|
Also, daß es bei IM langweilig wird kann man nicht sagen : Hackman to top "Mooseport" ticket for Fox Mon Mar 17, 2:34 AM ET By Michael Fleming NEW YORK (Variety) - Veteran actor Gene Hackman (news) has been elected by 20th Century Fox to play a former president running for mayor in a big-screen political comedy titled "Mooseport." Hackman has met director Donald Petrie, and negotiations are under way for him to star in the film alongside Ray Romano (news) from the CBS hit sitcom "Everybody Loves Raymond (news - Y! TV)." Hackman would play a former U.S. president who leaves the White House to retire in a small Northeastern coastal town. There, he`s implored by his new neighbors to fill a mayoral seat that has suddenly become vacant. Just to keep things honest, a local hardware store owner (Romano) runs against him. The ex-president turns the election into a full-scale battle. Intermedia is producing the film. Tom Schulman ("Dead Poets Society"), who wrote the script, will be a producer. Reuters/Variety HOWITT NEAR DEAL TO DIRECT BROSNAN-MOORE ROMANCE NEW YORK (Variety) - Peter Howitt is near a deal to direct "Laws of Attraction," a romantic comedy to star Pierce Brosnan (news) and Julianne Moore (news). Howitt, best known for "Sliding Doors," replaces Michael Caton-Jones, who dropped out of the project last week. Co-financiers Intermedia and Stratus Films were eager to hire a director quickly to keep the film on track for its June 16 start date. While his representatives made his deal, Howitt was booking passage to Ireland to get started. Intermedia looks to "T3" to keep momentum Fri Mar 14, 3:40 AM ET By Dana Harris HOLLYWOOD (Variety) - Intermedia sprinted to the finish line last year, but whether it can keep up the pace this year will depend on the box office power of the "Terminator." "We`re making as much as we`re spending for the first time," said Intermedia chairman and CEO Moritz Borman. "The fourth quarter has stopped the bleeding." Internationalmedia AG -- which owns production and finance companies Intermedia and IEG -- should end fourth quarter 2002 with operating cash flow of $3 million and revenues of more than $100 million, according to preliminary figures released Thursday. Between them, the two companies produced five major films last year, including "Gangs of New York," "Adaptation" and "The Quiet American." But for the year as a whole, Intermedia and IEG lost money. While 2002 revenue was up 50 percent to $260 million, losses increased. In 2001, the parent company finished the year with negative operating cash flow of $5.3 million. For 2002, cash flow was a negative $29 million. In addition, there`s a $70 million one-time, non-cash write-off that stems from Internationalmedia`s acquisition of wholly owned subsidiaries International Media Fund I and production company Pacifica. Audited final 2002 financials will be released March 27. The principal determinant of Intermedia`s fate in 2003 will be the box office performance of Arnold Schwarzenegger (news) reprising his role as the Terminator. By far the biggest film of its seven slated for release this year, "Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines" cost at least $170 million to produce, and Intermedia sacrificed upfront fees in exchange for a bigger chunk of back end. Warner Bros. will release it in North America July 2, with the rest of the world rolling out later that month through Columbia Pictures. There`s a veritable laundry list of reasons why Intermedia lost money last year: Buyers paid less for movies, the international exchange rate didn`t work in its favors, film starts and film releases were postponed, more films went into development and even the process of cutting back cost money. The year began with a near-merger with Spyglass Entertainment that ended with an embarrassing fizzle two months later. In May, Guy East and Nigel Sinclair left their Intermedia executive posts to take a production deal at the company they co-founded, with Borman becoming the company`s sole chairman. `K-19` SINKS The summer of 2002 also brought "K-19: The Widowmaker," a nuclear submarine disaster movie that earned just $35 million domestic gross. And with the share price of Neuer Markt-traded Internationalmedia stock hovering around $3, observers began to anticipate that Intermedia might similarly go underwater. However, the company also had its share of good news. IEG had an $100 million international hit with "Gangs of New York," while Intermedia also collected kudos for "Adaptation" and "The Quiet American." All three were fourth quarter 2002 releases. Internationalmedia`s early 2002 acquisition of Graham King`s financing and sales company IEG also proved shrewd, as the company`s 50 percent increase in revenues for 2002 stemmed directly from IEG. TRIMMING OVERHEAD Intermedia also made cutbacks in a much-needed move to reduce overhead. In addition to cutting its employee headcount by about 20 percent, only Mark Johnson`s Grand Via and Outlaw Prods. remain from the 11 production deals it had a year ago. The third is East and Sinclair`s Spitfire. "These are deals we want to keep," Borman said, "and no, we`re not looking for more at the moment." Most recently, worldwide marketing and distribution prexy Jere Hausfater exited the company when Intermedia merged its sales operations with those of Summit Entertainment to form I.S. Film Distribution, a move that reduced overhead costs for both companies. Borman said the company would "clearly expect to have a positive result this year." Lined up for release are "Basic" starring John Travolta (news), "Mindhunters" starring Christian Slater (news) and "Suspect Zero" starring Ben Kingsley (news). Intermedia has six other major productions slated to begin this year, including Oliver Stone (news)`s "Alexander," starring Colin Farrell (news), "Aviator" starring Leonardo DiCaprio (news), "Me Again" starring Bruce Willis (news) and "Laws of Attraction" starring Pierce Brosnan (news). Reuters/Variety |
|
| aus der Diskussion: | IEM - der ultimative rebound thread ............................ |
| Autor (Datum des Eintrages): | ShareluckHolmes (19.03.03 13:42:50) |
| Beitrag: | 107 von 11,290 (ID:8927989) |
| Alle Angaben ohne Gewähr © wallstreetONLINE | |