Lionsgate Nabs Rights To Victor Salva's "Peaceful Warrior"

Lionsgate (in conjuction with Mark Amins Sobini Films) announced today that it has acquired the U.S. distribution rights to Victor Salva's "Peaceful Warrior." The film, which stars Nick Nolte and Amy Smart is based on the bestselling novel by Dan Millman entitled "Way of the Peaceful Warrior." The film tells the story of the young Dan Millman who aspires for Olympic glory as a college gymnast. But, a chance encounter with a stranger (Nick Nolte) changes his life and helps him realize what he must leave behind in order to fulfill his apsirations for greatness. Mark Amins, of Sobini Films, is one of the film's producers, along with Sobini President, Cami Winikoff, Robin Schorr and David Welch. According the the release, Sobini Films, which is based at Lionsgate, recently re-acquired the film's rights from Blockbuster. "We are pleased to again be in control of a film to which has been a labor of love for me over the years," said Mark Amins. [Tamara Schweitzer] 
[permalink]   [ filed under Acquisitions ]

Focus Goes For "In Bruges" and "Naples 44"

Focus Features has announced a pair of new projects, Martin McDonagh's "In Bruges" and an adaptation of the book, "Naples '44." The company has worldwide rights to both new projects. McDonagh won an Oscar this week for his live action short film "Six Shooter," and wrote the script for the feature described as a Belgium-set hit man tale. It will be his feature directing debut. UK company Blue Print Pictures will produce the film. McDonagh is an accomplished playwright of "The Pillowman," "The Beauty Queen of Leenane," and "The Lieutenant of Inishmore." Also on tap, separately, is Ben Hopkins adaptation of Norman Lewis' "Naples '44," to be produced by Francesca Barra. It is described as the author's real-life story of experiences as a British intelligence officer stationed in Italy near the end of WWII. [Eugene Hernandez] 
[permalink]   [ filed under Biz ]

"Akeelah" and "Friends with Money" Bookend Philadelphia Film Festival

The 2006 Philadelphia Film Festival willl open March 30th with Laurence Fishburne's "Akeelah and the Bee" and close April 11th with Nicole Holofcener's "Friends with Money," the Philadelphia Film Society, the organizers of the event announced Thursday. The festival will screen 231 films, including 115 feature films and 30 full-length documentaries. Susan Sarandon will receive the fest's Artistic Achievement Award. indieWIRE will publish a larger festival line up next week. [Brian Brooks] 
[permalink]   [ filed under Festivals ]

Anita Monga to Serve as Director of Shorts Programming at Palm Springs ShortFest

Anita Monga has been appointed director of shorts programming this year for the 12th annual Palm Springs International Festival of Short Films & Short Film Market, taking place August 24th - 30th, the event announced Thursday. Monga has been involved in film exhibition in the San Francisco Bay area for the last 25 years. As director of programming at San Francisco's Castro Theatre she established an internationally-recognized film arts program within the landmark theater. Among her other activities, she directs the Noir City Festival and serves as a shorts programmer for the Mill Valley Film Festival. Most recently she directed the Film Arts Festival of Independent Cinema, and served as the programming manager for the 2006 Palm Springs International Film Festival. The entry deadline for PSIFSF is April 15th. For more information, visit their website. [Brian Brooks] 
[permalink]   [ filed under Industry Moves, Shorts ]

Cinema Libre Takes Rights to Doc "Giuliani Time"

Cinema Libre Studio has acquired worldwide rights to Kevin Keating's doc "Giuliani Time," which will premiere in New York at the Landmark Sunshine on May 12th the company announced recelntly. The documentary, which screened at the Rotterdam and Vancouver film festivals, examines former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani, his policies and his often touted turnaround of New York City. Utilizing a range of personalities and experts from high-level city officials to community activists, lawyers and politicians, Keating's film analyzes Giuliani's personal background, his record and the methods he employed to enforce the 'Quality of Life' and 'Zero Tolerance' campaigns in America's largest city. Cinema Libre plans to roll the film out across the country following its May 12th theatrical debut. The film will be released on DVD in September, 2006. [Brian Brooks]  
[permalink]   [ filed under Acquisitions ]

