• The Hollywood Reporter, Thursday, July 14, 2011 2:30 PM

Starz Entertainment's pay cable channel Encore, as its name suggests, has long focused on, well, showing encores of theatrical movies. Now, reports Lacey Rose, Encore is entering the original programming business.

Well, sort of. Two of the first three announced projects, as Starz exec Stephan Shelanski "suggests" to Lacey, are small investments in international co-productions. A four-part miniseries thriller called "The Take," for example, has already aired in the U.K., where it was produced by ITV.

And a three-hour retelling of "Moby Dick," with William Hurt and Ethan Hawke, was co-produced by RHI, Tele Munchen and Gate Filmproduktion (and a quick glance at IMDB suggests it's already run in Australia).

Finally, there's a documentary, "Method to the Madness of Jerry Lewis," which is being produced by Mansfield Avenue Productions.

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