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In one of the biggest co-production deals unveiled at Content London, Mediawan’s label Atlantique Productions has joined forces with Participant to make an ambitious limited espionage thriller series based on the Pegasus spyware scandal.

Amit Cohen and Ron Leshem are on board as creators and showrunners for the mini-series which will adapted from the bestseller “Pegasus: How a Spy in Our Pocket Threatens the End of Privacy, Dignity, and Democracy.” The book charts the sprawling international investigation conducted in 2020 and 2021 which revealed how governments used Pegasus spyware technology to spy on politicians, activists and business executives.

Executive producers on the highly anticipated “Pegasus” show are Nathalie Perus for Atlantique Productions, Thomas Anargyros for Mediawan Studio France, Jeff Skoll and Miura Kite for Participant. Maria Feldman and Claire Rudnick Polstein are also attached as executive producers. The project is being presented today (Tuesday) at Content London.

“Pegasus: How a Spy...

The Brady organization against gun violence is calling on Hollywood writers, directors and producers to examine onscreen gun violence and depictions of gun safety, asking the creative community to sign a pledge that’s already garnered more than 200 signatures of such names as Judd Apatow, Shonda Rhimes, Damon Lindelof and Jimmy Kimmel and the writers of Jimmy Kimmel Live!

The pledge, while noting that the “responsibility lies with lax gun laws supported by those politicians more afraid of losing power than saving lives,” acknowledges that “America’s storytellers” have the power to “effect change.”

“Cultural attitudes toward smoking, drunk driving, seatbelts and marriage equality have all evolved due in large part to movies’ and TV’s influence. It’s time to take on gun safety,” the Brady pledge states, and goes on to ask writers, directors and producers to, whenever possible, to:

Use creativity “to model responsible gun ownership and...

Producer John Wells has a new outlook on the industry these days.

After more than 20 years in offices on the Warner Bros. lot in Burbank, John Wells Prods. recently relocated to a 10,390-square-foot building that Wells purchased in Hollywood, a stone’s throw from Paramount Pictures on Melrose Avenue.

The Jwp banner continues to be in business with Warner Bros. TV under a long-term overall deal. But Wells decided last year he wanted to change up the working environment and for the first time bring staffers toiling on the company’s TV series and movies together under one roof.

Right now, Jwp is prepping for the June 7 launch of 1970s-set drama “American Woman,” starring Alicia Silverstone and Mena Suvari, on Paramount Network. The company known for “ER” and “The West Wing” is also home to TNT drama “Animal Kingdom” and Showtime’s long-running ensembler “Shameless.”

“I wanted to be in...

The story of thousands of secret bank accounts, a long list of the rich and powerful, and an insane accumulation of wealth hiding in plain sight just beyond the reach of governments gripped the world earlier this year when German investigative journalists Frederik Obermaier and Bastian Obermayer broke the story and led the team that uncovered The Panama Papers.

Now, Netflix and John Wells Productions (Burnt, August Osage County, Love And Mercy) are teaming up to tell the definitive story behind The Panama Papers and the two journalists who, working through an anonymous source known as John Doe, cracked open an unprecedented torrent of lies, diversions and information that revealed how the wealthy hid billions of dollars offshore through a little known law firm in Panama. The work, released in collaboration with the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (Icij), set off an international firestorm, triggering the resignation of heads of state,...

It seems filmmaker Steven Soderbergh isn't the only one interested in producing a screen work about the famed Panama Papers scandal.

Netflix has announced that they have scored the screen rights to German investigative journalists Frederik Obermaier and Bastian Obermayer's just released book: "Panama Papers: Breaking the Story of How the World's Rich and Powerful Hide Their Money".

The pair were part of the team who broke the story, and have enlisted two other key members (Gerard Ryle and Marina Walker) along with John Wells Productions to handle the film adaptation for the streaming giant. No word yet of a director, screenwriter, or cast but both Wells and Claire Rudnick Polstein will produce.

Soderbergh is producing and may potentially direct his own film about the scandal based on Jake Bernstein's upcoming book "Secrecy World". His go to scribe Scott Z. Burns is said to be working on the script.

Netflix is teaming with the Panama Papers journalists to adapt their story into a film, TheWrap has learned. German investigative journalists Frederik Obermaier and Bastian Obermaye, who wrote the book “Panama Papers: Breaking the Story of How the World’s Rich and Powerful Hide Their Money,” will team with the streaming service and John Wells Productions to bring the book to the screen. Netflix has acquired exclusive rights to the book and will work with producers Wells, Claire Rudnick Polstein and executive producer Zach Studin of John Wells Productions. Marina Walker, International Consortium of Investigative Journalists deputy director, and Gerard Ryle,...

The streaming platform is teaming up with John Wells Productions on the story of the sesnational data leak, whose exposure of elitist impropriety triggered political resignations and a host of investigations around the world.

Netflix has acquired exclusive rights to the book Panama Papers: Breaking The Story Of How The World’s Rich And Powerful Hide Their Money by German investigative reporters Frederik Obermaier and Bastian Obermayer.

The reporters researched a tip from a source known as John Doe for more than a year before unleashing in April the biggest data dump in modern history in association with the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (Icij).

The so-called Panama Papers comprised an avalanche of confidential documents revealing how wealthy clients used an obscure Panamanian law firm to hide billions of dollars in offshore accounts.

The story forced Icelandic premier Sigmundur Davio Gunnlaugsson from office, named individuals linked to Russian president Vladimir Putin and former Italian leader Silvio Berluscoli...

