News Items



Feb22: Thanks to my pal Sylvia of Dougray Scott in Focus for notifying me of this article about the American Film Market published in today's Variety. Enigma was screened there yesterday, and screens again today.
This year, buyers and sellers attending the 21st AFM, which runs Feb. 21-28, are having to face the reality that the German market has finally leveled out, and many indie sales companies are fighting to survive with the challenges of the international marketplace becoming more complex than ever, and the potential threat of actor and writer strikes. "The independent film community is at a very sensitive stage right now," says Artisan Entertainment CEO Amir Malin. "Irrespective of big films coming into the marketplace with name directors and cast, if the international marketplace cannot deliver certain budget parameters for a film then the budgets will have to be reduced and the conservatism of buyers to pay high prices will cause disruptions in the marketplace."
Dougray Scott (Jericho) and Jeremy Northam (Wigram):
Selling Points: Intermedia screens director Michael Apted's romantic thriller ''Enigma,'' fresh from this year's Sundance film fest, about codes and code-breaking in England during World War II.

Feb 21: Thanks to my pal Sylvia of Dougray Scott in Focus for emailing me a feature story on Mick Jagger and 'Enigma' that Missy found! It's posted on the 'Enigma-Features' page. Here's an excerpt:
Sometime in the next few months (no exact date has been agreed but autumn is likely) Jagger's company, Jagged Films, will release its first feature movie. It has taken six years to finish, during which it has overcome a number of obstacles. But early indications are that it could prove to be a winner. The film is based on Enigma, the bestselling novel by Robert Harris, a tale of intrigue set among British code-breakers working at Bletchley Park, 40 miles north of London during the Second World War, who are desperate to unravel German U-boat ciphers. It stars Kate Winslet as the plucky operative in the radio room, Dougray Scott as the mathematician struggling to get over a breakdown, Saffron Burrows as the beauty who went missing and caused the maths genius to lose his mind and Jeremy Northam as the intelligence expert who has to work out whose side everyone is on.
Reminder - Enigma screens today and tomorrow at the American Film Market, Santa Monica, CA. Let's hope a U.S. distribution deal is worked out soon!

Feb 19: Here's a mention of Enigma in an article about Dougray Scott:
He is on course to be the next standard-bearer of Scottish film, darling. ''The thinking woman's Ewan McGregor'', as one crazed fan put it. What else? Well, he was the bad guy in Mission Impossible 2 and proved a formidable opponent to Tom Cruise's secret agent Ethan Hunt. But not good enough, because he didn't get the girl. What's next? Oh, he's fighting off producers with a stick by all accounts. 'Enigma' with the lovely Kate Winslet is due at a cinema near you any day now.
Yeah, I wish it was due at a cinema near me any day now! Let's hope it picks up a U.S. distributor at the American Film Market this week.

Feb 15: Thanks to Celine for this item from a French gossip column:
'I really liked shooting Enigma, which will be released next summer, particularly 'cause Mick Jagger was the producer. Sometimes I turned my head and he was there, standing up, like any other technician on the set. That was very funny!' said Kate Winslet.

Feb 14: Will 'Enigma' pick up a US distributor at the upcoming American Film Market? Here are excerpts from a story published in a trade paper:
"Hybrid Intermedia Swims With Sharks"
London - Intermedia is walking the high wire between Frankfurt and Beverly Hills without a net. The company is on a mission to justify its $1 billion valuation on Germany's Neuer Markt by transforming itself into a new kind of Hollywood player... With up to nine pics shooting in the first half of 2001, at a combined budget of $400 million, Intermedia's output is right up there with the most prolific of the majors... It is also investing in the producing talents of several actors, including Nicholas Cage, Sean Connery, Kate Winslet, Ryan Phillippe and Reese Witherspoon... "The business plan of our company is contingent on our producers actually producing, and doing it well," Intermedia head of production Basil Iwanyk.
The risks are evident from Michael Apted's 'Enigma' a $20 million-plus Brit period movie which, despite some good reviews, got the thumbs-down from US buyers after its Sundance premiere... "I don't think the independent distributors trust them [Intermedia]," says one Euro distrib. "Their long-term plan is to set up the company in such a way that they can get their money out and move on. As a distributor you want to deal with people who have got their eye on the ball, who care about box office, as well as presales."

Feb 12: Thanks to George for this item:
"Sundance Films Still Searching For Distributors"
Despite the fact that 80 films were screened at the Sundance Film Festival last month, only eight filmmakers signed deals with one of the major indie distributors, Miramax, Fox Searchlight, Artisan Entertainment or Lions Gate, USA Today observed today (Monday). "Most films still out there are high quality, but they have questionable commercial quality," Mark Ordesky, president of Fine Line Features, told the newspaper. Several film makers are reportedly still plugging away, many of them dropping their prices in hopes of scoring any sort of distribution deal at all, according to the newspaper.
Hopefully, TPTB will find a way to get 'Enigma' sold to a U.S. distributor soon!

Feb 10: Thanks to my pal Sylvia of Dougray Scott in Focus for emailing me this item:
"US strike rules pave way for international bonanza," by Mike Goodridge in Los Angeles
International acting talent and non-US movie companies are set for a boom time later this year as The Screen Actors Guild guidelines to shooting outside the US should an actors strike take place in June became clear yesterday. The Screen Actors Guild Board of Directors issued the following position on work that may be performed by SAG members in the event of a SAG strike:
Members must provide that:
1) He or she is a foreign national
2) The film production is shot entirely overseas
3) The production is completely foreign financed
4) No domestic or foreign distribution rights are pre-sold to a US company
If these conditions are met, SAG members who commit to render these services prior to the strike may work on such productions after the strike commences. While this obviously precludes US actors from working overseas in the event of a strike, it does mean that international production featuring non-US acting talent is set to become the world's leading form of movie production should the strike begin in June. One Hollywood agent hinted that packages are already being put together which would fit these criteria and put particular emphasis on the American Film Market later this month as a hotbed of potential deal-making. Clearly US studios are forbidden from buying domestic or territory rights on these films, although there are no stipulations about them buying rights once the strike is over.
Cash-rich non-US companies such as Intermedia, StudioCanal, Film Four as well as all the other German entertainment companies and media funds or the UK film franchises suddenly become unprecedentedly significant. And bearing in mind that some of the hottest members of SAG right now are non-US nationals, from Russell Crowe, Cate Blanchett and Jude Law to Kate Winslet, Colin Farrell, Javier Bardem, Heath Ledger, Frances O'Connor and Penelope Cruz, the potential for international movie production looks limitless.
Intermedia's Enigma, recently screened at Sundance, is a clear example of a film made within these parameters. The film was produced and financed by non-US companies (Intermedia, Jagged Films), starring British nationals (Winslet, Dougray Scott, Jeremy Northam et al) and with no US distribution attached.

February 10: Thanks to my pal Sylvia of Dougray Scott in Focus for sharing the Press Kit with me! Sylvia had advised me several months ago that Intermedia Vice-president Philip Rose had indicated he would send her a Press Kit, so I did not 'pester' him with a similar request. Mr. Rose has requested that the entire press kit not be published online. We are honoring his request by publishing only selected portions. Here's the section about Kate's casting:
   Kate Winslet had been approached early on to play the role of Hester Wallace but originally it clashed with Therese Raquin in which she planned to star and take the role of executive producer. When Kate discovered she was pregnant, her own production was put on hold and Jagged Films was happy to fill the gap in her schedule.  Jagger describes Winslet as "an actress who interprets Stoppard's script very well. Hester is an intelligent woman, who knows herself to be underused." Michael Apted explains, "The character of Hester has to be slightly anonymous at the beginning of the story, but her beauty, charm and sexiness creeps up on you. Kate is a brilliant chameleon - she can dazzle you or be quite ordinary, and the latter is a quality the audience can identify with - an ordinary girl who becomes heroic." He adds, "Kate makes intelligent choices in her acting roles, and I think she'll enjoy a long successful working life." says Apted.
    Kate Winslet was attracted by the wartime setting of the story. "It's an adventure story set in such a sexy time - with young people determined to live for the moment. In some ways I compare my character Hester to George in Enid Blyton's The Famous Five - she enjoys adventure and won't stop till she gets a result and, in the end, she helps save the day." Winslet deliberately did not delve into understanding the mysteries of deciphering the enigma machine. "Although Hester works at Bletchley Park, her job is more administrative, and so she wouldn't have known all about the mysteries of code-breaking, so I didn't want to understand things that Hester wouldn't have known." As research, Winslet did meet a lot of the people who worked at Bletchley during the war. She says, "Most of them loved the work they were involved with then, and quite a few met their partners and married there. Incredibly, many of them didn't realise the importance of the work until long afterwards because of the code of secrecy in the Park. For instance, Hester and Claire worked in different Huts, so they never knew exactly what each other did."           

February 10: From a UK showbiz site:
"Jagger and Daughter Appear in New Movie"
Mick Jagger has returned to the big screen - by writing himself and teenage daughter Elizabeth into Enigma, the movie he's currently co-producing. The Rolling Stones rocker gave himself and Elizabeth, who he calls Libby, small roles in Enigma, the wartime thriller about the efforts of code-breakers to crack the Enigma cipher. But Mick denies he's doing anything wrong - it really is a very small role. He says, "It's only a tiny part; not even a cameo. The main action in the scene has people jitterbugging and Libby and I are going to have a few lessons, but I think it's going to end up with us sitting in the background." But Jagger does have some reservations about his role in the film, which stars Kate Winslet and Saffron Burrows. He adds, "I don't know about the jitterbugging, though. It's not like performing on a concert stage. I'm not a jitterbugger and Libby's even worse at it than I am!" Luckily by the time director Michael Apted had finished with it, all that was left of Jagger's cameo was a few seconds of him dressed in full RAF uniform, sitting with Elizabeth - and no dancing.
February 9: From the Feb 12 issue of Us Weekly:

1)   'Sundance Movies To Watch For - Our Critic Turns a Spotlight on the Best of the Best.' Andrew Johnston wrote, 'People usually associate Sundance with small movies, but two of this year's most notable entries featured blockbuster-quality visual effects. Enigma, a crisp World War II spy yarn directed by Michael Apted and starring Dougray Scott and Kate Winslet, was probably the first movie in the festival's history to climax with a naval battle, but the exploding torpedoes never drowned out Tom Stoppard's razor-sharp dialogue.'
2)   A brief item about Mick Jagger's attendance at the Sundance Film Festival to promote 'Enigma, a spy movie starring Kate Winslet that Jagger coproduced.'

The Feb 9 issue of EW has a couple of mentions of Enigma:
1)   'Buzz-O-Meter [at Sundance] Enigma - Kate Winslet's $20 million code-cracker movie looks intriguing, but about as indie as Battlefield Earth. After premiere party, producer Mick Jagger leaves town. Takes buzz with him.'
2)   Critic Lisa Schwarzbaum didn't like the film. In her report on the Sundance FF she describes the film as 'a sodden, heavily-acted drama about British code-breakers during WWII.' The article included the photo of Kate and Dougray standing next to the Enigma machine.

February 8: Update on Enigma - There evidently is still no U.S. distribution deal, as the film will be screened at the American Film Market in Santa Monica, California on February 21st at 1PM and on the 22nd at 11AM. Unfortunately, a one-day pass (for industry professionals) is $250.00.

February 5: Enigma scored a mention on the 'Ebert and Roeper at the Movies' program that was broadcast last night. During a review of the Sundance Film Festival, a brief clip of Kate and Dougray Scott was shown (with audio!), along with an interview Ebert did with 'Enigma' Producer Mick Jagger. I made a sound file of the segment (plays on Real Player) - go here to listen!
[Clip from 'Enigma' - Hester and Jericho attempt decoding a message using the Enigma machine] Kate (Hester): F… Dougray (Jericho): D… Kate: Is it German? Come on, genius!
Ebert (voice over): You're looking at a scene from Michael Apted's 'Enigma', a British thriller that was one of countless movies that played over ten days in Park City, Utah at the Sundance Film Festival. Sundance is America's most important film festival, a celebration of independent films that ranges from zero budget digital dramas to more commercial productions like 'Enigma'. [Another brief clip of Jericho and Hester sitting in a car. They share a tender moment, as Jericho brushes her hair away from her face. Kate's reaction as she pushes her glasses back into place is great. Jeremy Northam as Wigram is also seen in this scene.]
The movie stars Dougray Scott as a code-breaker recovering from a breakdown, Kate Winslet as the plucky brunette who puts him back together again, and Jeremy Northam as a suspicious security man. The movie was co-produced by Mick Jagger, who called it his own declaration of independence.
Ebert with Jagger: Why do you have an eagerness to get into film production, which is such a...?
Jagger: Well, you know, I got rather bored with people trying to involve me in their projects, and then the projects fell to pieces. And, you know, I thought, 'well, wait a minute, if I'm at all interested in this, I should start doing things that I'm interested in.'
Ebert: I read the book when it came out and it has a lot of interesting stuff in it, not only about the science, but also about the love story.
Jagger: That's the whole thing. I mean, it's got these different… It's not just about code-breaking, which could have been a bit dull. So, it's got code-breaking, the love story, it's got some underlying moral questions, also.


January 31: Thanks to my pal Sylvia of Dougray Scott is Focus for sending me this mention of Enigma in People Magazine:
Spotlight on...Sundance -- For 10 days every January, total strangers will turn to the person next to them on a bus in Park City, Utah, and ask, 'What have you seen that's good?' They're seeking help - anyone's help - in narrowing down some 100 movies unspooling at the Sundance Film Festival. This year, films worth catching included: Enigma, a sleek WWII thriller about British code-crackers (Dougray Scott and Kate Winslet).  -- Leah Rozen

January 29: Here's a story I found in USA Today:
"Festival Folks Drink in 'Strange Cocktail," by Harlan Jacobson
    PARK CITY, Utah -- Some Sundance snapshots -- Mick and Michaels: Sundancing for the first time were Mick Jagger and longtime Saturday Night Live producer Lorne Michaels. But the co-producers of Enigma, the first film from Jagger's Jagged Films production company, weren't all that impressed. ''It's very serious here,'' Michaels observed. ''And everyone dresses in black,'' whispered Jagger, dressed in an aqua cardigan with a hood, gray pants, gray-and-grape shirt and steely shades. Jagger and Michaels were looking for a U.S. distributor for Enigma -- a World War II thriller/love story about the cracking of the German communications code during the dark days of 1943, starring Dougray Scott, Saffron Burrows, Jeremy Northam and Kate Winslet.
    Jagger described the picture as ''a labor of love…which means it takes forever and you don't get paid very much.'' But, he went on, ''It's really good to see this thing up there on the screen finally, after all the work.'' The Michael Apted-directed film, adapted by Tom Stoppard from a Robert Harris novel, took five years and $23 million (hefty for an independent British film). Why did Jagger make it? ''I thought it would be good to start my own projects instead of just going in other people's and being involved peripherally or doing music.'' And Michaels? ''Enigma is the last great secret of WW II, and it really didn't become public until the late '70s.'' Plus, he liked the mix of early computers, geniuses and nerds. ''And a few glamorous girls,'' Jagger reminded him. ''It could've been a boys-only movie.''

January 29: Thanks to Tamara of Dougray Net for a Jan 27 item from the Daily Telegraph (posted on the 'Features' page). Excerpt:
Both Apted and Jagger decided to add one especially pertinent scene to Enigma. "We talk about the British seamen who died retrieving U-boat code books," said Apted. "We wanted to set the record straight." It may be only one scene, but it is a stinging rebuke to last year's Hollywood blockbuster U571, which had American servicemen finding the code book. The Enigma team was determined to be factually accurate wherever possible, and many former Bletchley Park staff were consulted. One appears in a cameo. "Their work remained secret until the late Seventies but they want their story told," said Apted.

January 29: Thanks to my pal Sylvia of Dougray Scott in Focus for sending me these items this morning:
From the Hollywood Reporter:
Indie acquisitions executives boarded jets bound for Los Angeles and New York on Sunday roundly disappointed with the Sundance Film Festival's more hyped commercial titles but still cautiously making deals for smaller films that might be tough sells at the boxoffice. The 10-day Sundance fest wrapped in Park City on Sunday with no record-breaking deals in a slow-going festival that buyers said reflected the themes of many of the movies this year -- thoughtful, measured and auteur-driven... Deals for distribution are expected to close shortly on Stacy Peralta's documentary audience award co-winner 'Dogtown and Z-Boys,' Michael Apted's 'Enigma' and Timothy Linh Bui's 'Green Dragon'…
From The Diary With Billy Sloan, Sunday Mail:
Stones superstar Mick Jagger is set to conquer America... as a film producer. He bought the movie rights to the Robert Harris novel Enigma and made it into a film starring Dougray Scott and Kate Winslet. The thriller, about wartime codebreaking heroics, was first shown at a film festival last week. A friend said: 'Critics predict it's going to be a smash hit.'
From the Washington Post:
    'Enigma' - A couple of years ago Mick Jagger and "Saturday Night Live" producer Lorne Michaels were chatting on their way to a party. Michaels mentioned that he was fascinated by a novel about British code-breakers during the Second World War. Turned out that Mick was after the rights for the same book, called "Enigma." They teamed up, and the result was a script by Tom Stoppard, direction by Michael Apted ("Nell," "The World Is Not Enough") and the largest budget at Sundance this year -- $20 million.
    Nonetheless, "Enigma" is a very independent film, Apted insisted over breakfast on Main Street. "I've never done a film without a distributor. It's a double-edged sword," he observed. "It meant that I could make the film I wanted, with the cast I wanted. You could imagine what a studio could have done to it: 'You've gotta have more sex, make it more romantic, Americanize it.' " On the other hand, Apted was still searching for a distributor.
     As it is, Apted has a little-known cast in a film that is a salute to British brains and patriotism at a crucial moment of the war. (The only American character is a boor.) Dougray Scott plays a working-class math genius (an Alan Turing type) brought into headquarters to decipher a monumentally difficult German code. Saffron Burrows is a seductive beauty who works there and mysteriously disappears, Kate Winslet -- the only box-office name in the picture -- an over-intelligent clerk and Jeremy Northam plays an oily spy. "I liked all the contradictions," said Northam, adding that he'd gotten a little tired of the World of Jane Austen roles that kept coming his way. "It's nice to see how [Stoppard] holds together the personal story and the macro political chaos of the time. There are no easy choices for any character."
Thanks to Sylvia and Gill for this item from a UK newspaper:
"Now Jagger Gets 'Reel' Satisfaction"
    Mick Jagger has performed in some of the world's biggest stadiums and heard crowds go wild over his Jumping Jack Flash gyrations, but none of it made him feel as good as he did on Monday night when his dram project was unveiled in the mountains high above Salt Lake City. The evergreen rocker has turned movie mogul and his first film as producer - Enigma, about the secret World War II German code-breakers of Bletchley Park - received its world premiere at the Sundance Film Festival.
    The 1,200-seat cinema was packed, with hundreds more waiting outside in the cold for return tickets. 'It's a labor of love, sure, but the thing about labours of love is that they take forever and you don't get paid,' the Rolling Stone told me, although it was clear he'd enjoyed every minute of the long and difficult process of bringing Enigma to the big screen. 'The film's ready and we wanted to show it and this was the first big opportunity where film distributors would be gathered. We have to sell it, and you get people interested and see what happens,' he added.
    Director Michael Apted's gripping picture stars Dougray Scott as novelist Robert Harris's unconventional fictional hero Tom Jericho, with Kate Winslet as the mousey code clerk who helps him unravel the puzzle of how to crack the German secret codes. A beautiful mystery woman, played by Saffron Burrows, may hold the key, while a British intelligence chief, Jeremy Northam at his scene-stealing best, must ensure all leaks are plugged.
    Tom Stoppard's screenplay is engrossing. 'There's an unending fascination with the war and really this film is about a bunch of what would now be computer hackers uncovering something that helped win the war,' Jagger said. 'People like spies and the intricacies of coding. In the middle of all this is a love story - and I know a lot about those, 'he added with a smile.
    Ms. Winslet told me how Jagger compiled cassettes of music from the war to 'get us into the mood of our characters.' She added: 'Mick loaned the production the Enigma machine he bought at auction at Sotheby's. He was devoted to getting it right.'

