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July 26, 2003

- Mag alert!

UK Marie Claire, August issue, features an 8 pages article on Joe's trip to Angola, titled: "My African diary: Joseph Fiennes visits the survivors of the world's forgotten war". We will post text and pics as soon as we get hold of them.

July 24, 2003

- Article and pictures about Almeida event:

Harpers & Queen 7/2003

[snip]
At the fundraising auction held later that night, Joseph Fiennes donated himself for an evening to the highest bidder. He looked tense as the auction opened, but perked up considerably once the bids reached 4,000 pounds.

Quote from Joe on the next page amidst the pictures:

"Jessica, how did you get me into this?" Overheard, Joseph Fiennes to Jessica De Rothschild as an evening with him was auctioned for 4,000 pounds.

- In the same magazine is this news bit:

When one of the best-connected PRs in London joins forces with one of the best-connected talent agencies to host a birthday party, you know the guest list will be a heady mix of A-list names. At Jeanette Calliva and Vanessa Percira's party at the Mayfair Club, Joseph Fiennes caught up with Liv Tyler and Jonny Lee Miller, while Damian Lewis chatted with Samantha Morton. Model Ines Satre turned heads wherever she went as did Petrina Khashoggi. The delighted Stephen Hopkins creater and director of the hit television series 24 revealed that he was in town to shoot a Peter Sellers biopic with Geoffrey Rush taking the title role Guests drank lychee vodka martinis before moving upstairs to strut their stuff on the dancefloor.

July 20, 2003

- Luther gets US outing through RS Entertainment

Screen Daily
9 July 2003
By Mike Goodridge in LA

Randy Slaughter’s new US distribution outfit RS Entertainment has acquired US rights to Luther, Eric Till’s biopic of Martin Luther starring Joseph Fiennes and Peter Ustinov. The film will open on Sept 26 in 45 markets according to Slaughter.

Luther was shot in Germany, Italy and the Czech Republic last year and is produced by Brigitte Rochow, Christian Stehr and Alexander Thies. Executive producers are Dennis Clauss, Kurt Rittig, Gabriela Pfandner and J Daniel Nichols.

Alfred Molina is also in the cast of the picture which follows Luther’s life as an outlaw following his outspoken attacks on the Catholic Church in the 16th century. A bounty was placed on his head by the papacy and he was regarded as one of the most dangerous men of his time.

- BEYOND ACQUIRES 'A GOOD WOMAN'"

Beyond Films, Australia
Published 6 June, 2003

Beyond Films is pleased to announce world representation for a remarkable new production, A GOOD WOMAN written by Howard Himelstein, based on the immortal play "Lady Windermere's Fan" by Oscar Wilde.

Scheduled to commence production in August A GOOD WOMAN is to be directed by Mike Barker (TO KILL A KING, THE JAMES GANG, BEST LAID PLANS) and has an impressive ensemble cast to realise the full colour and eccentricity of the characters. The film will star Kim Basinger (8 MILE, LA CONFIDENTIAL), Joseph Fiennes (SHAKESPEARE IN LOVE, ENEMY AT THE GATES), Scarlett Johansson (GHOST WORLD, GIRL WITH A PEARL EARRING) and Tom Wilkinson (THE FULL MONTY, IN THE BEDROOM, THE IMPORTANCE OF BEING EARNEST).

Beyond Films' Head of Sales and Acquisitions, Hilary Davis, is delighted to add A GOOD WOMAN to the Beyond line-up and to be working with producers, Alan Greenspan, Jonathan English, Steve Seibert and Howard Himelstein.

"The film is a wonderful, enchanting drama and it's not surprising that I have already received informal enquiries from major theatrical buyers. I look forward to further exploring the strong interest in the film during Cannes," said Hilary Davis.

"A GOOD WOMAN is indicative of the films that Beyond will continue to represent," added Davis.

