Veteran Italian screenwriter Cecchi D'Amico dies (AP)
AP - Italian screenwriter Suso Cecchi D'Amico, who contributed to such classics as the neo-realistic masterpiece "Bicycle Thieves,""The Leopard" and "Big Deal on Madonna Street," has died at 96.
AP - The Walt Disney Co. is selling Miramax Films to a group of investors for $660 million, marking a new phase for a studio that helped launch the career of Quentin Tarantino and push independent movies into the mainstream.
Sarajevo becomes biggest regional film market (Reuters)
Reuters - Romanian film director Florin Serban was overwhelmed after showing his debut film this week to 2,000 spectators at the Sarajevo film festival, where he had shopped around his script as an unknown three years before.
AP - Chris Nolan's "Inception" has been the No. 1 film every day since it opened earlier this month. Yet it could face a formidable challenge from the debuting comedy "Dinner for Schmucks" for the top spot at this weekend's box office.
AP - Kenneth Branagh is directing "Thor" for Marvel Studios, and some think it's a stretch for him to take on a superhero movie. He's more Shakespearean, having adapted several of the Bard's films for the big screen.
Hugh Hefner: Rebel with a cause (Reuters)
Reuters - At 84 years-old, Playboy founder Hugh Hefner embodies the lifestyle of sexual freedom that his men's magazine has espoused since it was founded in 1953, featuring a nude centerfold of Marilyn Monroe.
"Charlie St. Cloud" a silly failure (Reuters)
Reuters - Every now and then a brave filmmaker can't resist the temptation to make a metaphysical movie that somehow will manage to portray everlasting love on the screen, that will somehow show a romantic idealism so great that it transcends even the boundaries between the living and dead.
Reuters - Another female worker on Casey Affleck's upcoming Joaquin Phoenix documentary is suing the filmmaker/actor, this time claiming Affleck climbed into bed with her and groped her as she slept.
Rob Lowe an investor in Miramax deal (Reuters)
Reuters - Actor Rob Lowe has confirmed that he is involved with the acquisition of Miramax Films from Walt Disney Co. by construction magnate Ronald Tutor, investment firm Colony Capital LLC and others.
"Inception" set to fend off three box office rookies (Reuters)
Reuters - Leonardo DiCaprio is set to remain king of the North American box office for a third weekend, despite the arrival of three new films led by the 3D sequel "Cats & Dogs: The Revenge of Kitty Galore."
Paparazzo gets his due in "Smash His Camera" (Reuters)
Reuters - One of the more memorable lines from "Chinatown" said something to the effect that, with enough time, old whores, politicians and ugly buildings become respectable.
Top 20 Concert Tours (AP)
AP - The Top 20 Concert Tours ranks artists by average box office gross per city and includes the average ticket price for shows in North America. The previous week's ranking is in parentheses. The list is based on data provided to the trade publication Pollstar by concert promoters and venue managers.
"Underworld" director eyes "Total" remake (Reuters)
Reuters - Len Wiseman, the filmmaker behind the "Underworld" movies, is in negotiations to direct "Total Recall," a remake of the 1990 Arnold Schwarzenegger sci-fi action movie.
