Sam Rockwell, Nicolas Cage in 'Matchstick Men' with Ridley Scott directing

Sam Rockwell is in early negotiations to star opposite Nicolas Cage in Warner Bros. Pictures' drama "Matchstick Men" with Ridley Scott directing. Production is slated to begin in the summer.

Based on the yet-to-be-published novel by Eric Garcia, "Matchstick" is described as being in the vein of "Paper Moon." It is the story of a con man (Cage) with obsessive-compulsive disorder whose orderly life is threatened by the appearance of a daughter he never knew. Rockwell would play the lead role of the con man's partner Frank Mercer.

Ted Griffin ("Ocean's Eleven") and his brother Nick Griffin adapted the project, which Warners optioned for mid-six figures two years ago. Robert Zemeckis and Jack Rapke are producing the project through their Imagemovers with Sean Bailey and Ted Griffin.

Warners executive vp production Kevin McCormick is overseeing the project.

Rockwell, repped by the Gersh Agency and manager Andy Freedman, next stars as Chuck Barris in the George Clooney-directed "Confessions of a Dangerous Mind" for Miramax Films and the Warner Bros. Pictures ensemble feature "Welcome to Collinwood." Past credits include "Heist," "Charlie's Angels," "Galaxy Quest" and "The Green Mile."

Best-Selling Live Album "Blue Collar Comedy Tour" Will Become A Feature

Jeff Foxworthy and Bill Engvall's "Blue Collar Comedy Tour" will become a feature that could be released as soon as the end of the year by Warner Bros.

Over the last two years, the "Blue Collar Comedy Tour" has grossed more than $12 million and produced a best-selling live album released last November.

The film, also featuring Larry the Cable Guy and Ron White, will present the show in its entirety, as well as behind-the-scenes sequences that focus on the individual performers. The picture will shoot this summer.

Foxworthy has sold more than 13 million units and is the author of 11 bestsellers. Engvall has sold more than 2 million albums, and his new comedy CD, "Cheap Drunk," will be released in August on Warner Bros. Records.

Larry the Cable Guy and Ron White have become two of the country's top comedy-club draws.

Mace Neufeld Has Picked Up The Spec Script "By Virtue Fall"

Producer Mace Neufeld has picked up the spec script "By Virtue Fall" from scribe Sheldon Turner.

The acquisition comes on the heels of the boxoffice success of the Neufeld-produced Paramount Pictures feature "The Sum of All Fears," starring Ben Affleck and Morgan Freeman, which opened No. 1 at the boxoffice last weekend.

"Fall" is described as a character-driven police thriller in the vein of "Training Day." The story centers on young, idealistic ATF agent Matt Vinette, who is framed for a crime he did not commit. Meanwhile, his partner, corrupt cop Danny Sloane, is racked with guilt that he let Matt take the fall.

Sent to prison and thoroughly disillusioned, Matt is quickly forced to shed his idealism in order to survive and becomes the most feared man in prison. When he wins an early release, he emerges from prison bent on exacting revenge on his former partner.

"Fall" was brought to Mace Neufeld Prods. by the company's director of development, Steven Rubenstein, who will oversee development with Neufeld vp Kel Symons.

"This project is such an actor's piece; it is perfect for two young male stars," Symons said. "We look forward to developing it further with Sheldon, whom we feel is a fantastic writer."

Turner, repped by Endeavor and Benderspink, most recently sold the pitch "52 Blocks" to Columbia Pictures. He also adapted the novel "The Booster" for Intermedia Films-based Mark Johnson, among other projects.

Neufeld has several projects in development, including Paramount's "Asylum" and Columbia's "Tell No One," "The Lions Game," "Plum Island" and "The Man Who Could Work Miracles."

Sam Neill's, Perfect Strangers

Actor Sam Neill will be putting more effort than usual into his next film role - as well as starring in Gaylene Preston's romantic thriller "Perfect Strangers", Neill is also an investor through his Huntaway Productions

Neill's partners in Huntaway - the New Zealand production company that he set up in 2000 - are Australian-based comedian John Clarke and New Zealand-based lawyer Jay Cassells, who gets an associate producer credit on the film alongside producers Preston and Robin Laing.

Perfect Strangers starts principal photography on the South Island on June 27 with Rachael Blake co-starring. She won last year's Australian Film Institute Award for best supporting actress in her role as the other woman in the Australian hit Lantana.

Director of Photography is Alun Bollinger, who shot Peter Jackson's "Heavenly Creatures" and production design is by Joe Bleakley, the off-set art director on Jackson's The Lord Of The Rings.