Studio 8 and Battle Mountain Films have teamed for a crime thriller that will be directed by Italian filmmaker Francesco Munzi. Munzi is writing the script with Zach Baylin based on an original idea. The story is set in New York City's violent but lucrative underworld of cargo theft. It centers on a young man who is mentored by a brilliant thief and must choose between ambition and family as he rises to prominence. John Wells and Claire Rudnick Polstein of Battle Mountain will produce the project, the company's first collaboration with Studio 8. Zach Studin will executive produce. Jon

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Biopics are a double-edged sword. On one hand, carving out a larger-than-life persona on the big screen drives iconography and extends a legacy. On the other, the inherent trap of the "greatest hits" approach, a structure often leaned on just because of the sheer amount of information you can carry across, can lead to a lack of dimension, sapping the humanity out of a subject. Bill Pohlad was aware of those pitfalls when he set out to make "Love & Mercy," a cinematic portrait of Beach Boys legend Brian Wilson, and he avoided them expertly. The film tells Wilson's story in two eras. Paul Dano plays the younger, his musical brilliance on display as he puts together landmark albums like "Pet Sounds" and feverishly pushes the boundaries of popular music. John Cusack plays the older, trapped in an emotional cage, over-medicated and with seemingly no one truly looking after his best interests.

Neil Armfield.s Holding the Man, Simon Stone.s The Daughter, Jeremy Sims. Last Cab to Darwin and Jen Peedom.s feature doc Sherpa will have their world premieres at the Sydney Film Festival.

The festival program unveiled today includes 33 world premieres (including 22 shorts) and 135 Australian premieres (with 18 shorts) among 251 titles from 68 countries.

Among the other premieres will be Daina Reid.s The Secret River, Ruby Entertainment's. ABC-tv miniseries starring Oliver Jackson Cohen and Sarah Snook, and three Oz docs, Marc Eberle.s The Cambodian Space Project — Not Easy Rock .n. Roll, Steve Thomas. Freedom Stories and Lisa Nicol.s Wide Open Sky.

Festival director Nashen Moodley boasted. this year.s event will be far larger than 2014's when 183 films from 47 countries were screened, including 15 world premieres. The expansion is possible in part due to the addition of two new screening venues in Newtown and Liverpool.

As previously announced, Brendan Cowell...

Love and Mercy

Director: Bill Pohlad

Writer: Oren Moverman

Producers: Bill Pohlad, Claire Rudnick Polstein, John Wells, Brian Wilson

U.S. Distributor: Rights Available

Cast: Elizabeth Banks, Paul Dano, John Cusack, Jake Abel and Paul Giamatti

He has proven himself as an discerning producer (e.g: 12 Years A Slave, The Tree of Life, Into the Wild) and unlike his directing debut (1990′s Old Explorers) Pohlad is working from an Oren Moverman script, has got a solid acting team and has two of those major actors (John Cusack and Paul Dano) playing the Brian Wilson and a solid tech team for this uncharacteristic biopic.

Gist: This explores Brian Wilson’s life and explores his legendary battle with mental illness, as well as the love that keeps him alive. Paul Giamatti will play Brian Wilson’s therapist Dr. Eugene Landy, while John Cusack and Paul Dano are set to star as the...

Bill Pohlad ("Old Explorers") is set to direct and Paul Dano ("Looper," "There Will Be Blood") has joined the cast of "Love and Mercy" at River Road Entertainment and John Wells Productions.

Dano plays legendary musician Brian Wilson in his younger years. Another actor is being sought for Wilson later in his life.

Wilson was the mercurial singer, songwriter and leader of The Beach Boys. The film will avoid the standard biopic formula in favour of an unconventional look at seminal moments in Wilson’s life.

Oren Moverman ("The Messenger") penned the script, while Atticus Ross ("The Social Network") is in talks to work on the fim's sound design and soundtrack.

John Wells and Claire Rudnick Polstein will produce.

Source: River Road Entertainment...

Paul Dano has signed on to star as The Beach Boys singer Brian Wilson in the biopic Love & Mercy. Atticus Ross, who won an Oscar for composing The Social Network score with Trent Reznor, is in talks to provide the music for this biopic.

The drama chronicles Brian Wilson's rise to fame as the singer of The Beach Boys in the 1960s. However, as he became more creatively ambitious, his mental health deteriorated, which lead to him leaving the band. The movie will feature two different actors portraying Brian Wilson, with Paul Dano playing the younger version. The older version has not been cast yet.

Bill Pohlad will make his feature directorial debut, working from a screenplay by Oren Moverman. Bill Pohlad is best known as the producer of movies such as The Tree of Life and Into the Wild. John Wells and Claire Rudnick Polstein are producing. Production will begin this summer.

Exclusive: The former Law And Order: Criminal Intent star has joined the John Wells-directed film. In August: Osage County Julianne Nicholson will play Ivy Weston, one of the sisters to Julia Robert’s Barbara in the adaptation of Tracy Letts’ Oklahoma family clan play. Ivy is the middle daughter to Violet, played by Meryl Streep. Ivy stayed in Oklahoma and teaches at a local college and is having a secret affair with a man she plans to move to New York with. Nicholson worked with Wells before on the CBS series Presidio Med back in 2002-2003. The actress has appeared recently on CBS’ The Good Wife and on HBO’s Boardwalk Empire. Juliette Lewis plays the youngest daughter Karen in the sibling trio in August: Osage County. Ewan McGregor and Dermot Mulroney are also in the film, as is Abigail Breslin who plays Barbara’s daughter, Jean. Margo Martindale...

George Clooney and Smoke House Pictures partner Grant Heslov will produce the film adaptation of "August: Osage County," the Pulitzer-Prize winning play by Tracy Letts. Julia Roberts and Meryl Streep will star as mother and daughter in The Weinstein Company's upcoming film, which John Wells is directing from Letts' adaptation. Jean Doumanian Productions and Steve Traxler are producing with Clooney and Heslov. Claire Rudnick Polstein is the Executive Producer. "It's already a great cast and great material and I can't think of anyone better than Harvey [Weinstein] to put this all together,"...