January 29: 'Joe Bradley' attended the Sundance Film Festival and reports for Ain't It Cool News that Enigma is on his top ten of Sundance list:
7. ENIGMA - So when did a $20 million internationally produced and financed costume drama become an independent film? Good question - but who cares, it's a good movie. Starring Kate Winslet and Jeremy Northam, the movie centers around British codebreakers during WWII. Impeccably cast and shot (coming from director Michael Apted, that's not a shocker), and lots of fun. The movie was produced by Mick Jagger, who showed up at the screening and generated more rubbernecking than any other celebrity at the festival.
January 28: Today's issue of the Salt Lake Tribune has a feature article on Enigma at Sundance and includes info on the effort to bring this project to the big screen. The article is posted on the 'Enigma-Features' page. Excerpt:
There's no question about the movie's quality. "Enigma" is a crackerjack thriller, a tale of the World War II codebreakers in Britain who broke the Nazis' secret-message system and, as a side benefit, developed the first supercomputers... [Director] Apted passed over more marketable stars for Dougray Scott -- but it didn't hurt that, during the production's down time, Scott completed "Mission: Impossible 2" and raised his profile. Snagging Winslet and Northam also upped the ante. But even after seeing the finished film, as of this writing no studio has picked up "Enigma."
The Tribune also has a brief item on the person who worked as the rep for Enigma at Sundance:
Saundra Saperstein, who has spent the last 20 years selling Hollywood on Utah, is retiring as the Utah Film Commission's marketing director. That didn't keep her from being much in evidence during this year's Sundance Film Festival. Saperstein worked as event coordinator and personal representative for the movie "Enigma," a thriller starring Dougray Scott ("Mission: Impossible 2"), Jeremy Northam ("The Net") and Kate Winslet ("Titanic"), which meant she shepherded rock star Mick Jagger and "Saturday Night Live" bigwig Lorne Michaels around, since they produced the film.
Saperstein worked tirelessly for the film commission and the festival, an event she once called "my best marketing tool." Before Sundance's reputation was established, she pestered the movie press to attend, earning the nickname "Miss Annual" from the editors of Variety. She is known for handling stressful situations -- such as the time in 1987 when she had to find slacks at the last second for Candice Bergen, who was attending husband Louis Malle's Sundance premiere of "Au Revoir, Les Enfants" and forgot her carry-on luggage.

January 28: Here's a report from an industry news site about Jagger's appearance at Sundance:
Across town, Mick Jagger was in the house and working the crowd (how surprising) at the overly packed premiere of Enigma, the brilliantly scripted tale (from Shakespeare in Love's Tom Stoppard) of WWII British code breakers vs. the Nazi juggernaut. At the Q&A afterwards, the notoriously thrifty Jagger jumping-jack flashed it to the mike and amused the crowd by explaining that the project first took root five years ago when he decided to save money by doing the film with Lorne Michaels rather than outbidding each other for the rights to the book. Jagger milked more laughs by adding that in order to impress the film's director he had actually "bought a real Enigma [code encrypting machine] at an auction at Sotheby's so that when Michael [Apted] came over to dinner I could actually point at it and say proudly 'this is what one looks like.' Even though I own it, I still don't know how it works." It's all right Mick. In fact, it's a gas-gas-gas.

January 26: Lou Lumenick, who writes a column for the NY Post, saw Enigma at the Sundance Film Festival, and wrote a few comments about the film in an article that was published earlier this week. (Thanks to Sylvia of Dougray Scott in Focus.) He wrote that the film is "filled with confusing flashbacks and unresolved plot threads," but liked the performances - "Scott is very good as the hero, but the movie is stolen by a very zaftig Kate Winslet, nearly unrecognizable behind coke-bottle glasses, as another code-breaker who helps uncover a plot so complicated I couldn't tell you about if I wanted to."

January 26: There are some nice words for Kate's performance from critic Nigel Andrews, who has been attending the Sundance Film Festival:
    The biggest firestorm of flashbulbs at Sundance was saved not for a star, nor even a director, but for a producer. At festival midpoint le tout Park City squeezed into the Eccles Theatre, nominally to see the war-and-espionage romp Enigma but more evidently to ogle the well-preserved rock star - one Mick Jagger - who bought novelist Robert Harris's second world war bestseller five years ago and slowly helped it grow into a movie.
    With talents like director Michael Apted and screenwriter Tom Stoppard, Enigma had to be watchable, though you shouldn't expect Citizen Kane. Dougray Scott, resembling the young Tom Courtenay, stars as the love-bruised Bletchley Park boffin tasked with working out, first, how the German U-boats are encrypting their messages on the eve of a mighty north Atlantic ambush and, second, why girlfriend and counter-intelligence colleague Saffron Burrows has done a bunk, taking vital documents. It might have plodded a little without two scene-stealers. Jeremy Northam is in top form as the epigrammatic Whitehall snoop who dispenses bon mots amid the gung-ho. And Kate Winslet dons plain-Jane specs, dowdy hair and extra weight to play a frumpy friend of the vanished Burrows who first helps to solve all the puzzles and then de-frumps herself in time to win the hero's heart. The audience's heart this doughty, versatile actor wins from her first scene.

January 26: Roger Ebert interviewed Mick Jagger for an article about Sundance. It's posted on the 'Features' page. (Thanks, Sylvia of Dougray Scott in Focus.) Excerpt:
'Enigma' is about more than computers. It is also about romance and betrayal. The film stars Dougray Scott as Tom Jerico, the brilliant mathematician who has returned after a nervous breakdown, Saffron Burrows as the beautiful war worker who caused the breakdown and then went missing, and Kate Winslet as the plucky operative in the radio reception room, who transcribes the German signals and helps Tom solve the mystery of the code and the missing woman. Jeremy Northam is the British intelligence operative who wonders if all three are spies. "It's not just about code-breaking," Jagger said, "but about love, and it's got some underlying moral questions also about how many lives can be lost for the greater good."

January 26: From Rough Cut:
"Diary of a (Going) Mad Producer Part II," by Andrea Gronvall, Producer, 'Ebert & Roeper and The Movies' -- There was a lot of elbowing and jockeying for position as photographers competed to get the money shot of Mick Jagger at the world premiere of Enigma. Michael Apted and his actors Jeremy Northam and Nikolaj Coster-Waldau also graciously traveled the press line, exhibiting a European self-composure that Americans envy. Apted -- soft-spoken but highly articulate and conveying the authority of his many years helming -- made the most of this opportunity to position Enigma for distribution. Coster-Waldau, who was Jagger's co-star in Bent, displayed vitality, disarming openness, and Nordic good looks that are a type but which surpass those of Starship Troopers' Casper Van Dien. Northam came across as seasoned, intelligent, and level-headed. This marks his third trip to Sundance, and while he admitted the grind doesn't get any easier, he diplomatically added that he manages to find fun amid all the work.

January 25: Andrew Strickman and Sharon Knolle report from Sundance (for Mr. Showbiz) that there is still buzz around 'Enigma':
Still buzzing at press time: Waking Life, Business of Strangers, Enigma, L.I.E., and In the Deep.
Actually, a deal may be imminent - From Reporter TV: "The $25 million Enigma, produced by Mick Jagger and Lorne Michaels, is also stirring up interest from the majors, and is also being shipped off to L.A. for approval by senior executives." We'll just have to wait for an 'official' announcement.

January 25: From a Reuters feature story about a 'buyer' at Sundance:
    Many film buyers are circling around movies cautiously due to the wide range of films here, from typically low-budget, indie works to the Mick Jagger/Lorne Michaels-produced thriller ''Enigma,'' which cost about $20 million to make. The acquirers are watching audience reaction at screenings here, yet trying not to get caught up in the 'Festival Fever' that sometimes causes frenzied bidding for films that audiences don't like later on in theaters.
   They are reading critical reviews in industry newspapers Daily Variety and The Hollywood Reporter. They are waiting for Sundance to hand out awards for best drama and documentary, direction, writing and an audience favorite, among others. Good reviews, awards, a clearly defined story appealing to a certain audience and well-known actors all provide tools the buyers can use to help market the films. But if a film doesn't sell during the festival, the market is not over. Executives like Bocco head back to Los Angeles or New York for a second round of 'clean up' where over the next few weeks, they take second looks at movies and make offers. You Can Count On Me came out of Sundance last year without a buyer, but has become one of this year's indie hits.

January 25: Thanks to George for sending me this item from imdb's industry news:
"You Can't Always Get What You Need, Either" -- After the screening of his World War II spy thriller Enigma was met with what film critic Roger Ebert later described as a "muted reception," Mick Jagger took to the stage at Sundance to defend the film. Responding to charges that Enigma, produced by his Jagged Productions and sporting the look of an expensive production, was out of place at a festival aimed at promoting the work of small, independent filmmakers, Jagger commented: "It doesn't have a distributor. It's not from a big studio. It's made with independent money and in England." The film was largely backed by the German film company Intermedia, and at one point the film's co-producer, Lorne Michaels, told the Sundance audience: "In an early cut we had the Germans winning the war, but that tested badly so we went back and changed the ending."

January 25: There are two wonderful new reviews of the film - They are posted on the 'Reviews' page, natch. Excerpts:
Enigma is a compelling, sumptuously-made romantic thriller that is effective in both its political and more personal dimensions... Theatrical prospects are excellent for an intelligent film that benefits from a bright and elegant screenplay by Oscar-winner Tom Stoppard, based on Robert Harris' bestselling novel; taut storytelling; luxuriant production values; and splendid acting by Kate Winslet, Jeremy Northam and, above all, Dougray Scott cast in a seductive role that might catapult him to international stardom. However, as a period piece with an extremely complicated, demanding and cerebral plot, Enigma is likely to appeal commercially to educated arthouse patrons seeking mature and provocative entertainment.

January 25: Here are some news items found today:
The folks at Intermedia have posted this item about the Enigma premiere:
    Praised in Screen International as a "compelling, sumptuously made romantic thriller" Enigma premiered on Monday 22nd January at the Sundance Film Festival, in Park City, Utah. Giving their support to this prestigious occasion were Jeremy Northam and Nikolaj-Coster-Waldau from the cast, together with producers Mick Jagger and Lorne Michaels, executive producers Victoria Pearman and Nigel Sinclair alongside director Michael Apted.
    Despite freezing temperatures in Park City reactions to the film have been warmly enthusiastic, with Variety describing it as "an intelligent, involving, and intricately plotted thriller" and praising Michael Apted's "sure hand at crafting smartly suspenseful entertainment." The Hollywood Reporter also felt that this "spine-tingler" was a "superbly crafted, wonderfully old-fashioned British-style World War II thriller romance."
From Ananova:
    Jagger defends movie showing at independent festival -- Mick Jagger has defended the inclusion of his new movie in the Sundance Film Festival. Some said his established name was "gatecrashing" what's supposed to be a showcase for independent and low-budget movies.But Jagger says the British spy thriller Enigma does come into that category. "It doesn't have a distributor, it's not from a big studio. It's made with independent money and in England," he said at the festival Utah.
    He is co-producer of the film, which is directed by Michael Apted and stars Kate Winslet and Dougray Scott. It tells the story of the work done to crack the codes used by the German Enigma machines at Bletchley Park during the Second World War. Jagger and Apted also revealed Paramount Pictures passed on the film because of fears the story was too complicated.
    Enigma was written by Tom Stoppard, who picked up an Oscar for his Shakespeare In Love screenplay. Enigma should hit UK screens later this year.
From Lineone's 'Showbuzz':
The Sundance Film Festival has seen Mick Jagger as a producer, drumming up interest in the 20 million-dollar movie Enigma. So far there is no US distributor for the film which tells how British mathematicians cracked Nazi coded messages during the Second World War. Playwright Tom Stoppard penned the film, Michael Apted took the helm, while Kate Winslet, Dougray Scott and Jeremy Northam are the main stars. Apted has said Paramount Pictures declined to back the film because of its complicated story and possible eventual expense. Meanwhile, Jagger said of the film: "It doesn't have a distributor, it's not from a big studio, it's made with independent money and in England."
Thanks to Sylvia of Dougray Scott in Focus for the next two items:
From The Post Net:
    Mick Jagger is an enigma, so he might as well produce "Enigma.'' The Michael Apted film about the machine the British used to decode German radio signals during World War II had its world premiere Monday at the Sundance Film Festival. Jagger's presence at the screening and remarks after the film ratcheted up media and public interest in the event, even as it interrupted the festival routine as surely as a presidential motorcade. Necks craned, flashbulbs popped and TV cameras rudely stared, delaying the start of the film for nearly 30 minutes.
    If the audience was expecting "Enigma'' to reflect Jagger's status as a pop music icon, what it got was a period melodrama and thriller with a romantic spine, adapted from Robert Harris' novel by screenwriter Tom Stoppard. Dougray Scott plays a mathematician obsessed with a missing woman, played by Saffron Burrows, while he is attempting to crack the Nazi code. The film also stars Kate Winslet.
    Jagger not only optioned the book with "Saturday Night Live'' producer Lorne Michaels, he also bought his own Enigma code machine when one came up for auction at Sotheby's. "I knew it would come in handy,'' said a jaunty Jagger, dressed in a sky-blue suit. His Enigma machine was used during filming.
From the NY Times News Service (complete article is on the 'Features' page):
    The British film director Michael Apted sat in a coffee shop on Main Street here, trying desperately to get a cup of tea, while across the street at the Egyptian Theater his latest film, Enigma, was in the middle of its second Sundance Film Festival screening. "Everything seems to be going well,'' Apted said. "Now the feeding frenzy begins. We hope.''
    Apted's Enigma, a $20 million World War II thriller set in the world of Nazi code-breaking, has a Tom Stoppard script that is based on Robert Harris' best-selling novel and a cast that includes Kate Winslet, Dougray Scott and Saffron Burrows. This is a Sundance film? "If you define independent film as a film that was produced outside the studio system, then yes, this is an independent film,'' Apted said, tea finally in hand. "I recognize that with a $20 million budget, big stars and some special effects, it's not your typical Sundance film. But they asked us to be here and we're delighted.''
Thanks to Tamara and Dougray Net for an item from Entertainment Weekly (see 'Features' page):
Here are a few of the early buzz magnets -- and how they're actually faring... ''Enigma'' - director Michael Apted's WWII thriller about a British codebreaker (''M:I2'''s Dougray Scott) who gets caught up in a byzantine murder plot. The audiences in attendance at the ''Enigma'' premiere were all geeked up that the film's producer, Mick Jagger, was in the house. They seemed slightly less jazzed by the film itself.

January 24: Co-star Jeremy Northam has been at Sundance to promote the film. Looks like he has had fun:
Tuesday night we witnessed the most organic, off-the-hook extravaganza the festival has seen in recent years. In celebration of the release of hip-hop turntablism films Scratch and Wavetwisters, the dance party at Harry O's had the 700-plus crowd screaming and chanting for more… we did spy Enigma star Jeremy Northam getting down with a particularly flexible companion.


January 24: Kate and Enigma scored a mention in the Rush & Molloy column in the NY Daily News:
"Jagger & the Code Warriors" - Mick Jagger won wild applause when he jumped onstage Monday, even though the Rolling Stone didn't sing a note. Jagger was at the Sundance Film Festival to unveil "Enigma," the World War II thriller he produced with "Saturday Night Live" creator Lorne Michaels. The film, starring Jeremy Northam and Kate Winslet, tells how the Brits cracked the Nazis' code with a so-called Enigma machine. "When I first acquired the rights, I bought an actual Enigma machine at Sotheby's," said Jagger, decked out in a powder-blue suit. "Somehow I knew it would come in handy one day."
Too bad they forgot to mention Dougray Scott; after all, he does play the lead role!

January 24: From the Cleveland Plain Dealer:
"Producer Jagger Rolls Into Town to Rock Sundance," by Joanna Connors
    Mick Jagger hit town -- Jagger, who usually wears spandex tights, rhinestones or at the very least a cape for his public appearances, took to the stage of the Park City high school in a relatively sedate blue jacket for his role as producer of a serious drama. "Enigma," which Jagger produced in partnership with "Saturday Night Live" producer Lorne Michaels, tells the story of the team of British mathematicians who cracked the Nazis' dauntingly complex Enigma code during World War II. Michael Apted, who has made such films as "Coal Miner's Daughter" and "Gorillas in the Mist," directed it; Kate Winslet, Jeremy Northam and Dougray Scott star in it; and playwright Tom Stoppard wrote the screenplay.
    Even without Winslet, Scott and Stoppard on hand, with Apted and Northam on the stage, any other producer would fade into the background during the post-film question-and-answer session. Everyone knows producers are important - among other things, they find the money - but audiences are always much more interested in the actors and director.
    After "Enigma," the first question went to the producer. Most of the other questions did, too, until Apted finally told the audience the next question had to be for one of the actors. Jagger told the audience he and Michaels became partners by chance. They were both at a party in New York not long after the novel, written by Robert Harris, was published. "We were discussing lit," Jagger said, "and Lorne said, Have you read this book, 'Enigma'?'" Jagger, who was already planning to acquire the rights to the novel, didn't say much. But the next day, he called Michaels and suggested they go in on it together, rather than bid against one another. "Five years later, we're here," he said.
    Shortly after buying the film rights, Jagger said, he bought an original German Enigma machine in a Sotheby's auction. "I knew it would come in handy," he said. "So when I had Lorne and Tom [Stoppard] to dinner, I could show it to them."
    The film took a bit longer than expected to complete because Apted and the producers went back to do some reshoots in November, to tinker with the ending. "In one of the early drafts, we had the Germans winning the war," Michaels joked. "But in early preview screenings, we saw that it really didn't work."

