Lord of the Rings is king of the Baftas

It was pure magic at the box office, but when it comes to awards Harry Potter is far from wizard. In evil weather worthy of Mordor itself, and with hundreds of fans huddled outside in the rain to catch a glimpse of Nicole Kidman arriving under an umbrella, the Potter film's fantasy rival, The Lord of the Rings dominated last night's Bafta awards, winning best film, best director and most popular film.

The Fellowship of the Ring, the first of Peter Jackson's adaptations of JRR Tolkien's trilogy, took five awards, while Harry Potter, the blockbuster based on JK Rowling's altogether more down to Earth first book, got nothing at all.

Its spectacular failure to turn seven nominations in seven categories into wins was the shock of the night, though its makers can console themselves with the fact that it still has the box office edge. The assumption of Dame Judi Dench into award heaven continued with a best actress Bafta for her portrayal of the late novelist Iris Murdoch's slow slip into the void of Alzheimer's disease. It was the only award of the night for Richard Eyre's film, which will again be relying on Dame Judi to win an Oscar next month.

The other big homegrown quality hit of the year, Robert Altman's Gosford Park, which won the ageing American director a Golden Globe, had to content itself with best British film and the best costume award.

The plucky-struggle-against-illness theme popped up again when Russell Crowe, looking more like a bedraggled St Bernard dog than the star of Gladiator, won best actor for A Beautiful Mind, in which he plays the Nobel-prize winning mathematician John Nash, who has battled with schizophrenia for most of his career.

It was compensation in part for defeat last year by Jamie Bell, the star of Billy Elliott. His co-star Jennifer Connelly, who played Nash's long-suffering wife, beat Dame Judi, Dame Maggie Smith and Helen Mirren to best supporting actress.

Jim Broadbent, whose performance as Murdoch's husband has won universal plaudits, won best supporting actor for his less celebrated role as the idiosyncratic MC in Moulin Rouge. It was one of three awards for Baz Luhrmann's musical.

While the Baftas are Britain's top film awards - and this year's ceremony attracted a galaxy of US stars - they are not quite the major pointer to the Oscars that the organizers would like to claim.

Best film Lord Of The Rings: The Fellowship Of The Rings
Alexander Korda award for outstanding British film Gosford Park
Carl Foreman award Joel Hopkins/Nicola Usborne for Jump Tomorrow
David Lean Award for achievement in direction Peter Jackson (Lord Of The Rings)
Best original screenplay Amelie
Best adapted screenplay Shrek
Best actress Judi Dench (Iris)
Best actor Russell Crowe (A Beautiful Mind)
Best supporting actress Jennifer Connelly (A Beautiful Mind)
Best supporting actor Jim Broadbent (Moulin Rouge)
Best music Moulin Rouge
Best foreign language film Amores Perros
Best cinematography The Man Who Wasn't There
Best production design Amelie
Best costume design Gosford Park
Best editing Mulholland Drive
Best sound Moulin Rouge
Best special effects Lord Of The Rings
Best make up/hair Lord Of The Rings
Best short film About a Girl
Best short animation Dog
Orange film of the year Lord of the Rings

Posthumous box office success for Aaliyah

The late R'n'B singer Aaliyah found posthumous success this weekend when her film The Queen of the Damned took the top spot at the US Box office. Aaliyah was killed in a plane crash six months ago at the age of 22.

The film is based on the third book of horror writer Anne Rice's Vampire Chronicles , and Aaliyah stars as a 6000 year old Egyptian vampire who plans to take over the world. The Queen of the Damned was slated by the critics, but research reveals that the majority of the audiences were fans of the singer, with 30% - 40% made up of women under 25.

According to studio estimates issued on Sunday, "Queen of the Damned" grossed $15.2 million for its first three days of release beginning Feb. 22, while the Denzel Washington drama "John Q." slipped to No. 2 with $12.5 million.

The top 10 contained one other new release, Kevin Costner's supernatural drama "Dragonfly," which opened at No. 3 with $10.4 million.

Based on the third book of Anne Rice's "Vampire Chronicles," "Queen of the Damned" features a bronzed Aaliyah as a 6,000-year-old Egyptian vampire bent on ruling the Earth. The film's nominal star, Irish actor Stuart Townsend, plays Lestat, the role essayed by Tom Cruise in 1994's "Interview With the Vampire."

