Lions For Lambs, Tom Cruise’s first production as president of United Artists, will open AFI Fest in November. The film, which “explores issues surrounding the war in Afghanistan,” is Robert Redford’s first as director since The Legend of Bagger Vance. Redford, Cruise, and Meryl Streep star. The project is considered a major test for Cruise and his partner Paula Wagner, who were handed the reigns at the troubled UA after their very public split from Paramount.- The call sheet alone sounds like something out of Glamorama: Billy Bob Thornton, Kim Basinger, Brandon Routh, and Ashley Olsen have joined the cast of The Informers, which will mark Bret Easton Ellis’ first attempt at adapting his own material for the screen. Ellis wrote the script with Nicholas Jarecki; Gregor Jordan will direct.
- In what Variety says is the cable network’s “biggest programming purchase in its 17-year history,” E! has spent almost $40 million on the network rights to a handful of NBC/Universal titles, including Knocked Up and Evan Almighty. The former film is the centerpiece of the deal: E! was so anxious to own a film partially shot in its offices that it shelled out for an exclusive 4-year window on the film, meaning no other network will be able to air Knocked Up from 2009-20013.
- Andrew Herwitz’ Film Sales Company has brokered a deal to produce an English-language remake of Live-in Maid. The original is an Argentinian film about a broke socialite who turns to the help for moral support; it opened at Film Forum here in New York last month to packed houses and is set to pop up in nine additional cities in the coming weeks. The original is Film Sales’ first foray into distribution; the remake will be their first try at production.
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