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June 2003 Script Sales
Good Luck Chuck
Writer: Josh Stolberg
Buyer: New Line
Purchase Price: Mid-six figures
Producer: Mike Karz
Logline: About a man who breaks up with his longtime girlfriend only to see her get engaged to the next guy she dates. The same pattern occurs with his next girlfriend and continues to repeat. All of a sudden, he finds himself becoming a lucky charm for women, who all want to date him, and a comedy of errors ensues.
Pretty Ugly
Writer: Andrea King
Buyer: Walt Disney Pics.
Producer: David Hoberman
Logline: Follows a suave, good-looking guy who wakes up one day ugly and socially inept and must get a kiss from a woman he once scorned in order to get his looks back.
Side Note: Disney purchased this Andrea King script with Mandeville Films attached to produce. Mandeville president Todd Lieberman will exec produce.
Prince Charming
Writer: David Titcher, Diane Saltzburg
Buyer: MGM
Purchase Price: Low-six figures/mid-six
Producer: Charles Shyer, David Hoberman, Ashok Amritraj, Robert Kosberg Logline: Features Snow White, Cinderella and Sleeping Beauty competing for the affections of Prince Charming.
Side Note: Charles Shyer is attached to direct and produce. Mandeville Films will produce for MGM.
Ask The Dust
Writer: Robert Towne
Author: John Fante
Buyer: Paramount
Producer: Tom Cruise, Paula Wagner, Jonas McCord
Logline: Follows a pair of immigrants whose chase of the American dream in 1930s L.A. leads them to each other. Farrell will play Arturo Bandini, a first generation Italian hoping to land a writing career and a blue-eyed blonde on his arm. Mendes plays Camilla, a fiery Mexican beauty who hopes to rise above her station by marrying an American.
Side Note: Robert Towne will direct. Colin Farrell will star with Eva Mendes. Based on the 1939 John Fante novel.
The Da Vinci Code
Author: Dan Brown
Buyer: Columbia Pics.
Purchase Price: Seven-figures
Logline: Centers on the murder of a curator at the Louvre and clues to a 2,000-year-old conspiracy encoded in the paintings of Leonardo Da Vinci.
Side Note: Published March, 2003 by Doubleday. Deal includes a 3rd book in the Robert Langdon series as well, which is in the works.
Drawn
Writer: Rand Ravich
Buyer: Lions Gate Films
Producer: Nick Wechsler, Lorenzo di Bonaventura
Logline: A man whose obsession with artistic success leads him to make choices that may trigger the emergence of ultimate evil.
Side Note: Lions Gate is negotiating to obtain this script. Eli Roth is attached to direct. Industry Entertainment's Nick Wechsler and Di Bonaventura Pictures' Lorenzo di Bonaventura are producing. $10-20 million budget range.
Eternal Darkness: Sanity's Requiem
Buyer: Hypnotic
Logline: Story is about an awakened ancient race and a dozen humans chosen to decide the destiny of their species. Each character must face their worst fears in defeating the evil race
Side Note: Nintendo of America Inc. and Hypnotic will collaborate to bring Nintendo's popular game to the big screen.
The Eye
Writer: Ryne Pearson
Buyer: Paramount
Producer: Tom Cruise, Paula Wagner, Peter Chan
Logline: A blind girl who, after receiving a cornea transplant, begins to see ghosts among the living. She sets out to uncover the origins of her cornea and the nefarious history of its donor.
Side Note: Remake rights for the Hong Kong set movie that debuted at the Toronto Film Fest. Ryne Pearson has been hired to adapt the remake.
IQ 83
Writer: David Frankel
Author: Arthur Herzog
Buyer: DreamWorks
Producer: Andrew Lazar
Logline: Tells the story of a virus that causes everyone's IQ to drop and of the virus' creator, who must find a cure before his own mind decays.
Side Note: David Frankel will rewrite and direct this project based on the book by Arthur Herzog. Andrew Lazar is producing through his Mad Chance Prods.
Little Black Book
Writer: Elisa Bell
Buyer: Revolution Studios
Producer: Elaine Goldsmith-Thomas, Deborah Schindler, William Sherak, Jason Shuman, Rachel Horovitz
Logline: Story is about a woman who interviews her commitment-phobic boyfriend's past love interests to find out why the relationships didn't work out.
Side Note: Nick Hurran will direct. Film will star Julianne Nicholson, Brittany Murphy, Kathy Bates, Holly Hunter and Ron Livingston.
