• The verdict is in: "Legally Blonde" will try its case on ABC.
• 'Potter's Field' seeding Phoenix horror
• Working Title develops The Tale Of The Rat That Wrote
• Wayne Wang in final negotiations to direct 'Chambermaid'
• popular video game "Alone in the Dark" getas new life as movie
• Showcase Entertainment acquires Frost, Judgment
• Heroes Rise To Fore In Book Deals
• Sony to Unwrap 'Ali' Movie on Dec. 25
• Catch 23 Entertainment Lands Multimillion-Dollar Credit Facility With Comerica Bank
• Nadia Bronson Associates named three key staff hires

The verdict is in: "Legally Blonde" will try its case on ABC.

The network has won the bidding for a comedy series based on MGM's hit movie. The project, to be produced by MGM and Touchstone Television, has been given a put pilot commitment from ABC.

As reported, Marc Platt, a producer on the film who has an overall deal with Touchstone TV, is set to executive produce the TV series. No writer has been attached to the project, and the lead, played in the film by Reese Witherspoon, is yet to be cast.

"Blonde" marks one of first big projects shepherded by ABC's newly appointed vp comedy development Julie Gluckman, who hails from the feature world.

MGM announced its plans for a possible TV series after the film -- about a ditzy Los Angeles college girl who attends Harvard Law School -- became a sleeper hit this summer, grossing $93 million an a budget of $18 million.

In 1996, ABC snagged the rights to a television series based on another sleeper hit feature comedy centered on a blonde, "Clueless." The sitcom ran on ABC for one season and then moved to UPN for two seasons.

'Potter's Field' seeding Phoenix horror

Phoenix Pictures has branched out to form a horror genre division and has picked up the horror pitch "Potter's Field" from writer Dan Clark and writer-producer Bo Zenga as the first project under the new banner. Final details of the still-unnamed horror division are expected to be announced shortly.

"Field" is described as a classic horror project about a group of kids who are entered into a "scared straight" program. Once enlisted, they're forced to spend the night doing burial duty alongside prisoners from Riker's Island on the country's largest potter's field -- a poor man's cemetery that dates back to the time of Christ. Although terrified of the prisoners, the kids find out that the island is haunted by a former prisoner, who is the real threat.

Overseeing "Field" for Phoenix are Brad Fischer, David Thwaites and Lou Phillips along with president and CEO Arnie Messer. The deal marks a reteaming of Zenga and Phoenix: The company picked up the spec "Frozen," which Zenga is producing through his Boz Prods.

Zenga executive produced the breakout horror spoof "Scary Movie," which raked in $156.9 million following its summer 2000 bow. Zenga also is at work writing and producing "Time Jumpers" at DreamWorks and producing "The 'It' Girl" at Paramount Pictures.

He was repped in the deal by Dino Carlaftes at Metropolitan Talent Agency and attorney Mary Sullivan at Katz, Golden & Sullivan. Clark, repped by Matt Luber at 9 Yards Entertainment and Writers & Artists Agency, wrote and directed "Looking for Bruce." He also is known for his run as Nitro on the action series "American Gladiators." Phoenix director of business and legal affairs Scott Sebasty brokered the deal on behalf of his company.

Working Title develops The Tale Of The Rat That Wrote

The UK's Working Title Films is developing an untitled family film based on newcomer Billy O'Brien's short film The Tale Of The Rat That Wrote.

The story of a rat's adventures in a dark, Dickensian world combines live-action, animation and the animatronics effects from the blockbuster Babe. O'Brien is to adapt his 1999 short himself, with the film's producer Ruth Kenley-Letts also on board.

The original film follows a rat caged in a rodent emporium where experiments are carried out. After unsuccessful escape attempts - one includes being captured by a mob and forced into a rat-fighting contest - he realizes he has to confront the owner of the emporium.

Working Title has also had to postpone Johnny English, its comedy spy film starring Rowan Atkinson as a hapless Foreign Office agent, although the company still aims to get the production up and running. Johnny English had been expected to shoot early next year at Pinewood, which would have housed the production for Bond 20 at the same the time.

Wayne Wang in final negotiations to direct 'Chambermaid'

Wayne Wang ("The Center of the World") is in final negotiations to direct Jennifer Lopez in Revolution Studios' romantic comedy "The Chambermaid."

The project is being targeted for a spring start. "Chambermaid," a Cinderella tale set in Chicago, follows a woman who takes a job as a chambermaid in a luxury hotel. She meets and falls in love with a British gentleman staying there, and he becomes determined to find her when she abruptly quits her job.