My, the cast of characters that have aligned to the feature adaptation of Tracey Letts’ Pulitzer Prize-winning play August: Osage County continues to get more impressive. Back in September, 2010, Deadline broke the story about the movie and that Harvey Weinstein had assembled a package where John Wells would direct Meryl Streep and Julia Roberts as the mother and daughter in the play. Now, Weinstein has signed Smokehouse Productions partners George Clooney and Grant Heslov to become producers. Here’s the announcement: New York – June 18, 2012 – The Weinstein Company (TWC) announced today that George Clooney, Academy Award®-winning actor (Syriana) and Academy Award-nominated filmmaker (Good Night And Good Luck., The Ides Of March), and Academy Award®-nominated producer/screenwriter Grant Heslov (Good Night And Good Luck., The Ides Of March) have signed on as producers of August: Osage County, the upcoming screen adaptation of the Pulitzer Prize and Tony Award-winning play by Tracy Letts.

Ben Affleck stopped to sign a few autographs and pose on the red carpet at a screening of his new movie, The Company Men in NYC last night. The film's official theatrical release was moved to late January, but his promotional appearances were already set into motion for the scheduled date of Dec. 10. Ben took off from La last Friday, leaving Jennifer to watch over Violet and Seraphina and their adorable afternoon meeting animals and playing at the market. Ben's name is starting to come up in award season talk for his turn as a director for The Town, but first up he's big in our Best of 2010 coverage. Ben is up for sexiest male star and best beard, while his Handsome Men Club appearance made our top TV moments. View 10 Photos › To see more photos of Ben at the NYC premiere, just read more. View 10 Photos › Images include: Ben Affleck,...

Weinsten Co's "The Company Men" finds theaters on December 20th, with a talented cast incuding Ben Affleck, Kevin Costner, Tommy Lee Jones, Maria Bello, Craig T. Nelson and Rosemarie Dewit. John Wells, whose previous efforts at the helm are limited to TV, makes his feature directorial debut from a screenplay he wrote. Claire Rudnick Polstein, Paula Weinstein and John Wells produced the drama. Bobby Walker (Ben Affleck) is living the American dream: great job, beautiful family, shiny Porsche in the garage. When corporate downsizing leaves him and co-workers Phil Woodward (Chris Cooper) and Gene McClary (Tommy Lee Jones) jobless, the three men are forced to re-define their lives as men, husbands, and fathers.

Weinsten Co's "The Company Men" finds theaters on December 20th, with a talented cast incuding Ben Affleck, Kevin Costner, Tommy Lee Jones, Maria Bello, Craig T. Nelson and Rosemarie Dewit. John Wells, whose previous efforts at the helm are limited to TV, makes his feature directorial debut from a screenplay he wrote. Claire Rudnick Polstein, Paula Weinstein and John Wells produced the drama. Bobby Walker (Ben Affleck) is living the American dream: great job, beautiful family, shiny Porsche in the garage. When corporate downsizing leaves him and co-workers Phil Woodward (Chris Cooper) and Gene McClary (Tommy Lee Jones) jobless, the three men are forced to re-define their lives as men, husbands, and fathers.

The Weinstein Co. has picked up domestic rights to "The Company Men" which marks John Wells' feature-length directorial debut. According to Variety, the deal includes a mid-seven figure P&A commitment and also a "substantial" theatrical release. "The Company Men" had its premiere at this year's Sundance. Starring are Ben Affleck, Kevin Costner, Tommy Lee Jones, Maria Bello, Craig T. Nelson and Rosemarie Dewit. Wells wrote, directed and produced along with Claire Rudnick Polstein and Paula Weinstein. "The Company Men' was a real labor of love for all of us involved," said Wells. Bobby Walker (Ben Affleck) is living the American dream: great job, beautiful family, shiny Porsche in the garage. When corporate downsizing leaves him and co-workers Phil Woodward (Chris Cooper) and Gene McClary (Tommy Lee Jones) jobless, the three men are forced to re-define their lives as men, husbands, and fathers. Bobby soon finds himself enduring enthusiastic life coaching,...

The Sundance favorite will be distributed sometime later this year The Weinstein Company announced today that they have acquired Us rights to The Company Men, the first feature film by acclaimed writer/director John Wells. The Company Men is a powerful and heartwrenching portrayal of corporate downsizing with acclaimed performances by Ben Affleck, Chris Cooper, Kevin Costner and Tommy Lee Jones. The film is written and directed by Wells and produced by Claire Rudnick Polstein, Paula Weinstein and The Company Men. The Company Men premiered at the 2010 Sundance Film Festival to positive audience and critical response. The deal was announced by Harvey aBob Weinstein, Co-chairmen of The Weinstein Company. The Weinstein Company plans to release the film later this year.

The Company Men centers on Bobby Walker (Affleck) who is living the American dream: great job, beautiful family, shiny Porsche in the garage. When corporate downsizing leaves him and co-workers...

The Weinstein Company announced today that they have acquired Us rights to The Company Men, the first feature film by acclaimed writer/director John Wells. The Company Men is a powerful and heartwrenching portrayal of corporate downsizing with acclaimed performances by Ben Affleck, Chris Cooper, Kevin Costner and Tommy Lee Jones. The film is written and directed by Mr. Wells and produced by Claire Rudnick Polstein, Paula Weinstein and John Wells. The Company Men premiered at the 2010 Sundance Film Festival to positive audience and critical response. The deal was announced by Harvey and Bob Weinstein, Co-chairmen of The Weinstein Company. The Weinstein Company plans to release the film later this year. The Company Men centers on Bobby Walker (Affleck) who is living the American dream: great job, beautiful family, shiny Porsche in the garage. When corporate downsizing leaves him and co-workers Phil Woodward (Cooper) and Gene McClary (Lee Jones) jobless,...