Potsdamer Platz
Writer: Louis Mellis, David Scinto
Author: Buddy Giovinazzo
Buyer: Fox Searchlight
Producer: Tony Scott, Catalaine Knell
Logline: Centers on the inter-gang turf wars that raged in Berlin in the 1980's when the wall came down.
Side Note: Tony Scott will produce and direct. Louis Mellis and David Scinto will adapt for Fox Searchlight. Director Tony Scott will also be involved in the development of the $15m project. Searchlight executive vice president of production Claudia Lewis is overseeing the project for Searchlight and Catalaine Knell is producing.
A Tale of Two Sisters
Writer: Craig Rosenberg
Buyer: DreamWorks
Producer: Walter Parkes, Laurie MacDonald
Logline: Two girls go to live with their unbalanced stepmother after recovering from an unnamed illness.
Side Note: DreamWorks has secured the remake rights to this Korean picture and Craig Rosenberg has been tapped to adapt.
Tarzan
Writer: August, John
Buyer: Warner Bros.
Purchase Price: Seven-figures
Producer: Jerry Weintraub, Alan Riche, Tony Ludwig
Logline: This version of Tarzan will be more in keeping with the Tarzan that Edgar Rice Borroughs envisioned in his novel from 1912. The Jane character will also undergo some changes so that she's not the helpless woman she's usually portrayed as.
Back To School
Buyer: MGM
Logline: Rich, obnoxious dad enrolls in college in order to encourage his son to do the same.
Side Note: Dangerfield will not be reprising the same role in the new film. Instead he will be playing a cameo and getting a producer credit. The comedian had retained rights to the original, shared with MGM when it bought the Orion library, so the two cut a deal for a remake
Everest
Writer: Michael Cristofer
Buyer: Universal/Working Title Films
Producer: Tim Bevin, Eric Fellner
Logline: Based on the disastrous climb of Mount Everest which took place May 10, 1996, when three expeditions were hit by a ferocious blizzard at nightfall. Eight people were left dead by the storm. The drama will be interspersed with the stories of loved ones waiting to see who makes it down the mountain.
Side Note: Universal and Working Title are planning on bringing this true story to the screen. Stephen Daldry will direct from a Michael Cristofer script. Cristofer and Daldry are working from their own research and interviews.
Gregoire Moulin Against Humanity
Buyer: Universal
Producer: Lauren Shuler Donner, Seann William Scott
Logline: A fish-out-of-water romantic comedy in which a man must find the love of his life during the pandemonium of soccer's World Cup.
Side Note: Remake of the 2001 French feature. The project is out to writers to adapt. Seann William Scott attached to star and produce.
Pippin
Buyer: Miramax
Logline: Follows the story of Pippin, the son of Charlemagne, ruler of the ninth century Holy Roman Empire. After experimenting with sex and politics and experiencing the lessons of war, Pippin learns that the meaning of life lies in true love.
Side Note: Debuted on Broadway in 1972. The original was directed and choreographed by Bob Fosse and written by Roger Hirson.
The Dinner Party
Writer: Jay Scherick, David Ronn
Buyer: Columbia Pics.
Producer: Betty Thomas, Jenno Topping, Steven Greener, Erwin Stoff, Ashton Kutcher, Jason Goldberg
Logline: Story is about a man marrying a black woman whose father is having difficulty coming to terms with the marriage.
Side Note: Ashton Kutcher and Bernie Mac to star. Tall Trees Prods., 3 Arts Entertainment and Ashton's Kutcher's Katalyst Films producing. Shooting will begin this spring.
The Forgotten
Writer: Gerald Di Pego
Buyer: Revolution Studios
Purchase Price: Seven figures
Producer: Todd Garner
Logline: Moore will play Telly Paretta, a grieving mother struggling to cope with the loss of her 8-year-old son. She is stunned when her psychiatrist tells her she has created eight years of memories of a son she never had. But when she meets a fellow patient, Ash Corell (West), who has a similar experience, Telly sets out to prove her son's existence -- and her sanity.
Side Note: Dominic West has signed on to star. Julianne Moore will star opposite West. Joseph Ruben will direct.
Team America
Writer: Trey Parker, Matt Stone, Pam Brady
Buyer: Paramount/Scott Rudin Prods.
