Cherkess

Posted: Thu., Nov. 3, 2011, 2:00pm PT

Azamat Bekov and Sahar Bishara are starcrossed lovers in “Cherkess.”

A Sindika production. Produced by Mohydeen Quandour. Executive producer, Luba Balagova. Directed, written by Mohydeen Quandour.With: Mohamad al Abadi, Mohadeen Komakhov, Azamat Bekov, Sahar Bishara, Ruslan Firov, Mohammad Al Dmoor. (Arabic, Circassian dialogue)A Circassian Romeo and a Bedouin Juliet clandestinely meet at the center of a cross-cultural powder keg in the corny Jordanian costumer "Cherkess." Writer-director Mohydeen Quandour, a Hollywood TV scripter in the '70s, turns the arrival in Jordan of a small band of Russian emigres into a sodbusters-vs.-camelmen saga with a few half-hearted desert-romance twists. Despite much verbal huffing and puffing, rifle waving and scimitar rattling, "Cherkess" proceeds with an astounding lack of action. Quandour's espousal of droning diplomacy over swashbuckling adventure should ensure the pic's inglorious demise on its Nov. 4 bow at Gotham's Quad Cinema.

Pacifism and budgetary restrictions could account for some of this would-be epic's most obvious shortcomings, but nothing really explains the tiny pile of burning wheat that represents the loss of a whole winter's harvest. Thankfully, the lion's share of the thesping goes to standout vets Mohamad al Abadi and Mohadeen Komakhov as a wily sheik and culture-straddling Russian peacekeeper, respectively, leaving the acting-challenged young lovers language-crossed and motionless. Indeed, "Cherkess" boasts little movement of any sort; galloping dramatic events are heralded but rarely shown, with most action transpiring between cuts or entirely offscreen. Camera (color), Nikolay Troukhin; editor, Anas Shabsagh; music, Waleed Al Hasheem; art director, Jamil Awwad. Reviewed on DVD, New York, Nov. 1, 2011. Running time: 114 MIN.Contact the Variety newsroom at news@variety.com

Euro exhibs have digital dilemma

Posted: Sat., Nov. 5, 2011, 4:00am PTEurope's digital cinema rollout is benefiting Hollywood at the expense of European cinema.

At least that's the view of some at the recent European Day hosted by the EU's Media program at the Rome Film Festival.

Fresh figures show that Europe, now in the midst of its main digital rollout, by early next year will see more than half -- about 18,500 -- of its screens become format-ready.

But there are crucial underlying problems, one being that Hollywood seems to be reaping the most benefit from the conversion, at the expense of Euro product and international indie cinema as a whole.

One reason is that, simply put, it's much easier for multiplexes to shoulder the considerable costs of new equipment. Another is that the U.S. majors have had all their product available digitally since 2008. But that is not the case with European indie cinema, which in part is still stuck in a strictly celluloid world.

Over the past three years, the overall market share for U.S. films in Europe has increased from 65% to 68%; European pics' share fell from 28% to 25% during the same period, according to European Audiovisual Observatory analyst Martin Kanzler.

Also, Europe's digital conversion is being driven by 3D pics, most of which from Hollywood.

"If the consequence of digitization is to go for premium content, such as 3D and, arguably, alternative content (soccer, opera, concerts) this will cause a problem for independent distributors and, ultimately, for European films," Kanzler warned.

Meanwhile, economic woes in countries like Greece, Spain and Italy are impacting the conversion process.

Elisabetta Brunella, topper of Euro exhib promotion initiative Media Salles, noted that while Europe's digitalization is swift, the pace is occurring at different speeds within different countries.

Digital screens in Germany this year have been growing by about 60%, but the recent growth rate in Italy has been less than 20%.

The head of Italy's exhibitors, Paolo Protti, lamented that a freeze in government funding for digital cinema conversions is slowing down the process. But he also said that Italo auds are going cold on 3D movies because of higher ticket costs in a difficult economy, as well as a disaffection to the format caused by Hollywood pics that became stereoscopic only in post.

"We are bearing the brunt of films released in 2009 and 2010 that weren't real 3D and disappointed the public," Protti lamented.

Another prominent Italo exhib, Carlo Bernaschi, bemoaned the fact that smaller exhibs that can't afford the move to digital risk being left behind. "In a year's time, the majors will probably stop printing film copies of their movies, and the smaller exhibitors (who have not converted yet) will be cut out and suffer hugely."

Conversely, Kanzler pointed out that at the same time Hollywood is set to soon stop providing exhibitors with 35mm prints, few European producers offer digital master copies.

Europe is still a highly fragmented exhibition market where small movie theaters -- comprising up to three screens -- account for some 64% of all facilities, according to Kanzler; multiplexes boast two-thirds of all European digital screens.

Not having digital prints for European and indie product means that smaller exhibitors will have to support dual distribution for a longer time, which puts them, again, at a competitive disadvantage, Kanzler warned. Contact Nick Vivarelli at nvivarelli@gmail.com

Odyssey ropes 'Hank the Cowdog'

Posted: Sat., Nov. 5, 2011, 2:03pm PTOdyssey Pictures has roped in "Hank the Cowdog," launching pre-production on the feature animation project about a smart-alceck canine who heads security on a Texas ranch.

Odyssey is selling international rights at the American Film Market and plans to complete "Hank" over the next year at a pair of Texas-based facilities -- CAT Studios and ORG Studios.

Odyssey acquired rights last month to "Hank the Cowdog" from Rising Star Studios based on the series of 58 mystery novels and audios written by rancher John R. Erickson. Odyssey CEO John Foster, a fellow Texan, was able to persuade Erickson to make the deal after the latter had spurned multiple offers over the years.

"We hit it off pretty well, partly because we agreed that we'd keep the work in Texas and partly because he met my wife," Foster said. "He began writing the books while he was on cattle drives in the Texas Panhandle."

Erickson began to publish short stories in 1967 while working full-time as a cowboy, farmhand, and ranch manager in Texas and Oklahoma, based on dogs Erickson worked with on the range. The "Hank the Cowdog" series has sold more than 7.5 million copies.

"We've been approached by producers before, but Odyssey impressed us with their understanding of the genre and their solid sales and marketing strategy," Erickson said,

Dallas-based Odyssey is a 22-year-old company focused on co-financing and distribution features. Contact Dave McNary at dave.mcnary@variety.com

AFM sees solid, cautious biz

Posted: Sat., Nov. 5, 2011, 3:53pm PT

'The Words'

'The Words'

The arrival of Daylight Savings Time this morning, bringing an extra hour to the day, could not have come at a better time for buyers and sellers with the American Film Market at its midpoint.

"We're trying to cram as much as possible into the next few days before we leave town," said Christopher Woodrow, topper of New York-based financer Worldview Entertainment. He estimated that he'll have done about 90 meetings in four days before departing Tuesday.

"I'm so glad that we get the extra hour because I will use it get some badly needed sleep," noted Sierra/Affinity CEO Nick Meyer. "Right now, the demand is so strong for good product and it's very competitive."

Though buyers have held off on making announcements during the first four days, many say that plenty of deals are in the works, adding that they've been as active as they were during the Cannes Film Festival. The common theme that emerges -- recognizable casts are what comfort buyers, more than any other factor.

So the solid level of transactions already underway is a promising sign for the market. Some of the key deals so far include:

• Parlay Films saw solid sales for its literary drama "The Words" and financial thriller "Arbitrage" with sales to most European markets.

"The business has been on an upswing since Cannes, but you have to have films that respond to the market conditions," said Parlay Films' Lisa Wilson.

• Exclusive Media began drawing major interest in racing drama "Rush," bringing in Ron Howard on the first day to meet with buyers. "It's fantastic to have someone of Ron's caliber here after we announced this in Toronto," said Exclusive Media sales prexy Alex Walton. "That's something that really impressed buyers from Europe and Asia."

• Stuart Ford's IM Global announced a quartet of projects. It's financing Jason Statham's actioner "Hummingbird" and "Dead Man Down," starring Colin Farrell and Noomi Rapace; co-financing dramatic thriller "Blood," starring Paul Bettany, Brian Cox and Stephen Graham; and coming on to sell Vertigo Films' 3D musical "Walking on Sunshine"

• FilmNation Entertainment has sold the majority of international territories on Steven Soderbergh's "Magic Mike," which recently wrapped production.

• Hannibal Classics set Michael Katleman to direct the action film "Red Squad" with production slated to begin in the first quarter.

• Endgame Entertainment announced an ambitious P&A funding plan.

"Financing is not easy to get these days -- but it's not impossible," said CineTel chief Paul Hertzberg, newly tapped as chairman of the Independent Film & Television Alliance.

Hertzberg said business at AFM has been solidly consistent so far.

Hertzberg also gave props to indie players like Summit and Nu Image/Millennium topper Avi Lerner, for stepping up as the financial crisis eased. He asserted that the indie sector's been adept at developing titles with the key elements -- recognizable stars and themes.

"People want our movies," he declared of the CineTel titles. "We've been in business for 31 years so we tend to be cautious even if that limits our upside."

Indomina Group, which set up an in-house international sales division during Cannes, made a splash at its first AFM with Melissa Leo and Hayden Panettiere joining Nick Stahl and Freddy Rodriguez in dramatic thriller "Over the Wall." Panettiere and Rodriguez met with buyers on Thursday at an Indomina event.

"Getting the cast out there like we did shows that we're competitive in that space," said VP of international sales Catherine Quantschnigg.

"And people need product now so we're getting an excellent response so far," noted Indomina consultant Carole Siller.

Lightning Entertainment held a Saturday event with Stephen Dorff for "Brake" as the action star -- portraying a Secret Service agent in the pic -- pressed the flesh with about 150 buyers at the Viceroy.

"It's really important to show the buyers that Lightning and Stephen are behind this film," said Lightning prexy Robert Beaumont. "I think it's strong enough even without Stephen there to sell, but having him there really makes buyers remember it."

Maya Entertainment, which began a foreign sales business four years ago, came to AFM with a dozen titles. It snapped up domestic rights to action-thriller "La hora cero," the highest grossing local film in Venezuelan history.

Elias Axume, Maya's prexy of international distribution, noted that "Hora" is a bit of a gamble because the cast isn't well-known -- usually a tough sell.

"The market's become very selective," he said. "You can still sell DVDs in Australia, Germany and the U.K. But the key is having the right cast." Contact Dave McNary at dave.mcnary@variety.com

Myriad inks sales on 'Common Man'

Posted: Sat., Nov. 5, 2011, 1:07pm PTMyriad Pictures has signed with Asia Digital Entertainment to distribute action thriller "A Common Man" starring Ben Kingsley and Ben Cross.

Myriad made the announcement Saturday at the American Film Market, where it's selling international markets. Pic recently completed production in Sri Lanka with Chandran Rutnam ("The Road From Elephant Pass") directing from his own script.

Kingsley portrays a man who's planted five bombs in the politically-scarred city of Colombo that are set to explode unless four major terrorists are immediately released from prison. When he calls in his demands to the Deputy Inspector General of the Colombo Police Department (played by Cross), it sets in motion an ideological and deadly confrontation between the truth and duty.

