Berlin Day 2 - The Hollywood Reporter

the RepoRt
Hawkins Joins
Lucky Dog
By Stuart Kemp
Sally haWkins has
teamed with Paul Giamatti
and Paul Rudd to
star in Lucky Dog, a comedy to
be directed by Phil Morrison.
Set to shoot next month on
location in NYC, Dan Carey
and Elizabeth Giamatti
will produce through their
Touchy Feely Films banner.
From an original script by
Melissa James Gibson, the
story revolves around Guy
and Rene, played by Giamatti
and Rudd, billed as two
French-Canadian con men.
Their friendship has been
a bit strained of late: Guy,
recently released from prison,
arrives home to find Rene
sleeping with his ex-wife. But
the pair tries to set differences
aside, traveling to the U.S.
with a get-rich-quick plan to
sell Christmas trees.
UK. sales and finance banner
HanWay Film is drumming
up heat on the project making
its international debut to
buyers during this year’s EFM.
UTA is repping US rights.The
film is being financed by
Sidney Kimmel Entertainment,
GreeneStreet Films
and HanWay. thr
british banner Multistory Films
Picks up teen Sci-Fi Pic Calling
Outer space drama billed as Breakfast Club meets Moon By Stuart Kemp
Producer emma biggins has snared
movie rights from writer/director
Jeff Norton, the former svp at publishing
giant Chorion, to Norton’s sci-fi
teen thriller The Calling.
Billed as the script where The Breakfast
Club meets Moon, Biggins and Norton will
work together to develop the idea into a
full-blown movie script for Biggins’ production
label Multistory Films.
The film details the story of five teenage
strangers who wake up in a high-tech prison
only to discover they are on a manmade
spaceship hurtling towards a trial for
humanity’s future.
Norton, who spearheaded the movie and
television exploitation while at Chorion, the
entertainment company owner of characters
such as Mr Men, Noddy and those
uPI takes Marley Docu
Deals struck on eve of
the film’s Berlin special
screening by Fortissimo
Films By Stuart Kemp
universal Pictures
International Entertainment
has stuck a deal
for all U.K. and Scandinavian
rights to the Shangri-La Entertainment/Tuff
Gong Pictures
produced Bob Marley documentary
Marley.
The deal for the doc, directed
by Oscar winning filmmaker
Kevin Macdonald, was brokered
by managing director of
international sales agent Fortissimo
Films Nelleke Driessen.
Lucky Red in Italy and Avalon
Distribution in Spain have
also sealed deals for the movie.
The feature length documentary
is scheduled for theatrical
release in North America and
the U.K. April 20, 2012, then
will release worldwide throughout
the summer to coincide
with the 50th anniversary year
of Jamaican Independence.
Macdonald, Rohan Marley
and long-time collaborator of
Bob Marley, Neville Garrick,
are expected in Berlin to present
the film on February 12.
The international flurry of
2
dealmaking comes in the wake of
Magnolia Pictures’ deal for U.S.
rights to the project.
International sales agent,
Fortissimo Films also struck
deals for South Africa (Nu
Metro), Portugal (Lusomundo
/ Film & TV House), Germany
& Austria (Studio Canal
Germany), Poland (Best Film),
France (Wild Side Films),
Latin America (HBO Latin
America Pan Regional Pay
TV), Australia & New Zealand
(Roadshow Films PTY Ltd),
Benelux (E1), Middle East
(Front Row) and Switzerland
(Elite Film A.G.)
Shangri-La Entertainment
created by Beatrix Potter, is drawing on his
experience to develop a script for teenagers.
He told The Hollywood Reporter his idea
“plays to a broad, teen-based audience with
a solid, sci-fi crossover.” Multistory Films is
in Berlin for the festival with founder Biggins
taking part in the Talent Campus.
Biggins described Norton’s efforts as “a
thrilling high-concept script” and that he
has brought “a solid vision for realizing this
on screen.” Norton said the script is about
five complex young people who are put in a
situation where they find themselves making
hard and ultimately frightening decisions.
Biggins’ debut producer feature was
revenge horror The Harsh Light of Day,
written and directed by Oliver S. Milburn,
scheduled to debut next month at the
Cinequest Film Festival.
Martin Scorsese was
originally attached
to direct Marley.
and Tuff Gong Pictures
produced, in association with
Cowboy Films, what is billed as
the definitive film about one of
the biggest international icons
of the 20th Century.
On announcing the deal,
Driessen said, “Bob Marley is
one of a very few true international
icons. His image, music
and messages of love and peace
have crossed borders, boundaries
and cultures and are as relevant
in the world today as ever.
We are extremely happy that
the team at Universal share our
passion for the subject matter
and see the potential for this
landmark project.” thr
Young Departs
Taormina
By Eric J. Lyman
RoME — Deborah Young announced
Thursday she would be leaving her role
as artistic director for the Taormina Film
Festival after a successful five-year tenure.
Young, who had doubled as the Chief
European Film Critic for The Hollywood
Reporter, will take on a larger role with
the publication, as its International
Film Editor.
Young said her departure was due to
“incompatible views” with the Taormina
Arte Committee, which is the oversight
body for the 58-year-old Sicily-based event.
A spokesperson for Taormina Arte said
they did not ask Young to leave and said
that the problem was agreeing to terms for
a new contract with the festival despite a
dramatically reduced budget.
Young said she will immediately assume
her increased role at THR.
thr thr
day2_news.inddA.indd 2 2/9/12 8:56 PM