Moon, famous for drunken antics that included driving a Rolls-Royce into his swimming pool, wrote the book on how to be a "rock 'n' roll lunatic," Daltrey told the tabloid.

"It must have been hell to actually be Keith Moon. How do you have a day off? There aren't any days off and I think he started to live the thing he created," Daltrey said. He said the film was still in the planning stages and would be difficult to make.

"Biographical films are the most difficult to tackle. Keith was such an enormous personality it would be a bit of everything. The thing about him is that he was the ultimate of everything."

Britain's own Robbie Williams has also been considered for the part because, with his own battles with drink and drugs, he reminds Daltrey of Moon.

"There's a lot of Moon that I see in him, a lot of demons. But hopefully he's got to grips with them," Daltrey said.

Kate Hudson, Naomi Watts 'Le Divorce'

Kate Hudson and Naomi Watts are in negotiations to star in the comedy "Le Divorce" for producers Merchant Ivory and Fox Searchlight.

James Ivory ("The Golden Bowl") will direct the picture from a script based on Diane Johnson's best-selling novel, adapted by his longtime collaborators Ivory and Ruth Prawer Jhabvala. Filming is expected to begin in September in France.

Both a comedy and a complex morality tale, In Le Divorce, Diane Johnson delightfully recounts the adventures of two sisters from California who make a modern pilgrimage to the City of Light. Pregnant and abandoned by her French husband, Roxeanne Walker de Persand turns to her younger sister, Isabel, for support, while the powerful Persand family exerts subtle but firm control over her decision whether or not to divorce. Complicating matters is the disposition of a family heirloom, a painting in Roxy's possession that is suddenly discovered to be worth millions. In the midst of a variety of schemes, the stakes are suddenly raised by a crime of passion, disrupting everyone's motives and plans. Not since Edith Wharton penned her brilliant portraits of Americans abroad has an American novelist so perfectly captured the possibilities and perils of succumbing to the allure of Paris..

Hudson was Oscar-nominated for her work in 2000's "Almost Famous." She next co-stars in the upcoming remake of Shekhar Kapur's "Four Feathers."

Watts most recently appeared in David Lynch's suspenser "Mullholland Dr." and next appears in "Ring," a remake of the 1998 Japanese box office smash "Ringu."

The Rhythm Section To Be Shot In Berlin

 The German-UK partners behind zombie video game adaptation Resident Evil are planning to return to Berlin this year to shoot The Rhythm Section, a large-scale thriller that sets a Nikita-style story in the German capital.

The $25m-$30m production is being developed through the long-term production partnership between leading German producer Bernd Eichinger and director-producer team Paul Anderson and Jeremy Bolt. The partners first teamed last year to shoot the $30m-plus Resident Evil in Berlin, bringing one of the biggest European-financed productions of 2001 to the city.

Controversially, The Rhythm Section has a terrorism theme revolving around a teenager. Her life was destroyed when the plane carrying her family crashed. Now Stephanie will do anything for revenge....Recruited by a covert intelligence organization, she makes a deal. Complete their lethal assignments and they'll let her kill the murderers who destroyed her family. Young, smart, and beautiful, she becomes an assassin with two covers--"Petra," a terrorist-for-hire in Germany, and "Marina," an international businesswoman in London.

Immersed in the brutal, high-stakes world of international terrorism, Stephanie begins to ask some deadly questions. Is the organization telling her the truth, or are they using her for a darker reason? Is avenging her family worth losing her soul? And will the organization that created her let her go--or is she already the next target? She's got one chance to escape--if she lives long enough to take it.

Anderson, best known for Mortal Kombat, may direct, depending on whether his remake of Death Race 2000 comes together with Tom Cruise.

The original book by Mark Burnell was set in London’s seedy red light district of Soho, but Kate Wood’s script instead moves the story to Berlin. The filmmakers thought that shooting in Berlin would give the film a more contemporary feel, as well help Eichinger’s Constantin Film arrange financing.

"Berlin has a chameleon-like identity which fits with her desire to disappear," said Rory Gilmartin, head of development at Anderson and Bolt’s production company, Impact Pictures. "Places like Potsdamer Platz are perfect for a European-based thriller."

Another contender for Impact and Constantin’s next production is Birdman, a $10m-$15m serial killer story set in the US. The companies aim to shoot both productions both this year.

Stallone/Schwarzenegger-Type Action Film Might Fade, Hollywood Needs New Blood

After years of big-screen shootouts and beating down bad guys, Rambo and the Terminator finally might have met a foe they can't vanquish: time.

