Yari Film Group

Yari Film Group, the producer of such films as "Crash" and "The Illusionist," said it had put its movie releasing division into Chapter 11 bankruptcy reorganization. The Westwood-based producer and distributor, founded by financier Bob Yari, said it was compelled to file for involuntary bankruptcy as the result of a court order "prompted by the actions of four creditors with disputed debts." The company would not provide further information.

Indie movie producer Film Department Holdings Inc. is pushing ahead with plans for an initial public stock offering this month, the brokerage underwriting the deal said Monday. Mike Witherill, who heads underwriter IPO Solutions in Phoenix, declined to discuss the specifics of the offering, citing federal rules. But he said there were "no issues" holding it up. The IPO, announced in early December, will test the public's appetite for a fledgling filmmaker: West Hollywood-based Film Department has just two movies under its belt and says it will need to secure substantial additional financing, beyond the IPO proceeds, to keep going.

WHEN "Find Me Guilty," director Sidney Lumet's take on the longest mob trial in U.S. history, debuted last March, posters for the movie had all the earmarks of a comedy: The star, Vin Diesel, was slumped in a prison cell, wearing a sad sack expression, a rumpled suit and a bad hairpiece. Now, hoping to woo Oscar voters, two of the producers have come up with another poster that repositions the film as a drama. It shows Diesel looking positively Perry Mason-like in a courtroom.

Yari Film Group, the producer of such films as "Crash" and "The Illusionist," said it had put its movie releasing division into Chapter 11 bankruptcy reorganization. The Westwood-based producer and distributor, founded by financier Bob Yari, said it was compelled to file for involuntary bankruptcy as the result of a court order "prompted by the actions of four creditors with disputed debts." The company would not provide further information.

Indie movie producer Film Department Holdings Inc. is pushing ahead with plans for an initial public stock offering this month, the brokerage underwriting the deal said Monday. Mike Witherill, who heads underwriter IPO Solutions in Phoenix, declined to discuss the specifics of the offering, citing federal rules. But he said there were "no issues" holding it up. The IPO, announced in early December, will test the public's appetite for a fledgling filmmaker: West Hollywood-based Film Department has just two movies under its belt and says it will need to secure substantial additional financing, beyond the IPO proceeds, to keep going.

Columbia/Sony "Seven Pounds" Focus Features "Milk" Fox Searchlight "The Secret Life of Bees" "Slumdog Millionaire" "The Wrestler" IFC "Che" Lionsgate "W." Miramax "Doubt" "Happy-Go-Lucky" Oscilloscope "Wendy and Lucy" Overture Films "Last Chance Harvey" "The Visitor" Paramount/DreamWorks "Tropic Thunder" Paramount Vantage "Defiance" "The Duchess" "Revolutionary Road" Samuel Goldwyn Films "Elegy" Sony Pictures Classics "Frozen River" "I've LovedYou So Long" "Rachel Getting Married" 20th Century Fox "Australia" Universal "Changeling" "Frost/Nixon" Warner Bros.

Industry totals *--* Movie 3-day gross Total (Mill.) Venues Avgvenue Weeks 1The Covenant $8.9 $8.9 2,681 $3,302 1 (Sony/Screen Gems) 2Hollywoodland 5.9 5.9 1,548 3,828 1 (Universal/Focu s) 3Invincible 5.6 45.5 2,987 1,885 3 (Disney/ Buena Vista) 4The Protector 5.0 5.0 1,541 3,267 1 (Weinstein Co.) 5Crank (Lions 4.9 20.0 2,515 1,950 2 Gate) 6The 4.5 18.0 1,234 3,658 4 Illusionist (Yari Film Group) 7Little Miss 4.3 41.5 1,560 2,739 7 Sunshine (Fox Searchlight) 8The Wicker Man 4.1 17.

WHEN "Find Me Guilty," director Sidney Lumet's take on the longest mob trial in U.S. history, debuted last March, posters for the movie had all the earmarks of a comedy: The star, Vin Diesel, was slumped in a prison cell, wearing a sad sack expression, a rumpled suit and a bad hairpiece. Now, hoping to woo Oscar voters, two of the producers have come up with another poster that repositions the film as a drama. It shows Diesel looking positively Perry Mason-like in a courtroom.