January 24: Thanks to Tamara and Dougray Net for these items by Kathleen McInnis:
For Film.com: Sundance, which traditionally heralds the start of the festival circuit and the first presentation of the year's new wave of emerging filmmakers, can be called hit and miss at best for 2001 -- at least so far. The opening night film, My First Mister from actor/director Christine Lahti was most kindly described as 'soft', while the best director Michael Apted's Enigma (produced by Lorne Michaels and Mick Jagger) received was a few polite non-committals.
For Filmfestivals.com: The glamour screening of the evening was certainly Enigma, starring Kate Winslet and Dougray Scott, from Director Michael Apted. Written by Tom Stoppard, it was the producers of the film who stole the show (and all the paparazzi) - Lorne Michaels and Mick Jagger. Commenting in his opening remarks about the quality of writing, Fest Co-Director Geoff Gilmore wisely and quickly turned the mic over to the all star creative team, and allowed for Michael Apted to present the film and cast with a mixture of 'anxiety, excitement and pride'. "It took us a long time to make this film," admitted Apted, "almost as long as it took to fight the war itself." Enigma, adapted from the best selling novel by Robert Harris (a book Jagger and Michaels had optioned together years ago) tells the story of the elite cadre of code breakers in England during the war. When the Germans unexpectedly change their Enigma code and effectively make their communications impossible to penetrate, all becomes at risk as the race to break the code escalates into a murder/mystery thriller.
The Enigma party was a hot ticket as Mick Jagger et al took over the Stein Erickson Lodge to celebrate the films' success. From all reports, most the partygoers were offering up a polite non-committal about the film publicly but privately the taxi rides up and down the hill were laden with disappointed reviews. Nigel Sinclair was overheard being concerned that the film was too dense for American audiences, and suggested the marketing campaign would have to be engineered to educate them about the code breakers.
Well, I think attitudes may change a bit after learning of the positive review [see next item] by Joe Leydon which has been picked up by various publications including Daily Variety.

January 24: There is a very positive review in today's issue of Daily Variety. It's posted on the 'Reviews' page. Excerpts:
Despite a few flurries of narrative fuzziness, "Enigma" ultimately emerges as an intelligent, involving and intricately plotted thriller with respectable theatrical prospects and strong home vid potential... Winslet's winning portrayal of the plucky Hester deserves flattering comparisons to renderings of similarly resourceful femme characters in "The 39 Steps" and "The Lady Vanishes." (It should be noted that Winslet -- bespectacled and unabashedly zaftig -- looks appropriately unglamorous. Tabloid gossips and snippy critics will doubtless make snide remarks about her weight.)

January 23: 'Entertainment Tonight' had a very brief segment on Enigma this evening! Producer Mick Jagger was shown at the Sundance Film Festival, along with short clips from the film. (No film audio, and if I had blinked I would have missed them.) Thanks to Katie and Dakota for the tip!
Mick Jagger - movie mogul? The Insider spotted the stone rolling at the Sundance Film Festival. Mick was there to premiere a movie he's coproducing - Enigma, costarring Kate Winslet. [Mick] "Finding the writer, director, actors - and the money." And the film's genre? A romantic thriller - just like Mick's love life.
  
  

January 23: Many thanks to my pal Sylvia of Dougray Scott in Focus for sending me these comments from 'Christie W', who saw Enigma last night:
"OK, I'll try not to give away any plot details, but the film was fantastic! This is not your typical Hollywood popcorn movie. This is a fascinating film, filled with mystery, intrigue, action, and yes, good old fashion sex (well sorta). I relate it to a 1940s genre movie - when movies still had plots and told stories and entertained us! (Hollywood should take lessons from the Brits and even Spielberg would be proud of this film!) We need more of these spell-binding movies instead of all the high-budget garbage Hollywood tries to stuff down our throats.
Dougray was excellent as Jericho, although as a Dougray fan, I would have preferred to see him less emaciated. Kate was outstanding - I didn't even recognize her at first. Wonderful actress! Saffron Burrows was the sexy female lead and Jeremy Northam was very good at the semi-antagonist.
This film definitely needs to be shown in the US - if for no other reason than to set Americans straight about the true story of Enigma. But even beyond that - it's a wonderful film and goodness knows we are in need of a wonderful film to watch for a change!"  - Christie W

January 23: I found an article about the film and Jagger on Reuters News Service. It's posted on the 'Features' page.

January 23: Jeffrey Wells of Reel.com wrote about the Enigma premiere, along with a mini-review, for his "Sundance Confidential" column today. The article is posted on the 'Enigma-Reviews' page. Excerpt:
Michael Apted's Enigma, the $25 million (give or take) World War II espionage drama with Dougray Scott, Kate Winslet, and Jeremy Northam, screened to a packed crowd last night at the Eccles Theatre...      The response to Enigma was somewhere between admiring and appreciative.

January 23: Enigma producer Mick Jagger was spotted at the Sundance Film Festival Sunday night at the 'MacArthur Park' party. He also gave interviews last night prior to the screeing of Enigma. "Jagger Journeys Into Film Producing" is posted on the "Features" page.

January 22: Here's the latest 'scoop' from E! correspondent Anderson Jones, who is covering the scene in Sundance:
'On The Acquisition Front' - Miramax has sent out an email advisory - complete with contact number - announcing that although they are screening no films here, they do expect to make some acquisitions… I also expect some noise around Enigma, thanks to its pedigree - Tom Stoppard wrote it, Michael Apted directed it. And it doesn't hurt that Mick Jagger produced this period piece, along with SNL's Lorne Michaels, about British WWII code breakers, spies and Nazis. Dougray Scott and Kate Winslet star. It's sure to be snapped up by the end of its premiere party Monday night.
Let's hope so!!

January 22: More on Sundance from Variety:
Screenings at the 2001 Sundance Film Festival are as crowded as usual… It's not that this year's edition of Sundance doesn't have its fair share of worthy titles… Many titles are still to come, including "Enigma," "Madison," "Waking Life" and "Lost and Delirious." Fine Line Features' "Hedwig and the Angry Inch" has been generating popular heat… "There has been no one title that has crystallized everyone's interest and there may not be, but that's not to do with the festival," said Mark Ordesky, president of Fine Line Features. "That's to do with the state of independent film. Upscale specialized films either work very well and are breakout hits, or they are not working at all. If you look at how many films that were picked up out of Sundance and have grossed over $10 million domestically, it's a very, very small list."

January 21: Will Enigma producer Mick Jagger show at Monday's premiere? From the Orange County Register:
Last year, indie and boutique distributors like Fine Line, Sony Classics and USA Films acquired 20 films at Sundance, and only three enjoyed any significant success at the box office: "The Tao of Steve," "Saving Grace" and the current "You Can Count On Me." But with strikes looming, the major studios may need product to fill the theatrical pipelines. That's exceedingly good news for commercially oriented films…as well as movies with well-known names in their casts, like "In the Bedroom," starring Oscar-winners Sissy Spacek and Marisa Tomei, and the World War II espionage thriller "Enigma," which not only stars Kate Winslet but has the added cachet of being co-produced by Mick Jagger. Festival organizers expect the Rolling Stone singer to attend the film's premiere Monday, which is good news for Sundance regulars.

January 20: A mention of 'Enigma' at Sundance, and Kate:
By Kathryn Cowles, Daily Utah Chronicle
Salt Lake City -- Sundance somehow manages to perplex the independent-film world year after year. Everyone complains about the not-so-independent nature of some of the films (as well as the corporate sponsorship of such organizations as Blockbuster and Mercedes Benz USA), but when push comes to shove, everyone ends up going to Sundance. Why? Because the films are good-better than just about anything you'll find in mainstream Hollywood. So in the interest of good film, here are some highlights:
Premieres/ Feature Films
"Enigma" -- This little ditty, shot in the classic-film genre, has some big names pushing it. Director Michael Apted, is responsible for the famous "Up" series, which followed a group of 14 British school children around in 1963 and adds a new update every seven years-the latest installment being "42 Up."
Leading lady Kate Winslet (despite her unfortunate involvement in "Titanic") continually picks interesting roles and films, like that of a young hippie mother in "Hideous Kinky."
Screenwriter Tom Stoppard is possibly the best playwright of our time, and the names of the oddly paired producers, Mick Jagger and Lorne Michaels, speak for themselves.
The plot goes like this: A team of 1943 code breakers have to crack the enigma code, which was unexpectedly changed by the Nazis. This code is so indecipherable because it changes every time it's used. The lives of 10,00 men are at stake. Expect suspense, drama and, of course, entertainment.
Hey, that involvement in 'Titanic' is why she can now pick interesting roles and films.

January 19: There have been many mentions of 'Enigma' screening at the Sundance Film Festival in the past couple of days. I've posted the mentions (some with links to the articles) on the 'Enigma at Sundance' page. The Salt Lake City Tribune has Mick Jagger and Kate on their 'totally unofficial, incomplete and potentially erroneous list of folks you might spot' at the festival. I think Mick's presence would do a lot to get the film sold to a distributor, and so would Kate's, but that's unlikely. We'll see...

January 19: More on 'Enigma' at the Sundance Film Festival from David Germain, AP Movie Writer:
This year's lineup at Sundance, the industry's premiere showcase for independent film, reflects a growing convergence between studio pictures and shoestring moviemaking…
"We're seeing a different range of influences. It's not just Bergman and Fellini and Kurosawa," said festival co-director Geoffrey Gilmore. "The work we have in the festival is all over the place. If you look at the films, they seem to be coming from so many different directions."
...In the wake of "U-571" comes "Enigma," director Michael Apted's spy caper about Allied efforts to crack the U-boat code. Kate Winslet and Dougray Scott star.

January 17: Jeffrey Wells mentions 'Enigma' in his weekly column for Reel.com:
[The Sundance Film] festival - which kicks off Thursday night… will produce the same ink, excitement, and frayed tempers it always has (and always will). Some films will be acquired; others will be trashed. And with any luck, a few surprises will pop through.
It's true about fewer films being screened, though. This is due to the usual (but increasingly popular, apparently) seller strategy that attempts to use festival excitement about a film to invigorate the bidding and raise the price, which never works as well if buyers have seen the films in advance.
The buyers, I'm told, are going to be paying special attention to Donnie Darko, Tom DiCillo's Double Whammy, Michael Apted and Tom Stoppard's Enigma, Lift, Lost and Delirious, Scotland PA, Alison Anders' Things Behind the Sun, The Natural History of the Chicken (a doc), The Business of Strangers, In the Bedroom, Jump Tomorrow, and Wet Hot American Summer.

January 17: Today's issue of Entertainment Daily lists Enigma as one of the most 'buzzed about entries' at the Sundance Film Festival:
"Fest of Times" - Here are the Sundance movies that have Hollywood buzzing:
Hollywood is relocating -- or at least it seems that way -- to Park City, Utah, for the Sundance Film Festival (Jan. 18 - 28). Since 1985, the indie festival has been one of the industry's favorite places to shop for new talent, and not just because execs can ski between screenings. Sundance has regularly showcased movies that have later become hits with both critics and audiences… This year's most buzzed about entries:
ENIGMA
WHO Kate Winslet, Dougray Scott, Jeremy Northam, Saffron Burrows
WHY IT'S HOT Produced by the weird combo of Mick Jagger and ''SNL'' head Lorne Michaels, and directed by Michael Apted (''The World Is Not Enough''), this is a WWII espionage thriller about a group of mathematicians who must crack a Nazi code before German troops can destroy an Allied shipping convoy.
BRIGHT SIDE Screenwriter Tom Stoppard also penned the hit ''Shakespeare in Love'' and cowrote ''Brazil'' with Terry Gilliam, so expect the plot to be both smart and involving.
BUT Audiences may prefer their WWII dramas with more action (as in the upcoming ''Pearl Harbor''), and mathematicians haven't been heroic since ''Revenge of the Nerds.''
The other films on the list are: The Business of Strangers, Donnie Darko, Double Whammy, Green Dragon, Hedwig and the Angry Inch, and In The Bedroom.

January 2: The Sundance Film Festival site has added a page on Enigma ( Film Capsule). Kate's most recently completed film screens at Sundance January 22, 23 and 24. (Thanks to Sylvia of Dougray Scott in Focus for emailing me the link!) Here's an excerpt:
Produced by Mick Jagger and Lorne Michaels, and featuring the alluring Saffron Burrows, an impressive performance by Dougray Scott, and an appealing and convincing turn by Kate Winslet, Enigma reaffirms the viability and endless versatility of the classic genre film.
This project is much more 'commercial' than recent projects, and I hope it picks up a great U.S. distributor at Sundance!

December 7: BBC News has a feature article on the Sundance Film Festival. The big news there is that Enigma has been selected:
"Enigma Premieres At Sundance" -- The Sundance Film Festival will première the British film Enigma, the adaptation of Richard Harris' novel which chronicles British efforts to decode German transmissions during World War Two. The film, directed by Michael Apted, stars Kate Winslet, Jeremy Northam and Dougray Scott. It focuses on the efforts of British decoders at Bletchley Park near Milton Keynes, the UK's top secret wartime decoding centre. Harris' book is based on fact but the plot line, involving a Nazi attempt to overturn the work of the decoders, is fictional. The Sundance festival, founded by Robert Redford, is the highlight of the US independent film calendar. The festival opens in January.
This is the cute pic
the BBC used for the story


December 6: I have posted on the "Features" page nice interviews with Kate and Dougray from Film Review Magazine. Thanks to my pal Sylvia of Dougray Scott in Focus!

December 5: I found another mention of Enigma being included in the lineup at the Sundance Film Festival. This item is from the New York Post:
Among foreign films, the most prominent debut is the British "Enigma," from "The World is Not Enough" director Michael Apted. Kate Winslet and "Mission: Impossible 2" villain Dougray Scott star in this fact-based story about World War II code-breaking.
The official screening list will be released tomorrow.

December 4: I found this mention of Enigma in Jeffrey Wells' column on Reel.com:
Why is it every time the initial Sundance Film Festival selections are announced I feel slightly underwhelmed? Because I don't know anything about most of them, and first impressions are never very encompassing. The opening night attraction is Paramount Classics' My First Mister, from director /actress Christine Lahti. I saw Jonathan Glazer's Sexy Beast and Rob Sitch's The Dish as Toronto, and I can testify to their quality. Bruce Wagner's Women in Film sounds … who knows? But Wagner's an interesting writer. Michael Apted's The Enigma, with Kate Winslet and Dougray Scott, is supposed to be pretty good. A film version of John Cameron Mitchell's Hedwig and the Angry Inch should be intriguing - the play was a big hit in NYC.

November 30: My pal Sylvia of Dougray Scott in Focus emailed me with the news that "Enigma" may be screened at the Sundance Film Festival! Here's an excerpt from a Variety story picked up by Yahoo! News:
"'Madison,' 'Valentine' Likely to Open Sundance" - The Sundance Film Festival will unspool Jan. 18-28. Other pictures expected to join the lineup include… Intermedia's ''Enigma,'' produced by Mick Jagger…
Inside.com also has the news:
The waiting is over for filmmakers who submitted their work for next year's Sundance Film Festival. Although the lineup has not been completely finalized, festival organizers this week began notifying the chosen ones whose films will be shown during the Park City, Utah, event, which runs Jan. 18 through 28... Among the other films expected to screen are... Michael Apted's Enigma, starring Kate Winslet and Dougray Scott.

November 21: From Army Archerd's column for Variety, this mention of Enigma. (Thanks to Sylvia of Dougray Scott in Focus for the tip!)
Also in London next week will be [Lorne] Michaels to shoot a new ending for "Enigma" -- "in the interest of clarity."

November 20: My pal Sylvia of Dougray Scott in Focus emailed me with news of this Empire Magazine article (December 2000 issue) sent to her by Niki:
"Front Row Set Visit - Enigma," by CK
    We are in the war room. We are, in fact, standing over a sea map so huge, so studded with toy ships, it would make Peter Snow weep with joy, and the director of operations, Michael Apted, is outlining the scale of the problem: "We've lost track of the U-boats." Ah.
    For all those Yanks who thought that Jon Bon Jovi and chums had already solved the whole Nazi sub problem with U-571, Michael Apted's adaptation of the Robert Harris bestseller will function as both unofficial sequel and historical corrective. Meanwhile, all those Daily Mail readers who broke out in hives when Texan Matthew McConaughey won the war can rest easy: this is an all-British affair. Directed by Apted, scripted by Tom Stoppard, and starring Dougray Scott, Kate Winslet and Saffron Burrows, Enigma even has a producer who's a genuine English folk hero -- Mr. Mick Jagger.
    Enigma code-breaking operations originally took place in Bletchely Park, but Apted has used the stately pile of Luton Hoo in damp, rural Bedfordshire as a suitable double. Deep in the bowels of the ramshackle mansion, Apted's lead, Ton Jericho (Scott), has been explaining the mysteries of the Enigma code-breaking machine to an assortment of American and British brass -- the supporting cast includes Corin Redgrave, Jeremy Northam, and Nicholas Rowe. "These scenes will set up the drama of the film in a way," explains Apted, "how important it is to crack the code. So this scene here with the maps explains what's at stake: 'Here are our boys, and if they get blown up we're in big trouble.'"
    Marshalled by the stead hand of veteran filmmaker Apted, the genre-blending -- romance, thriller, war movie -- Enigma should stay free from big trouble, even if the director admits that Harris' famous eye for detail could have made for a full movie: "The first scripts made your eyes water, with all the technicality, but we've beefed up the emotional aspect to try and balance off the dryness of the code-breaking."      Nevertheless, it was Bletchley Park's place in history which hooked Apted. "This story speaks of a real heroism, not a kind of contrived, phoney, inaccurate heroism. I was born in the Second World War and it was just a great moment in British history." Take that, U-571.

