Robert de Niro has joined Sylvester Stallone in the cast of Copland. Miramax co-chairmen Harvey and Bob Weinstein announced in New York prior to leaving for the Croisette.
De Niro will play an internal affairs detective obsessed with police corruption in a small suburban town while Stallone is the town's hearing-impaired sheriff.
Copland, on Miramax's Cannes slate, will be directed by James Mangold (Heavy). Principal photography is set to begin in New Jersey in the early summer.
Michael Douglas and Jodie Foster will star in Propaganda Films' The Game, director David Fincher's follow up to his New Line hit Seven. It will go into production in August.
Also from Propaganda (with Beacon Entertainment) comes A Thousand Acres, directed by Jocelyn Moorhouse (Proof). Michelle Pfeiffer and Jessica Lange co-star and also act as executive producers.
Michael Viner, chairman and CEO of Dove Audio Inc (Dove Entertainment) has appointed William Shields to the post of president, Dove Entertainment Distribution and Marketing.
As a result, Shields' own company, G.E.L. Distribution, will join forces with Dove and is operating in Cannes under the Dove umbrella.
Dove's new distribution and sales operation replaces Keystone Releasing, the sales company that had represented Dove in the international area.
Pamela Vlastas and Michael Sellers have launched Quantum Entertainment Corp. "We want to produce a minimum of three films a year in the US$2-5 million range," said Vlastas. "We intend to make movies that will stand out from the crowd. Otherwise you're dead before you start."
One of its first films is Thierry Notz's Goodbye America, about three young officers who find the bonds of friendship and honour tested to the limit. Other titles include JM Pallardy's Penelope's Bistro and Deadly Business.
Kelly Macdonald, one of the stars of Trainspotting (playing out of competition at Cannes), is to star in BFI Production's Stella Does Tricks, now shooting in Glasgow and London. The film received money from the National Lottery.
