James Franco "The Hedonist"

James Franco, critically lauded for his portrayal of the rebel icon in TNT's production of "James Dean," has ventured into screenwriting for the first time. The actor co-wrote with Merriwether Williams the dramatic feature script "The Hedonist" for New Redemption Pictures. Franco also will star in the project.

Scott Ziehl ("Broken Vessels") is in talks to direct, and Gold Circle Films is in discussions to finance, with plans for a summer start.

"Hedonist" follows two genius brothers who embark on separate paths, with one (Franco) venturing toward hedonism and decadence while the other goes on a journey toward a brilliant medical career. However, both fall victim to similar obsessions of society.

New Redemption's John Herzfeld and Eric Handler are producing the feature. Franco's manager, Miles Levy of James Levy Jacobson Management, is executive producing. New Redemption executive Aundrea Hearn is associate producer.

"I was a literature major at UCLA, so I always had an inclination to write," Franco said in an interview. "Merriwether and I began writing a year and a half ago after I told her about an idea I had for a script, and since then, we have written six scripts. For me, screenwriting is an empowering process: to start from scratch and get my own ideas out there and not feel that as an actor I have to step in at the very end of the process."

Said Herzfeld: "We are very excited to be in business with James, one of the finest young actors working today. His metamorphosis into James Dean was brilliant, and his performance opposite Robert De Niro in (the upcoming Warner Bros. feature) 'City by Sea' is very compelling."

Franco, also repped by ICM, won a Golden Globe and a Broadcast Film Critics' Assn. Award for his portrayal of James Dean.

In addition to "Sea," Franco next stars in Columbia Pictures' "Spider-Man." He recently wrapped shooting the indie feature "Sonny," which marks the feature film directorial debut of Nicolas Cage. That project also was financed by Gold Circle Films. ICM's Shaun Redick is representing worldwide rights to the project.

Eva Mendes "Out of Time" with Denzel Washington

Eva Mendes is in negotiations to take one of the female leads opposite Denzel Washington in the MGM thriller "Out of Time" for director Carl Franklin. Shooting starts at the end of May with Original Films producing.

"Time" reteams Mendes with Washington. The pair played lovers in the Warner Bros. feature "Training Day," for which Washington won a best actor Oscar on Sunday.

Written by Dave Collard, "Time" sees Washington starring as a small-town police officer who gets caught in an affair with two women, one of whom is Ann Cole (Mendes), a detective.

Original Films' Neal Moritz is producing along with Franklin's producing partner/wife, Jesse Beaton. Damian Saccani and John Berg are executive producing. The project marks Washington's first $20 million payday.

Mendes stars onscreen alongside Ice Cube and Mike Epps in the Kevin Bray-directed comedy "All About the Benjamins" for New Line Cinema. She next stars opposite Antonio Banderas, Johnny Depp and Willem Dafoe in Miramax Films' "Once Upon a Time in Mexico" for filmmaker Robert Rodriguez.

The actress, repped by CAA, Industry Entertainment's David Selzter and attorney Neil Meyer, has starred in the films "Exit Wounds" and "Urban Legends: Final Cut."

John Travolta To Star, Callie Khouri To Direct "Mr. 3000"

John Travolta is in early talks to star in "Mr. 3000," about a baseball player who unretires when three of his past base hits are disallowed, dropping him below the esteemed 3,000-hit plateau.

Callie Khouri, who won an Academy Award for writing "Thelma & Louise," is negotiating to direct the film for Disney's Touchstone Pictures.

The project has had several incarnations, first at Paramount and then Disney. Touchstone has fast-tracked the film toward a summer start date, a development that follows the strong tracking results on its upcoming picture "The Rookie," which stars Dennis Quaid as a 39-year-old pitcher who makes it to the major leagues.

Talks with Travolta are in the early stages, but indications are that if a deal can be made, he'll star in the film. Travolta has a strong Touchstone history (critically acclaimed "A Civil Action," blockbuster "Phenomenon") and he'd look good in a baseball uniform, as evidenced by the svelte physique he displayed presenting alongside Sharon Stone at the Academy Awards.

He'd play a Hall of Famer who, after hanging up his spikes and using his jock career to branch into business, is moved to return to the Detroit Tigers seven years after retirement with the intention of knocking out three base hits. As a player, he had become selfish, surly and so infatuated with his statistics that he retired right after his 3,000th hit. This time, he discovers a love he'd lost for the game as he mentors a rookie.

Khouri has long been enamored of the project, ever since she did a rewrite of the Eric Champnella and Keith Mitchell script while the film was at Paramount. She made her directorial debut on "The Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood," which Warner Bros. releases June 7 with a star-studded ensemble that includes Sandra Bullock, Ashley Judd, Ellen Burstyn, Maggie Smith and James Garner.