Myriad CEO Kirk D'Amico said early response to has been strong, noting, "Ben Kingsley is a very big star internationally and the film has the right components buyers look for - a big star with a lot of action."

"A Common Man" was produced by Manohan Nanayakkara, B.S. Radha Krishnan and Chandran Rutnam. Executive producers are Paul Mason and Jon Sheinberg. Film's a production of Asia Digital Entertainment.

Kingsley will be seen next in "Hugo" and "The Dictator." Cross recently appeared in "War Inc." Kingsley is represented by CAA and ITG. Cross is represented by manager Jeff Goldberg.

The deal with Myriad Pictures was arranged by Jon Sheinberg of The Movie Machine and Paul Mason. Contact Dave McNary at mailto:dave.mcnary@variety.com?subject=Myriad inks sales on 'Common Man'

Andy Rooney dies at 92

Posted: Sat., Nov. 5, 2011, 7:42am PT

Rooney

Longtime CBS newsman Andy Rooney, who contributed more than 1,000 essays to "60 Minutes," died on Saturday as a result of complications following surgery. He was 92.

Rooney's career at CBS spanned six decades, beginning in in 1949 when he was hired by Arthur Godfrey after telling the radio star he could use some better writing (the encounter took place in an elevator), and ending in October of this year, when he announced that his 1,067th "60 Minutes" essay would be his last.

For more than 30 years, "A Few Minutes With Andy Rooney" aired as a regular feature of the award-winning CBS newsmagazine. Rooney's curmudgeonly and often humorous look at life's minor annoyances earned him three Emmy Awards as well as a devoted fanbase. He made his last regular broadcast on Oct. 2.

"Underneath that gruff exterior was a prickly interior," said longtime colleague Morley Safer, "and deeper down was a sweet and gentle man, a patriot with a love of all things American, like good bourbon, and a delicious hatred for prejudice and hypocrisy." Safer will lead a tribute to Rooney on Sunday, Nov. 6 on "60 Minutes."

Covering topics ranging from paper clips and umbrellas to presidential politics and racism, Rooney established television essays as a viable commercial form. Time magazine once described him as "the most felicitous nonfiction writer in television." Indeed, Rooney won the Writers Guild Award for script of the year six times, at one time more than any other writer in the history of television.

Rooney was born in Albany, N.Y. in 1919. He graduated from Albany High Schoo, attended Colgate University (he wrote for both schools' newspapers) and was drafted into the U.S. Army in 1941 during his junior year. He served in an Artillery unit in England and was a correspondent for The Stars and Stripes for three years. He received the Bronze Star for reporting under fire at the battle of St. Lo.

February 1943, Rooney was one of only eight correspondents who flew along with the Eighth Air Force on the first American bombing raid in Germany. The group of journos, dubbed "the Writing 69th," included United Press scribe Walter Cronkite, who would become Rooney's longtime friend and colleague at CBS News.

Early in Rooney's career, Godfrey's show, "Arthur Godfrey's Talent Scounts," became a top-ten hit by 1952; Rooney also wrote for "Arthur Godfrey and his Friends" along with a host of other radio shows, including "The Morning News with Will Rogers, Jr.," where he met Harry Reasoner.

By the mid-1960's, Rooney was an institution at the Eye's news divsision and had begun developing essays for television broadcast, which he produced and reasoner narrated. The Reasoner-Rooney collaboration resulted in specials such as "An Essay on Bridges" (1965), "An Essay on Women" (1967) and "An Essay on Chairs" (1968).

He also spent the sixties producing documentaries for CBS, including "Frank Sinatra: Living with the Legend" narrated by Cronkite, and "Black History: Lost, Stolen or Strayed," which earned him his first Emmy in 1968.

Rooney and Reasoner left CBS for a short tenure at ABC News, from whence they returned in 1973. He nabbed a Peabody award for "Mr. Rooney Goes to Washington" and appeared on "60 Minutes" several times before being assigned to replace the program's "Point/Counterpoint" seg for the summer of 1978. By the next season, the final few minutes of the popular broadcast was Rooney's alone.

His sour humor immediately hit a chord with audiences who appreciated his wry and honest look at every-day life. Rooney rarely strayed from the format that made him famous, but he made an exception in May 1996 when he did a longer feature on assisted-suicide advocate Dr. Jack Kevorkian, who agreed to appear on "60 Minutes" only if Rooney interviewed him.

Rooney also wrote a regular column for Tribune Media Services, which distributed it to hundreds of newspapers nationwide. He also contributed articles to Esquire, Life, Look, Reader's Digest, Harper's, Playboy and Saturday Review, among other publications.

The prolific author also wrote numerous books, including "The Fortunes of War," "A Few Minutes With Andy Rooney," "Pieces of My Mind," "Word for Word," "Not That You Asked," and "Sweet and Sour."

Controversy followed Rooney throughout his career, and not always for good reason. In 2005, Rooney felt the need to refute a racist essay written anonymously in a poor imitation of his style and disseminated online with Rooney's name attached.

But sometimes the controversy was of Rooney's own making. Rooney's remarks about gay and black people - the former made on the air, the latter to an interviewer he said had misquoted him -earned him a month-long suspension without pay in 1990.

Cronkite defended Rooney against charges of racism, but Rooney continued to stir the pot throughout the last few decades of his career. In a 1992 essay about Native American complaints of insensitivity (there had been a campaign to change the name of the Atlanta Braves), he said "We feel guilty and we'll do what we can for them within reason, but they can't have their country back. Next question." In 2002, he said that women had "no business" working at football games as sideline reporters; in 2007, he wrote a newspaper column saying that all of today's baseball stars are "guys named Rodriguez to me."

Rooney was open to criticism. After a 1994 segment on the death of Kurt Cobain that drew significant viewer ire, he devoted the following week's seg to an apology and to on-air reading of negative feedback from people who had written him to challenge his perspective.

Indeed, self-interest was demonstrably not a part of Rooney's curmudgeonly perspective - in 1990, he blamed CBS's problems with the WGA on chairman Laurence Tisch and dared Tisch to fire him. The most complaints CBS ever received about a Rooney broadcast came in 2004, when he called Mel Gibson and Pat Robertson "wackos" on the air.

To hear Rooney tell it, he was just reporting the facts. "'Andrew,' God said to me - he always calls me Andrew; I like that - 'Andrew, you have the eyes and ears of a lot of people," Rooney said on "60 Minutes." "I wish you'd tell your viewers that both Pat Robertson and Mel Gibson strike Me as wackos. I believe that's one of your current words."

"I think its' fair to say that he was the most popular person ever to appear on '60 Minutes,'" said fellow CBS Newsie Steve Kroft, "and I'm sure Andy would agree with that assessment.

His wife of 62 years, Marguerite, predeceased him in 2004. He is survived by four children: Ellen, a photographer; Brian, an ABC News correspondent; Emily, the host of PBS's Boston public affairs show "Greater Boston; and Martha Fishel, who works for the U.S. National Library of Medicine; along with five grandchildren and two great-grandchildren.

Funeral services will be private. A memorial will be announced at a later date.

Rooney lived in Manhattan. Contact Sam Thielman at sam.thielman@variety.com

WTF moves in 'House,' 'Chop'

Posted: Sat., Nov. 5, 2011, 1:40pm PTDimitri Stephanides' WTF has acquired international sales rights to "The Bleeding House" and "Chop."

The new Paris-based sales house specializes in genre films and will rep titles that have strong international potential, explained Stephanides. He worked as senior VP of sales at TF1 Intl. for seven years where he developed connections with buyers handling sales on pics including "Caged," "Mutants" and "Hobo With a Shotgun."

A Southern horror tale, helmer Philip Gelatt's "The Bleeding House" was released in the U.S. in April by Tribeca Films.

Helmed by Trent Haaga ("Deadgirl") and penned by Adam Minarovich ("The Walking Dead"), "Chop" was picked up by Bloody Disgusting Selects in the U.S.

" 'Chop' is a wild ride evoking the 'Saw' movies, transposed to a comic Californian setting," said Stephanides.

At AFM, WTF is also shopping Michael Biehn's grindhouse horror pic "The Victim," which preemed at Sitges in Spain this year. Contact Variety Staff at mailto:news@variety.com?subject=WTF moves in 'House,' 'Chop'

'Payne 3' ready to load

Posted: Sat., Nov. 5, 2011, 4:00am PT

'Max Payne 3'

The 'Max Payne' games feature a flawed hero and sophisticated narrative.

There aren't a lot of surprises in the entertainment world these days -- particularly when it comes to tentpole events.

Whether it's a quick-cut trailer, the interview circuit or an online spoiler site, audiences generally have a pretty solid idea of what they're going to experience -- with movies, TV shows and videogames.

But that's rarely, if ever, the case with new releases from Rockstar Games. The vidgame developer tightly controls the flow of information before a title's ship date and seldom emerges from the studio to talk about its products. The reason, says Dan Houser, the veep and co-founder of creative at Rockstar, is pretty simple: Letting people peek behind the curtain spoils the fun.

"It's really important to us that the games (feel) kind of magical," he says. "It might annoy people that we don't give out more information, but I think the end point is people enjoy the experience. … The less they know about how things are pieced together and how things are broken down and what our processes are, the more it will feel like this thing is alive, that you are being dragged into the experience. That's what we want."

Houser himself prefers to stay in the background, but as the company's next major release, "Max Payne 3," nears its March 2012 due date, he was willing to talk with Variety about the game, the challenges it faces and the studio's philosophy.

"Max Payne 3" is the sequel to an action series that, in many ways, introduced cinematic aspects to the videogame world and remains one of the more story-driven shooters to come out. Payne was a fugitive undercover cop, framed for murder and hunted by the NYPD and the mob -- and the first two games had a very noir feel to them. The 2008 cinematic adaptation was critically panned (and not much of a commercial success), but fans of the game series have stayed loyal, despite an eight-year gap since the last installment.

That puts Rockstar in something of a complicated space: Not only will the game compete against other titles in its genre, it has to fight the nostalgic memories of players who have long since forgotten any of its weaknesses. (It's a battle not unlike the one ABC faced with "Charlie's Angels" and "V.")

"I think the challenge of nostalgia is a profound one, because one thing about videogames is your memory tends to remove the horrendous," Houser says. "(The games) become these great, perfect experiences. … It's definitely a challenge to get the right pitch when you want to appeal to the fans of the original and bring in a new audience."

The new game sees Max working as a private security specialist protecting an industrialist and his family in Sao Paulo. When gangs target the family, Max must battle not only the gangsters, but also the inner demons that have driven him for so long.

It's a story that, on the surface, sounds formulaic, but both Rockstar and the Max Payne series have always taken pains to weave a complex tale into the games, rather than loosely tying event moments together with a threadbare plot.

Houser, who is also lead writer on "Max Payne 3" (as he was on "Grand Theft Auto IV"), says he believes refining writing is essential to the maturation of the industry.

"If games are to be the next major form of creative consumption, art, cultural expression or whatever the correct term is, then strong narrative has to be part of that," he says. "If the mechanics are fine and the story is ridiculous, the experience is much diminished."

