Hopkins Joins Others Behind Camera

What do you do when you’ve become one of the most successful actors of your generation? If you’re Anthony Hopkins, you follow the lead of Kevin Costner, Mel Gibson, Warren Beatty and others and move behind the camera.

Hopkins made a brief swing through Cannes on Thursday to announce that he will direct and star in “August,” which he describes as a “funny, sad, tragic love story.” The $5.5-million movie, set in northern Wales, is being produced by two British companies, Majestic Films and Granada Film.

Hopkins said he’s wanted to direct for years, but only recently found the type of story he was interested in telling--a combination of two works by Anton Chekhov, “The Wood Demon” and “Uncle Vanya.”

The Academy Award-winning actor called “getting the deal down on paper” the hardest part of the job so far. To help move things along, sources said, Hopkins agreed to work for “slightly less” than his usual acting fee.

“August” doesn’t have an American distributor yet. With Hopkins behind and in front of the camera, however, that’s not likely to be a problem.

At a time when making films is an increasingly costly venture, many actors have moved into directing and formed their own production companies to gain more control of the creative process. Hopkins plans to return to acting full time next year, but he says he also wants to keep his hand in directing.

“The challenge for me is to prove to myself that I can do something creative without all the Sturm und Drang you see with some of the maniacs on these films,” said the actor, who was too polite to name names.

Sitting near poolside at the Carlton Hotel on a brilliantly sunny afternoon, where he somehow managed to avoid the kind of riot scene that envelopes most celebrities here, Hopkins said he would ultimately like to direct a big Hollywood movie. “I know it’s going to happen,” he said.

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At Cannes, you never die. You just come back with fresh hope and money. Director Peter Bogdanovich on Thursday became the latest Lazarus here when he announced the formation of a production company with philanthropist Laura Pels, who has committed to financing eight movies.

Laura Pels/Peter Bogdanovich Pictures Corp. projects include “Protect and Defend,” based on the political potboiler by Jack Valenti, president of the Motion Picture Assn. of America. Valenti, who will act as a technical adviser on the film, is said to have received $500,000 for the rights to the book.

Earlier in the festival, director Roman Polanski took center stage in two incarnations. He starred in the festival’s “A Simple Formality” and vigorously promoted the soon-to-be completed “Death and the Maiden,” which is touted as his most commercial directorial work in years.

Polanski said he wants to pick up the pace of his career, because “I have less and less time.” One of the producers of “Death and the Maiden” is Thom Mount, a Hollywood veteran who has also been out of the spotlight.

Emerging as the biggest comeback kid-in-waiting here is Mike Medavoy. The former TriStar Pictures chairman, who’s expected to go into business with CineVisions chief Peter Hoffman, made no formal announcements, but he appeared at practically every major festival party and was said to be in deal talks.

Then there’s the mother of all comebacks, the one staged by Menahem Golan and Yorum Globus, the former Cannon Pictures chiefs who split bitterly five years ago. This week, the Israeli cousins announced they’re baaaaack.

Golan and Globus, who redefined the art of self-promotion and the role of independent producers at Cannes in the 1980s, have formed International Dynamic Pictures. “For five years there was a feeling of betrayal between us,” Golan said. “But now we are on the verge of a new beginning.”

IDP was started with $8 million from private investors. Golan said further financing is being raised through pre-selling rights to their productions. Time hasn’t dulled the controversial cousins’ promotional flare. Among the upcoming films touted in their brochure is “On Dangerous Ground,” which contains the tag line “The Heidi Fleiss Scandal . . . Now, the movie.”

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In his bright yellow pants and busy tie, Lloyd Kaufman looks a lot like one of his films--loud and a little over the top. But the chairman of Troma Inc.--think of “The Toxic Avenger” and “Surf Nazis Must Die”--has gained the respect of the industry by creating a loyal cult audience for his B-movies.

Troma, founded by Kaufman and Michael Herz after they graduated from Yale, is celebrating its 20th anniversary at this year’s festival with new offerings such as “Sgt. Kabukiman, N.Y.P.D.,” “Femme Fontaine, Killer Babe for the C.I.A.” and even “Nathaniel Hawthorne’s Young Goodman Brown.”

The latter is part of an effort to create more serious fare. But at heart, Kaufman still resides primarily in the Roger Corman-Sam Arkoff universe of fast cars, fast guns and fast women. “I must give what I have to the moviegoing public,” he said. “Unfortunately, I don’t have that much to give.”

Self-deprecating one-liners are stock and trade for the New York-based Kaufman, who spent a frantic lunch here greeting everyone from financiers to lifelong friends to waiters with the same unfettered enthusiasm.

Troma, which make movies in the $2-million range and under, has 150 titles in its library. Kaufman values them at $75 million to $80 million, but admits that his partner thinks that figure is too high.