Travolta recently completed reteaming with "Pulp Fiction" co-star Samuel L. Jackson in the John McTiernan-directed Intermedia/ Phoenix drama "Basic."  If casting can be secured quickly, Khouri will make "Mr. 3000" her sophomore effort as a helmer.

Lions Gate Energized by Halle Berry's "Monster's Ball" Oscar

Halle Berry's win for best actress Sunday night at the Oscars not only marked a historic milestone, it also should energize the boxoffice prospects of the film for which she won -- Lions Gate's critically acclaimed racial drama "Monster's Ball," which also stars Billy Bob Thornton and was directed by Marc Forster.

Lions Gate opened "Monster's Ball" on seven screens at the end of last year, aware that the film stood a good chance of garnering Oscar nominations if it beat the year-end release deadline. The picture grossed $174,109 in its opening weekend, which proved to be the beginning of a slow rollout that reached its zenith just before last month's announcement of the Oscar nominations.

"We had always timed it to be in widest release just before the nominations were announced and through the lead-up to the Oscars," Lions Gate president Tom Ortenberg said.

The company added just a handful of theaters in January. The first weekend of February saw the film on only 29 screens. Then, with Oscar nominations set to be announced Feb. 12, the number of screens jumped to 329 on Feb. 8. Screens continued to be added on subsequent weekends.

"As of Feb. 2, the gross was $1.6 million," Ortenberg said. "As of this past weekend, the gross was $19.6 million. It increased by $18 million from just before the nominations were announced to now."

Ortenberg expects boxoffice to surpass $30 million as the picture is headed to more than 700 screens in coming weeks. Oscar weekend saw the film on 543 screens. Some 160 screens will be added next weekend.

"We'll be going into smaller towns and deeper into suburban multiplexes, as well," Ortenberg said.

Although best picture awards generally give a movie the biggest boxoffice boost, Ortenberg believes that the best actress award will have a significant impact for "Monster's Ball."

"This is such a high-profile, historic win," he said. "We already saw a big jump at the boxoffice just from the weekend before the Oscars to the weekend of the Oscars as the buzz got stronger that Halle was going to win. The film always had a lot of staying power, and this will extend its run by several weeks."

The longer theatrical run will not affect the film's scheduled release on video and DVD. Plans have always called for units to arrive in stores at the end of June, and Ortenberg believes that that is still well-timed.

"It really puts those guys where we want them to be when we go into solicitation," he said.

Likewise, the company finds itself in a significantly better bargaining position for upcoming negotiations with network TV. HBO will telecast "Monster's Ball" as part of a larger agreement with Lions Gate.

Ultimately, the award is an all-around win for Lions Gate. "It's an in-house production, We have worldwide distribution, as well," Ortenberg said. "It's very important for the company, both in terms of prestige and business."

More accolades for Indian film in France

Hindi blockbuster Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham bagged five of the nine awards, including for Best Film and Best Actress, at the 13th Valenciennes International film Festival in France, that concluded last Sunday.

The movie won the special Jury award for Best Film, the Audience Jury award for Best Film, the student Jury award for Best Film, Best Actress award for its heroine Kajol and Bleu Nord Radio award, under which free promotion of the film's songs would be broadcast on French Radio.

Producer Yash Johar received the awards at the presentation ceremony at Valenciennes on March 24, sources close to the film-maker said on Tuesday. Ten films from different countries participated in the competition section.

Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham features Amitabh Bachchan, Shah Rukh Khan, Hrithik Roshan, Kajol and Kareena Kapoor in stellar roles and is directed by Karan Johar.

Lagaan's loss is sad, but sure India will make it: Big B

Bollywood superstar Amitabh Bachchan on Tuesday said that he was sad and disappointed that Aamir Khan's Lagaan could not make it at the Oscars, but expressed confidence that India would soon get there.

"Unfortunately, we are not happy with the outcome at the Oscars... but it is definitely a victory that an Indian film got nominated... and the day is not far away when we will show positive results," the matinee idol said here while announcing the third India International Film Awards (IIFA), to be held in Malaysia on April 6.

"We were sad and disappointed that Lagaan did not win... but I have full faith in our film industry. Indian cinema has technical qualities on par with international standards. Given an opportunity, with proper packaging, management and discipline, we can make our country proud," he said.

The occasion was also the launch of his upcoming film Kante directed by Sanjay Gupta, which also features Sanjay Dutt, Lucky Ali and Sunil Shetty among others.

