Polanski's THE GHOST in February

The Swiss courts are still processing the $4.5 million bail deal of U.S. fugitive Roman Polanski and he will stay in prison until at least Friday, says The Hollywood Reporter. Sensationally, it was also announced today that his adaptation of Robert Harris' fictional British PM thriller novel The Ghost, the movie he has been conducting post-production on during his time in the slammer, has secured a release date. The Pierce Brosnan/Ewan McGregor starrer will be rolled out on Feb. 18th 2010, aka - as soon as it is humanly possible for German distributor Kinowelt to get the recently completed movie out to the world for a high-profile premiere. The mid-Feb release means Polanski's film will probably bow at the Berlin Film Festival between February 11th and 21st, screened as a "special gala" event. Adding to what will already be a media frenzied premiere is the still to come dramatic playout of Polanski's extradition to the U.S. which by February will probably have him appealing to the U.S. request of being shipped back to America to stand trial and face the charges brought against him over thirty years ago. For what the mainstream film-goer twelve months ago would have seen as a mildly interesting thriller (which would play well in Britain and Europe but elsewhere not catch on) will now be a box office smash, I'm telling ya. The movie that Polanski edited from jail. The movie that the whole world can see but he can't. An in-your-face example of Polanski living the "high life" of a celebrity film director whilst on the run from the U.S. Yeah - this one's gonna be huge.