Maintaining control over story -- and any cinematic qualities -- is especially challenging as the gaming world moves toward a more multiplayer focus. Players still appreciate a good campaign, but if a game doesn't have a strong online component where they can play with (or, even better, against) others, it hurts the game's earnings potential.

Rockstar hasn't talked much about the multiplayer aspects of "Max Payne 3," but Houser hints that just because those elements of the game live outside of the campaign, it doesn't mean they're not part of the narrative.

"We wanted to put some elements of single player into the multiplayer so the multiplayer will have a lot more detail and have elements of story in it and have a sort of an immersive quality," he says. "We think that's something that is underexplored in multiplayer."

"Max Payne 3" has been a long time coming. First announced in 2009, with an expected ship date of that winter, it has been pushed back a couple of times to let the development team polish it and ensure the quality was up to Rockstar's exacting standards. This includes an excruciating attention to detail, which Houser says is the real key to the company's success.

Realism, he says, is also a major goal. "We are building a film set, but it's a 360-degree film set that has to join together and feel real," he explains. "Some of the stuff we end up being most obsessed by are the things that join between walls. And where a lot of other games fail is their models may look great, but they don't sit together very well."

While Rockstar likens itself more to a film studio than a traditional game developer (the company shoots the equivalent of a feature film every few weeks with its motion capture rig, Houser notes), it's not eager to embrace a film industry trend other gamemakers are chasing: 3D.

While the PC version of "Max Payne 3" may be 3D-compatible (nothing, so far, is confirmed, but most major PC games offer the feature these days), Houser says it's not a passion of his. "I don't think anyone has solved the riddle of how you make 3D an integral part of the gaming experience," he says simply. Contact the Variety newsroom at news@variety.com

J. Edgar

Posted: Thu., Nov. 3, 2011, 10:00pm PT

Leonardo DiCaprio plays longtime FBI honcho J. Edgar Hoover in Clint Eastwood's biopic.

A Warner Bros. release and presentation of an Imagine Entertainment, Malpaso production. Produced by Brian Grazer, Robert Lorenz. Executive producers, Tim Moore, Erica Huggins. Directed by Clint Eastwood. Screenplay, Dustin Lance Black.J. Edgar Hoover - Leonardo DiCaprio
Helen Gandy - Naomi Watts
Clyde Tolson - Armie Hammer
Charles Lindbergh - Josh Lucas
Annie Hoover - Judi DenchJ. Edgar Hoover's mystique lies in the fact that while he kept meticulous files with compromising details on some of America's most powerful figures, nobody knew the man's own secrets. Therefore, any movie in which the longtime FBI honcho features as the central character must supply some insight into what made him tick, or suffer from the reality that the Bureau's exploits were far more interesting than the bureaucrat who ran it -- a dilemma "J. Edgar" never rises above. With Leonardo DiCaprio bringing empathy to the controversial Washington power-monger, Clint Eastwood's old-school biopic should do solid midrange business.

In 1993, Anthony Summers published a tawdry expose titled "Official and Confidential, the Secret Life of J. Edgar Hoover," which aired Susan Rosenstiel's claim that she had witnessed Hoover, a lifelong bachelor who was seldom seen without trusted deputy Clyde Tolson, wearing a cocktail dress at a gay orgy in New York. Though never corroborated, the claim stuck, and the legacy of this much-feared public figure -- who served as FBI director under eight presidents, across 48 years and through some of the most trying cases of the 20th century -- is now dominated by associations with cross-dressing.

If the assumptions about his sex life are true, that would make "J. Edgar" the story of the highest-ranking homosexual in American history, produced by a major Hollywood studio and directed by one of the industry's most venerable directors -- hardly insignificant in an industry that goes to great lengths to obfuscate the sexuality of its own stars. While not exactly coy, Eastwood's classically styled look at Hoover's life takes a long time to arrive at questions of the character's proclivities. When it does get there, however, this new dimension of the character so enlivens what has been a mostly dry portrayal of one man's crusade to reform law enforcement that it becomes the pic's focus.

True to Eastwood's understated nature, "J. Edgar" offers the "tasteful" treatment of such potentially salacious subject matter, though a more outre Oliver Stone-like approach might have made for a livelier film. With the exception of a few profanities (enough to land the pic an audience-limiting R rating) and a lone homoerotic wrestling scene so tame that Ken Russell's "Women in Love" feels like an X by comparison, the film could pass for something Warners would have released in an earlier era -- earlier even than many of the events depicted onscreen, as suggested by Tom Stern's cinematography, desaturated nearly to black-and-white.

Eastwood's restraint applies to not only the kid-gloves depiction of how Hoover slyly manipulated politicos and press, including a loathsome attempt to blackmail Martin Luther King Jr. into declining the Nobel Peace Prize, but also to his oddly nonjudgmental approach to Hoover's sexual identity, depicting him as a man too Puritanical to pursue intimacy with someone of either gender.

As he did with "Milk," screenwriter Dustin Lance Black follows the print-the-legend philosophy, building to what could have been the ultimate tragic love story between two men: Johnny and Clyde (as Truman Capote dubbed Hoover and Tolson), companions for the better part of five decades who never had the chance to express their affection -- a consequence of Hoover's insistence that FBI employees live up to the strictest code of conduct (he wouldn't even allow them to drink coffee on the job).

The opening reel establishes both the scope of the story, which ranges from Hoover's 20s to his final days overseeing the FBI at age 77, and DiCaprio's remarkable ability to play the character at any point along that timeline. Aided by a convincing combination of facial appliances, makeup and wigs, the thesp draws auds past that gimmick and into the character within a matter of a few scenes. There's an innate kindliness to DiCaprio that makes for a more likable protagonist than Hoover as the tempestuous monster so many biographers describe, which is good news for the film's commercial prospects but seemingly at odds with reality.

Surely this can't be the glory hound who collaborated with Sen. Joseph McCarthy on his anti-communist witch hunt and called King "the most notorious liar in the country," nor the same FBI chief accused of racism (the Bureau antagonized civil-rights leaders and employed few blacks), homophobia (gays were dismissed from service) and sexism (women were allowed to serve as secretaries and assistants, but never agents).

Rather than seriously engaging with any of these common accusations, Black's script skips back and forth through Hoover's CV, alternating public grandstanding with invented insights into his private life. Annie Hoover (Judi Dench) exerts enormous control over her son's personality, telling him, "I'd rather have a dead son than a daffodil for a son," in the film's most chilling scene. Tolson (Armie Hammer), whose prissiness accounts for the film's scant laughs, also surfaces early, lurking behind the frosted-glass door to an adjoining office while Hoover dictates a self-aggrandizing book.

Considering how critical any other character's perspective might be, allowing Hoover to narrate his own story comes as a generous gift from Black. Hoover's voiceover gives form to a story that starts out as an institutionally approved version of how the FBI came to be, punctuated every so often by a high-profile arrest or newfangled forensic development (an investigation into the kidnapping of Charles Lindbergh's son supplies the sort of procedural intrigue that comes comfortably to Eastwood). As the pic progresses, however, Hoover's words grow increasingly defensive, and the episodes drift into far more personal territory.

Since you can't put a face on the love interest in a workaholic's story, Black must manufacture romance on the margins. In the first act, Hoover briefly courts Helen Gandy (Naomi Watts), an office girl who declines his marriage proposal on their third date, but agrees to become his secretary. A short time later, Hoover meets Tolson in a scene staged to suggest love at first sight.

As written, Tolson's character is clearly gay, but Eastwood seems noncommittal about Hoover. Certainly there are clues in nearly every aspect of the production, from Deborah Hopper's ever-dapper wardrobe to the meticulously appointed sets overseen by James Murakami and decorated by Gary Fettis. At one point, auds catch a glimpse of the entry stairwell to Hoover's home, where a framed portrait of his mother hangs alone. What's missing from this picture? Why, the famous nude photo of Marilyn Monroe that hung in the real-life Hoover's hallway. Camera (Technicolor/B&W, Panavision widescreen), Tom Stern; editors, Joel Cox, Gary D. Roach; music, Eastwood; production designer, James Murakami; supervising art director, Patrick M. Sullivan; art director, Greg Berry; set decorator, Gary Fettis; costume designer, Deborah Hopper; sound (Dolby Digital/SDDS/Datasat), Jose Antonio Garcia; supervising sound editors, Alan Robert Murray; re-recording mixers, John Reitz, Gregg Rudloff; special effects supervisor, Steven Riley; visual effects supervisor, Michael Owens; visual effects, Method Studios Vancouver, Lola Visual Effects; stunt coordinator, Buddy Van Horn; assistant director, David M. Bernstein; casting, Fiona Weir. Reviewed at Warner Bros. Studios, Burbank, Nov. 2, 2011. (In AFI Film Festival -- opener.) MPAA Rating: R. Running time: 136 MIN.With: Jeffrey Donovan, Miles Fisher, Damon Herriman, Ary Katz, Dermot Mulroney, Geoff Pierson, Michael Rady, Stephen Root, Ed Westwick.Contact Peter Debruge at peter.debruge@variety.com

Beijing Besieged by Waste (Wei cheng la ji)

Posted: Thu., Nov. 3, 2011, 1:51pm PTA Wang Jiu-liang Studio production. (International sales: dGenerate Films, Brooklyn.) Produced, directed, written, edited by Wang Jiu-liang.Narrator: Wang Jiu-liang. (Mandarin dialogue)Maverick photographer Wang Jiu-liang transfers his documentation of Beijing's garbage dumps onto the bigscreen in the eye-opening and disturbing docu "Beijing Besieged by Waste." Since 2008, the multihyphenate has been photographing how the Chinese capital is rapidly becoming surrounded by an enormous swath of unchecked landfills, making him deeply unpopular with the government. Though "Beijing Besieged" was screened at the underground Beijing Independent Film Fest, it can't be shown commercially at home; international fests, streaming sites and private events will get Wang's alarming message across.

Some 400-500 landfills now encircle China's capital, and in three years, all existing legal dumps will be full. Beijing's unchecked construction boom is partly to blame, along with relatively primitive waste collection, a culture of official unaccountability, and corruption. Wang visited hundreds of landfills recording the situation in all their stomach-churning details: sheep and cows grazing on rubbish heaps, roadsides littered with bags full of excrement dumped by long-distance buses, rivers of pungent black crud, and recycled swill oil (don't ask). Wang's narration is overly simple yet perhaps tailored to unsuspecting local crowds. Visuals aim for documentation more than artistry. Camera (color, DigiBeta), Fan Xue-song; music, Wen Bin. Reviewed at Abu Dhabi Film Festival (Our World), Oct. 21, 2011. Running time: 72 MIN.Contact the Variety newsroom at news@variety.com

Bank lending steadies, after downsizing

Posted: Sat., Nov. 5, 2011, 1:26pm PTIndie film lending cratered with the 2008 global credit freeze, but has regained balance at a downsized volume that seems sustainable and steady, say film finance executives.

"There's a 'new normal' and that is to be very conservative," said Christine Ball, who is senior VP/group head and senior relationship manager handling entertainment at Wells Fargo Commercial Banking. "Certainly, the banks all get this."

Wells Fargo has a $500 million film loan portfolio.

