'Attack of the Clones' Heaps $200 Million at US Box Office

George Lucas' Star Wars: Episode II -- Attack of the Clones clung to the top spot at the North American box office as overall ticket sales for the US Memorial Day holiday surpassed last year's record, according to studio estimates issued on Monday.

Additionally, second-ranked blockbuster Spider-Man passed Forrest Gump to become the No. 6 movie of all time, while three new entries enjoyed strong openings.

Star Wars: Episode II -- Attack of the Clones ruled the roost for the second consecutive weekend, earning $61.2 million for the four days beginning May 24, said its distributor Twentieth Century Fox.

The space adventure's 12-day total rose to $202.5 million, passing the double-century mark one day faster than its 1999 predecessor, The Phantom Menace, which ended up with $431 million domestically.

The film's sales for the Friday-to-Sunday portion fell 41 percent from the same period a week ago, which was "pretty steep" but not surprising in a crowded marketplace, said Bruce Snyder, president of distribution at the Fox Entertainment Group Inc. -owned studio.

Meanwhile Columbia Pictures' Spider-Man racked up $36.5 million, as its total raced to $334.3 million. Having surpassed Forrest Gump ($330 million) on the all-time list, the comic-book adaptation should pass Jurassic Park ($357 million) by next weekend, said Jeff Blake, Columbia's president of worldwide marketing and distribution.

The Tobey Maguire vehicle passed $300 million in a record 22 days, beating the old mark of 28 days held by Phantom Menace. After adding 261 theaters, it is now playing at a record 3,876 locations, beating Shrek's benchmark of 3,715.

Blake predicted Spider-Man would end up north of $400 million, possibly getting as far as $450 million, which would make it the third-highest grossing picture of all time behind Titanic"($601 million) and Star Wars($461 million). Columbia Pictures is a unit of Sony Corp.

Annette Bening To Star In The Kevin Costner Directed Film 'Open Range'

Annette Bening has closed a deal to star in the Kevin Costner-directed film "Open Range," which the Walt Disney Co. is distributing, sources have confirmed. The project begins production next month in Calgary, Alberta, with Costner also starring.

The project marks the second Disney project in a row for Bening, who will shoot "Range" before segueing to the company's "Freaky Friday".

Written by Craig Storper, "Range" is about the day-to-day travails of four men -- Costner, Robert Duvall, Diego Luna and Abraham Benrubi -- living in the West. They band together to rid their town of a menacing rancher (Michael Gambon) who has formed an outlaw principality, using scare tactics and brute force to get what he wants. Bening will play Sue, the love interest of Costner's character.

Costner and David Valdes are producing the project through their Tig Prods. Storper also is producing. Jake Eberts and Armyan Bernstein are executive producing the project. Cobalt Media Group is handling international rights on the film.

Bening is repped by CAA. She was nominated for a best actress Oscar for her role in "American Beauty" and earned a best supporting actress nomination for her performance in "The Grifters."

Melanie Griffith hustled into 'Shade' role

Melanie Griffith has joined the cast of RKO Pictures/Merv Griffin Entertainment's crime thriller "Shade" for first-time writer-director Damian Nieman. Production begins Thursday in Los Angeles.

"Shade" is set in the world of poker hustlers working the clubs and martini bars of Los Angeles. The tale unfolds as the hustlers -- Thandie Newton, Stuart Townsend and Gabriel Byrne -- encounter "The Dean" (Sylvester Stallone) and pull off a successful sting that results in their pursuit by a vengeful gangster. Jamie Foxx also stars as a man who wants to become a hustler but ends up getting hustled. Griffith will star as a Stallone's ex-flame who rekindles her romance with him when he arrives in the city.

RKO chairman and CEO Ted Hartley is producing with Hammond Entertainment's David Schnepp and Chris Hammond. Merv Griffin and Joe Nicolo will executive produce with actor Bo Hopkins, who also is in the film.

Cobalt Media Group's Peter Rogers and Ralpho Borgos are handling international sales.

"Shade" will mark the second RKO-related project for Griffith, who starred as Marion Davies in the 1999 HBO feature "RKO 281," about the battle between William Randolph Hearst and Orson Welles over the 1941 feature film "Citizen Kane," which was produced by RKO, at that time known as RKO Radio Pictures Inc.

Griffith, repped by WMA, was nominated for a best actress Oscar for her role in "Working Girl." She next voices a character in Columbia Pictures' "Stuart Little 2" and stars in the indie feature "Tempo" opposite Rachael Leigh Cook.

Cannes 2002; Last Moment Wheeling And Dealing At The Festival

International players wheeled and dealed right up to the last moment at the Cannes Film Festival, which wrapped Sunday night.

