Miramax opens an English-lingo 'Closet'
The film, which Miramax opened in a platform release on seven screens in the U.S. (pic has grossed $36 million overseas), stars Daniel Auteuil as a nerdy accountant who finds that he's about to be laid off after 20 years on the job. Distraught and estranged from his wife, the man turns to a neighbor for help. The solution is to superimpose the accountant's head onto various photos taken in gay bars, with the idea that laying off an uncloseted longtime employee could be construed as sexual discrimination, particularly because he works for a company that produces condoms. The revelation not only spares his job but also dramatically changes the accountant's stature at the condom maker.
For writer-director Veber, "The Closet" becomes his second consecutive film to notch a U.S. remake sale. His last was the smash hit "The Dinner Game," which sold for remake to DreamWorks, where he has been working on a script in concert with Steve Kloves. CAA made the deal on behalf of Veber and the film's producer, Gaumont. Veber will be executive producer. There are no other attachments at this point. Miramax's Eric Roth and Agnes Mentre made the deal, and the film will be overseen by Miramax L.A. prexy Mark Gill and co-production prexy Bob Osher.
For Miramax, the deal marks the latest example of the studio tying up remake rights on foreign films it imports. Miramax previously bagged remake rights to the Oscar-nominated Belgium film "Everybody's Famous!," about a devoted father who kidnaps a pop singer to advance his daughter's singing career aspirations, and "With a Friend Like Harry," the multi-Cesar Award winning comic thriller about a sociopathic stranger who insinuates his way into the life of a family man by claiming to be a childhood pal. Miramax is also developing "Jet Set," an Americanized version of the French comedy that the studio released last year.
HBO, CHASE EYEING MORE 'SOPRANOS': Now that "The Sopranos" creator David Chase is back from his south of France holiday, talks have begun among his UTA reps, HBO and Brad Grey about persuading the mob-drama architect to take the drama through a fifth season. "The Sopranos" creator has an extension deal that was supposed to see him pass off the drama to another showrunner after the upcoming fourth season, but Dish hears that a re-energized Chase is game to go an extra 13 episodes, if the price is right.
Chase has had to postpone his feature aspirations because he gets so focused on making the drama that he's had little time for anything else. The last deal he made was pegged in the eight-figure range for two seasons, and estimates are he could reach that amount just for that fifth season. It's important that Chase decide soon whether the run will be extended, so that he can make a long-range plan on how to resolve the Sopranos family saga.
The negotiations are touchy for HBO, which has never had to pay a premium for a series. If Chase's deal gets done, the core cast members would likely also seek pay raises. Each has an original deal that runs six seasons, but it is known that renegotiations have already taken place with Emmy-winning topliner James Gandolfini.
Aside from HBO's desire to prolong its signature series, there are syndication incentives to be gained by stretching an extra season. There will be 52 episodes of "The Sopranos" after the next season, and another 13 would enable the show to be run five times per week for a 13-week syndication cycle. While "The Sopranos" is considered a tough syndie sale because of the profanity and violence in the uncensored version aired on HBO, the show won't be difficult to modify because the actors have been dubbing milder expletive-free versions for just such an eventuality.
None of the principals would comment.
BLOODSUCKING, AGAIN: New Line, which has turned bloodsuckers into big bucks with "Blade" and its sequel, has found a new vein to tap. The studio has bought "Darksiders," a spec script by Tom S. Parker and Jim Jennewein ("The Flintstones"), about a band of bloodsuckers turned into a group of special operatives for the FBI. Given the bloodlust they show for their work, the vampires are closely monitored by the government agency. Tracie Graham and Alison Rosenzweig are producing the pic, their second consecutive large-scale actioner. The duo developed the upcoming MGM WWII drama "Windtalkers," producing that film with John Woo and Terence Chang for MGM. Graham and Rosenzweig have gone that commercial route despite their indie origins. New Line prexy Toby Emmerich and exec Michele Weiss will steer the project, which is being eyed as a potential franchise. The package was repped by the Gersh Agency, and the writers are managed by the Bauer Co.
TRAFFIC' REPORT FROM CUBA: The makers of the hit USA drama "Traffic" have become the latest to premiere their film in Cuba. Director Steven Soderbergh, Benicio Del Toro and producer Laura Bickford premiered the film Monday night at Havana's Charlie Chaplin Theater for an audience of pols, intellectuals and filmmakers. Much as in a recent foray by the makers of the Cuban Missile Crisis drama "Thirteen Days," the "Traffic" trip will provide an opportunity to screen the pic for the general public for an entire week, with Soderbergh, Del Toro and Bickford speaking about it to two film schools before they return. The trip was organized by the World Policy Institute, an international think tank that has been organizing cultural exchange trips to Cuba, and the Cuban Film Institute is hosting the film's premiere. Soderbergh's just wrapped the remake of "Ocean's Eleven" at Warner Bros., while Del Toro is nursing a badly busted wrist, an injury suffered during the tail end of making "The Hunted."
MARRIAGE MADE OFFICIAL: While Drew Barrymore and Tom Green considered themselves emotionally wed after they eloped to the South Pacific, the pair did it again over the weekend, making it official for family and close friends. They were married in a private ceremony in Malibu, with a party afterward that was attended by fellow "Charlie's Angels" Cameron Diaz and Lucy Liu, Barrymore's Flower Films partner Nancy Juvonen, her Endeavor agent Patrick Whitesell and attorney Steve Warren. Barrymore's mother, Jaid, was in attendance, as were Green's parents, who'd flown in from Ottawa. The bride wore white, the groom sported a tux, and the press-savvy couple scored a coup by managing to maintain secrecy and avoid a media circus.
