Sony Pictures Classics (SPC) has won a fierce battle for North American rights to Pandora's feisty dance drama Tango, directed by Carlos Saura, which screens at Cannes out of competition on Friday. 
 
 

According to sources, four companies bid for US domestic rights to the film. The US domestic sale comes as no surprise. Tango repeats the drama and dance structure of Saura's Carmen (1982), features superb dance numbers, lush camerawork from Oscar-winning dp Vittorio Storaro, a nervy tango score by Lalo Schifrin and a breakthrough performance by Argentinian actress Mia Maestro.JH 

Evil kicked into Touch 
By Jeffrey R Sipe 

In an extremely rare, if not unprecedented, occurence, Orson Welles' Touch of Evil, slated for an Official Screening on Friday evening, has been cancelled. After threats of legal action against the Festival by Beatrice Welles, daughter of Orson Welles, the Festival has decided not to screen the film as scheduled. 

Ms Welles has objected to the picture being re-edited, claiming that the original release version was the only authorised version of the film. She maintains that the new version may not be shown without her consent. 

"While the picture will not be shown at the Festival, plans are underway to screen this version of Touch of Evil in Paris or elsewhere in the coming months and to release the film theatrically in the United States through October Films in the fall of 1998." 

Despite the initial decision to pull the film, Moving Pictures has learned that the Festival is still working to resolve the situation with hopes of securing a screening of the film before the Festival closes. Informed sources are speculating that a visit by Cannes Jury President Martin Scorcese to Festival Head Gilles Jacob's office Wednesday afternoon means that his services have been requested in an attempt to overcome the legal road block. 
 

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AMFAR benefit heads toward $1 million mark 

There will be two notable absentees from tonight's AMFAR screening (the annual Cinema Against AIDS event) of The Mighty. Neither director Peter Chelsom nor producer Simon Fields have made it to the Riviera for the world premiere screening of their film. The two Brits are otherwise engaged in Hollywood, where their new pic together is three weeks away from shooting. 

Meanwhile, Sharon Stone will be hosting tonight's AMFAR dinner and auction, which is co-chaired by Mouna E. Ayoub, Dr Mathilde Krin, Francesco Trapani and the Weinstein brothers. Jeanne Moreau, Sharon Stone, Sigourney Stone and Elton John are likely to be in attendance. The event is now totally sold out, with $500,000 raised in ticket sales and the grand total, which includes money raised by the charity auction, is headed towards the $1 million mark. GM