Morgan Spurlock's fast-food doc "Super Size Me" was in the box office top ten for the holiday weekend, according to distributor estimates. Over the four-day Memorial Day weekend, the Roadside Attractions/Samuel Goldwyn Films movie made an estimated $1.35 million on 197 screens, for an estimated average of about $6,800. So far, the film has earned about $4.8 million, according to its distributor IDP.

Miramax's Bob & Harvey Weinstein have personally acquired all rights to Michael Moore's "Fahrenheit 9/11" from Miramax. They have paid Miramax for the costs of the film and will arrange for distribution of the film worldwide; Wild Bunch continues to handle international sales. According to a Miramax statement sent to indieWIRE on Friday, "The Weinsteins will secure distribution through third parties or may distribute the movie personally in certain markets." [Complete press release follows.]

"The $1 million renovation is the work of the "Un cinéma pour Kaboul" association, the brainchild of several French film-makers," Al Jazeera reports.

Sony has requested an extension of its exclusive negotiating period with MGM, surprising observers who believed the past 15 days would have been enough to agree takeover terms with the beleaguered studio. The Guardian reports.

"The achievement of "Saved!,'' a very funny teen comedy set in a Christian high school, lies in its careful avoidance of obvious traps," Carla Meyer reviews for the San Francisco Chronicle.

Walter Salles' "The Motorcycle Diaries," fresh from its competition berth in Cannes (it had its world premiere at Sundance), will open the 2004 Edinburgh International Film Festival, according to Screen Daily.

"It is one of the paradoxes of Michael Moore's career that by railing against the vested interests that make the rich richer, he has himself become incredibly wealthy. So when he became one of the handful of Americans to benefit substantially from George Bush's tax cut last year, he said it would be "a sin" to use the money in any way other than to defeat the very man who had given it to him in the first place," Gary Younge reports for The Guardian.

"South Korean director Park Chan-wook, whose ultra violent film 'Old Boy' won the Grand Prix at the Cannes film festival (news - web sites), believes Asian cinema is moving away from the fringe and increasingly influencing the mainstream. 'We didn't feel like onlookers at Cannes,' Park told a news conference Tuesday hours after flying in from Europe." Reuters reports.

"Tense relations between Disney and Miramax are complicating a deal to find a distributor for Michael Moore's anti-Bush documentary movie 'Fahrenheit 9/11,' which is still without American representation two days after winning the Palme d'Or at the Cannes International Film Festival," Sharon Waxman reports for the New York Times.

Viacom's MTV Networks will launch LOGO, a new ad-supported cable channel aimed at queer viewers. The channel will debut in February 2005 with carriage already secured via Time Warner Cable and RCN in Los Angeles, New York, Boston, Philadelphia, Atlanta and San Francisco. Viacom's networks include MTV, Comedy Central, BET and Spike TV.

Anschutz Film Group president Cary Granat has named Chris DeMoulin the EVP of marketing for the company's Walden Media and Bristol Bay Productions. AFG is a holding company for the two production outfits owned by Philip Anschutz. DeMoulin formerly worked for Disney.

May 25, 2004 -- Yesterday, Disney and Miramax co-chiefs Bob
and Harvey Weinstein were finalizing a deal to sell the film to
the Weinsteins personally, who will then seek a distribution deal.

Moore's latest flick has set off a flurry of negotiations among other
film companies seeking to distribute the movie in the U.S. Suitors
include NBC Universal's Focus Features, New Market, Lions Gate and
Paramount, say sources familiar with the matter.

"Independent filmmakers, specialty magazine publishers, artists, educators - all those with a video to sell, no matter how narrow the niche - are turning out DVD's and distributing them through the mail. It's a trend that began in the era of videotape but has accelerated with DVD's because they are inexpensive to duplicate and ship." [NY Times]

Hollywood Reporter/Reuters reports that Jim Jarmusch is set to reteam with Bill Murray for a comedy to shoot this summer in upstate New York. Budget is estimated at $8-$10 million. No word on what the script is about or what other cast is attached.

Actor Kieran O Brien defended the film he stars in, "Nine Songs" by Michael Winterbottom at the Cannes Film Festival. Winterbottom himself said the feature is a reaction to "prudish films. BBC reports.

