• Reese Witherspoon Get Paid $8 million To Play Tennis.
• Dave Eggers' A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius
• New Line Uses Cars In A Way They Have Never Been Used Before
• MDP Worldwide Has Acquired Multilayered Drama
• DreamWorks paid close to seven figures for Matt Helm
• DreamWorks Surviving Christmas with Ben Affleck
• Jonny Lee Miller steps into 'Mindhunters' at Dimension Films
• Nappily Ever After, Halle Berry
• Universal Pictures Is Seeking A Temporary Restraining Order Against MGM
• Complete list of BAFTA film nominees
• SAG, Federal Case Of The Guild's National Election Battle.
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  • Monday Jan 28

Reese Witherspoon Get Paid $8 million To Play Tennis.

Reese Witherspoon will be paid a career-best $8 million to star in a drama set in the world of professional women's tennis.

While the picture doesn't yet have a title or director, producer Intermedia Films is gunning to start production by early May.

Witherspoon would play a former phenom whose intensity led her to lose her composure at the U.S. Open. At age 24 she is considered washed up, and is working as the resident pro at a tennis club teaching rich people to swing a racquet. She then becomes aligned with an Anna Kournikova-type athlete who has beauty and endorsements, but doesn't have the intensity to win major tournaments.

Witherspoon's ascension in the salary ranks has been swift since she starred in the summer hit ``Legally Blonde,'' and moved from $1 million per film to a $5 million payday for Disney's ``Sweet Home Alabama,'' which is scheduled for a fall release.

Witherspoon is also producing with Marc Platt the sequel to ``Legally Blonde,'' though she hasn't yet committed to reprising her role. Along with husband Ryan Phillippe, she is also set to star in and produce ``The Flying Smiths,'' which is also out to directors.

Dave Eggers' A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius

Prolific producer Scott Rudin, currently in theaters with ``Orange County,'' will team with New Line Cinema and Dave Eggers to produce Eggers' best-selling memoir, ``A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius.''

While formal negotiations have not yet begun, New Line and Rudin ended a videoconference meeting on Friday with intentions to negotiate a deal. New Line hopes to put the project into production next year.

Eggers became an orphan and solo parent almost overnight, when his parents died within months of each other, leaving him to raise his younger brother. New Line acquired the book's film rights for a staggering $2 million just over a year ago.

Although it's possible that New Line could partner with sister company Warner Bros. Pictures or Rudin's home base of Paramount Pictures to co-finance the film, New Line hopes to keep ``Genius'' at a budget that would allow it to handle the project solo.

``Rudin is fantastic with the adaptations of challenging books,'' New Line production president Toby Emmerich told Daily Variety. Rudin produced the 1999 feature adaptation of Frank McCourt's Pulitzer Prize-winning memoir ``Angela's Ashes.''

The next step is to hire a screenwriter. Reps for New Line met with Rudin and established a mutually agreed upon list of potential writers to undertake the adaptation.

New Line Uses Cars In A Way They Have Never Been Used Before

Promising a film that "uses cars in a way they have never been used before," New Line chief Toby Emmerich has greenlit "Highwaymen," with Robert Harmon ("Gotti") set to direct.

Described by Emmerich as a cross between "The Fast and the Furious" and "Jeepers Creepers," "Highwaymen" explores the dark underbelly of the mythical road movie. The script, penned by Hans Bauer ("Anaconda") and Craig Mitchell, will be fast-tracked into production, with a summer start expected.

"Highwaymen" follows a dehumanized villain who uses a car as an expression of his rage against the world and the obsessed hero who chases him down. An innocent woman gets caught in the cat-and-mouse game as the men chase each other on the open road in 1970s muscle cars.

"Cars have become such prominent icons of the American landscape, much in the same way horses were to Westerns," Emmerich said. "We thought this script was scary and fun, and Harmon has a very interesting grasp of the material."

"Highwaymen" was brought to New Line production exec Lynn Harris by Millennium Films' Avi Lerner and Brad Jenkel, who will produce with Mike Marcus and Carol Kemp -- the duo who initially brought the project to Millennium. It will be executive produced by Lerner and Trevor Short and overseen at New Line by Harris and Emmerich. For genre film veterans Millennium, "Highwaymen" marks an ambitious shift in focus.

"This is exactly the business that we want to get into -- doing more mainstream films," Jenkel said. "We talked to a number of distributors about this project, but Lynn's enthusiasm and the studio's proven track record made New Line an easy choice."

MDP Worldwide Has Acquired Multilayered Drama

Indie production/distribution company MDP Worldwide has acquired the screenplay ``Havoc'' by Oscar winner Stephen Gaghan (``Traffic'').

