Nicolas Cage, Neil Labute Teaming For The Wicker Man

Nicolas Cage is teaming with filmmaker Neil LaBute on a modern-day remake of the 1973 British cult thriller "The Wicker Man" for Universal Pictures and StudioCanal.

LaBute will write and direct the project, with Cage starring and producing though his Saturn Films. Saturn's Norm Golightly also is producing with Joanne Sellar ("The Anniversary Party").

"Wicker," originally released in the United States by National General Films and in the United Kingdom by British Lion, is now part of the Canal Plus film library. Written by Anthony Shaffer and directed by Robin Hardy, the 1973 film stars Edward Woodward as a Scottish policeman investigating the disappearance of a little girl. The policeman travels to a remote island where he is shocked to discover a colony of modern-day pagans. LaBute's adaptation will be set in present-day America.

"I have been passionate about the original for years," Sellar said. "I couldn't be happier about working with Neil. He has the ideal sensibility for this project."

Saturn is no stranger to horror projects, having produced last year's indie feature "Shadow of the Vampire." Golightly said, "Neil is the perfect filmmaker to bring this haunting and revered cult classic to the modern screen."

"Wicker" reteams Saturn with Universal, who worked together on the upcoming Alan Parker-directed feature "The Life of David Gale." Cage also has starred in such recent Universal features as "Captain Corelli's Mandolin" and "The Family Man."

Sellar previously produced the Paul Thomas Anderson features "Boogie Nights" and "Magnolia" as well as his upcoming feature, tentatively titled "Punchdrunk Knuckle Love."

Saturn next produces the indie feature "Sonny," which marks Cage's directorial debut.

'Area 52' lands at Casey Silver

Casey Silver Prods. has dipped into its discretionary fund to option the Brian Haberlin-created comic book series "Area 52" and has tapped screenwriters Damian Shannon and Mark Swift to adapt. Sources said the option deal is six figures against seven figures, which includes bonuses.

"Area 52," a four-issue series published in 2001, is about a top-secret warehouse in Antarctica known as Area 52, used by the government as a storage dump for otherworldly discoveries after it has probed, poked, prodded and cataloged them.

The base is staffed by a ragtag group of misfits who have nothing to do until a mislabeled storage box from the 1947 Roswell crash turns out not to be the spent fuel pod as cataloged all those years ago. When it hatches and gives rise to an alien killing machine, the base staff, driven by fear and stupidity, band together to save themselves and the world.

Casey Silver is producing the project, with Haberlin executive producing. Casey Silver's production vp Paul Brehme is overseeing.

Shannon and Swift are repped by the Broder Kurland Webb Uffner Agency, Zide-Perry Entertainment and Colden McKuin Frankel. They most recently made a deal to adapt the video game "State of Emergency" at New Line Cinema after having written the studio's "Freddy vs. Jason."

Haberlin, repped by Jim Strader of AniManagement, co-created the comic book title "Witchblade," which is now a TNT series. Haberlin also created such comics as "Aria," "Stone," "The Wicked," "Jinn" and "Hellcop" among others.

Cold Mountain For Jude Law, Nicole Kidman, Renee Zellweger

Jude Law and Oscar-nominated actresses Nicole Kidman and Renee Zellweger are the leading candidates to round out the ensemble cast of "Cold Mountain," a Civil War drama based on Charles Frazier's best-selling and National Book Award-winning novel.

Writer-director Anthony Minghella has been huddled in casting sessions for the last two weeks, with producers saying their priority is casting the role of Inman, a wounded soldier whose Ulysses-like journey home after the war is the main thread of the novel.

Law is in talks for the Inman role after negotiations with Kidman's ex, Tom Cruise, went south earlier this year. The Miramax picture is still moving toward a July start date with shooting in Europe and the American South.

Kidman, currently Oscar-nominated for her role in "Moulin Rouge" would take the role of Ada, the minister's daughter Inman left behind when he enlisted as a Confederate soldier.

Zellweger, also Oscar-nominated for her performance in Miramax's "Bridget Jones Diary" could play Ruby, the drifter who becomes Ada's companion and hard-scrabble partner in eking a living the soil. Miramax declined comment.

Ashton Kutcher and Amy Smart In The Butterfly Effect

Ashton Kutcher and Amy Smart are set to topline the New Line Cinema psychological thriller "The Butterfly Effect."

A joint production of Bender/Spink and FilmEngine's A.J. Dix and Anthony Rhulen, the project will be written and directed by the writer-director team of Jay Mackye Gruver and Eric Bress, the writing duo behind New Line's upcoming "Final Destination 2."

"Butterfly" centers on a young man whose struggles to access memories of a painful childhood lead him to a shocking discovery. The man hits upon a technique that allows him to travel back into the past, occupy his childhood body and change history. But every time he effects the change, he returns to find his efforts have unexpected and chilling consequences.

In addition to starring, Kutcher will executive produce along with Jason Goldberg and William Shively.