Producer: Scott Rudin
Logline: The film will center on superheroes on a mission to eradicate such things as terrorism and certain celebrities who have outworn their welcome in the public eye.
Side Note: From Trey Parker and Matt Stone, the team will film the movie using only wooden marionettes.
Damn Yankees
Buyer: Miramax
Producer: Neil Meron, Craig Zadan
Logline: The story of a die-hard Washington Senators fan who sells his soul to the devil so his team can finally topple the New York Yankees and win the pennant.
Side Note: The musical debuted in 1955 and was originally brought to the screen in 1958. Miramax Films co-chairman Harvey Weinstein acquired rights to the 1955 musical.
Grown Ups
Writer: Ian Deitchman, Kristin Rusk Robinson
Buyer: Columbia Pics.
Producer: Ricky Strauss
Logline: About the overprotective parents of a 13-year-old boy who find themselves transformed into youngsters and enroll into their son's school.
Side Note: Ricky Strauss and his Sony-based Ricochet Ent. will produce for Columbia. Pre-emptive purchase for Columbia.
The Nomad
Buyer: Kazakhstan Government
Producer: Rustam Ibragimbekov, Pavel Douvidzon
Logline: Set in 18th-century Kazakhstan, "The Nomad" tells the story of a boy who is destined to one day unite the three warring tribes of Kazakhstan.
Side Note: Rustam Ibragimbekov will write and produce. Budget will be $20 mil.-$30 mil. Ivan Passer will direct. The government of Kazakhstan and is seeking distribution. Principal photography is scheduled to begin in Kazakhstan in August.
Dali
Writer: Jeremy Walters
Buyer: Simon West Prods.
Purchase Price: Low-six figures/Mid-six figures
Producer: Simon West, Jib Polhemus
Logline: Spanish-born Dali was a proponent of the surrealist art movement whose marriage to mentally unstable Gala thrust the couple into frequent scandals and trouble. In Hollywood, he worked with Disney and Alfred Hitchcock but fell out of favor for his racist views and fascination with the fascist leaders of the time.
Side Note: Simon West will direct. West paid a low-mid-six figure option for the film rights to Jeremy Walters script.
End Of The Road
Writer: Tag Mendillo, Ric Roman Waugh
Buyer: Twentieth Century Fox
Producer: Mark Gordon
Logline: A former stuntman must make a frenetic cross country trek in his vintage muscle car to save a friend from meeting his end at the hands of the Mob.
Side Note: TV director Nelson McCormick will direct.
Diving Bell and the Butterfly
Writer: Ronald Harwood
Author: Jean-Dominique Bauby
Buyer: Universal
Producer: Kathleen Kennedy, Frank Marshall
Logline: Story of one-time editor-in-chief of French magazine Elle, who, after a 1995 stroke left him completely paralyzed, wrote his memoirs by blinking his left eye in an alphabet code.
Side Note: Assignment for Ronald Harwood to adapt the Jean-Dominique Bauby's memoirs.
Prisoner
Writer: Robert Lynn
Buyer: Splendid Pics.
Logline: While scouting locations for his next film, a Hollywood director is taken hostage in an abandoned prison.
Side Note: Joe Otting will direct. Both Lynn and Otting were chosen as finalists for the second installment of Project Greenlight, the filmmaking contest run by Ben Affleck and Matt Damon.
Untitled Charles Dickens Project
Writer: Samantha Silva
Buyer: New Line
Producer: Samantha Silva, Michael Hoffman, Lynn Harris
Logline: Described as a heartwarming and comedic take on the events and inspiration surrounding Dickens as he writes "A Christmas Carol." As he struggles to write the book, he falls in love with a woman who turns out to be a ghost.
Side Note: To be directed by Michael Hoffman who is married to the screenwriter Samantha Silva.
A Way Through The Woods
Writer: Julian Fellowes
Author: Nigel Balchin
Buyer: Celador Prods.
Logline: A married couple's lives are complicated after a third party enters the picture.
Side Note: Rupert Everett, Emily Watson and Tom Wilkinson to star in this British production to be directed by first-time director Julian Fellowes (Oscar winning writer of Gosford Park).
3:10 To Yuma
Writer: Michael Brandt, Derek Haas
Buyer: Columbia Pics.
Producer: Kathy Conrad, James Mangold
Logline: The story of a small-time rancher who, in need of money, agrees to hold a captured outlaw leader awaiting a train to go to court in Yuma. A battle of wills ensues as the outlaw tries to psych the rancher out.
