Lions Gate Intl. has picked up international sales rights to Roger Spottiswoode's Ripley's Return, based on the Patricia Highsmith novel Ripley Under Ground. The cast includes Barry Pepper, Alan Cumming, Jacina Barrett, Claire Forlani, Tom Wilkinson, Ian Hart and Willem Dafoe.

Previously called White on White, the film, currently in postproduction, was acquired from German media funder Cinerenta GmbH.

Cinerenta has produced 31 films since 1997, including Omar Naim's The Final Cut with Robin Williams and Jim Caviezel, which debuted at the Berlin Film Festival earlier this month.

According to Variety, Spottiswoode's film "tells the story of the infamous Ripley (Pepper) who conceals the death of a trendy young artist in order to profit from the value of his works, and in the midst of the scam, falls under the spell of a Parisian heiress (Barrett)."

Born in Canada but raised in the U.K., Spottiswoode, is perhaps best known as a director for his work on the James Bond film Tomorrow Never Dies (1997). He began his career as an editor on TV commercials and, after moving to Hollywood in the 1970s, on films such as Straw Dogs, Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid, and The Getaway. He made his directing debut with Terror Train (1980), starring Jamie Lee Curtis.


The most recent Highsmith adaptation, Ripley's Game (2002), directed by Liliana Cavani (The Night Porter), stars John Malkovich as the notorious sociopath. The film debuted at the Venice Film Festival, where it was acquired by Fine Line Features from Malkovich's production company Mr. Mudd. (Malkovich reportedly directed the final scenes of the 30-million-dollar thriller after Cavani -- who has primarily been directing opera over the past decade -- departed to oversee a previously scheduled production of Verdi at Milan's La Scala.)

Fine Line subsequently decided not to release the film -- insiders say the P&A costs were simply too high to warrant a theatrical release of Highsmith's revenge-fueled caper -- and returned the film to the producers. The film has since been acquired by the Independent Film Channel.

Ripley's Game is currently being screened in the series Film Comment Selects at The Film Society of Lincoln Center, where it has received glowing reviews.

"If anyone was born to play Tom Ripley, it's John Malkovich," writes David Rooney in Variety. "The aloofness, erudite manner, cool charisma and chilly superciliousness of his screen person make the actor a perfect fit for the cultured killer."

# posted by Steve Gallagher @ 2/26/2004 11:57:00 AM