"Colin Firth at Shottle hotel"

Belper Today, 5 December 2006

"Renee to return as Bridget Jones"

Metro.co.uk, 28 November 2006

'Obviously, Helen's own baby daughter has stalled production a little but now that Working Title has signed on the dotted line, she'll be trying to finish the book as quickly as possible.'

The first two films starred British hunks Hugh Grant and Colin Firth as Daniel Cleaver and Mark Darcy, so fans will be hoping they want to co-star with Renee again - and for another of their famous fight scenes.

"A Small Wonder" by Marilyn Beck and Stacy Jenel Smith

The National Ledger, 23 November 2006

Although Stanley Tucci has his hands full playing a neurosurgeon on his new "3 Lbs." series, he is not neglecting his big screen career. He's preparing to direct a film in England once "3 Lbs." wraps for the season -- "A Small Wonder." "It takes place in the early part of the 19th century, about a very depressed town that comes to believe the end of the world is near. It's sort of a romantic fable/comedy," he says. Colin Firth is already aboard to star.

"Colin Firth; doomed to dazzle in romantic comedies",

by Fred van Doorn

Mikrogids The Netherlands, 4-10 November 2006

He became known as Mr. Darcy in the tv-adaptation of P&P, but his role as the other Darcy in BJD gave him his big breakthrough. CF has been a wellknown face for years both on tv and in the cinemas, something he himself can’t really get used to. This week you can see him in Conspiracy (Saturday 11th November, 00.55 CET)

Ten years ago, CF was one of the many relatively unknown British actors ”inhabiting“ films and tv-series. His face was kind of familiar, but the U.K. has a great many actors. And then the BBC-series P&P, after Jane A’s novel, was broadcast. In it, Firth plays the arrogant Mr. Darcy, who for a very long time denied having feelings for Elizabeth, played by Jennifer Ehle. That must have been some acting, for in reality the two had a relationship during the filming. At a certain point he rose out of a lake, like an Adonis dressed in wet, tight pants, and thousands of British women went crazy. A day later, CF was a star.

He was blissfuyllu unaware, since he was 8000 kilometers away, filming another BBC-series after Joseph Conrad’s Nostromo. ”The first I heard of it was over the phone from my mother. I thought she was exaggerating as mothers do. But it turned out to be true, I’d suddenly become a romantic idol.“ He had a hard time accepting that, and 10 years on, still has really. ”The odd thing is that I thought I was doing alright with my career. I’d been working continuously, got interesting parts that were usually well-received. I was appreciated and then suddenly, after P&P, it seemed as if I’d never accomplished anything before it.“ He was 35 then, which was just a bit on the old side for a romantic lead.

No honors

CF is one of few British actors that don’t have a major theatrical background. His experience in theatre was limited when he got his first professional part in a London based production of AC. This however got him a part in the film after the play and after that he really only ever did film and tv. AC was his first filmrole in 1984, and the same year he played Armand Duval next to Greta Scacchi’s Marguerite Gautier in the tv-movie Camille. A year later he visited The Netherlands as one of the Birtish hockeyplayers chasing Dutch girls, in the comedie DG. It’s rumoured he in fact quite literally chased one of the Dutch actrices in the film, Sylvia Millecam.

He played some fine parts in AMITC and in the Falkland-drama Tumbledown, as a paralysed soldier, and then came his big break. He was offered the titlerole in Valmont, the $35 million budgeted film made by Milos Forman of the novel Les liaisons dangereuses by Choderlos de Laclos. It should have paved his way to Hollywood fame, but Forman took so long that the competing production, DL by Stephen Frears, hit the white screen first. And once John Malkovich had played the Comte de Valmont, there was no honor to be had for CF from this role, however good the Forman film is in itself. ”It seemed like every time I entered a room everyone stopped talking“.

The financial failure of the film was attributed to him and he disappeared to British Columbia, with the woman hed had met during filming, actress Meg Tilly. A year later their son Will was born.

Overlooked

When a possible star-status was lost to him, he went back to playing ”ordinary“ roles, which he executed as they should be. A very fine example was for instance the film he made between the P&P series and Nostromo: TEP. As the betrayed British husband of KST who sees his wife falling in love with the Hungarian count played by RF. It’s still inconceivable that, with the exception of JB, every actor/actress in this movie was overlooked at the Oscars. Firth wasn’t even nominated. The fact that he played another cheated-on husband, who loses his beloved to a Fiennes (Joseph this time) in SIL, was probably a coincidence. His popularity with the British ladies forced him towards romantic comedies, with BJD being the biggest hit. The writer, Helen F. had admitted that she based the character of lawyer Mark D. upon Colin’s role in P&P. The contrast with Hugh Grant’s Daniel Cleaver was a very considered juxtaposition, played to a t by both actors. Like they did 3 years later in the sequel TEOR, In between he was present in another Hugh Grant-film, LA. That actor CF isn’t quite content with his romantic image is proven over and over in parts that are sometimes small but always stand out. Like in the Nazi-drama Conspiracy, or the extremely successful GWAPE, in which -opposite SJ- he plays one of his best parts as Dutch painter Vermeer.

Although he’s been happily married for 9 years to Italian tv-producer LG (with whom he has 2 sons), he’s still artistically in two minds between what the (female) audience expects of him, and what he himself really wants to do. He rapidly alternates parts like the Sound-of-Music type widower Mr. Brown with his 7 children in Nanny McPhee with a historical drama, The Last Legion or an adaptation of Harold Pinter’s Celebration.