The Weinstein Company announced today that they have acquired Us rights to The Company Men , the first feature film by acclaimed writer/director John Wells. The Company Men is a powerful and heartwrenching portrayal of corporate downsizing with acclaimed performances by Ben Affleck, Chris Cooper, Kevin Costner and Tommy Lee Jones. The film is written and directed by Wells and produced by Claire Rudnick Polstein, Paula Weinstein and John Wells. The Company Men premiered at the 2010 Sundance Film Festival to positive audience and critical response. The deal was announced by Harvey and Bob Weinstein, Co-chairmen of The Weinstein Company. The Weinstein Company plans to release the film later this year. The Company Men centers on Bobby Walker (Affleck) who is living the American...

The Weinstein Company announced today that they have acquired Us rights to The Company Men, the first feature film by acclaimed writer/director John Wells. The Company Men is a powerful and heartwrenching portrayal of corporate downsizing with acclaimed performances by Ben Affleck, Chris Cooper, Kevin Costner and Tommy Lee Jones. The film is written and directed by Mr. Wells and produced by Claire Rudnick Polstein, Paula Weinstein and John Wells. The Company Men premiered at the 2010 Sundance Film Festival to positive audience and critical response. The deal was announced by Harvey and Bob Weinstein, Co-chairmen of The Weinstein Company. The Weinstein Company plans to release the film later this year.

The Company Men centers on Bobby Walker (Affleck) who is living the American dream: great job, beautiful family, shiny Porsche in the garage. When corporate downsizing leaves him and co-workers Phil Woodward (Cooper) and Gene McClary (Lee Jones) jobless,...

Adding onto our Sundance Film Festival coverage, we invite you to see new images from "The Company Men," starring Ben Affleck, Kevin Costner, Tommy Lee Jones, Maria Bello and Craig T. Nelson and Rosemarie Dewit. John Wells directs from his own screenplay and produces alongside Claire Rudnick Polstein and Paula Weinstein. Bobby Walker (Ben Affleck) is living the American dream: great job, beautiful family, shiny Porsche in the garage. When corporate downsizing leaves him and co-workers Phil Woodward (Chris Cooper) and Gene McClary (Tommy Lee Jones) jobless, the three men are forced to re-define their lives as men, husbands, and fathers. Bobby soon finds himself enduring enthusiastic life coaching, a job building houses for his brother-inlaw (Kevin Costner) which does not play to his executive skill set, and perhaps the realization that there is more to life than chasing the bigger, better deal. With humor, pathos, and keen observation, writer-director...

John Wells and Don Murphy will produce the indie comedy "The Forgotten" via their John Wells Productions and Angryfilms banners.Claire Rudnick Polstein will produce with Wells and Angryfilms' Susan Montford is also producing.The comic tells of a man who is forgotten after five minutes, no matter who he meets or what he does. This gift of sorts aids him in his investigations and problem-solving but unfortunately leaves him quite lonely. His powers will be used for good when a long-lost friend's son is wrongfully accused of murder and he has to get to the bottom of a conspiracy.   Wells is helming "The Company Men" which stars Ben Affleck, Kevin Costner, Tommy Lee Jones, Maria Bello and Craig T. Nelson and Rosemarie Dewit. Murphy is a producer for "Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen."      ...

John Wells and Don Murphy will produce the indie comedy "The Forgotten" via their John Wells Productions and Angryfilms banners. Claire Rudnick Polstein will produce with Wells and Angryfilms' Susan Montford is also producing. The comic tells of a man who is forgotten after five minutes, no matter who he meets or what he does. This gift of sorts aids him in his investigations and problem-solving but unfortunately leaves him quite lonely. His powers will be used for good when a long-lost friend's son is wrongfully accused of murder and he has to get to the bottom of a conspiracy...

John Wells and Don Murphy will produce the indie comedy "The Forgotten" via their John Wells Productions and Angryfilms banners. Claire Rudnick Polstein will produce with Wells and Angryfilms' Susan Montford is also producing. The comic tells of a man who is forgotten after five minutes, no matter who he meets or what he does. This gift of sorts aids him in his investigations and problem-solving but unfortunately leaves him quite lonely. His powers will be used for good when a long-lost friend's son is wrongfully accused of murder and he has to get to the bottom of a conspiracy...

Maria Bello and Craig T. Nelson are joining "The Company Men." The independently financed drama, which already stars previously announced Ben Affleck, Kevin Costner and Tommy Lee Jones, has added the duo to its cast roster.

The story, written by John Wells, centers on the effect of a company's downsizing on its casualties and survivors. Bello will play the VP of human resources forced to fire Affleck, a corporate hotshot that has to give up his Porsche and six-figure salary.

Costner will play Affleck's brother-in-law that gives him a construction job after he is laid off. Nelson will play the CEO of the multinational corporation, while Jones is a principled senior partner in the firm who struggles with the greediness of his partners.

Wells is directing as well as producing alongside Claire Rudnick Polstein and Paula Weinstein, Variety reports. Barbara Hall is executive producing.

Maria Bello and Craig T. Nelson will be joining Ben Affleck, Kevin Costner and Tommy Lee Jones in "The Company Men," an independently financed drama that John Wells wrote and is directing. The pic is filming in Boston. Focuses on the impact that a corporate downsizing has on both its casualties and those who survive. Ben Affleck heads the cast as a successful businessman whose Porsche and six-figure salary are a thing of the past when he's laid off. Coster apparently plays his brother-in-law, a drywall installer who gives him a job. Jones plays the firm's senior parther who has strong principles and finds the greedy actions of his partners hard to swallow.   Wells, Claire Rudnick Polstein and Paula Weinstein are producing, and Barbara Hall is serving as an executive producer.    ...

