• MGM Walking A Fine Lion Amid Sale Talks
• Zeta-Jones's Price-Tag: Nine Movies For $54m
• Catch 23 Entertainment on the Edge of Darkness
• Hudson Pictures Newly Formed
• CBS Deals For Sylvester Stallone Pilot
• Mary-Kate And Ashley Olsen Teaming With Warners On Next Feature
• Artisan buys John Herzfeld script Jealousy
• Chris Rock rolls in directing debut
• Sundance Deal for "Love Liza"
• Sundance Deal for "The Good Girl"
• Internet film piracy set to increase rapidly
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  • Monday Jan 14
  • Tuesday Jan 15

Zeta-Jones's Price-Tag: Nine Movies For $54m

The Welsh-born star will become Britain's highest paid actress after brokering a nine picture deal in Hollywood. Catherine Zeta-Jones has completed her transformation from the darling of British TV to Hollywood diva after reportedly securing $80m for nine movies, a deal which would make her Britain's highest paid actress.

The girl from Mumbles, who turned her back on small screen fame to seek her fortune in Los Angeles, has brokered the $9 m-a-movie package which will see her play a variety of high-profile roles over the next three years, before she hits her mid-30s and Hollywood's notorious age and gender bias starts to pinch. It is understood that she then plans to have more children with her husband, the actor Michael Douglas. The couple has one son, 18-month-old Dylan.

The films, said to be with a number of different studios, include a black comedy with George Clooney, a screen version of Chicago with Richard Gere, and two biopics which will see Zeta-Jones play one of her heroines, Elizabeth Taylor, and the opera diva Maria Callas. She is also said to be planning a film about a gay Welsh rugby coach, a sequel to The Mask of Zorro, and a voiceover in a cartoon version of Sinbad.

Catch 23 Entertainment on the Edge of Darkness

British director Martin Campbell ("Vertical Limit," "The Mask of Zorro," "GoldenEye") has pacted with production and management entity Catch 23 Entertainment to develop and helm a feature film remake of his critically acclaimed, prize-winning BBC miniseries "Edge of Darkness."

A taut political thriller, "Darkness" centers on Ron Craven, an Everyman cop and widower, who witnesses what first appears to be the accidental killing of his daughter, Emma. Distraught by the loss and further troubled by his conviction that the bullet was intended for him, Craven takes on the murder investigation with an obsessive zeal to see justice done.

The BBC series aired in 1985, won six BAFTA awards and was recently voted No. 15 in the British Film Institute's top 100 TV programs of the 20th century.

The remake will be the first picture to come out of Catch 23's U.K.-based development and production operation, launched this summer. Campbell will co temporize the story and relocate it to the U.S. He is meeting with writers to pen the script.

Hudson Pictures Newly Formed

Henri Kessler and Joshua Pollack have formed Hudson Pictures, with an initial commitment of $1 million from Reich Brothers.

The director-driven shingle, to be based in Gotham, has struck deals with Sean Gullette, Michael Nash and Josh Haygood to helm pictures for it. Gullette, who starred in and co-wrote "Pi," will direct "Monopolis," a sci-fi thriller. Nash, who helmed "If," will remake the low-budget pic with Hudson. Haygood has two projects in development at the shingle.

Kessler helped run Offline Entertainment. He produced Sundance Grand Jury Prize and Cannes Camera d'Or winner "Slam," directed by Marc Levin. He has produced "Whiteboys," distributed by Canal Plus and Fox Searchlight, and the Levin-helmed "Brooklyn Babylon."

Pollack had been CEO of corporate consulting firm NXT. He has also worked in the talent departments of the William Morris Agency and Creative Artists Agency. Reich Brothers is seeking additional financing for the nascent shingle.

CBS Deals For Sylvester Stallone Pilot

Sylvester Stallone and writer-director Allison Anders are casting about on drama pilots for CBS.

Stallone and Anders are executive producing separate projects that have received cast-contingent pilot pickups from the eye network. Anders' CBS project from DreamWorks TV/Greenblatt Janollari Studio is being eyed as a vehicle for Laurie Metcalf, who has a talent deal with CBS.

As pilot season kicks into high gear, NBC brass was known to have huddled late Tuesday to winnow the peacock's drama development slate to a final list of six to eight pilots, but no final decisions were made.

CBS' "Lefty," from Brad Grey TV and executive producer Stallone, revolves around a nonconformist priest who helps both homeless and rich people with their problems even as he struggles with his own. Writer Cynthia Cidre ("The Mambo Kings") penned the script based on an idea from Stallone.

The Anders project centers on a female parole officer who adopts the child of one of her parolees. The pilot was written with Metcalf in mind. Anders wills executive produce with Bob Greenblatt and David Janollari (HBO's "Six Feet Under").

CBS also has given a pilot order to Brad Grey TV's untitled Nia Vardalos/Marsh McCall comedy about Vardalos' experience as a Greek American. The project had a put pilot commitment. Stallone is repped by ICM. Cidre is repped by WMA, and Anders is repped by UTA.

Mary-Kate And Ashley Olsen Teaming With Warners On Next Feature

Teen stars Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen have made a deal with Warner Bros. to star and produce through their Dualstar Prods. an untitled feature film for the studio. The film may go into production as early as this year.

The deal reunites the twins with the same studio that distributed their previous feature film, 1995's "It Takes Two."

Last week, the twins bowed out of their ABC Family sitcom "So Little Time," produced by Dualstar Prods., after completing 26 episodes to concentrate on other ventures, including their fashion line and the feature film.

The project is being kept under wraps, though it is said to be a comedy. A producing partner is expected to be announced shortly. A year-plus-long marketing and publicity campaign for the film begins Thursday.

Warners president of worldwide productions Lorenzo di Bonaventura and vp production Jessica Goodman are overseeing the feature.

