Dustin in 'Wonder' land
Hoffman will toy with laffer
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Mandate will fully finance "Mr. Magorium" and holds worldwide rights. Helm, who also penned the screenplay, will begin shooting in March.
Mandate formed in January when four-year-old Senator Intl. completed a management buyout from German indie giant Senator Entertainment. Joe Drake heads the film production and distribution company.
FilmColony's Richard Gladstein ("Finding Neverland," "The Bourne Identity") and James Garavente are producers with Mandate. Mandate Pictures head of production Nathan Kahane and creative exec Jim Miller will oversee the project.
In "Margorium," Hoffman plays an eccentric toy shop owner who wants to lift Portman out of her depression by leaving her the store.
Pic marks Hoffman's second project for Mandate, which is in production on the Will Ferrell/Hoffman starrer "Stranger Than Fiction," written by Helm. Sony will distribute the comedy in the U.S. as part of a three-pic deal inked in spring with Mandate. Both stars were paid less than their normal rates for "Stranger."
Mandate is a partner in Sam Raimi and Rob Tapert's Ghost House Pictures, the horror genre label behind "The Grudge," "Boogeyman" and the upcoming "The Grudge 2."
Other Mandate projects in the pipeline include supernatural thriller "Passengers," which Sony will distrib domestically. And Columbia has come on board to develop Mandate's drama "The Year of Wonders."
Mandate also is in development with Universal and Vertigo Entertainment on "Strangers." And overseas, Mandate reps Gold Circle Films as part of their ongoing financing partnership.
Hoffman will next be seen in the role of Meyer Lansky in "The Lost City," written and directed by Andy Garcia. He also stars in Tom Twyker's upcoming "Perfume: The Story of a Murderer," based on the 1981 novel by Patrick Suskind.
