The Walt Disney Co. said on Friday it ceded all rights to the Fahrenheit 911 documentary film critical of US President George W. Bush to two of its studio executives, who will hold rights personally.
The move completes the withdrawal by Disney from the film by director Michael Moore, which won the top prize at the Cannes Film Festival and describes ties between the Bush family and prominent Saudi families, including that of Osama bin Laden.
The documentary also explores the US government's role in the evacuation of bin Laden relatives from the US after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks.
Disney said that executives Bob and Harvey Weinstein of its Miramax Films subsidiary had personally acquired the rights to the film.
The Weinsteins "will also be responsible for all costs to finish the film and all marketing costs not paid by the film's distributors. Under the agreement, the Weinsteins will arrange for worldwide distribution for the film in all windows, including theatrical and home entertainment."
The Weinsteins will be able to distribute the film "through third parties or may distribute the movie personally in certain markets," the statement said.
The statement said the Weinsteins will use a Paris-based sales agent to negotiate international distribution arrangements. But it gave no indication of any plan to distribute the film in the US.
People with missing teeth might be able to grow new ones, said Japanese dentists, who are testing a pioneering drug they hope will offer an alternative to dentures and implants. Unlike reptiles and fish, which usually replace their fangs on a regular basis, it is widely accepted that humans and most other mammals only grow two sets of teeth. However, hidden underneath our gums are the dormant buds of a third generation, said Katsu Takahashi, head of oral surgery at the Medical Research Institute Kitano Hospital in Osaka, Japan. His team launched clinical trials at Kyoto University Hospital in October, administering an experimental
Ukraine’s military intelligence agency and the Pentagon on Monday said that some North Korean troops have been killed during combat against Ukrainian forces in Russia’s Kursk border region. Those are the first reported casualties since the US and Ukraine announced that North Korea had sent 10,000 to 12,000 troops to Russia to help it in the almost three-year war. Ukraine’s military intelligence agency said that about 30 North Korean troops were killed or wounded during a battle with the Ukrainian army at the weekend. The casualties occurred around three villages in Kursk, where Russia has for four months been trying to quash a
ROYAL TARGET: After Prince Andrew lost much of his income due to his friendship with Jeffrey Epstein, he became vulnerable to foreign agents, an author said British lawmakers failed to act on advice to tighten security laws that could have prevented an alleged Chinese spy from targeting Britain’s Prince Andrew, a former attorney general has said. Dominic Grieve, a former lawmaker who chaired the British Parliament’s Intelligence and Security Committee (ISC) until 2019, said ministers were advised five years ago to introduce laws to criminalize foreign agents, but failed to do so. Similar laws exist in the US and Australia. “We remain without an important weapon in our armory,” Grieve said. “We asked for [this law] in the context of the Russia inquiry report” — which accused the government
A rash of unexplained drone sightings in the skies above New Jersey has left locals rattled and sent US officials scrambling for answers. Breathless local news reports have amplified the anxious sky-gazing and wild speculation — interspersing blurry, dark clips from social media with irate locals calling for action. For weeks now, the distinctive blinking lights and whirling rotors of large uncrewed aerial vehicles have been spotted across the state west of New York. However, military brass, elected representatives and investigators have been unable to explain the recurring UFO phenomenon. Sam Lugo, 23, who works in the Club Studio gym in New Jersey’s Bergen