Movie finance executives say that for single picture financing the new environment means pre-selling more territories. As a result, so-called "gap" financing for remaining unsold territories is smaller than was acceptable during the easy-money period from 2004 to 2008.

For sizing corporate credit lines, this means tilting more to bad-case scenarios for calculating the earning power of films and other assets used as collateral, rather than more-generous medium performance assumptions used a few years ago.

The trend to tighter qualifications means fewer films are financed by banks, though a silver lining is that a less congested film landscape means the movies that make the credit grade have a clearer shot at selling and generating revenue in distribution.

"There seems to be a better caliber of movie product today that very often is easier to finance," said Lisa Wolofsky, the Montreal-based manager of gap and international financing in the entertainment unit of National Bank of Canada. "I'm seeing more projects that are viable."

One independent segment where bank financing is plentiful is high-end movies.

"The pre-sale market is as robust as I've seen in maybe 15 years for films with budgets of $20 million or more," said Jared Underwood, senior VP and group manager of entertainment lending at Comerica. "Films with major stars and directors are selling well. But the lower- to mid-level budget films with smaller stars, tend to be more difficult to pre-sell and riskier in general."

Comerica has been a banker to the film, TV and videogame industries for over 20 years, financing over 800 movies.

Finance executives say that another effect of fewer pics being funded is lower production costs, particularly because top creative talents have lower salary demands in comparison to the boom years.

Another characteristic of the new normal is that a slew of European banks that were significant lenders to the international and Hollywood movie sector have mostly disappeared.

"European banks will be slow to return, and not any time soon, I think, given the magnitude of sovereign debt issues gripping Western Europe," said David Molner, managing director of media finance specialist Screen Capital Intl.

Finance executives say remaining banks seem to have sufficient lending capacity for the downsized indie film sector, and if a void appears, then non-banking financing such as equity investments, soft money subsidies or insurance-backed financing can fill it.

"Given the major studios are distributing few pictures…this is good for the domestic financiers that survived," added Dominic Ianno, CEO of film financing company Indomitable Entertainment. Contact the Variety newsroom at news@variety.com

Ordino finds home for Pozo's 'Pets'

Posted: Sat., Nov. 5, 2011, 2:02pm PTSpanish animator Jose Pozo ("El Cid: The Legend," "Donkey Xote") is attached to exec produce 3D toon pic "No Pets Allowed," set up at Andorra's Ordino Studios Media Group.

"Pets" is part of an ambitious plan by Ordino, Andorra's flagship film-TV group, to turn the principality, nestling between France and Spain in the high Pyrenees, into a new Southern Europe talent hub offering film and TV product, services and finance.

Andorra's low taxes and intellectual property stance makes the location attractive.

"Pets," which will go into production next year, turns on a boy who must fend off wacky monsters in the London apartment building where his father is the janitor. "We want something that looks international with lots of humor," said OSMG managing director Jordi Alba.

Adrian Garcia, Victor Maldonado and Alfredo Torres, who head animation company Headless, will direct "Pets." They have completed a first-draft screenplay. Garcia and Maldonado directed the delicately drawn 2007 animated feature "Nocturna," a Filmax production.

"Cid" and "Donkey," both also produced by Filmax, were two of Spain's highest-profile toon pics of the last decade. Pozo is Ordino's creative director, Alba said.

This spring, Ordino also acquired Studio Nest, a 3D animation, character design and vfx company.

Studio Nest CG artists have worked on many recent high-profile animation and vfx-heavy films out of Barcelona, including Filmax's "El Cid" and "Fragile" and Rodar y Rodar's upcoming "XP 3D."

Alba and Ordino Studios marketing head Laurie Severn are at AFM with "Pets," for which Ordino will tap 25% of the budget out of Andorra. It is looking for completion finance through a mix of equity -- from Europe or the U.S. -- and gap financing.

The studio's push into animation comes as Andorra diversifies from tourism by developing advanced service industries. Low social security payments keep labor costs competitive, key as Ordino sets out to provide services on third-party productions, Alba argued.

Closer to the U.S. or U.K. model, Andorra's intellectual property laws also make it easier to acquire rights to properties, Severn said. Alba said Ordino aims to become "a kind of creative high-performance center."

OSMG's other companies include live-action producer Smoke Sellers, Ordino Music, Ordino Studios Services and AV Experience, whch organizes events, museums and interactive exhibit expos. Ordino will also manage a fund to invest in local pics. Contact the Variety newsroom at news@variety.com

Outsider takes U.S., Canada on 'Finisterrae'

Posted: Sat., Nov. 5, 2011, 2:01pm PTOutsider Pictures has picked up all U.S. and Canadian rights to Sergio Caballero's comedic drama "Finisterrae," sold by Buenos Aires' FilmSharks Intl.

A L.A.-based sales agent and distributor, releasing films in the U.S., Canada and Latin America, Outsider aims to bring moviegoers the most original stories from around the world, according to its mission statement.

Winning a Tiger Award for debut feature at the 2010 Rotterdam Festival, pic turns on two Russian ghosts, who walk the St. James Way to Finisterrae, a cape in northwest Spain, in an attempt to rejoin the land of the living.

Pic is peppered with surreal moments which seem to spoof highbrow artfilms.

"Finisterrae" is produced by Luis Minarro's Barcelona-based Eddie Saeta, co-producer of Cannes Palme d'Or winner "Uncle Boonmee…," and one of the driving forces behind left-of-field filmmaking in Europe.

In a separate deal closed at the Rome Festival's Business Street, Inmovision has acquired Brazilian rights to Argentinean Marcos Carnevale's "Widows." Argentina's biggest late-summer local hit, grossing $1.9 million for BVI from a Aug. 18 bow, "Widow" toplines two of the country's best-regarded actresses, Graciela Borges ("The Hands") and Valeria Bertuccelli ("A Boyfriend For My Wife") in the story of the widow of a man who grudgingly looks after his mistress, now pregnant with his child.

Produced by Fernando Sokolowicz and Disney co-owned Patagonik, "Widows" has sparked distributor interest in the U.S., Japan, France and Spain, said FilmSharks' Guido Rud. Contact the Variety newsroom at news@variety.com

The Pastor's Wife

Posted: Thu., Nov. 3, 2011, 7:17pm PT

Rose McGowan is the talk of the town after shooting her husband in “The Pastor’s Wife.”

Filmed in Vancouver by Preacher Road Prods. and Front Street Pictures. Executive producers, Gerald W. Abrams, Harvey Kahn, Michael Moran, Juliet Smith; director, Norma Bailey; writer, Robert L. Freedman, based on the book by Diane Fanning.Mary Winkler - Rose McGowan
Mathew Winkler - Michael Shanks
Steve Farese - Martin Cummins
Hannah Winkler - Julia Sarah Stone
Emily Winkler - Lilah FitzgeraldFrom the pre-opening credit moment when authorities roll out a shrouded body as concerned neighbors look on, it's clear "The Pastor's Wife" is a Lifetime movie like momma used to make 'em: Fact-based, trashy and featuring an imperiled young woman. Still, this is an eminently watchable take on the old formula, anchored by Rose McGowan, whose pained expressions each time someone calls her handsome husband a treasure pretty much speak volumes. Mostly, it's a reminder of what amounts to TV movie law: Slap your wife around in the Deep South, and someone's gonna wind up on "Nancy Grace."

Promoted from a berth on Lifetime's movie channel to the flagship network, the pic stars McGowan as Mary Winkler, the mother of three who shook up her Tennessee town in 2006 by shooting husband Matthew (Michael Shanks), the popular local pastor, in their bedroom.

Only through flashback do we learn about the abuse he allegedly heaped upon her, making the movie as constructed less about whodunnit than why. But with no witnesses and little evidence to validate her story, can she actually make a self-defense plea fly?

If the subject matter is as old as "The Burning Bed," writer Robert L. Freedman and director Norma Bailey have managed to present Winkler's tale of woe with a degree of style, including direct-to-camera testimony from other townsfolk that provides a sense of documentary-style authenticity. And while McGowan has a diverse resume, she's perfectly convincing as the Southern wife who can solemnly drawl of her late husband, "I could never do anything right in his eyes."

Among the drawbacks is the lack of memorable supporting performances, even within the inevitable courtroom scenes, which feature Martin Cummins as Mary's lawyer. (Video of the aforementioned Grace is included, by the way, with video of the HLN host pithily referring to Winkler's case the "Tennessee minister murder mystery.")

While broadcast networks once went overboard dramatizing such cases, the pendulum has swung far enough in the other direction that devoting a TV movie to this true-crime yarn -- as opposed to an episode of "48 Hours," "Dateline" or a reality show with cheesy reenactments -- actually feels like a small luxury, or at least a greasy junk-food meal as opposed to the usual snack.

Besides, the ratings ought to be boffo. What better way could there be for a predominantly female audience to vicariously escape on Saturday night than watching a woman kill her husband? Camera, C. Kim Miles; production designer, Monika Choynowski; editor, Lara Mazur; music, Schaun Tozer. 120 MIN.Contact Brian Lowry at brian.lowry@variety.com

Prescience, Perpetual join forces

Posted: Sat., Nov. 5, 2011, 9:00am PTFilm financers Prescience and Perpetual have joined forces to establish Bridgeworks Capital, a new lending fund combinining Prescience's bridge activities and Perpetual's deal management resources and product flow.

Perpetual Managing Director Alastair Burlingham is heading up the new specialist lending arm, the companies announced at the American Film Market on Friday.

The new company closed its first agreements last month with "uwantme2killhim," an Anonymous Content/Bad Hat Harry/Andrew Douglas Films co-production; and "The Numbers Station," starring John Cusack, which starts shooting in late November.

Perpetual and Prescience said Bridgeworks will focus on management of short term facilities to producers and productions along with managing existing Prescience tactical funds and gradually expanding its scope of activities.

Alastair Burlingham, Perpetual and Bridgeworks capital director, said, "This will deepen our product base and materially enhance our capacity to meet the ever-increasing demand we see for bridge from suitable productions pending legal "closing" of their permanent production finance, as well as provide bespoke loan product on a project-by-project basis."

Prescience Managing Director Tim Smith noted that his company's been working with for several years in this area of financing on a co-funding basis. "It makes a great deal of sense to consolidate bridge financing, tactical and bespoke lending to films in one new entity," he added. Contact Dave McNary at dave.mcnary@variety.com

A Very Harold & Kumar 3D Christmas

Posted: Thu., Nov. 3, 2011, 12:52pm PT

John Cho and Kal Penn star in Warner Bros.' stoner comedy 'A Very Harold & Kumar 3D Christmas.'