New Line executive vp production Richard Brener and creative executive Cale Boyter will oversee for the studio.  Kutcher and Smart are repped by Endeavor.

Le Divorce have begun production

 Director James Ivory and producer Ismail Merchant have begun production on Le Divorce, a contemporary social comedy about two American sisters in Paris, which is being fully financed by Fox Searchlight Pictures.

Playing the two sisters are Kate Hudson and Naomi Watts and the cast also includes Glenn Close, Stockard Channing, Sam Waterston, Bebe Neuwirth, Leslie Caron, Romain Duris, Melvil Poupaud, Jean-Marc Barr and Lambert Wilson.

The film is about one sister leaping into an affair with the married uncle of her sister’s soon to be ex-husband. Set for release in 2003, the film is scheduled to shoot until June 1.Ivory wrote the script from Diane Johnson’s novel with his longtime collaborator Ruth Prawer Jhabvala. Merchant is producing with Michael Schiffer. Ted Field, Erica Higgins and Scott Kroopf of Radar Pictures are executive producing, while Claudia Lewis, executive vice president of production for Searchlight, is overseeing the production for Fox.

Universal Is Folding Its Fledgling Arthouse Division Focus

Universal Pictures is folding its fledgling arthouse division, Universal Focus, which released such pictures as "Billy Elliot" and Oscar-nominated director David Lynch's "Mulholland Dr." The move is part of Universal's efforts to consolidate its specialty divisions after its Vivendi Universal parent merges with Barry Diller's USA Networks, the owner of USA Films.

The deal, which has yet to close, would put Universal in possession of overlapping specialty film divisions USA Films, Universal Focus and French producer StudioCanal.

Universal Focus, which had about five employees, was created in June 2000 to market and distribute niche titles. Its first release was "Billy Elliot" a low-budget British drama that grossed $22 million domestically.

In addition to "Mulholland Dr.," Universal Focus had recent success with the French-language picture "The Brotherhood of the Wolf." Its most recent film, the Andie MacDowell drama "Harrison's Flowers," opened with little fanfare last weekend.

Mark Kristol and Claudia Gray, the two executive VPs who ran Universal Focus, are expected to exit within the next month.

Artisan Ventures With FHE Into Family Films with 'VeggieTales'

Independent film company Artisan Entertainment Inc. on Wednesday said it is launching a new division to distribute family films starting with the first full-length movie based on the popular VeggieTale videos.

Artisan's move follows recent success it has had with family-oriented videos. Its partnership with Mattel Inc. yielded a popular "Barbie in the Nutcracker" video in 2001, and the companies have "Barbie as Rapunzel" next fall.

The VeggieTales movie, called "Jonah -- A VeggieTales Movie" will be a computer animated feature film scheduled to be shown in theaters in fall 2002.

With "Jonah," Artisan is launching a new division called Family Home Entertainment, or FHE, Pictures that will distribute films aimed at families and kids.

FHE Pictures President Glenn Ross called "Jonah" "a great foundation from which to launch our family" film efforts."

The movie will retell the biblical tale of Jonah and the whale using VeggieTale characters Bob the Tomato, Larry the Cucumber and several new animated characters and songs.

VeggieTales are the product of Big Idea Productions, which is known for Bible-based stories, and the company's videos, songs and other products generally are designed to help parents teach kids about life. Big Idea has sold more than 25 million videos and nearly three million albums since 1993,

"We ... combine Artisan's theatrical marketing expertise with Big Idea's existing promotional relationships and excellence in grass roots marketing to bring this film to a wide audience," said Big Idea President Terry Botwick.

Artisan, which is perhaps best known as the distributor of 1999 hit indie film "The Blair Witch Project," has in recent years developed a strong name for itself with family-targeted videos, capturing market share from major movie studios.

Macquarie And Nine Launch Unique Film And Television Fund.

Nine Network Australia and the Macquarie Bank Group today announced an unlisted managed investment fund offering investors an opportunity to invest directly into a portfolio of Australian film and television productions.

The Macquarie Nine Film and Television Investment Fund seeks to raise a maximum of $62.5 million, with a minimum of $20 million. The minimum investment to participate in the fund is $5,275, and it intends to capitalize on the growth of filmed entertainment, where global box office has grown at an average of 6.2% per annum from 1995 to 2000.

In 2000-2001 total expenditure on film and television production in Australia increased by 6% to $608 million and Australia now represents the world’s 7^th biggest market for cinema attendances.

The Motion Picture Distributors Association of Australia, recently announced final cinema-going results for 2001 – a box office gross of $812 million and admissions of 92.25 million people, representing a 17.8% increase from 2000.

The fund is supported by Nine Films & Television Pty Limited, a subsidiary of the Nine Network, which is offering a unique guaranteed minimum income to investors equal to 50% of their subscription amount. In Australia and New Zealand, Hoyts will distribute the films and the Nine Network will broadcast the projects.

