Inside Moves
Fincher, Pitt mull 'Mexican'; Good Machine, Canal+ are 'Human'
Pic, penned by J.H. Wyman, will be financed by Newmarket Capital Group for under $10 million and will be produced by Lawrence Bender ("Pulp Fiction") and John Baldecchi ("Deep Rising"). Newmarket's William Tyrer, Chris Ball and Aaron Ryder are exec producing (Daily Variety, April 1).
The action-comedy centers on a mobster who travels south of the border to hunt down an ancient pistol with a curse on it.
"Waterworld" director Kevin Reynolds had been circling the project but dropped out, leaving the door open for Fincher to step in.
Pitt has become available for "The Mexican" since he and Jennifer Aniston recently passed on the Miramax film "Waking Up in Reno," to which they had previously been attached. (Miramax is recasting the film).
CAA, which represents Pitt and Fincher, is also handling a domestic distribution deal on the film.
-- Charles Lyons and Chris Petrikin
VENICE -- Further highlighting the recent trend of European-American co-productions, Gotham-based production-foreign sales outfit Good Machine has pacted with French media giant Canal Plus to finance "Human Nature," written by Charlie Kaufman ("Being John Malkovich") and to be directed by video helmer Michel Gondry. While Good Machine's active international sales arm, run by David Linde, normally handles foreign sales on the company's pics (as well as those for USA Films), Canal Plus will, in this case, be financing the film and handling international sales. Good Machine will be repping the film's domestic distribution rights on behalf of Canal Plus.
Pic tells the story of a romantic quadrangle that emerges when three people -- a terribly hirsute woman, a man with the tiniest known sex organ, and a flawless woman -- all pursue a Tarzan-like boy who was raised to think of himself as an ape.
Spike Jonze, Anthony Bregman and Good Machine's Ted Hope will produce the pic, which should begin casting shortly.
-- Chris Petrikin