A Warner Bros. release of a New Line Cinema presentation in association with Mandate Pictures of a Kingsgate Films production. Produced by Greg Shapiro. Executive producers, Nathan Kahane, Nicole Brown, Richard Brener, Michael Disco, Samuel J. Brown. Co-producers, Jon Hurwitz, Hayden Schlossberg, Kelli Konop, Jonathan McCoy. Directed by Todd Strauss-Schulson. Screenplay, Jon Hurwitz, Hayden Schlossberg, based on characters created by Hurwitz, Schlossberg.Harold - John Cho Kumar - Kal Penn Neil Patrick Harris - Neil Patrick Harris Maria - Paula Garces Vanessa - Danneel Harris Todd - Tom Lennon Mr. Perez - Danny Trejo Sergei Katsov - Elias KoteasRaw eggs, confetti and a giant clay phallus are just a few of the stereoscopic missiles hurled in the viewer's direction by "A Very Harold & Kumar 3D Christmas." That recurring visual gimmick aptly sums up the hit-or-miss approach typical of this special yuletide edition of the likable stoner-comedy franchise, scaling back its predecessors' racially and politically charged humor to deliver a string of cartoonish, often violently over-the-top episodes, barely held together by the reliable odd-couple pairing of John Cho and Kal Penn. Brisk pre-holiday biz and strong ancillary potential should spell a fourth, hopefully sharper outing down the line.

After serving up a sly fable of minority empowerment in "Harold & Kumar Go to White Castle" (2004) and gleefully lampooning George W. Bush's America in "Harold & Kumar Escape From Guantanamo Bay" (2008), scribes Jon Hurwitz and Hayden Schlossberg seem determined to avoid any hint of subversion here, content to serve up a crudely irreverent holiday laffer along the lines of "Bad Santa," if nowhere near as scathing. For a movie that sees fit to have jolly old St. Nick take a bullet to the face mid-sleigh ride, this vulgar romp is a generally harmless, heartwarming affair, a cinematic Christmas cookie almost sweet and flaky enough to cover the fact that it's laced with hash, cocaine and assorted bodily fluids, blood included.

To that end, Hurwitz and Schlossberg have conceived "Christmas" in a spirit of bromantic reconciliation. Several years after the events of "Guantanamo Bay," uptight overachiever Harold (Cho) is now a Wall Street hotshot living happily in the suburbs with gorgeous wife Maria (Paula Garces). It's been ages since he's seen Kumar (Penn), whose weed addiction and slacker attitude have gotten him kicked out of medical school and dumped by longtime g.f. Vanessa (Danneel Harris).

Still holed up in the filthy apartment he once shared with his old friend, Kumar receives a mysterious package addressed to Harold and drops by his house to deliver it on Dec. 24. As luck would have it, Kumar lights a giant doobie while on the premises and accidentally incinerates Harold's Christmas tree, initiating a crazed quest through the streets of Manhattan to find a new one before Maria and her visiting family -- chiefly her intimidating, Korean-hating father (an amusing Danny Trejo) -- return from midnight mass.

Along the way, Harold and Kumar renew their friendship and run afoul of various ethnic caricatures including a vicious Ukrainian mobster (Elias Koteas) and two tree-sellers (rapper RZA and Da'Vone McDonald) who delight in scaring customers with their angry-black-man act. While this politically incorrect humor is not without a certain self-awareness, it's disappointingly tame, overly broad stuff, missing the larger, funnier joke -- the xenophobia Harold and Kumar repeatedly encounter despite their thoroughgoing Americanness -- that has distinguished the franchise from its lowbrow brethren until now. Elsewhere, the slapdash comedy veers into sheer unpleasantness, especially a toking-toddler running gag that soon winds up in "Baby Geniuses" territory.

Among the more successful gambits are a graphic, grisly homage to "A Christmas Story"; a stop-motion animated sequence visualizing the mother of all acid trips; and, of course, the expected appearance of Neil Patrick Harris, no less funny for being by this point so compulsory. Hamming it up as the star of his own Christmas TV special, Harris again twists his public persona, all but reveling in the opportunity to play himself as a rapacious horndog.

By now, Cho and Penn have got their Asian-American Abbott-and-Costello routine down so cold, they're a pleasure to spend time with even if the proceedings are less than inspired. The fresh cast additions don't fare as well; Tom Lennon and Amir Blumenfeld are wearying distractions as Harold and Kumar's respective new best friends, and Patton Oswalt is wasted in a blink-and-you-miss-it turn as a shopping-mall Santa.

An early scene in which Harold is confronted by anti-Wall Street protestors hints at a promising topical angle but serves merely as the first of many opportunities to play up the stereoscopic element in the goofiest manner possible; so many random objects are hurled at the screen in slo-mo closeup that the results will be significantly draggier in 2D.

Shot on often cruddy-looking HD, the pic is indifferently helmed by Todd Strauss-Schulson, whose video-short credits such as "Big Pussy" and "Sorority Pillow Fight (With Michelle Rodriguez)" no doubt recommended him highly for the gig. Given the general laziness on display, it's fitting that this is the first series entry whose title doesn't contain an active verb. Camera (Fotokem color, Panavision widescreen, HD, 3D), Michael Barrett; editor, Eric Kissack; music, William Ross; music supervisor, John Bissell; production designer, Rusty Smith; art director, Ramsey Avery; set decorator, Selina van den Brink; costume designer, Mary Claire Hannan; sound (Dolby Digital/Datasat/SDDS), Scott D. Smith; supervising sound editor, Robert C. Jackson; re-recording mixers, Chris David, Marshall Garlington; special effects supervisor, Russell Tyrrell; special effects coordinator, Robert Tyrrell; visual effects supervisor, David Goldberg; visual effects, Ingenuity Engine, Furious FX; animation, House Special; 3D stereographer, Paul Taylor; assistant director, John McKeown; casting, Jeanne McCarthy, Nicole Abellera. Reviewed at Grauman's Chinese Theater, Los Angeles, Nov. 2, 2011. MPAA Rating: R. Running time: 89 MIN.With: Eddie Kaye Thomas, David Krumholtz, Amir Blumenfeld, Patton Oswalt, Richard Riehle, Jordan Hinson, John Hoogenakker, Jake Johnson, Bobby Lee, Yasen Peyankov, RZA, Da'Vone McDonald.Contact Justin Chang at justin.chang@variety.com

'Tower' tops Friday B.O.

Posted: Sat., Nov. 5, 2011, 8:21am PT

'Tower Heist'

Universal's "Tower Heist" stole first last night earning $8.1 million at the domestic B.O.

During this frame last year, Warner Bros.' "Due Date" bowed to $32.7 million, business Uni hopes to replicate with their ensemble laffer, but last year repped a more robust B.O. (this frame in 2010 holds the record for November kickoff weekends). Early predictions pegged "Tower Heist" to land near $30 million, but its Friday figure suggests something lower in the mid-$20 million range.

Right on the caper's tail, DreamWorks Animation/Paramount's "Puss in Boots" took second with $7.8 million. Insiders are anticipating a better-than-usual 35% drop from last weekend, which will put it within scratching distance of "Tower Heist" in the low-$20 millions.

Warner Bros.' kicked off the holiday season early with "A Very Harold & Kumar 3D Christmas," which grossed $5.4 million Stateside last night. Predictions for the threequel's performance vary, but most B.O. observers say it will land in the mid- or high-teens this weekend.

Two young adult-skewing holdovers rounded out last night's tops. Par's "Paranormal Activity 3" earned $2.9 million in its third frame, dropping 55% for a domestic cume of $89.7 million, while Twentieth Century Fox's "In Time" made $2.5 million. Contact the Variety newsroom at news@variety.com

Jackman boosts Broadway

Posted: Sat., Nov. 5, 2011, 4:00am PTHugh Jackman was one of the lone bright spots at the Broadway box office in Week 22 (Oct. 24-30), helping to counter a slowdown at nearly every other show on the boards.

Concert outing "Hugh Jackman, Back on Broadway" ($1,210,974) played its first eight previews, kicking things off by breaking the house record at the Broadhurst Theater set last season by "The Merchant of Venice."

Otherwise, sales generally slackened due to Halloween; moreover, tourists seem less likely to visit New York (and Broadway), with year-end holiday vacations looming.

Attendance fell slightly to 229,544 or 82.9%, but remains ahead of last year's 79.1%.

The 20 musicals grossed $17,380,235 for 81.9% of the Broadway total, with attendance of 182,313 and an average paid admission of $95.33.

The eight plays grossed $3,848,623 for 18.1% of the Broadway total, with attendance of 47,231 and an average paid admission of $81.49. Contact Gordon Cox at gordon.cox@variety.com

DePrez designs new challenges

Posted: Sat., Nov. 5, 2011, 4:00am PT

DePrez

After an arduous search, production designer Therese DePrez and director Park Chan-wook ("Oldboy") had finally settled on a mansion in Nashville to serve as the central location for the Fox Searchlight thriller "Stoker," but the edifice was still little more than an empty shell.

With only four weeks to go until the late August start date, DePrez still had to design, demo, paint and dress the long-vacant property. She was so eager to see how her latest paint choices would look in the daylight, she went down to the production office parking lot at dawn one morning and laid all the color swatches out on the ground.

Then the sprinklers came on.

"I had probably been up for a month straight already," recalls DePrez. "I stood there with both me and all the paint samples soaking wet, and all I could do was laugh."

After 20 years in as a production designer with more than 30 films to her credit -- including collaborations with directors Terry Gilliam ("Mr. Magorium's Wonder Emporium"), Spike Lee ("Summer of Sam") and Stephen Frears ("High Fidelity") -- DePrez is well-acclimated to the insane vagaries of filmmaking.

On "Stoker," however, she faced a new challenge -- both director Park and the film's cinematographer Chung Chung-hoon are Koreans who speak limited English, working on their first Hollywood film.

But Park's English turned out to be "better than we all thought," DePrez says. "He's an incredibly intelligent man and the translator he has, who is also the associate producer, speaks English better than most Americans.

Growing up in Rochester, N.Y., the daughter of a business executive father and a social worker mother, DePrez made Super 8 movies with her brother Michael. Later, when he was at NYU film school and she was a student at nearby Parson's School of Design, she helped on his student films. She scored her first feature credit as a production designer on the low-budget horror spoof "Refrigerator" in 1992 and went on to craft the look for such acclaimed indie films as "Living in Oblivion," "I Shot Andy Warhol" and "Hedwig and the Angry Inch."

Last year, DePrez hit a major prize when she took home an Art Directors Guild Award for her work on Darren Aronofsky's "Black Swan."

As she prepared to wrap "Stoker" late last month, DePrez was eager to get back to the converted 1790s Dutch barn in upstate New York she shares with her husband Joe Stefko, a drummer who's worked with John Cale, Meatloaf and the Turtles, and who runs the limited-edition publishing company, Charnel House. But she doubted she'd be able to sit still for long.

"I'm very much a doer," says DePrez, who also has writer/director David Koepp's "Premium Rush" in the can. "After about five months with probably two weekends off, you'd think I'd come home and just want to relax for two weeks, but after two days, I'm starting to tinker around the house." Contact the Variety newsroom at news@variety.com

Digital drives prospects for China biz

Posted: Sat., Nov. 5, 2011, 12:13pm PTWith 50% more buyers from mainland China attending the American Film Market this year than last year, independent filmmakers have new avenues for breaking into the restricted Chinese marketplace.

China's Film Bureau, part of the State Administration of Radio, Film and TV (SARFT), only allows 20 foreign films to unspool on a revenue-share basis, mostly studio tentpoles, which would seem to limit returns for independents.

But Peter Shiao, CEO of Orb Media Group, says new digital platforms have a stronger presence at AFM this year, presenting more distribution options than even a year ago.

