Fox Rolls with Scorsese's Stones

[Brian Damage]

LOS ANGELES - Twentieth Century Fox is rolling with the Stones after snapping up distribution rights on Tuesday for Britain, Australia and New Zealand to Martin Scorsese's documentary on the Rolling Stones.

The studio picked up the trio of territories after sealing a deal with international sales and financier Fortissimo Films on the eve of this year's European Film Market in Berlin.

Paramount Pictures already has U.S. rights to yet-to-be-titled film, with a late 2007 release planned.

The documentary began filming in October at the Beacon Theater in New York, where the Stones performed during their "Bigger Bang" tour to an audience that included former President Bill Clinton.

Scorsese is in post-production, working with a team of editors to assemble the film, which also will feature historical and current behind-the-scenes footage and interviews.

Fox Filmed Entertainment chairman and CEO Jim Gianopulos said in a statement that working with Scorsese and the Stones was "a dream come true."

"Many years ago, in film class in college, I watched Robert De Niro saunter into a bar to the tune of 'Jumping Jack Flash' in a movie called Mean Streets, made by some guy named Martin Scorsese. It blew me away, and both Marty and the Stones have done that to me for decades since," he said.

Financed by Steve Bing's Shangri-La Entertainment and longtime Stones tour promoter Michael Cohl's Concert Promotions International, the documentary is executive-produced by band members Mick Jagger, Keith Richards, Charlie Watts and Ronnie Wood.