Then, there’s another historical drama about the Boer-war, The Colossus, to be expected, after which he and Robert Carlyle will play two 19th C. Scottish serial killers in The Meat Trade. This will be followed by a remake of Michael Caine-film Gambit, in which he portrays a master-conartist. And if all goes to plan they then will have finally finished the scenario for the third Bridget Jones-film. Mr. Darcy once more.

Firth berth in 'Genova', by Adam Dawtrey

Variety, 2 November 2006

Colin Firth will star in helmer Michael Winterbottom's contempo ghost story "Genova," set to shoot next spring.

Firth plays a recently widowed man who travels to Italy with his teenage daughters in search of a fresh start but can't escape the ghosts of his past.

Pic is co-financed by the U.K.'s Film4, with Hanway handling foreign sales.

Winterbottom is currently shooting "A Mighty Heart," starring Angelina Jolie, for Paramount Vantage.

Homelessness features in major film drama by Ian Morgan

24 Dash, 9 October 2006

Up and coming Brit Actress Nichola Burley (Love & Hate, Shameless) visited Centrepoint and spoke to young homeless people as part of her research for a role in 'London' a forthcoming BBC One film-drama. 

The one-off drama, which addresses social inequality in Britain today, features Colin Firth and Robert Carlyle and is written and directed by Bafta award-winning Dominic Savage. 

It will be shown on BBC One early November, 40 years on from Ken Loach's groundbreaking drama Cathy Come Home which revealed the shocking story of a young homeless couple caught in a poverty trap. 

Burley plays a young runaway from Leeds and is one of several characters whose paths collide at a B&B temporarily housing the homeless. 

The actress was keen to meet and discuss her part with some of the young homeless people Centrepoint support across London each night, she spent an afternoon chatting to young people living at Centrepoint Berwick Street, an emergency service in Soho. 

"I felt I had to talk to young homeless women to keep my character true to life," said Nichola Burley.

"I was shocked and saddened to hear their stories. I never realised just how bad it gets for some young people, particularly those who are forced into prostitution and drugs.  I hope I can do them justice in my role and would like to thank Centrepoint for giving me the opportunity to find out first hand the kind of challenges they face on a daily basis." 

Anthony Lawton, Centrepoint chief executive said: "Centrepoint Berwick Street is a real safety net, keeping the UK's most vulnerable young people off the streets, safe and supported.  Nicola lifted the spirits of the young people she met and in turn was genuinely moved by their experiences.  We are pleased to work with the BBC to ensure the drama is a true representation of homelessness today and hope it will challenge audience stereotypes and preconceptions."   

Esquire Magazine Returns to Los Angeles with ‘Esquire House 360,’ Celebrating All Aspects of Modern Men’s Lifestyle

Pressrelease, 25 September 2006

LOS ANGELES--(BUSINESS WIRE)--For the fourth consecutive year, Esquire magazine will open the doors to the ultimate bachelor pad. Branded Esquire House 360, this 17,000 square-foot Italian villa in Beverly Hills was built to mirror the editorial range of Esquire magazine and to reflect the lifestyle of today’s modern man. A series of exclusive celebrity/charity events will take place at the House from October through December, attended by Esquire clients, celebrities and other VIPs.

Esquire House 360, located on three acres of land with sprawling lawns and 360-degree views of Los Angeles, defines modern luxury and sustains Esquire’s Signature Space concept – the transformation of a remarkable physical space into the epitome of 21st Century living. The House is the fourth ”Signature Space“ in as many years, and the second property Esquire has created in Los Angeles (the previous LA incarnation was the Esquire House Los Angeles in 2004). Last year’s project, Esquire Downtown at Astor Place, was the first New York showhouse with a ”downtown“ sensibility. The Esquire Apartment concept was originally conceived in 2003, at Trump World Tower, also in New York.

A major component of Esquire’s ”Signature Space“ concept is philanthropy. Each event supports a specific charity or cause, and all proceeds from each event – whether from ticket sales, auctions or gifts – are donated to those charities. The previous three ”Signature Spaces“ raised more than $1.8 million for Esquire’s various charity partners.

To unveil Esquire House 360, the magazine will host an opening night reception on October 19th, celebrating LA Fashion Week. In conjunction with The Art of Elysium, a charity for children battling serious medical conditions, the magazine is holding a star-studded celebration with Salma Hayek, Eva Mendes, and Penelope Cruz. Other events taking place at the House include a benefit for Oxfam with Colin Firth, Kristen Davis, Mark Ruffalo, and Minnie Driver;

a reception for City of Hope, hosted by record industry mogul Clive Davis; a summit hosted by Michael Milken that is committed to accelerating the medical research process; the 4th annual Oceana Award Gala, honoring Pierce Brosnan; an event for the Hollywood Entertainment Museum; VH1’s ”Save the Music“ gala; and many live music events, private dinners, lounge nights and screenings with such personalities as Kirsten Dunst, James Cameron, and others. All events are by invitation only.

To expand Esquire House 360 beyond Los Angeles, two innovative features will be added this year. A significant interactive Web site at www.esquire.com will contain photos and red-carpet video from each of the events, in addition to a virtual tour of the House (presented by Intel). Also, an online charity auction hosted by Esquire will give visitors to the house and the general public alike the chance to bid on exclusive items, including celebrity merchandise donations, travel packages, backstage concert passes, and more.