Rosemarie DeWitt will join "The Company Men" and Chris Cooper also is currently in talks to join.The "Rachel Getting Married" actress joins Ben Affleck, Tommy Lee Jones and Kevin Costner in the film which is being written as well as directed by John Wells.The script focuses on the impact that a corporate downsizing has on both its casualties and those who survive. Ben Affleck heads the cast as a successful businessman whose Porsche and six-figure salary are a thing of the past when he's laid off. Coster apparently plays his brother-in-law, a drywall installer who gives him a job. Jones plays the firm's senior parther who has strong principles and finds the greedy actions of his partners hard to swallow. DeWitt will play Affleck's wife and Cooper is a blue-collar worker who is losing his job.John Wells, Claire Rudnick Polstein and Paula Weinstein are producing the film.

Rosemarie DeWitt is slated to be one of "The Company Men," John Wells' downsizing drama that Chris Cooper also is in negotiations to join.

The actress, who broke through with her performance in last year's "Rachel Getting Married," will appear with the Oscar-nominated Cooper opposite Ben Affleck, Tommy Lee Jones and Kevin Costner in the pic written and being directed by Wells.

The script revolves around a year in the life of three men trying to survive a round of corporate downsizing.

DeWitt will play Affleck's wife. Cooper is a blue-collar worker losing his job.

Claire Rudnick Polstein and Paula Weinstein are producing the indie drama, which is due to begin shooting this month in Boston.

DeWitt, repped by Gersh and Wishlab, is one of the stars of Showtime's "United States of Tara" and also did a stint on "Mad Men."

The Paradigm-repped Cooper has "New York, I Love You" coming out in September.

Kevin Costner and Tommy Lee Jones will star in "The Company Men." They join Ben Affleck in the independently financed drama which focuses on the impact that a corporate downsizing has on both its casualties and those who survive. John Wells ("ER," "The West Wing") is set to direct from the script he wrote and production begins in April in Boston. Claire Rudnick Polstein and Paula Weinstein are producing alongside Wells and Barbara Hall is serving as an executive producer.   Ben Affleck heads the cast as a successful businessman whose Porsche and six-figure salary are a thing of the past when he's laid off. Coster apparently plays his brother-in-law, a drywall installer who gives him a job. Jones plays the firm's senior parther who has strong principles and finds the greedy actions of his partners hard to swallow.   ...

Kevin Costner and Tommy Lee Jones will star in "The Company Men." They join Ben Affleck in the independently financed drama which focuses on the impact that a corporate downsizing has on both its casualties and those who survive. John Wells ("ER," "The West Wing") is set to direct from the script he wrote and production begins in April in Boston. Claire Rudnick Polstein and Paula Weinstein are producing alongside Wells and Barbara Hall is serving as an executive producer.

Kevin Costner and Tommy Lee Jones will star in "The Company Men." They join Ben Affleck in the independently financed drama which focuses on the impact that a corporate downsizing has on both its casualties and those who survive. John Wells ("ER," "The West Wing") is set to direct from the script he wrote and production begins in April in Boston. Claire Rudnick Polstein and Paula Weinstein are producing alongside Wells and Barbara Hall is serving as an executive producer.

• Gas--in the form of "House" executive producers Garrett Lerner and Russel Friend stepping up to the plate and putting their pens to work on Brock Clarke's best-selling An Arsonist's Guide to Writers' Homes in New England. Boy, I sure hope they shorten that title. John Wells Productions had picked up Clarke's dark comedy, which centers on a young Sam Pulsifer's accidental conflagration in Emily Dickinson's house - a sad, literary tragedy in its own right - but its contributing to the deaths of a young couple in the house after hours. After Pulsifer does his time and tries to get on with his life, other famous writers and transcendentalist homes (Melville, Hawthorne, even Thoreau's shack!) go up in similar fires. A serial arsonist, you're wondering? Nah, Pulsifer continues to cry out "I'm innocent!" after being accused as the prime suspect, and, in attempting to find out the true arsonist,

...

NEW YORK -- Warner Independent Pictures has signed "House" executive producers Garrett Lerner and Russel Friend to adapt Brock Clarke's best-seller "An Arsonist's Guide to Writers' Homes in New England."

The dark comedy from John Wells Prods. centers on Sam Pulsifer, a man who accidentally burns down Emily Dickinson's home and kills two people in the process. After 10 years in prison and a series of personal and professional disasters, he returns home to live with his parents, only to discover that he's suspected in a series of nearby fires at historical landmarks. He attempts to find the real criminal and uncovers some family secrets as the mystery unfolds.

Lerner and Friend's experience writing many "House" episodes seems to make them a perfect fit for the material, given the Fox series' witty take on crime mysteries. Lerner also co-wrote the upcoming sci-fi feature "Repossession Mambo" for Universal and producer Scott Stuber.

JWP's John Wells and Claire Rudnick Polstein are producing, and Lisa Morales is exec producing.

ER producer-director John Wells is set to direct the drama feature The Company Men through his John Wells Prods. shingle.

Wells also wrote the script and is serving as producer of the film, which centers on the personal impact that downsizing has on different executives in a company. In particular, the film focuses on one middle-age man and the effects that losing his job has on his family and life.

Wells will produce with Claire Rudnick Polstein and Paula Weinstein and Berk/Lane Entertainment, formerly known as Union Square. The company, which was founded by Jason Berk and Matt Lane and formally changed its name Monday, also is producing the upcoming romantic comedy All the Ships at Sea with Victor Levin (Then She Found Me), who will direct from his script.

Company has no official production start date because of the writers strike.

Wells recently served as executive producer on the Weinstein's Co.'s I'm Not There. His credits include Far From Heaven and TV's The West Wing.

He is repped by CAA.

• Warner Independent and John Wells Prods. are once again tapping into developing screen material from the literary genre. Variety announces that Warner Independent Pictures have optioned Brock Clarke's An Arsonist's Guide to Writers' Homes in New England.The novel was just released last month and comes across as a dramatic mystery set during two time frames. Starting off with a teenager, it was never Sam Pulsifer’s intention to torch an American landmark. He certainly never planned to kill two people in the blaze. To this day, he still wonders why that young couple was upstairs in bed in the Emily Dickinson house after hours. After serving ten years in prison for his crime, Sam is determined to put the past behind him. He finishes college, begins a career, falls in love, gets married, has two adorable kids, and buys a nice home. His low-profile life is chugging

...