Over dinner Friday night at the Hotel du Cap, near Cannes, helmer Pedro Almodovar and Antonio Banderas reaffirmed their commitment to the Spanish-language "Tarantula," an adaptation of Thierry Jonquet's French novel "Mygale," about a plastic surgeon's revenge. Almodovar is writing the screenplay. The female lead is earmarked for Penelope Cruz.

Meanwhile, Lakeshore Entertainment strengthened its relationship with Italian public broadcaster film unit RAI Cinema by inking to handle U.S. and international sales on veteran director Ermanno Olmi's next feature, "Singing Behind the Screens." Set in 17th century China, the drama concerns a pirate chief's widow who takes over his role.

Italian arthouse player BIM Distribuzione continued a buying spree by closing deals on seven more films, including;

Grand Jury Prize winner "The Man Without a Past," by Finiish director Aki Kaurismaki.
Nicolas Philibert's documentary "To Be and to Have," screening in an out-of-competition slot;
Cedric Klapisch's hot market title "L'Auberge Espagnole";
Walter Salles' biopic on the young Che Guevara, "The Motorcycle Diaries," with Gael Garcia Bernal ("Y tu mama tambien") in the lead;
Conor McPherson's "The Actors," with Michael Caine, Miranda Richardson and Michael Gambon, which goes out via Miramax in the U.S.; and
Shane Meadows' family saga "Once Upon a Time in the Midlands," which bowed in the Directors Fortnight.

In a multiterritory deal covering France, the U.K., Germany, Spain, Greece and Benelux, French banner MK2 picked up all distribution rights to Italian director Roberta Torre's love triangle pic "Angela," which premiered in the Directors Fortnight.

Other Italian titles that kept the ink flowing on deal memos included Critics Week selection "Respiro" ("Grazia's Island"), a family drama set in a Sicilian island fishing village, directed by Emanuele Crialese.

Roissy Films sold the picture to Sony Pictures Classics for North America and closed deals for other key territories, with more in advanced negotiations.

Marco Bellocchio's competition entry "The Religion Hour" scored sales to Australia and New Zealand as part of a 10-film package that also included

Emanuele Crialese's "Respiro,"
rock star-turned-director Luciano Ligabue's "From Zero to Ten"
Matteo Garrone's drama "The Embalmer."

Spanish distribution and sales company Sogepaq closed a bevy of deals in the Far East.

Daniel Calparsoro's war pic "Guerreros" is going to Japan (Gaga Communications), Korea (startup Cinestar), Taiwan (Spring Cinema), Hong Kong (Winson) and Thailand (MJC Entertainment).

Vicente Aranda's historical melodrama "Mad Love" is going to Japan (Daiei) and Thailand (New World). Deals follow Gaga's purchase of Luna's "Stranded" at the AFM. The sci-fi pic sold to Thailand's New World at Cannes.

Cannes 2002; U.S. Specialty Distributors Are Picking Up The Prize-Winners.

The filmmakers picked up their prizes Sunday night in Cannes and now the U.S. specialty distributors are picking up the prize-winners.

In its first acquisition since a mid-May launch, Vivendi Universal's specialty label Focus has acquired U.S. and select international distribution rights to director Roman Polanski's Cannes Palme d'Or winner "The Pianist."

Focus, recently formed through the merger of Good Machine, Good Machine Intl. and USA Films, will release the Holocaust drama in December. The English-language film stars Adrien Brody along with Thomas Kretschmann, Frank Finlay, Emilia Fox and newcomer Jessica Kate Meyer.

"Roman Polanski is one of the world's true visionary filmmakers," said Focus co-president David Linde. "'The Pianist' is a crowning achievement in his career; it powerfully and beautifully conveys his most personal statement, the one he has waited those four decades to be able to make."

Focus will distribute the film in the U.S., Australia, New Zealand and South Africa.

Sony Pictures Classics has picked up North American rights to Finnish director Aki Kaurismaki's "A Man Without A Past," which won the Grand Jury Prize and the fest's best actress kudos for Kati Outinen. It also nabbed North American rights to Russian helmer Alexander Rogozhkin's "Cuckoo," which screened only once during Cannes.

"A Man Without a Past" centers on a man who travels to Helsinki in search of work. The man gets mugged, loses his memory and has to start his life from scratch. On his new journey, he learns a thing or two about human values, thanks to a Salvation Army volunteer (played by Outinen), who falls in love with him.

"Cuckoo," which will screen in June at the Moscow Film Festival, depicts an unusual friendship between a Finnish and Russian soldier during the waning days of World War II.

Television; UPN To Pay Up To $5 million License Fee For 5 Pix From Miramax

Three Jackie Chan movies, the third sequel in "The Crow" franchise and a 1998 supernatural thriller starring Ben Affleck will make their way to the UPN network over the next 18 months as part of a five-picture deal with Miramax Films.

