NOW PLAYING

Shortcut to Happiness
(based on the short story "The Devil & Daniel Webster"
by Stephen Vincent Benét and "Scratch" a play written
by Archibald MacLeish)

UPDATED JULY 11, 2006

From RCGonzalez

HERE COMES BOB YARI TO THE RESCUE!

Hello, you probably already know this but Bob Yari (producer of Crash) has acquired The Devil and Daniel Webster. It will probably be released in early 2007!

I discovered this while surfing Yahoo movies. Here is the link to the forum:

The film is in the hands of the insurance company and they are presently negotiating with several companies for the rights to the picture. It still needs more post, mainly editing and music.

I am one of the producers of the film and you would not believe what this flim has been through. The original bank went under, then the FDIC took it over and sat on it for over a year. Then the Bond company had to pay off the FDIC but the bond company was not longer in business so the insurance company that backed the bond company now owns all the rights.

Alec Baldwin took his name off the film because he couldn't complete a decent director's cut. When he turned the film in, it was so bad that we spent a year and a half in post just to make it presentable.

The insurance company then spent even more money on post, but they put in music that no one bothered to pay for, so all the music has to be dumped and a whole new soundtrack will have to be made once the film is sold. And on, and on, and on...

But the bottom line is that the film is really in great shape and should do well for whoever buys it. It's a good story (the original 1941 film won an academy award) and a great cast.

And then....

The film is being sold overseas by Bob Yari who acquired the rights from the insurance company that was forced to pay a whopping $16M under the bond agreement. You can expect to see the film in the theaters by the end of the year, barring any unforseen lawsuits that might pop up. It's a really good film so if you get a chance, go see it in a theater.

You can view the trailer at http://www.mowefilms.com/devil.html

Cool, right? We'll finally get to see it!!!

UPDATED JULY 10, 2004

From The Sun Sentinel of Southern Florida

GUY PEARCE WATCHES CO-STARS

Two Brothers is a terrific film, but how did they avoid getting the cast killed while interacting with the tigers? Also, what can you tell me about the movie's human star, Guy Pearce?

"During most of the filming, the tigers wandered about freely -- it was the cast and crew who were kept in cages," explains Pearce. "Special effects were used to splice the scenes shot inside and outside the cages so that they appeared to be one and the same." Only on one occasion did Pearce have to directly confront an adult tiger. "I stepped out of the cage with the tiger's trainer directly behind me in case anything went wrong. That was one time I made sure we did only one take!"

Though he plays second fiddle to the tigers, the movie's success is a major boost to the Australian actor's career.

Now 36, Pearce became a teen idol Down Under when he starred in a popular soap, Neighbours, but he has not yet achieved the high-profile sta! tus in this country enjoyed by other Oz actors such as Russell Crowe, with whom he starred in LA. Confidential.

Off-screen, he has been married since 1997 to his childhood sweetheart Kate Mestitz, though the couple live in separate houses around the corner from each other. "It's easier that way," explains Pearce, who is an accomplished songwriter. "Kate is studying psychology and needs quiet, and I like to spend time working on guitar, piano and sax."

Here's one he watches....  

Movie is bedeviled

Some time ago, you reported that Anthony Hopkins would star in a new version of the famous old film, The Devil and Daniel Webster. Did it ever get released?

No, and it probably never will. A remake of Walter Huston's 1941 hit about a man who sells his soul to the devil, Webster has become bedeviled, especially for Alec Baldwin, who not only co-stars but made his debut as director.

According to insiders, the movie ran into financial problems, including an FBI investigation into some of the parties providing the money, though it was emphasized that Baldwin and Hopkins were in no way involved.

Baldwin and Hopkins are not the only actors bedeviled by Devil's failure. In an unlikely piece of casting, the role of Satan was played by Jennifer Love Hewitt, who had great hopes that the movie would help her make the transition from teen queen to serious actress.  

Story: © 2004 Sun-Sentinel Co. & South Florida Interactive, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
Image: © 2000 WireImage.com. All Rights Reserved.

UPDATED MAY 10, 2004

From The Z Review of The UK

NEW PICK UP

The Devil and Daniel Webster has been rejigged with new music, new sound design, re-editing, re-mixing, re-timing, and a host of other creative and technical changes and the new version of the picture won the Festival Choice Award at the recent Naples-based Film Festival.