October 31: Tamara of Dougray Net has received the following info from her contact at Intermedia and graciously notified me.
Predicted worldwide theatrical release Spring/Summer 2001. The following countries currently have confirmed distributors as of October 31, 2000:
Germany (Senator Film)
Israel (Shapira Films)
Middle East (Al Massa)
South Africa (Video Vision)
Thailand (Mongkol Cinema Company)
Malaysia (Sunny Films)

October 31: From the Hollywood Reporter (October 24-30 issue):
"Independent Study - The success or fialure of Intermedia's risky long-term expansion strategy will be closely monitored by a troubled indie film world," by Stephen Galloway
    Among the films Intermedia is green lighting are Micahel Apted's thrilled "Enigma"; the Kate Winslet-starrer "Therese Raquin"; and the romantic comedy "The Wedding Planner," with Jennifer Lopez and Matthew McConaughey. It is on these pictures and others like them that Intermedia's future will rest.
    Much is at stake - not just for the company itself, but for the independent world at whose apex Intermedia now stands. If Intermedia works in its present, deep-coffered incarnation, other companies like it will probably follow; if it fails, many investors - especially in Germany - will be scared away, and a great chunk of the indid business many be doomed.     
The HR used a b&w pic of Kate with the Enigma machine, with this caption:
TESTING KATE: Kate Winslet will be seen in two upcoming Intermedia titles: the World War II thriller "Enigma" (above) and the
Period drama "Therese Raquin".

October 18: I found this item on the Intermedia home page:
"Enigma Mystery Takes New Twist"
Oct 18, 2000 - The case of the stolen Enigma cipher machine took a fresh twist when it was discovered in the offices of BBC's Newsnight. It had been sent to presenter Jeremy Paxman. Sadly, three of the four decoder rotors were missing.
The Enigma machine was stolen from Bletchley Park in April. The wartime code-cracking facility near Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire is the setting for the Intermedia production Enigma, which is currently in post-production.
A letter from a man claiming to be acting on behalf of "The Master" had asked for a £25,000 payment for the machine, which he claimed his employer had bought not realising it had been stolen. When assurances of immunity from police prosecution were not satisfactorily expressed, a threat to destroy the device was made.
Intermedia's World War II code-cracking drama Enigma is directed by Michael Apted, and stars Dougray Scott, Kate Winslet and Saffron Burrows.

October 18: Here's more on the return of the stolen Engima machine, from the Sun:
"Paxman Unravels Enigma Mystery" -
    A Wartime decoding machine stolen from a museum has been posted to BBC Newsnight host Jeremy Paxman. The Enigma decoder - used to break Nazi codes during WWII and valued at around pounds 100,000 - was stolen from former spy HQ Bletchley Park six months ago.
    Police had all but given up hope of recovering the typewriter-sized device after negotiations with an unknown man broke down. But yesterday brash Paxman opened a package at BBC offices addressed to him to find the machine which played a vital role in Britain's war effort.
    Last night, the fearsome political interviewer said: "As soon as I opened it I realised what it was. I haven't a clue why they sent it to me. As far as I know I haven't got a reputation as a receiver of stolen goods. I'm delighted to be able to return it to its rightful owner. What they did at Bletchley Park during the war was quite outstanding."

The UK Telegraph also covered the story -- Stolen Enigma machine.

October 18: The stolen Enigma machine has been mailed to a BBC news host; this from the Daily Record:
"Paxman Unravels Enigma Mystery" -
A Wartime decoding machine stolen from a museum has been posted to BBC Newsnight host Jeremy Paxman. The Enigma decoder - used to break Nazi codes during WWII and valued at around pounds 100,000 - was stolen from former spy HQ Bletchley Park six months ago.
Police had all but given up hope of recovering the typewriter-sized device after negotiations with an unknown man broke down. But yesterday brash Paxman opened a package at BBC offices addressed to him to find the machine which played a vital role in Britain's war effort.
Last night, the fearsome political interviewer said: "As soon as I opened it I realised what it was. I haven't a clue why they sent it to me. As far as I know I haven't got a reputation as a receiver of stolen goods. I'm delighted to be able to return it to its rightful owner. What they did at Bletchley Park during the war was quite outstanding."

October 4: I found a great review from the recent test screening! It's posted on the "Reviews" page. Excerpt:
The performances are all outstanding, and it was great to see Kate Winslet play such a pre-Titanic part without pride or vanity - there are a few scenes where she looks plump in a Hollywood way. Dougray Scott is fantastic as a manic depressive, repressively handsome, genius.

October 3: I found more on the recent 'test' screening of Enigma:
Thanks to a friend in our biz we were placed in contact with an individual who recently saw a test screening of Enigma. They generally liked what they saw and filed this report for us:
"This is a fair movie as it stands now. They told us at the start that the special effects were incomplete. They did look cheap, ie. a toy boat in a tub of water with something exploding next to it. I did not care for any of the characters' lives, as they did not write in any details on them. Dougray Scott did a good job with his character of Tom Jericho, but the makeup made him look deranged and unkempt with dark circles under his red eyes one night and then 'cleaned up' the next morning. Kate Winslet brought a limited life to her character of Hester, a cog in the English war effort to crack the German enigma code. She falls in love with Tom. He however is infatuated with Claire and can't understand why she dumped him a month earlier causing a breakdown. Other characters pop in and out of the story. 'Puc' is introduced late in the movie as are his tie-ins with the plot. All this is going on while a wolf pack of U-boats zeros in on a convoy crossing the Atlantic. They asked a group to stay after the movie to discuss it and had all of us fill out a 2 page survey on it. Hopefully they'll listen and have a better, more drama/action/suspense movie when it's released." By "LSJ"

September 29: Tamara of Dougray Net passed along this news item about Enigma, from Corona's Coming Attractions:
Ladies and gentlemen, the shortest test screening review [of Enigma] we've ever seen: "caught a test screening 9/27/2000. Mostly finished... some sound needs to be fixed, the score isn't done, computer effects need to be added, but all in all it shaped up nicely. not much else to tell about it, really." [We need more, anonymous!]

September 22: Kate and Jim were seen at the Donmar Warehouse (theater) last night. Enigma costar Dougray Scott is starring in "To The Green Fields Beyond" in London. The play is currently in previews, and will open September 25.  Thanks to Tamara of Dougray Net for the news!

September 12: I found this item on BBC News. Remember reading about the Enigma machine that was stolen in April from the Bletchley Park Museum?
    A ransom letter demanding a "five figure sum" for the return of a machine which was vital in cracking Second World War German codes has been sent to the museum it was stolen from. Detectives leading the hunt for the Enigma machine - stolen from Bletchley Park Museum - have revealed that a "highly unusual" letter was posted to chief executive Christine Large. The typewriter-sized machine, believed to be worth more than £100,000, was taken from a display cabinet during an open day at the Buckinghamshire estate on 1 April. During the war a team of mathematicians worked at Bletchley, which was known by the name Station X, to crack German codes. Detectives believe the letter, typed on A4 paper, contained details of the machine that only the people who have it would know.
    Broken English - A police source said: "The letter was in some kind of foreign language which had broken English in it." On the day of the theft, detectives fingerprinted hundreds of visitors at the popular park in Milton Keynes. Detectives had hoped the lengthy process of examining fingerprints might give clues as to who stole it. During the investigation Thames Valley Police liaised closely with Interpol and specialist antiques squads all over the world.
    The history of the Enigma machine is the subject of two Hollywood films - U-571 starring Harvey Keitel and Jon Bon Jovi and the forthcoming Enigma starring Kate Winslet.
    The machine enabled the Germans to send encrypted messages which could only be decoded by an operator using another Enigma machine set up in the same way. But very few were ever captured and the stolen machine is one of only three now in existence.
    During the initial inquiry, police had suggested that the machine may have been stolen to order and that the thief may not realise its value.

September 11: Tamara of Dougray Net found some interesting info about Enigma in an interview with Saffron Burrows that was published recently:
Saffron has also just completed the World War II film Enigma with Titanic stunner Kate Winslet and Fife-born hunk Dougray Scott. She explained: "Kate, Dougray and I are in a love triangle together. It's all about Bletchley Park trying to crack the German U-Boat Enigma codes during the Second World War. It was a time when you can trust no one, because everyone is lying and a potential spy. So you don't know who's the bad girl between Kate and I, although Dougray's really one of the good guys. But I end up having this huge fight with him and I get to punch him in the face, too. He was also left with a few bruises and was pretty impressed with my right hook. This was after sex - so I'm a pretty dangerous girl to get into bed." And Saffron, 27, joked: "There's a bit of pattern forming here because the girl I play in Enigma is almost exactly like Miss Julie. She's posh, screwed up in the head and has sex then beats the guys up - I better watch that I don't end up getting typecast."
Thanks, Tamara!

September 8: Lovely Tamara of Dougray Net emailed me with a link to a German film site (Enigma  zelluloid.de) that features a bit about Enigma - and a poster (no pics of the stars). A release date (in Germany) of March 29, 2001 is listed.

September 7: Thanks to my pal Sylvia of Dougray Scott in Focus for this find in the August edition of  6degrees:"
Hollywood Revisionism," by Jeremy Kay -
    Hollywood's in the sin bin for its loose interpretation of several crucial wartime events, which in the cases of 'U-571' and 'The Patriot' have united Tony Blair and war veterans in their fury… Films from all over the world have done this sort of thing for years, but Hollywood's current penchant for historical revisionism is disconcerting. No-one can deny that the Second World War would not have been won without the Americans, but victory would also have been impossible without the British and European forces and their extraordinary intelligence networks. Was it any wonder that UK veterans were shocked when 'Saving Private Ryan' erased their contribution to the Normandy Landings? Fiction has always been cute when it comes to selling us alternative realities - that's its job, after all - but when history is involved then interpretation runs the risk of becoming irresponsible propaganda. The situation is even more dangerous when we consider that cinema and broadcasting have huge appeal among teenagers. As the target audience of most films, those teenagers are far more likely to remember a version of history presented to them through the gleaming smile of some Hollywood pin-up than a schoolbook. America's cultural imperialism poses a risk to children, who don't have a fuller understanding of what happened before they were born.
    It would be churlish to suggest British filmmakers should do what they can to get their own back, but all eyes will inevitably turn to Michael Apted's adaptation of the Robert Harris thriller 'Enigma' when it comes out early next year. The film stars Kate Winslet and Dougray Scott and has been executive produced by Mick Jagger, a known collector of military memorabilia, and was scripted by Tom Stoppard. Many hope it will accurately represent the effort of the British boffins who worked round the clock at Bletchley Park in England to break the Engima codes once the device had been captured.

September 7: Tamara of Dougray Net sent me this item from the August 31 edition of the Boston Globe:
    Mick Jagger will not give up his reins on the Rolling Stones and continues his libidinous pursuit of young models worldwide, but at least he's putting his business schooling to use as a movie producer. Jagger's company, Jagged Films, which he owns with Victoria Pearman, has spent three years developing "Enigma," a World War II drama set in England.
    Now, Jagger's not had a lot of success on his film projects - an exception being his starring position in the recently re-released "Gimme Shelter," in which the devilish star turns impotent in the face of violence and threats of disruption from the Hell's Angels at the 1969 show at the Altamont Speedway.
    "Enigma" could bode better. It's directed by Michael Apted, adapted from Robert Harris's novel by Tom Stoppard, and it stars Kate Winslet and Dougray Scott. "I like to visit the set," says Jagger, but "you don't want to get in the way. It's a bit of a fine line." Apted called Jagger "pretty savvy . . . very supportive, and he hasn't tried to push his weight about."
    The film deals with a group of British mathematicians and soldiers who were trying to break a complex Nazi code at the Bletchley Park unit about 40 miles north of London. Last one out get the lights.
Thanks, Tamara!

September 6: I found this item in the Star Tribune:
Celebrities at the Venice Film Festival have been in short supply. But Mick Jagger and Jon Bon Jovi are helping fill the void. Jagger, who was in Venice as a film fan, has been in several movies himself and is co-producing "Enigma," a thriller starring Kate Winslet scheduled for release next year. Jagger was on the guest list for "Liam," among other film parties.

August 31: Thanks to my pal Sylvia of Dougray Scott in Focus for sending me this brief mention of Kate and Enigma. It's from an article about Dougray Scott that appeared in a Swedish publication:
Busy Schedule - Dougray Scott is tired. Four years of constant filming takes its toll. Last week he finished filming "Enigma", opposite Kate Winslet. Before that he did "För evigt en Askungesaga" ["Forever a Cinderella tale" - "Ever After" in the US.] co-starring Drew Barrymore, and "Deep Impact".  Playing the villain Sean Ambrose in "Mission Impossible 2" has proven to be a milestone in his career.
Read the entire story on Dougray ("Aftonbladet") on Sylvia's site.

August 30: There's another version of the Saffron Burrows interview on the Popcorn News site in which she mentions Kate and Enigma. (I posted a portion of the Guardian version August 26.) She actually had a few more nice things to say about Kate. Thanks to Sylvia of Dougray Scott in Focus for the tip!

Q: What's it been like making 'Enigma'?
A: Hmm, I loved doing that.

Q: Any particular reason?
A: I really enjoyed the director, Michael Apted [who made 'The World Is Not Enough']. And the cast - the ensemble - is really fantastic. There's Tom Hollander, Dougray Scott, Jeremy Northam, just a funny bunch of actors. But Apted is someone I had been admiring from since I was little, from [TV documentary] 'Seven-Up' and everything. And 'Thunderheart' - he got the best performance out of Val Kilmer ever. He's a funny guy, Apted. Very warm, lovely, but he sort of reprimands you and stuff. He's like the "I don't believe it" guy... Richard Wilson!

Also, I love that whole era the film's set in [during World War II]. When you go into a story like that, as with 'Miss Julie', I really like the idea that you meet people you'd never meet in the normal run of life. You go and research this stuff and you become very single-minded for a time. It's great because when you leave school, as an adult that doesn't normally happen to you. But it does with film or theatre. I think that's immensely satisfying.

Q: Kate Winslet's also in the film. What was she like to work with?
A: Great. She was pregnant. Looked gorgeous. She worked long hours and was pretty pregnant by the end, but she was brilliant. Gorgeous. We were in Amsterdam and she and I had to do the Charleston [dance] together and things. They built us a cottage to live in which I couldn't stand up in. So we got there and they had to raise the ceiling.

August 26: Saffron Burrows was asked about working on Enigma during an interview published today:
We're soon going to see you opposite Kate Winslet in Michael Apted's Enigma.
Mmm, I loved doing that.
Why?
I really enjoyed Michael Apted. He is someone I have admired since I was little, from Seven-Up and everything. And Thunderheart. He got the best performance out of Val Kilmer ever. He's a funny guy, Apted. Very warm and lovely, but he sort of reprimands you and stuff. He's like that old "I don't believe it" character Richard Wilson plays.
And how was working with Kate Winslet?
She was quite brilliant because we were working long hours and she was pretty pregnant by the end. We were in Amsterdam and she and I had to do the Charleston together. They built us a cottage to live in which I couldn't stand up in. When we got there, they had to raise the ceiling.


August 15: While doing my morning check of the official Enigma site, I found that desktop images have been added to their "elements" section, but, unfortunately, they don't include images of the film's stars.

August 9: The official Enigma site has been competely redesigned and updated today. (Yes, I do check it every day, LOL.) There are many sections that are not yet functional and are labeled 'coming soon', including 'PC downloads', 'merchandise' and competitions for prizes. There is a 'dossier' on the character Kate plays - you can view it here. You can also register on the official site for email updates. Tip - when the home page loads, click on each letter of "Enigma".

August 9: I hadn't checked the Bletchley Park site for a few days. (BP is the setting for much of Enigma.) My pal Sylvia of Dougray Scott In Focus found this story:
"The Boat Comes in to Bletchley Park" (Aug 1) -
    Most people connect British Bletchley Park with breaking the Enigma code and helping shorten WW2 by around two years. But earlier this year, an American U-Boat film called 'U571' seemed to suggest that Americans were responsible for the capture of vital Enigma secrets from German submarines.
    Prime Minister Tony Blair and Culture Secretary Chris Smith expressed their regret that the American film industry should have hijacked British history - again. Recent American blockbuster 'The Patriot' starring Mel Gibson has also been criticised for its historical bias and was described in the national press as, "the history movie as whitewash."
    Now, thanks to an agreement between the Bletchley Park Trust and Mick Jagger's film company, which is making a film called 'Enigma' based on Robert Harris's best-selling novel of the same name, a full scale section of the central part of a U-Boat is arriving at Bletchley Park on 1 August. The U-Boat section was part of the equipment used at Pinewood Studios during the filming of 'Enigma'. Some 52 feet long and with a conning tower 24 feet from ground level, it will be the focus for a new exhibition telling the true story of how Enigma secrets were captured from German submarines.
    The founder sponsor for the exhibition is Shoosmiths, a national law firm which has identified itself with the forward-looking plans for preserving and developing Bletchley Park. Trust Director Christine Large said,  "America played an important role in Bletchley Park's work, but it had not entered the second world war at the time Enigma secrets were first captured. The real story is far more exciting than any fiction. It is a tale of British bravery and ingenuity. The author Robert Harris, Mick Jagger's film company and the cast of 'Enigma' and our sponsors Shoosmiths are giving Bletchley Park tremendous support. We look forward to setting the record straight in the new exhibition, on which work begins immediately."
    For directions, phone 01908 640404.

August 2: More coverage of Dougray's new stage role from Mr. Showbiz:
"Great Scott! Dougray Teams With Mendes" -
    Dougray Scott didn't get to play Wolverine in X-Men -- the role that's made Aussie Hugh Jackman a breakout star - but he's still keeping busy.
    The Scottish-born Scott, who lost out on the role due to delays on Mission: Impossible 2 and a shoulder injury from the film's stunts - just finished up the spy film Enigma with Kate Winslet and will star in a play for Oscar-winning director Sam Mendes. Not too shabby, that.
    Mendes, the renowned theater director who snagged an Oscar his first time out for American Beauty, will direct Scott in To the Green Fields and Beyond, which will run this fall at Donmar Warehouse in London, Variety reports.
    Instead of following up his Oscar sweep with another film, Mendes opted to return to Donmar, where he's the artistic director and where his The Blue Room was a smash, thanks to Nicole Kidman's literally naked performance.
Green Fields revolves around a British tank corps fighting in France during WWI. Scott has signed on to play the role of Lt. Child. Rehearsals begin Wednesday, and the play will open in late September and run through Nov. 25.
Scott, like Mendes, is still considering his next film. Mendes has been working closely with Get Shorty scribe Scott Frank in developing the thriller The Lookout at DreamWorks, but he is otherwise unattached to the project, according to Variety.

