http://www.screendaily.com/ScreenDailyArticle.aspx?intStoryID=38767

Jeremy Kay in Cannes

Sarah Michelle Gellar has replaced Kate Bosworth on Das Films, Velvet Steamroller Entertainment, Muse Productions and PalmStar Entertainment’s Paulo Coehlo adaptation Veronika Decides To Die.

Jonathan Tucker, David Thewlis, Melissa Leo and Erika Christensen also star in the story of a bored woman in her mid-twenties who discovers a new lease of life after a failed suicide attempt. Velvet Octopus is handling pre-sales in Cannes.

Roberta Hanley and Larry Gross wrote the screenplay and Emily Young is attached to direct. Production is scheduled to start on May 12 in New York City.

Sriram Das, Velvet Steamroller’s Jonathan Bross and Chris Hanley of Muse Productions are producing and Kevin Frakes and Stephan Paternot of PalmStar will serve as executive producers. Velvet Steamroller and Das Films are financing the project.

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By Gregg Goldstein 

Kate Bosworth (Getty Images photo)

TORONTO — Kate Bosworth will play the title role in Emily Young’s feature adaptation of Paulo Coelho’s best-seller “Veronika Decides to Die” for Das Films, Palm Star Entertainment and Muse Films.

In the drama, written for the screen by Larry Gross (”We Don’t Live Here Anymore”) and Roberta Hanley (”Woundings”), Bosworth will play a woman who wakes up in a mental institution after a failed suicide attempt. She discovers that she has a weakened heart and only days to live. The film follows her recovery as she finds true love and a newfound will to survive.

“Veronika” will be produced and financed by Das head Sriram Das and Muse owner Chris Hanley, and executive produced by Palm Star CEO Kevin Frakes. Principal photography begins this winter in New York. Velvet Octopus will serve as the film’s sales company.

“Veronika” is the first project out of the gate for Das Films, founded this spring by Das and home to 15 pending projects. Hanley’s Muse has produced a number of indie titles in the past nine years, including “American Psycho,” “The Virgin Suicides” and “Buffalo 66.” Stephan Paternot and Frakes’ Palm Star are developing an adaptation of Peter Biskind’s nonfiction book “Down and Dirty Pictures: Miramax, Sundance, and the Rise of Independent Film” as a feature narrative comedy, with Ken Bowser attached to direct. Palm Star also is developing a big-screen version of Bret Easton Ellis’ novel “Lunar Park.”

Bosworth stars opposite Sigourney Weaver in the drama “The Girl in the Park,” which premiered Sunday at the Toronto International Film Festival and marks the directorial debut of Pulitzer Prize-winning “Proof” playwright David Auburn. Bosworth rose to fame as Lois Lane in “Superman Returns” and next will be seen starring in “21″ opposite Jim Sturgess and Kevin Spacey for Columbia Pictures.

Young received the 2004 BAFTA Carl Foreman Award for her first feature, “Kiss Of Life,” which also was an official selection in the 2003 Cannes Un Certain Regard.

Screenwriter Larry Gross won the Waldo Salt Screenwriting award for “We Don’t Live Here Anymore” at the 2004 Sundance Film Festival. His other credits include “48 Hrs.” and “Prozac Nation.”

Brazilian author Coelho’s novel “Veronika” has sold more than 9 million copies. He is best known for his book “The Alchemist.”

Bosworth is represented by UTA, One Talent Management and attorney Warren Dern. Young is repped by UTA and Michelle Kass in the U.K. Gross is repped by ICM.

Find this article at http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/hr/content_display/news/e3i16c1ed3bf76536b430d92e6e67dc55a1

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By Noralil Ryan Fores

Original article: http://www.moviemaker.com/blog/?p=394

Before he fell into producing movies, Kevin Scott Frakes’ first love was playing baseball. “I grew up obsessed with the game and didn’t really think about much else. Everything was dictated by my desire to play pro ball,” Frakes admits. As so often happens with athletes, though, Frakes had to reinvent himself after a series of injuries dashed his hopes of playing professionally. “I thought about law school. I thought about coaching baseball,” he enumerates, but Frakes’ future ultimately was decided by a strange twist of fate. “A good friend cast me in a short film,” he explains.“I had always loved movies, and my brother and I quoted our favorites all of the time, but I never had a sense of what it would be like to work in the industry until my friend cast me.”

After studying at New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts’ film program and then heading to Yale University to pursue an MBA, Frakes collaborated with Stephan Paternot to found PalmStar Entertainment. With the option deal settled for Kevin Pollak’s film adaptation of Buzz Bissinger’s best-selling 3 Nights in August—a peek into the world of the St. Louis Cardinals and their dynamic manager Tony La Russa—Frakes gets to touch base with his childhood dreams. “It re-opened a world for me that I had loved in the past and was now a part of again,” he says. “I suppose there are some great ancillary benefits to my job.”

For more information on Kevin Scott Frakes and PalmStar Entertainment, visit his website.

Sound Off: Much like Kevin Scott Frakes, many moviemakers don’t take the obvious route leading to their careers in the film world. (For instance, Johnny Depp made his way to L.A. as the frontman for an underground garage band and had plans for making it big in music before a chance meeting with Nicolas Cage turned him on to acting). What other stories about moviemakers’ backgrounds do you find interesting? Talk back in the comments section of our blog!

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