"A lot of these portals are now trying to go legit," Shiao says. "There's a lot of new money coming in from these new-media activities."

Digital platforms are slowly making inroads in China, though piracy concerns are still paramount. In June, China's biggest online video streaming site, Youku.com, launched its Youku Premium paid content platform after signing a digital distribution agreement with Warner's China joint venture, CAV Warner Home Entertainment.

Youku's rival Tudou has streamed the first two films in "The Twilight Saga," licensed from Summit Entertainment.

But the increased number of buyers is also a signal of the overall boom in the Chinese entertainment biz.

"It's a result of a growing middle class and … growing entrepreneurship," said Jonathan Wolf, managing director of the AFM. Wolf credited an increased demand from Chinese consumers with contributing to the country's growing number of theaters and co-productions.

Hong Kong connection

Filmmakers outside the mainland can often use Hong Kong as an entry route to China. Producers and exhibitors from the territory have language skills and Chinese connections to offer the global filmmaking community.

Major filmmakers in Hong Kong -- most of whom have offices in China -- have also contributed to a boom in the Chinese entertainment business, and many of them are eager to leverage their foundations for outside partnerships.

But the bureaucracy can be a formidable challenge.

"Usually, when people want to go to mainland China, there's no better way than going direct," Shiao says.

Such producers as Barry Glasser, for example, have partnered with individual Chinese equity investors to fund up to half the budgets of their projects.

"The big concern of the Chinese is that these pictures be able to play worldwide," says Glasser, who used mainland coin for projects including 2007's "Diamond Dogs" and upcoming project "Cheesecake" from helmer Nadia Tass. "Sure, they want to make sure that these films will open well in China, but they don't want to make parochial Chinese movies."

That sentiment is echoed by many buyers at AFM.

"What we're looking for is great scripts and great stories that will work primarily for Chinese audiences and secondly will travel," said Milt Barlow, CEO of China Lion. "I think it's difficult to find a picture that works in China and non-Asian markets … we're looking for that magic bullet."

Barlow says that rule applies tor both China Lion's acquisitions and its co-production choices.

"If the script works, and the story is good and it appeals to a Chinese audience, then we take those conversations further," he said.

While China Lion is looking for two to four pictures to bring into the country, Barlow acknowledged that Sino censorship presents serious hurdles, and breaking a Chinese picture into the wider global market remains difficult -- subtitles, for example, don't appeal to mainstream auds. Through China Lion's distribution partnership with AMC and other exhibs, it has released several Chinese pics in North American theaters including "A Beautiful Life" and "The Butcher, the Chef and the Swordsman."

Some Chinese producers will try to mitigate those risks, sometimes by offering minimum guarantees for China only. But another risk-mitigator, he says, is the buyer's relationship with the Chinese censors themselves.

Censorship savvy

"Certain buyers have great relationships with the Chinese censors," Shiao says. "A lot of people won't talk about this, but many friendly distributors in China right now will have an allocation from the China Film Group, which will effectively say, 'I give you the ability to recommend to me one movie.' … Depending on that buyer's understanding of the process and their judge of content, they're usually not going to be wrong."

That market-oriented approach is laying the groundwork for a growing Chinese movie biz -- regardless of caps.

In March, China failed to meet a WTO deadline to allow other distributors beside CFG to import movies for theatrical release.

Many buyers, distributors and other companies attending this year's AFM from China, however, might not be in Santa Monica just to pick up content.

"There's a general recognition that they have to grow internationally, so the fact that they've registered as buyers I think is a little bit misleading," Shiao says. "Because I know many of them are coming to the AFM as their Hollywood 101 lesson." Contact Rachel Abrams at Rachel.Abrams@variety.com

Sea Shadow (Dhil al bahr)

Posted: Thu., Nov. 3, 2011, 1:14pm PTAn Empire Intl. release of an Image Nation Abu Dhabi production, in association with Fortissimo Films. (International sales: Fortissimo Films, Amsterdam.) Produced by Rami Yasin, Daniela Tully. Executive producer, Stefan Brunner. Directed by Nawaf Al-Janahi. Screenplay, Mohammed Hassan Ahmed.With: Omar Al Mulla, Neven Madi, Abrar Al Hamad, Khadeeja Al Taie, Mariam Hussein, Bilal Abdullah, Aisha Abdul Rahman, Hassan Rajab, Ahmad Iraj, Ali Al Jabiri.Teen boys cope with first love while their female peer tries to negotiate the minefield of male attraction in Nawaf Al-Janahi's flat sophomore feature, "Sea Shadow." Part of the vanguard of the United Arab Emirates' burgeoning film industry, the pic has its sweet and sour moments but would benefit from tightening the way it builds and connects scenes. Regional play may benefit from locals excited to see homegrown product, yet the faux-naive script will bother some and hamper offshore fest appearances.

Set in Ras al-Khaimah, one of the more traditional, less-developed Emirati states, the story focuses on Mansoor (Omar Al Mulla), a poor young man with a domineering mom (Aisha Abdul Rahman). Motherless Kaltham (Neven Madi) is attracted to the teen, but she's also afraid of men; the script fails to clarify whether she was sexually assaulted or simply freaked out by sleazy advances. Mansoor isn't sure what love is, and asks his experienced friend Sultan (Abrar Al Hamad), though there's no straightforward answer. Scenes between the two friends are the strong point here, but simple dialogue crosses the line from unsophisticated to simplistic, and the pic rarely comes alive. Camera (color, widescreen), Paulo Ares; editors, Tony Ruthnam, Raul Skopecz; music, Ibrahim Al Amiri; production designer, Martin Sullivan; art director, Pranali Diwadkar; costume designer, Angela Schnoeke-Paasch. Reviewed at Abu Dhabi Film Festival (New Horizons), Oct. 19, 2011. Running time: 97 MIN.Contact the Variety newsroom at news@variety.com

Hell on Wheels

Posted: Thu., Nov. 3, 2011, 6:46pm PT

'Hell on Wheels'

Filmed in Alberta by Entertainment One, Nomadic Pictures and Endemol USA. Executive producers, Tony Gayton, Joe Gayton, John Shiban, Jeremy Gold, David Von Ancken; co-executive producer, Paul Kurta; producers, Chad Oakes, Mike Frislev; director, Von Ancken; writers, Gayton, Gayton.Cullen Bohannon - Anson Mount
Elam Ferguson - Common
Thomas "Doc" Durant - Colm Meaney
Lily Bell - Dominique McElligott
Sean McGinnes - Ben Esler
Mickey McGinnes - Philip Burke
Joseph Black Moon - Eddie Spears
Reverend Nathaniel Cole - Tom NoonanGiven AMC's enviable track record -- and ahead-of-the-curve horror take with "The Walking Dead" -- there's doubtless considerable interest in whether the network can trigger a similar Western resurgence. A promising concept, "Hell on Wheels" -- about the launch of the transcontinental railroad, named for the moving encampment that surrounds its leading edge -- will evoke inevitable comparisons to "Deadwood," both for its tone and subject matter. The net result, however, is only fitfully compelling, and for a series about trains periodically runs out of narrative steam in the later legs of the five episodes previewed.

Like "Deadwood," the camp is a veritable cauldron of sin and debauchery -- complete with whores, an imperious leader and a racial/ethnic melting pot, all constantly at a low simmer thanks to open wounds left by the just-concluded Civil War.

Driving the railroad forward is Thomas "Doc" Durant (Colm Meaney), who revels in his high-stakes project -- currently situated in Iowa -- being "subsidized by the enormous teat of the federal government." His bombast is among the show's least appetizing elements, and to quote another old Southerner, I remember Al Swearengen, and son, you ain't no Al Swearengen.

Into the camp, meanwhile, comes Cullen Bohannon (Anson Mount), a gun-slinging former Confederate soldier on a continuing mission of revenge, having lost his wife during the war. Bohannon will come to play a more permanent role in the camp's life, striking up an uneasy relationship with Elam (the rapper-actor Common), who, like many of the freed blacks swinging a pickax, doesn't see much gain from his plantation days -- and doesn't welcome still being ordered around by white overseers.

Created by brothers Joe and Tony Gayton, "Hell on Wheels" offers an unflinching glimpse at what's undeniably a fascinating period, using seldom-heard racial epithets as well as bloodshed and violence, which include a couple gut-churning scenes of anesthetic-free surgery. There are also a few wonderfully colorful supporting players, like Ted Levine as the camp foreman and a railroad enforcer known as the Swede (Christopher Heyerdahl).

In too many ways, though, the show takes its lead from Bohannon and Elam -- two characters who are grim and joyless -- down to its washed-out earth-tones look. (Shot in Alberta, the imagery is convincing enough.)

Perhaps foremost, too many key components -- the angry Confederate, the freed slave, the striving Irish immigrants, the Native-American brought to Christ, etc. -- seem culled from old Westerns. There's even a later scene plucked out of "A Man Called Horse," which anyone who saw it will cringingly remember.

While the diverse mix of characters could work to the program's advantage over the long haul, jumping to and fro among them creates a diluted, herky-jerky ride in the early going.

In one respect, "Walking Dead's" big ratings would appear to grease the tracks for this new hour, except the zombie show skews toward a younger audience, while the profile for Westerns is traditionally much older.

As the de facto lead, Mount tersely delivers plenty of tough-guy dialogue, wearily describing his actions during the war by saying, "I did the best I could in a bad time."

Substitute "in an OK show," and you've got a pretty good road map to the way "Hell on Wheels" chugs out of the station. Camera, Marvin Rush; production designer, John Blackie; editors, Todd Desrosiers, Kevin Krasny; music, Kevin Kiner; casting, Cami Patton, Jennifer Lare. 60 MIN.With: Ted Levine, Christopher Heyerdahl.Contact Brian Lowry at brian.lowry@variety.com

MK2 peddles pic pair

Posted: Sat., Nov. 5, 2011, 1:25pm PTGaul's MK2 has pre-sold Marion Laine's drama romance "A Monkey on My Shoulder" and Abbas Kiarostami's "The End" to Wild Bunch Benelux.

Kiarostami's follow up to "Certified Copy," "The End" started lensing this week in Japan with local thesps Rin Takanashi and Tadashi Okuno. On top of handling international sales, MK2 is co-producing with Eurospace.

"The End" previously sold to Brazil and the countries of the former Yugoslavia.

The Japanese-language contempo drama turns on the unlikely relationship between a pretty young student, who prostitutes herself to make ends meet, and an older man who wants to protect her.

"Monkey," which started shooting in Marseilles on Oct. 24, centers on a romance between two surgeons. Thelma Films and Manchester Films are producing with MK2 and pubcaster channel France 3.

MK2's AFM slate also includes Olivier Assayas' "Something in the Air," Xavier Dolan's "Laurence Anyways" and Walter Salles' "On the Road."

Currently in post-production, "Air" was pre-bought by IFC in the U.S., NFP in Germany and Australia's Palace.