August 1: Here's a mention of Kate and Enigma in an article about Dougray from the Boston Globe:
"Sam Mendes At Play in 'Fields'," By Michael Fleming -
    NEW YORK (Variety) - American Beauty director Sam Mendes has set Dougray Scott, who played the villain in Mission: Impossible 2, to star in To the Green Fields and Beyond, a play to run this fall at Donmar Warehouse in London.
    While Hollywood has been wondering what Mendes will do for his second film since his first won five Oscars, Mendes decided early on that he would first do a play at the Donmar Warehouse, where he's the artistic director. In his last project there, he directed The Blue Room with Nicole Kidman. Mendes had been expected to mount a production of Shakespeare's Twelfth Night, but changed his mind when he came across Nick Whitby's Green Fields play, which revolves around a British tank corps fighting in France during WWI.
    Scott has signed on to play the role of Lt. Child, with Ray Winstone (Nil by Mouth) also expected to star in the  production. Rehearsals begin Wednesday, and the play will open in late September and run through Nov. 25. While The Blue Room was hatched at Donmar and played Broadway, it's unclear whether this one would cross the pond as well.
    Scott, who, like Mendes, is looking at several possibilities for his next film, recently completed starring with Kate Winslet and Saffron Burrows in Enigma, the Michael Apted-directed drama produced by Mick Jagger. His last stint on the London stage came in 1993 in Unidentified Human Remains and the True Nature of Love.
    Mendes has not committed to his next film project, though he has been working closely with Get Shorty scribe Scott Frank in developing The Lookout, an original thriller by Frank, at DreamWorks.

July 30: I found a lengthy article about Mick Jagger in the Los Angeles Times. It is posted in its entirety on the "News Features" page. It contains this 'news':
There are no definite distribution plans yet for Enigma. Intermedia hopes to show the film to bidders by the end of the year, aiming for a 2001 release.

July 30: My pal Sylvia of Dougray Scott In Focus was able to get her hands on the August Total Film before I was, and scanned the pics and article for us. I transcribed the article:
"Winslet and Scott Meet Codes, Do Cracking in Enigma" -
    What with all the fuss and bluster over stoopid [their spelling] Americans rescrawling history thanks to U-571, Ze Brits are retilting the balance with a Blighty take on the code crackers who turned World War Two.
    Waterwing-lipped Rolling Stoner Mick Jagger is now aiming high with big-budget thriller Enigma, the first cinembryo to squelch from his movie womb Jagged Films and based on the novel by Fatherland's Robert Harris.
    Hot from romping it as the not-particularly-scary bad guy in M:I-2, Dougray Scott plays Thomas Jericho, a cryptanalyst jerked from a nervous breakdown when he's called to Nazi code-cracking HQ Bletchley Park to suss the impenetrable Enigma "Shark" code. However, no sooner does the number-cruncher land his fists on the cypher book that'll stop Nazi U-boats torpedoing British supplies than Bletchley blacks out in fear of a rat. With an American convoy churning towards the coast, girlfriend Saffron Burrows suddenly going AWOL and himself a suspect, it's down to Scott to gallop against the clock, crack the code and ditch the snitch with the help of frisky aide Kate Winslet.
    Boasting a best-of-Brit ensemble, an intrigue-weathered director in Gorky Park's Michael Apted and a screenplay co-adapted by Shakespeare in Love's Tom Stoppard, Enigma has all the elements needed for a quality conspiracy-buster. British auds should find out if it rocks or sucks when it premieres in the UK come spring 2001. In the meantime, gawp at how the team transported a millennial Trafalgar Square into a 1943-flavoured timewarp, complete with trilby extras and creaky Austin Healeys. Presumably sneaky CG will fill in the period gaps.

July 23: I found a Kate/Enigma mention in today's Guardian:
"Comedy Film Sparks New Enigma Row" -
    The wartime Enigma code is to star in another row about the way Hollywood handles history. The British stand-up comic Eddie Izzard and Matt le Blanc, from Channel 4's sitcom Friends, are to make All the Queen's Men, a comic version of the World War II code-breaking story set behind enemy lines. But the jokey plot, which involves cross-dressing and heel-clicking SS officers, has rung alarm bells in the Jewish community…
    U-571 enraged British historians because it was British naval officers who first captured the Enigma machine and code breakers working at Bletchley Park, Buckinghamshire, who cracked the communication system used by the Germans…
    All the Queen's Men is destined to hit cinemas hard on the heels of yet another screen version of the Bletchley Park story. Enigma, based on the bestselling Robert Harris novel, stars Kate Winslet and finished filming this spring.
Read the entire article at - Guardian Unlimited

July 20: I found this Enigma mention in "Celebrity News":
Mick Jagger has pin-pointed British actor Jude Law as his choice to portray him in a movie based on the Rolling Stone's life… His company, Jagged Films, is currently working on its first project - a version of the Second World War thriller Enigma (2001), by Robert Harris, starring Titanic (1997) star Kate Winslet.
The story was also in the UK Express ("Jude ready to roll as Jagger").
BBC News also carried the story: [Excerpt] Kate Winslet and Dougray Scott are currently filming the first of the Rolling Stone's projects - a movie version of Robert Harris' Second World War thriller Enigma.
It's nice that Enigma is mentioned often; I hope it increases interest in the film!

July 19: My pal Sylvia of Dougray Scott in Focus sent me an interview with Dougray from the June issue of Venice. Here's an excerpt:
Journalist: "Tell us about Enigma, which you're working on now in England."
Scott: "It's about the code breakers during WWII who helped crack the Nazi code and really deserve a lot of the credit for our winning the war. My character is a very cerebral guy who breaks these codes and there's a sort of murder mystery surrounding the story, as well. It's directed by Michael Apted (The World is Not Enough), who's brilliant. Kate Winslet's in it, as well. I spent five months researching the part, learning how to break codes. I spent time at Cambridge, working with mathematicians, which was fascinating. I think it's the most research I've ever done for a part, and it was quite grueling at times, because my mind doesn't work like that. I can do crosswords, but that's about the extent of my natural codebreaking ability! (laughs) Now I still can't break codes, but it looks like I can."
Read the entire article on Sylvia's site - June 2000 Venice

July 18: I found this mention of Enigma on Empire Online:
     All The Queen's Men, which begins shooting on August 3, will line up alongside U-571 and upcoming Kate Winslet starrer Enigma as the third film revolving around the German Enigma code. Who would have guessed cryptography could be so fascinating?

July 18: My pal Sylvia of  Dougray Scott in Focus e-mailed me last night with this mention of Kate and Enigma:
Scott has since lost that pumped-up look while he is currently in Britain filming the wartime thriller Enigma, based on the Robert Harris novel and co-starring Kate Winslet. Scott's character is "maths geek" hero Tom Jericho, who worked at Bletchley during World War II, helping to break the Germans' Enigma code.
Read the entire story about Dougray that is posted on Sylvia's site by following this link  - Total Wales

July 15: Sylvia of Dougray Scott in Focus scanned this item from the latest Empire magazine. It's in the article, "Top 20 Movies in the Works."

Empire always seems to be a bit behind on their news, LOL. It's great, though that Enigma was mentioned. Thanks for e-mailing me the item, Sylvia!

July 12: I found a mention of Kate and Enigma in a business article about Avenue Entertainment Group, Inc. and their alliance with Intermediafilm:
In February, Avenue entered into a three-year non-exclusive co-financing agreement with Intermedia Films. Intermedia will fund development expenses, co-finance production costs and internationally license all pictures undertaken by the two companies. Intermedia completed a successful initial public offering on the Germany's Neuer Market in May, and has a current valuation of approximately $1 Billion. Intermedia has financed and distributed numerous films including Sliding Doors, Hilary and Jackie, Sweet and Lowdown, and upcoming films The Wedding Planner starring Jennifer Lopez and Mathew McConaughey, as well as Enigma starring Kate Winslet.

July 7: I found a great article about the film on This is London - "Brits Hit Back at Hollywood Lies." It is posted on the "News Features" page. Following is an excerpt:
Kate Winslet had originally been considered for the role of the young codebreaker Hester. She had been rejected because she was pregnant but suddenly she announced that she wanted to do one more film before having her baby... The postscript to this is that while Hester is pregnant in the film, Miss Winslet herself was not pregnant "enough" and had to have extra padding.

July 7: I found this item on This is London; it may interest all those "codebreakers" out there:
"How The Code Was Cracked" -
    The "bombe room"at Bletchley Park was the inner sanctum of Station X where gifted mathematicians and codebreakers helped Britain win the war, and it has been faithfully reconstructed for Enigma. The room was the nexus of the decoding operation throughout the war. While the collection of huts grouped around the compound contained rows of tables with small Enigma encoders captured from German U-boats and other devices, the bombe room housed the six huge protocomputers, their constantly rotating drums rolling through the alphabetical permutations of the daily changing codes.
    The Forties technology was noisy, cumbersome and generated a great deal of heat. While codebreakers shivered in the other unheated huts, the engineers and keepers of the bombe machines sweltered. Most of them were Wrens and they often worked in their lingerie. Polish codebreakers christened their prototype Enigma codebreaking device a "bomby", reputedly after the ice-cream dessert fashionable when the machine was invented. An alternative theory behind the name is that the machines dropped weights when the correct wheel or rotor position was identified - in the way that aircraft dropped bombs.
    Alan Turing invented the bombe prototype, an electro-mechanical device which could work out the Enigma wheel settings and plugboard socket connections used by the Germans on any given day. With the use of a crib - a guessed-at meaning of a piece of intercepted code - the bombe would go through a sequence which would rule out the incorrect settings of the Enigma machine. The few remaining options could then be tested manually by the codebreakers.

July 6: I found this item about Saffron Burrows and Enigma on Popcorn News. (Sylvia of Dougray Scott in Focus and Tamara of Dougray Net also found the item and e-mailed me with the tip - thanks!)
"Saffron Talks 'Enigma'" -
    Some of Britain's best actors have been working together on Enigma, the true story of the World War II enigma decoders, and one of the stars, Saffron Burrows, tells Popcorn that the project has been great fun. "I loved working on it. The actors are a brilliant collection of people. There's Dougray Scott as the lead, and Kate Winslet and Jeremy Northam and some very, very funny performances."
    The actress, who starred in the big budget chomp-fest Deep Blue Sea, goes on to explain that their director, Michael Apted, saw the project not so much as "a film [that's] set in 1943, but actually something highly pertinent and almost thriller-like". What creates the tension, according to Burrows, is the fact that "you're never quite sure who is betraying who and if anyone's who they really say they are. My character is particularly deceptive." But she says the best moment throughout filming was seeing their director "being admonished by a woman in her 80s." The woman in question was one of several original enigma decoders who frequently visited the set, all of whom took delight in telling Apted and the actors that "we'd never have used that language. You've got that completely wrong."

July 6: May pal Sylvia of Dougray Scott in Focus sent me the following article from today's Herald. Dougray was interviewed on the set:
"Nothing's Impossible Guys," by John Molner -
…Even slimmer than usual - he's lost more than a stone to portray a character on the edge of a nervous breakdown - and with his hair cropped to a 1940s style, Dougray has teamed up with Kate Winslet to head the cast of director Michael Apted's take on the drama behind Britain cracking the Nazis' Enigma code…
    Specifically, our conversation centred on the impressive manner in which a boy from Glenrothes has found himself starring in the biggest blockbuster of the summer, Mission: Impossible 2. The movie, in which Hollywood superstar Tom Cruise and Dougray are protagonists, is already heading towards the $200m mark in the States. By the time Enigma reaches the screen, probably early next year, Dougray Scott will be a very hot property indeed.
    Mention of that fact causes the actor to shift uncomfortably in his chair. "I don't really think of it like that," he insists. "Of course, I am aware of the hugeness of it all, and how much my profile has risen in America, but I just try to concentrate on what I'm doing. But, because Mission has been so successful and I have had such wonderful reviews, it means more scripts come in and I get more film offers. I don't know what I will do next; it might be a big film or a small film. I'll do whatever interests me."
Dougray's comments on acting and showbiz sure remind me of Kate's remarks! Link to entire article on Sylvia's site - MI2 July 6 The Herald Dougray Scott Interview

July 6: Sylvia of Dougray Scott in Focus e-mailed me with these two items on Dougray Scott that mention Enigma:
   From Film Unlimited:
…The overrun cost Scott the part of Wolverine in Bryan Singer's forthcoming comic book adaptation, X-Men. So his next role exercised his brain rather than his body: a cryptographer in Michael Apted's adaptation of Robert Harris's wartime novel, Enigma. Scott shed the pounds he'd gained for M:I-2, and instead of hours in the gym spent hours in the library, learning the basics of codebreaking. Scott is now waiting to see how Britain will take to M:I-2. It has already enjoyed massive success in the US, taking around $200m. Perhaps he will never be able to pass unrecognised again.
    From This Is London:
…Certainly, he has enough on-screen potency to stand up against the irradiated star power of Tom Cruise without suffering from charisma meltdown. He combines the feral sexuality of a killer Celt with the soulful sensitivity of a modern matinee idol. Pumped up (through a ferocious regime) for M:I-2, his physique has subsequently altered radically for his current project, playing brainy codebreaker Tom Jericho in the forthcoming Enigma. Having seen M:I-2 hours before we meet, it is something of a shock to find a slight, introverted, softly spoken Scot in front of me, as opposed to the savage Sean Ambrose - Cruise's adversary.
Thanks, Sylvia!

July 4: I found this news on the Intermedia site today:
"Enigma Wraps" - of Robert Harris' best selling novel. The film, which stars Dougray Scott, Kate Winslet, Jeremy Northam and Saffron Burrows, was filmed in locations close to the original "Station X" (Bletchley Park), London, Scotland, Devon and the Netherlands, and is set for release in 2001.

July 3: I found this mention of Kate and Enigma on the Dark Horizons film news site. [The scene is not "new" to us, of course, but this pic is slightly different from the People.com pic.]
On-Set Shots: Brit mags Empire & Total Film recently ran these on-set shots from two very different flicks about events during WW2. On the left is Ben Affleck trying the full macho scruff look in Pearl Harbor, while on the right Dougray Scott tries sticking his tongue down Kate Winslet's throat in Enigma (hard work if you can get it). Thanks to 'Goose'.
Actually, the kiss is very sweet, IMHO.

June 29: This mention of Enigma was found on Empire online. Thanks to Tamara of Dougray Net for the tip!
Dougray, who had just finished filming Enigma the day before, told Empire Online that he loved filming in the UK, 'the film crews are the best - they like me!' But the lure of a British summer held no sway for the actor, who was heading off shortly to Spain for a well-earned break. 'I'll do another film at the end of August, but I haven't decided which one yet,' he told us.

June 15: I found this item in today's edition of Dark Horizons. It mentions the Enigma shoot last week that I reported here June 9:
Shooting took place early last week on this WW2 romantic thriller at the Great Central Railway in Loughborough and the Quorn Village Website snapped a whole bunch of stills during the shoot and have posted them up.
Go to the Quorn Village Website to view the photos (Kate was not there).

June 13: I found this item today in Dark Horizons. The Enigma pic referred to is one we've seen before - of Kate and Dougray with the Enigma machine.
So who the hell are Intermedia Film you say? This production company is quickly pushing out a huge amount of low-moderate budget flicks such as current screeners Small Time Crooks, Where the Heart Is, Mansfield Park and Love's Labour's Lost. Their portfolio for late 2000/early 2001 is equally impressive with the first two pics above from some of their films currently shooting: The WW2 thriller Enigma (Kate Winslet & Dougray Scott) and the romantic comedy The Wedding Planner (Matthew McConaughey & Jennifer Lopez). The third image though is a treat - the first released still from Sam Raimi's The Gift starring Cate Blanchett & Keanu Reeves, the shot originally appeared in the French version of Premiere magazine. Thanks to 'Claire' & CineBobine.

June 12: I just watched an interview with Mick Jagger on "Entertainment Tonight." Mick was shown on the set of Enigma, along with Dougray Scott. Kate was mentioned by Mick, and clips were shown of Kate at the BAFTA's, patting her tummy, along with that set pic of Kate 'padded'.
[Host Mary Hart] "Mick talks to us about making news once again away from the Rolling Stones."
[Mick] "It's your baby come to life, you could say. Yes, it could be your baby coming to life, in all its gruelling, screaming reality."
[Hart] "Mick's baby is 'Enigma,' a movie he's producing that stars Dougray Scott and Kate Winslet. Set in World War II, it's the first project from his company Jagged Films… It is keeping him busy. As producer, he had to work around Kate's pregnancy."
[Jagger] "We had to change to whole schedule of the movie around to make it earlier, and make all her scenes before she, you know, got too heavy with it."
[Hart] "Dougray Scott, the villain in 'Mission: Impossible 2' lost 22 pounds to play a code-cracking mathematician. That, plus meeting Jagger left him star struck, and he's impressed by the singer's dedication."
[Scott] "He's around a lot, so he's been very supportive."
[Hart] "At the center of the film is the Enigma machine, used during the war by the Germans to encode their messages. Jagger, a World War II buff, owns one of the originals."
[Jagger] "It's got two billion permutations and that's why the Germans thought it was impossible for any human being to crack."
[Hart] "And though he's producing now, Mick's not ruling out acting, as long as the part is right."
[Jagger] "I don't like, really, playing pop singers very much. I like being a pop singer, I don't like playing them in the movies."
Thanks to Tamara of Dougray Net for the tip that Mick would be interviewed on the program.

June 12: My pal Sylvia of Dougray Scott In Focus e-mailed me this pic (that her friend found) of Saffron Burrows (who plays Claire) on the set of "Enigma" -

June 12: Here's a mention of Enigma from Associated Newspapers, found by my pal Sylvia of Dougray Scott In Focus:
Mick Jagger visited Leicestershire to check on the progress of his new venture into the film world. The rock legend was at the Great Central Railway's Quorn station where his company Jagged Films was shooting its first production, Enigma. He bought the film rights to Robert Harris's novel about British codebreakers in the Second World War in 1995 and hired Tom Stoppard to write the screenplay. A spokeswoman for Jagged Films said: "Mick has taken a keen interest in filming and has visited every location. He was delighted by the way things were going and spent the whole afternoon with us." The film, which stars Kate Winslet and Dougray Scott, is directed by Michael Apted.

June 9: Tamara of Dougray Net e-mailed me about a transcript she did of an interview  with Dougray:
Fox News Channel - "In The Fox Light, June 8:
Interviewer: "Right now, he's filming a movie with Titanic's Kate Winslet, and Dougray Scott has taken some time out to talk to us live from London... You are doing a new movie with Titanic's Kate Winslet - I mentioned at the top. What kind of character is that and what kind of movie is that?"
Dougray: "Well, it's called Enigma. It's set in the second World War at a place called Bletchley Park which is where they broke all the German codes - you know the German's enciphered all their codes on a machine called the Enigma machine - and I play this intellectual mathematician genius who's one of the best code breakers who's very bookish and quite shy and a nervous character, and is brought out of his shell, really, by Winslet's character called Hester. And it's kind of... it's a drama, thriller, a bit of spy stuff, but it's an entirely different character again. Something I find very intriguing, and so I learn again about his life, which is what I love about acting. You get to find out about other people's lives doing your research. It's a wonderful script and I hope it will be a great film."
Thanks for sharing this with "Katers," Tamara!

