-IFC has picked up the rights to the theatrical edit of Olivier Assayas’ “Carlos,” a biopic about the infamous terrorist, at the American Film Market. Edgar Ramirez stars in the title role (first look to your left), in the project that was originally filmed as a three-part mini series. “Carlos” will air its complete version in Europe early next year, and on the Sundance Channel in the spring, while IFC plans to release the shorter cut in theaters next fall. There is no word yet on if the DVD will contain the full cut, but we can imagine that with IFC and Criterion’s new relationship — which already includes a deal for Assayas’ “Summer Hours” – that it’s a title the premiere video label will be very interested in.
-Also at the American Film Market, a small battle is breaking out over “Paranormal Activity” director Oren Peli’s next film, “Area 51.” Several studios are circling the project — including Lionsgate and Sony — hoping that the film can repeat the paranormal success of the director’s breakout hit. Oddly, Paramount, who released “Paranormal Activity,” insisted publicly that weren’t pursuing the film (perhaps in a bid to keep the price down), but word has come out that they are definitely in the mix of studios chasing the project. As for the film, it’s being described as an “alien invasion” flick that we’ll guess is going to be a mix of “Paranormal Activity” and “The Fourth Kind.” Yawn.
-Oscar winning filmmaker James Marsh (“Man On Wire”) is jumping into his first horror film, the supernatural “The Vatican Tapes.” The story is about a tape that leaks showing an exorcism gone horribly wrong at the Vatican, and the consequences that follow. We hope the script by Chris Borelli is decent, as to date, his only filmed work has been direct-to-video fare like “Whisper” and uh, “The Marine 2.” Lionsgate and Lakeshore are splitting the bill on this one, and we’re going to guess they’re aiming at a release date next fall.
-Finally, in a move that we hope gets some people fired, some geniuses over at the dreck factory Screen Gems, have decided to greenlight “Sheneneh & Wanda,” based on the strength of a comedy sketch called “The Skank Robbers” that Jamie Foxx and Martin Lawrence performed this summer at the BET awards. The awful skit, which you can watch below, apparently impressed suits who thought that the audience’s roaring approval meant it would be a good movie idea. Of course, as anyone knows, people will cheer for anything and anyone at an awards show and should not be used as the basis to determine anything. What’s next? Are studios going to set up applause meters to figure out what film to put in production next? Christ, don’t people read scripts anymore?