Bridget Jones' Knickers on Auction Block

The Associated Press, 9 September 2006

One scene in the film took place in a fountain at Kensington Gardens; another was shot at Regent's Park.

The Royal Parks are some of London's most popular, and also include Hyde Park, St. James's Park and Green Park.

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Bridget Jones pants fetch £2,000 

A pair of outsized underpants featured in the film Bridget Jones's Diary have sold for £2,000 at a charity auction.

Actor Hugh Grant, who appeared in the 2001 movie with Renee Zellweger, had signed the undergarment with the words: "Hello Mummy! Lots of love and kisses."

The sale took place at a gourmet dinner held in Hyde Park in central London.

Songwriter Sir Tim Rice was among the celebrity guests at the event, held in aid of the Royal Parks Foundation. The winning bidder was not identified.

Egoyan among director nominees for "2006 Directors Guild of Canada Awards"

Toronto, 11 August 2006

Egoyan is nominated four times for his film, which is about a 1950s song-and-comedy duo whose careers fizzle after a scandal.

Where the Truth Lies already won a Genie award this year for best adapted screenplay and is also up for best feature film, production design and picture editing.

The 2006 DGC Awards will be hosted by four-time Gemini winner Peter Keleghan (The Newsroom, Made in Canada) on Oct. 14 in Toronto at a gala awards dinner at The Carlu.

"King's singers perform perfectly on Italian tour"

Peterborough Evening Telegraph, 11 August 2006

LEADING choir singers from Peterborough have proved they are in tune with the some of the best in the world after wowing audiences in Rome.

Even film star Colin Firth was said to be impressed when he dropped in on the display put on by the King's School choir when they sang their hearts out in St Peter's Basilica church in the Italian capital.

The 63 pupils, past and present, were dubbed "a credit to Peterborough and great ambassadors to England" as they sang at seven religious services during a busy, six-day schedule as part of the school's end-of-year music trip.

During the day, the singers enjoyed soaring temperatures of 38C as they toured attractions such as the magnificent Colosseum, while in the evening they got down to the serious business of singing at Mass and concert sessions.

Their tour also took them through Tuscany, to towns including Siena, Pienza and Radicoffi.

King's School director of music Nicholas Kerrison, who was one of the six staff members to go on the trip, said: "This was a great experience for those who took part.

"It's good for the past and present pupils to work together towards and event like this.

"Many of them just couldn't contain themselves when they saw Colin Firth watching them in the Basilica. It is something they will look back on fondly for the rest of their lives."

The choir, orchestra and brass band from the school in Park Road, central Peterborough, had been practising intensively before the trip to make sure everything went just right at some of the world's best venues.

As well as their weekly practice

sessions, the group had some final rehearsals before they boarded the plane to Rome, ready for the start of their trip.

Some adults from Peterborough and surrounding towns and villages even flew out to see the young people show off their musical talents and fine voices.

Thelma Amps, from Ramsey Road, Farcet Fen, near Peterborough, travelled with her husband John to see the performance.

She said: "To hear them sing during a service was an amazing experience.

"It was a hectic schedule and the effort and time put in by Mr Kerrison and the other teachers on the trip is to be commended

"To the pupils, teachers and the school we must say you were a credit to Peterborough and great ambassadors to the youth of England."

"UK films claim box office record"

BBC News, 22 July 2006

TOP 2005 UK FILMS WORLDWIDE

Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire - $808m (£435m)

Charlie and the Chocolate Factory - $472m (£254m)

Batman Begins - $371m (£200m)

Kingdom of Heaven - $210m (£113m)

Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit - $183m (£98m)

Among the eight UK films featuring in the top 20 were Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Wallace and Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit, Nanny McPhee, The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy and Pride and Prejudice.

John Woodward, chief executive officer of the UK Film Council, said: "The figures show that the public love British films and 2005 was a great year for British films at the cinema with the largest slice of box office takings since records began.

"This British success story was replicated around the globe with over $3bn (£1.6m) taken worldwide, a real achievement when you consider the slump that affected most other countries."

Worldwide cinema takings fell by 9% in 2005, according to the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA).

'Tax incentive'

Culture Secretary Tessa Jowell, who has unveiled tax incentives aimed at bringing filmmakers to the UK, said: "Harry Potter, Nanny McPhee and Willy Wonka have all been hits at home and abroad - helping us achieve great success at the box office.

"I hope that next year, buoyed by the new tax incentive, the UK film industry will be in even better health."

The top 20 performing UK films grossed $3.3bn (£1.8bn) worldwide with a market share of 14.3% and were seen by 600 million people, compared with takings of $2.6bn (£1.4bn) and a share of 10.3% in 2004.

Films are classed as UK-made if they are shot in the country, involve UK talent in front of and behind the camera and invest money in the UK or on British staff and services.

"'Father' finds film family", by Adam Dawtrey.

Broadbent, Firth to star; U.K. shoot set for fall.

Variety, 12 July 2006

Number 9, the production company of Karlsen and her husband, Stephen Woolley, received 12 Emmy nominations last week for telepic "Mrs. Harris."

Karlsen developed the made-for with writer-director Phyllis Nagy and co-produced it with Gotham's Killer Films for HBO.

Number 9 and Killer are collaborating to develop the Julian Schnabel project "The Lonely Doll," being adapted by Caroline Thompson.