The audience was primarily ethnic, with women under the age of 25 accounting for one-third of the ticket buyers, said Dan Fellman, president of distribution at Warner Bros. The film was budgeted at a modest $30 million, and he termed the opening "solid." Aaliyah, 22, died when her light plane crashed on take-off in the Bahamas last Aug. 25.

"Dragonfly," a $60 million film in which Costner plays a medic haunted by his dead wife, also skewed female, said Universal Pictures distribution president Nikki Rocco. Unusually, Universal representatives handed out letters to guests at advance screenings seeking the studio's help in "not revealing any of the plot revelations."

After 10 days in release, "John Q." has grossed $39.9 million, and should end up in the $70 million-$75 million range, said a spokesman for New Line Cinema. The healthcare satire stars Washington as a desperate father who takes an emergency room hostage in order to secure a heart transplant for his dying son.

Warner Bros. Pictures and New Line Cinema are units of AOL Time Warner Inc. . Universal Pictures is a unit of Vivendi Universal .

The top 12 films grossed $85.5 million, according to box office tracking firm Exhibitor Relations, down 19 percent from the equivalent three-day portion of the Presidents Day holiday last weekend, but up 14 percent from the year-ago period.

Wide new releases next weekend include Paramount's Mel Gibson war drama "We Were Soldiers" and Miramax Films' abstinence comedy "40 Days and 40 Nights," starring Josh Hartnett.

The Peter Pan cartoon "Return to Never Land" slipped one place to No. 4 in its second weekend with $9.0 million, for a 10-day total of $27.2 million. The low-budget film was released by Walt Disney Pictures, a unit of Walt Disney Co. .

The Britney Spears road movie "Crossroads," also in its second weekend, fell three places to No. 5 with $7.1 million as its total rose to $26.3 million. A spokeswoman for Viacom Inc. -owned Paramount Pictures predicted the $12 million-budgeted drama would end up with about $45 million.

Rounding out the top 10, the family comedy "Big Fat Liar" fell two places to No. 6 with $6.7 million (17-day total $33.6 million), while the Academy Award-nominated drama "A Beautiful Mind" slipped one to No. 7 with $5.2 million (66-day total $132.6 million). Both films were released by Universal.

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Inc.'s Bruce Willis war drama "Hart's War" fell one place to No. 8 with $4.6 million (10-day total $13.9 million); the cop comedy "Super Troopers" (Fox Searchlight) held steady at No. 9 with $3.9 million (10-day total $12.5 million); and Arnold Schwarzenegger's "Collateral Damage" fell five places to No. 10 with $3.73 million (17-day total $34.5 million). Fox Searchlight is a unit of Fox Entertainment Group Inc. .

Although it fell three places to No. 11, the Somalia war drama "Black Hawk Down" passed the century mark on Saturday night to reach $101.4 million, said a spokesman for Sony Corp.'s Columbia Pictures. Its estimated three day haul was $3.7 million.

In the limited release arena, Indian director Mira Nair's family drama "Monsoon Wedding" pulled in a surprisingly strong $66,217 from just two New York theaters. USA Films, a unit of USA Networks Inc., paid a reported $1 million for U.S. distribution rights at the Cannes Film Festival last year.

Michael Jackson's Neverland Entertainment will invest up to $20m in MDP Worldwide Entertainment

Michael Jackson is getting into film production through an unlikely alliance with international sales veteran Mark Damon. The pop superstar’s Neverland Entertainment will invest between $15m and $20m in Damon’s production, financing and sales outfit MDP Worldwide Entertainment Inc which is publicly traded on the Toronto Stock Exchange.

The agreement will see Neverland become a major shareholder in MDP and will encompass all of MDP’s film production. MDP’s production arm will be called Neverland Pictures and all MDP features will henceforth carry that banner. The closing of the deal, which has been in negotiations for two months, is subject to customary regulatory and other approvals.

The connecting individual between Jackson and Damon is Raju Shared Patel, the Indian producer who runs Neverland Entertainment with Jackson and whose 1994 film Rudyard Kipling’s The Jungle Book was co-financed and sold by Damon. Patel also produced The Adventures Of Pinocchio for New Line and August Entertainment in 1996 and Tom Hanks’ breakthrough movie Bachelor Party in 1984.