Gurinder Chadha will tame Sassy Girl for DreamWorks and Guy Oseary and Madonna's Maverick Films. The project, which Chadha is signing on to direct, is a remake of I.M. Pictures' Korean romantic comedy. Sassy Girl is based on a real-life anonymous diary that follows the lives of two college students brought together by fate. A naive boy becomes involved with a beautiful, sassy girl who manages to wrap him around her finger as he helps her through hard times. Maverick's Oseary and president Mark Morgan are producing along with Maverick-based producer Jay Polstein. Vertigo Entertainment's Roy Lee and Doug Davison are executive producing. At the studio, the project is being shepherded by production exec Claire Rudnick Polstein. Chadha is repped by ICM. She's also attached to direct the romantic comedy Nine Wives for New Line Cinema and I Dream of Jeannie for Columbia Pictures.

Opens Friday, April 4

Nearly two years after principal photography, New Line is releasing "A Man Apart", hoping the movie might benefit from the box office muscle developed by its star, Vin Diesel, in his subsequent production, the extreme actioner "XXX". The film will probably satisfy his action-movie fans, though those unaware of the film's history may wonder why the actor has regressed to such a bare-bones thriller, albeit one with stylish flourishes. Why an "X" following "XXX"?

"A Man Apart" plays all the usual angles: the nonconformist cop who steps outside the law to avenge his wife's murder; the blurring of the line between the bad and good guys; the drug deals made in topless bars; the climactic chase through the sewers. We've seen all this before, but F. Gary Gray directs with a determination that style will win out over substance. It doesn't, but the energy he brings to the venture makes a pedestrian movie look far sharper than it deserves.

The opening sequence details how Drug Enforcement Administration agents Sean Vetter (Diesel) and Demetrius Hicks (Larenz Tate) take down a Baja drug cartel biggie (Geno Silva in the aging-gentleman-drug-dealer mode pioneered by Fernando Rey in "The French Connection"). While the DEA in Los Angeles celebrates with nonstop partying at Sean's Malibu beach house -- on a drug agent's salary he has a house in Malibu? -- an elusive figure calling himself Diablo lays claim to the Baja cartel with bloody killings and hijackings. Apparently believing he doesn't stand a chance of success unless he takes out Sean, a hit is ordered. But the assassination goes awry, and Sean's wife (Jacqueline Obradors) is killed.

Once Sean recovers from his own wounds, he goes berserk, turning into a badass with a hair-trigger temper and complete disregard for anyone's civil rights. This is tolerated for a while, but after playing Russian roulette with a suspect's skull and roughing up a pretty-boy drug dealer (Timothy Olyphant), Sean is suspended by a superior officer (Steve Eastin). So Sean enlists his old gangster pal from the 'hood (George Sharperson) to go after Diablo outside the law.

While illogic reigns, the only point to any of this is to get to the chases, shootouts and general mayhem. Gray's dexterous style creates the impression of nonstop movement with a mobile camera, aerial shots, smooth editing and a fine sense of pace.

Diesel, sporting a goatee worthy of a North Beach poet, barges through the movie with the sass his fans have come to expect -- that barely controlled fury and ironic smile on his face implying complete control of any situation. All other roles are designed as people for Diesel to react to -- or against. Olyphant is amusingly flamboyant, while Tate makes a good sidekick even if his willingness to go along with his partner's extralegal moves makes little sense.

Technical credits are superior to the material.

A MAN APART

New Line Cinema

A Vincent Newman & Tucker Tooley and Joseph Nittolo Entertainment production

Credits:

Director: F Gary Gray

Screenwriters: Christian Gudegast, Paul Scheuring

Producers: Tucker Tooley, Vincent Newman, Joseph Nittolo, Vin Diesel

Executive producers: Michael De Luca, Claire Rudnick Polstein, F Gary Gray

Director of photography: Jack N Green

Production designer: Ida Random

Music: Anne Dudley

Co-producer: George Zakk

Costume designer: Shawn Barton

Editors: Bob Brown, William Hoy

Cast:

Sean Vetter: Vin Diesel

Demetrius Hicks: Larenz Tate

Jack Slayton: Timothy Olyphant

Stacy Vetter: Jacqueline Obradors

Memo Lucero: Geno Silva

Mateo Santos: Juan Fernandez

Ty Frost: Steve Eastin

Big Sexy: George Sharperson

Running time --110 minutes

MPAA rating: R...

Setting down a wobbly tripod against the backdrop of small-town teen beauty pageants, "Drop Dead Gorgeous" is a mockumentary of numbingly unfunny proportions.

The makers of the intended black comedy were so enormously tickled by its apparent outrageousness that they thoughtfully left huge gaping pauses for all the presumed laughter. As it is, the film is tediously one-note (if that).

But while the filmmakers were obviously going for something along the wicked lines of a "Positively True Adventures of the Alleged Texas Cheerleader-Murdering Mom" and distributor New Line is hoping to, at the very least, grab the "Election" audience, the picture more accurately approaches the spirit of "An Alan Smithee Film: Burn Hollywood Burn."

In other words, the boxoffice prognosis for "Drop Dead Gorgeous" is pretty ugly.

When the Sarah Rose Miss Teen Princess America Pageant comes to the perky heartland town of Mount Rose, Minn., where everyone loves their lutefisk, a documentary camera crew, intent on capturing all the youthful dreams and disappointments, ends up uncovering a little larceny along with all the "Yah, you betchas".

Determined that her spoiled daughter Becky (Denise Richards) will follow in her teen-queen footsteps, former Sarah Rose winner Gladys Leeman (a bedraggled Kirstie Alley) isn't afraid to resort to some treachery in order to trim some of the competition.

