* Film: France’s UGC is expected to...

* Film: France’s UGC is expected to formally complete its acquisition by the end of the month of Lumiere, the company behind the critically acclaimed United Artists film “Leaving Las Vegas.” The company’s Los Angeles office will be renamed Lumiere International, and the operation will be co-owned by UGC and Lumiere Films Chairman Jean Cazes, who will hold a 51% stake. The Los Angeles operation will be run by Cazes’ wife, Lila, producer of “Leaving Las Vegas,” which includes Oscar-nominated work by actor Nicholas Cage, actress Elisabeth Shue and director Mike Figgis. Lumiere International will have a five-year production deal with UGC, which gives Lumiere remake and sequel rights to UGC’s library of about 5,000 films. In addition, the company expects to make as many as four films a year with budgets as high as $45 million. To buy Lumiere, UGC is issuing stock worth about $140 million. Lumiere’s assets include the former Weintraub Entertainment Group library.

* Music: Todd-AO Corp. is forming a joint venture with Chace Productions to protect and preserve movie and TV soundtracks. Among its first projects will be preserving about 80 soundtracks in the Turner Entertainment library.