Long-Lost DEVIL & DANIEL WEBSTER Surfaces At Last

[AndyDursin]

With Alec Baldwin, Anthony Hopkins and Jennifer Love Hewitt (!!) as the Devil, this long-shelved problem movie is actually getting a release and cable debut.


NEW LIFE FOR BALDWIN 'DEVIL'

January 14, 2007 -- ALEC Baldwin's directorial debut will finally be released after a five-year wait - on cable, with a new title, and with Baldwin no longer credited as director. "The Devil and Daniel Webster," starring Jennifer Love Hewitt, Anthony Hopkins and Baldwin himself, is being sneaked onto Starz on Demand as "Shortcut to Happiness." Baldwin plays a struggling writer who sells his soul to the devil (Hewitt) for fame and fortune. Hopkins plays the powerful chief of a publishing house. It was assumed in cinema circles that the movie never got theatrical release because it stank. But Baldwin told reporters three years ago it had been seized by the feds. "Some of the film's investors are being investigated for bank fraud," he explained. "They claimed they had the money to make the movie but it turned out they didn't, so while we were making the movie they were bouncing checks all over New York." Producer Bob Yari evidently straightened out the mess and packaged the picture for Starz with "The Illusionist," starring Edward Norton and Jessica Biel, and "Find Me Guilty," the terrific Sidney Lumet project starring Vin Diesel that wasn't marketed properly.
http://www.nypost.com/php/pfriendly/pri ... gesix_.htm

[esteban miranda]

I didn't see any reason mentioned for Baldwin to not be credited as director. Any ideas...?

[AndyDursin]

It's possible whoever ended up with the rights re-cut the movie. I always thought the film was never fully completed -- or that it was taken out of Baldwin's hands in the editing stage if memory serves.