June 9: Some scenes for  Enigma were filmed on the Great Central Railway, in the village of Quorn, Leicestershire, UK, between June 5th and 8th. Visit the Quorn Village Website for a description of the shoot (Kate was not there) and some set pics.
Thanks, again, to Tamara of Dougray Net for the lead!

June 8: Here's an excerpt from a new feature article on Kate that I just found. The entire article is posted on the Kate News page.
    Kate has just finished filming war-time thriller Enigma, her last project before the arrival of her new family. The movie about World War II code-breakers, which also stars Fife-born Dougray Scott, is likely to be released early next year. Kate had to look slim in most scenes but eight months pregnant in others. So she did the thin work early in the shooting before putting on padding to play the mother-to-be. "They were anticipating me being a lot larger so they decided to pad me out," she explained.
    Now her work is over, she plans to spend the next few months "lying flat on my back" until the baby arrives.

June 8: An Intermediafilm rep has confirmed that it IS Dougray Scott in the People.com pic kissing Kate. It was taken on May 29 in Trafalgar Square. Thanks to Sylvia of Dougray Scott in Focus for the info!

June 8: The topic of the Enigma machine and historical accuracy in films is a hot one this week in England!  BBC News, Empire magazine online, and other news sites have carried Prime Minister Tony Blair's comments about the film U-571. This item is from Yahoo! News:
London (Reuters) - Prime Minister Tony Blair said on Wednesday he agreed with those who were upset by a new U.S. movie that portrayed the Americans and not the British as the first to seize a German Enigma code machine in World War Two... Blair spoke in parliament… "They fought with very great distinction and bravery," Blair said of two British men who were awarded the George Cross posthumously for their role in seizing one of the Enigma devices, a machine used by the Nazis to send coded messages. "We honour their memory, of course we do. We hope that people realise these are people that in many cases sacrificed their lives in order that this country remain free."
    In reality British sailors were the first to grab one of the Enigma devices and the code was broken by cryptographers at the Bletchley Park centre, hastening the Allied victory by several years, historians believe.
We have read that those involved in the making of Enigma, starring Kate and Dougray, are striving for historical accuracy. I believe this controvery over U-571 can only help promote Enigma - in a good sense.
 
June 8: I found a mention of Kate in an article about her Enigma costar Saffron Burrows, who plays Claire (Hester's roommate):
...She was just back from Amsterdam, where she's been shooting opposite Kate Winslet in Enigma, directed by Michael Apted (of Seven Up fame), about the Second World War code-breaking centre. Learn more about Ms. Burrows at - This is London

June 7: From the Leicester Mercury. (Thanks to Tamara of Dougray Net)
    Rock superstar Mick Jagger steamed into Leicestershire yesterday in his new role as film producer. He was running the rule over the progress of his new venture into the film world. Jagger visited the Great Central Railway's Quorn Station where his company, Jagged Films, was shooting its first production, Enigma.
    Jagger bought the film rights to Robert Harris' novel about British codebreakers in the Second World War back in 1995, and hired playwright Tom Stoppard to write the screenplay. A spokeswoman for Jagged Films said: "Mick has taken a keen interest in filming and has visited every location. He was delighted by the way things were going, and spent the whole afternoon with us."
    Jagger returned to London last night, but shooting continues at Quorn today and tomorrow. The film, which stars Kate Winslet and Dougray Scott, is directed by Michael Apted.

June 4: Thanks to Tamara of Dougray Net for this item:
"Winslet Film Shoots Near Oban," by Stewart Fairlie -
Filming for a new £30million dollar film starring Kate Winslet took place near Oban yesterday. Stuntmen staged a fight in a fishing boat for a scene from Enigma, a film set in wartime Britain. Next week co-star Dougray Scott will be joining the team around Oban. About 40 actors and crew are staying in the town, and next week their numbers will swell to 70, giving local hotels and restaurants a boost. Linda Gamble, publicist for the production, said they wanted to keep the exact filming location secret, for safety reasons, as they do not want crowds turning up while potentially dangerous stunt work is going on. Miss Winslet has finished all her scenes for the film which was mainly shot in England. However, part of the plot sees a character being followed to Scotland, which is where the scenes around Oban come in. Filming is now nearing completion and Enigma is set to be released next spring or summer. Described as a romantic thriller it is based on the international best selling novel by Robert Harris and has been adapted for the screen by Tom Stoppard.
  
June 3: Here's a great pic of Kate on the Enigma set - thanks to Angela for the tip!
From People.com:
Kissing Kate: In private we're sure expectant mom Kate Winslet saves her kisses for husband Jim Threapleton, but on the London set of her upcoming film Enigma, costar Nikolaj Coster-Waldau was called into action for a smooch.
Hmm, the man in the pic looks more like Dougray.

June 2: The INTERMEDIAFILM site has been updated today - with a new look and new info.
    This info is on the Intermediafilm "home page" -
ENIGMA - After two weeks filming in Holland, shooting has resumed in locations north of London on the Michael Apted directed film of Robert Harris' best selling novel. Production is scheduled to be completed at the end of the month.
    This info is on the "Enigma" page on the Intermediafilm site:
In March 1943, Britain's elite team of young code-breakers are facing their worst nightmare: Nazi U-boats have unexpectedly changed their Enigma code and a convoy with 10,000 men is in peril. The authorities turn for help to Tom Jericho, a brilliant young mathematician and code-breaker. Unbeknown to his colleagues, Jericho has another equally baffling enigma of his own to unravel: Claire, the woman he loves, has disappeared and he suspects there may be a spy in their midst.
    They've used the photo that appeared in the Dutch newspaper article (that Josie had scanned for us previously):

June 2: I found this mention of Enigma in the Mirror. It is in a feature about the historical innacuracies in the film U-571.
"Film - Sunk By The Yanks Again - Hollywood is twisting historical truth in the name of big bucks," by Thomas Quinn:
...The American response to these cinematic atrocities is two-fold. On the one hand they claim American stars are justified because they pull in more box office dollars. Secondly, they argue that if we're so worried about the situation it is up to the British film industry to do something about it, and there are signs that this is actually now happening. Mick Jagger's company, Jagged Films, is currently making Enigma, a wartime tale involving the very same code-breaking machines featured in U-571. Its heroes are the code-breakers themselves, who cracked vital Nazi messages, and Dougray Scott, Kate Winslet, Jeremy Northam and Saffron Burrows lead the all-star, all-British cast. Sadly, by the time this modestly-budgeted flick is released - probably next year - it will have to overcome the memory of U-571's multi-million dollar array of special effects, star power and marketing muscle, if it is to stand any chance of correcting the historical wrongs perpetrated in the name of entertainment.

June 1: My pal Sylvia of Dougray Scott in Focus found this little news blurb for us in the Neal Travis column for Page Six:
"Mum's The Word For Kate" - It doesn't take a decoding genius to see that Kate Winslet soon will be a mama. She's kissing costar Nikolaj Coster-Waldau the other day in London while shooting Enigma, about how the Brits secretly cracked German codes in World War II.
Actually, the costar Kate was kissing is Dougray Scott. Mr. Travis probably picked up his incorrect info from People.com.

May 31: I found this mention of Enigma in another feature on Dougray Scott in Jam Showbiz news:
Scott is currently at home in England, working with director Michael Apted on the film version of the Richard Harris novel, Enigma. Scott stars alongside Kate Winslet in the spy thriller about Second World War code breakers.
The more Enigma is mentioned, the better! Link to article - Dastardly Dougray

May 30: I found a "new" article in the Daily Record that is a reworking of articles that have previously appeared:
Features - published 12.03am Tuesday, May 30, 2000 -
"Sorry But This is as Close as I Can Get" - Kiss Me Kate: Mum-to-be star shows her bump on set of new film:
    Titanic star Kate Winslet looked just swell on the set of her new film, Enigma. Heavily-pregnant Kate, who is expecting her first child in September, recently moaned that her bump was not as big as she wanted it to be. But as these pictures on the movie set show [no pics in the online article], she is getting so big that she had trouble kissing her Scottish co-star Dougray Scott in crucial scenes for the World War II drama. The 24-year-old actress said she was smaller than she had expected to be five months into her pregnancy.  She said: "I know people who got pregnant at the same time and they're huge. I was fully expecting to explode, although I'm sure I will eventually." In Enigma, Kate plays a codebreaker called Hester alongside Scott's character - a mathematician who cracks military messages scrambled by the Germans' fiendishly complicated Enigma machine.
    Rolling Stone Mick Jagger yesterday turned up on the London set of the pounds 12million movie which his company is producing with Intermedia Films. It was the leather-clad rocker's first appearance since the death of his mother, Eva.
    Enigma is the last film acclaimed actress Kate will make before she takes time out to concentrate on motherhood. She has vowed to take things easy once filming is over, while she and husband Jim Threapleton await the baby's arrival.  Kate has been putting in long days on filming but appeared in good spirits as she prepared to shoot these final scenes. One side-effect of her pregnancy has been a craving for fizzy cola sweets, tomatoes and blackcurrant juice. She has also battled severe bouts of morning sickness to make sure she is on set at the right time every day. The down-to-earth actress even snubbed the star treatment of chauffeur-driven cars to travel with the rest of the cast and crew in minibuses. Kate has admitted she is looking forward to taking a break after Enigma.  She said: "I've got one more week filming and that's it until after baby comes along."  She has no idea what the sex of their baby is. She said: "As long as it's got all its fingers and toes, we don't mind."
    When it comes to the secret of happiness, Kate seems to have cracked it.
Note: Kate gave the "I've got one more week of filming" quote the second week of May. Of course, she may have been called back.

May 30: I found this on The Mirror Online site (no pic):
"Great Winslet" -
    It may not be titanic yet, but Kate Winslet's bump is certainly growing at full speed.  And the pregnant 24-year-old actress was only too willing to show it off yesterday [I wonder if it was really yesterday?] during a break from filming.  Kate, whose baby is due in September, recently moaned that she was too small.  She said: "I know people who got pregnant the same time as me and they are absolutely huge." Now, though, she feels just swell on the set of the pounds 12million movie Enigma, co-produced by Rolling Stone Mick Jagger.
    Kate, who is married to director Jim Threapleton, plays a Second World War secret service worker. Her dowdy clothes are a stark contrast to the glam frocks she wore in the blockbuster Titanic. And she's had to fight severe bouts of morning sickness. But one thing's for sure. She can't wait for the berth.
["Berth" - ooh, what a clever play on words-LOL.]

May 30: I found this mention of Kate and Enigma in a feature on costar Dougray Scott:
Next on the Scott coming-attractions list is Enigma, Michael Apted's film version of the Richard Harris spy novel. He's currently shooting the World War II picture, about a code-breaker, in and around London with Kate Winslet and Saffron Burrows. It's a low-budget independent feature that's a stark contrast to the mega-million special effects of M:I-2.  That's fine with Scott, who is in no rush to exploit his fame.
Link to the article - Dougray is no dour Scott

From the Deutsche Presse-Agentur, May 30: (Thanks to Tamara of Dougray Net!)
"Mick Jagger Turns His Code Machine Hobby Into an Enigma Film" -
    Mick Jagger has turned his hobby of collecting secret service paraphernalia into a what he hopes will be a money- spinning film - on the famed German Enigma coding machine. The 56-year-old Rolling Stones singer is co-producer of the film "Enigma", which tells the story of a British team of specialists cracking the Enigma code used by the Germans in World War II. "The whole thing really interests me," he said as filming ended in London. "The enigma code was one of the last secrets of World War II. Nobody really knew about it until the 70s or early 80s."
    Jagger added that his first venture as a producer into the film business was not "much different from planning and going on tour" although many regarded it as a "no-go area for people like me coming out of the music business".
    The Enigma code, produced by a three-rotor cypher machine, was finally cracked by an army of experts - whom then prime minister Winston Churchill dubbed "the geese that laid the golden eggs, and never cackled".

May 27: I found this mention of Kate in a Yahoo interview with an Enigma co-star:
Tom Hollander is one of those actors who makes the most of his roles - even if he's only playing a supporting part. "At the moment I'm working with Michael Apted, who directed the last Bond film, on an adaptation of Robert Harris's Enigma. It's a 'faction' with Kate Winslet and Dougray Scott. He's a codebreaker who's also a romantic hero, and I'm the terribly nice chap who believes in him. And I smoke a pipe, which I've never done before."

May 24:  Kate's Enigma co-star, Dougray Scott, is profiled on Hollywood.com today:
With M:I-2 poised to be a smash, Scott's due for some frenzied attention of his own -- whether he welcomes it or not.  "I'm on my next film [The World War II drama Enigma] already, so I'm just thinking about that," Scott says. "And yeah, I think [M:i-2] is gonna be a huge movie, for the right reasons."
Look for more (deserved) media attention for Mr. Scott - and that will increase interest in Enigma.  Hollywood.com

From the Leicester Mercury, May 23: (Thanks to Tamara of Dougray Net!)
"Reel-life! Ambition" -
    Film-makers were overwhelmed by Loughborough people's response to their advertisement for extras to appear in Kate Winslet's forthcoming film, Enigma.
    Auditions held at Loughborough's Great Central Railway Station continued for eight hours, during which more than 1,200 screen hopefuls were documented and photographed. They queued the length of Platform 1 for a part in the film, which tells the true story of how the British code-breakers helped to win the Second World War. The man conducting the auditions for Mick Jagger's Jagged Films production, Simon Emmanuel, said: "I don't recall ever seeing so many people turn up for an audition."
    The decision as to which of the 1,200 will get one of the 200 parts in the location scenes to be shot at the Great Central Railway's Loughborough and Quorn stations between June 5 to 8, will be taken by heads of the wardrobe and make-up departments.
    The last time extras were recruited in numbers for a feature film made at Loughborough was for Richard Attenborough's Shadowlands, starring Anthony Hopkins.

May 21: I found this brief mention of Kate and Enigma in a NY Post interview with Dougray Scott:
Scott is in no danger of going Hollywood. Having just wrapped a multimillion-dollar film with two of the town's biggest players, this working-class boy seems oblivious to how the movie might alter his life.  "I'm really busy and not really thinking about that," says Scott, currently shooting Michael Apted's thriller Enigma with Kate Winslet. "I'm just happy to have been in it. If it makes a difference professionally, all well and good. Hopefully it won't affect my private life."
Sounds like Mr. Scott's and Ms. Winslet's attitudes about their careers and life are similar. Read the entire story (about the filming of Mission Impossible 2) at - NYPOST.COM

May 20: I found this item in Variety about the company producing Enigma:
Intermedia a Billionaire After Stellar IPO Launch, by Adam Dawtrey:
Company made $257 million by selling 28% of its shares:
    CANNES -- IM Internationalmedia -- better known to the film world as Intermedia -- became a billion-dollar company Thursday when it launched its IPO to a strong response on Frankfurt's Neuer Markt. The stock opened at 35 Euros ($31.50), 9% above the $28.70 issue price, and reached a buoyant $34.30 by the market close. The offer was 13½ times oversubscribed, an indicator of strong institutional interest. The closing price gives the company a market capitalization of $1.08 billion. Intermedia itself netted $257 million by selling 8.97 million shares (28% of the total 31.5 million) at the issue price, which was the top of its projected range.
    Merger mania - The IM Internationalmedia holding company was formed from the recent merger between Guy East and Nigel Sinclair's Intermedia and Moritz Bormann's Pacifica Entertainment. Bormann has a 20% stake in the company, while East and Sinclair have 12% apiece. The company, which is based in London and L.A., reported sales of $104 million in 1999. East, Sinclair and Bormann are co-CEOs, with Florian Bollen as chairman. Speaking from the market floor in Frankfurt, East commented, "It's great to have a company with such a stable, well-capitalized structure, which will enable us to support our producers better, so that they can make some wonderful films to deliver to our loyal network of distributors."

May 16: Here's the pic that Josie e-mailed me (that appeared in a Dutch newspaper) of Kate and Dougray Scott in a scene from Enigma! Please visit - Josie's Kate Winslet Site
Special thanks to Josie for allowing me to post her scan here!!
Following are excerpts from the Dutch newspaper article:
De Telegraaf (The Netherlands), May 13, 2000
By Henk van der Meyden
Translated and transcribed by Josephine van de Beld
    In the Amsterdam filmstudio - which the location must be kept secret - stands Kate Winslet, star of Titanic in front of the cameras to film the movie Enigma, a romantic thriller, half financed by Dutch investors.
    While Kate concentrates on her scene in the scenery of a small room on the first floor of a fake house, co-producer Rolling Stone Mick Jagger walks relaxed over the set in T-shirt and jeans. He wears - that's what being a star is all about - his sunglasses and looks so skinny you'd want to offer him a sandwich.
    Co-producer Jeroen Krabbe, or national filmidol, talks...with Mick Jagger. They seem to get along very well with eachother. Jagger says, "We have to keep to the schedule, because Kate is 5 months pregnant now. We can't have any delay." Jeroen says. "But she works very seriously."
    Kate pays in the role of Hester a visit to a young woman to find out if she - that's what's the story is about - knows who cracks the war-code machine of the English. Is she the source of the messages who get to the English? But her co-star, a young women who has to be very sexy for her role, only asks Kate. "Do you wanna dance with me?" End of scene.
    "Happily for Kate", says Ate de Jong, "they have written in the script that she is pregnant by the end of the movie. We don't have to cover things up really with baggy clothes." Jeroen Krabbe says, "Of course she doesn't feel comfortable, filming this movie in those conditions. She is, I think, also more tired."
    Dougray Scott plays the role of Jericho. In the story he has to investigate if the machine was sabotaged, so that the English received false information of the Germans. Kate in her role of Hester is his assistent and helps him. At first the main suspect is Jericho's ex-girlfriend, but other intrigues follow. While investigating, something beautiful blooms between Hester and Jericho. And of course there is a happy end with a pregnant Hester, who is like a ugly duckling at first in the movie, but appears to be a real beauty at last.
    Dougray is very open. He stars next to Tom Cruise, the second leading role in the new Mission Impossible movie. A star with a future, that is clear. He is not difficult. Ate de Jong thinks that there is a very good atmosphere on the set. He has experienced other things in Hollywood. Luckily nothing of that sort on the Enigma set.
[I have chosen to not post the entire article here - the reporter seemed to go out of his way to show Kate as unsociable, spending her time between takes in her trailer. Gee, maybe she spent her "free" time in her trailer because she is in her fifth month of pregnancy, is tired and still experiencing morning sickness, duh!  Didn't the Mirror reporter comment in April what a trouper she is, and how she had scored points with the cast and crew for her great attitude?]
Thanks again, Josie, for taking the time to translate the article and share with us!