"Where Bridget Jones piled on the pounds"

Telegraph UK, 22 June 2006

Sadie Frost lives here, Harry Enfield can be spotted ordering latte, Chris Evans visits the pubs. Kate Winslet toyed with moving to this very house before she and Sam Mendes plumped for a mansion in the Cotswolds.

And now The Daily Telegraph columnist Rachel Sylvester has identified it as the home of the Primrose Hill Gang – ambitious young Labour supporters plotting life after Blair and Brown.

Among them are rising star David Miliband, his brother Ed, former adviser to Gordon Brown and now MP for Doncaster, and Matthew Taylor, the Prime Minister’s head of policy.

The Ellis house in St George’s Terrace, which overlooks the hill – one of London’s six protected viewpoints – also tells the story of the area’s fortunes.

In the 20 years that Robin and his family have lived here, it has been transformed. "We bought it in 1986 from an American heiress who had visited London occasionally for the arts and allowed her friends to stay here," he says.

”We lived here with two babies, two sitting tenants in the basement and first floor, and we had three friends living with us too.“

"It was such a mixed area then. It had changed radically in the late Seventies when it stopped being a rat-run and the steam trains stopped covering the whole area in soot. We couldn’t understand why all our chums wanted to go and live in Islington – but now they can’t afford the prices here at all."

They finally got the house to themselves in the early Nineties and immediately restored it. ”We gutted it down to a skeletal state, changed the layouts and created large rooms.“ As an architect turned developer, Robin was completely at ease.

”We wanted to respond to the character of the house rather than impose a style. It was very beautiful at the front but it was dark at the back.“

She had married Byron in 1815, thinking she could tame the wild poet and see off his lover Lady Caroline Lamb.

But shortly after she gave birth to his daughter, Ada, they separated and he left the country for good.

Byron dubbed his wife the "Princess of Parallelograms" and wrote of her, ”I got a wife and a cold on the same day, but have got rid of the last pretty speedily.“

"MGM Feeds North American Theatrical Pipeline With New Titles" (Press release)

MGM / PR Newswire , 1 June 2006

LOS ANGELES, June 1 /PRNewswire/ -- Metro Goldwyn Mayer Studios Inc. (MGM) Chief Operating Officer Rick Sands, in continuing the studio's momentum in revitalizing its domestic theatrical distribution operations, has today announced three new theatrical releases.

"Our biggest commitment to date in the creation of content stems from our earlier theatrical distribution announcement," said Sands in announcing the Studio's latest theatrical projects. "Theatrical will always be an important part of our business in that it feeds all of the various distribution platforms, from video on demand and pay television, to DVD and eventually broadband as well as cable and free terrestrial broadcast television. By continuing to feed the domestic theatrical distribution pipeline, we are assured of growing and extending the valuable MGM brand while remaining competitive in today's rapid-fire media environment."

Clark Woods, President, Domestic Theatrical at MGM, added: "MGM has a full distribution and marketing team in place with some of the most talented executives in the business. We are well equipped to handle these wide theatrical releases as well as the bigger holiday titles. We are pleased to be coming to the market with such a diverse and exciting slate of films."

The new MGM theatrical releases for 2006-2007 from The Weinstein Company, which will be continuing to oversee the marketing for its titles, include:

"Bobby," slated for release on November 22, 2006 for the Thanksgiving holiday, revisits the night Robert F. Kennedy was gunned down at the Ambassador Hotel in 1968. The film, which takes place against the backdrop of the cultural issues gripping the country at the time, is a fascinating and entertaining account that chronicles the intertwining lives of those at the hotel that evening. This ensemble drama was written and directed by Emilio Estevez and stars Estevez, Anthony Hopkins, Demi Moore, Sharon Stone, Lindsay Lohan, Elijah Wood, Harry Belafonte, Laurence Fishburne, William H. Macy, Heather Graham, Helen Hunt, Martin Sheen, Freddy Rodriguez, Nick Cannon, Mary Elizabeth Winstead, Joy Bryant, Svetlana Metkina, Kip Pardue, David Krumholtz, Shia LaBeouf, Jacob Vargas, Brian Geraghty, Joshua Jackson and Christian Slater. Michel Litvak's Bold Films, Edward Bass and Holly Wiersma produced the film, which was executive produced by Gary Michael Walters and Dan Grodnik.

"Miss Potter," slated for release on December 29, 2006, explores the life of Beatrix Potter (Renee Zellweger), the author of the beloved and best-selling children's classic "The Tale of Peter Rabbit" and her struggle to overcome a domineering and unsupportive mother and the chauvinism of Victorian England in an effort to become a published author. The charismatic and talented Academy Award® winning actress Renee Zellweger ("Cinderella Man," "Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason") stars in the biopic directed by Chris Noonan ("Babe"). Kirschner Productions' David Kirschner and Corey Sienega produced "Miss Potter" alongside Mike Medavoy, Arnie Messer and David Thwaites of Phoenix Pictures. Zellweger executive produced the film and stars in it alongside Ewan McGregor, Emily Watson, Barbara Flynn, Bill Paterson and Lloyd Owen.

On tap for release in 2007 will be "The Last Legion."

"The Last Legion," based on Valerio Massimo Mandredi's novel of the same name, is an action packed adventure drama set against the fall of Rome that tells the story of its last emperor, the young Romulus Augustus, who flees the city and all that he loves: his family, his home, and an empire that once stood for truth and honor, to lead a legion of supporters on a perilous voyage to Britain. The film, adapted by David Leland, is directed by Doug Lefler, produced by Martha and Dino De Laurentiis and stars Colin Firth, Ben Kingsley, James Cosmo, Rupert Friend and Iain Glen.