Oscar Winners Diana Ossana and Bobby Moresco and Nominee Josh Olson to Give Keynote at Scriptwriters Showcase

2005 Academy Award winners Diana Ossana (adapted screenplay for "Brokeback Mountain") and Bobby Moresco (original screenplay for "Crash") and nominee Josh Olson (adapted screenplay for "A History of Violence") are slated to impart their knowlege with writers as keynote speakers at the "Scriptwriters Showcase," presented by Final Draft and scr(i)pt magazine April 7 - 9 at the Sheraton Universal Studios. Program participants will also have the chance to take part in four separate panels covering various aspects of scriptwriting. For more information, visit the program's website. [Brian Brooks] 
[permalink]   [ filed under Events ]

NYUFF Runs Through March 14 at Anthology Film Archives

The 13th annual New York Underground Film Festival is taking place at the Anthology Film Archives in Manhattan's East Village March 8 - 14. This year, the event will showcase well over 100 titles in a variety of genres. For more information and a full schedule and descriptions, visit their website. 
[permalink]   [ filed under Festivals ]

NY Times: Opponents of DeLay Make Use of a Film

A documentary about the Texas criminal investigation that led to the indictment of Representative Tom DeLay, the former House majority leader, on campaign fund-raising charges is being put to use by Mr. DeLay's political opponents in an attempt to unseat him. The film, "The Big Buy: How Tom DeLay Stole Congress," will be distributed this spring by the Hollywood producer and liberal provocateur Robert Greenwald, whose last release was a scathing attack on Wal-Mart sponsored by a variety of labor unions and other groups critical of the retailing giant. The film will not follow a traditional theatrical rollout but will instead open in a few cities before being made widely available on DVD. David m. Halbfinger reports. 
[permalink]   [ filed under Movies ]

AP: Lee: "Brokeback" Wasn't Meant As Statement

Ang Lee said he never intended "Brokeback Mountain" to be a social statement about homosexuals, amid speculation the gay cowboy romance lost the Oscar best picture race because of its subject matter. The movie won best director for Lee -- making him the first Asian winner of the prize -- as well as best musical score and best adapted screenplay Sunday at the Oscar ceremony, but it lost the best-picture award to "Crash," despite having racked up several other major film awards. The upset prompted speculation that the U.S. Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences wasn't prepared to hand its top prize to a movie about gays. But the Taiwanese director said he never approached the love story between two ranch hands set in conservative Wyoming as social commentary. "For me, 'Brokeback' isn't rebellious at all. It's a very ordinary movie. People call it groundbreaking or what not. It puts a lot of pressure on me. But I didn't feel this way when I was making the movie," he said at a press conference for Chinese media held in Los Angeles earlier this week and aired Wednesday on Hong Kong television. Min Lee reports.  
[permalink]   [ filed under Awards Watch, People ]

E Online: Cruise, McCarthy Singled Out at Razzies

Jenny McCarthy may have been singled out as this year's top Razzie recipient, but Tom Cruise's couch-jumping antics did not go unrewarded. As the star, writer and producer of 2005's little-seen, but universally panned comedy "Dirty Love," the onetime Playboy Playmate earned a trio of dishonors at Saturday's awards ceremony--namely Worst Actress, Worst Screenplay and Worst Picture. "Dirty Love" failed to sweep the six categories in which it was nominated. Worst Supporting Actress nominee Carmen Electra lost out to "House of Wax" star Paris Hilton, and McCarthy, nominated for Worst Onscreen Couple, along with Anyone Dumb Enough to Befriend or Date Her, lost to "Bewitched" duo Nicole Kidman and Will Ferrell. Sarah Hall reports. 
[permalink]   [ filed under Awards Watch, Honors ]