Perfect Strangers is the second feature film, after Whale Rider, to be supported by the New Zealand Film Production Fund, established two years ago to support ambitious films by established filmmakers. Other investors include the New Zealand Film Commission, which will handle international sales, New Zealand On Air, Television New Zealand, and Gaylene Preston Productions, which is producing the film in association with Huntaway.

Cassells said Huntaway has five projects in advanced development. About Gaylene Preston, Winner of international awards for her documentaries and feature films, "War Stories Our Mother Never Told Us" and "Mr. Wrong," Gaylene Preston takes on new challenges with every endeavor. She talks to Holly about her never-easy-but-never-dull film career.

Screenwriter rejects $1m film rights

The Oscar-nominated scriptwriter and author William Nicholson has turned down $1m for the film rights of his best-selling Wind Singer children's trilogy because he wants them to remain in people's imaginations.

Nicholson disclosed his stand in a talk to children at the Guardian Hay festival. "The minute a film is made, a book dwindles away and becomes nothing," he said. "I want it to be a book that people can make the movie in their heads."

Nicholson, who was nominated for scripting the film Shadowlands and co-scripting Gladiators, told the Guardian his ban on films would last five years.

The trilogy, set in the insanely ruled world of Aramanth, is Nicholson's first published work. It is about a world where people's lives are dominated by how well they do in exams.

Angela Bassett Joins All Star Cast In 'Masked& Anonymous'

Angela Bassett has been added to the cast of Intermedia Films' Bob Dylan-toplined project "Masked & Anonymous."

The film, which marks the big-screen directorial debut of television writer-director-producer Larry Charles, will go into production in July in Los Angeles.

Written by Rene Fontaine and Sergy Petrov, "Masked" is based on the unpublished short story "Los Vientos del Destino," written by Enrique Morales. It follows the story of Jack Fate (Dylan), a wandering troubadour brought out of prison by his former manager for one last concert, a charity benefit. Bassett would play Mistress, who has a past with Fate.

The cast also includes Jessica Lange, Luke Wilson, Penelope Cruz and Jeff Bridges.

"Masked" will be produced by Destiny Prods. and Intermedia co-chairman Nigel Sinclair. Guy East and Moritz Borman, also co-chairmen of Intermedia, will serve as executive producers on the film.

Bassett, repped by CAA, most recently starred in the CBS telefilm "The Rosa Parks Story" and the feature films "Sunshine State" and "The Score."

Industry; Shake-up for ailing Film Four

Film Four, the troubled film production business set up to recreate Channel 4's distinctive ethos on the big screen, is to be significantly scaled back after a series of disastrous investments.

Losses of more than $7,5m last year have prompted Channel 4's new chief executive, Mark Thompson, to order a shake-up at the film division in an attempt to protect the main television channel.

Some broadcasting sources said one option under consideration was to merge Film Four with Channel 4's television drama department - in effect, closing it down. Others say Mr Thompson would balk at such radical action.

At the very least, Film Four is likely to be refocused. Instead of sinking millions into risky big-budget ventures such as Charlotte Gray and Lucky Break, its biggest financial failures last year, it would concentrate on making productions for Channel 4.

The future of the current management at Film Four, under chief executive Paul Webster, is in doubt. Film Four has not had a box office hit since East is East three years ago.

At least two senior drama industry figures have received tentative approaches about whether they would be interested in overseeing the business. It is not known how any new appointment would affect Mr Webster's position.

Channel 4 and its associated businesses lost £28m last year, the biggest shortfall in 10 years. Mr Thompson has said that any peripheral investments should not jeopardise the main television channel.

Because Film Four's shortfall accounts for almost a fifth of Channel 4's total losses, it is first in the firing line. Big changes at Film Four would also put a question mark over the future of Channel 4's separate loss-making subscription film channel, which shares the Film Four name.

Mr Webster confirmed that changes were being planned. "We are talking about creating a stream of made-for-TV films. There is a certain audience for film and TV drama not served by either sector at the moment. Films like those the BBC programmed as part of Screen 1 and 2 used to appear regularly on TV.

"Many films do not have much of a chance on the big screen, a lot of pressure is put on them when they would be better served as a piece of Channel 4 drama."

Mr Webster said it would be an "augmentation of what we already do", but Channel 4 insiders confirmed that the broadcaster was looking to scale back Film Four, not expand it.

The new strategy marks a return to the original aim of Film Four's predecessor, Film on Four, set up principally to make original productions for the television channel.

