Judge Sides With James Cameron In Avatar Copyright Case; Philip Seymour Hoffman To Direct Ezekiel Moss: Biz Break

Also in Tuesday morning's round-up of news briefs, Charlie Kaufman has turned to crowd funding (seemingly quite successfully) for a stop motion animation project. Richard Gere's Arbitrage is set to open a Middle Eastern film festival. And Park Chan-wook is set to direct a Corsican mafia story.

Judge Rules James Cameron & Fox Did Not Interfere with Copyright for Avatar
A U.S. district court said that Avatar did not infringe on the copyright of a screenwriter's novel, Bats and Butterflies. The court said the novel is a "children's story with a simple protagonist," while Avatar is a "more complex story about a conflicted protagonist," Deadline reports.

Philip Seymour Hoffman to Direct Supernatural Drama Ezekiel Moss
The script, written by Keith Bunin, which appeared on the 2011 Black List revolves around a mysterious stranger with the power to speak with the dead. He arrives in a small Nebraska town, transforming the lives of the people there including a widow and her young son, THR reports.

Charlie Kaufman Stop Motion Project Turns to Crowd Funding
Kaufman and his producing partners are using crowd funding source Kickstarter for their adaptation of a play, Anomalisa and have raised $406,237 for its production in 60 days. "We want to make Anomalisa without the interference of the typical big studio process," said a pitch video, Deadline reports.

Arbitrage to Open Abu Dhabi Film Festival
The Richard Gere starrer, which open to initial box office success in the U.S. in limited release last weekend will open the Abu Dhabi Film Festival. Gere and co-star Nate Parker are expected to attend the screening of the film set against the backdrop of hedge fund manipulation. The festival in the United Arab Emirates takes place October 11 - 20, THR reports.

Park Chan-wook to Direct Corsica 72
Park Chan-wook (I'm a Cyborg, But That's OK) will direct from the script that made the 2009 Black List. Set on the French island of Corsica in 1972, the story revolves around two friends heading in two different directions. One toward the a life in the mafia while the other toward a simpler life with his sweetheart. But when the Corsican mob kills the latter's brother, the two enter a blood feud that leads to a final showdown, Variety reports.