Tricor Entertainment picked up the movie after Alec Baldwin removed his name from the director's credit. With a negative cost of roughly $27 million, the film is an expensive independent that has now garnered interest from several major studios.

A deal is expected to be announced shortly.

Actor refuses to sell his soul for movie.....

UPDATED APRIL 23, 2004

From The Naples Daily News

THE DEVIL AND ALEC BALDWIN

by Nancy Stetson @ nrstetson@naplesnews.com

Alec Baldwin's starring in a movie, but he doesn't want you to see it.

He also shot and produced the film, but he's withdrawn his name as director.

The movie in question, "The Devil and Daniel Webster," is a updated remake of the 1941 classic. It will be screened at the World Cinema Naples Film Festival at 6:30 p.m. today and 1:45 p.m. Saturday.

But Baldwin's hoping no one shows up to see it. He calls it "toxic waste" and "one of the dirtiest movies ever made."

"I want your readers to know that ("The Devil and Daniel Webster") has no relation to my creative process," he says. "... Due to the litigation involved in the making of this film, that's not my film. That's one film Alec Baldwin does not want you to see."

He feels so strongly about it that he phoned the film festival's executive director, Pat Berry, several times on Tuesday, when he discovered the film would be screened at World Cinema Naples. As of mid-Thursday, Berry was still planning on screening the film.

"We have a whole event planned around it," she says.

Baldwin, who is currently starring in "Twentieth Century" on Broadway, is not expected to attend.

Because the film festival incorrectly lists Baldwin as the movie's director in its material, Berry agreed to make an announcement before each screening, informing audiences that he did not direct the movie.

"We weren't aware (of the situation) until he called us," Berry says. "Basically, there's a legal battle going on, and we are caught in the middle.

"He's very passionate about it. I said, 'This doesn't have anything to do with me; we're just a tiny first-year festival here. We just want to show the movie.'"

But the movie in its current state doesn't reflect Baldwin's vision for the film, he says.

"The Devil and Daniel Webster" was supposed to be Baldwin's debut film as a director.

It stars Sir Anthony Hopkins, Jennifer Love Hewitt and Dan Ackroyd, as well as Baldwin. The original movie, based upon a book by Stephen Vincent Benet, is about a farmer who sells his soul to the devil. After seven years of good crops and wealth, the devil returns for the man's soul. The farmer then gets Daniel Webster to represent him in a court battle with the devil.

In Baldwin's remake, his character is a writer, who sells his soul to the devil (Jennifer Love Hewitt) for literary success. Hopkins plays the lawyer who defends him.

The story of what happened behind the scenes of the "The Devil and Daniel Webster" remake is a plot worthy of Robert Altman's "The Player," or a Bruce Wagner Hollywood novel.

According to Jon Cornick, Baldwin's co-producer, "Alec and I and our company, El Dorado Pictures, partnered with a company called Cutting Edge Entertainment. Cutting Edge was our financial partner. They had all of the fiduciary responsibilities: raising the money, making sure the money's there. Anything that had to do with the raising of the money for the film was their responsibility. And our soul responsibility was the creative aspect of things."

Cornick says a man saying he was a New York banker signed a letter on behalf of an investor who said he was pledging $5.5 million to the movie. But the money was never transferred.

"During the course of filming, the money was so tight that we had to cut back on some production value in the film," Cornick says. "And as of today, there are still many vendors who have not been paid on this movie. Many vendors.

"When we finished principal photography, we were then going through the process of editing the film, which is called post-production. And Alec and I demanded that all of the vendors and people involved in the film be paid in full. ...We demanded that they show us that they had the money to complete post production. Alec and I felt it was unethical to work and start the post-production process without the financial guarantee that people would get paid. At that time, they could not produce the money. And so Alec and I told them that we couldn't work on the film."

The financial parties came back and produced a settlement agreement with El Dorado Pictures.

According to the new agreement, if they defaulted twice again on the financing, Baldwin was contractually able to remove his name from the movie as director.

