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

Janice's Anthony Hopkins Fan Website

UPDATED MAY 28, 2001

From New York Post

ALEC BALDWIN QUITS!

ALEC Baldwin has quit "The Devil and Daniel Webster" over unpaid bills - and the indie producer who raised $28 million so Baldwin could make the picture is bitterly disappointed.

"Alec tried to get this movie done for seven years. I'm the guy who stepped up to the plate," David Glasser of Cutting Edge Entertainment told PAGE SIX-New York Post. "We've been behind him from the beginning. I don't think I've done one wrong thing."

The remake of the 1941 film about a writer who sells his soul to the devil stars Anthony Hopkins, Jennifer Love Hewitt, and Baldwin, who is also director and creative producer. It will definitely be finished, with or without Baldwin's input.

Glasser acknowleged, "There are some vendors [prop houses, caterers, telephone rentals etc.] who are still owed money because one investor pulled out." He called the cash shortfall "a short lapse" and said all the bills are "being rectified."

Baldwin, who persuaded Hopkins to join the cast, completing filming on time, and $700,000 under the $28 million budget.

But Variety reported that Baldwin had to bring in hotshot Hollywood lawyer Marty Singer before he got paid. "When the filming finished, Alec was owed $550,000," Singer told us.

Baldwin refuses to proceed with editing without assurances he'll be paid for the 10 weeks he was contracted to bring in a director's cut, to say nothing of the 21 total weeks of post-production.

"We agreed to finance it at $13 million because it was Alec's passion piece," Glasser said. "He came back and said it would be 15, then 17, then 24 and finally, $28 million."

Glasser, bitter that Baldwin planted a damaging story in Variety, fumed: "Alec has been paid in full, but he decided to point his finger at Cutting Edge. It's the most insane thing I'ver ever heard."

Still, Glasser wants him back. "Alec is the director of this picture. I'd like to see him finish it."

Beth Kushnik, who worked as set decorator on "The Devil and Daniel Webster," blames Cutting Edge for all the problems: "Their business practices are not kosher. It was their job to make sure the money was there."

Kushnik, who said Baldwin was "a pleasure to work with," is praying the movie gets completed and released. "I think everyone made a really fine film," she said.

Story: © 2001 NYP Holdings, Inc. All rights reserved.
Image: © 2001 Alec Baldwin. All rights reserved.

Baldwin pissed...again.....

UPDATED MAY 22, 2001

From Reuters

BALDWIN BOLTED AND BEDEVILED!!

Baldwin hung in until the March 13 wrap of principal photography, despite not being paid during the final four weeks, along with many others as money ran low, he said. Baldwin finally got paid, only after hiring litigator Martin Singer, but he's unconvinced that the problems are over, and said he won't cut the film until they are.

Pic's a remake of the 1941 film about a writer (Baldwin), who sells his soul to the devil (Jennifer Love Hewitt), with Anthony Hopkins playing the advocate who argues for the writer's soul.

Cutting Edge's David Glasser denied the film had serious money woes beyond the usual turbulence weathered by independently financed films with numerous investors.

``It's incorrect that Alec hasn't been paid,'' said Glasser, who says he's made good with almost everyone, after replacing an investor who fell out. ``All the crew members and actors have been paid. There are a few outstanding vendors owed some money, but that's a minute piece of the picture which is currently being rectified. The edit bay is open in New York, with our editor cutting every day. The only reason Alec isn't in the editing room is that he's been in Hawaii and he had personal issues, but he's coming back to work on May 29.''

This rosy picture is news to Baldwin, who, reached late Monday, was completely unconvinced he'd be back to finish the film. He produced with partner Jon Cornick, saying he called in favors all over the place to bring the $27.5 million film in $700,000 under budget, at a time when he was going through personal turmoil with the breakup of his marriage to Kim Basinger.

The Star and Star/Director of "The Devil & Daniel Webster" at the premiere of "Heartbreakers" (2001) in Hollywood, CA.

Problems ensued through the production, coming to a head, Baldwin said, when Glasser and partner Adam Stone told him they would be unable to pay part of his salary, something Glasser denied.

``The financing appeared to have fallen through and they just stopped paying people,'' said Baldwin.

Baldwin balked at starting post-production for fear there wasn't money to facilitate the 10 weeks he was contracted to deliver a director's cut, much less the 21 total weeks of post-production.

Glasser's assertion that the editor has been working off notes from Baldwin and Cornick was denied by the latter: ``I saw the editor's assemblage and was happy with what I saw, but Alec never gave notes on this movie, nor have I, so I don't know why David's saying that,'' said Cornick.