Two filmmakers at Cannes took extreme precautions Sunday to make sure the people they interviewed for a rare documentary filmed in Tibet would not face a crackdown by Chinese authorities. Angela Doland reports in the Associated Press.

Sony Pictures Classics has announced its deal for the North American rights to Zhang Yimou's "House of Flying Daggers". The action film is screening in the festivals Official Selection, out of competition.

THINKFilm has acquired North American rights to the Hungarian film "Kontroll" here in Cannes. The movie, by Nimrod Antal, is screening in the Un Certain Regard section of the festival.

Emmanuelle Beart can hardly be accused of hiding herself. Her naked dancing in Claude Berri's 1986 film "Manon des Sources" made her a star. As an artist's model in Jacques Rivette's 1991 "Divertimento," she was inspected nude at length. Yet her screen image is one of mystery. Behind her large melancholy eyes, high cheekbones and fleshy lips, who is she? Alan tries to discover in the New York Times.

The eldest daughter of U.S. presidential candidate John Kerry came to the Cannes Film Festival with a short movie about a 9-year-old girl and her father's difficult return home from the Vietnam War, Angela Doland reports for Associated Press.

Antidote Films and This is That are producing the new film from Julian Goldberger ("trans"). The companies announced today that Paul Giamatti, Sarah Polley, and Michael Pitt will star in Goldberger's new film, "The Hawk is Dying". The script was adapted by Goldberger from Harry Crews' novel.

David Gordon Green, director of "George Washington" and "All the Real Girls," has plans to write and direct adaptations of Sue Monk Kidd's novel "The Secret Life of Bees" for Focus Features and Brad Land's book "Goat" for Killer Films. No start date has been set for either film. David Rooney reports for Variety.

MOVIES AS MIRROR ON SOCIETY

Mick LaSalle
Sunday, May 9, 2004

"A few months ago, someone wrote asking me to comment on the different ways, over time, that American movies have celebrated individuality and depicted the relationship of the individual and society. I liked the question, but it required a big answer," Mick LaSalle investigates in the San Francisco Chronicle.

"A handful of distributors are interested in picking up Michael Moore (news)'s controversial documentary 'Fahrenheit 9/11,' which Walt Disney Co. refused to allow its Miramax," Ian Mohr reports for the Hollywood Reporter.

"Get ready for an earful — or at least an eyeful — from Harvey Weinstein. The famously bullish boss of Miramax Films is writing his memoirs. HarperCollins will publish the book, currently untitled, in 2006," A.P. reports.

Sony Pictures Entertainment announced a new pact with Michael Barker and Tom Bernard to extend their term as co-presidents of Sony Pictures Classics for another five years. Barker and Bernard founded SPC in 1991 with former partner Marcie Bloom.

The first annunal Trenton Film Festival has announced its winning films!

Ernie Kovacs Awards

Best Narrative Feature - "Lightning Bug"
Best Narrative Short - "Murder, He Squeaked"
Best Foreign Short - "Mare" (Tides)
Best Documentary Feature - "The Royal Academy"
Best Documentary Short - "Entertaining Vietnam"
Best Animation Short - "The Spirit of Gravity"
Best Experimental/Avant Grade Short - "The Fine Art of Poisoning"

Director's Awards

Screenwriting – Short Film: Joseph Mazzarino and Matt Vogel, "Murder, He Squeaked"
Screenwriting – Feature Film: Stephen Keep Mills, "Hotel Lobby"
Best First Feature: Christopher Baldi – "Grace and The Storm"
Direction - Feature Film: Sloan Copeland, "unREAL"
Direction – Short Film: (TIE) Brett Hershey, "Fast Cars & Babies"; Leon Martin, "Marrow"
Best Cinematography – Feature Film: "Hotel Lobby"
Best Cinematography – Short Film: "Day of Independence"

"The U.S. Senate is seeking to give Hollywood a handful of special tax breaks in legislation altering the IRS code for U.S. companies operating overseas," Brooks Boliek reports in the Hollywood Reporter.