Side Note: Remake of the 1957 Western. James Mangold will direct and produce with his wife Kathy Konrad.
A Cold Case
Writer: Philip Gourevitch
Buyer: Universal/Playtone Co.
Producer: Tom Hanks, Gary Goetzman
Logline: Centers on New York City District Attorney's chief investigator Andy Rosenzweig, who, before retiring, vows to solve the 27-year-old murder of a friend that has haunted him his entire career.
Side Note: Article appeared in an issue of New Yorker Magazine. Hanks will play the lead. Eric Roth will adapt, Mark Romanek will direct.
The Glass Gun
Writer: Brian Horiuchi
Buyer: Bull's Eye Ent.
Producer: Cathy Schulman, Bob Yari, Tom Nunan
Logline: Revolves around a man plunged into a mystery in which he must discover who is responsible for killing the friends he cares most about.
House of D
Writer: David Duchovny
Buyer: Ovation Ent.
Producer: Richard B Lewis, Bob Yari, Jane Rosenthal
Logline: The multilayered story of a man coming to terms with his past and his present and resolving his relationships with the people who helped make him who he is. Williams will play the lead character, with much of the story being told through flashbacks to his childhood.
Side Note: David Duchovny's writing and directing debut. He will appear in the film with Tyler Hoechlin, Robin Williams and Tea Leoni. It is expected to begin production this September.
Piccadilly Jim
Writer: Julian Fellowes
Author: P.G. Wodehouse
Buyer: Mission Pictures
Logline: Centers on an American rogue named Jim Crocker in 1930s London and New York whose antics upset his social-climbing stepmother and scares off the girl of his dreams.
Side Note: Sam Rockwell has been cast in the lead. Tom Wilkinson will also star. John McKay will direct. Julian Fellowes adapted the P.G. Wodehouse comic novel. Production is scheduled to begin in October.
Second Coming
Writer: Ian Corson
Buyer: Castle Rock
Purchase Price: Six-figures
Logline: About a recently paroled thief who finds himself entrusted with guarding a boy believed to be a clone of Jesus Christ.
Side Note: Loosely based on an original story idea by James Woods. First draft by Ian Corson likely to be delivered this summer.
Color Me Kubrick
Writer: Anthony Frewin
Buyer: Studio Hamburg
Logline: Based on events during the shooting of 'Eyes Wide Shut' in London from 1998-99, when a man pretending to be the legendary director got into many of the city's most exclusive parties, restaurants and nightclubs. Playing on his willing victims' star-struck desire to believe, he was successful despite bearing no resemblance to Kubrick.
Side Note: John Malkovich has signed to play the lead. Kubrick's longtime assistant, Anthony Frewin wrote the script. Brian Cook, a Kubrick crew member on 'Eyes Wide Shut' is set to direct.
Ghosts of Girlfriends Past
Writer: John Lucas, Scott Moore
Buyer: Walt Disney Pics.
Producer: Chris Moore, Sean Bailey, Jon Shestack
Logline: Centers on a bachelor who goes to his younger brother's wedding, where he is visited by the ghosts of his past girlfriends.
Side Note: Ben Affleck is about to sign on to star pending the hiring of a director. Chris Moore and Sean Bailey from Live Planet will produce for Disney.
Mark Twain Remembers
Writer: Ronald Harwood
Author: Thomas Hauser
Buyer: DreamWorks
Producer: Bonnie Curtis, Jonathan Schwartz, Jim Lampley, Stephen Ricci
Logline: Story is about a 20-year-old Samuel Clemens as he sets off from Missouri and meets up with a slave boxer and his master/promoter. The experience awakens the abolitionist spirit in the young author that would play a big part in books like "Huck Finn." Clemens becomes determined to free the slave, but when his scheme is successful, the slave's ex-master attempts to win him back by rigging a bare-knuckle brawl against a larger and more experienced opponent.
Side Note: Ronald Harwood to adapt the novel by Thomas Hauser. James Franco will star.
Sex Talk
Writer: Lowell Ganz, Babaloo Mandell
Buyer: New Line
Producer: Suzanne Todd, Jennifer Todd, Lynn Harris
Logline: Centers on a sports reporter who finds popularity by applying sports terminology and strategy to solve the problems people have with their sex lives.