Baldwin said he has no fiduciary responsibility to the film, and has been annoyed at a growing perception that he was involved in stiffing below the liners.

More embarrassing, said Baldwin, was the bouncing of a check to Nassau County for the lease of an empty Grumman facility used by the movie on Long Island. Baldwin went to bat with Nassau County executive Tom Gulotta to get the site at a bargain rate. Glasser said he was unaware of any bounced check.

About the only thing Baldwin and his financier agree on is that they've got a good film that needs finishing.

``The response to the trailer and footage at Cannes were unbelievable and sales of territories were substantial,'' said Glasser. ``That's more than enough money to cover what's outstanding, which is why Alec's comments are so shocking.''

Glasser's lawyer, Ed Labowitz, said he'd just received a resolution proposal from Baldwin's lawyers with conditions that would get him back to work, something Glasser is confident will happen.

Baldwin, who kissed off one acting job waiting for a resolution, wants all the bills squared and the post-production money escrowed. Soon.

Story: © 2001 Reuters Limited. All rights reserved.
Image: Copyright Control. All rights reserved.

UPDATED MAY 21, 2001

From Hollywood.com

SHOW BALDWIN THE MONEY

by Kit Bowen,
Hollywood.com Staff

Actor Alec Baldwin will resume post-production work next week on his directorial debut, The Devil and Daniel Webster, according to the film's executive producer, David Glasser.

Jennifer Love Hewitt as The Devil and Alec Baldwin as her 'pigeon' on location in New York City (February 2001) for the filming of "The Devil & Daniel Webster". Baldwin also serves as one of the producers and the director of the movie.

Variety reported Tuesday that Baldwin is refusing to continue work on the film until producers from Cutting Edge Entertainment assure him that the cash will be there to finish the film.

Glasser told Hollywood.com on Tuesday afternoon that Baldwin's comments in the Variety story were incorrect and that at this time, the actor has been paid in full and all issues have been resolved through their respective lawyers.

Baldwin is set to go into the editing bay Tuesday, May 29, 2001, as planned, Glasser said.

Baldwin could not be reached for comment Tuesday. His lawyer, Martin Singer, refused to comment.

Baldwin told Variety that problems arose when Glasser and his partner, Adam Stone, informed Baldwin and others that Cutting Edge would be unable to pay part of their salaries due to a low influx in money.

"The financing appeared to have fallen through and they just stopped paying people," Baldwin said.

Baldwin balked at going into post-production, fearing there wasn't enough money to facilitate the 10 weeks he was contracted to deliver a director's cut, much less the 21 total weeks of post-production, Variety reported.

Glasser denied the film has had serious money problems beyond the usual ups and downs experienced by an independent film financed by numerous investors. Everyone has been paid, after finally replacing an investor who fell out, he said.

Baldwin and partner Jon Cornick, who co-produced the film through their company El Dorado Pictures, called in many favors to bring the $27.5 million film in $700,000 under budget, he told Variety. Baldwin also was going through his own personal trauma over the breakup of his marriage to actress Kim Basinger.

The film, a remake of a 1941 film, stars Baldwin as a writer who sells his soul to the devil (Jennifer Love Hewitt), but is represented by an advocate (Anthony Hopkins), who argues for the writer's soul.

Interest in the film is high, Glasser said. There was a good response to the trailer and footage shown at Cannes, and that most of the foreign rights had been sold, he said. The film will go on the market for an U.S. distributor once the film is completed.

The film was always planned as an independent film, Glasser said, rather than as a studio production.

Story: © 2001 Hollywood.com Inc. All Rights Reserved.
Image: © 2001 Devil Productions LLC. All Rights Reserved.

Young film star has a ready wit.....

UPDATED MARCH 21, 2001

From The Toronto Sun

THE DEVIL & JENNIFER LOVE HEWITT

NEW YORK -- If you hold with the adage that wit is a sign of intellect, Jennifer Love Hewitt is one smart little girl.

The petite actress, known to the wide world for her role in TV's Party Of Five, is currently on the big screen as the star of Heartbreakers, a romantic comedy co-starring Sigourney Weaver. The two women play a mother/daughter team of con artists, with Ray Liotta and Gene Hackman as two of the nefarious men they fool. Jason Lee also stars as the man with whom Hewitt falls in love. Love? That's a definite no-no in the grifter game.

Sporting red hair for another role she's doing (The Devil And Daniel Webster -- "I get to seduce people, smash their souls," she chirps) -- Hewitt is about as animated as a person can be without actual lift-off.

Bright and cheerful, she talks first about Heartbreakers, saying that it was a bit intimidating to share the screen with an actress as experienced as Weaver.

