"MINORITY REPORT" dropped to #9 this week and is in danger of dropping out of the top ten next weekend. The film, produced by Latter-day Saint movie producer Jerry Molen (who also produced "The Other Side of Heaven") has not performed quite as well at the box office as expected, although it has grossed over $110 million to date.

HANDCART RELEASE PUSHED BACK, PLACING CHARLY NEXT UP AT BAT: We'll have to wait a little longer for the next release of a film in the "LDS Cinema" category. Kels Goodman's "Handcart", which was originally scheduled to be released for the July 24th holiday has been bumped from the summertime theaters by this year's abundance of blockbuster releases. During the summer it is always hard for an independent film to find room in the theaters. The actual date of arrival in the about 20 Utah and Idaho theaters has been moved back to October 11th, 2002. The film adaptation of Jack Weyland's "Charly" is scheduled for release on September 20th, of course, so "Handcart" has been staggered back to October 11th. A late-in-the-evening by-invitation-only screening of "Handcart" has been scheduled on July 23rd, but there will also be an official opening around the October 11th date. LDSfilm.com will have a representative at the July 23rd sneak preview, so we'll be sure to let you know our impressions of the film. By the way, there are some very nice stills on Kels Goodman's web page: http://www.kelsgoodman.com/moviestills.html

TREU'S SECRETS SOON IN THEATERS: The nationwide release of Blair Treu's "Little Secrets" has also been delayed - but only by a week. The film, which involves a number of LDS cast and crew members, will be released nationally by Columbia Tristar on August 23rd.

POSSESSION TRAILER ONLINE: Trailers are available online for "Possession" at http://www.comingsoon.net/movies/p/possession.php. The film which is directed by Neil LaBute and stars fellow BYU-grad Aaron Eckhart, is scheduled for release on August 30th. (It also stars Academy Award-winner Gwyneth Paltrow.) The movie is rated PG-13, which means it is the first feature film directed by Neil LaBute that has not received an "R" rating. The MPAA note along with the rating states that the PG-13 rating is for sexuality and mature themes. Based on this, and the trailer we previewed, it appears that this tale of poets and the scholars who study them is full of passion and ideas, but devoid of violence and vulgar langauge.

BAPTISTS AT OUR BARBECUE: Robert Farrell Smith's first novel "Baptists at Our Barbecue" will soon begin production as a feature film. The book itself will soon be re-published, this time by Deseret Book. It was first published by Aspen. The URL for the movie is: http://www.striplingwarrior.com/bbq/ (although there's not much there, yet). Yes, this is an LDS novel despite the fact that the word "Baptists" appears in the title.

SALT LAKE CITY FILM FESTIVAL details can be found at: http://www.slcfilmfest.org/7_events/
The upcoming event, organized by Latter-day Saint filmmaker Wayne L. Lee and scheduled for August 22-24, 2002, will feature films from all genres by filmmakers of all backgrounds. Christian Vuissa will host a special screening of the "Best of the Interntional Young LDS Film Festival 2002" Marian Arthur will host a special screening of the "Best of 2002 Thunderbird International Film Festival 2002." Sheridan Prince will host a special screening the "Best of 2002 Utah High School Film Festival." And Jeanne McKinney will host a special screening of her film "Shattered Dreams", about the horrors wrought by alcohol, people who drink alcohol, and drunk driving. (Jeanne McKinney is a neophyte Latter-day Saint screenwriter who has been written about extensively in online publications by British Latter-day Saint novelist Anne Bradshaw.)

The SLC Film Festival will feature workshops by John Lee, actress Mowava Pryor ("The Testaments of One Fold and One Shepherd", "MMC", the New Mickey Mouse Club), music by Alex Boye and Monica Dixon, panels with Utah-based feature film director Gregory C. Haynes ("Cowboys and Angels", "Heaven or Vegas", "Slow"), screenwriter Jeanne McKinney, filmmaker Richard Dutcher ("God's Army", "Brigham City"), Academy Award-winning director Kieth Merrill, and many others.

Directors who will be screening films at the festival include: Baoqi Ye, Chaille Stovall, Craig Lofgreen, DJ Kadagian, Daniele Pignatelli, David Asay, Eric Ulbich, James Cho, James Dalrymple, Joe Sasich, John Plausse, Kick Hughes, Mark Goodman, Michele Walton, Owen Shapiro, Paul Cross, Scott Bogoniewski, Scott Tiffany, Shawn Emery, Spencer Christiansen, Teddy Sharkova, and Yu Qian.

Key staff of the SLC Film Festival includes: Breck Rice, Jacosta, Kevin McDaniel, Roger T. Muir, Nancy Pomeroy, Guy Marler, Don Fulton, James Holmes, and Aaron Syrett.