A script and just two minutes of footage were enough to sell upstart distribution company Summit Entertainment on North American rights to the unfinished sophomore feature from filmmaker Rian Johnson ("Brick"). In one of the most aggressive acquisitions ever, Summit poached "The Brothers Bloom," a movie that many expected would go on the market at the Sundance Film Festival early next year. The unspecified eight-figure deal would have made major headlines had the sale played out in Park City early next year. In a swift move, Summit simply pulled the anticipated project from an acclaimed emerging filmmaker off the market. [Eugene Hernandez]

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At Box Office Mojo, a list of theater counts for new films opening this weekend:

Saw IV (Lionsgate) / 3,183
Dan in Real Life (Buena Vista) / 1,921
Bella (Roadside Attractions) / 165
Mr. Untouchable (Magnolia) / 25
Music Within (MGM) / 17
Jimmy Carter Man from Plains (Sony Classics) / 7
Slipstream (Strand) / 6
Rails & Ties (Warner Bros.) / 5
How to Cook Your Life (Roadside Attractions) / 4
Before the Devil Knows You're Dead (ThinkFilm) / 2

Fox Searchlight announced in a press release tonight: "The opening of JUNO is moving up to Wednesday, December 5. It will open limited in New York and Los Angeles and will expand on a platform release in the subsequent weeks."

European Film Market co-director Karen Arikian has been named the new Executive Director of the Hamptons International Film Festival (HIFF). Arikian will join the festival, which is opening its 15th annual event on Wednesday, after the 2008 Berlin International Film Festival. The move comes as the Hamptons fest looks to the future after the recent departure of longtime executive director Denise Kassell and artistic director Rajendra Roy, who recently left to head the film department at MoMA. [Eugene Hernandez]

Get the latest at indieWIRE.com.

The Morelia International Film Festival concludes today in Mexico; awards were presented at the festival last night in the state capital of Michoacan. A list of winners follows:

The Woodtstock Film Festival was held this weekend in Upstate New York. A full list of winners follows.

"Leonardo DiCaprio and George Clooney are to star in a film loosely based on the rise and fall of presidential hopeful Howard Dean," according to The Guardian. "The Warner Bros production will be based on a stage-play written by Beau Willimon, a former assistant on the Dean campaign. Entitled "Farragut North"...It tells the tale of a youthful communications guru working for a principled but unorthodox politician who finds himself undone by a slick and corrupt Washington establishment. Currently in rehearsal, Willimon's stage-play is set to open on Broadway in the run-up to the 2008 presidential election. Mike Nichols is directing."

PRESS RELEASE: The Board of Governors of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has approved rule changes for the 81st Academy Awards that eliminate the multi-city theatrical rollout requirements for feature and short documentaries. These and other changes were recommended to the Board by the Documentary Branch Executive Committee, chaired by Michael Apted.

"The Hollywood Reporter has appointed a senior editorial management team to steer the paper through a series of ambitious initiatives in the coming months, including the launch of a national edition next month. This group also will play a key role in enhancing and expanding in-depth news, reviews, features, charts and data across all platforms globally," according to a staff report in the paper. "As part of the paper's launch of a national edition for the East Coast on Nov. 2, Steven Zeitchik has joined the team in New York as senior writer. Zeitchik's role will be to develop and write news analysis and feature pieces for the national edition as well as break stories and develop a blog about the New York and East Coast entertainment scene."

"The recording industry on Thursday won the largest judgment so far against consumers who illegally download music over the Internet when a federal jury ordered a 30-year-old Minnesota woman to pay $222,000 for copyright infringement," reports the Los Angeles Times. "The victory could embolden the industry in its four-year legal campaign against piracy at a time when illegal sharing of music online is exploding and dramatically reducing music sales.

At Box Office Mojo, a list of theater counts for new films opening this weekend:

The Heartbreak Kid (Paramount (DreamWorks) / 3,229
The Seeker: The Dark Is Rising (Fox) / 3,141
Feel the Noise (Sony BMG) / 1,015
Michael Clayton (Warner Bros.) / 15
My Kid Could Paint That (Sony Classics) / 8
The Good Night (Yari Film Group) / 2
Finishing the Game (IFC) / 1

Maximum Films Distribution chairman Robert Lantos has a announced a three-year Canadian distribution deal with Cinetic Media founder John Sloss, the companies announced Monday night. Under the terms of the pact, Maximum will handle the Candian distribution of films repped by Cinetic.

Additional details are available in indieWIRE's Buzz section.

"Radiohead's contract with EMI/Capitol expired after its last record, Hail to the Thief, was released in 2003; shortly before the band started writing new songs, singer Thom Yorke told TIME, 'I like the people at our record company, but the time is at hand when you have to ask why anyone needs one. And, yes, it probably would give us some perverse pleasure to say 'F___ you' to this decaying business model.'"

"Oscar-nominated screenwriter Peter Morgan has started work on a sequel to "The Queen," which will dig into former U.K. prime minister Tony Blair's relationships with U.S. presidents Bill Clinton and George W. Bush," reports Variety. "The movie will focus on Blair's reaction to the handover of power between Clinton, a natural liberal ally, and Bush, who came from the other end of the political spectrum."