"She could kick my butt," says Hewitt, her voice full of appreciation. "But it was such a chance to learn. She mommed me! Every day she told wardrobe to put more stuff on me."

Hewitt does wear teeny outfits in the movie, the better to seduce bad guys and then extort their money.

What about nudity -- would she do that for a film?

"No," says the actress. "I've been asked before. I don't really even like to look at myself naked. I'd shower in a bathing suit if I could," she says, laughing. "So I don't really want to share." Noting she'd never say never, Hewitt adds that maybe if the subject was someone ill, or maybe if it was a love scene, beautifully shot.

"With Johnny Depp. I'd be buck naked in two minutes. Just kidding, just kidding," she says, laughing again.

"Or Brad Pitt."

Hewitt, who is 22, has been acting and singing since childhood. She still lives at home with her mom. Lately, she has been working in New York, and confesses she has fallen in love with the city. She does say, however, that she wishes the tabloids had not made her the poster girl for dating during her time in Manhattan.

"Since I got here, I'm dating 45 guys," she drawls. "I try to brush it off. I think it's funny. After a while, you just have to stop defending yourself. You just have to live your life."

She gets recognized in New York, yes, but there's a catch:

"They think I'm J-Lo!" she says, with mock outrage. "People think I am Jennifer Lopez. I got into a cab the other day and the driver says to me, all serious, 'So how's the trial going?' I think what it is, they need to see her right now."

Hewitt is currently writing songs and working on a new album, but confesses she does not use a computer. She also says she's Internet challenged. She's aware there are sites about her, however. "My favourite is the boob site, JLHboobs," she says, deadpan. "People take pictures of me, and then they judge how 'they' look. So I try to make them look as nice as possible. It's sooo ridiculous."

For The Devil And Daniel Webster, which is being directed by Alec Baldwin, Hewitt stars opposite Anthony Hopkins.

"I cried the first time I had to work with him. I was like, 'I can't do it!' I told him, 'I'm terrified I'm gonna suck next to you,' and he said, 'You'll be great.' Later, someone told me he had said he'd learned a lot from me."

Switching quickly back into self-deprecating humour, she adds, "He probably learned the things not to do from me. Let's not talk about it!"

Story: © 2001 The Toronto Sun. All Rights Reserved.
Image: © 2001 Devil Productions LLC. All Rights Reserved.

Jennifer Love Hewitt is the Devil in "The Devil & Daniel Webster".....

UPDATED MARCH 03, 2001

From IGN FilmForce

LOVE GETS HER DEVILISH GROVE

by Brian Linder & Jim Mix

You can judge JLH for yourself in "The Devil and Daniel Webster" in which Jennifer portrays Satan himself...err herself. This contemporary retelling of the 1941 classic tale marks the feature directorial debut of Alec Baldwin, who also stars in the film as Jabez Stone.

The story centers around Baldwin's character, who makes a deal with the devil to become a best-selling author in exchange for his soul after 10 years. The years pass, and the author begins to panic. He enlists the help of Daniel Webster, played by Sir Anthony Hopkins. Webster is the head of the most powerful publishing firm in New York and may have what it takes to match Hewitt's devil in a battle of wits and words for the author's soul.

Hewitt has spoken profoundly of her role saying, "She's a sexy devil, a smart devil and an evil devil, all the things that you expect the devil to be, just with a sweeter face than you might expect. I have a lot to prepare for in taking this role. I'm going to look into a new part of myself for this role and prepare by stealing some souls and hearts."

Story: © 2001 Snowball.com in association with My Love Hewitt Websites. All Rights Reserved.
Image: © 2001 Devil Productions LLC. All Rights Reserved.

From TV Guide

HANNIBAL'S NEXT DISH: JENNIFER LOVE HEWITT?

by Michael Ausiello

When Jennifer Love Hewitt was cast as Satan opposite Oscar-winner Anthony Hopkins in Alec Baldwin's contemporary retelling of The Devil and Daniel Webster, insiders chuckled, predicting the 21-year-old Party of Five princess would be eaten alive. Well, after three days of filming, the actor behind Hannibal Lecter reports that the jury is still out on whether Hewitt has the chops to pull it off.

"I don't know, I've only done three days on it [so far]," Hopkins tells TV Guide Online. "She's very pretty, I know that... I'm sure she's very good. The little bit we did together she seemed very, very good. Don't believe what the press tells you."

Hewitt may have second thoughts about locking horns with the real-life knight after catching his encore performance as the doctor with an appetite for barbecued brains in the grisly Hannibal, the highly anticipated sequel to The Silence of the Lambs (opening tomorrow). But the soft-spoken 63-year-old insists that he's nothing like the man-eating monster he portrays on the big screen.

