Variety is reporting that Medusa, Silvio Berlusconi’s production company has inked a co-production deal with Cuba. They are calling it an “Italo-Cuban co-production treaty,” and I’m calling it the restoration of Italians to the vanguard of film.

Madonna’s directorial debut, Filth and Wisdom came out in the U.S. this weekend to decidedly mixed reviews. In a malicious twist of scheduling, Rockandrolla, Guy Ritchie’s new film, is also now out. The New Yorker does us the pleasure of reviewing the movies side by side. Unfortunately for Guy, although he seems to have roundly trumped the soon-to-be-ex-Mrs. Ritchie, no one seems to think he’s lived up to his status as an actual, um, director.

This could be causing problems for Rockandrolla’s Joel Silver, Sharon Waxman notes. Apparently, the producer’s Midas touch in the 80s and 90s (Predator, Lethal Weapon(s), The Matrix) has tarnished some, with a string of expensive flicks that aren’t giving back to the studio, including Speed Racer, The Brave One, and a whole bunch of other movies you probably didn’t see. But, fear not, Silver fans, as Waxman cynically notes that, “Hollywood is a big old boy’s club, and Joel Silver is a big old member of it. Protected by his mogul friends, with whom he shares vacations and cruises and weddings in Venice, Silver continues to keep his deal at Warner Brothers…”

Lakeshore Entertainment and MGM are remaking Fame! Kevin Tancharoen, director of Britney’s “Toxic”, will helm. On that basis alone, I vote “yea.” 

And, BO numbers:

If you’ve been wondering why Mark Wahlberg has been wandering around the set of SNL this week, you might notice that he stars in Max Payne, an adaptation of the video game of the same name. The best review of it is probably this one, from Spy the Plumber, on IMDB. Extra-special credit for using the line, “There isn’t as much depth to her in the film as there was in the game.”

Payne made off with the weekend, with that god-awful chihuahua nipping at its heels.

Dakota Fanning and Queen Latifah came up $100,000 behind the animated rat-dog with The Secret Life of Bees, another adaptation, this one of a book that everyone and my mother told me to read, but I still haven’t gotten around to. Despite the suggestion in the title that it’s saccharine-sweet, the book, and the flick, have gotten solid reviews.

Oliver Stone’s much-anticipated W came in a respectable, but not great number four. Maybe we’re just dealing with a little bit of political overload?

And, finally, Eagle Eye held tough at number five.

Tags: Add new tag, beverly hills chihuahua, Fame getting remade, joel silver, madonna and guy ritchie drop two stinkers, mark wahlberg