Becky's biggest threat is sweet Amber Atkins (Kirsten Dunst), who dreams of becoming a TV anchorwoman just like her idol Diane Sawyer, with the blessing of her chain-smoking trailer trash mom, Annette (Ellen Barkin).

Naturally, all the backbiting and accusations lead to nastier stuff, but when the dust finally clears there will still be just one winner, no matter the cost.

Even though the subject matter and documentary-style approach have both been tackled many times before, there probably still was some ripe satire to be mined here. Unfortunately, screenwriter Lona Williams (herself a former Minnesota beauty pageant contestant) and first-time feature director Michael Patrick Jann run out of inspiration very quickly. "Drop Dead Gorgeous" feels like a wayward Groundlings sketch searching vainly for an exit line.

Admittedly, there are a few moments hinting at what might have been, like those involving the previous year's winner -- a hospitalized anorexic who is wheeled out by a nurse to reprise her big show-stopping number, lip-synching Melissa Manchester's "Don't Cry Out Loud". It actually plays a lot funnier than it sounds.

The rest falls insufferably flat. Saddled with lame Minnesotan accents (with apologies to the Coen brothers), the players, for the most part, pacify themselves by chewing on the scenery. Dunst comes closest to getting the tone right by playing her role with gosh-gee whiz sincerity, but her noble efforts have been set adrift in a sea of smirky self-satisfaction.

DROP DEAD GORGEOUS

New Line

A Hofflund/Polone Production

In association with Capella/KC Medien

Director: Michael Patrick Jann

Producers: Gavin Polone and Judy Hofflund

Screenwriter: Lona Williams

Executive producers: Claire Rudnick Polstein, Donna Langley, Lona Williams

Director of photography: Michael Spiller

Production designer: Ruth Ammon

Editors: David Codron, Janice Hampton

Costume designer: Mimi Melgaard

Music: Mark Mothersbaugh

Music supervisor: Evyen Klean

Casting: John Papsidera

Color/stereo

Cast:

Gladys Leeman: Kirstie Alley

Annette: Ellen Barkin

Amber: Kirstin Dunst

Becky: Denise Richards

Lisa: Brittany Murphy

Loretta: Allison Janney

Hank Vilmes: Will Sasso

Leslie Miller: Amy Adams

Running time -- 96 minutes

MPAA rating: PG-13...

This is a tale about the tail that wags the dog, in this balmy case the tail being a White House media team that manipulates public opinion by misdirecting the media, i.e., the dog.

It's a deliriously funny and decidedly cynical sendup of hardball spin management, starring Robert De Niro as a White House media troubleshooter who is a hired gun for extreme and delicate situations and Dustin Hoffman as a vainglorious Hollywood producer secretly hired by the White House to "produce" a war.

Cerebral and silly all at once, this smart Barry Levinson satire will tickle the fancies of sophisticated viewers everywhere -- except perhaps those currently in residence at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue -- and New Line should have a fine time wagging the political press with this daffy delirium.

At this point in time, as Congressional testifiers might declare, we have a president (dubbed by some as Slick Willy) who has been known to get in a sticky situation now and then and whose sexual history makes for great tabloid teases. Accordingly, "Wag the Dog"'s narrative springboard is that the president has had a quickie in the White House with a Fire-Fly Girl (think Girl Scout but purer) just before the election. Although he holds a strong lead in the polls, a sex scandal could turn the tide.

What to do?

Call in the firepower -- in the person of a master media manipulator Conrad Brean (De Niro), who is sort of a cross between Joseph Goebbels, James Carville and Dick Tuck. He's a sleight-of-hand artist who can get the media to look at the misdirection razzle-dazzle all the while he's safely pulling the rabbit out of his hat. Dirty tricks and misinformation are this guy's specialty, and not only does he put spin on his releases, they're filled with spit as well.

With a ticking clock -- eleven days to the election -- Brean goes into overdrive. A sex scandal with an underage teen is about the only thing that could keep this wishy-washy prez from being re-elected, and Brean realizes that although he can't keep the girl's story (she's going to file suit) from the press, he can at least downplay it and, perhaps, divert the press's attention.

But what -- short of a war -- would supersede a sex scandal involving the president? Bingo!

So, it's off to Hollywood to solicit a reclusive Hollywood producer, Stanley Motss (Hoffman), who has had experience, Motss reasons, that make him invaluable as a White House Fire-Fly Girl fighter -- he's produced the Oscars. If Brean can feed the mass media with enough misdirection, phony leaks, misinformation and then crank it to a hysterical pitch, perhaps the Fire-Fly Girl story will, well, drop to an inside page and be forgotten.

In the grand political tradition of bread and circuses while the city is burning, Brean and Motss create a "pageant," namely a war in Albania that monopolizes TV news time and ink-stained press coverage. With Motss orchestrating the "war" with victim symbolism that ranks right up there with Joseph Goebbels' "genius" in staging mass-march funerals for fallen Hitler youths, the deadline press is deluged with misguided images and red herrings, making them think they are actually uncovering "news."

The vanity of the press is perfectly captured in this droll mockery. Hilary Henkin's and David Mamet's script is a brainy and wicked satire of how easily the mass media can be manipulated, recalling Michael Ritchie's excellent political satire "The Candidate", starring Robert Redford as a vacuous John Tunney-type who seeks a Senate seat in California.

Levinson's satirical grip is just perfect -- light, somewhat distanced and understated. Such a deadpan take, letting the absurdities speak for themselves, also allows the acid to seep through without corroding the film's entertaining nature. Sure, one could nit-pick on certain implausibilities in the plotting, but anyone who has ever been near a newsroom or a Hollywood public relations firm could easily top every narrative extravagance here with a real-life, even goofier, story.