Film on Four went on to make modest investments in big-screen co-productions, achieving notable successes with Paris, Texas and My Beautiful Laundrette.

Under Channel 4's last chief executive, Michael Jackson, the film division was relaunched as Film Four with a bigger budget and a more ambitious brief.

But senior figures in the British film industry have come to regard Film Four as a hindrance rather than a help, believing it has got out of its depth. Some directors have been questioning their relationship with it, while independent cinemas report frustration at its marketing.

The expensive campaign for Lucky Break was ridiculed for making the film look like a slapstick comedy instead of an intelligent satire, and there were problems finding a US distributor for Charlotte Gray, which has now secured only a limited release.

Legal; Woody Allen's Lawyer Takes Aim At Accounting Gaps, Fees

Alleged accounting discrepancies took center stage Thursday in the ongoing civil trial in New York Supreme Court in which director Woody Allen is suing his former backers Jean Doumanian and Jacqui Safra.

Setting aside the question of whether the eight films Allen made or appeared in for Doumanian's and Safra's Sweetland Prods. were cross-collateralized, which is the central issue in the case, Allen's lawyer, Michael Zweig, instead introduced a number of accounting documents provided by Sweetland to Allen's Moses Prods.

Zweig questioned Safra about a $950,000 sales agent's fee received by Doumanian for the sale of "Small Time Crooks" that was not reported to Moses. And he raised questions about completion bond fees charged against a number of the productions. No completion bond guarantors had been involved, and Sweetland itself had self-insured the pictures.

Safra admitted that no one had ever written a check for a completion bond.

Earlier, Allen testified that he was drawn to making films with Sweetland because, among other things, Safra and Doumanian had promised not to charge for nonexistent expenses. Throughout the day, however, Zweig raised the possibility that Sweetland had been charged for such expenses.

According to Zweig, Moses was charged for trips stretching back to 1993 that Doumanian made on Safra's private jet. Safra claimed that he was unaware of that.

Allen's co-producer/production manager Helen Robin, who left the set of the current Woody Allen production to appear in court, testified that while working for Doumanian on Allen's films, she had refused to pay a total of nearly $540,000 in expenses that had been added to the budgets of a collection of films after she had closed the books on them.

"I refused to pay them," Robin said, "because I determined that none of (the added expenses) had anything to do with the films."

Robin's appearance followed the reading of large parts of a deposition given by Louise Schuttevaer, the managing director of Sweetland, based in Amsterdam, detailing the relationships between the various companies controlled by Doumanian and Safra.

According to Schuttevaer's deposition, Blanvale Investments, based in the British Virgin Islands, holds the copyright to all of the films. All proceeds paid to Sweetland are transferred immediately by Schuttevaer to Blanvale.

Sweetland Prods., which is owned by Sweetland Films Holding BV, acted only as Blanvale's agent, according to Schuttevaer.

Doumanian's Magnolia Prods., which ultimately sold the films to U.S. distributors, was formed in the United States in order to purchase films outright from Sweetland, which, being a foreign-based company, would have been taxed heavily on revenue collected in the United States. Plaintiffs plan to wrap up their case either late today or early Monday.

Video/DVD; "E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial" Will Be Available On DVD For Only A 10-Week Period.

Steven Spielberg's "E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial" makes its DVD debut Oct. 22, Universal Studios announced Thursday. The film will be available on DVD and a new VHS release for only a 10-week period.

After that, the film will be placed on indefinite moratorium, a tactic the Walt Disney Co. has used to build anticipation over the years for its classic cartoon features.

The VHS release and a two-disc DVD set will feature a 20th anniversary version of the film released in theaters this year. That version added several scenes, enhanced some of the visual effects and made other changes to the original cut of the film.

A collector's DVD boxed set will include both versions of the film, plus a CD soundtrack, the film's script and other extras.

DVD bonus material will include recollections about the film from Spielberg; a segment on composer John Williams; material on casting, script development and other background; and a reunion with Spielberg and co-stars including Henry Thomas, Drew Barrymore and Dee Wallace Stone.

International; India growing market for Hollywood

While Spider-man weaves his way on in Indian box office, 'netting' over Rs 8 crores in first week, it shows Hollywood films have finally 'arrived', with new slick marketing tactics, decades after the studios set up shop here.

Four big Hollywood studios - Warner Brothers, Columbia Tristar, Paramount and 20th Century Fox - now engage in India-specific ad spurts, cross-promotions, merchandising, brand-building, media launches, dubbing to break language barriers as also releasing seperate genres in differnt states as "culture varies here every 50 kms."