Side Note: Team Todd will produce for New Line and Ben Affleck is set to star. Lowell Ganz and Babaloo Mandel did a rewrite of the Tempest Farley and Analisa LaBianco script. Project is being overseen for New Line by production execs Stokely Chaffin, Renee Witt and Jeff Katz.
National Lampoon's Back To College
Writer: Craig Moss, Steven Schoenburg
Buyer: Emmett- Furler Films/National Lampoon
Producer: Randall Emmett, George Furla
Logline: Experiences of Emmett/Furla Films' Randall Emmett and George Furla spent fall 1999 posing as students at Auburn University.
Side Note: Writers Craig Moss and Steven Schoenburg are in final negotiations to write the script.
Paper Dragon
Writer: Joshua Stern
Buyer: Gitlin Productions
Producer: Mimi Polk Gitlin
Logline: Follows a boy who is a Rubik's Cube champ and computer whiz. Given an ancient Asian puzzle box, he finds a folded Chinese warrior inside that magically comes to life. The boy and the warrior embark on adventure.
Side Note: Based on a treatment by Andy Theo. Sue Choi who brought the treatment to producer Gitlin will also produce.
Ride Along
Writer: Greg Coolidge
Buyer: New Line
Producer: Larry Brezner, Walter Hamada
Logline: Centers on a risk-averse second-grade teacher who plans on marrying the girl of his dreams but first must accompany his overprotective future brother-in-law -- a tough, badass cop -- on a ride-along from hell.
Side Note: Described as a comedic take on "Training Day".
Thumbsucker
Writer: Mike Mills
Author: Walter Kirn
Buyer: Bull's Eye Ent.
Producer: Anthony Bergman, Bob Stephenson
Logline: Story of an anxious teen with a serious thumb-sucking habit. In desperation, he turns to the only sensible people he knows: an orthodontist and a high school debate coach.
Side Note: Bullseye Ent. will finance and produce this ensemble piece to star Matthew McConaughey, Vincent D'Onofrio, Keanu Reeves and Tilda Swinton. Shooting begins July 9 in Oregon. Mike Mills will make his feature directing debut. The film will be produced by This is That Inc.'s Anthony Bregman and Bob Stephenson of Cinema-Go-Go.
Boomerang
Writer: Dennis Osborne
Buyer: Walt Disney Pics.
Purchase Price: Low-six figures/high-six figures
Producer: Jennifer Simpson, Reese Witherspoon
Logline: An unorthodox coming of age about a young woman's journey into adulthood.
Side Note: Disney previously had this script under option in 1999 but let it lapse. Screenwriter Dennis Osborne will co-produce. Reese Witherspoon will star and produce through her company Type A Films.
Taxi
Writer: Tina Chisolm
Buyer: Twentieth Century Fox
Logline: Pizza delivery boy puts his record for the speediest deliveries to use and becomes a taxi driver. Renowned for driving his fares at 135mph through 30mph zones, he's finally caught by the police. In hopes of not losing his license and his job, he agrees to help a loser inspector who's on the track of bank robbers.
Side Note: Remake of the French Luc Besson film. Tim Story will direct and Queen Latifah will star. Fox execs decided to change the lead character's gender to accommodate Queen Latifah. Tina Chisolm did a rewrite of the Tom Lennon/Robert Ben Garant script. Film will shoot in New York in the fall.
Emma's War: An Aid Worker, a Warlord, Radical Islam, and the Politics of Oil--A True Story of Love and Death in Sudan
Writer: Steve Knight
Author: Deborah Scroggins
Buyer: Twentieth Century Fox
Producer: Jules Daly, Kathleen Kennedy, Tony Scott
Logline: Centers on the real-life story of a young British woman, to be played by Kidman, who moves to the Sudan to become an aid worker. She then falls in love with a Sudanese warlord in the midst of civil war.
Side Note: Tony Scott will direct, Nicole Kidman will star. Tony Scott's company Scott Free will produce with Kennedy/Marshall. Lloyd Phillips will exec produce.
Criminal Macabre
Writer: Steve Niles
Buyer: MGM
Purchase Price: mid six-low seven figures
Producer: Mike Richardson, Barry Levine
Logline: Life and career of supernatural private eye Cal MacDonald, who doubles as a hit man, ridding contemporary Los Angeles of its underbelly of monsters, ghouls and vampires who live among the humans and come out at night.
Side Note: Pre-emptive purchase for this five part comic book series from Dark Horse comics. Steve Niles created the comic book and will adapt. Dark Horse topper Mike Richardson producing along with Barry Levine.