"Paris je t'aime" To Open Cannes' Un Certain Regard '06

"Paris je t'aime", a film including a collection of short films from some 20 international filmmakers, each focusing on one of Paris' arrondissements (or neighborhoods), will open the Un Certain Regard section at the 2006 Festival de Cannes. The movie, produced by Claudie Ossard and Emmanuel Benbihy, features five minute love stories directed by Alfonso Cuaron (Mexico), Gurinder Chadha (India), Gus Van Sant (USA), Isabelle Coixet (Spain), Joel & Ethan Coen (USA), Nobuhiro Suwa (Japan), Alexander Payne (USA), Oliver Schmitz (South Africa), Richard LaGravenese (USA), Tom Tykwer (Germany), Vincenzo Natali (Italy), Walter Salles (Brazil), Wes Craven (USA); and French filmmakers Olivier Assayas, Frederic Auburtin, Sylvain Chomet, Gerard Depardieu and Bruno Podalydes. [Eugene Hernandez]  
[permalink]   [ filed under Cannes, Festivals ]

Gordon Parks Dies at 93

Photographer and filmmaker Gordon Parks, director of "Shaft", died today in New York. He spent 20 years at Life Magazine working as a photographer, from 1948 - 1968, before directing his first feature, "The Learning Tree," in 1969, based on his own novel. Two years later he made "Shaft." An AP article by Polly Anderson offers a complete obituary.  
[permalink]   [ filed under People ]

Reuters: "Grey Gardens" blooms -- Bouvier recluses revisited

"Grey Gardens" is in bloom again, 30 years after the documentary film about the reclusive, eccentric relatives of Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis living in a dilapidated mansion known by that name. Edith Bouvier Beale and her daughter Edie, the aunt and cousin of the late first lady, come to life on stage in a musical "Grey Gardens" opening on Tuesday for a month's run at a small theater that could lead to Broadway. Even Albert Maysles, 79, who with his late brother David shot the original documentary, is revisiting the subject. The filmmaker has begun pouring over 60 hours of film not used in the 1975 look at an unexpected side of high society to put together a 90-minute DVD companion to the original work. Reuters reports. 
[permalink]   [ filed under Movies ]

AP: Chinese Newspaper Praises Director Ang Lee

China heaped praise Tuesday on Taiwanese director Ang Lee for winning this year's best director Oscar with his gay romance "Brokeback Mountain." "Ang Lee is the pride of Chinese people all over the world, and he is the glory of Chinese cinematic talent," the official China Daily newspaper said in a front-page news article. Lee hails from self-governed, democratic Taiwan, which the communist government in Beijing considers Chinese territory and has repeatedly threatened to attack if the island declares formal independence. AP reports. 
[permalink]   [ filed under Awards Watch, People ]

Tribeca Film Festival to Add AMC Theaters in Manhattan

The 2006 Tribeca Film Festival today announced that it would be expanding its festival venues throughout Manhattan in partnership with AMC Loews Theatres, expanding to three AMC Loews theatres north of Tribeca. The festival screenings and events will remain anchored in Tribeca. The 2006 Tribeca Film Festival will take place from April 25 - May 7. [Brian Brooks] 
[permalink]   [ filed under Festivals, New York ]

ParaSpec Goes for Baumbach's Latest

Paramount's unnamed Indiewood division (the specialty company formerly known as Paramount Classics) is set to back Oscar nominee Noah Baumbach's latest movie (according to Variety), an untitled new project that will star Jack Black, Nicole Kidman and Baumbach's wife, Jennifer Jason Leigh. Scott Rudin is producing. According to the Hollywood trade, the film was previously titled, "Nicole In the Country," but the title was changed when Kidman joined the cast. It will begin shooting early next month on Long Island. 
[permalink]   [ filed under Biz ]

Reuters: "Brokeback" too controversial after all: writer

Maybe a gay cowboy picture was too controversial after all, or at least that is what the legendary Western writer who adapted "Brokeback Mountain" for the screen thinks. "Perhaps the truth really is, Americans don't want cowboys to be gay," said Larry McMurtry, 69 who has spent his career challenging the stereotypes of the West -- and generally won. McMurtry won the Oscar for best adapted screenplay with his partner Diana Ossana, but their film lost the prize for best picture to "Crash," a drama about urban racism. Reuters reports. 
[permalink]   [ filed under Awards Watch, People ]

AP: Was There a 'Brokeback Mountain' Backlash?

