The Department of Justice is seeking immediate extradition to return Polanski to the California court, but he has several appeals and other legal strategies
available to him that should at least delay the proceedings. Polanski’s US attorneys sought to reopen the case last year, citing alleged misconduct by the
judge in the case. Polanski’s victim has publicly forgiven him.

Dick Cook

Disney Studios chief Dick Cook received his walking papers from Disney Chairman Robert Iger in a ten-minute late-afternoon meeting last Tuesday, the Los Angeles Times
reported today (Monday) citing unspecified accounts of the meeting. Cook, who began his career at Disney 38 years ago as an operator of a Disneyland monorail train, later
told colleagues that he was stunned when Iger told him that "after a lot of thought" he had decided to "go in a different direction," then went on to refer to complaints that "the
studio was overly secretive, uncooperative and isolated from the other divisions," the Times said. Formal statements announcing Cook's departure were issued in the early
evening on Friday, with Cook referring to a famous comment by baseball's Yogi Berra: "If you come to a fork in the road, take it." According to the Times, a teary-eyed Cook first
read the statement to his staff earlier in the day, asking that they not disclose the news before it was released to the press and that they "give me two minutes to walk out the
door alone. For his part, Iger said, "On behalf of everyone at Disney, we wish him the best." Reverberations were immediate. Producer Jerry Bruckheimer said that he was
"in shock" over the announcement. Actor Johnny Depp, who said that he had agreed to appear in Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides without seeing a script
when Cook contacted him indicated that he was reconsidering his decision. "There's a fissure, a crack in my enthusiasm at the moment," he told the Times. There was no
immediate announcement about who would be succeeding Cook, but insiders appeared to be betting heavily on John Lasseter, Disney Animation's "chief creative officer."
Source: ShowBIZ Date Daily Wire

 In a deal that could unite Mickey Mouse and Spider-Man (at least in theme parks, if not in movies), the Walt Disney Co. has agreed to buy Marvel Entertainment for about
$4 billion in cash and stock, the two companies said today (Monday August 31/09). The deal would add more than 5,000 Marvel characters to the Disney populace, reports indicated.
It would also give Disney a direct link to the audience that it has always had difficulty reaching -- boys. Currently Marvel has distribution deals with a number of studios,
but once those are over, Disney is expected to take over distribution of the various Spider-Man, Ironman, X-Men, etc. franchises. In reporting the deal,
MarketWatch.com observed that the deal "represents a pricey bet on the strength of the U.S. economy." The financial website added that the deal also represents
a gamble for Disney chief Robert Iger. "So far in his tenure, he has been a darling of the investment community," it said. "With this decision, he expects that
Wall Street will applaud his sense of adventure and willingness to take a risk."
Source: ShowBIZ Date Daily Wire

Harvey, the imaginary rabbit in the eponymous Jimmy Stewart classic, will return in a remake to be directed by Steven Spielberg. Surprisingly, the movie will become a
co-production not between Spielberg's DreamWorks and Disney -- which agreed to distribute DreamWorks films last February -- but between DreamWorks and
20th Century Fox. Initial reports indicated that Disney may still wind up distributing Harvey, although no mention of a distribution deal for the movie was made
in the original announcement. Fox, whose chairman, Tom Rothman, reportedly brought the idea for the remake to Spielberg, will put up half the money for the
movie; DreamWorks, through its deal with India's Reliance, will put up the other half. No mention was made about who will play the Jimmy Stewart role,
although speculation immediately centered on Tom Hanks.
Source: ShowBIZ Date Daily Wire