May 13:  I found this in the UK Times:
"Film firm to raise £175m from float", by Raymond Snoddy, Media Editor -
Internationalmedia, the film company that boasts titles such as The Wedding Singer, is to raise £175 million as part of a flotation on Frankfurt's Neuer Markt.  It hopes to boost its listing with the release of an Anglo-German film, Enigma, starring Kate Winslet and based on the Robert Harris thriller about cracking the Nazi codes during the Second World War. "There is tremendous interest in the film in Germany," says Guy East, a director of Internationalmedia, which operates in London, Munich and Los Angeles. Enigma is an example of the 12 to 14 films planned annually by Internationalmedia, formed last year from a merger of Intermedia and Pacificia Film. The bookbuilding range for the IPO is between euro26 to euro32 (£15.34 to £18.88).
I guess the "powers that be" are thrilled that KW accepted this role, considering what that has done for their company!

May 10: There have been several news stories this week about Enigma screenplay author Tom Stoppard having been selected as a recipient of the prestigious UK "Order of Merit" this year. Our friend Ian has informed me that current "holders" of this honor include Baron (Roy) Jenkins, who worked at Bletchley Park, and Lucian Freud, father of Hideous Kinky author Esther Freud. (Thanks, Ian!)

May 10: I found this in yesterday's Variety:
MeesPierson Bank will 100% underwrite three English-lingo films from Mulholland Pictures, the Dutch outfit headed by actor Jeroen Krabbe, producer Ate de Jong and writer Edwin de Vries… The first pic, Enigma, a $28-million co-production with Mick Jagger's Jagged Films, is already lensing in the U.K. Directed by Michael Apted, the pic stars Kate Winslet and Dougray Scott.

May 9: My pal Sylvia of Dougray Scott in Focus found this for us in the Record/Mail (it's similar to the Mirror article I posted last night):
"I'm Not So Titanic, Says Pregnant Kate" -
    Pregnant Kate Winslet proudly showed off her bump yesterday but said: "I think I'm quite small for five months." The Titanic star said: "I know people at the same stage as me and they are absolutely huge. I was fully expecting to completely explode but at the moment I haven't."
    Kate is expecting her first child with husband Jim Threapleton in September. And she was happy to be caught by the cameras at Heathrow airport before flying to Amsterdam. Patting her tummy, the Hollywood beauty said her pregnancy was going "really great". And asked if the couple knew the baby's sex, Kate said: "No we don't - and we don't want to know either. We want it to be a surprise."
    The actress was flying to Holland to finish off her latest film Enigma, based on Robert Harris's novel about how German codes were broken in World War II. But Kate, who plays one of the code-breakers, was looking forward to when the filming is over. She said: "I've got one more week filming and that's it until after baby comes along." Thanks, again, Sylvia!

Dark Horizons and Ain't It Cool News have picked up the Enigma script review I posted yesterday. You'll find it on the "Script Reviews" page.
Harry of AICN comments that the reporter gives "you the packaging and the product but none of the nitty gritty, plot hinges or answers. Which makes it a safe and entertaining read about a project... that sounds pretty dang good."
Thanks to Sylvia of Dougray Scott in Focus for the heads up!

May 8: I found this tonight in The Mirror:
"Kate's Big Issue," by Matthew Wright -
    After all the tosh written about her weight, gorgeous Titanic star Kate Winslet had her own complaint yesterday - that she wasn't big enough. The pregnant actress proudly showed off her bump as she left Blighty for Amsterdam and then complained that she should be bigger as she's five months gone. "I'm quite small for five months," she giggled. "I know people who are absolutely huge." Kate, 25, [oops, wrong age] who is married to film director Jim Threapleton, said they have no idea what sex the baby is.  "As long as it's got all its fingers and toes, we don't mind," she said. The star has one week's filming left on Mick Jagger's WW II movie Enigma.

May 8: I found this article on Lineone entertainment news:
Hugh Grant Joins Board of IM InternationalMedia AG
•   Also Attn: Entertainment Corrs.
•   PR Newswire, London, May 8. This press release is transmitted on behalf of IM Internationalmedia AG.
    Munich - IM Internationalmedia AG, the film and media company, announced today that British actor and film producer, Hugh Grant, will join the company's Supervisory Board.
    Other members of the Supervisory Board are Antoinette Hiebeler-Hasner, Chairperson, a Munich-based financial consultant; Stefan van Moers, Deputy Chairperson, a Munich-based lawyer; and Mathias Deyle, a Munich-based film producer. Additional members joining prior to the IPO are Dr. Matthias Hink, Head of Global Finance, Dresdner Kleinwort Benson, London; and Tony Stewart, Managing Director of Hornbeam Holdings, Sydney. The supervisory board oversees the company's management board and represents the interests of shareholders.
    Hugh Grant's many successful film roles include Notting Hill, Four Weddings and a Funeral, and Mickey Blue Eyes, which he also co-produced. He stars in Woody Allen's upcoming film Small Time Crooks, which is being distributed internationally by the IM Internationalmedia group.
    IM Internationalmedia AG, is a diversified entertainment company with strategic alignments to a unique group of leading filmmakers and distributors. The company was formed in March this year by the merger of Intermedia (founded in 1996 by Guy East and Nigel Sinclair) and Pacifica (founded in 1997 by Moritz Bormann).
Intermedia has financed and distributed many UK films over the past three years including Sliding Doors, Oscar-nominated Hilary and Jackie, The Land Girls and Love's Labour's Lost. Blow Dry is currently in post-production and filming recently began on Enigma, directed by Michael Apted and starring Dougray Scott and Kate Winslet.
    IM Internationalmedia AG has 12 films scheduled for release this year including The Wedding Planner, starring Jennifer Lopez, which completed filming in San Francisco and Los Angeles in April.

May 5: I found this article on Dark Horizons:
Enigma - Heat Magazine landed these on-set shots of Dougray Scott and Kate Winslet in action on the set of the WW2 drama Enigma which just began filming around Europe, these shots most likely taken during the shooting of the scenes in Wales. Thanks to 'Goose'.
The pics are posted on the "Gallery" page.

Karen posted scans of the Now, and Heat, magazine articles on the kwfc mb; I have transcribed them for you here. (Thanks also to Brittany for the "heads up" of the Enigma set pics appearing in a UK newspaper.)
Thursday, 20 April, Hertfordshire -
"Mum-to-be Kate in hurry to finish filming"
    In her latest role in Enigma, a WWII drama about code-breaking (it's not half as dull as it sounds, promise), the normally glamorous Kate Winslet battles against frumpy early-40's garb and glasses. The pic is based on Robert Harris' best selling WWII novel about the race to break the German codes that directed U-boats, and also stars Dougray Scott and Saffron Burrows. Oscar winner Tom Stoppard (Shakespeare in Love) wrote the screenplay.
    Because of Winslet's pregnancy (she's five months gone), she's filming all of the scenes involving her in the first four weeks of shooting.
    Mick Jagger's company Jagged Films is financing the project, and Jagger even had to loan his own personal Enigma machine - the piece of kit that broke the code - when the one on set was stolen.
Pic caption: Ah, that's better, back in spring 2000's grey with red look (not spring 1941's grey with grey).

From the May 10 issue of Now magazine:
    Flame-haired, bespectacled and to put it charitably, rather dowdily dressed, Kate Winslet has never looked like this before. But it really is her. The Titanic actress, who's expecting her first child by husband film director Jim Threapleton in September, was shooting her last film before the birth. The reason for the dated dress is that she's starring in Enigma, a film set in the '40's, about the British war-time code-breakers who cracked Germany's military secrets.
    Kate, 24, says she's experiencing a craving for fizzy cola sweets, tomatoes and black currant juice as a result of her pregnancy. Sounds like a balanced diet.
   Thanks, Karen, for sharing the great Enigma set news!
    
I found more on Enigma from Popcorn News:
"Math's An 'Enigma' To Tom Hollander" -
    Maybe Baby star doesn't really know what he's talking about. Math was clearly never Tom Hollander's thing at school as the actor, who is currently filming Enigma with Kate Winslet, explained to Popcorn. Enigma is the true story about a brilliant codebreaker (played by Dougray Scott) who during the Second World War cracked an impenetrable German code, which cleared up a long-standing mystery. The trouble is Tom isn't too sure what he's talking about. "I can say 'Its DC406 and we've got a reference on, um, DX265,'" says the actor, "and I've absolutely no idea what I'm talking about." He doesn't think audiences will get it either but has a back-up plan at the ready, "they'll just understand that something really important is happening and everyone's a bit worried, 'Oh my God! It's DX165!' It's just the way you say it."
    He also found Rolling Stone Mick Jagger's involvement in the film (he's producing it) a little distracting. "I asked for him to be removed and of course nobody asked him to be moved. I did actually say to the director as a joke, 'sorry there's a Rolling Stone in my eyeline' and he didn't think it was funny."

May 4: Sylvia of  Dougray Scott in Focus  passed this along to us - From World Entertainment News Network:
Mick Jagger's On Set Visits To Enigma -
Rock star Mick Jagger and author Robert Harris are ditching their day jobs to lend a hand on the set of Kate Winslet's movie Enigma (2000). Jagger, whose company Jagged Films is producing the movie about British World War II code-breaking, has paid regular visits to the set - and was joined this week by the author of the hit novel on which the movie is based. Spokesperson Linda Gable says, "Sadly you won't ever see Mick in the movie because that would be too distracting, but he does visit quite regularly, and you will see his own personal Enigma machine briefly in the film. It's one of the rare four rotar machines." She continues, "The author Robert Harris has been along for a few days to see his characters in the flesh." Apart from the minor stir whenever Jagger turns up, the movie is well on schedule and unaffected by Winslet's pregnancy. Gable says, "We're on track to finish by the end of June. Everything's going smoothly. And Kate's pregnancy hasn't been a problem at all - I haven't seen any busloads of beetroot or marmite arriving to satisfy her cravings or anything!"
Thanks, Sylvia!

Tamara of Dougray Net passed along this news bit:
Variety - May 4, 2000
English film an 'Enigma' for Senator - By Liza Foreman
BERLIN -- German film distributor Senator Film has ventured into its first English-lingo production. Company is set to co-produce the Intermedia Film Distribution project Enigma, which will be directed by Michael Apted and stars Kate Winslet. Senator's CEO Hanno Huth is one of three exec producers on the film in addition to Intermedia's Guy East and Nigel Sinclair. Amberlon Pictures, Senator's London-based sales company, will handle sales of the continental European rights. In addition to these rights, Senator will also get a slice of worldwide revenues.
    Enigma, based on the bestseller by author Robert Harris, is about a couple of young mathematicians in Britain in 1943 who are trying to crack the Enigma Code of a German U-boat. Film will be produced by Mick Jagger's Jagged Films and Lorne Michael's Broadway Films.
Thanks, Tamara!

I found this small mention of "Enigma" in the "Future Films" column of the May Empire magazine:
"Enigma"
Starring: Dougray Scott, Saffron Burrows
Director: Michael Apted
Adaptation of Robert Harris' bestseller, starring Scott as the brilliant young man who has to race against time to crack a complex German code. Kate Winslet's name has also been mentioned in association with the project, scheduled to film this spring.
ETA: tba
[Not up-to-date info, but any mention of Kate's project is better than none.]

May 1: Another mention of "Enigma," this time in the May 1 Online Mirror, in an article about Mick Jagger:
Rolling Stone Mick Jagger may be a 57-year-old father-of-seven, but he still likes a night out. I'm told the old rogue and his pals had a wild evening in London… Jagger is currently overseeing production of Kate Winslet's new movie Enigma in Milton Keynes while polishing off a script for Martin Scorsese.

April 30: Mention of Kate and "Enigma" in a Sunday Herald article on Dougray Scott. [Follow this link to Sylvia's  Dougray Scott News Articles and Interviews  to read the entire article.]
    Scott has plenty to keep him from the terraces for the next few months. Enigma, an adaptation of a Robert Harris novel, has already dominated what little time he had with his family after filming Mission: Impossible II. He works best as an actor if he researches his roles. This one took him hurtling back to the story of the code breakers based at Bletchley Park, Buckinghamshire during the Second World War.
    The top secret site employed teams of mathematicians, linguists and chess champions and by the end of 1945, had 10,000 staff. With the help of decoding machines, the army of experts was able to solve the German Enigma code, which Berlin believed to be uncrackable. Scott spent hours visiting Bletchley Park's library, preparing for his role as a mathematical genius. Inevitably, with an actor of his dark good looks, there is a love story at the heart of the film. While attempting to break the Nazi codes, his character becomes obsessed with finding the woman he loves, played by Saffron Burrows. Winslet plays the colleague who helps him solve the true enigma plaguing his life.

April 29: I found another mention of "Enigma" in today's Irish Times.  This film is, so far, getting a lot of press. Let's hope it still is when it is released!
    Michael Apted's film of the Robert Harris novel Enigma is the first production from Jagged Films, the company formed by Mick Jagger and Victoria Pearman. Their future productions include The Map of Love, dealing with the love story of Dylan Thomas and his wife Caitlin, and The Long Play written by Jagger, Rich Cohen and Martin Scorsese, who is to direct this insider's look at the music business.
    Enigma, which started shooting in England last week, is a romantic thriller set among code breakers in 1943, and it stars Dougray Scott, Kate Winslet, Jeremy Northam and Saffron Burrows.

April 28: I found the following in a Liz Smith column:
Mick Jagger might not be Jerry Hall's idea of an always considerate guy, but the stars of Enigma, a World War II drama being produced for the screen by Jagger and Lorne Michaels, think he's swell - and smart. To get the cast - Kate Winslet, Jeremy Northam, Dougray Scott - in the proper mood, Mick made his own CD compilation of songs from the '40s, to be played on the set and in private as well. (Everybody got their own copy.) By the by, Miss Winslet is a few months pregnant, so all her scenes are being pushed ahead, before she really starts to show. Still, it's an arduous shoot - from 6 a.m. to 7:30 p.m. most nights, in dear, soggy old England.

April 22: What a trouper! I found this article in the Online Mirror:
"Is It Coat Winslet? All Change For New Movie Role" -
    Beneath a long coat, anorak, stern specs and a shock of red hair, Kate Winslet is a far cry from the beautifully tailored English blonde [?] of Titanic. Movie fans would have been hard put to spot the glamorous guest of this month's Bafta Film Awards in her new guise. But her professionalism won Oscar-style tributes from fellow cast members on the set of Enigma, a movie adaptation of Robert Harris's best-seller about Britain's wartime code-breakers.
    Kate, 25 [oops, wrong age!], and film director husband Jim Threapleton are expecting their first child in September. And the weather during shooting in Lea Valley, Herts, was foul enough for icebergs. But the mum-to-be soldiered on. Kate gained early brownie points by traveling around the set with the rest of the cast in a minibus, leaving her chauffeur driven Merc on the sidelines. And she won sympathy on a few flying visits to the loo. One onlooker said: "She emerged looking a bit green. Someone suggested she might be suffering a touch of morning sickness and that would seem to add up. But if she is, it hasn't stopped her being a real trouper. She stood around for ages in the rain and it was a really long day - she worked from about 8.30am until 7pm."

April 20: These two "Enigma" stories are courtesy of Sylvia, who has the great site  Dougray Scott in Focus -
From Urban Cinefile, April 19, 2000:
Shooting started this week in England on Mick Jagger's first film - as a producer. Enigma, starring Dougray Scott, Kate Winslet, Jeremy Northam and Saffron Burrows is a romantic thriller based on the novel by Robert Harris and is directed by Michael Apted (The World is Not Enough). It is set in wartime Britain in the world of espionage and code breaking. Lorne Michaels, the creator and executive producer of the legendary Saturday Night Live, is Jagger's producer partner. Among his film producer credits are Wayne's World, Tommy Boy and the forthcoming Ladies Man.

From Movie Mafia -
    "Yanks Reshape History in Enigma" - Mission Impossible 2 baddie Dougray Scott is out to show the Yanks they can't pretend to have broken the German Enigma code in World War 2. Scott heads the cast in a new British movie which claims to be the true story of what happened with Enigma. Dougray Scott, the ultra-baddie in Tom Cruise's soon-to-be-released Mission Impossible 2 will lead the British mission to show worldwide cinema audiences what wankers the Hollywood bosses are, rewriting World War 2 history to suit their own agenda. Scott and a line-up of top British talent will star in Enigma, which tells the true story of the British heroes who cracked the German code and even captured the Enigma machine.
    Last week the American movie U-571 opened in The States, depicting ala fantasy, a special team of Yankee warriors who broke the Enigma code and stole one of the code machines. Bond director Michael Apted (The World Is Not Enough) is about to roll the Enigma cameras in England. Shakespeare in Love Oscar-winning scribe Tom Stoppard has written the screenplay and stayed close to the real events. Now, the Brits strike back with the truth!

April 18: Thanks to Sylvia of Dougray Scott in Focus for sending me this story (that she found July 17) from the Western Mail & Echo Ltd. -
    Jagged’s first film, an adaptation of the Robert Harris bestseller Enigma, is currently in production, with pregnant Titanic star Kate Winslet in the lead role. Enigma went into production yesterday. Alongside Winslet, it stars award-winning actor Jeremy Northam, who starred in The Winslow Boy and An Ideal Husband, and Scottish heart-throb Dougray Scott, who appeared in This Year’s Love and is soon to be seen in Mission Impossible 2. Actress Saffron Burrows, recently seen in Deep Blue Sea, and Corin Redgrave will also feature.
    The thriller is directed by Michael Apted, who helmed the latest James Bond film, The World is Not Enough, and co-scripted by award-winning Shakespeare in Love screenwriter Sir Tom Stoppard.
    Jagger also has another rock ’n’ roll-industry movie in the pipeline, a comedy called Swap.

April 18: Another "Enigma" mention, this time on Yahoo! News:
...The first feature to be finished by Jagged Films will be an adaptation of the Robert Harris thriller Enigma about the battle to break German secret codes in World War Two. The film, starring Titanic heroine Kate Winslet, is being directed by Michael Apted, who led a 650-strong crew in the latest James Bond blockbuster The World is Not Enough. Playwright Tom Stoppard, who won an Oscar for his part in writing the much garlanded Shakespeare in Love, is collaborating on the script. Jagger, now 56, became fascinated by the plot of Enigma. He visited Bletchley Park, the nerve centre for Britain's Nazi code-breakers, and bought an Enigma code-breaking machine used by British counter-intelligence officers in the war.