"We are proud to be in business with MGM and to be marketing these highly anticipated and exciting titles to audiences around the country," said Steve Bunnell, chairman of domestic distribution for The Weinstein Company.

Source: Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Inc.

"Firth stars in 'Cathy' TV Tribute" by Nicola Methven

Mirror.co.uk, 1 June 2006

MOVIE hunk Colin Firth is to star in a BBC film to mark the 40th anniversary of controversial drama Cathy Come Home.

The Pride and Prejudice actor will play a wealthy banker who feels guilty about his lifestyle and decides to help the homeless.

The cast also includes Robert Carlyle, star of The Full Monty, who plays a prison inmate who is newly released but has nowhere to go.

The characters meet at a bed and breakfast for the homeless.

Writer and director Dominic Savage said the aim of the film - provisionally called London - was to tackle social inequality in Britain today.

He added: "It is about people in desperate circumstances and their inter-twining different lives."

TV docu-drama Cathy Come Home shocked viewers when it was broadcast in 1966.

It told the tragic story of Cathy who loses her home, husband and children. It helped launch homeless charity Shelter.

"London" will be shown on BBC1 in the autumn.

"Is Helen Fielding about to bump off Bridget Jones?" by Alison Boshoff

The Daily Mail, 1 June 2006

The most recent estimate puts Helen Fielding's wealth at a shocking £17million, and to be fair to the writer, she has mastered that understated and glossy look that only the very wealthy pull off.

Her thick blonde hair is beautifully cut and impeccably highlighted, she wears discreet but significant Tiffany diamond earrings and favours designer clothes, especially Prada, in slimming black.

Now that she is pregnant again, of course, Helen Fielding is free to look as big as she pleases. And, at 48, she is "bubbling with excitement" at the prospect of a brother or sister for her son Dashiell, aged two.

And yet, while her revived fictional creation, Bridget Jones, is also expecting, the big difference is that Bridget has remained perpetually 39, while her creator is pushing 50.

No one is willing to talk about whether Fielding's pregnancy is the result of fertility therapy. She was very prickly on the subject of assistance when expecting Dashiell, refusing to talk about how the pregnancy had come about, or how she felt about being an older mother.

Now she is significantly older and no more forthcoming. She has adopted the Hollywood habit of guarding her personal details jealously and is protected from 'impertinent' questions by a phalanx of agents and spokespeople.

Perhaps the most unusual part of Helen's happy news is that she learned she had been successful in her quest for a second baby just a few weeks after she started once again to write Bridget Jones's Diary - and just after she had told readers the bombshell news that Bridget was expecting Daniel Cleaver's baby.

"Yes, we have all been doing the maths here, too," says a friend in her publisher's office. "Unless it is the world's longest gestation, Bridget has beaten her to it. Perhaps it was in her mind to get pregnant and that is how the two pregnancies have come about."

Readers of the Bridget Jones Diary column, which started again last August in The Independent, may recall that Bridget is due to give birth in a creaking West London NHS hospital, probably without Daniel to hold her hand, in June.

Fielding, meanwhile, will give birth at the exceptionally expensive Cedars Sinai hospital in July, and her partner of seven years, screenwriter Kevin Curran, will almost certainly attend.

She is, it seems, a little cautious about this undertaking. She announced the news publicly only about a month ago after her second scan, at 24 weeks, which showed the baby was well.

Now, she is planning to write her last few columns before taking maternity leave in June. (The betting is, by the way, that Bridget Jones will not return after the birth. Instead, the columns will be collected into one final, no doubt best-selling, book.)

This has been rather an unexpected late last flowering of the Bridget Jones phenomenon. Everyone assumed Helen Fielding had had enough of her neurotic comic heroine - until last year Fielding herself encouraged this view.

She had not written a word 'as Bridget' since 1999 when she delivered Bridget Jones: The Edge Of Reason 71 weeks late to her publishers, explaining she had found it terribly hard to get down to work.

Meanwhile, there have been two Bridget Jones movies which have severely taxed her appetite for publicity and a novel, Olivia Joules And The Overactive Imagination, about a female spy, which was not a great critical success.

What is clear is that Fielding has found it exasperating to be held up as the spokeswoman for a generation of feckless, hopeless women in search of love, slender thighs and inner poise.

"The truth is that the intention behind Bridget Jones was nothing more than to earn me some cash and make people laugh," she said.

It certainly earned her money. For although the idea belonged to an executive on The Independent, Fielding managed to cash in on its success in a way that would be alien to her dizzy media blonde alter ego.

The column started in October 1995. A year later, a book was instantly successful. By 1998, Jones was a media phenomenon and following an offer from the Daily Telegraph, the newspaper in which Bridget Jones started was cut out of the deal. The Independent now finds itself giving the star author a six-figure sum to have the column back.

Incidentally, the entire franchise - the films and books - have netted £50million worldwide. So why, if the money "barely covers her dry cleaning bill", is she doing it again?

Since the birth of Dashiell in February 2004, the assumption was that Helen had largely retired. Financially, there is no need for her to work again and her life in LA is comfortable and well-connected.

The insecure Yorkshire girl, who told an interviewer that she spent her time at Oxford too intimidated to join in, is a long way behind her.