A scandalous drama set in New York and the French Riviera during the 1930s, A GOOD WOMAN's central character, Mrs Erlynne, is an audacious and well known woman of a certain age with a reputation for entertaining wealthy, married men who becomes embroiled in a family scandal. Leaving her problems and unpaid bills in New York, she sets sail for the French Riviera to pursue Meg and Steve Windermere, one of the most high profile couples in 1930s New York society. The drama becomes one of intrigue, betrayal, and surprising loyalty.

A GOOD WOMAN is scheduled to premiere at a major film festival in 2004.

July 19, 2003

- TV alert for all German fans:

Forever Mine will be shown on Monday August 4 at 22:15, ZDF. Showview 703-704.

July 14, 2003

- Look at some beautiful pics of Joe at the Sinbad premiere on June 22 in L.A, provided by Dailyceleb.com. Unfortunately you cannot enlarge the pics without registering for their commerical services, but is that man gorgeous or what?

July 10, 2003

- Rattling Joe's cage:

There was a snippet in an Aussie mag and it mentioned what Joe Fiennes did to prepare for The Great Raid: He spent two nights or 48 hours in a cage and the bars were rattled by actors (portraying Japanese soldiers) every half an hour so Joe could get a feeling what POW's went through.

July 6, 2003

-Release dates for Sinbad in Argentina are as follows: Nationwide on July 3, 2003 and in Beunos Aires on July 17, 2003.

-According to Cinesargentinos and IMDB, the release date for The Great Raid in Argentina is currently set for May 13, 2004. It will be distributed by Buena Vista International, Argentina.

-Sinbad ranks 6th at the box office (found by Karen and Catherine)

Boxofficemojo.com Weekend Box Office Report
July 4-6, 2003

DreamWorks animated Sinbad: Legend of the Seven Seas debuted at No. 6 this week with a weekend gross $6,800,000. Playing on 3,086 screens, with a per-screen average $2,203, it's total gross to date is $10,000,000.


CNN.com
July 6, 2003

The cartoon Sinbad: Legend of the Seven Seas flopped at No. 6 with $6.8 million for the weekend and $10.0 million for the five day. The film, released by privately held DreamWorks SKG, features the voices of such big names as Brad Pitt, Michelle Pfeiffer and Catherine Zeta-Jones, but was hampered by its use of traditional animation techniques rather than the computer-animated wizardry that has turned such films as Shrek and Finding Nemo into huge blockbusters.

- BOX OFFICE OPENING DISAPPOINTING

DreamWorks latest animated adventure bombed at the box office with a disappointing $6.8 million from Friday-Sunday period and a total of $10.6 million over 5 days. The $60 million budget film features high profile cast like Brad Pitt, Michelle Pfeiffer and Catherine Zeta Jones. This film is good but the irony is that audiences don't care much for action oriented animated features. Look at 'Treasure Planet' and 'Titan A.E.'. All entertaining films but not accepted by audience. Expect this one to barely make $20 million in it's domestic run.

VHS/DVD ON NOV 18TH.

According to Comingsoon, DreamWorks has already tapped the release date of this high seas adventure on November 18th, 2003.

July 5, 2003

-The IMDB has updated their release dates for Dust and Luther. Dust can be seen in limited release in the U.S. on August 8, 2003 and Luther will have the following release dates worldwide: U.S. 9/26/2003, Germany 10/30/2003, and Austria 10/31/2003.

-Joe prefers dry land

People Magazine Insider
July 17, 2003

Joseph Fiennes showed up at the LA premiere of his new movie Sinbad: Legend of the Seven Seas with a big scar on his lower lip. Nine months ago the actor was in Australia surfing when he wiped out, hit a rock, and tore his lip open. A buddy had to fish the nearly unconscious Fiennes out of the water and drive him to a hospital. He's now hesitant to get in the water, which is a bit ironic given that his movie with Brad Pitt is about seafaring adventures. "Lately, I've stuck to hiking", Fiennes says, "I feel safer on drier land."