Also in post-production, "Laurence," starring Melvil Poupaud and Nathalie Baye, has been snapped up by Israel's Orlando, Taiwan's Filmware and Serbia's MCF MegaCom Film. "On the Road" has pre-sold to more than 30 territories including Germany (Concorde), Italy (Medusa), Australia (Icon), Benelux (Cineart) and Latin America (Playarte). Contact Variety Staff at news@variety.com

Kung Fu Panda: Legends of Awesomeness

Posted: Thu., Nov. 3, 2011, 7:21pm PT

Po and his martial-arts friends take on the smallscreen in “Kung Fu Panda: Legends of Awesomeness.”

Produced by DreamWorks Animation in partnership with Nickelodeon Prods. Executive producers, Peter Hastings, Cheryl Holliday; supervising producers, Randy Dormans, Gabe Swarr; producers, Andrew Huebner, Dean Hoff; director, Swarr; writers, Scott Kreamer, Doug Langdale, Kevin Seccia, Hastings; theme composed by Hastings; casting, Sarah Noonan, Meredith Layne. 30 MIN.Voices: Mick Wingert, Kari Wahlgren, Amir Talai, Max Koch, Fred Tatasciore, James Sie, James Hong, Lucy Liu.After its short-lived "Father of the Pride," DreamWorks has largely confined its TV efforts to adaptations of successful features, with reasonably impressive results. So following on "Penguins of Madagascar" comes another Nickelodeon series, "Kung Fu Panda: Legends of Awesomeness," which comes credibly close to the visual quality of the movies in action-filled half-hours. Premiering with a weeklong run behind "SpongeBob Squarepants" before moving to Fridays in December, it's a formidable addition to Nick's arsenal in kid TV's frenetic battle to win the allegiance of boys.

Coming on the heels of two "Panda" features, the series doesn't try to reinvent the wheel. Instead, it follows the chubby, forever-hungry unlikely hero Po (voiced with an uncanny resemblance to Jack Black by Mick Wingert) and the rest of his martial-arts menagerie on various adventures.

In the two previewed episodes, that includes Po inadvertently destroying the group's training facility -- and triggering another crisis in his efforts to quietly fix it -- and Po and Tigress (Kari Wahlgren) having to fend off crocodile bandits while handcuffed to each other, "The Defiant Ones"-style.

As for the differences between the series and the movies, younger tykes probably won't even notice. OK, so the fur doesn't ripple and the scale isn't quite so spectacular; there's still plenty of kung fu to keep moppets on the couch building up their own little panda paunches -- and even a jaunty theme song.

In addition to Wingert, the voice cast does a fine job of seamlessly replicating the characters, with only Lucy Liu and James Hong reprising their film roles.

For DreamWorks, there's obvious value in keeping franchises alive and maintaining contact with kids in the long stretches between movies, and the studio's product (including the less-appealing "Penguins") provides Nickelodeon a visually stimulating alternative to much of TV's limited animation -- one that ought to hold its own against fare courting the same pint-sized crowd on Cartoon Network, Disney XD and the Hub.

So as his grouchy master has a way of saying at the end of his various adventures: Well done, "Panda. Contact Brian Lowry at brian.lowry@variety.com

'Melancholia' leads EFA noms

Posted: Sat., Nov. 5, 2011, 12:03pm PTSEVILLE, Spain-- Lars von Trier's end-of-the-world drama "Melancholia" tops nominations for this year's European Film Awards -- Europe's equivalent of the Oscars -- with eight mentions.

"Melancholia's" noms include best pic, director, actress (both Kirsten Dunst and Charlotte Gaingsbourg) and screenwriter.

Von Trier's film vies for the pic prize with Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne's "The Kid With a Bike," Susanne Bier's "In a Better World," Aki Kaurismaki's "Le Havre," Tom Hooper's "The King's Speech" and Michel Hazanavicius' "The Artist." "Melancholia's" rivals in the category all snagged four nominations.

Announced Saturday at Spain's Seville Film Festival, noms suggest that EFA members haven't let Von Trier's outburst and ban at Cannes in May damage "Melancholia's" chances of a best pic award, at least at this nomination stage.

The Cannes fest declared Von Trier "persona non grata" after he declared he felt "sympathy" for Adolf Hitler at "Melancholia's" press conference.

"I hope that nominations free audiences from prejudices against the film and they see it as just a film," said Golem's Josetxo Moreno, who releases "Melancholia" this weekend in Spain.

The lion's share of EFA noms went to box office hits or auteurs who command international audiences.

In a clear bet on established European helmers, the director award sees the same competitors as the pic prize, replacing Hazanavicius with Hungarian Bela Tarr ("The Turin Horse").

The 24th EFA winners will be unveiled Dec. 3 in Berlin.

And the nominees are:

EUROPEAN FILM 2011

-"The Artist," France; directed by Michel Hazanavicius; produced by Thomas Langmann & Emmanuel Montamat

-"Le gamin au velo" (The Kid with a Bike); Belgium, France, Italy; directed by Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne; produced by Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne, Denis Freyd and Andrea Occhipinti

-"Haevnen" (In a Better World), Denmark; Susanne Bier; produced by Sisse Graum Jorgensen

-"The King's Speech," U.K.; directed by Tom Hooper; produced by Iain Canning, Emile Sherman, Gareth Unwin

-"Le Havre," Finland, France, Germany; directed by Aki Kaurismaki; produced by Aki Kaurismaki and Karl Baumgartner

-"Melancholia," Denmark, Sweden, France, Germany; directed by Lars von Trier; produced by Meta Louise Foldager and Louise Vesth

EUROPEAN DIRECTOR 2011

-Susanne Bier for "In a Better World"

-Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne for "The Kid with a Bike"

-Aki Kaurismaki for "Le Havre"

-Bela Tarr for "A Torinoi Lo" (The Turin Horse)

-Lars von Trier for "Melancholia"

EUROPEAN ACTRESS 2011

-Kirsten Dunst in "Melancholia"

-Cecile de France in "The Kid with a Bike"

-Charlotte Gainsbourg in "Melancholia"

-Nadezhda Markina in "Elena"

-Tilda Swinton in "We Need to Talk about Kevin"

EUROPEAN ACTOR 2011

-Jean Dujardin in "The Artist"

-Colin Firth in "The King's Speech"

-Mikael Persbrandt in "In a Better World"

-Michel Piccoli in "Habemus Papam"

-Andre Wilms in "Le Havre"

EUROPEAN SCREENWRITER 2011

-Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne for "The Kid with a Bike"

-Anders Thomas Jensen for "In a Better World"

-Aki Kaurismaki for "Le Havre"

-Lars von Trier for "Melancholia"

CARLO DI PALMA EUROPEAN CINEMATOGRAPHER AWARD 2011

-Manuel Alberto Claro for "Melancholia"

-Fred Kelemen for "The Turin Horse"

-Guillaume Schiffman for "The Artist"

-Adam Sikora for "Essential Killing"

EUROPEAN EDITOR 2011

-Tariq Anwar for "The King's Speech"

-Mathilde Bonnefoy for "Drei" (Three)

-Molly Marlene Stensgaard for "Melancholia"

EUROPEAN PRODUCTION DESIGNER 2011

-Paola Bizzarri for "Habemus Papam"

-Antxon Gomez for "La piel que habito" (The Skin I Live in)

-Jette Lehmann for "Melancholia"

EUROPEAN COMPOSER 2011

-Ludovic Bource for "The Artist"

-Alexandre Desplat for "The King's Speech"

-Alberto Iglesias for "The Skin I Live in"

-Mihaly Vig for "The Turin Horse" Contact the Variety newsroom at news@variety.com

Beast

Posted: Thu., Nov. 3, 2011, 1:15pm PTAn SF release of an Alphaville Pictures Copenhagen production with the support of the DR TV, DFI. (International sales: Alphaville Pictures Copenhagen.) Produced by Tine Grew Pfeiffer. Directed, written by Christoffer Boe.With: Nicolas Bro, Marijana Jankovic, Nikolaj Lie Kaas.An obsessive, destructive love transforms a caring husband into a bloodthirsty "Beast" in this perversely fascinating psychodrama from Danish helmer Christoffer Boe ("Reconstruction"). Playing like a cross between "Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?" and "Alien," Boe's tightly scripted fifth feature boasts sharp dialogue, strong performances (particularly from his iconic thesp, Nicolas Bro), plenty of tense and disturbing moments and atmosphere in spades. Heading into its November domestic release with strong festival buzz, the Copenhagen-set cult thriller could roar into specialty horror markets offshore.

As spring flowers bloom, a brief prologue shows writer Bruno (Bro, providing a literally and figuratively naked tour de force) and his jeweler wife, Maxine (Marijana Jankovic, giving the impression that she would make a fine Lady Macbeth), closing on a gorgeous condo. But even in these happy moments, it's clear their relationship isn't exactly healthy. Bruno gives "uxorious" new meaning as he sucks on Maxine's cut finger and rhapsodizes about having her blood inside him. "Careful," she cautions him, "you might get a taste for it." Uh-oh, too late.

The rest of the film unfolds in the winter of the couple's discontent, made literal by the Danish capital's icy streets and snowy parks. At times (especially during a disturbing S&M sex scene), Maxine seems willing to be the woman destroyed by Bruno's all-consuming desire; at other moments, she rebels.

Increasingly maddened as he feels Maxine withdrawing from him, Bruno starts to bait her with sinister games, even toying with her mild-mannered lover (Nikolaj Lie Kaas). But as he gives into the dark side of his lovesickness, Bruno develops terrible stomach pains. It seems as if something is growing inside him.

Celebrated for his technical virtuosity and often criticized for his characters' emotional frigidity, helmer Boe lets Bro go to town with his feelings. Meanwhile, some almost Cronenbergian vfx depict Bruno's anguished, wildly beating heart as a big, pulsating lump of flesh. Viewers with weak stomachs take note: There are a few other moments of grisly body horror, but on the whole Boe creates a uniquely creepy psychological thriller rather than a splatter film.

Reportedly shot on a microbudget, using Boe's own apartment as the central location, the pic benefits from fresh technical collaborators rather than the team he has worked with since film school. Elegant lensing in claustrophobic closeup by versatile d.p. Sophia Olsson (whose work here is the antithesis of the gritty realism she brought to Iceland's Oscar submission "Volcano") underscores the pic's sense of unease, as do the menacing score by Sylvain Chauveau, hallucinatory cutting by My Thordal and ominous art direction by Mette Lindberg. Camera (color, widescreen), Sophia Olsson; editor, My Thordal; music, Sylvain Chauveau; art director, Mette Lindberg; costume designer, Lone Bidstrop; visual effects, Toko Blither Mollet, Jeppe Bingestam; sound (Dolby SR), Morten Green. Reviewed on DVD, Chicago, Nov. 2, 2012. (In Warsaw, Sitges, Thessaloniki film festivals.) Running time: 83 MIN.Contact the Variety newsroom at news@variety.com

A Ghost of a Chance (Sutekina kanashibari)

Posted: Thu., Nov. 3, 2011, 3:06pm PT

Eri Fukatsu is a lawyer who must rely on the spirit of a samurai, played by Toshiyuki Nishida, to exonerate her client in “A Ghost of a Chance.”