The Executive Chairman of Publishing and Broadcasting Limited Mr. James Packer, said:

“We are delighted to be part of this fund and to have the opportunity to further expand our interest into feature films. The continued success of Australians in the entertainment industry overseas and the unique position of the local industry to deliver comparatively high production values at an efficient cost represent a significant opportunity for the right domestic investment structure.

“We believe this fund provides that right investment structure and I hope investors will share our enthusiasm for the offer.”

Macquarie is offering the option of a full recourse loan facility to approved investors for up to 100% of their application amount. The loan will have a term of 5 years and the interest rate will be fixed for the term at 8.9% per annum.

The head of Macquarie Bank’s Investment Banking Group, Mr. Nicholas Moore, said: “Investors stand to benefit from the superior aspects of this fund. The Macquarie Group, Hoyts and Nine have combined their significant experience in financial management, distribution and production respectively to form a solid commercial partnership.

“Investors have the opportunity to invest in a portfolio of television series and feature films, with the confidence that their investment is backed by the Macquarie Group's strong prudential management along with the expertise of Nine and Hoyts.

“The  guaranteed minimum income, combined with a potential 100% tax deduction over time and the upside potential, gives investors solid financial reasons to include this fund in their portfolio to reap significant potential financial benefits while supporting the Australian film industry.”

The Macquarie Nine Film and Television Investment Fund offers investors access to a potential 100% tax deduction spread over three years, under divisions 10B and 10BA of the Income Tax Assessment Act.  A Product Ruling application has been lodged with the Australian Taxation Office to confirm this.

The funds raised will be equally divided, with half to be invested in Australian films and the other half to be invested in a number of TV series. The projects have been chosen based on their commercial potential as well as the experience and track record of the producers involved. The projects vary in genre and budget level but all have been selected for their potential to generate returns for investors.

The TV series included in the portfolio are McLeod’s Daughters Series 2 and Young Lions, together with a third series (final details to be confirmed) to be included if the funds raised exceed $40 million. All are adult TV drama series with budgets in excess of $10 million each.

Between two and nine films will be included in the portfolio, again depending upon the amount raised in this offer. The films are from some of Australia’s most experienced and highly credited producers, with budgets which range from approximately $4 million to over $20 million.

Further detail on each of the projects is available from the prospectus.

An investment in film projects offers the potential for a break out project that will achieve very high revenues, many times the cost of production. These individual projects are impossible to predict but the commercial selection process and portfolio approach aims to maximize the opportunities for break out projects and for investors to participate in the resulting financial benefits.

A copy of the prospectus in electronic form is available on the Macquarie website at, http://www.macquarie.com.au/ninefund, or can be obtained by calling 1800 181 900.

'O Brother' Tops Pop Charts Again

A quiet week for album sales helped the Grammy-winning "O Brother, Where Art Thou?" soundtrack extend its long-awaited tenure at No. 1 into a second week, but teen-pop act B2K nipped at the oldsters' heels with a solid second-place bow.

 "O Brother" (Lost Highway) scanned just under 149,000 copies, according to data compiled by SoundScan. That's about 10,000 units shy of last week's showing, but sufficient to push the album to more than 4.5 million in total sales since its release 64 weeks ago.

B2K's eponymous debut on Epic Records dealt a setback to the chorus of music pundits declaring the death of pre-fab pop, sending almost 109,000 records out the door in its first week of release. The group got a taste of full-fledged bubblegum stardom earlier this week when rabid fans overran an in-store autograph session at a California mall, briefly forcing a shutdown of the entire building.

Country fans were a little more composed but no less enthusiastic in snapping up releases from acts that received award nominations from the Academy of Country Music last week. Several acts moved ahead in the charts after getting the nod.

Recent Entertainment Weekly cover story Alan Jackson, who is up for four ACM awards including album of the year, moved up two spots to third with "Drive" (Arista), boosting sales by 11% to 96,000. The record has sold more than 1.5 million copies to date.

Meanwhile, "Pull My Chain" (DreamWorks) from Toby Keith and Tim McGraw's "Set This Circus Down" (Curb Records) moved up 13 and seven places, respectively. Keith received a grand total of six ACM nods, McGraw four.

The compilation disc "Totally Country" (BNA) also benefited, advancing seven spots to 36. It includes tracks from several ACM nominees, including Brooks & Dunn, Kenny Chesney, Diamond Rio and Travis Tritt.

Other strong debuts this week included the film soundtrack to vidgame adaptation "Resident Evil" (Roadrunner) at 24, "This Is the Remix" (Columbia) from Destiny's Child at 29 and the latest effort from folk-rock duo the Indigo Girls, "Become You" (Epic), at 30.

Next week could see high debuts for the "Blade II" soundtrack, which features collaborations from several dance and hip-hop veterans, as well as the debut of Stevie Wonder-esque R&B singer Glenn Lewis and new material from incarcerated rapper Ol' Dirty Bastard