The Transformers
Buyer: Angry Films
Producer: Don Murphy, Tom DeSanto
Logline: An intergalactic war between two races of robots: the heroic Autobots and the evil Decepticons. When their fight comes to Earth, the future of humanity inevitably hangs in the balance.
Side Note: Feature based on the Hasbro action toy figures. DeSanto is currently working on a story treatment for the project before he and Murphy hire a screenwriter to adapt it for the big screen.
Mr. Peabody & Sherman
Buyer: Sprocketdyne/Bullwinkle Studios
Producer: Rob Minkoff, Jason Clark, Tiffany Ward
Logline: The tale of a brilliant dog and his pet boy who time travel via their "wayback machine".
Side Note: Rob Minkoff's company Sprocketdyne Entertainment is teaming with Bullwinkle Studios to produce for Sony. Classic Media's Eric Ellenbogen and Bob Higgins will exec produce. Minkoff and Sprocketdyne's Jason Clark will produce the pic with Tiffany Ward.
Used Guys
Writer: David Guion, Michael Handelman
Buyer: DreamWorks
Logline: Based in the future when women rule the Earth. Stiller and Vaughn play two men facing extinction thanks to technological innovations.
Side Note: Originally penned by Mickey Birnbaum, the script is being rewritten by David Guion and Michael Handelman. Ben Stiller and Vince Vaughn will star. Jay Roach will direct.
City On Fire
Author: Bill Minutaglio
Buyer: Paramount/CW Prods.
Producer: Tom Cruise, Paula Wagner
Logline: The story of the cataclysmic 1947 industrial accident in Texas City, Texas, which led to the first civil class action suit against the U.S. government. The coastal town, which was virtually leveled by the explosion of two ships carrying a huge cargo of ammonium nitrate. Close to 700 people died.
Side Note: Option of Bill Minutaglio's book "City on Fire: The Forgotten Disaster That Devastated a Town and Ignited a Landmark Legal Battle." C/W Prods., which has a first-look deal at Paramount, optioned the book using its discretionary fund. It's not yet clear whether Cruise is considering an acting role in the project.
Black Cloud
Writer: Rick Schroder
Buyer: High Maintenance Films/Old Post Films
Producer: Rick Schroder, Karen Beninati, David Moore
Logline: An inspirational story about a Native American boxer facing personal challenges as he comes to terms with his heritage while fighting his way for a spot on the U.S. Olympic boxing team.
Side Note: Rick Schroder will make his directing debut. Singer Tim McGraw will star. Russell Means, Wayne Knight and Peter Greene will also star with Native American newcomer Eddie Spears playing the title role of boxer Black Cloud. McGraw will also provide original songs for the soundtrack. Schroder will make a cameo appearance.
National Lampoon's Bouncers
Buyer: Silver Nitrate/Street Alien Pictures
Producer: Angad Paul
Logline: Story will focus on the club scene in New York City.
Side Note: Part of a four picture deal that National Lampoon made with Silver Nitrate and Street Alien Pictures. Full Force will produce and one of its members B-Fine will direct and play a role. First of four comedy films, to be produced and distributed by the partners.
One Wild Night
Writer: Dylan Kidd, Jon Bon Jovi
Buyer: Universal
Producer: Anne Chaisson
Logline: Story centers on four wealthy couples who indulge in a night of spouse-swapping and afterwards see their lives and marriages shaken.
Side Note: Rewrite of the Dario Scardapane script by Dylan Kidd who will also direct. Bon Jovi will share writing credit. Script was based on a pitch that was made by Jon Bon Jovi who will also star.
Rad Brad, Modern Warrior
Writer: Philip Stark
Buyer: New Line
Producer: Jack Black
Logline: Centers on the title character being recruited to save the world from a rogue military faction that has developed a robot with superhuman destructive powers.
Side Note: Stark will write the screenplay. Jack Black will produce and might play the lead.
Rampart Scandal
Writer: Sylvester Stallone
Buyer: Franchise Pictures
Producer: Elie Samaha, Jeff Wald, Mark Skelly
Logline: Film will detail the investigations of the murders of Tupac and the Notorious B.I.G., and the Rampart scandal which exposed corruption within the Robbery-Homicide Division of the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD).