"We turned away many offers to make movies during the last few years because we wanted to wait until we turned 16 to return to the big screen," Ashley Olsen said.

Added Mary-Kate Olsen: "What a great sweet-16 present Warner Bros. is giving us."

Dualstar Entertainment Group co-founder and CEO Robert Thorne, who is producing the film with the Olsens, said, "We chose Warner Bros. over other studio suitors because they pursued us so aggressively, and they've been home to Mary-Kate and Ashley for 15 years."

The Olsens began their career at Warner Bros. Television on ABC's long-running sitcom "Full House." They also have generated millions of dollars in video sales for their "Mary-Kate and Ashley Adventures" line of home videos. More recently, Dualstar Entertainment has become a retail superstar with sales of Mary-Kate and Ashley-branded clothes, cosmetics and other merchandise sold through Wal-Mart stores.

Artisan buys John Herzfeld script Jealousy

Artisan Pictures, which is ramping up production under new CEO Bob Cooper, has acquired Jealousy, a comedy script by John Herzfeld as a project for him to direct. Herzfeld's last film was 15 Minutes for New Line Cinema starring Robert De Niro and Ed Burns and he made a splashy debut in 1996 with Two Days In The Valley.

Herzfeld will produce alongside his partner Eric Handler under there New Redemption banner and Industry Entertainment's Keith Addis and Nick Wechsler. Jealousy follows two couples as they fall victim to their own chaotic feelings of jealousy and watch their relationships unravel.

Erin Austin, Artisan Entertainment’s senior vice president, business & legal affairs represented Artisan in the negotiations for Jealousy. Herzfeld was represented by the William Morris Agency and Bloom, Hergott, Diemer & Cook. Orin Woinsky, Artisan Pictures vice president of production and development, will oversee the project at Artisan.

Chris Rock rolls in directing debut

Comedian Chris Rock will make his feature directing debut on the DreamWorks political comedy "Head of State."

Rock will also star in the project, which is set for a May start. He co-wrote the script with longtime collaborator Ali LeRoi (HBO's "The Chris Rock Show"), and sold it to the studio for undisclosed terms.

He will play an alderman plucked from his Washington, D.C., neighborhood and thrust into a presidential race as a replacement for a deceased candidate.

Since his Emmy-winning HBO series left the air, Rock's feature fortunes have risen; the Paramount-released "Down to Earth" raked in $64.2 million domestically last year.

Rock's next release will be the Joel Schumacher-directed "Bad Company," in which he co-stars with Anthony Hopkins. Disney has scheduled it for June 7.

Sundance Deal for "Love Liza"

Sony Pictures Classics has coughed up roughly $2 million for English-language and Latin America rights to Sundance Film Festival crowdpleaser "Love Liza."

The film stars Philip Seymour Hoffman and Kathy Bates in the story of one man's struggle to deal with the loss of his wife. Todd Louiso directed.

"This is a major work by a major filmmaker with two of the finest performances ever from Philip Seymour Hoffman and Kathy Bates," Michael Barker, co-president of Sony Pictures Classics, told the media.

Sundance Deal for "The Good Girl"

Fox Searchlight, an active bidder on several pictures, including "Love Liza," has closed its $4 million pact for English-speaking rights to Miguel Arteta's "The Good Girl," starring Jennifer Aniston.

The "Friends" actress plays a store clerk who longs to have a child with her husband (John C. Reilly) but has been unable to conceive. She finds a soul mate in a passionate man (Jake Gyllenhaal), but when the affair moves from liberation to poisonous obsession, the woman finds herself ensnared in a chaotic web of blackmail and love.

Fox Searchlight was also in a bidding war late Tuesday with Paramount Classics for the John Malkovich-directed "The Dancer Upstairs."

The "Good Girl" purchase marks Fox Searchlight's second pairing with director Arteta and producer Matthew Greenfield; the first was on "Star Maps," released in 1997.

Fox Searchlight president Peter Rice said: "Arteta and Greenfield's wry storytelling wit adds a unique voice to Fox Searchlight. Jennifer Aniston's remarkable performance shows yet another depth in her acting range."

Internet film piracy set to increase rapidly

The volume of film-related Internet piracy is higher than previously thought, and could rise further with the anticipated growth in take-up of broadband Internet connections.

According to Bruce Ward, technical director of Net PD, a London-based company which provides internet protection services for copyright holders, current estimates that there are over 160,000 illegal downloads of The Lord Of The Rings: The Fellowship Of The Ring per month are "low".

"It's a large problem and it's going to get much larger," Ward told the media.

The problem has been exacerbated by the demise of Napster as a free music file-sharing entity, which has helped put the spotlight on other types of content and other file-sharing programs. "From our studies, the amount of content has grown since Napster went down," said Ward.

New software from the likes of FastTrack allows users to swap large files, such as films, which can take only slightly longer to download than the film's running time. And the range of content is not limited to new releases such as The Lord Of The Rings. "It's across the board," said Bruce Ward. "You can probably find Gone With The Wind if you want."

More problematic is the market in pirate DVDs and VCDs (video compact discs), onto which internet-sourced content can be burned. According to the MPA, over 20 million pirate optical discs were seized worldwide in 2000, compared with the seizure of 4.5 million videos.

"Most DVD players will play VCDs," says Ward. "A hot topic of discussion online is how to convert content onto VCD."

The problem is still relatively limited in some markets -- such as the UK -- where broadband penetration is still relatively low. But as the cost of broadband Internet connection and installation falls, the volume of large file swapping is likely to rise.

According to the MPA, the US film industry loses over $3bn annually due to piracy.

Net PD, which has worked with games, software and music industry clients to protect their copyright content online, has been talking to studios and film bodies.