The alliance was announced at a lavish mid-AFM dinner party for buyers at Damon’s Beverly Hills house Sunday night (02/23) which Jackson attended with Elizabeth Taylor. Jackson told the media that he planned to be closely involved in all the projects which Neverland Pictures would produce including the development and casting process. He added that he would star in and direct some of the films. Citing To Kill A Mockingbird as his favorite film, he said that film was the ultimate art form.

“Both Raju and I love the way classic stories can be reinvented for the screen,” he said in a statement. “My favorite movies such as Raju’s Jungle Book and Pinocchio were reimagined as major features, and were produced outside the traditional studio system. Films have always been a passion for me as a fan and as an artist and there is nothing in the world like the magic captured forever in a time capsule like motion picture images. Raju and I are very excited to be joining together with MDP Worldwide and producer Mark Damon, who has a very successful track record as an independent producer and distributor.”

Jackson is a pioneer of the music video form, working with such directors as Martin Scorsese on Bad and John Landis on Thriller and Black And White. While he has never made or starred in a full-fledged fictional feature, his 1988 film Moonwalker combined concert footage with a thin fantasy storyline in which he was the lead character, he starred in a 17-minute 3-D short Captain EO directed by Francis Ford Coppola which is an attraction at Disney theme parks and he was directed by effects maestro Stan Winston in the extended 38-minute music video Ghosts which played out of competition at the 1997 Cannes Film Festival.

Also offering potential synergies for the movie production company is the fact that Jackson and Neverland own a large music copyright catalogue, including the copyright to some 250 songs by The Beatles, which Jackson bought in 1985 for over $50m.

MDP meanwhile is in aggressive form after a couple of quiet years. Last week, it reported its highest ever financial results for the year ending Sept 30, 2001 – a net profit of $3.6m on operating revenues of $53.6m, a rise of 427% from the previous fiscal year.

MDP took control of its former owner Montreal-based Behaviour Communications in March 2000 by converting $5.7m owed him by Behaviour into shares representing a 60% stake.

MDP enjoyed a hit last year with Universal’s domestic release of The Musketeer which grossed $27.1m last September and has high hopes for two other releases – The Extremists, released through Paramount domestically, and Fear.com, released through Franchise Pictures/Warner Bros – this year.

MDP recently boarded three new projects – The United States Of Leland produced by Kevin Spacey’s Trigger Street Productions and starring Ryan Gosling, Chris Klein, Don Cheadle, Jena Malone, Lena Olin and Spacey himself; Havoc, a provocative screenplay by Traffic Oscar winner Stephen Gaghan which has Scarlett Johanssen in talks to star and The I Inside, a time travel thriller being written by Michael Cooney from his play Point Of Death.

The deal was negotiated on Neverland’s behalf by Lawrence Mortorff, entertainment attorney Bruce Vann of Kelly, Lytton & Vann and for MDP by Michael Eliasberg of Kaye, Scholer.

Talent Agencies To Invest In Film And TV Production?

In a landmark deal that could change the way the entertainment industry does business, Hollywood's actors have tentatively agreed to allow the powerful talent agencies to invest in film and TV production, breaking down a decades-old barrier designed to prevent conflict of interest. In addition to buying up to 20 percent of a production company, agents will also be able to sell up to a 20 percent stake in themselves to producers or ad agencies.

The pact was forged late Friday night by representatives of the Screen Actors Guild (SAG), the Assn. of Talent Agents (ATA) and the Natl. Assn. of Talent Representatives (NATR). Although neither side commented, SAG and ATA are expected to officially announce the tentative agreement Monday.

The deal's ultimate fate remains uncertain as it requires a referendum of SAG's 98,600 members. SAG insiders have long been skeptical about its prospects for approval.

SAG oversees the activities of the talent agents via a master franchise agreement that expressly prevents them from diversifying. The aim was to ensure that agents strive to reach the best deals for their acting clients. If agents also owned studios or producers, they would become the actors' employers.

But the agents have long argued that the agreement, which expired Jan. 20, is outdated in a vertically integrated industry controlled by a handful of international conglomerates, and also places them at a disadvantage to unregulated talent managers who do produce vehicles starring their clients.