Two of the five will receive their world broadcast premieres on UPN: the Jackie Chan thriller "Accidental Spy" and "Crow 3." Miramax's Dimension Films division produced "Spy" and "Crow 3" as theatricals but, unwilling to shoulder theatrical-marketing costs, decided to distribute them direct to video. UPN's total license fee for the five comes to between $4.5 million and $5 million.

"Crow," in video stores now, becomes available to UPN on October 1. "Spy" hits video stores in August; UPN gets it in February. In both instances, UPN has rights to two runs over two years.

The second Chan movie, "Supercop 2," has played on cable TV before but will make its broadcast premiere on UPN.

"Operation Condor," the third Chan movie, did benefit from a theatrical release and has had a couple of runs on the Fox Network, as did the Affleck movie "Phantoms," co-starring Peter O'Toole and Rose McGowan. UPN bought just a one-year window to each title, to begin in October 2003, in effect skimming off the last 12 months of the Fox Network's contract with Miramax for the movies.

UPN will schedule most of the titles for its Friday-night movie slot, which will be aimed at the young male demo that dotes on such UPN programs as the Thursday "WWE Smackdown" wrestling extravaganzas.

Legal; Music Industry Takes Song-Swapping Site to

In its latest attempt to halt music piracy, a contingency of music industry groups, including the labels, songwriters and music publishers, filed a lawsuit against American file-sharing Internet service Audiogalaxy.com.

The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), a powerful trade association for the music labels, and the National Music Publishers Association (NMPA), filed the suit on Friday in a New York federal court.

The suit alleges Audiogalaxy, based in Austin, Texas, "willfully and intentionally" encourages and facilitates "millions of individual, anonymous users to copy and distribute infringing copyrighted works by the millions, if not billions."

The RIAA, on behalf of the labels, has waged a series of legal battles against a crop of online file-swapping services which users have exploited to trade all manner of copyrighted materials from music to movies and software programs.

The record industry blames the rise of such services for encouraging consumers to conduct a massive trade in recorded music, a phenomenon they claim is eating into sales. The RIAA has cases pending against similar services including Grokster, Morpheus MusicCity, Kazaa and its owner Streamcast Networks.

The industry's most successful legal thrust grounded the original peer-to-peer song-swapping network Napster, now controlled by Bertelsmann AG.

Among the artists whose works are traded on Audiogalaxy include: Celine Dion, Madonna, Destiny's Child and Dave Matthews Band, the suit alleges.

The RIAA said Audiogalaxy has ignored numerous warnings to halt the trade of copyright-protected music by its users.

Legal; Judge, Insufficient Evidence For A 'Scary' Lawsuit

Citing insufficient evidence, Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Robert O'Brien threw out the "Scary Movie" profit-participation lawsuit brought by producer Bo Zenga against Brillstein-Grey Entertainment.

At the close of the plaintiff's presentation of its case Friday morning, Brillstein-Grey attorneys filed a motion to dismiss the suit. After hearing oral arguments from both sides, O'Brien dismissed the jury and ultimately decided to throw out all four breach claims made in the complaint Zenga filed in July 2000.

"We had been planning this for some time, and we played it that way," said attorney Bert Fields of Greenberg, Glusker, Fields, Claman, Machtinger & Kinsella, which represented Brillstein-Grey. "We thought we would have won (if the case had gone forward). Nevertheless, we are thrilled not to have to go through with the case, and I am delighted."

Zenga attorney Greg Dovel said he will file an appeal this week. "The (jury) listened to the evidence; the judge simply did not," Dovel said. "We will be back in about two years, and we will get a verdict. There is no jury that can hear this evidence and not rule our way."

Brillstein-Grey attorney Jon Liebman responded: "Zenga will lose on appeal. We are going to vigorously pursue all of our remedies against Zenga based on his conduct of this litigation."

Zenga's suit claimed that he was recruited to work on the original script for "Scary Movie" but that Brillstein-Grey ultimately reneged on promises that he would have a profit-participation stake in the horror-movie spoof. The Brillstein-Grey/Miramax release took in $157 million at the domestic boxoffice in 2000.

On Thursday May 24, Brillstein-Grey chairman and CEO Brad Grey took the stand for nearly four hours of questioning by Dovel, most of it revolving around e-mails, memos and other correspondence between Zenga and Brillstein-Grey executives as well as others involved in the development of "Scary Movie".

Grey testified that he understood that Zenga would have some "peripheral involvement" in the project, but Brillstein-Grey attorneys have maintained that the company would never have made a profit participation deal with Zenga because of his limited track record in the film business.

Zenga could not testify at trial because he invoked the Fifth Amendment in response to court-ordered questions during pretrial proceedings. Zenga is married to Zorianna Kit, senior film reporter for The Hollywood Reporter.