The Weinstein Company hasteamed up with hot UK production outfit Vertigo Films to shoot Paranoia,an English language remake of French hit thriller Harry, He's Here ToHelp.

The film will be directed byJonathan Jakubowicz (Secuestro Express) and will see its settingrelocated to New England in the US. However, the film will shoot in and aroundthe London area this September with the locations doubling up for New England.

Casting will be announced inthe next few weeks and is expected to feature US and European talent.

Vertigo Films is currentlyriding on a high after producing cult film The Football Factory and newbuzz title The Business.

The English language scriptfor Paranoia has been adapted by Greg Pruss and Jakubowicz. The producers are Vertigo's AllanNiblo, James Richardson and Nick Love.

The provisionally titled TheWeinstein Company will distribute Paranoia in North America, while itssales arm - which is being headed by Glen Basner - will handle internationalsales.

Miramax Films previouslydistributed the original French film in North America as well as acquiring theremake rights. These rights have since been carried over to Harvey and BobWeinstein's new venture.

The Weinstein Company'sexecutive vice president of European production and development Colin Vaineshas been developing the project for some time.

He said that the decision tomake the film in the UK followed on from the good experience of making MikaelHafstrom's Derailed - which is set in Chicago - in the UK.

"When we ran all the numberswe found that it was a cost effective way of making the movie," said Vaines.

Dominik Moll's award winningFrench original - a Hitchcockian thriller about a man who ingratiates himselfinto the life of a young couple - racked up some two million admissions inFrance in 2000.

The Weinstein Companycurrently has a number of projects shooting in the UK, including AnthonyMinghella's Breaking And Entering and Geoffrey Sax's Stormbreaker.

(For full profile of Colin Vaines and The WeinsteinCompany's activities in the UK and Europe, see this week's edition of ScreenInternational.)

Topics