Their experience reveal that films which have not done well at home sometimes become big grossers in India, because of the themes' appeal to the Indian tastes.

Spidey, the Marvel Comics character from childhood, has also lead the way in a spurt of cross-brand promotions as well as pre-release and post-release merchandising.

"We have gone on a massive integrated marketing and communication campaign to re-establish the superhero's brand equity and created a "Must see" factor which was translated into a huge business opportunity," says Uday Singh, Managing Director of Columbia Tristar Films of India.

"Dubbing it in Hindi, Tamil and Telugu meant that people across India could participate in the 'ultimate spin'," he quips.

Spiderman had the fastest release, less than a month after US. "Mind you, the UK release is still away, and Star Wars- Attack of the Clones will be released in India this month, one month ahead of Japan, says Vivek Behl, marketing Manager of PVR cinemas, the largest multiplex chain in the capital.

Almost simultaneous release means we are able to cash in on the international hype and news surrounding the films, he adds.

Spiderman had 224 prints and 250 screens across India. But since it has crossed $200 mn mark in US, one wonders as to how big the Indian market is for Hollywood which counts its earnings in trillions.

At around two per cent and nearly Rs 300 crore, Indian market may not be big now in Hollywood terms, but it is going up to between 5-7 per cent, which means at over 100 per cent per year, claims Raj Mallik, North India manager of Warner Brothers India, whose Ocean's 11, Lord of the Rings and Harry Potter were huge hits in India.

A Columbia Tristar distributor says the box office percentage of Hollywood films in India may be around 10 per cent. But the Asian market has grown from 9th position to 6th recently, he adds.

"Frankly," says Mallik, "a whole lot of Bollywood films are re-makes of, or inspired by Hollywood. Naturally people want to see the original."

The genres that sell in different part of the country also differ. "We had released the film 'Evolution' in the South. Though it was a film about an alien, we gave it a touch of the animal-story in the promos," says Utpal Acharya, North India head of Operations, Columbia Tristar.

"While it bombed in north, 80 per cent of the Indian revenues came from Tamil Nadu and Andhra alone, as people in the south seem to love animal-oriented films," he says. That was a repeat of record-breaking performance by Godzilla and Anaconda- which did huge business in Tamilnadu, Maharashtra and Uttar Pradesh despite being big duds in Hollywood.

Similarly, martial arts films, especially those of Jet Lee and Jackie Chan seem to work better in Punjab and the south than in the rest of the country.

Rush Hour II, starring Jakie Chan and Chris Tucker was a huge hit in the south while it was a washout in Mumbai, informs an industry insider. "The packaging of the trailors have changed over time. In the theatres, we give them such a look that people will understand the storyline. That is important, to cross the language barrier, says Behl.

What lead to the renewed enthusiasm for Hollywood, even as Hindi moviedom is yet to score a solid hit this year?

"Availability of quality cinema halls in the metros increased comfort levels and greater audience expectations have led to growing demand for Hollywood films," observes Mallik. In a global village, the barriers of time and language are being broken, says Behl, referring to the fastest ever releases and the numerous dubbings that come up.

Also, the choice is more and the stars are often remembered. "Hollywood is being exposed lot more in the media than earlier, with dedicated TV programmes and ad spurts, says Acharya. "Among the niche audience, Julia Roberts, Tom Cruise, Mel Gibson are familiar, while for the mass audience, Arnold and Stallone are household names," says Acharya.

At the end of both Beautiful Mind and Spider-man, to my surprise, people here stood up and clapped, says Behl. And since Arnold is a known face in India, people would go for Collateral Damage just to see him, hopes Mallik. Also, the class and mass audience have mingled at a general level, thanks to the exposure to cable TV, says Mallik.

"Similarly the distribution models have changed. The stress is now on generating lot of noise, intense marketing, building up media concepts, tie-ups with corporates thus giving films great recall value," he adds. On an average, the business-publicity proportion is 1:4, he says, though it varies from film to film.

Distributors say that in the Indian context, though special effects works, what matters more is the right blend of techniques and storytelling.

The current trend, they say, stated in 1992 with the huge success of Paramount's Jurassic Park, both in original and in dubbed versions. Films like Speed, Lost World, Matrix, Deep Blue Sea, Mission Impossible followed suit.

Ocean's Eleven grossed around Rs 2.5 crores, Lord of the Rings' Rs 3 crores and Harry Potter Rs 4 Crores. But going by these returns, the trend only seems to have begun.