• Warner Bros on Deathwatch
• Lieutenant Ramsey's War: From Horse Soldier to Guerrilla Commander
• Marc Forster To Turn his attention to Never Land
• Steven Spielberg Catch Me If You Can
• Miramax buys North American rights to Samsara
• Sundance's eclectic blend of well-known stars and unknown faces, kicks off Thursday
• Indie nominations give few Oscar hints
• Stewart Till appoints his executive team at Signpost Films
• FilmFour has appointed Natalie Brenner
• Paul Speaker joins Madstone as president and COO
• Who's in charge at the Screen Actors Guild?
• Justices smack Three Stooges case
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  • Jan 7
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Warner Bros on Deathwatch

Warner Bros. has paid low-six figures to purchase Michael Weiss' horror pitch "Deathwatch" for producer Joel Silver's Silver Pictures/Dark Castle Entertainment and MBST Entertainment.

The pitch, based on an original idea by MBST manager Jonathan Hung, is described as a cross between "Final Destination" and Japanese horror pic "The Ring." It concerns a group of teenagers who come across a haunted Web site that predicts their future.

The project is tentatively scheduled for a Halloween 2003 release. Weiss, a former executive at Dimension Films and protege of filmmaker Jonathan Hensleigh, most recently completed writing "Around the World in 80 Days" for Walden Media, the production company owned by billionaire Philip Anschutz.

Lieutenant Ramsey's War: From Horse Soldier to Guerrilla Commander

New Line Cinema has acquired feature rights to the 1991 wartime bio saga "Lieutenant Ramsey's War: From Horse Soldier to Guerrilla Commander," with director Peter Kosminsky ("White Oleander") attached to the project.

New Line acquired the book, penned by Edwin Ramsey and Stephen Rivele, out of turnaround at Columbia Pictures, which first optioned it in 1997.

"Ramsey's" is the story of the eponymous U.S. Army lieutenant who refused to surrender after Japan took the Philippines in 1942. Instead, he joined the Filipino resistance and rose to command more than 40,000 guerrillas. The Japanese put the elusive American leader at the top of their death list, but Ramsey rejected the opportunity to escape and stood his ground until Gen. Douglas MacArthur landed in 1945.

Kosminsky helmed the award-winning "The Falklands War: The Untold Story" for British television. His latest feature, the Warner Bros. Pictures release "White Oleander," is slated to unspool Oct. 18.

"I'm very impressed with (Kosminsky)," Ramsey told Daily Variety. "He's well versed in documentaries, and his idea is to have the audience see the story as if it's through your eyes."

Now 84, the decorated war hero lives in Los Angeles and has already begun to work with the director on a treatment for the screenplay. Kosminsky and New Line are now seeking writers for the project.

Marc Forster To Turn his attention to Never Land

Fresh from directing "Monster's Ball," Swiss filmmaker Marc Forster will next turn his attention to "Never Land," a biopic about "Peter Pan" creator James Barrie.

The Miramax Films project will start as soon as Forster, producer Richard Gladstein and the studio cast the lead.

Based on Allan Knee's play "The Man Who Was Peter Pan," the film will tell the story of Barrie, who was inspired to write the play "Peter Pan" after bonding with his neighbors -- four fatherless boys and their mother -- in turn-of-the-century London.

Gladstein, who has a first-look pact with Miramax, has been developing the project for several years.

Forster directed last year's Sundance picture "Everything Put Together" before landing "Monster's Ball," which has garnered critical acclaim for both him and star Halle Berry. Lions Gate released "Monster's Ball" in December.

Steven Spielberg Catch Me If You Can

The movie business is greeting the New Year with newfound brio, expediting production on several megabudget pictures, the latest being director Steven Spielberg's "Catch Me If You Can."

Christopher Walken is in talks to join DreamWorks' long-gestating cat-and-mouse drama, which stars Tom Hanks and Leonardo DiCaprio. Production is tentatively set to start in February in L.A. Other locations still are being scouted.