We chatted about it, joked about it, argued about it, spoofed it. "Brokeback Mountain" was everywhere in our popular culture yet it lost the big Oscar it was supposed to win. Was there a "Brokeback Backlash," or was "Crash" just the worthy contender that came on strong in the final Best Picture stretch? There were as many theories being offered up Monday as there are "Brokeback" parodies on the Internet. A.P. reports. 
[permalink]   [ filed under Awards Watch, Movies ]

Weinsteins Closing Deal With MGM?

The Weinstein Company is close to announcing a deal that will re-ignite MGM as a filmmaking brand, according to Business Week. The story reports that the pact will give the Weinsteins a studio backer for new productions and also re-start production and distribution efforts at MGM, which was sold to a consortium headed by Sony. It also says the partnership with focus on "producing and releasing smaller-budget, independent-style films."  
[permalink]   [ filed under Biz ]

The Top Ten So Far...

Each Monday, indieWIRE receives the final weekend numbers for specialty releases in theaters. This is our top ten for the past weekend so far, with most numbers already in. The top ten is subject to change before the final chart is published tomorrow and the weekly box office column is written. Three day weekend box office data provided by Rentrak as of Monday, 6:00 p.m. EST. 1. "Tsotsi" (Miramax) $65,280 wknd ($9,325 per scrn) 2. "Our Brand Is Crisis" (Koch Lorber) $11,370 wknd ($7,970 per scrn) 3. "Joyeux Noel (Merry Christmas)" (Sony Pictures) $42,732 wknd ($7,122 per scrn) 4. "Brooklyn Lobster" (Meadowbrook Pictuers) $3,920 wknd ($3,920 per scrn) 5. "The Boys of Baraka" (ThinkFilm) $23,212 wknd ($3,868 per scrn) 6. "The Syrian Bride" (Koch Lorber) $10,860 wkdn ($3,620 per scrn) 7. "Sophie Scholl: The Final Days" (Zeitgiest Films) $37,084 wknd ($3,371 per scrn) 8. "Neil Young: Heart of Gold" (Paramount Classics) $131,120 wknd ($3,278 per scrn) 9. "2005 Academy Award Nominated Short Films" (Magnolia) $39,140 wknd ($3,261 per scrn) 10. "Nine Lives" (Magnolia) $3,192 wknd (3,192 per scrn) 
[permalink]   [ filed under Biz ]

78th Academy Award Winners


Best picture: "Crash"
Directing: Ang Lee, "Brokeback Mountain"
Actress: "Reese Witherspoon" ("Walk The Line")
Supporting actress: Rachel Weisz ("Constant Gardener")
Actor: "Philip Seymour Hoffman" ("Capote")
Supporting actor: George Clooney ("Syriana")
Adapted screenplay: "Brokeback Mountain"
Original screenplay: "Crash"
Foreign language film: "Tsotsi"
Documentary: "March of The Penguins"
Animated feature: "Wallace & Gromit"
Art direction: "Memoirs of a Geisha"
Cinematography: "Memoirs of a Geisha"
Costume design: "Memoirs of a Geisha"
Documentary short: "A Note of Triumph"
Flm editing: "Crash"
Makeup: "Chronicles of Narnia"
Original score: "Brokeback Mountain"
Original song: "Hustle & Flow"
Animated short: "The Moon and the Son"
Live action short: "Six Shooter"
Sound editing: "King Kong"
Sound mixing: "King Kong"
Visual effects: "King Kong"
 
[permalink]   [ filed under Awards Watch, Honors ]