De Niro is marvelous as the cynical and unscrupulous pied piper of the press. His crisp performance and Machiavellian demeanor (the goatee, the dorky press hat) are smart accouterments for this breed of cat. Hoffman's full-blown performance as the megalomaniacal producer (reportedly based on Robert Evans) is wickedly droll. With his sky-tilted stare, fussy walk and scarfmanship, Hoffman is a romp as the self-absorbed nut case who has no connection to the real world. In short, he's truly Mr. Hollywood.

A well-chosen batch of supporting actors breathe further lunacy into this amusement. Willie Nelson, as a whacked-out songster (hired to compose the theme music for "The War"), and Woody Harrelson, as a medicated rapist, are particularly effective, while Anne Heche is downright credible as a straight-arrow White House press person who gets all stirred up by the bogus story they're creating.

The technical credits are powerful, chiefly because of their delicate execution. Under Levinson's well-played hand, Robert Richardson's dead-on framings are a droll hoot, while editor Stu Linder has stoked the satire with a salvo of low-key, incendiary cuts. Special praise to Mark Knopfler for the tangy music, including a wondrously wayward theme song and a daffy "We Are the World" -type schmaltz anthem.

WAG THE DOG

New Line Cinema

A Tribeca/Baltimore Pictures/Punch production

A Barry Levinson film

Producers: Jane Rosenthal, Robert DeNiro, Barry Levinson

Director: Barry Levinson

Screenwriters: Hilary Henkin and David Mamet

Based on the book "American Hero" by Larry Beinhart

Director of photography: Robert Richardson

Production designer: Wynn Thomas

Editor: Stu Linder

Costume designer: Rita Ryack

Executive producers: Michael De Luca, Claire Rudnick Polstein, Ezra Swerdlow

Casting: Ellen Chenoweth, Debra Zane

Music: Mark Knopfler

Color/stereo

Cast:

Stanley Motss: Dustin Hoffman

Conrad Brean: Robert De Niro

Winifred Ames: Anne Heche

Sgt. William Schumann: Woody Harrelson

Fad King: Denis Leary

Johnny Green: Willie Nelson

Liz Butsky: Andrea Martin

President: Michael Belson

Amy Cain: Suzanne Cryer

John Levy: John Michael Higgins

Grace: Suzie Plakson

Running time -- 105 minutes

MPAA rating: R...

Like a groovy 1960s concept album with only one or two disappointing tracks, "Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery" is a gas for those in the same goofy state of mind as writer/co-star Mike Myers. The former "Saturday Night Live" regular's fourth film takes aim at perhaps too broad a demographic spectrum -- with crude physical humor and English-style satire vying for laughs -- but there's enough craziness and great gags to overcome its shortcomings.

A frequently hilarious spoof of British spy movies and the sexual revolution, with Myers playing both hero and villain, the New Line Cinema release is an underdog needing "shagedelic" word-of-mouth to break out. Myers is in top form as a randy Mod spy reawakened after 30 years in the present day, and Elizabeth Hurley ("Dangerous Ground") is delightful in her best role, promising potent international business and a strong video release for director Jay Roach's feature debut.

Myers' screenplay is a gem, starting with the musical-like opening that introduces gawky, dentally impaired Austin Powers (Myers), an effusive lover of women, all of whom he enthusiastically calls "baby." It's 1967 England and, decked out in bell bottoms and horn-rimmed glasses, Powers is a fashion photographer and top agent partnered with voluptuous, leather-clad Mrs. Kensington (Mimi Rogers).

Myers also plays the pale, bald, cat-loving Dr. Evil. In the prologue, Evil fails to assassinate Powers and escapes by cryogenically freezing and launching himself into space via a rocket disguised as a giant Bob's Big Boy statue. Powers agrees to be frozen for the day when Evil returns, and he's revived three decades later and teamed with sultry Vanessa Kensington (Elizabeth Hurley), the daughter of his now-retired comrade.

The film has a seemingly endless storehouse of jokes about the Ian Fleming-like milieu -- from the heroes' droll superior, Basil Exposition (Michael York), to Evil's sexpot companion, Alotta Fagina (Fabiana Udenio), whose name makes everyone giggle. Cars, clothes, language, history, inflation, sex, crime -- Powers and Evil have a lot of catching up to do, and there are many priceless moments.

Contributing to the peppy pacing are several short interludes that are dead ringers for '60s pop-music television shows, with Powers fronting a band and playing the teen idol. While cockeyed Evil learns that $1 million is too little a ransom to demand for not destroying the world and gets to know his airhead son (Seth Green), cloned by his allies in his absence, Powers learns through Vanessa that "shagging" all the time with many partners and without protection is now irresponsible.

Robert Wagner provides solid backup as Evil's menacing colleague, while Burt Bacharach, Carrie Fisher and Tom Arnold appear in spirited cameos.

A big "far out, man" to the filmmakers, including production designer Cynthia Charette, costume designer Deena Appel and cinematographer Peter Deming ("Lost Highway"). The soundtrack is also a winner, with great tunes including Susanna Hoffs' version of "The Look of Love" and "BBC" by Ming Tea.

AUSTIN POWERS:

INTERNATIONAL MAN OF MYSTERY

New Line Cinema

in association with Capella International/KC Medien

A Moving Pictures/Eric's Boy production

Director Jay Roach

Writer Mike Myers

Producers Suzanne Todd, Demi Moore,

Jennifer Todd, Mike Myers

Executive producers Eric McLeod,

Claire Rudnick Polstein

Director of photography Peter Deming

Production designer Cynthia Charette

Editor Debra Neil-Fisher

Costume designer Deena Appel

Music George S. Clinton

Casting John Papsidera

Color/stereo

Cast:

Austin Powers/Dr. Evil Mike Myers

Vanessa Kensington Elizabeth Hurley

Basil Exposition Michael York

Mrs. Kensington Mimi Rogers

Number Two Robert Wagner

Running time -- 88 minutes

MPAA rating: PG-13...