Home is a $2million bungalow in Beverly Hills with a pool and stunning views. Neighbours include Jennifer Aniston, Keanu Reeves and Leonardo DiCaprio.

Her old Notting Hill pad has been rented out and she makes thrice-yearly visits to the UK to see her family. One of four children, Helen was always bright - she gained a scholarship to a private girls' school in Wakefield and then attended St Anne's College, Oxford - but she did not show any talent for making money until Bridget came along when she was 37.

Though she won a place on the BBC's graduate trainee scheme, she went freelance at 29 to make documentary films. Her producer was killed in the Sudan, and she wrote a satirical novel, Cause Celeb, about showbiz stars making mileage out of the famine in Africa. As a freelance writer, she recalls being hopelessly unsuccessful and flat broke.

Her fortunes were transformed as if by a bolt of lightning and it seems she was grateful to return to a kind of normality after the madness of Bridget's success.

Until last spring, Fielding was essentially semi-retired, vaguely seeking a theme for a further book and simply enjoying life with Harvard-educated Curran, who writes for The Simpsons. But one morning, a friend recounts, Fielding impulsively revived the column to see if she could still do it.

"The way it came about was during that period when she was not working. She got into this routine where every morning she would take the baby out for a walk and go to a coffee shop on Sunset Boulevard.

"All these places have wireless broadband and she would take her laptop and do her emailing. For her, it was a question of keeping up with everyone in London and what was going on.

"She said to me that one day she thought: 'I wonder whether Bridget Jones would still work?' So she sat in this coffee shop and wrote the first new Bridget Jones column."

Fielding then spoke to her agent, who spoke to Simon Kelner, editor of The Independent. He took her to lunch at The Savoy last summer and the deal was done.

The consensus in the office - where she has not in recent memory set foot - is that she is quite a diva. Apparently, she can be "withering" during confrontations.

"Helen is a tricky character, a bit high-maintenance," says an acquaintance. "Everything has to be on her terms. She has got that Hollywood mindset where she believes she is very important and is not shy of letting you know that."

Possibly some of her bossier outbursts are born of anxiety - having revived the column impulsively, she is said to have felt under enormous pressure to make it good.

Sadly, it has been greeted with widespread disappointment. The women who grew up with Bridget and helped to make her a ten-million-book-selling phenomenon have grown up and are now wrangling with different concerns.

Bridget's diary shorthand which seemed so charming - V.G, Hurrah, Grrr - is now grating and dated to some readers. And despite constant name-checks of new media hangouts like The Electric in Notting Hill, there are complaints that it doesn't quite feel genuine in the same way as the old columns.

Perhaps that's because it is being pinged electronically from Fielding's office in her Tinseltown home. But who can begrudge pregnant Bridget - and pregnant Helen Fielding - this last hurrah?

Quartet recruited to join Boer War pic by Sam Andrews

Reuters / The Hollywood Reporter, 22 May 2006

Colin Firth, Rachel Weisz, Ian McKellen and Susan Sarandon have signed to star in the Boer War political thriller "The Colossus."

Based on the novel "Manly Pursuits" by Ann Harries, "Colossus" is expected to begin principal photography in the fall. Sean Mathias ("Bent") directs.

The $15 million-budgeted movie tells of ailing arch-colonist Cecil Rhodes' belief that he can only recover his health if he can hear the sound of English songbirds outside his window in Cape Town. Ornithologist Francis Wills is hired to transport 500 songbirds to Rhodes' home in South Africa, where he falls in love with Olive Schreiner, a local firebrand activist fighting against Rhodes and trying to prevent the inevitable war against the Boers. Wills finds himself at the dangerous center of a daring plot to stop the war.

Firth was most recently in theaters with "Nanny McPhee," Weisz won an Oscar earlier this year for her supporting role in "The Constant Gardener," McKellen stars in "The Da Vinci Code," and Sarandon appeared in 2005's "Elizabethtown."

Fleet Street Memoir by Guy Adams

The Independent, 13 April 2006

In February, I asked Colin Firth if he'd play Piers Morgan in the film version of his Fleet Street memoir, The Insider.

"I'd need rather a lot of time to think about it," came his lukewarm reply. "It would have to be a very good script."

That was just over a month ago. But things have since moved on apace, and Morgan and Firth are making efforts to cut a deal.

"Colin phoned me as I was browsing in a Wandsworth Bridge Road video store (ironically for Fever Pitch), and said he'd love to see a script," Morgan tells me.

"Since he fully supported my stance on the Iraq war he'd see it as a privilege to play me. We're sending him a script as soon as it's finished."

Morgan says he and Firth have much in common: "He's handsome, courageous, debonair, intelligent, very much the thinking woman's crumpet."

BBC to mark classic Loach drama

BBC News, 11 April 2006

Acclaimed original

Dominic Savage, who made the 2002 youth offenders' drama Out of Control, starring Tamzin Outhwaite, will direct the drama, with Anne-Marie Duff from Shameless also in talks to appear.

Screened in December 1966, Cathy Come Home showed how an average family ended up homeless, sparking widespread public concern about the scale of the problem.

The charity Shelter was set up as a result of the debate.

A poll conducted by the British Film Institute in 2000 found Cathy Come Home was the second favourite programme of all time for UK TV industry figures.

Stars line up for homeless film.

Contactmusic, 9 April 2006

British actors ORLANDO BLOOM and COLIN FIRTH are expected to star in a new TV adaptation of hard-hitting 1966 film "Cathy come home". The new BBC version is to mark the 40th anniversary of the original KEN LOACH movie, which pricked Britain's conscience regarding the issue of homelessness.  A spokeswoman says, "It feels timely to look at poverty and inequality in Britain today."