 "Catch" is based on the autobiography of Frank Abagnale Jr., who holds the distinction as the youngest man ever placed on the FBI's Most Wanted list. The 1980 memoir recounts his exploits as a charlatan and counterfeiter who ran away from home at age 16. From 1964 to 1970, Frank W. Abagnale, alias Frank Williams, Robert Conrad, Frank Adams, and Robert Monjo, was one of the most daring con men, forgers, imposters, and escape artists in history. In his brief but notorious criminal career, Abagnale donned a pilot's uniform and copiloted a Pan Am jet, masqueraded as the supervising resident of a hospital, practiced law without a license, passed himself off as a college sociology professor, and cashed over $2.5 million in forged checks, all before he was twenty-one. Known by the police of twenty-six foreign countries and all fifty states as "The Skywayman," Abagnale lived a sumptuous life on the lam-until the law caught up with him. Now recognized as the nation's leading authority on financial foul play, Abagnale is a charming rogue whose hilarious, stranger-than-fiction international escapades, and ingenious escapes-including one from an airplane-make Catch Me If You Can an irresistible tale of deceit.

DiCaprio will play Abagnale, Hanks the FBI agent who hunts him down, and Walken DiCaprio's father.

Before Spielberg stepped in, director such as Gore Verbinski, Lasse Hallstrom, Milos Foreman and Cameron Crowe were attached to the project.

Talent salaries might have helped push the picture's budget past $75 million going in, but deferments by some parties are believed to be keeping costs somewhat contained. DreamWorks reps would not discuss the budget. The company has made plenty of big-budget titles, but many have been co-ventures, including its partnership with Universal on the $110 million "Gladiator."

Money aside, "Catch" figures to be a quick turnaround, as DreamWorks is holding an unspecified holiday release spot for it. The picture is the only fourth-quarter title currently on the docket for DreamWorks, whose 2002 slate also includes Hanks' teaming with "American Beauty" director Sam Mendes on "The Road to Perdition."

The company announced Monday that production is under way on "Old School," a summer comedy helmed by Todd Phillips, and starring Luke Wilson, Will Ferrell and Vince Vaughn.

Other major pictures entering production in the coming weeks are Universal's "The Hulk," Miramax's "Confessions of a Dangerous Mind" and Paramount's "Timeline." Sequels such as "X-Men 2" and "Terminator 3" are angling for mid-year starts.

Walken will segue to "Catch" from director Martin Brest's DreamWorks/Revolution project "Gigli," which stars Ben Affleck and Jennifer Lopez.

Miramax buys North American rights to Samsara

Miramax Films has bought US rights to Samsara, the German-Tibetan romantic drama that premiered at Toronto last year. Orfeo Films, which is handling world rights, sold other North American rights to Odeon Films for Canada.

Orfeo also added to the Asian release of Mira Nair’s Golden Lion winner Monsoon Wedding, selling Japanese rights to Media Suits and Taiwanese rights to Sinomovie. The film, which also received a Golden Globe nomination, has clocked up a gross of over $1.65m (Rup75m) in its native India.

Samsara, which is headlined by Christy Chung, the super-hot Hong Kong star of Jan Dara, is the story of a former monk who is torn between his wife and a return to the monastic way of life.

Written and directed by Pan Nalin, a Paris-based Indian director, Samsara will receive its European premiere in Rotterdam later this month.

"We had strong interest from most top-flight independent distributors in North America, but it was Miramax which carried off the prize," said Orfeo chief, Helen Loveridge.

Samsara has previously been sold to Ocean Films for France, Fandango for Italy, Cinemien for Benelux, Film Cooperative for Switzerland, Gussi for Mexico, Shani Films for Israel, Babilla/TVOR for Columbia, Peru and Central America, Intercontinental for Hong Kong and Hwa Jaan for Taiwan.

Sundance's eclectic blend of well-known stars and unknown faces, kicks off Thursday

The Sundance Film Festival, the United States' top gathering for independent filmmakers, kicks off Thursday, and there is something new swirling in the air before the show: industry folk actually want to go.

Usually there is a sort of collective whining in Hollywood and New York about snow-clogged streets, dropped cellphone calls and long restaurant lines at Park City, Utah, east of Salt Lake City, where Sundance is held.

But amid a recession and after the Sept. 11 attacks that ended screenings at 2001's Toronto Film Festival, the indie crowd is looking for Sundance's eclectic blend of well-known stars and unknown faces to lift their spirits.

"I really have a sense people are looking at it as a back-to-work festival, and a way to get re-engaged in what they were enthused about in the first place," festival co-director Geoffrey Gilmore told Reuters.