"There is no director listed in the credits," Cornick says. "And the reason why is because the movie that exists today is one that Alec and I have never seen. And therefore, it is not a movie that Alec directed. When you make a film, there are many aspects that go into it that wind up being what you see, besides the writing and the casting and the shooting of the movie. ... Making the movie is also done in the editing room in post-production, that's where you put all your pieces together."

Cutting Edge Entertainment no longer exists, Cornick says.

And as for Berkman, the bank vice president who sent the letter from the Bank of New York promising to provide millions?

The FBI discovered the New York banker was no banker at all.

"He wrote a fraudulent letter on Bank of New York stationery," Cornick says. And the other man did not have a bank account with the Bank of New York at the time he promised the money. Both men have been indicted in the state of New York and are awaiting trial.

The FBI officer in charge of the case refused comment, stating office policy. A voice message left with the FBI's press department was not returned.

"This is a highly unusual film in that there was a high-profile actor making his directing debut; there was a cast of bankable actors in the film, and yet, the movie just basically self-destructed," says Michael Fleming, a Daily Variety reporter who has been following and writing regularly about the movie's travails. "When people work on films like this, a lot of times they take deferments, work for less than they would on a big budget studio film. It's a labor of love. And when stuff like this happens, it poisons the well."

"I know Alec had very high hopes for this movie, and it was a real kick in the teeth for him, and a big disappointment. I'm not surprised he pulled his name off the movie. A lot of directors do that. They're not going to be held to the mercy of someone's edited version that's different than theirs."

Baldwin says the finished product bears no resemblance to the film he set out to make seven years ago.

"What a spiritually demeaning thing to have happen to creative people," Baldwin says. "They have the distinction of making the only film with Anthony Hopkins that's going straight to video."

Ironically, the original 1941 film "The Devil and Daniel Webster," had its own set of problems. According to Mark Deming in "All Movie Guide": "While a critical success and a favorite of film buffs, 'The Devil and Daniel Webster' fared poorly at the box office; it was eventually released under five different titles and clipped to 85 minutes in hopes of winning a larger audience, though it was restored to a 107-minute length for release on home video."

"This is certainly one of the stranger movies I've written about, with this whole entire (situation)," Fleming says.

Features editor Ralf Kircher contributed to this report.

Story: © 2004 The Naples Daily News. All Rights Reserved.

UPDATED APRIL 16, 2004

From My Love Hewitt Websites

DEVIL TO BE SHOWN

2004 World Cinema Naples Film Fesival
Naples, Florida

The following film will be shown during World Cinema Naples Film Festival.

The film will be shown at the Towne Centre 6 Theater, 3855 U.S. 41 E. Tickets are $8 for each screening. You can purchase a value pass for $60 for 10 screenings. (The pass does not cover the April 22 showing of "Bright Young Things" or "Standing Room Only" because they are part of the opening night festivities, which costs $35.

For information or reservations, call the festival office at (239) 642-3378.

"The Devil and Daniel Webster"

In this 89-minute comedy, a down-and-out writer sells his soul to the devil in exchange for fame and fortune. Directed by Alec Baldwin. Starring Anthony Hopkins, Alec Baldwin, Jennifer Love Hewitt, Dan Aykroyd and Kim Cattrall.

UPDATED MARCH 4, 2004

From My Love Hewitt Websites

DAVID GLASSER SPEAKS

From The Producer of "THE DEVIL & DANIEL WEBSTER" Addressed to Jim Mix  

I actually want to clarify something for you and everyone who is a big fan of this film. The FBI has nothing to do with the reason this film is not out in the theatres. They are going after the investors who promised us money and never put it in. That is simply a black and white reality.  

The reason that the movie has been delayed is that the bond company has taken over the picture and are figuring out what they want to do with it.   They have contacted me and asked if my company would handle the international release of the movie. I told them, once I see their finished version of the movie, I would let them know. Obviously, this would not be Alec or my version, so I would need to see it.   It has been almost 6 months, so I can only assume for a moment that they have just shelved it for now.

I don't really know anything else.   I just thought I would clarify some of these rumors for you.  

---DAVID GLASSER

UPDATED NOVEMBER 13, 2003

From World Entertainment News

ALEC BALDWIN: MY MOVIE WILL NEVER BE SEEN

Alec Baldwin's debut movie as director will "never be seen," after being seized by federal authorities.

