Morning Report - News from Aug. 6, 2002

MOVIES

New Line Will Pit Freddy Versus Jason

Will the whole be more than the sum of its parts? New Line Cinema will find out when it combines two of its leading franchises--its Freddy Krueger horror series and its “Friday the 13th” movies, Variety reports.

In “Freddy vs. Jason,” Robert Englund will be back for his eighth performance as Freddy Krueger. No actor has yet been cast in the role of Jason, the lumbering maniac making his 11th appearance on screen. Hong Kong’s Ronny Yu (“The Bride With White Hair,” “Bride of Chucky”) is set to direct the project, written by Mark Swift and Damian Shannon.

The film is due to begin shooting in Vancouver in September, hoping to get a jump on projects such as 20th Century Fox’s “Predator vs. Alien” and Warner Bros.’ “Batman vs. Superman.” And New Line is also milking another franchise--giving the green light to “Dumb and Dumberer,” a “Dumb & Dumber” prequel due to hit the theaters next summer.

Amateurs Shoot Again for the Gold Ring

The second installment of Project Greenlight has been given a go.

The filmmaking competition, conducted by Miramax Films, HBO and LivePlanet, gave winner Pete Jones (“Stolen Summer”) the chance to direct his own movie while being filmed by HBO. A warts-and-all documentary chronicling the challenges of a first-time director was nominated for an Emmy after running on the network.

This time around, two amateur talents will have a chance to show their wares. Instead of a single writer-director, there will be a winner in each of those categories. The two will be partnered in the making of a film, again to be distributed by Miramax with a guaranteed minimum budget of $1 million.

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MAGAZINES

Pictures of J.Lo, Affleck Trigger a Bidding War

People magazine won a bidding war against Us Weekly, paying what experts say is an astounding $75,000 for nine photos of Ben Affleck and Jennifer Lopez. The couple, a hot item in the wake of the singer’s recent split from her husband, grace the covers of both publications this week.

The price paid for the photo series--which showed the duo in the front seat of a Bentley convertible--reflects how high the stakes are being raised in the competition between the magazines. People is the most profitable magazine in the United States. And, though Us Weekly is not yet in the black, its new editor, Bonnie Fuller, is putting on the pressure. Photo experts told the New York Post that, in less frantic times, the photos might have commanded about $5,000.

A People spokeswoman denied that the price paid for the picture was out of the ordinary since it featured “two of our A-list celebrities.”

QUICK TAKES

Violinist Anne-Sophie Mutter, 39, and conductor-composer Andre Previn, 73, were married in Manhattan last Thursday. Mutter has been widowed for seven years while Previn has had four previous wives, including jazz singer Betty Bennett and actress Mia Farrow.... Tobey Maguire (“Spider-Man”) will play a jockey in Universal Pictures’ “Seabiscuit,” based on Laura Hillenbrand’s bestseller, for writer-director Gary Ross. According to the Hollywood Reporter, he’ll receive more than $12 million.... Lincoln Center’s Mostly Mozart Festival Orchestra ended its strike over the weekend, but the settlement came too late to reschedule the group’s canceled summer concerts....Things went so well during the weekend reunion concert of the Grateful Dead’s surviving members in East Troy, Wis., that the band--now called the Other Ones--has decided to go ahead with a fall tour, their publicist said Monday. But Dennis McNally didn’t know when tickets would go on sale for the 15-show arena tour of the Midwest and East Coast in November and December.