Revolution-based Shoelace Prods.' Deb Schindler is producing the project with Revolution partner Elaine Goldsmith-Thomas.

John Hughes wrote the screenplay and was at one point attached to direct "Chambermaid" with Hilary Swank in the lead. But Hughes decided against directing, and Swank moved on.

Lopez came aboard the project in July. Wang, repped by CAA and attorneys George Hayum and Barry Hirsch, has directed such features as "The Joy Luck Club," "Smoke" and "Anywhere but Here."

popular video game "Alone in the Dark" getas new life as movie

Dimension Films has bought a pitch from Don Murphy's Angry Films to make a feature film version of Infogrames' popular video game "Alone in the Dark." Hans Rodionoff ("Man-Thing") will write the screenplay based on the game, which features a couple of spook hunters trapped on a remote island crawling with unholy creatures.

The project reteams Murphy with Dimension; both are working to bring Carl Potts' sci-fi/action comic book series "Alien Legion" to the big screen. Dimension executive Ken Park and Angry Films vp Rick Benattar are overseeing the projects for their respective companies.

Murphy, repped by attorney Craig Emmanuel, next produces 20th Century Fox's "From Hell," starring Johnny Depp and Heather Graham. He is developing several comic book properties for the big screen, including Columbia Pictures' "Astro Boy." His credits include the features "Bully," "Apt Pupil" and "Natural Born Killers."

Rodionoff is repped by ICM and managed by Gillian Michaels. Dimension senior vp business and legal affairs Brian Burkin and director of business and legal affairs Sarah Sesnovich negotiated on behalf of the studio.

Showcase Entertainment acquires Frost, Judgment

LA-based Showcase Entertainment has acquired worldwide rights to action/horror movie Frost: Portrait Of A Vampire written and directed by Kevin VanHook, and international rights to Christian thriller Judgment.

Frost is based on the comic book series Jack Frost also created by VanHook. It stars Gary Busey as a former mercenary who learns that his best friend has become a vampire. Production recently wrapped in Los Angeles.

Judgment is the third film in the “Apocalypse” series which has already spawned Revelation and Tribulation. Already released on home video in the US, it stars Corbin Bernsen, Jessica Steen, Mr T and Nick Mancuso and was directed by Andre Van Heerden, who also directed Revelation and Tribulation.s

Heroes Rise To Fore In Book Deals

Miramax Films is in final negotiations to option the memoir of former war correspondent Saira Shah, who's Afghan documentary “Beneath the Veil” aired around the clock on CNN after the Sept. 11 attacks.

“Beneath the Veil” promises to be one of the most buzz worthy books at next week's Frankfurt Book Fair. Circulated as a proposal from U.K. agency Conville & Walsh and Stateside by Carlisle & Co., it was acquired by Knopf chief Sonny Mehta for $650,000, sold in England for a mid-six figures and in Germany for close to $470,000 -- a high sum for European rights.

Shah is a former reporter for Channel 4 in the U.K. Her parents emigrated from Afghanistan in the 1960s, and she's made several trips to Central Asia in an effort to reconnect with her roots and expose the Taliban's cruel treatment of women -- the subject of the documentary that ran on CNN.

Miramax has said it will cautiously move ahead with its plans to develop “Crisis Four,” a novel by Andy McNab that pits a British intelligence officer against a group of terrorists led by Osama bin Laden. “There will be a sensitivity involved in adapting it,” a spokesman told the BBC. Miramax optioned the book in July.

Red Wagon Prods. and Intermedia have acquired the life rights of Fred Cuny, the peace negotiator and disaster-relief expert who disappeared in Chechnya in 1995, while DreamWorks is developing “Fire,” Sebastian Junger's front line account of firefighters battling a blaze in the Northern Rockies.

Cuny is a legend among humanitarian-aid workers for his relief efforts in war- and disaster-ravaged nations such as Somalia, Guatemala and Bosnia. He disappeared with two Russian doctors and an interpreter while attempting to negotiate a Russian-Chechen cease fire and is believed to have been executed.

Intermedia is developing Cuny's story with Red Wagon principal Doug Wick and his wife and producing partner, Lucy Fisher.

“There's no question that this is a time for heroes -- and heroes with real character and points of view and principles,” Wick said.

In its efforts to develop material pertinent to last month's attacks and the national mood, Hollywood is following the lead of the book world. Publishers, emotionally battered by the devastation of downtown Gotham, are mobilizing around the events of Sept. 11 by, among other things, buying up an array of books on the catastrophe and its ramifications.

