Film producers Frank Marshall and Kathleen Kennedy --
"best known for their involvement in" such films as "Who
Framed Roger Rabbit?" and "Jurassic Park" -- have signed a
deal to make "the first large-format films about the Olympic
Games," according to Kirk Honeycutt of the HOLLYWOOD
REPORTER. The Kennedy/Marshall Co. announced it will
partner with PA-based EMC Films Inc. to make two Imax films,
one on the '98 Winter Games in Nagano and another focusing
on the 2000 Olympics in Sydney. "Olympic Glory," the film
based on the Winter Games will be shot at the Games in
February and released in November '98. It will be directed
by Oscar-winning documentarian Kieth Merrill and will run 40
minutes, with a budget estimated at $6.5M. Six Imax camera
crews will cover the Nagano Games. Marshall, a member of
the USOC's Executive Board, said that he "hopes" to direct
the Sydney 2000 film. EMC Films CEO Hilary Grinker said
that EMC has also secured "the right of first refusal on all
subsequent" Olympic Games (HOLLYWOOD REPORTER, 9/23).