In the vein of ``Traffic,'' ``Havoc'' is a multilayered drama about a gang of wealthy L.A. teens confronted with the real-life gangster lifestyle they have long tried to emulate when they encounter a drug-dealing Latino gang.

Gaghan penned the script based on the screenplay by then-high school student Jessica Kaplan.

MDP is seeking a director for ``Havoc.'' The company most recently handled ``The Musketeer,'' directed by Peter Hyams, which was released Stateside by Universal Pictures last year.

DreamWorks paid close to seven figures for Matt Helm

DreamWorks has optioned a series of 27 novels by Donald Hamilton about debonair spy Matt Helm.

Australian director Robert Luketic, whose debut feature ``Legally Blonde'' became a sleeper hit last summer, is attached to the project. DreamWorks paid close to seven figures for the series, beating other suitors, including Paramount.

Several Matt Helm books were adapted for the bigscreen in the 1960s as vehicles for Dean Martin. Those involved with the new incarnation say it will differ from the Martin pics, which were kitschy, proto-''Austin Powers'' spy spoofs. In fact, the Austin Powers pictures contain several direct references to Martin's portrayal of Helm.  TV series ``Matt Helm'' had a three-month run on ABC in 1975.

Hamilton, 85, was born in Sweden to an aristocratic family. He emigrated to the U.S. as a child and spent much of his life here, but now lives in Spain, where he and his family restore boats. The Helm books were published as pulpy paperbacks from 1960 to 1993

DreamWorks Surviving Christmas with Ben Affleck

DreamWorks Pictures is in discussions to acquire the comedy "Surviving Christmas" in turnaround from Sony with Ben Affleck attached to star. The project had been set up at Sony through Betty Thomas and Jenno Topping's Tall Trees Prods., who will stay on to produce.

In "Christmas," Affleck would star as a man faced with spending the Christmas holiday by himself. In order to steer clear of a lonely holiday, he goes back to his childhood home and persuades the family that now lives there to take him in. DreamWorks' Adam Goodman will oversee for the studio.

Harry Elfont and Deborah Kaplan scripted the original draft, with a rewrite by Josh Sternin and Jeff Ventimilia. Thomas and Topping had developed the project with Columbia Pictures executive vp Matt Tolmach and were gearing to start production on "Christmas" last fall.

It's unclear how soon the project will go into production at DreamWorks. First up on Affleck's plate, the actor will star in the title role of 20th Century Fox/Regency Enterprises' "Daredevil."

Jonny Lee Miller steps into 'Mindhunters' at Dimension Films

English actor Jonny Lee Miller has joined Dimension Films' "Mindhunters" for director Renny Harlin and Intermedia Films. The movie begins shooting this week in the Netherlands.

Miller replaces Gerard Butler, who had to drop out of the project because of scheduling conflicts with Paramount Pictures' "Timeline," which Richard Donner is directing.

Butler and Miller starred together in Dimension Films' "Dracula 2000."

"Mindhunters" is about members of the FBI's psychological profiling division who are training seven new recruits -- among them Miller -- on a remote island to track serial killers. The trainees must put theory into practice when it emerges that a killer is among them. Christian Slater, Kathryn Morris, Patricia Velazquez, LL Cool J and Val Kilmer also star.

Outlaw Prods. principals Bobby Newmyer, Jeff Silver and Scott Strauss are producing with Cary Brokaw's Avenue Pictures, Akiva Goldsman and Harlin's producing partner, Rebecca Spikings.

Miller, repped by IFA Talent Agency and Markham & Froggatt Ltd., also has starred in such films as "Mansfield Park," "Trainspotting" and "Hackers."

Nappily Ever After, Halle Berry

Universal Pictures will turn the Trisha Thomas novel ``Nappily Ever After'' into a star vehicle for Halle Berry, currently winning kudos for her turn in ''Monster's Ball.''

The novel is a blueprint for a film in the vein of female-driven pictures like ``Bridget Jones's Diary'' and ``Waiting to Exhale.'' Berry will play Venus Johnson, a beauty who tires of waiting for her dream man to take her to the altar. They break up, but her resolve is tested when he falls for another woman.