Throughout the past two decades, such stars as Arnold Schwarzenegger, Sylvester Stallone and Bruce Willis dominated the action genre with films that were often more noteworthy for their stars' musculature than their stories. But as those famous faces have aged, the movie industry has gone in search of the next generation of action heroes -- a task that might be tougher than it sounds.

"It's tough to say exactly what makes a good action hero," New Line president of production Toby Emmerich said. "It's when you sit in a test screening and you can see audiences connecting with an actor -- when they really root for him -- that you know you have something."

Studios long have known that Schwarzenegger had that special something, but in recent years his drawing power seems to have faded, while new, younger action stars have begun to garner followings of their own. Schwarzenegger's two most recent films -- "End of Days" and "The 6th Day" -- barely broke the $100 million mark combined, while such younger actors as Brendan Fraser and Chris Tucker have turned "The Mummy" and "Rush Hour," respectively, into blockbuster franchises.

This weekend provides a generational action battle as Schwarzenegger's latest, Warner Bros.' "Collateral Damage," opens against Chris Klein in MGM's "Rollerball." It remains to be seen how Klein, who hails from comedies and romances, will perform in his first action role.

The fact that MGM took a chance on Klein underscores that there are no clear-cut successors to the action-star mantle. But several names seem to be on the verge of taking the crown.

Vin Diesel, who built on his breakout success in 2000's "Pitch Black" with last summer's smash "The Fast and the Furious," is frequently mentioned as a leading contender. Diesel will get his shot to prove his worth again in Sony's upcoming summer release, "XXX."

World Wrestling Federation star Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson, who made his movie debut in Universal's "The Mummy Returns," also might be poised to inherit the action mantle. He will get his first chance to prove his value in the April 19 release "The Scorpion King," the prequel to "Mummy." Universal moved quickly to mount the project after watching the rushes of Johnson's extended cameo in "Mummy."

The influx of martial arts into mainstream action films has made Jet Li another oft-mentioned name, following Li's star turns in "Romeo Must Die" and "The One."

None of the new crop of big-screen action figures necessarily is guaranteed to develop into the next Schwarzenegger. Then again, that might not be what the studios are looking for anyway.

"What makes a good action star today is different from 10 years ago," said Patrick Gunn, executive VP at Artisan, which will release the comic book-based "Iron Fist," starring Ray Park. "We're looking for people who can play strong, intelligent characters and people who are more identifiable to audiences -- not just buffed-up guys. The characters have become bigger than the stars who play them in many cases, and as a result, it's become less about the actor and much more about the story and character."

The changing face of the action genre has made the search for the next great action star all the more complicated. Whereas action films were once judged by explosions and machismo, today's studio execs seem more concerned with story and "relatability." The days of big muscles, big guns and big explosions are becoming a thing of the past as studios increasingly look to emphasize character over body counts.

"There's definitely a different kind of action hero emerging now," Emmerich said. "Guys like Stallone and Schwarzenegger took it as far as it can be taken, and what we're seeing now is really a new take on the genre."

Look no further than the casting of Tobey Maguire as "Spider-Man" for proof of just how much the action hero paradigm has changed. His role as the web-slinging crime fighter is a far cry from his earlier work in such character-driven dramas as "The Cider House Rules" and "Wonder Boys," but it is that dramatic background that convinced Sony to offer him the role.

"Tobey was the perfect Peter Parker because he's such a fine actor," Columbia Pictures president of production Peter Schlessel said. "He was able to play the nerdy-looking high school kid before the spider bite just as well as he was able to play Peter after the bite."

Heroes who are larger than life, whose powers seem over the top, no longer seem to be in vogue.

"Movies like 'Iron Fist' are not about a dominant super-powerful hero but rather about a guy people can relate to with special skills," Gunn said. "Action movies have become as much about watching someone become a hero as they are about what happens once they are a hero."

That transformation of a "regular" person becoming a hero is one that studio execs believe might especially resonate now in the wake of recent events.

"It's a new world now," said Emmerich, referring to the evolution of the image of heroes. "On Sept. 11, we saw thousands of civilians go to work one morning and suddenly be caught in the center of a war."

These changes in the concept of heroism have led some industry veterans to believe that the traditional Stallone/Schwarzenegger-type action film might fade out of the Hollywood landscape much the same way that Westerns have.

"We might see someone emerge as the next action hero, but it's also possible that we will not see those same kind of characters any more," Gunn said. "Those guys had their time, but now it's a different time."