Side Note: Stallone, who will write, direct, and star in the movie, will play the role of Russell Poole, the real life detective who was assigned to investigate the murder of the Notorious B.I.G., and who subsequently resigned and sued the LAPD. Production is slated to begin on the film on September 1.
Silverfish
Writer: Neil Elman
Buyer: Splendid Pics.
Purchase Price: Low-six figures/mid-six
Producer: Vince Newman, Tucker Tooley, Andreas Klein, David Glasser
Logline: Revolves around a high-tech, high-stakes gambling ring that arranges early prison releases for the fiercest of convicts. The ex-cons are then trained in martial arts weapons combat, transformed into modern-day gladiators and pitted against one another in arenas that turn the island of Manhattan into a modern-day Roman coliseum.
Side Note: Newman-Tooley will produce as part of its first-look deal with Splendid.
Davis/Simone Project
Writer: Nick Davis, J.J. Simone
Buyer: John Wells Prods./Killer Films
Producer: John Wells, Pam Koffler, Nick Davis
Logline: Snow White, Cinderella and Sleeping Beauty are transplanted by a fairy godmother from Happily Ever After Land to modern-day New York in order to grow up. While coming to grips with metropolitan life, they unlock their inner action-heroines and set about saving the universe from evil.
Side Note: Newman/Tooley Films brought the project to Splendid through its first-look deal with the company.
Flash
Buyer: MGM
Producer: Cedric the Entertainer/Eric Rhone
Logline: Centering on Coach Levels (Cedric), who leads a group of athletes both on and off the playing field. He forms a tight bond with one of the kids -- a young thug named Andy -- and tries to teach him a lesson, only to wind up learning one himself.
Side Note: Pitch by Cedric the Entertainer who will star and produce. A writer will be hired shortly to be fast-tracked at the studio. Bird and a Bear Prods. owned by Cedric the Entertainer will produce for MGM.
A Life Aquatic
Writer: Wes Anderson, Noah Baumbach
Buyer: Walt Disney Pics.
Producer: Wes Anderson, Barry Mandel, Scott Rudin
Logline: The story of oceanographer Steve Zissou and his crew and their misadventures in deep-sea exploration.
Side Note: Budget will be in the $20mil.-$30 mil. range. Bill Murray, Anjelica Huston, Owen Wilson, Jeff Goldblum, Peter Stormare and Bud Cort will star. Wes Anderson who wrote the script with Noah Baumbach will direct. To be filmed on location in Italy and at Cinecitta Studios in Rome and begins shooting in September.
Lover's Leap
Buyer: Regency Enterprises
Producer: Ron Bass, Amy Lanier
Logline: A butler with an enigmatic past makes contact with a young woman to give her the "once-over" for his wealthy employer, to whom he is more like an adviser than a servant. The butler develops a friendship with the woman and begins to fall in love with her.
Side Note: Assignment for Nigel Cole to direct. Produced by Pierce Brosnan and Beau St. Clair's Irish Dreamtime.
Luke Cage
Writer: Ben Ramsey
Buyer: Columbia Pics.
Producer: Avi Arad
Logline: About a former gang member who is framed for a crime. In prison, he volunteers for a medical experiment that goes awry, giving him
super-strength and bulletproof skin. Using his newfound powers, Cage escapes and becomes a hero for hire.
Side Note: Purchase from Marvel Studios. Neal Moritz's studio-based Original Films to produce.
Four Christmases
Writer: Matt Allen, Caleb Wilson
Buyer: Spyglass Ent.
Purchase Price: mid-six/seven figures
Producer: Roger Birnbaum, Gary Barber, Jonathan Glickman
Logline: Centers on a young married couple from two divorced families; on Christmas Day, they must hit all four holiday celebrations.
Side Note: Derek Evans from Spyglasss will co-produce. This was a preemptive purchase. Spyglass is expected to fast-track the project with the goal of getting the film out in time for Christmas 2004. It will first go to DreamWorks Pictures, where Spyglass has a first-look deal.
Fun With Dick and Jane
Writer: Peter Tolan
Buyer: Columbia
Producer: Brian Grazer
Logline: Original movie was about an upper middle-class couple who turn to pulling heists to pay the bills.
Side Note: Remake of the 1977 film that starred Jane Fonda and George Segal. Jim Carrey will star in the remake. The film will be directed by Barry Sonnenfeld and produced by Brian Glazer.
Risk Addiction
Writer: Henry Bean, Leora Barish
Buyer: MGM
Logline: Centers on a female photographer and how she manipulates a male psychologist/psychiatrist who has been assigned to her case.