Book Description: What happens when you toss tradition out the window and really start living for yourself? Venus Johnston has a great job, a beautiful home, and a loving live-in boyfriend named Clint, who happens to be a drop-dead gorgeous doctor. She has a weekly beauty-parlor date with Tina, who keeps Venus's long, processed hair slick and straight. Ever since childhood, the tedious hours in the salon and the harsh, burning chemicals have grated on Venus, and increasingly she dreams of cutting off her beautiful "good" hair. When her boyfriend keeps balking at commitment, and the thought of another hour at the salon is just too much, Venus decides to give it up -- all of it. She trades in the long hair for a dramatically short, natural cut and sends Clint packing. It's a bold declaration of independence -- and one that has effects she never could have imagined. Reactions from friends and coworkers range from concern to contempt to outright condemnation. When Clint moves on and starts dating a voluptuous, long-haired beauty, Venus is forced to question what she really wants out of life. With wit, resilience, and a lot of determination, she finally learns what true happiness is . . . on her own terms.

In the bestselling style of Eric Jerome Dickey, Bebe Moore Campbell, and Terry McMillan, Nappily Ever After captures the hopes, dreams, and conflicts of the contemporary African-American woman. It's a delicious story told with style, savvy, and humor -- a novel that marks the debut of a fresh new voice in fiction.

About the Author Trisha R. Thomas was born in San Diego and now lives in the beautiful Northwest, happily ever after, with her husband and two children. She is working on her second novel.

Marc Platt will produce the project with Berry and her manager, Vincent Cirrincione, and Angela DeJoseph. A writer will quickly be put on the book, with the hopes that it might be ready once Berry is available.

After winning the National Board of Review and being nominated for the Golden Globes and AFI for her ``Monster's Ball'' performance, Berry will leave Thursday for London to play the femme fatale opposite Pierce Brosnan in the 20th installment of the James Bond franchise being directed by Lee Tamahori for MGM. Once she wraps that film, she moves directly to reprising her role as Storm in the ``X-Men'' sequel that Fox is prepping with director Bryan Singer.

``Nappily Ever After'' marks the second significant talent attachment that Platt has gotten on a book deal. Platt last year optioned ``Ghost Soldiers,'' the Hampton Sides book about the daring rescue of POWs in the Philippines in WWII. After getting a draft by Josh Friedman, the pic has Steven Spielberg interested in directing and Tom Cruise interesting in starring.

Universal Pictures Is Seeking A Temporary Restraining Order Against MGM

Universal Pictures is seeking a temporary restraining order to prevent MGM from claiming in its advertising that its upcoming action feature "Rollerball" comes from one of the creators of "The Fast and the Furious," a Universal property.

Although screenwriter John Pogue worked on both films -- he was an uncredited writer and executive producer on "Furious" and is a co-screenwriter of "Rollerball" -- Universal has objected to MGM's using that connection in its advertising for "Rollerball," which has carried the line "From the Filmmakers That Brought You 'The Fast and the Furious' and 'Die Hard.' " (The second half of the ad line refers to John McTiernan, who directed both "Die Hard" and "Rollerball.")

Universal filed a motion in federal court Monday before U.S. District Judge Howard Matz accusing MGM of false advertising, unfair competition and trademark dilution, arguing that an association with "Rollerball" would tarnish the "Furious" franchise that Universal has built.

In its defense, MGM is arguing that it has a legal right to refer to Pogue as a "Furious" filmmaker because Universal identified him as one of the filmmakers behind the film in both its press kits and its Web site for the movie.

Universal is expected to counter that such publicity kits, intended for the media and not the general public, designate most of the behind-the-camera personnel on a film as filmmakers, but it is misleading to suggest that just because Pogue is identified as one of the filmmakers on "Furious" that he is one of the principal filmmakers responsible for the movie that proved a major and unexpected hit for Universal in the summer.

As the dispute came to a head last week, MGM did offer to change its ads so that they identified "Rollerball" as coming from "an executive producer" of "Furious," but Universal rejected the offer.

A Universal insider confirmed that fact, but explained, "An ad describing John Pogue as an executive producer of 'The Fast and the Furious' would mislead the public to believe he contributed significantly to the creative process of the film when in reality he rewrote some of the dialogue and didn't contribute significantly at all."

Although both studios have been loathe to go on record about the dispute, the MGM forces are spreading the word that Universal is making an issue of the "Rollerball" advertising only because it has a movie, "Big Fat Liar," starring Frankie Muniz, opening against "Rollerball" on Feb. 8. "It looks like their movie will be a big, fat bomb, and so they are trying to diminish our movie," one MGM source said.

Responded a Universal source: "That's ridiculous. It's ironic that MGM is going to great lengths to protect their brand against New Line but that they are trying to stop us from protecting our brand."

MGM is simultaneously involved in a dispute with New Line Cinema over New Line's attempt to title its third Austin Powers movie "Austin Powers in Goldmember," arguing that New Line failed to follow the MPAA's rules to obtain a title clearance for the "Goldmember" moniker, which parodies the James Bond title "Goldfinger." Matz has yet to rule on Universal's motion.