Dylan biopic blows to Forum

Haynes film played at Venice, Toronto fests

By DADE HAYES

The Weinstein Co.'s multifaceted, experimental Bob Dylan biopic "I'm Not There" is taking a suitably quirky path to release, playing downtown Gotham's fabled Film Forum for two weeks.

Concurrent with the run at the West Village temple of foreign-language and hard-to-find fare (recent breakouts there include "Army of Shadows" and "Into Great Silence"), the film will play Lincoln Plaza. The latter is a common launch pad for pics such as last year's "The Queen" or "Last King of Scotland," which leverage the often-robust per-screens to gain key engagements as they roll out.

Todd Haynes' Dylan pic, which takes the unusual tack of having multiple actors portray the musician, is a rarity in that it will have played Venice and Toronto on the way to its Nov. 21 bow (also in a couple of L.A. sites).

The Gotham arrangement reps a rare violation of the "clearance" that typically prevents any pic playing at the Film Forum from also unspooling at another Manhattan site. The opportunity for the dual play, plus access to the Film Forum's membership-driven mailing list of 25,000 avid film buffs, made the release a viable proposition for TWC.