Harvey Weinstein, Osama Bin Laden, Mike Fleming: Now This Is What A Cannes Story Should Be

This is more like it. A good story, major players, exclusive...and some insight (it's going to be released before this Kathryn Bigelow film, which Sony decided to hold until December). I'm also happy to see Mike back in the game after a few days of not-too-many major items. I'm thumbing through the past few posts, and there hasn't been much (no, Bruce Dern and James Toback/Alec Baldwin don't count). So good on Mike. I hope he keeps his eyes on the big Cannes stuff while everyone else writes dumbass stories about companies like Nu Image...or things like this. Usually he does.

Universal Loves Osama Bin Laden: Who Had It First?

The studio will distribute director Kathryn Bigelow's next film after "The Hurt Locker" overseas (it's being released Stateside by Sony Pictures). It looks like a straight press release that just had people racing the clock to put it up. Kind of Cannes-ish -- international deal and international appeal, so what better time to announce this than right before the festival kicks off? But the important question is...who had it first?