Lagaan was first featured during the run-up to the second IIFA last year. The third IIFA will be held in Genting Highland Resort in Malaysia.

Down year in L.A. as jobs fade out

Los Angeles County's entertainment biz has lost nearly 18,000 jobs over the past year, due to the combined effects of last year's de facto writers' and actors' strikes, runaway production to cheaper locations and the recession, according to an economic forecast due to be released Wednesday.

The UCLA Anderson Forecast estimates jobs in the Hollywood motion picture production business fell 11.8% to 133,600 in February from 151,400 in March 2001. And the UCLA economists believe many of the eliminated slots will not be filled again, due to the continued move of feature production to lower-cost locales.

"We don't see a lot of these jobs coming back although we're also not anticipating any more major losses," said economist Christopher Thornberg. "It's a reflection of the larger changes in the business with more of the jobs in Los Angeles in management, administration and design rather than production."

Thornberg estimated the share of Hollywood production jobs has shrunk from 70% to 55% over the last two decades due mostly to the industry's desire to hold down filmmaking costs. Economist Tom Lieser said the trend should not be viewed as Hollywood's death knell, however.

"It's inevitable that production will migrate to less-expensive locations, but that doesn't mean the head office is threatened," Lieser said.

Thornberg agreed, saying that the transformation of showbiz will not be as disruptive to the region as the aerospace industry's downsizing in the early 1990s as the Cold War ended.

"The trend is terrible for production people based in Hollywood, but the best analogy I can give is that Silicon Valley doesn't make computers anymore because it's less expensive to make them elsewhere, but it's still the center of that world," he added.

The UCLA estimate comes three months after the Los Angles-based Center for Entertainment Industry Data & Research released a report showing the migration of features -- not even including TV films -- to Canada has led to losses for the U.S. economy of $1.8 billion and of 22,400 jobs in the past three years.

Thornberg noted the overall number of Hollywood jobs had been dropping by about 2,000 annually, mostly due to runaway production, before last year's boom in shooting due to the unrealized threat of strikes. But he pointed out that the relative ease of shooting features in non-Hollywood locations precludes any significant rebound in local feature activity.

"A film production is something that can be easily encapsulated and taken elsewhere, as opposed to TV," Thornberg added, noting that activity levels for Los Angeles-based TV production will remain consistent in the foreseeable future.

Legal; Film on Vatican banking scandal risks ban

A judge said Tuesday that a new film about the Vatican banking scandal of the 1980s could be temporarily pulled from theaters while she considers a case launched by a businessman who says he is slandered in the movie.

Flavio Carboni says the film "I Banchieri di Dio" — "God's Bankers" — implies that he organized the killing of financier Roberto Calvi, and he is trying to have the film banned.

Judge Marzia Cruciani ordered a temporary ban on the film — provided that Carboni puts up a 1.5 million euro ($1.31 million) deposit to cover the movie's losses in case her eventual ruling rejects his case.

Cruciani said at a hearing Tuesday that the film — which opened this month — could be considered "harmful" to Carboni's reputation, his lawyer Franco Marconi said. The filmmakers denounced the ruling.

"God's Bankers" tells the story of Italian financier Calvi, president of Banco Ambrosiano, in which the Vatican bank held a significant stake. In 1982, Calvi's bank collapsed after the disappearance of dlrs 1.3 billion. His body was found hanging under a London bridge, and there has been debate since over whether it was murder or suicide.

The movie explores ties between Calvi, U.S. Archbishop Paul C. Marcinkus — then of the Vatican bank — Italian government officials and the Mafia.

AFMA Opens Door To Non-English Language Film Companies

In a significant expansion of its membership criteria, AFMA has opened its doors to non-English-language film distributors, it was announced today by AFMA president and CEO Jean Prewitt.

Previously, voting and associate membership was restricted to licensors and distributors with at least some English-language film or TV product. In a decision reached by the AFMA Board of Directors, the revised rule strikes the "English-speaking" clause for both levels of membership, opening the way for international distributors of exclusively non-English-language product to apply.

"While it's a simple rule change, dropping the English-language-only restriction is a historic move for AFMA that paves the way for continued growth of the organization," said Prewitt. "It represents formal recognition that our industry is global and that our association must become truly international in scope."

Currently, approximately 40% of AFMA's 160 member companies are located outside of the U.S., including such international distributors as Adriana Chiesa, China Star, LolaFilms, Pathe International, StudioCanal France, Svensk FilmIndustri, AB, TF 1 and UGC, all of whom primarily distribute non-English-language film and TV programming. However, membership criteria, until now, has required members to have at least some English-language titles in their film library.