A Toho Co., Fuji Television Network presentation of a Cine Bazar production. (International sales: Pony Canyon, Tokyo.) Produced by Chihiro Kameyama, Yoshishige Shimatani, Kuga Maeda, Ken Tsuchiya, Kazutoshi Wadakura. Executive producers, Takashi Ishihara, Minami Ichikawa. Directed, written by Koki Mitani.With: Eri Fukatsu, Toshiyuki Nishida, Hiroshi Abe, Yuko Takeuchi, Tadanobu Asano, Kiichi Nakai, Koji Yamamoto, Kan, Takashi Kobayashi, Fumiyo Kohinata, Takayuki Kinoshita.Comic murder mystery "A Ghost of a Chance" draws on American tradition and samurai spirit to deliver a hilarious supernatural scenario with a legal angle. Nipponese writer-cum-director Koki Mitani ("Welcome Back, Mr. McDonald," "Suite Dreams") has used classic Hollywood cinema as a touchstone before, and here tips his hat to Frank Capra in particular, in a way that will have special appeal for older auds. Bowing immediately after its Tokyo fest preem, pic has scared up a boffo $6.5 million in its first week, and looks likely to haunt fests favoring commercial fare, but offshore distribution prospects look more spectral.

From the colorful, dynamic graphics of the opening credits to the "Some Like It Hot"-style end title, pic exudes love for the expansive, sometimes sprawling Hollywood comedies of the 1950s and '60s. After the opening credits, a glamorous-looking couple (Koji Yamamoto and Yuko Takeuchi) is caught in an incriminating rendezvous by an equally gorgeous second woman (also played by Takeuchi), but the interloper dies in the ensuing catfight. After this Preston Sturges-style intro, the focus shifts to well-meaning but clumsy lawyer Emi Hosho (tube thesp Eri Fukatsu, fabulous in a Diane Keaton sort of way). Although desperate to emulate her late, celebrated legal-eagle father, Emi is a courtroom flop. Her boss (Hiroshi Abe) offers her a last-chance case, defending a man charged with killing his wife.

The accused is not the opening's slick lothario, but mild-mannered Goro Yabe (Kan). Yabe's alibi is that he was detained by a samurai's ghost while preparing to commit suicide at a hotel. Concluding that only an honest man could come up with such a ridiculous excuse, Emi travels to the haunted inn and makes contact with the ghost, Rokubei Sarahina (Toshiyuki Nishida, delivering a larger-than-life perf of Zero Mostel proportions). Hailing from the 16th century, Sarahina is wary of the law since he was beheaded for treason. Nevertheless, Emi manages to appeal to the samurai's sense of justice and persuades him to come to Tokyo to testify on the accused's behalf.

En route to Tokyo, Emi learns that her key witness is visible only to a small percentage of the population. Challenged by a scientifically minded prosecutor (Kiichi Nakai), Emi has to make a case for her witness's very existence before Japan's most unusual trial can begin. Fortunately for her, the assigned judge (Takashi Kobayashi) is eager for novelty, having grown bored with courtroom tedium.

It's a testament to Mitani's writing ability that he manages to spin such an odd premise into such sturdy entertainment. Even in translation, the witty dialogue bounces along like a Howard Hawks steeplechase, and while Mitani's script sometimes takes the long route just for the sake of a joke, it provides the strong structure that comedy requires. As with Billy Wilder or Capra, writing is Mitani's clear strength, but his near-invisible helming is subtle and smooth.

That said, the script's biggest drawback is the eventual disappearance of Nishida's ghostly samurai while other afterlife visitors come to the fore; if the yarn had established earlier that Sarahina's existence was not anomalous, the character's absence would be felt less sharply. Fortunately, Fumiyo Kohinata makes up for Nishida's temporary absence with his hypnotic turn as the hereafter's malevolent emissary, clad in a striking white feather suit.

Tech credits are polished, befitting a major studio production. Pic's initial English title, still visible in the opening graphics, was "Once in a Blue Moon," which is also the title of the theme song. Camera (color, widescreen), Hideo Yamamoto; editor, Soichi Ueno; music, Kiyoko Ogino; production designer, Yohei Taneda; sound (Dolby Digital Surround Ex), Tetsuo Segawa. Reviewed at Tokyo Film Festival (Special Screenings), Oct. 26, 2011. Running time: 142 MIN.Contact the Variety newsroom at news@variety.com

Freestyle hungry for 'Donner Pass'

Posted: Sat., Nov. 5, 2011, 11:24am PTFreestyle Digital Media has acquired U.S. rights to horror thriller "Donner Pass," and plans a release in the first quarter.

FDM announced the deal Saturday, three days after launching its new platform for digital distribution, cable and VOD on the opening day of the American Film Market. FDM touted the digital VOD platform as being capable of increasing independent filmmaker revenues through improved marketing efficiencies of day and date theatrical, and optimizing returns from direct-to-video releases.

"Donner Pass" is from Arroyo Filmworks, director Elise Robertson, producer Mouncey Ferguson, and screenwriter Scott Adams. Film tells the story of settlers in 1846 who became snowbound in the Sierra Nevada Mountains and had to resort to cannibalism to survive -- and a group of teens on a ski trip 150 years later who discover that the curse of the Donner Party still haunts those mountains when members of their group start turning up not only dead, but half-eaten.

The deal was negotiated by FDM's CEO Susan Jackson. International sales are being handled by Inferno's Ember's divison. Contact Dave McNary at mailto:dave.mcnary@variety.com?subject=Freestyle hungry for 'Donner Pass'

Other Desert Cities

Posted: Thu., Nov. 3, 2011, 6:57pm PT

'Other Desert Cities'

A presentation by Lincoln Center Theater, in association with Bob Boyett, of a play in two acts by Jon Robin Baitz. Directed by Joe Mantello.Polly Wyeth - Stockard Channing
Brooke Wyeth - Rachel Griffiths
Lyman Wyeth - Stacy Keach
Trip Wyeth - Thomas Sadoski
Silda Grauman - Judith LightHelmer Joe Mantello did a savvy job of recasting "Other Desert Cities" for its Broadway transfer. When the show preemed at Lincoln Center earlier this year, it wasn't clear that Jon Robin Baitz's tightly wrapped family drama about a patrician clan of Old Guard California Republicans even had a leading character. That ensemble vibe survives in this production, but with the magnetic Rachel Griffiths ("Six Feet Under") now taking the lead in the part of the renegade daughter from New York, it's easier to overlook the artifices of the plot and surrender to the drama.

A stalwart Stacy Keach and the invincible Stockard Channing reprise their respective roles as Lyman Wyeth, a former movie star who went on to become a powerful GOP bigwig, and his wife, Polly, as socially charming and politically calculating as her dear friend Nancy Reagan.

Thomas Sadoski also makes a welcome return as their son, Trip, a good-natured producer of trashy reality-TV shows and the kind of attentive son who would spend Christmas Eve with his parents. (The white-and-gold artificial Christmas tree in the living room is set designer John Lee Beatty's witty way of capturing the arid holiday spirit in Palm Springs, circa 2004.)

In the context of this bleached-out desert setting, it falls on the characters to supply all the color. In the original production, Linda Lavin made an especially vibrant character of Silda Grauman, Polly's free-thinking, hard-living alcoholic sister, fresh out of rehab and come to live with her sister and brother-in-law. That role, which opened up when Lavin went into Nicky Silvers' new play "The Lyons," went to Judith Light.

Light (who played another straight-shooter in "Lombardi") makes sharp work here of Silda's outspoken views on politics, religion and her sister's pretensions. But because she isn't as vivid as her predecessor, the thesp makes it easier for Griffiths to claim centerstage as Brooke Wyeth, the prodigal daughter who arrives with the manuscript of a memoir that accuses her parents of driving their older son to suicide.

Newly divorced and recovering from a breakdown that had her hospitalized for years, Brooke isn't the most stable person in the world. Elizabeth Marvel's provocative perf came from that vulnerable state of mental instability, making Brooke's volatile character seem dangerous. In Griffiths' deeply compassionate perf, she comes across as more rational and a lot healthier: more thoughtful than brooding, intellectually curious rather than paranoid.

Neither of these insightful performances, however, can solve the improbabilities of the melodramatic plot, which hangs on a family secret long buried and implausibly never discussed. And while Baitz ("The Substance of Fire") gives his articulate characters the wit and intelligence to go to battle on any number of ideological issues that divide them, he studiously avoids bringing up anything as lively as politics. Sets, John Lee Beatty; costumes, David Zinn; lighting, Kenneth Posner; sound, Jill BC DuBoff; original music, Justin Ellington; production stage manager, James FitzSimmons. Opened Nov. 3, 2011. Reviewed Oct. 28. Running time: TWO HOURS, 20 MIN.Contact the Variety newsroom at news@variety.com

New funds prop up P&A

Posted: Sat., Nov. 5, 2011, 1:41pm PTThe independent sector is at long last finding help to pay for the marketing expenses of theatrical releases.

On Friday, Endgame Entertainment unveiled a prints and advertising fund worth $400 million-$500 million for the release of films such as helmer Rian Johnson's "Looper."

Meanwhile, Patrician Asset Management just secured its first investment from a non-U.S. institutional investor for its diversified film financing fund.

Endgame Releasing, which is the new P&A fund, contributes a foundation of equity augmented by a revolving senior debt facility from Comerica and Union Bank -- two mainstays of lending to the independent sector -- and also mezzanine debt from London-based Octopus Investments. "There is flexibility built into this structure," said Endgame Entertainment president Douglas Hansen.

Endgame Releasing will focus on theatrical releases reaching at least 1,800 domestic screens by paying their $20 million-plus theatrical marketing campaigns.

The wide-release is also pursued by established P&A financiers Clarius Capital and Qualia Capital.

"It's safer for us to spend $30 million than $20 million," said William Sadleir of Clarius. "That may seem counterintuitive. So many producers say, 'How cheaply can I get this film out there?' but then the film fails."

Amir Malin, managing partner at diversified media financier Qualia Capital, which provided P&A for Sony Pictures' "Planet 51," said, "The volume of submissions is up but the commercial viability is down. Most of the submissions we are seeing don't merit a viable commercial release."

At Patrician Asset Management, Hollywood marketing executive and senior portfolio manager David Forbes said that P&A works best when there's a slate of films, so risk isn't concentrated in one or just a few movies.

P&A, though needed, is generally hard to find because it is structured as the last money put in and first money paid from theatrical rentals, video and perhaps other ancillary revenue from the same film. The erosion of video revenue upended P&A recoupment calculations.

"To borrow money today, you have to have a very strong foreign sales component and ancillaries in place (video and TV deals) to show the revenue coming back, even if the film gets only limited exposure in the U.S.," said Mark Borde, who is co-president of Freestyle Releasing, which provides theatrical distribution for films that supply marketing costs.

While the theatrical pipeline is less clogged with fewer releases, effectively marketing smaller titles remains an expensive challenge.

"There's certainly a need for P&A funding," said Clark Hallren, managing partner at Clear Scope Partners, a Rizvi Traverse media financer assembling a P&A fund.

Small independents looking for one-picture P&A deals are often left to solicit wealthy individuals. "There's not a lot of P&A money out there for indie films," said John Flock, CEO of W2 Media. Contact the Variety newsroom at news@variety.com