"Race drama tipped as a British crash"

The Daily Mail, 7 April 2006

A radical movie that explores aspects of poverty, race, inequality and class — some are calling it a British version of Oscar best winner Crash — is about to be shot on the streets of London by the BBC.

Anne-Marie Duff, in contention for a best actress honour for Shameless in the forthcoming Pioneer BAFTA awards, former Spooks actor David Oyelowo, and Colin Firth are among those in delicate negotiations to appear in writer-director Dominic Savage's film.

Savage, an insightful filmmaker who likes to build upon the characters he creates through extensive rehearsals and improvisational sessions, has set his film, which has the working title of The London Project, in a North London hostel for the homeless.

Three of the inhabitants' stories will be inter-linked with that of a middle-class 'do-gooder' who wants to help.

Filming in May

Ms Duff hopes to begin filming in late May or early June, and she would play an 'upper'working-class wife who escapes her abusive husband and goes to the hostel. Mr Oyelowo would take the part of a Nigerian political refugee and

Mr Firth — if he agrees to do the film — the role of a disillusioned businessman. Paul Haggis's movie Crash, which starred Thandie Newton and Matt Dillon, was an early inspiration for The London Project.

'That film had a big impact on Dominic,' one of the actors said.

The film has been developed through the BBC's drama and documentary departments.

Ruth Caleb, one of the corporation's most distinguished producers, is pushing to get it made.

Filming, once contracts are sorted out, should start in late May or early June.

Meanwhile, Mr Oyelowo is heading to New York for the premiere of Sharon Foster's film Shoot The Messenger at the Tribeca Film Festival in New York.

The actor plays a teacher trying to climb out of the abyss after losing his footing on the treacherous rocks that represent life these days.

Coming soon: Download-to-own films

CNN.com, 24 March 2006

LONDON, England -- Universal Pictures and the online rental firm iLovefilm are launching what they say is the world's first download-to-own movie service in Britain next month.

Starting with "King Kong" on April 10, the companies say the new service will let people watch the latest movies on their laptops, home computers or hand-held devices while on the move.

Currently, films can be legally downloaded only for a short rental period, but this is the first legitimate means of downloading and owning a movie release, the UK's Press Association reported.

"Download-to-own has the potential to completely revolutionize the way people watch movies," PA quoted Peter Smith, president of Universal Pictures International, as saying.

Films will be available to download the same day the DVD is released. Consumers will get the film in three formats: two digital files available for instant download -- one for a PC or laptop and one for a portable device -- and a DVD copy sent by mail.

Initially, 35 Universal films will be available, including "Pride And Prejudice," "The Bourne Supremacy," "Love Actually," "Nanny McPhee" and "Bridget Jones."

They will be priced from £19.99 ($35) for the latest releases to £9.99 ($17.50) for older films. Downloading a film will take between 40 minutes and an hour.

"The time is only 12-18 months away when you will be able to put the kettle on, get the kids ready and then have a great movie ready to watch," Lovefilm chief executive Mark Livingstone told PA.

Eventually all 6,500 movies in the Universal catalogue could be made available for downloading, PA reported.

The films will be available on the Lovefilm and AOL Web sites. AOL, like CNN, is owned by Time Warner.

New films will be available at midnight on the day of release -- meaning consumers could be watching a DVD on a hand-held device on their train journey to work before stores have opened.

Security measures will make it impossible to e-mail the film to somebody else.

"Consumers are becoming more and more demanding. They want quality products and more accessibility," said Eddie Cunningham, chairman of Universal Pictures UK.

"This service offers instant access and flexibility for consumers to watch films wherever they like."

Universal's research showed that 12- to 18-year-olds in particular are keen to watch films on their laptops or portable devices.

VooDooDogg gets Nanny to Seoul

VFX World, 20 March 2006

London based VooDooDog, run by David Z.Obadiah and Paul and Noel Donnellon, have been selected for the official competition in the commissioned films category at the Seoul International Cartoon and Animation Festival with the end credit sequence they created for the Working Title/Universal Studios film NANNY MCPHEE.

The sequence directed by Irish animator Paul Donnellon was nominated at the British Animation Awards and also won the silver medal at the New York Festivals recently.

NANNY MCPHEE directed by Kirk Jones, passed the $100 million mark at the box office last week and has yet to open in many more territories. The film was adapted for the screen by Emma Thompson who also plays the title character.

The 10th Seoul International Cartoon and Animation Festival (SICAF 2006) runs from May 24-28, 2006.

SICAF was approved by ASIFA (Association Internationale du Film d'Animation) in 2005 and the Animated Film Festival aims to screen a wide range of independent and technology-based animated works that push the boundaries of animation.

Atom Egoyan wins Genie for best adapted screenplay "Where The Truth Lies"

(Canada's version of the Oscars)

Canada.com, 13 March 2006

Atom Egoyan's showbiz scandal drama Where the Truth Lies won for Egoyan's own adapted screenplay 

In a pre-recorded acceptance speech, Egoyan held up some pages that he said were rewrites and that he could have made it better.

Thomson credits writing success to late dad's lucky pen

Contactmusic, 4 March 2006

Emma Thompson owes her writing successes to a "magic pen" her late father bought her when she was a child. The actress, who won an Oscar for her Sense and Sensibility adapted screenplay and acclaim for writing new family film Nanny McPhee, still uses the $29 (GBP17) pen her dad, Eric, treated her to when she was a teenager.

