Michael Douglas To Play Ronald Reagan; The Artist Filmmaker Eyes Project: Biz Break

Also in Wednesday afternoon's round-up of news briefs, Rialto Pictures picks up theatrical rights to French company StudioCanal's massive library for the U.S. Indie Eden heads to theaters. Animation distributor has Oscar ambitions for several titles. And "Digital Hollywood" producer is dead of apparent suicide.

Rialto Pictures Acquires U.S. Theatrical Rights to France's StudioCanal's Massive Library
The New York-based company which specializes in classic film re-releases, celebrating its 15th anniversary this year, has signed a 3 year agreement with StudioCanal to handle the U.S. theatrical distribution of over 2,000 international classics owned by the French media giant. The film library is one of the largest in the world, includes classic films by Alfred Hitchcock, Jean Renoir, Jean-Luc Godard, Jean-Pierre Melville, Claude Chabrol, Abel Gance, Vittorio De Sica, Alain Resnais, Mike Nichols, Jacques Tati, Akira Kurosawa, Bertrand Tavernier, Orson Welles, and many others.

Megan Griffith's Eden Heads to Theaters
Jamie Chung (Premium Rush) Beau Bridges and Matt O'Leary star in the true story about a Korean-American teenager, dubbed Eden, who was smuggled into Las Vegas and imprisoned as a sex slave. She ensured her own survival by carving out power and influence within the organization that imprisoned her. Phase 4 Films picked up North American rights to the film, which it will release in early 2013.

GKIDS to Offer 4 Titles for Oscar Consideration
The animated distributor said it will feature four film to compete for the 2010 Best Animated Feature Oscar and the 2012 Annie Awards. The company is planning Oscar-qualifying L.A. runs in November for From Up On Poppy Hill, Le Tableau, The Rabbi's Cat and Zarafa. "All four films are unique and wonderful, each in their own way, and we look forward to sharing them with Academy voters and audiences across North America," said GKIDS head Eric Beckman.

Around the 'net…

Michael Douglas to Play Ronald Reagan in Indie
Titled Reykjavik, Douglas is in talks to play the 40th President of the U.S. The story takes place over a few days in 1986 when Reagan met Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev in Iceland's capital on an arms treaty. Participant Media will finance the $10 million project, THR reports.

The Artist Director Eyes Paramount's Will
The Artist won multiple Oscars including Best Picture this year and he is perhaps looking to Paramount project Will. The story revolves around an NGO worker in Chechnya, Deadline reports.

Digital Hollywood Producer Brian Gerber Found Dead
Gerber died of an apparent suicide Monday. He was founder and organizer of Digital Hollywood's bi-annual content summit, which aims to "bring the world of content creators into the fold of digital production, marketing and technology," LA Weekly reports.