Weinstein studio in writers' deal

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The film studio run by producers Bob and Harvey Weinstein has reached a deal with striking movie writers to allow it to resume working, it has said.

A spokesman for The Weinstein Company said the firm had come to an agreement with the Writers Guild of America.

The company, which made films including Factory Girl and Stormbreaker, can now re-start work on Nine, an adaptation of the Federico Fellini classic 8 1/2.

Work was suspended when writers went on strike over royalties on 5 November.

The deal will mean Anthony Minghella can complete the script, which is due to be filmed by Chicago director Rob Marshall.

Nine is reportedly due to star Javier Bardem, Penelope Cruz and Sophia Loren.

David Letterman returned after his company reached a deal with writersThe Weinstein Company spokesman Matthew Frankel told the Reuters news agency their deal was similar to an agreement reached by TV host David Letterman's production company Worldwide Pants.

Letterman's deal allowed writers to return to work on his show while most of his rivals were left without their script teams.

But despite returning with jokes and monologues intact, Letterman is still trailing Jay Leno - whose writers have not returned to work - in the ratings, according to industry bible Variety.

Meanwhile, the Writers Guild of America (WGA) is to cancel its own award ceremony if the strike continues.

The union's Los Angeles branch is due to hand out its awards on 9 February.

There are a lot of people out there associated with the industry for whom the sooner this work stoppage is over the better Tom Hanks No Country For Old Men, There Will Be Blood, Into the Wild and Knocked Up are among the nominees.

The WGA strike has already led the Golden Globes ceremony to be scrapped and several other award events to be scaled down.

Many ceremony organisers have been forced to rethink their plans because writers would picket their events and actors would refuse to cross the picket lines.

There is still a question mark over what form the Oscars will take, although organisers have said they hope to reach a deal that would allow the event to go ahead as planned.

Oscar winner Tom Hanks has urged an end to the dispute because he is worried about all the Hollywood crew members whose livelihoods have been hit.

"There are caterers and carpenters, craft service and electricians and gaffers," he said.

"There are a lot of people out there associated with the industry for whom the sooner this work stoppage is over the better.

"I just hope the big guys who make big decisions up high in corporate boardrooms get down to honest bargaining and everyone can get back to work."