"Miramax Films chiefs Bob and Harvey Weinstein plan to buy back Michael Moore's 'Fahrenheit 9-11' — which Walt Disney Co. blocked Miramax from releasing — and distribute it themselves," Anthony Breznican reports for Associated Press.

The 2004 CineVegas Film Festival has announced teh lineup for its event, running in Las Vegas June 11-19. The fest will open with Angela Robinson's "D.E.B.S." and close with Nick Cassavetes' "The Notebook." Other films set to screen in Vegas include U.S. or world premieres of films without U.S. distribution deals including Chris Fisher's "Hillside Strangler," Gerardo Naranjo's "Malachance," and Kim Dempster's "Marmalade." Among the "sure bets" section are "Bright Young Things," "Dear Frankie," "Dig!," "Napoleon Dynamite," "Zatoichi," and more. The Diamond Discovery section includes "Cross Bronx," "Dennis Hopper: The Decisive Moments," "A League of Ordinary Gentlemen," and more. Cult and midnight films, shorts, and Nevada-centric films will also be shown.

Artistic License has acquired the North American distribution rights to the comedy "Chooch," produced by Fruitbasket Films. The film, which Artistic License will rlease in New York on August 27, is about two cousins on an ill-fated vacation to Cancun.

Women Make Movies has acquired the North American distribution rights to Cathy Henkel’s "The Man Who Stole My Mother's Face," which tied for best feature doc at last week's 2004 Tribeca Film Festival.

Crain's reports that a studio is finally set to open in Brooklyn's Navy Yard. Steiner Studios, a $128 million studio complex with five interconnected soundstages (the largest being 27,000 square feet), and an additional 180,000 square feet of offices, dressing rooms, a screen room, a fitness center, etc. is meant to lure big productions that have otherwise been heading to Canada and Eastern Europe. But some fear it will hurt the city's existing studios Kaufman Astoria and Silvercup.

Let the election year hijinks begin! Sundance Channel announced that it is working with Garry Trudeau and Robert Altman to create a sequel to their groundbreaking mini-series "Tanner ’88.” The yet-to-be-named limited series will air on Tuesdays beginning October 2004 and will reunite original "Tanner" cast members Cynthia Nixon, Michael Murphy, Pamela Reed, and Matt Malloy. Productoni on the three-part series starts next month. The channel had been running the original political miniseries starting earlier this year.

Liu Fen Dou's "The Green Hat", from China, won two top prizes at the 2004 Tribeca Film Festival. The director nabbed the best new narrative filmmaker award and his movie also won the best narrative feature award at the festival, which closed tonight in Lower Manhattan.

Morgan Spurlock's "Super Size Me" debuted on 41 screens in eight markets this weekend, earning $536,936 for an average of more than $13,000, per screen according to estimates reported to indieWIRE today by the distributor. The Roadside Attractions/Samuel Goldwyn release will continue to expand over the course of this month.

The 30th annual Seattle International Film Festival (May 20 - June 13) will screen 224 features and 84 shorts, including 10 world premieres, 15 North American and 6 U.S. premieres. U.S. debuts include Richard Kelly's "Donnie Darko - The Director's Cut," Gregory Jacobs' "Criminal," Paul Willis' "Hedda Gabler," and Zak Penn's "Lock Ness." North American premieres include: Mamoru Oshii's "Ghost in the Shell 2," Madeleine Farley's "Trollywood," Zie Dong's "The Coldest Day," Stephane Vuillet's "25 Degrees in Winter," Eytan Fox's "Walk on Water," Steven Lovy's "Mix," and George Roca's "Nobody Knows How to Talk to the Children." U.S. premieres include Dominique de Rivaz's "Jagged Harmonies," Min Byung-chun's "Natural City," and Nick Cassavetes's "The Notebook".

Sundance Channel has nabbed exclusive TV rights to two competition docs at this week's Tribeca Film Festival. The company's Christian Vesper nabbed Juliano Mer and Danniel Danniel's "Arna's Children" and Cathy Henkel's "The Man Who Stole My Mother's Face." Esther van Messel of First Hand Films negotiated for "Arna’s Children" and Jan Rofekamp and Diana Holtzberg of Films Transit negotiated for "The Man Who Stole My Mother’s Face."