In return for the ownership easing, the agents pledged to cooperate in enforcing the ban on non-union work overseas and to create a SAG fund from part of the ownership investments.

That fund would be administered by SAG and be used to monitor such key areas as residuals. The agents also agreed to an explicit ban on being employers or producers.

But in a sign that approval is not a slam-dunk and that deal backers face a daunting task in swaying members, SAG's negotiating committee did not unanimously endorse the deal unlike the ATA's committee. Less than 25% of SAG members are formally represented by talent agents and many members may be reflexively hostile to any deal appearing to benefit agents.

If SAG does approve the deal, the agencies can start selling off slices of themselves to ad agencies and indie producers on July 1.

Sources indicated the pact will go to special meetings of SAG's oft-divided national board and the ATA board during the week of March 11. That's three days after the announcement of the results of SAG's re-run election, in which deregulation of the agents has been a major issue.

If SAG's board approves, that would then trigger a referendum of members. Should 25% of the board votes "no," those members would be able to include a minority report in the referendum.

The deal was reached following five weeks of talks, which took place under a news blackout and mostly occurred following the Jan. 20 expiration of the agreement. Terms of that expired agreement have remained in effect since then.

Other key deal points include creation of a joint advisory committee to review the agreement on an ongoing basis; a ban on any studio, network or parent investing in agencies; full disclosure of investment details to SAG; increased protections for actors, including creation of a new SAG bond fund -- above and beyond state requirements -- to cover agency defaults; and a liberalization of agents' ability to commission 10 percent of revenues on home video for movies shot after June 2002.

Anjelica Huston In "Blood Work" For Director Clint Eastwood

Anjelica Huston has been added to the cast of Warner Bros. Pictures' suspense thriller "Blood Work" for director Clint Eastwood, who also stars in the film and produces through his Malpaso Prods.

Production began filming Tuesday for two months in Southern California, including Los Angeles's San Fernando Valley and Long Beach, as well as soundstages at Warner Bros. Studios.

Based on the novel by Michael Connelly, the project features Eastwood as an FBI profiler tracking a serial killer under unusual circumstances involving his own medical history and blood analysis. Jeff Daniels and Wanda De Jesus also star.

Huston will play the supporting role Dr. Fox, the cardiologist to Eastwood's character. Brian Helgeland adapted the screenplay. Judie G. Hoyt is co-producing.

Huston, repped by ICM, stars onscreen in the Walt Disney Co.'s "The Royal Tenenbaums." She next stars in the indie feature "The Man From Elysian Fields." She won an Oscar for best supporting actress for her work in "Prizzi's Honor."

New Line Cinema in State of Emergency

Thinking franchise, New Line Cinema has linked with "American Pie" producers Zide/Perry Entertainment to bring recently released video game "State of Emergency" to the silver screen.

Warren Zide and Craig Perry, via their MGM-based shingle, will produce. Their pact with New Line, potentially worth in the low-seven figures if the project goes ahead, includes a writer deal for Damian Shannon and Mark Swift, who will develop a script based on the violent game.

The game, developed by Scottish-based VIS Entertainment, hit domestic store shelves Feb.15.

"State of Emergency" is set in a future in which social and economic chaos has left a city in the hands of a monolithic corporation that only a handful of resistance fighters have the courage to confront.

Shannon and Swift, who are managed by Zide/Perry, penned "Shark Slayer" for DreamWorks and "Freddy vs. Jason" for New Line.

Universal Pictures In Deal arround Skateboarder Tony Hawk

In what is being called "Boogie Nights" meets "The Fast and the Furious," Universal Pictures has made a preemptive deal to build a movie around premier skateboarder Tony Hawk.

The film will be scripted by Gary Scott Thompson, who co-wrote "The Fast and the Furious" and is working on its sequel.

Hawk, considered the preeminent and most marketable daredevil skateboarder around, is being widely courted to become a movie star, with projects in the works at Revolution, a biopic hatching at Disney and a small role in upcoming Ed Decter-directed comedy "The New Guy."

The deal calls for Thompson and Hawk to use facets of the skateboarder's life to create a gritty, fictional look at the counterculture world Hawk grew up in, long before he rode his skateboard to brand-name status.

