Piracy charges
Federal prosecutors announced indictments Thursday of four people accused of feature film piracy. They include three former employees of a Hollywood tape and DVD duplication facility as well as Russell Sprague, the Chicago-area man arrested last month in the Academy screeners case.
'Bratz' feature deal
20th Century Fox is ready to tame some "Bratz." The studio has struck a deal with MGA Entertainment to develop and produce a live-action/animated feature film based on MGA's popular Bratz fashion dolls.
'Dogtown' duo
Emile Hirsch, the lead in the upcoming comedy "The Girl Next Door" for 20th Century Fox and Regency Enterprises, and Heath Ledger are poised to star in "The Lords of Dogtown" for Columbia Pictures and "thirteen" helmer Catherine Hardwicke.
MGM, Irish renew
Pierce Brosnan and Beau St. Clair's production company Irish DreamTime has renewed its contract with MGM for an additional three years. The company will continue to be based in MGM's Santa Monica offices.
'Violence' helmer
David Cronenberg, known for his dark and edgy sensibility, has signed to direct "A History of Violence" for New Line Cinema.
Valentine to Maysles
Seminal documentarian Albert Maysles comes from a long line of romantics. When his father was courting his mother, the couple used to meet at a streetcorner in downtown Boston to have lunch exactly at noon. "But what my mother didn't know is that my father would come five or 10 minutes early, place himself across the street behind a window and just look at her," says Maysles, who turns 78 this year.
Boxoffice preview
Sony Pictures is sending out a rowdy valentine to weekend moviegoers in the form of the new Adam Sandler-Drew Barrymore romantic comedy "50 First Dates," and the result is likely to be 2004's first boxoffice blowout.
Aspen sets lineup
The U.S. Comedy Arts Festival on Thursday unveiled the lineup for its Film Discovery Program, which this year includes a record eight world premieres and a total of 22 comedic features and 19 shorts.
McAdams in 'Wedding'
Rachel McAdams will come between Owen Wilson and Vince Vaughn in New Line Cinema's "The Wedding Crashers."
Neeson joins Batman
Liam Neeson is in final negotiations to star opposite Christian Bale in Warner Bros. Pictures' upcoming Batman movie being directed by Christopher Nolan and produced by Emma Thomas.
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Boxoffice top 10
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1.
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"Barbershop 2" |
$24.2 |
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2.
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"Miracle" |
19.4 |
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3.
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"You Got Served" |
7.5 |
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4.
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"Along Came Polly" |
6.8 |
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5.
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"Butterfly Effect" |
6.5 |
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6.
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"Catch That Kid" |
5.8 |
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7.
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"Return of the King" |
4.3 |
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8.
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"Mystic River" |
3.6 |
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9.
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"Monster" |
3.5 |
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10.
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"Cold Mountain" |
3.2 |
| Weekend of Feb. 6-8. Final figures in millions. |
Against the Ropes
Meg Ryan plays a boxing manager in this inspirational story that lacks punch.
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Filmmaker Focus
Boston con man Charles Ponzi found fame and fortune in 1920 through a pyramid scheme in which he stole as much as $15 million from gullible investors. At various times over the past 30 years, Ponzi's story has come close but never quite managed to reach the movie screen.
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Film Reporter
After being chosen by the DGA as best documentary, Nathaniel Kahn's "My Architect" has suddenly made the documentary Oscar race more suspenseful.
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Music Reporter
"The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King" composer Howard Shore, left, and director Peter Jackson hope the musical ideas they mined will be rewarded with Oscar gold.
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 Film features
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'50 First Dates' expecting crush at boxoffice