She says, "My dad died very young, at 52, when I was 21 - which one still hasn't really recovered from - and he bought me one of those ink pens. "He tried to persuade me to buy a cheaper one because he was quite mean with his money and I said, 'No, that's the one I want,' and I did all my exams with it, I've written all my scripts with it - it's like my magic pen."

Thompson admits she always pens her scripts in longhand - because she hates the glare from a computer screen. She adds, "I just write at an old wooden table and I write longhand because I don't like writing on computers, I don't like the effect of that screen and the light of that screen on your body. "I know it's a bit new age of me; I'm not remotely new age, I have to say, and I support vast consumption of vodka in the evening and lots of very bad habits I have... but I write everything with a pen."

Colin Firth lies to sons about job

Contactmusic, 28 February 2006

British actor Colin Firth tells his two young sons he works with cranes and machinery - because it sounds more manly than acting.

The Bridget Jones's Diary star, who has two small children, Luca, four, and Mateo, two, with his wife Livia, is keen for his offspring to believe his career involves more masculine work than dressing up in front of a camera.

He says, "Luca came to see me while I was making the film Nanny McPhee, but he didn't really have any concept of what we were doing there.

"He seemed most interested in the cameras and cables, so we have developed the idea with him that I work with cranes and heavy machinery.

"He did seem to like that thought, and I didn't want to crush his idea that I do something manly with my life, instead of what I really do - putting on costumes and make-up, and flouncing around in front of the camera."

Irish brothers win silver for Nanny McPhee

RTE Ireland, 30 January 2006

Irish brothers win silver for Nanny McPhee

London-based animation company VooDooDog, run by David Z Obadiah and Irish brothers Paul and Noel Donnellon, has taken the Silver Award for Best Main Titles at the New York Festivals for their end credit sequence from 'Nanny McPhee'.

Emma Thompson wrote the script and stars in the film as a governess who uses magic to rein in the behaviour of seven misbehaving children in her charge.

She said: "VooDooDog has created a credit sequence for 'Nanny McPhee' filled with colour and wit and fun. The drawings are quirky, cheeky and original in exactly the ways we wanted the film to be."

The sequence follows the seven naughty children from the film, as they cause havoc and mayhem in their Victorian world.

Last year VooDooDog won the Gold Medal for their Emmy nominated opening animated title sequence for HBO's 'The Life and Death of Peter Sellers'.

Nice and kneesy win for leggy star by Billy Paterson 

Sunday Mail, 22 January 2006

HOT legs John Hannah beat off competition from Bridget Jones heartthrob Colin Firth to win a sexiest pins contest.

The former Rebus star beat the Englishman in the lovely legs contest while filming the Roman epic The Last Legion in Tunisia.

The bizarre beauty contest was sparked by Firth, 45, who complained that in a toga his legs looked like pipe cleaners.

This prompted the crew to set up a secret ballot of their 20 female members.

But if the idea was to boost Firth's confidence, it backfired as East Kilbrideborn Hannah, 43, won.

An insider said: "Everyone expected Colin to walk away with the sexiest legs title as he had women drooling when he appeared as Mr Darcy in Pride and Prejudice. "John was taken aback when the result was announced."

The Last Legion is a $100million blockbuster set in the final years of the Roman Empire.

Other Scots in the cast include Peter Mullan, James Cosmo, Iain Glen and Kevin McKidd.

In the movie, which will be released later this year, John plays a Senate member and Colin plays the veteran general Aurelius.

Emma Thompson Stores Oscars in the Loo

ABC News, 16 January 2006.

Emma Thompson's husband restored a barn in Scotland that included a place for her to write, but the actress and screenwriter prefers the bathroom.

She also keeps her Oscars there. "They look far too outre anywhere else," Thompson, 46, told Time magazine. "They're great big, gold, shiny things. They're up there tarnishing quietly along with everything else I own, including my body."

Thompson stars in and wrote the script for the upcoming film "Nanny McPhee," the story of an ugly but magical child minder. She compared the movie to a western, with a stranger who rides in to a chaotic situation and uses unorthodox methods to sort things out before leaving.

"People say, 'Is it like "Mary Poppins?"' Actually, it's like 'Shane.'"

Aishwarya's international career poised for a leap this year

Hindustantimes, 3 January 2006

Aishwarya Rai's international career is poised for a huge leap with the release of her movie Mistress of Spices on April 14 and two more films slated for this year even as she ventures into film distribution by acquiring the rights of her film The Last Legion.

Mistress of Spices, directed by Paul Berges, husband of director Gurinder Chaddha of Bend It Like Beckham and Bride and Prejudice fame, has been slated for release on April 14, both in India and UK," Rai's secretary Harii Singh said.

Rai has also accquired the distribution rights for her another Hollywood venture, The Last Legion, directed by Doug Lefler and starring Colin Firth and Ben Kingsley.

"She has acquired rights for the film and is planning to look at distribution as a business idea. But it is too early to say how many such rights she will accquire. She felt The Last Legion was a good film and that is why she took the decision," Singh said.

The Last Legion is still under production and the first rushes of the film were "promising", Singh said.

The third film Provoked, also featuring actress Nandita Das, is also slated for commercial release internationally this year, thus making it an important year for Rai in Hollywood.