Some of 2002's hot tickets are "The Good Girl," starring Jennifer Aniston as a woman in an extramarital affair with an obsessed lover, "One Hour Photo," with Robin Williams playing a man who fantasizes about being in a perfect family and drama, "The Dancer Upstairs," John Malkovich's directorial debut.

But there's always "buzz" about one movie or another going into Sundance, and it changes throughout the show.

"The one thing that is consistent is that Sundance is hard to predict," said Patrick Gunn, executive vice president and head of acquisitions at Artisan Entertainment.

OLD STARS, FRESH FACES

The festival gets its start Thursday with the world premiere of "The Laramie Project," which is adapted from Moises Kaufman's play of the same name and centers on the aftermath of the Wyoming murder of gay, 19-year-old Matthew Shepard.

Among highlights are Saturday's series of documentaries about Sept. 11 -- two one-hour features and three 10-minute shorts -- that Gilmore calls "witness films" because they were shot immediately after the attacks.

This year's Sundance again showcases new digital filmmaking technology, and as last year there are a large number of movies about women's issues and made by women filmmakers.

"Cherish" is about a love-starved, 20-something and former dot-comer who accidentally kills a policemen and is confined to her apartment for two years. Then, she finds romance.

"Crush" stars Andie MacDowell as a British educator who, with her two best friends, spend many hours drinking, smoking and commiserating about their love lives.

While Sundance is filled with stars, the festival remains primarily a place where new talent gets to show its stuff, non-mainstream filmmakers find enthusiastic crowds, and actors who may be big celebrities get a chance to experiment.

Matt Damon and Casey Affleck, for instance, co-wrote and and star in director Gus Van Sant's "Gerry," playing two guys trekking through the woods and exploring generational angst in a tale that's billed as "both real and allegorical."

"Secretary" stars unknown Maggie Gyllenhaal as a woman recently released from a mental hospital and coping with making a living. Emile Hirsch appears in "The Dangerous Lives of Altar Boys" opposite Kieran Culkin as two teens coming of age.

Veteran writer/director Victor Nunez ("Ulee's Gold") has "Coastlines" about a man who returns to his hometown after three years in prison, and Bart Freundlich is showing "World Traveler" with Billy Crudup as a young man on a quest to learn more about why his father abandoned him and his mother.

"It's a great forum for discovering new talent and, at the same time, rediscovering veteran filmmakers," said Guy Stodel, senior vice president, acquisitions, at Fine Line Features.

NOT JUST ABOUT FILMS

Acquisition executives heading to this year's Sundance said the film slate looks thin, but they said the same thing in 2001. They don't like tipping their hands to competitors.

Gilmore points out that 2001 had one of the strongest lineups in recent memory with current award winners "Memento" and "In the Bedroom." More films from 2001 were sold than in any Sundance since 1996, he said.

Moreover, it's not just about films that sell. Tom Ortenberg, president of releasing for Lion's Gate Entertainment said he discovered director Marc Forster at 2000's festival with "Everything Put Together," which did not sell. Ortenberg, however, set up Forster with a new film, current hit "Monster's Ball," starring Halle Berry and Billy Bob Thornton.

"They really have done a great job, despite commercial pressures, of keeping the focus as best as possible on discovery" of talent, he said.

Of course, there are the parties, too, and this year there are as many as ever. But this year people seem to want to get back to what they do best: see films and talk films. "You're out very late at night, sure, but you're up very early, working," said Artisan's Gunn.

Indie nominations give few Oscar hints

Leading contenders for this year's Independent Spirit Awards include a moving tale of an anguished pedophile and a raucous musical about a botched sex-change operation. Needless to say, neither film is likely to reap many awards on Oscar night.

At a time when every award ceremony, however minor, is being scrutinized for possible Oscar hints, the Independent Spirits has struck a defiantly iconoclastic stance. After what many observers regard as a poor year for movies, it has chosen to judge films on such criteria as their provocative subject matter and the level of independent financing that went into their production. Inevitably, the nominations announced last night contained few names being tipped as Academy Award contenders.

Leading the field with six nominations is Michael Cuesta's controversial L.I.E (pictured), which stars Brian Cox as a retired US Marine who tussles with his pedophile tendencies as he befriends a delinquent adolescent. Though praised by the critics, the film made a negligible $1m at the US box office.

Close behind L.I.E, with five nominations apiece, are Chris Nolan's flashbacking puzzle thriller Memento and John Cameron Mitchell's transsexual rock opera Hedwig and the Angry Inch. All three pictures are nominated in the main Best Film category, alongside Richard Linklater's oddball animated curio Waking Life.

