MOVIES - Feb. 29, 1996

Taking Action: Hoping to duplicate its box-office success with Jackie Chan’s “Rumble in the Bronx,” New Line Cinema has acquired distribution rights to two of the Hong Kong action star’s other films, “First Strike,” which debuted in Asia last week, and a previous film, “Thunderbolt.” The deal also includes potential “First Strike” and “Thunderbolt” sequels, as well as Chan’s next film, which starts production next month. Chan’s “Rumble” topped the U.S. box office last weekend with a $9.9-million opening.

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Fire Destroys Canadian Landmark: A historic Canadian resort where Geena Davis was filming New Line Cinema’s “The Long Kiss Goodnight” was destroyed by fire early Wednesday. Authorities said the cause of the fire at Windermere House--on Ontario’s Lake Rosseau in the exclusive Muskoka region 95 miles north of Toronto--was unknown. New Line issued a statement Wednesday saying it was “deeply distressed” by the fire and the loss of the three-story, red-and-white stone mansion, built in 1869. The company said the fire erupted while the crew was shooting a scene “several hundred yards” from Windermere House; filming within the structure, which was undergoing a renovation, had been scheduled to start Wednesday.

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Eastwood to Share Spotlight: Clint Eastwood will be feted by the American Film Institute tonight when he receives the AFI’s 1996 Life Achievement Award at the Beverly Hilton. But he won’t be the evening’s only honoree: Director Carl Franklin (“Devil in a Blue Dress”) will receive the 1996 Franklin J. Schaffner Alumni Award. Internet users can view the star-studded festivities starting live at 6 p.m. on https://www.afionline.org/Eastwood.