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Nussbaum, Lindsay Give ‘Cougars’ Comedic Bite
Focus Features, the specialty films division of Universal Pictures, has snapped up Erik Lindsay’s romantic comedy Cougars and paired him up once again with Joe Nussbaum to helm the project. The duo previously teamed up for the upcoming “American Pie 5:The Naked Mile”, set to release in 2007, as writer and director respectively.
A Major ‘Coup’ for Miramax
In a world where oil is nearly as valuable as gold, it is not unheard of for powerful governments to take greed to flight and attempt control. Such was the case in Equatorial Guinea, a small country in Africa whose rich oil fields proved too tempting for the British neocolonialist establishment to resist. This true story of a failed coup was chronicled in Adam Roberts’ book The Wonga Coup: Guns, Thugs and a Ruthless Determination to Create Mayhem in an Oil-Rich Corner of Africa just released in August of this year, and already picked up by Miramax Films.
Williams not a typical ‘Tourist’
Back in August Production Weekly reported that Hugh Jackman and Ewan McGregor were booked for the project and now the duo becomes as trio as Michelle Williams has signed onto star in what might be an eye full of a project. Put in turnaround by Fox and then financed independently, the production for The Tourist begins in New York on Oct.13th.
Weinsteins’ Get Grundy
The Weinstein Co. is hiring quite a bit this week under their international banner. Signing a pact to release eight U.K. pics a year, they have been busy assigning projects to various (mostly U.K. based) directors. Their most recent (and in my eyes, most exciting) employee is Danny Boyle who will take on Lee Hall and Robert Nelson Jacobs' Solomon Grundy.
Viva La ‘Bamako’ for New Yorker
A quick weekend announcement before showcasing the film at the 44th annual New York Film Festival, New Yorker Films announced they picked up the dramedy.