Some of the recent deals include Viking editor Rick Cot's acquisition of “Report From Ground Zero,” a first-hand account of rescue efforts by Dennis Smith, a former firefighter and author of “Report From Engine Co. 82”; St. Martins editor Sean Desmond's acquisition of the biography of Father Mychal Judge, the fire department chaplain who was killed while administering last rites on Sept. 11, written by Daily News columnist Michael Daly, with a portion of the proceeds going to various charities; Farrar Straus & Giroux's purchase of “West of Kabul, East of New York,” by an Afghan-American children's author, Tamim Ansary, whose email about Afghan politics and history circulated widely on the Web; and Basic Books' plan to publish “The Age of Terror: America and the World After September 11,” an anthology edited by Strobe Talbott and Nayan Chanda.

There were few splashy Hollywood book deals in September, but the town's literary agents haven't stopped working. With few hot-ticket titles coming out of New York, agents have concentrated on other things: managing old deals, renewing options and selling backlist books.

The backlist biz is a lucrative sideline for agents with a deep client base, but it's often eclipsed by the industry's obsession with what's trendy and new. Yet a number of shops have long-standing relationships with authors and estates that require constant maintenance.

That's true of International Creative Management, which in recent weeks has been negotiating deals for older books by such writers as Haruki Murakami and Chang-Rae Lee.

AMG/Renaissance, which several years ago pooled the resources of the Irving Paul Lazar Agency and the H.N. Swanson agency, represents 40 estates and has 150 books in development, according to manager Joel Gotler.

That means Gotler and his colleagues have been setting up scores of older titles, some of them chestnuts, like John O'Hara's 1934 classic “Appointment in Samarra,” which has just been optioned by “Chocolat” producer David Brown.

In pairing two legendary figures, O'Hara and Brown, Gotler may even have laid the groundwork for a film with enduring value -- something that's rarely true of trendy studio book buys. “I'm hoping that good stories come back,” Gotler said. “Our estates are full of good stories.”

Sony to Unwrap 'Ali' Movie on Dec. 25

Sony's high-profile biopic “Ali” is floating like a butterfly to Christmas Day.

The Will Smith vehicle had been set for a Dec. 7 bow, and at one point the studio mulled a Dec. 14 launch until deciding Paramount's “Vanilla Sky,” starring Tom Cruise, posed too much competition.

Sony finally settled on Dec. 25 (a Tuesday), when the Michael Mann-helmed drama will open in 2,500-plus theaters.

“There's tough competition on every weekend,” Sony marketing and distribution president Jeff Blake said. “We picked Christmas Day because it's a big-event date for what we know is a big-event movie.”

Sony plans to begin airing TV spots for “Ali” in early November, a couple weeks later than once planned.

“We considered a lot of dates, but at the end of the day, Christmas Day seemed very strong to us,” Blake said. “We've seen the movie internally just recently, and we're very confident we have a big, wide commercial-appeal hit that will make a big impact on Christmas Day.”

Still, industry insiders have suggested the original date for “Ali” posed a couple specific problems:

• -          a Dec. 7 bow would have sent the tale of a boxer-turned-Muslim draft objector into theaters on the anniversary of the Pearl Harbor attack, even as the recent U.S. attacks apparently by Muslim extremists have Americans feeling especially patriotic.
• -          “Ali” would have squared off against Warner Bros.' “Ocean's Eleven,” a highly anticipated ensemble comedy that's been doing well with test audiences.

On the other hand, the new yuletide release date puts “Ali” thick in the middle of other competition, though one or more pictures currently scheduled for then could shift as a result of Sony's move.

Miramax is set to unspool Martin Scorsese's period epic “Gangs of New York” on Dec. 21, though rumors are still flying that the studio could delay the bow considerably. And New Line is firmly committed to launching its much-hyped “Lord of the Rings: Fellowship” on Dec. 19.

“We are going worldwide day-and-date with our picture, and (the Sony move) will have no effect,” a New Line spokeswoman said.

Universal has its “How High” comedy slotted to bow wide Dec. 25, and one day later it is scheduled to release its Russell Crowe starrer “A Beautiful Mind.” Universal now will review those plans, with Oscar-hopeful “Beautiful Mind” a particular concern.

If “Mind” moves, it could be to a wide bow slotted sometime earlier or just a few days later. Alternately, “Mind” could be released on a limited number of screens this year to meet the academy's Dec. 31 deadline, and then expand wide at a later date. (It's unlikely the filmmakers would forgo any 2001 release for the picture.)

Limited Christmas debuts also are penciled in for Miramax's bestseller-adaptation “The Shipping News” and Disney's Wes Anderson-helmed comedy “The Royal Tenenbaums,” and USA has a limited opening scheduled Dec. 26 for its Robert Altman-helmed “Gosford Park.”