Side Note: Once billed as the sequel to 'Basic Instinct', the project is now being fashioned as a stand-alone psychological sexual thriller and is gearing up to start production in the fall. Lee Tamahori will direct.
A Capella
Writer: Matt Eddy, Billy Eddy
Buyer: Walt Disney Pics.
Producer: Chris Weitz, Paul Weitz
Logline: Story revolves around a group of eclectic misfits who re-form their disbanded a cappella singing group at their college.
Side Note: Chris and Paul Weitz's Depth of Field to produce. Brad Epstein will oversee with director of production LouAnne Brickhouse.
Buzz Kill
Writer: Tom Astle, Matt Ember
Buyer: Twentieth Century Fox Searchlight
Producer: Ed Decter, John J. Strauss
Logline: Described as being in the same vein as 'Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure'.
Side Note: Frontier Pics. will produce for Searchlight.
Devil May Cry
Buyer: Gaga Communications
Logline: Based on an action game whose half-human and half-demon hero battles monsters in the human world together with a female companion.
Side Note: Video game from Capcom to be developed into a live-action feature film. The estimated budget for the film is $40 million with a planned release date of 2005. Director and cast announcements are pending.
Extortion
Writer: John Jarrell
Buyer: Universal
Producer: Neal Moritz
Logline: A street-hardened detective risks blowing his cover when he investigates his foster brother's murder. In order to solve the crime, he must infiltrate the gang of a notorious drug lord.
Side Note: Model/R&B singer Tyrese wrote this treatment, will star and exec produce. Filming is expected to begin later this year.
Westworld
Writer: John Brancato, Michael Ferris
Buyer: Warner Bros.
Producer: Jerry Weintraub, Arnold Schwarzenegger
Logline: A futuristic theme park full of robots made to look like cowboys. People pay a fee to get to experience life in the old west but things don't always turn out as planned; especially when a computer malfunctions and the robots go berserk.
Side Note: Arnold Schwarzenegger will star as one of the guests of the resort and produce with Jerry Weintraub.
Arthur Spiderwick's Guide to the Fantastic World Around You
Writer: David Berenbaum
Buyer: Paramount
Producer: Ellen Goldsmith-Vein, Mark Canton, Albie Hecht
Logline: The stories center on boy twins and their older teenaged sister who find an alternate world of fairies and goblins in their great-uncle's rundown house.
Side Note: David Berenbaum will write the script and is expected to cover the first three books, written by fantasy writer Holly Black and writer-illustrator Tony DiTerlizzi. Nickelodeon and APG will produce for Paramount. Julia Pistor from Nickelodeon will exec produce.
Assault on Precinct 13
Writer: James DeMonaco
Buyer: Focus Features
Logline: The 1976 "Assault" took place in an isolated, nearly abandoned Los Angeles police station, in which officers, staff and prisoners are forced to negotiate a partnership when a vengeful street gang lays siege to the building. The new version transports the story to the present day, in a police precinct made obsolete by the industrialization of its surroundings.
Side Note: Focus Features will team with Stephane Sperry's Liaisons Films and Why Not Productions on an updated U.S. version of John Carpenter's cult classic.
It's Not Unusual
Writer: Jeff Franklin
Buyer: New Line
Purchase Price: Mid-six figures
Producer: Jeff Franklin, Bill Strauss
Logline: Set in 1969 and centers on a high school boy who falls madly in love with his beautiful housekeeper.
Side Note: Billy Goat Prods. will produce for New Line.
The Michael Pellegrino Story
Writer: James Manos Jr.
Buyer: New Line
Producer: Galt Niederhoffer, Celine Rattay
Logline: A small-time con man who claimed to be the illegitimate grandson of the late Mafia boss Carlo Gambino and allegedly suckered Simon & Schuster into a $500,000 book deal.
Side Note: Producers Galt Niederhoffer and Celine Rattay optioned Kevin Gray's article "The Con Man Who Betrayed the Mob," published in the December issue of Details.
Sleepover
Writer: Elisa Bell
Buyer: MGM
Producer: Charles Weinstock
Logline: Revolves around a group of young girls the summer before they enter high school. As one girl prepares to move out of town, her best friends throw a slumber party for her the same night as a group of popular girls holds their own soiree. A competitive scavenger hunt ensues.
Side Note: Joe Nussbaum will direct.
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