The 17th annual Independent Spirit Awards will be announced the day before the Academy Awards on March 23rd. This year's ceremony will be held in Santa Monica, California, with John Waters serving as host. None of last year's winners went on to Oscar glory the following night. But one suspects the event's organizers will have taken pride in that.

Stewart Till appoints his executive team at Signpost Films

Stewart Till has announced that his ambitious new worldwide film production and distribution company will be called Signpost Films, and has confirmed a string of London-based executive appointments, including Nicole Mackey and Darryl Iwai.

Till, formerly president of London-based Universal Pictures International and head of international activities at the defunct Euro major PolyGram Filmed Entertainment (PFE), is president and CEO of the new company, which aims to produce films ranging from big budget event titles to lower budget niche-driven fare.

Having struck production deals with Charles Roven’s Atlas Entertainment and Eric Gold and Jimmy Miller’s Gold/Miller Company - both subsidiaries of Signpost backer Mosaic Media - the company plans to make four to six films in its first year. This output will be expanded to up to forty films in the first five years with an estimated production and distribution spend of over $2bn. Signpost will distribute its own films in the major international territories, handling sales in-house to remaining international territories.

As previously announced the company was formed by Till, Canadian fund CDP Capital Communications and LA-based Mosaic Media Group.

Darryl Iwai, erstwhile president of PFE Canada, where he was responsible for the releases of Bean, Dead Man Walking and Fargo among others, has been appointed president, worldwide distribution, reporting to Till.

"The timing is right for a new film company like Signpost to emerge," said Iwai. "I believe filmmakers and the film industry as a whole will welcome our philosophy and strategy."

President, international sales at Signpost is Nicole Mackey, who will report to Iwai. Most recently president of international sales at Lolafilms UK, Mackey also spent 15 years at Rank, where she was a director of the board and head of sales.

Julia Short, who has worked for over 10 years in UK theatrical marketing, becomes senior vice-president, worldwide marketing at Signpost. Short had spells at Twentieth Century Fox and Rank before becoming head of marketing at PFE and later Helkon SK. "The philosophy and values that made PolyGram what it was in the 1990s were down to the inspiration of Stewart," Short said. "Being given the chance to work with him, Darryl and Nicole at Signpost is a wonderful opportunity."

Said Till: "I am delighted to welcome these exceptional executives to Signpost. In each instance, they were the first choice for each position."

FilmFour has appointed Natalie Brenner

The UK's FilmFour has appointed Natalie Brenner as deputy head of international film sales. Brenner was previously senior vice president of sales at IAC Film and vice president of sales and marketing at J & M Entertainment.

Brenner will work with head of FilmFour International Janine Gold and film sales executive Libby Hughes on a slate of completed and upcoming projects including Marc Munden's Miranda, starring Christina Ricci, Kyle MacLachlan, John Hurt and John Simm; Gerry, the new project from Gus Van Sant, which reunites Van Sant with Matt Damon and Casey Affleck; Shane Meadows' Once Upon A Time In The Midlands, featuring a British cast including Robert Carlyle, Rhys Ifans, Kathy Burke, Shirley Henderson and Ricky Tomlinson; The Actors, written and directed by Conor McPherson from an original story by Neil Jordan, starring Michael Caine and Dylan Moran and Edgardo Mortara an epic drama to be directed by Damien O'Donnell.

Brenner will join FilmFour in February and will initially handle Benelux, Scandinavia, the Far East (excluding Japan), Portugal, Israel, South Africa and Latin America.

Paul Speaker joins Madstone as president and COO

Paul Speaker, former president of Shooting Gallery Entertainment, has joined New York-based Madstone Films as president and COO. He will be involved in all the company’s activities from production to distribution and exhibition.

Madstone is a self-styled “new-style film studio” formed in New York in 1999 by financier Chip Seelig with former PFE executive Tom Gruenberg. The company finances digitally produced films, then plans to exhibit them in its Madstone Theaters arm, a nationwide chain of independent cinemas.

While at Shooting Gallery, Speaker created the Shooting Gallery Film Series which was responsible for the distribution of a number of movies such as Croupier, The Day I Became A Woman and Judy Berlin.

Prior to Shooting Gallery, he was director of marketing & ideas at the National Football League (NFL).