Thompson was given a similar challenge when he was brought in to create a movie from a Vibe magazine article about street racing, which became Universal's hit "The Fast and the Furious," on which he received story credit and shared screen credit with Erik Bergquist and David Ayer.

He was drafted to write one of two possible sequel scripts as Universal attempts to reunite director Rob Cohen and stars Vin Diesel and Paul Walker for a second installment of the franchise.

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.

Kate Hudson, Naomi Watts going for Le Divorce

 Kate Hudson and Naomi Watts are in negotiations to star in the comedy "Le Divorce" for producers Merchant Ivory and Fox Searchlight. Both a comedy and a complex morality tale about two Americans -- one an ex-pat, the other a visitor -- in Paris. "Divorce" follows a film school dropout who heads to the City of Light to serve as an emissary between her pregnant, cuckolded stepsister and her upper-class family of her French painter husband.

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."

Book Description: (Buy This Book) 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. *Le Divorce was a hardcover bestseller appearing on the Boston Globe, The San Francisco Chronicle, Los Angeles Times, Chicago Tribune, Publishers Weekly, and Newsday bestseller lists. * Le Divorce received outstanding reviews. * The hardcover is in its 8th printing with over 50,000 copies in print. *Plume is embarking on a major Diane Johnson backlist reissue

Miramax and Keystone Entertainment Sign Multi-Picture Agreement

Miramax and Dimension Films have signed a multi-year, multi-picture co-financing agreement for family entertainment projects produced by Keystone Entertainment, it was announced today by Miramax co-president of production Bob Osher. Miramax is the distributor of the Keystone produced family film franchise "Air Bud."

Under the deal, Miramax has the option to acquire US rights to Keystone's output, and has agreed to release a minimum of two of Keystone's family films per year over the next three years.

"We are truly excited about continuing our relationship with Keystone," said Bob Osher. "Robert and the whole Keystone team are great at developing family film franchises like 'Air Bud."'

"This is an exciting next step in the relationship between Miramax and Keystone, which began in 1997 with the successful release of "Air Bud," said Robert Vince, CEO of Keystone Entertainment. "Harvey and Bob are great partners and understand the long-term value of family films. We appreciate their recognition of us as filmmakers."

Michael Helfant, senior evp of Dimension, and Andrew Gumpert, svp of business and legal affairs, negotiated on behalf of Miramax. Robert Vince, CEO/filmmaker and Gail Schacht, vp of business affairs negotiated on behalf of Keystone Entertainment.

ABOUT KEYSTONE

International Keystone Entertainment Inc. ("Keystone") is a fully integrated film entertainment company. Founder and CEO is filmmaker Robert Vince, who has produced over 25 feature films. The company is best known for its family film franchises "Air Bud" (1,2,3 and 4) and "MVP" (1 and 2) produced under the Keystone Family Pictures banner. Keystone has offices in Malibu, California and Vancouver, Canada.

Andrew Herwitz Leaves Miramax to Establish Independent Film Sales Company

Andrew Herwitz, Miramax co-head of acquisitions, will leave the company at the end of February to set up an independent film sales company. During his six year tenure at Miramax, Herwitz has attended over 30 film festivals and has played a key role in the company's acquisitions of many great foreign and independent films including the recently released "In the Bedroom," "Iron Monkey," "The Others," "Baran," "Iris," "With A Friend Like Harry," "Everybody Famous," "Italian For Beginners," "Calle 54," and "Ideal Husband."

Agnes Mentre, evp of acquisitions and co-production, will remain head of acquisitions. "Andrew has been a tremendous asset to the company," said Miramax co-chairman Harvey Weinstein. "He has a great eye and is a superb deal-maker who can structure and close complex transactions with incredible speed. We are sure he will be successful in this new venture and wish him the best of luck."

Herwitz said, "I have learned so much from working for Harvey and Bob and with the other amazingly talented and dedicated people at Miramax. I certainly feel well prepared to start this new business and represent emerging filmmakers as well as many of the directors and producers I have come to know over the past several years. It certainly will be interesting to sit on the other side of the table from Miramax!"

Herwitz began his career as an entertainment lawyer after graduating from Harvard College, Columbia Business School and Harvard Law School. His new company, to be called The Film Sales Company will be based in New York and will represent films seeking North American distribution deals.