Still more about "Enigma" on UK news sites last night:

From "Line One":
...Jagged's first film, an adaptation of Robert Harris bestseller Enigma, is currently in production, with pregnant Titanic star Kate Winslet in the lead role. The thriller is directed by Michael Apted, who helmed the latest James Bond film, The World is Not Enough, and co-scripted by award-winning Shakespeare in Love screenwriter Sir Tom Stoppard. Enigma went into production today. Alongside Winslet, it stars award-winning actor Jeremy Northam, who starred in The Winslow Boy and An Ideal Husband, and Scottish heart-throb Dougray Scott, who appeared in This Year's Love and is soon to be seen in Mission Impossible 2. Actress Saffron Burrows, recently seen in Deep Blue Sea, and Corin Redgrave will also feature.

From BBC News:
...Jagger has his own production company called Jagged…the first film to be finished by Jagged looks likely to be an adaptation of the Robert Harris best-selling thriller Enigma. The movie is already in production with Titanic and Holy Smoke actress Kate Winslet in the lead. Michael Apted, who directed the latest James Bond saga The World is Not Enough, is at the helm, while Shakespeare in Love screenwriter Tom Stoppard has collaborating on the script.
[Note: KW's role is not the lead role, unless the script differs greatly from the novel-LOL. That's why she's hoping to complete her scenes in about four weeks.]

I found a Press Release on the Intermediafilm site announcing the start of production. It is posted on the "News Features" page.

April 17 - Some of the first sequences are being shot at Chichley Hall.

April 16 - From the Online Mirror:
An article about the many films Mick Jagger's company is working on has a mention of Enigma - "…while his first effort, an adaptation of Robert Harris's best-seller Enigma, stars Kate Winslet."

April 15 - Received this story today from Tamara of Dougray Net. Rhiannon posted this news on the Dougray Scott Forum; a reporter from the Daily Mail tells of his talk with Jagger about his Enigma machine:
    Saffron Burrows was insistent that Mick Jagger used to have his very own Enigma code-breaking machine in the boot of his car. "That's where he kept it," the actress told me, "until another Engima machine was stolen from Bletchley."
    So I walked over to Jagger at the St. Martin's Hotel in Central London - scene of the fabulous joint Talk Magazine/Sky Pictures pre-BAFTA awards ceremony - and asked for confirmation. "Yes, I do, Baz, I have an Engima machine," Mick told me. "I got it at an auction two years ago. I'm fascinated by that period of history and the lengths we had to go to get the machine from the Germans."
    His interest in code-breaking was kindled by Robert Harris' best-selling novel Enigma and Mick took out an option on the film. That picture started shooting this week, with Dougray Scott, Kate Winslet, Miss Burrows, and other top-flight actors, including Jeremy Northam, Colin Redgrave, Nikolaj Coster-Waldau, and Tom Hollander, with director Michael Apted.
    "I have let Dougray use my machine in the film, as long as he gives it back afterwards," Mick said.
Thanks for the info, Tamara!

From the Gloucestershire Echo, April 15: (Thanks to Tamara of Dougray Net!)
"Star is Keen Collector: Jagger Backs Hunt for Enigma" -
    Rock star Mick Jagger has lent his support to the hunt for the GBP 100,000 Nazi Enigma code machine stolen while on loan from GCHQ. The Rolling Stones singer is a keen collector of intelligence memorabilia enthusiast and himself owns another Enigma machine, worth GBP 10,000. It is understood Mr Jagger used to keep the machine in the boot of his car until the theft from the Bletchley Park Museum in Milton Keynes on April 1.
    The stolen machine was on loan from GCHQ for the museum's display about the work carried out there by British experts during the Second World War to crack the cyphers used by the German armed forces, which were decoded using the Enigma machines. "Mick has told us that he's very sorry about what has happened and sent us several messages of support," said Bletchley Park director Christine Large. "He's very interested in intelligence memorabilia and owns a naval Enigma machine. He has visited us several times. He's also involved in a film about Enigma which is based on the novel by Robert Harris."
    Despite the best efforts of police in Milton Keynes and forces across the UK and Interpol, there is still no clue as to the location of the machine.
    The GCHQ machine, which was used by the German intelligence service, is one of only two of its type thought to have survived the war. The other is at the US National Cryptologic Museum.

April 14 - "Linzi" reported (on the kwfc mb) that she attended an "extras" casting call today for scenes to be shot in the next two weeks at Chichley Hall. She attends a college on the Bletchley Park site. Good luck!

Kate's previous co-star, Harvey Keitel, is starring in a new release - U-571 - that just happens to be about an Enigma machine! Small world, isn't it? Here are a few words about that film from someone who saw a preview:
"The film starts out pretty slow with plans of retaking a German sub with an 'enigma' code that allows German subs to communicate with one another. Things go fine until the Americans' sub is destroyed and they must take the German sub to England and Allied ground. The entire cast is top notch, including Harvey Keitel as chief of the boat! Tensions builds as the crew must return the enigma to the allies! Definitely one of the best submarine thrillers I have seen in years!"
If this film is successful, perhaps it will fuel interest in "our" Enigma.

April 12 - Josie also reports on the Holland shoot:
From a Dutch television site -
"Winslet and Jagger to the Netherlands "
The English actress Kate Winslet and Stones singer Mick Jagger visit the Netherlands for film shoots. The duo will arrive around May 8, they will stay for two weeks. It's about the movie Enigma produced by Jagger.
Visit Josie's great site - Josie's Kate Winslet Site

The agency Peters Fraser & Dunlop Group Ltd. posted this on their site today:
In what promises to be a very busy month for our clients the following projects are all in production:
Michael Apted has started pre-production on ENIGMA, adapted by Tom Stoppard from the novel by Robert Harris and starring Dougray Scott, Saffron Burrows, Kate Winslet, Nikolaj Coster-Waldau and Nicholas Rowe.

April 11 - Ian M. advises me that The Independent has an interview with Michael Apted, the director of Engima. The article features his previous work, but there is a mention of Enigma:
...The beautiful apartment in London's Little Venice is rented for the duration of his new film's shoot, and he can't wait for his wife and baby to join him from their home in Los Angeles. He's working on an adaptation of the Robert Harris novel Enigma starring Dougray Scott and the increasingly pregnant Kate Winslet.
Thanks, Ian! Follow this link to read the entire interview -Independent | news | UK

From etonline, April 7:
"Winslet's Enigma":
The beautiful Kate Winslet is getting ready to star in yet another period piece, this time teaming up with director Michael Apted (The World is Not Enough). Shooting on the upcoming feature Enigma is set to begin on April 18th, and co-stars the talented Dougray Scott (Ever After) and Saffron Burrows (Deep Blue Sea). The story is set in 1943 England, and revolves around a genius "code cracker" (Scott) who has already broken the Nazis' Enigma Code for U-Boats, and now he must do it again. The other element thrown into the mix is that one of his fellow British code breakers may be a spy -- so he must put on his detective's hat and solve that mystery as well. Shooting in England, Enigma will be unveiled in theaters sometime next year.

From BBC News, April 6:
"Pregnant Kate Winslet In Film Race Against Time" -
Pregnant Kate Winslet is to cram all her scenes in spy movie thriller Enigma into the first weeks of filming - to stop her bump showing on the big screen. With shooting starting in days (17APR00), movie-makers are anxious the British star finishes her part as a World War II codebreaker in under a month. Meanwhile, they will try to hide her four-month pregnant bump with baggy clothes on set. Linda Gamble, spokeswoman for production company Jagged Films, says, "Kate's pregnancy means we will have to do all her scenes first. She is very excited about the role. She has twice visited the museum at Bletchley Park where Britain's secret code-breaking HQ was during the war." Winslet has also telephoned real-life British codebreaker Mavis Batey, 78, for advice as she researches the part.

From Empire Online, April 6:
"Jagged Saves Covert Operation" -
    Police have not yet cracked the mystery of a prized prop stolen from Bletchley Park, the former spy base that serves as the setting for Enigma, the new film about British codebreakers in WWII. The prop in question, a genuine wartime encoding machine worth £100,000, went missing from the country house at the weekend.
     But now Mick Jagger - whose production company Jagged Films is making the film  -has sidled in to save the day. The singer, who is fascinated by secret intelligence work, has offered his own wartime codebreaking machine, purchased a few years ago at auction for the sum of £50,000, for the crew to use "in case filming depended on it."
     Jagged Films has reassured their anxious backer that the project "remains fully on schedule." The film's star Kate Winslet has also been striving for authenticity. It was reported this week that the actress had been quizzing veterans of the wartime operation as background research for her role.

From The UK Times, April 6: (Thanks to Tamara of Dougray Net!)
"Jagger Steps in on Covert Operation," By Mark Inglefield -
    Mick Jagger has swaggered to the rescue of Enigma, the film being made by his production company about Bletchley Park codebreakers. After reading that a prized machine had been stolen from the former spy base, the singer offered his own wartime decoder, bought a few years ago at auction for Pounds 50,000 (he is fascinated by covert intelligence work) for the use of the crew "in case filming depended on it".
    I am pleased to hear that Jagged Films, which has recruited Sir Tom Stoppard to adapt Robert Harris's book, has reassured their anxious backer that the project "remains fully on schedule".

From "Popcorn News", April 5:
"Winslet In A Hurry To Shoot 'Enigma' - British actress gets a bumpy ride on her new movie:
     In what may be a first, it looks like Kate Winslet won't be getting her kit off in her new movie Enigma. The Holy Smoke star is already four months pregnant, so the film's producers are dressing her in baggy clothes to avoid any telling signs of her bump. (Presumably it was either that or a script rewrite.)
    Filming on Enigma commences on April 17, with all of Winslet's scenes having to be shot in the first month. She will then take a pregnant pause before shooting Therese Raquin next year.

From eonline, February 25:
  ...Winslet, meanwhile, is keeping herself plenty busy before the birthing. She just finished shooting a movie about the life of the Marquis de Sade called Quills and is about to start shooting Enigma.
    With the tyke due in seven months, Kate'll have just enough enough time to sqeeze in the thriller based on a bestselling Robert Harris novel. "She wants to do one more film before the bump shows," Winslet's mother-in-law tells Britain's Mirror. "Then it will be down to get ready for the new arrival."
    Enigma is about a man's race against time to decipher a secret German code during World War II.

From EW Daily News, February 24:
Kate Winslet has signed for Enigma, the true story of British codebreakers cracking German codes.

From eonline, February 21:
Kate Winslet may get caught in an Enigma. The actress is in negotiations to star with Saffron Burrows in the historical drama that tells the story of a brilliant young man (Dougray Scott) racing against time to break a German code and solve a mystery. The Michael Apted-helmed flick starts shooting in London this spring.

From The Commercial Appeal, August 16, 1998: (Thanks to Tamara of Dougray Net!)
"Glitteratti" -
BYLINE: Roger Anderson, Scripps Howard News Service
Mick and the Movies: Following word a few months ago that Mick Jagger had scooped up the film rights to the hit spy novel Enigma, some (if not many) of you may have been wise enough to realize that the Mickster was fixing to go into the world of movie production in a big way. A recent item in the New York Post bears this notion out, saying Mick is trying to get Antonio Banderas to star in a movie about Che Guevara and has been chatting up his buds Harrison Ford and Jack Nicholson about becoming involved in such projects as a biopic of Dylan Thomas.
    ''Mick is very committed to making strong films,'' observes Victoria Pearman, a partner of his. ''These will be intelligent films for an adult audience, not mainstream comedies for the young.'' What a letdown.

From The Times, May 16, 1998: (Thanks to Tamara of Dougray Net!)
"Mick Jagger to Co-produce 'Enigma' Film," By Dalya Alberge -
    The rock star is working with Tom Stoppard on a movie of the book, writes Dalya Alberge in Cannes. The Rolling Stones star Mick Jagger has come to the Cannes Film Festival to announce that he will co-produce a $ 20-million (Pounds 12 1/2 million) movie version of Robert Harris's best-selling Second World War novel, Enigma.
    He is working with the playwright Tom Stoppard, whose dramas include Rosencrantz and Guilden stern Are Dead , and the director Michael Apted, who made Extreme Measures. The choice of Enigma, the story of the brilliant mathematician who breaks the Nazis' codes at Bletchley Park, the code-breaking centre, reflects Jagger's passion for spy films.
    The movie - a co-production with Jagger's Jagged Films, Intermedia, a British company, and Lorne Michaels's Broadway Video - will be shot in Britain in August. British actors are likely to be cast for the three principal roles.

From the Chattanooga Free Press, May 16, 1998: (Thanks to Tamara of Dougray Net!)
BYLINE: Howard Cross, Free Press Copy Editor
"Mick Jagger Busy On 3 Film Projects" -
    CANNES, France -- As if music weren't enough to keep him rolling, Mick Jagger is staying busy in the film business. Jagger, with his film company, Jagged Films, is working with Tom Stoppard on a $12 million movie based on Enigma, Robert Harris' World War II novel about cracking Nazi codes.
    Drawing on his own life with the Rolling Stones, he's also joining director Martin Scorsese to write a script on 30 years of the music business in New York, according to the Hollywood Reporter.
    In a press conference at the swanky Hotel du Cap on Thursday with the backers of Enigma, Jagger said Jagged also will start work later this year on Map of Love, on the romance between Dylan and Caitlin Thomas. The film will star Emily Watson, who starred recently with Daniel Day-Lewis in The Boxer.

From Daily Variety, May 15, 1998: (Thanks to Tamara of Dougray Net!)
"Intermedia joins team aboard Apted's 'Enigma," By Chris Petrikin -
    CANNES --- Guy East and Nigel Sinclair's Intermedia has teamed with Mick Jagger's Jagged Films and Lorne Michaels' Broadway Video to arrange financing and worldwide distribution for the feature Enigma, the parties announced Thursday at a press luncheon at the Hotel du Cap.
    Michael Apted takes the helm of the Tom Stoppard-scripted pic, which Jagger will co-produce with Michaels. East, Sinclair and Michael White will serve as executive producers along with Apted; Jagged Films' Victoria Pearman will co-executive produce.
    Nazi thriller Enigma is based on Stoppard's adaptation of the Robert Harris thriller chronicling a young man's frantic dash to crack the Nazi U-boat codes at Blechley during World War II. The intrigue ignites when the chief code cracker realizes his girlfriend and close colleague might be a German spy.
    Giving the film its potential marketing tagline, Apted said the pic "is about decoding love while decoding war --- a love story set against a major political event." Apted, who is finishing 42 Up, the fifth in his docu series, says the producers have made offers to a few actors for a number of the five main roles. The primary characters are all twentysomethings recruited by the British government for their mathematical and analytical prowess. The parties refused to name the actors being considered. Pic is slated to begin production in August in England.
    Enigma originally had been set up at Paramount under Michaels' deal with the studio, but now Intermedia will begin pre-selling the worldwide distribution rights to finance the $ 15 million-$ 20 million indie pic.
    Poetry in motion - Jagged also is producing The Map of Love, a love story about the complex and volatile relationship between Welsh poet Dylan Thomas and his wife Caitlin, as they travel from Wales to Los Angeles. Emily Watson has committed to star as Caitlin in the film, which Christopher Monger wrote and will direct. Summit is handling international sales.
    The L.A.-based indie also is branching out with film projects that include a music-oriented comedy based on Jagger's original idea, which the company is in talks to set up at Paramount, and an animated film to be produced in conjunction with L.A. media firm Storyopolis.

From The Toronto Sun, November 22, 1995: (Thanks to Tamara of Dougray Net!)
"MICK AN ENIGMA AS PRODUCER" -
    Paint him movie mogul. Mick Jagger is going to be a producer, Variety reports. Jagger and Lorne Michaels, the Saturday Night Live boss, have bought the film rights to Enigma. It's the Robert Harris thriller about breaking secret Nazi wartime codes.
    An announcement yesterday in London says the deal was struck last week for $ 650,000.
    The film will be made in England with a British crew, director and actors. Playwright-screenwriter Tom Stoppard, who is a friend of Harris's, might be interested in doing the screenplay.

From the Daily News, November 21, 1995:
EXTRA! EXTRA! LATE-BREAKING NEWS FROM THE WORLD OF ENTERTAINMENT
BYLINE: COMPILED BY PATRICIA O'HAIRE AND WIRE REPORTS
Jagger buys films rights to code-busting book -
    LONDON Rolling Stone Mick Jagger has bought the film rights to Enigma, a best-selling book about breaking secret Nazi wartime codes. A statement released yesterday said the deal was struck last week for $ 650,000. The book by former journalist Robert Harris is about a brilliant mathematician racing against time to crack the "Enigma" codes that German submarines used to track Allied ships during World War II.

From Daily Variety, November 20, 1995:
"Michaels, Jagger join for pic pact," By Michael Fleming -
    After years of turning out low-budget comedies populated by his former Saturday Night Live cast members for Paramount,Lorne Michaels has taken a decided departure by teaming with Rolling Stones topper Mick Jagger to option Robert Harris' new Random House thriller Enigma for low six figures against high six figures, sources said. Jagger and Michaels will produce.
    The storyline is far afield of  Wayne's World or The Coneheads. It's a drama about Project Enigma, the British operation that cracked the Nazi U-boat codes at Blechley during World War II. The intrigue results when the chief code cracker realizes his girlfriend and close colleague might be a German spy. The author is a friend of playwright and screenwriter Tom Stoppard, and sources said Stoppard may adapt the material.
    The movie deal was made by Jody Hotchkiss of Sterling Lord Literistics and Anthony Jones of British-based Peters Frazer & Dunlop.

From the Upcoming Movies web site -
Release Date: TBA 2001 (Spring for the UK; USA date will depend upon which company picks it up for distribution).
Distributor: Currently seeking distribution in the USA.
Greg's Preview Thoughts: "Though he recently helmed the new James Bond movie, director Michael Apted is really best known for slightly less... explosive dramas with elements of intrigue, such as Gorky Park, Thunderheart, and Gorillas in the Mist. This movie is probably closer in spirit to those films, especially considering the source novel. When I read Harris' first novel, Fatherland, it occurred to me that it was sort of an alternate-reality Third Reich version of, well, Gorky Park. So, if my intuition was anywhere near close, the combination of Apted and a Harris novel are sort of apropos. On a thematic note, the race to break the Enigma Code is also what U-571 is about.
    There's no word yet on distribution for this project in the USA, but with a few big names both as stars and creative talent, that's probably something that will happen in the coming months."