The Getaway star directed The Devil And Daniel Webster two years ago, starring Anthony Hopkins, but is being held as evidence in a fraud case.

The actor revealed, "Some of the film's investors are being investigated for bank fraud.

"They claimed they had the money to make the movie but it turned out they didn't, so while we were making the movie they were bouncing checks all over New York.

"The movie is never going to be released. It taught me a lesson."

The movie was a remake of a 1941 movie and also featured Jennifer Love Hewitt as the Devil.

Story: © 2003 World Entertainment News. All Rights Reserved.

UPDATED JUNE 1, 2003

From The Hollywood Reporter in association with My Love Hewitt Websites - June 1, 2003

SPLENDID NEAR SALE OF PRODUCTION UNIT

by Scott Roxborough and Jim Mix

COLOGNE, Germany -- Splendid Medien, one of the last surviving members of the German Neuer Markt nouveau-riche club, is in final negotiations to sell off Splendid Pictures, the Bel-Air, Calif.-based production outfit it founded last year when Splendid absorbed David Glasser's Cutting Edge Entertainment.   Splendid spokesman Gert Fisahn, speaking at the company's headquarters in Cologne, confirmed that the German group is close to a deal to sell off the feature film outfit behind "Agent Cody Banks," "Narc" and the upcoming "U-Boat" to an unnamed private investor.  

Cutting Edge aka Splendid Pictures also produced "THE DEVIL & DANIEL WEBSTER" starring Jennifer Love Hewitt, Sir Anthony Hopkins and Alec Baldwin (who also co-produced and directed the remake of the 1941 RKO motion picture).  There have been reports in the past that Baldwin walked off the production after filming was completed in March 2001, then Baldwin returned, then Baldwin complained that the old Cutting Edge Entertainment was not paying the bills, Hewitt switch agencies: from William Morris (who handled the 'Devil' deal) to CAA, and then Hopkins stated that the movie was 'dead'.  Other reports stated that 'Devil' was in special showings for Universal Pictures (who had a first look for Cutting Edge and then Splendid Pictures) as well as other studios, and was reported to be shown at the recent Cannes Film Festivial.  Mr. Glasser has made it clear that the film is near completion and he believes in the project.  As for what is the current situation regarding the 'Devil' movie, is worth waiting than believing the movie is dead.  I (Jim Mix) and the Hewitt fans have faith in Mr. Glasser and company.  And if the movie is dead then rest in peace.  

The deal, which is expected to close within the next two weeks, is part of a move that will see Splendid Medien withdraw from film production to focus solely on licensing film rights in its core German-language market.  In an unusual move, a clause in the deal will see Splendid Medien retain an option to buy back a stake in Splendid Pictures at a later date.

Story: © 2003 VNU eMedia, Inc. All rights reserved.

UPDATED JANUARY 29, 2003

From Backstage

400-PLUS FILMS IN AFM 2003 FORECAST

by Chris Gardner and Ian Mohr  

A total of 402 films will screen at the 23rd annual American Film Market.  The 402 films scheduled to screen at AFM 2003, running Feb. 19-26 in Santa Monica, CA compares with 407 last year, 398 in 2001 and 411 in 2000. Of the 402, the number of market premieres -- films not screened previously at any other major film market -- is 255, compared with 229 last year, 238 in 2001 and 263 in 2000.

"The numbers highlight a new trend in an industry historically characterized by volatile business cycles," AFM managing director Jonathan Wolf said. "The AFM has been remarkably steady over the last four years, testifying to the underlying strength of our business."

This year's AFM comprises 268 sellers, including 26 exhibiting for the first time, compared with 281 last year. The total number of 2003 AFM exhibitors, which includes sellers of films as well as other products and services, is 319, down from 331 last year.

Highlights of the market include: Splendid Pictures' "The Devil & Daniel Webster," starring Anthony Hopkins, Alec Baldwin, Jennifer Love Hewitt and Dan Aykroyd.

A complete list of the films screening at AFM can be found at www.americanfilmmarket.com .

Story: © 2003 VNU eMedia, Inc. All rights reserved.

Made by
DEVIL PRODUCTIONS LLC
in association with
EL DORADO PICTURES