"I've got a great sense of humor," he says. "I'm always cast [as] these strange men, but that's not really me. People say, 'Why don't you play comedy?' They give me what they think I can do, so why change the rules?"

Well, Hopkins is doing just that in his next film. After Webster wraps, he'll begin work on the Joel Schumacher-directed comedy Black Sheep, starring Chris Rock. "I'm looking forward to doing it," he says of the pic, in which he'll play a veteran CIA agent assigned to train Rock. "It's an actor's dream to work in good American Hollywood commercial movies."

But Hopkins shoots down the theory that he chose Black Sheep to lighten things up after doing three dramas in a row: Hannibal, Hearts in Atlantis (from Shine director Scott Hicks) and Webster. "I never make conscious decisions," he says. "If my agent tells me it's a good script, I'll do it. I don't plot out things. I'm at the roulette table, and my luck seems to be running at the moment, so I may as well stay there until it runs out."

Story: © 2001 TV Guide. All rights reserved.

UPDATED OCTOBER 10, 2000

HOPKINS AND BALDWIN FIGHT THE DEVIL

Jennifer Love Hewitt

......stars as the devil in a contemporary drama retelling of the classic tale "The Devil and Daniel Webster" opposite Sir Anthony Hopkins and Alec Baldwin for Baldwin's El Dorado Pictures, and Cutting Edge Entertainment.

Kim Cattrall and Dan Ackroyd also star in the movie.

Baldwin makes his feature directorial debut with the project. The remake goes before the cameras on January 15, 2001 in New York and wrapped up sometime by March 13, 2001.

This version of "Devil" was first adapted for the big screen by Pete Dexter ("Michael") and most recently by Bill Condon ("Gods and Monsters") and Nancy Cassaro.

In the role of the devil, Hewitt goes head to head with Hopkins' character in a heated battle for the soul of a writer played by Baldwin.

"It's definitely a different role than I normally take, but the character is amazing and incredibly well-written," Hewitt told The Hollywood Reporter. "It is a more grown-up role for me. And I want to show that I am growing as a woman and a human being and am ready to take on more adult roles.

This project has all the things that an actor looks for. And obviously working with Alec (Baldwin) and Anthony (Hopkins) is never a bad thing. I have such respect for them."

Set in New York's literary world, the updated version of Stephen Vincent Benet's story centers on Jabez Stone (Baldwin), who makes a deal with the devil (Hewitt) to become a best-selling author in exchange for his soul after 10 years.

The 10 years slip by like hours, and the author must implore Webster (Hopkins), the head of the most powerful publishing firm in New York, to get him out of the deal. In a battle of wits and words, the devil and Webster go to trial over the author's soul.

Budgeted at about $25 million plus, the project was financed by Cutting Edge, an indie film production and international sales and financing company and Miracle Entertainment. Cutting Edge will handle international distribution, and domestic distribution rights will be jointly repped by CAA and WMA International.

The movie is scheduled for a release in 2002.

Hewitt is best known for her leading roles on the hit television series "Party of Five" and starring and produced the PO5 spin-off, "Time of Your Life", and in films "I Know What You Did Last Summer" and its sequel, "I Still Know What You Did Last Summer", and "Can't Hardly Wait". In the year 2000, Love received critical praise for the title role of ABC's telefilm "The Audrey Hepburn Story" portraying the legendary actress, and co-executive produced the bio prodject. The Hepburn movie aired on March 27, 2000 in the USA and was Number One in it's time slot. Hewitt also starred in the MGM hit movie, "HEARTBREAKERS" with Sigourney Weaver, Gene Hackman, Ray Liotta and Jason Lee.

Walter Huston played the devil in the RKO Pictures 1941 version of "The Devil and Daniel Webster" also starring Edward Arnold as Webster.

Houston received an Oscar nomination in the Best Actor category. Bernard Herrmann scored the music for 1941 movie and won an OSCAR for Best Original Score. Herrmann was nominated in the same catagory against himself. The other movie score Herrmann was nominated for was from CITIZEN KANE. Both movies were made by the same studio, RKO.

Baldwin and Hopkins starred together in 1997's "The Edge" for 20th Century-Fox.

Baldwin recently starred in the critical acclaim movie from David Mamet, "State and Main". Baldwin and Mamet worked together before in the movie version of the play, "Glenngarry Glen Ross". Sir Anthony Hopkins is starred in Universal/MGM movie, "Hannibal", reprising the role from his Oscar winning performance in "The Silence of The Lambs".

Made by
DEVIL PRODUCTIONS LLC
in association with
EL DORADO PICTURES