Landmark Theaters owner Todd Wagner confirmed this morning that the two top executives at the art-house chain are leaving this month. CEO Paul Richardson and EVP Bert Manzari will exit once their contracts expire on May 25th, Wagner said. "We don't expect any major changes at all, it is business as usual," Wagner told indieWIRE. "In fact, we expect to increase our commitment to art and independent film. We are excited to move into the next era of the company. We are in this for the long haul."

The 50th edition of the prestigious International Short Film Festival Oberhausen
announced that its winners include: Oberhausen City Grand Prize, Martin Mejía's
"Od - El camino" and Iris Sara Schiller's "La Tresse de ma mère," principal prizes "Wasp" by Andrea Arnold" and "Fabulous Creature" by Eunjung Hwang, ARTE prize for Milan Balog's "1.35," government ministry prize "Wasp" by Andrea Arnold, FIPRESCI prize for doc for Kanai Katsu's "Zeneisenjutsu," the German competition winner "Living a Beautiful Life" by Corinna Schnitt, and others. indieWIRE will publish Andrea Toal's full report from the festival next week.

"To anyone who thought that the fight for same-sex marriage rights started this year around Valentine's Day at San Francisco's City Hall, the grainy scenes from 1971 that open the documentary film "Tying the Knot" will be a revelation," Thomas Crampton profiles the film.

"MGM is holding one of a series of screenings of 'Saved!,' a small, irreverent comedy, set to open on May 28, about an evangelical Christian high school. But the movie is proving difficult to market. Though Hollywood is eager to capitalize on the Christian audience that emerged in huge numbers to see "The Passion of the Christ," movie executives are unsure about what kinds of movies will appeal to it," Sharon Waxman reports.

'"Hairspray''s publicist, who is hovering nearby, suggests that Waters may at this point want to mention that "Hairspray" is actually different from his usual fare in that it is a family-friendly production -- as in no teabags, Dutch ovens or drag queens dining on dog poop," Aidin Vazlri reports.

"France appealed for calm on Thursday from part-time actors and technicians who threaten to disrupt the Cannes film festival to protest against a change to their unemployment benefits," go to the article.

"At the beginning, it sounded funny, Spurlock says. Stuffed from a Thanksgiving dinner in 2002, he saw a news report about two teenagers suing McDonald's for allegedly causing their weight gain and health problems," Vicki Smith profiles Spurlock.

The Provincetown International Film Festival, scheduled for June 16-20, enters its sixth year with the announcement of the 2004 recipient of the annual Filmmaker on the Edge award. This year the Festival honors director/writer Jim Jarmusch, whose cinematic achievements over the past three decades include Stranger Than Paradise (1984), Down By Law (1986), Mystery Train (1989), Dead Man (1995), Ghost Dog: The Way of the Samurai (1999), and his upcoming release Coffee and Cigarettes (2004). For more information, visit their site.

The IFP/Los Angeles has announced the lineup for the 10th annual Los Angeles Film Festival, with an opening-night gala for "Garden State," a centerpiece premiere of "Before Sunset," and the closing-night gala of "The Clearing." The festival will run June 17-June 26, presenting 195 films from 31 countries. Filmmakers submitted 2,800 films to the LA Film Festival this year.

MGM has delayed its annual meeting with shareholders to continue discussions with Sony about the Japanese company acquiring the Hollywood studio, according to Reuters. The report said that a deal is in advanced stages.

"The moviemaker Stanley Kramer was always known as an astute businessman. But in 1948 when he produced his first movie, "So This Is New York," a screwball satire of city life, previewing it in the Midwest was probably not the best idea. Critics there hated it. Audiences generally stayed away. And so the movie quickly dropped from sight, never opening — except for a brief appearance in a theater in Far Rockaway, Queens — in the city for which it was named," Randy Kennedy reports.

"An Israeli Arab whose film on Israel's assault on the Jenin refugee camp is banned in the Jewish state said on Tuesday he had rejected an offer to allow the documentary to air if some sensitive scenes were removed," Cynthia Johnston reports.

"Monty Python's Flying Circus alumnus Terry Jones doesn't mince words about why the troupe's film 'Life of Brian' is being rushed into rerelease this month." Go to the article.