New Line Pacts with 'House' Mate
Wed Mar 6, 4:16 AM ET
By Dana Harris
HOLLYWOOD (Variety) - Hayden Christensen, who is on the cover of the March Vanity Fair in the character of his career-making role as Anakin Skywalker, the future Darth Vader in the "Star Wars" saga, has signed a production deal with New Line Cinema.
The actor recently starred in the studio's Kevin Kline starrer "Life as a House." Its two-year, first-look deal is with Forest Park Pictures, which Christensen runs with his older brother, Tove.
"(Hayden's) performance (in "Life") blew me away," New Line production president Toby Emmerich said. "By having a deal, my gut is that some really great things are going to come out of it."
The offices of Forest Park are based in Los Angeles, where Tove lives, but Hayden's home base remains the brothers' stomping grounds in Toronto.
Tove came to Los Angeles six years ago as a way to delay going to law school after graduating from the University of Pennsylvania. After flirting briefly with acting, Tove joined his brother in developing projects.
"Then Hayden got 'Star Wars,"' Tove said. "It both made things a lot easier and a lot more complicated. We're interested in developing character-driven material. We want to make movies that are more than a reason to go to the theater and eat popcorn."