Miramax goes family

Mini-major bares 'Teddy' slate of kid-friendly pix

By JONATHAN BING

Weinstein

Miramax co-chair Harvey Weinstein, who rose to prominence on the strength of his company's edgy, adult dramas, is gambling that a raft of new family-themed movies will create some fairy dust for his slate.

After watching sibling label Dimension Films successfully dip its toe in the kiddie pool with "Spy Kids" -- a pic whose $113 million domestic gross exceeded that of any Miramax Films 2001 release -- Weinstein is making a concerted drive into the kids market.

An internal Miramax memo obtained by Daily Variety indicates the Miramax co-chair is vigorously pushing ahead with several high-profile kids projects, which it dubs "the Teddy Projects."

He has yet to unveil a full-blown family entertainment division of Miramax Films. But the memo describes the "Teddy" slate as "the next step in the evolution of the Miramax label."

The memo says these pics, which are in either production or development under co-prexys of production Meryl Poster and Bob Osher, "will complement (Miramax's) traditional edgy, independent slate of foreign and domestic" releases, which include the upcoming pics "Ararat," "Chicago," "Confessions of a Dangerous Mind," "Tadpole" and "Dirty Pretty Things."

Miramax declined to confirm details of the projects, but they are said to include:

• "The Firework-Maker's Daughter": Miramax has acquired the rights to this novel by "Golden Compass" author Philip Pullman. Anthony Minghella could produce the pic, a comic adventure about a girl who desperately wants to be a fireworks-maker like her widower father.

• "Ella Enchanted": Anne Hathaway ("The Princess Diaries") is in final negotiations to star in the project based on the Newbery Medal-winning novel by Gail Carson Levine. Karen Lutz and Kirsten Smith ("Legally Blond") are onboard to write the script, with Tommy O'Haver ("Get Over It") directing.

• "Slugger": Kevin James ("The King of Queens") is in talks to star in this project about a 10-year-old boy who learns to play baseball and overcome the death of his father with some help from the ghost of Babe Ruth. Demi Moore, Andrea Asimov and Daneen Conroy are producing, and Sanford Bookstaver, one-time assistant to DreamWorks co-founder Jeffrey Katzenberg, will direct from a script by Bruce Graham and Steven Gary Banks.

• "Pinocchio": Miramax and McDonald's have entered into a worldwide promotional partnership for this adaptation of Carlo Collodi's classic Italian fairy tale, scripted by Roberto Benigni and his "Life Is Beautiful" writing partner Vincenzo Cerami. Benigni directed and starred in the film with wife Nicoletta Braschi, his "Life" co-star.

• "Artemis Fowl": Miramax Films is scheduled to begin shooting the adaptation of Eoin Colfer's book in October. Story of a crafty 12-year-old boy immersed in a world of fairies, leprechauns and gnomes, pic will be produced by Tribeca Films' Jane Rosenthal and Robert De Niro. Talk Miramax Books will publish a sequel to the novel.

• "The Magic Brush": John Chu and "Shrek" exec producers Penney Cox and Sandy Rabins are producing this animated feature, to be produced by Centro Digital Pictures in Hong Kong. Chu is directing and David Henry Hwang is adapting the project, based on a Chinese fairy tale about a young orphan who yearns to be an artist.

• "A Cricket in Times Square": George Selden's bestseller will be Miramax's first CGI-effects project. Miramax also owns the rights to six sequels.

• "Neverland": Miramax will start production later this year on this Johnny Depp starrer. The story of how James M. Barrie's beloved play "Peter Pan" came to be staged, based on the author's relationship with four fatherless boys and their mother in turn-of-the-century London, it's being adapted by David Magee and directed by Marc Forster ("Monster's Ball"). Richard Gladstein will produce the film through his production company, FilmColony, with Nellie Bellflower of KeyLight Entertainment.

Diversification

The "Teddy" slate is the latest move by Miramax to diversify its output. Miramax continues to enjoy recognition in its traditional area of expertise, indie and arthouse fare. Glossier pics such as "The Shipping News" and "Kate and Leopold" stumbled last year, but thanks in part to another robust B.O. run from Dimension, Miramax recorded $161 million in profits in 2001.

A slate of kids projects nevertheless takes Miramax into territory that is the traditional province of its corporate parent, the Walt Disney Co.

Miramax Films spokesman Matthew Hiltzik didn't anticipate a conflict with Disney. He cited Disney's success with pics such as "Remember the Titans" and "The Rookie" as examples Miramax hopes to follow, but indicated the "Teddy" slate will have a distinct Miramax stamp.

A lot of the projects are book-driven, international in scope and feature players long associated with Miramax, including Minghella, Benigni and Gladstein.

"Disney has set an incredible example and enjoyed great success with a wide range of such projects," Hiltzik said. "We're taking the Miramax approach and Miramax talent and applying it to our own family projects."