DreamWorks' “Time Machine” had been slotted for a wide bow Dec. 25, but the distributor recently transported its remake of the time-travel classic into next year.

Catch 23 Entertainment Lands Multimillion-Dollar Credit Facility With Comerica Bank

Move Expands Company's Film Financing and Development Capability As part of its continuing strategy to expand its film financing capability, Catch 23 Entertainment has completed a multimillion-dollar credit facility with Comerica Entertainment Group, a division of Comerica Bank California, it was announced today by Jeremy W. Barber, president of Catch 23 Entertainment.

The proceeds from the facility will provide Catch 23 with additional film financing and development capital and will be used to accelerate the growth of the company's management division. The collateral base for the facility included existing C23 assets as well as a commitment from Robert B. Sturm, C23's founder and chairman.

“Comerica is a top financing partner to the independent film community, and we are gratified by their support of Catch 23's business plan,” said Sturm. “We're looking forward to building a long and mutually beneficial relationship with their team.”

Added Barber: “Catch 23 will continue to build aggressively on our mandate to become a leading full service management and production company, and we are pleased Comerica Entertainment Group has recognized the quality of our strategy and vision.”

Comerica, through Beverly Hills-based Comerica Entertainment Group, is recognized as one of the most successful and active film financing entities in the industry.

“Comerica is pleased to support fast-growing industry innovators such as Catch 23, and we anticipate future opportunities to contribute to their success,” said Jeff Colvin, senior vice president, Comerica Entertainment Group.

Comerica was represented in the deal by loan officers Jeff Colvin and Carmen Carpenter and legal counsel Benjamin F. Green. Bruce Vann, of Kelly Lytton & Vann, and James Ewing, senior VP, Finance, negotiated the facility on behalf of Catch 23.

Comerica Entertainment Group, is the industry's leading specialty entertainment finance company. Over the last three years, Comerica has financed more than 200 independent feature films including “Angel Eyes,” “Driven,” “Hardball,” “Rat Race,” and “Bless This Child.”

In addition, Comerica Entertainment Group plays an active role in the financing of television productions and production distribution companies, multimedia production companies and productions, as well as music labels and post-production companies. Comerica Entertainment Group is based in Beverly Hills, Calif. Comerica Inc. is the 17th largest bank holding company in the nation, with $50 billion in assets. Comerica acquired Imperial Bancorp, the former holding company of Imperial Bank, on Jan. 31, 2001.

Catch 23 Entertainment is a Los Angeles-based film production company, formed by financier Robert B. Sturm. Catch 23 will produce three to five pictures annually in the $5 million to $40 million budget range, and has secured a domestic distribution deal with Universal Pictures.

Catch 23 Entertainment's first feature film release is the psychological thriller “One Hour Photo,” starring Robin Williams, Connie Nielsen, Michael Vartan, and Eriq La Salle. “One Hour Photo,” written and directed by acclaimed video director Mark Romanek, will be released theatrically by Fox Searchlight in early 2002.

Nadia Bronson Associates named three key staff hires

Nadia Bronson, the former international marketing and distribution chief at Universal Pictures, has named three key staff hires at her new company - Nadia Bronson Associates, a one-stop consultancy for international distribution, marketing, promotions and creative services.

All three had worked with Bronson at Universal. They are:

• -          Thomas Castaneda, a long time colleague of Bronson who left his post as vice president of international publicity at Universal earlier this year;
• -          Steven O’Dell, who joins Bronson after seven years at Universal’s distribution arm UIP where he served as general manager in territories including Brasil, Austria, Chile and Mexico;
• -          Tanya Alves, formerly vice president and general manager at Metro Studios and before that part of the motion picture finance department at Universal for five years.

“I’m thrilled that Thomas, Steven and Tanya are coming on board in this unique venture,” said Bronson. “Between them, they bring a wealth of experience and success in all facets of distribution and marketing as we build our operation into a major resource for producers and sales agents.”

 “Having worked with Nadia for so long it gives me great pleasure to be working with her once again in a completely new and exciting environment,” said Castaneda, who spent 15 of his 17 years at Universal with Bronson.

Bronson has also hired Andrew Thomas as publicist, Jackie Madjerian as marketing coordinator and Lee Moss as publicity coordinator.

Nadia Bronson Associates is currently working on international campaigns for Tomb Raider, K-Pax, Rat Race, Killing Me Softly and Golden Globe campaigns for Miramax Films product such as Gangs Of New York, Amelie and The Shipping News.