-Total Film reports on The Merchant of Venice

Now that he's officially The Greatest Movie Star Ever, Al Pacino is going back to The Bard to play Shylock in The Merchant of Venice. Penned and directed by ll Postino helmer Michael Radford, the movie has an all-star cast including Cate Blanchett, Ian McKellen and Joseph Fiennes. With the film touted as a stylized period version of Shakespeare's play, here's hoping Radford spends some of his $25 million budget on renting Baz Luhrmann's Romeo and Juliet.

July 3, 2003

-The Yahoo! Movies Sinbad page has multiple clips, including one of Joe's character, Proteus. It can be viewed in their Trailers and Clips Section by clicking on "Swordfight".

July 2, 2003

- The Official Sinbad website has added alot of new features and will be continuting to add new features in the coming weeks. There are now production notes and cast bios on there. Keep checking it out for new features.

- Pics of Joe at Sinbad premieres in New York and LA can be found on Rexfeatures and Wireimage. Thanks to Karen and Sabrina for the info.

- Brad Pitt receives Blue Peter badge

Ananova, 1 July 2003

Brad Pitt has been honoured with a Blue Peter badge - but didn't know what it was. The Hollywood star was presented with the accolade during a promotional visit to the UK with Joseph Fiennes. The pair were in London to publicise their new cartoon Sinbad: Legend Of The Seven Seas. "He seemed both pleased and a little non-plussed," a BBC spokeswoman told Teletext. "He and co-star Joseph Fiennes were promoting new cartoon Sinbad: Legend Of The Seven Seas when presenter Konnie Huq surprised them. "Being English, Joseph understood the honour. I think he probably explained what it was all about to Brad. Joseph was certainly delighted."

- Natalie no on nuptials

The Sun Herald Australia
29 June, 2003

Mendoza denies rumours of marriage as she revs up with Petrol Records execs

The rumour mill went into overdrive this week as international reports screamed that multi-talented Melbourne performer Natalie Mendoza (left) was preparing to marry acclaimed British actor Joseph Fiennes.

US gossip mags reported the pair was engaged with "the date and place (of the wedding) still unknown".

All of which puzzled Mendoza when told on Wednesday night of the supposed exciting development in her personal life.

"It's news to me," she said. "No, I'm not engaged."

In Australia for two months to perform in the Melbourne Theatre Company's production of Coup d'Etat, Mendoza slipped into the launch of Petrol Records' latest release, Paris � The Sex, The City, The Music, at edgy new city bar Sous Sol.

With her unexpected appearance at the function, where she mingled with Petrol's head honcho, Chris Murphy, it would come as no surprise to find her restarting her pop career with the vibrant boutique label.

Mendoza enjoyed chart success several years ago, teaming with sister Rebecca to form Jackson Mendoza.

She is not signed to a record label at present, but is thought to have been negotiating with Petrol Records. Murphy was rumoured to have met with her again in Sydney on Thursday night.

Meanwhile, Fiennes, who is in LA, and Mendoza are one of the most elusive celebrity couples, with neither making a habit of talking about their private lives.

The striking pair met last year when working on World War II drama The Great Raid in Queensland. Mendoza headed to London to be with her new beau soon after shooting finished.

Her career path looks like keeping her overseas, mostly in Britain, for the next few years. The talented performer has won a place to study classical drama at Bristol's Old Vic Theatre. She is also juggling a three-picture deal with Miramax.

On 15 June, the Herald Sun had posted the following in an article about a new role for Natalie:
London has become Mendoza's second home, not least of all because she has been seeing British actor Joseph Fiennes (Shakespeare in Love, brother of Ralph), whom she met when filming The Great Raid.

- Joseph Fiennes as Luther is in the running for an Oscar nomination according to everythingoscar.com, who write the following:
"The role is pure Oscar bait. It all depends on the release date, though "Luther" may be pushed back to 2004."