040701 Daily Telegraph

April 7, 2001
The Daily Telegraph
Miramax works away at Enigma problem Saturday Premiere
By Nigel Reynolds

HE's still dynamite with the girls - and he's not bad on stage. But Mick Jagger may have some way to go before Hollywood considers him a real player.

The 57-year-old Rolling Stone, his heart now intent on the movies, is in danger of being out-maneuvered by Harvey Weinstein, the no-nonsense, penny-shaving boss of Miramax Films who turned British movies such as The English Patient, Shakespeare in Love and The Crying Game into big hits in America.

In January, to much fanfare, Jagger appeared at Robert Redford's Sundance Festival in Utah for the world premiere of Enigma - Sir Tom Stoppard's screen adaptation of Robert Harris's best-selling novel about the Second World War codebreakers at Bletchley Park.

Shot for pounds 25 million, Enigma was Jagger's first film for his Jagged Films company, and looked a cert for success. It has both British and American stars (Kate Winslet, Saffron Burrows and Dougray Scott) and a winning combination of love, war and spies.

But, three months on, Jagger still hasn't been able to sell the distribution rights. Soon after Sundance, Weinstein offered to buy the rights for America, Britain and subsidiary territories. But Jagger, I gather, walked away believing he could get a better price. Other distributors failed to bite, however, and talks with companies such as Paramount recently collapsed. Jagger begrudgingly returned to Weinstein and told Miramax it could have the film after all. Weinstein agreed, but - no fool he - said his price had dropped. The rock star, I am told, was non-plussed.

Industry insiders are now saying that, unless Jagger suddenly finds a new buyer, Miramax is likely to get Enigma for a bargain price. He'll live and learn . . .

Meanwhile, the rock star - who will be holding court at Cannes next month - has several other projects on the go, including a biopic of Dylan Thomas and Tanya, the true story of a romance between Che Guevara and the East German spy Tanya Burke. He is hoping that Antonio Banderas will play Guevara.

In addition, he has also written a script for The Long Play, an insider's view of the rock industry, for Martin Scorcese to direct. Jagger wants Jude Law to play the lead - and, incidentally, denies that the film is in any way autobiographical.

Jagger's new interests may be the final straw for the rest of the Rolling Stones. Keith Richards is reportedly furious that the singer is putting the band second to movie-making, and next year's proposed tour may well be off.