ROTHMAN, SPIELBERG PULL RABBIT OUT OF HAT

The story that BFD broke this morning about Steven Spielberg directing Fox’s “Harvey” as his next movie was a surprise on several fronts, beyond the fact that Spielberg hadn't even been aware of it until six days ago. 

The film has officially become the first major project of Spielberg and Stacey Snider’s new DreamWorks, which will have wrapped up its financing by the time the picture begins production early next year.

The deal is fascinating on several fronts, and beyond the fact that Spielberg and partner Stacey Snider will make their first picture in partnership with one of the few studios that didn’t court DreamWorks when it was bought by Paramount, or more recently when it negotiated with Universal before landing at Disney.

Instantly after Spielberg’s commitment to "Harvey" --the adaptation of Mary Chase’s Pulitzer Prize-winning play that became a 1950 film starring Jimmy Stewart as an eccentric who befriends a six and one-half foot tall invisible rabbit--talk about casting began. BFD hears Tom Hanks and Will Smith are at the top of the wish list, which makes sense because each star is Stewart-likeable and neither has committed yet to an early 2010 picture.

“Harvey” will be a co-production between 20th Century Fox and DreamWorks, which will use coin from its new funding relationship with Reliance, and will distribute either domestic or internationally through its arrangement with Disney.

BFD told you last week in an item about the complexities behind Spielberg’s consideration of “Matt Helm” as his next picture that the filmmaker was itchy to get back behind the camera. It was clear at that time that the projects he’d been percolating at DreamWorks and Paramount weren’t ready—“Lincoln” and “The 39 Clues” among them—and that he would likely land on a picture developed by somebody else. That studio had to be willing not only to make Spielberg's rich directing deal, but also to invite DreamWorks and Reliance to be part of the finance package. Paramount was hesitant on that front with "Matt Helm"—and Spielberg passed on directing Thursday morning, as BFD reported.

“Harvey” was different. While Fox has a rep for being tough in deal-making, Fox chairman Tom Rothman got the Jonathan Tropper script from Fox 2000’s Elizabeth Gabler and Carla Hacken, read it, and gave it directly to Spielberg last Monday. Before Rothman left for his Cape Cod vacation later in the week, he and co-chairman Jim Gianopulos pretty much had a deal with Spielberg and Snider, with Spielberg producing with Don Gregory.

Even though the source material is 65 years old—Chase’s play won the Pulitzer Prize when it opened in 1944 on Broadway, where it played five years—Spielberg and Snider sparked to uplifting themes they felt would be timely and relevant to a contemporary audience.

The other interesting player here is Tropper, a veteran author who hooked Spielberg on his very first screenplay. He has several books languishing in development at studios all over town, and it will be interesting to see if this achievement creates some movie momentum for him.

Warner Bros. has him set to adapt his latest novel “This is Where I Leave You” (published this week by Dutton) for Greg Berlanti to direct; “Everything Changes” is in development at Columbia with Tobey Maguire and Wendy Finerman as a star vehicle for Maguire; WB optioned Tropper’s “Bush Falls;” and Paramount bought Tropper’s “After Hailey” for Lorne Michaels and John Goldwyn.