Global Showbiz Briefs: CAA Signs Oz Actor, 'Ripper Street' Sells, Bollywood IMAX

Australian Actor Ewen Leslie Signs with CAA
The arrangement marks his first U.S. representation. Leslie, repped in Oz by Shanahan Management, plays a gay Greek-Australian photographer who uncovers a shocking family secret when he returns to his ancestral homeland in Tony Krawitz's Dead Europe, which premiered in Toronto. He also has a supporting role in Jonathan Teplitzky's The Railway Man, about a Scotsman who travels to Asia to meet one of the men who tortured him during WW2. Colin Firth, Nicole Kidman, Stellan Skarsgård and Jeremy Irvine star in that film that's slated to bow next year. 'Don Groves

Canada, Norway Buy 'Ripper Street' Ahead of Mipcom
Adding to deals in the U.S. and Australia, BBC Worldwide has sold crime drama Ripper Street to Canada's Space and Norway's NRK ahead of Mipcom which runs October 8-11. The 8-part period series stars Matthew Macfadyen, Jerome Flynn and Adam Rothenberg and is written by Richard Warlow. It's set in London's East End in 1889 in the wake of the Jack the Ripper murders and centers on the H Division group of detectives who investigated the killings. It's produced for the BBC by Tiger Aspect Productions, Lookout Point and BBC America and will air on the latter this fall.

Bollywood Embraces IMAX With 'Dhoom: 3'
India is getting its first Bollywood film in IMAX. The widescreen company and India's largest film studio, Yash Raj Films, plan to digitally remaster Dhoom: 3 for release in IMAX theaters in India and elsewhere next year. This is the first Indian local-language production to be released in the format. There are 14 IMAX theaters either open or set to open in the nation. Dhoom: 3 is the next installment of the franchise from producer Aditya Chopra and director Vijay Krishna Acharya. Aamir Khan stars in the continuing adventures of Jai Dixit, a no-nonsense cop, and his scatterbrained partner.

Brazil Federal Government Opposes State Pay-TV Tax Hike
Brazil's federal government are opposing a proposal by state-level officials to more than double taxes on pay-TV services such as America Movil SAB and DirecTV. Communications Minister Paulo Bernardo said yesterday he'll try to convince state finance secretaries that raising the tax on cable and satellite service to 25% from 10% is a bad idea. Bernardo argues that the increase would hurt growth in the industry because customers would have to pay more. America Movil is counting on demand for pay-TV demand to boost business in Brazil, its second-biggest market behind Mexico. America Movil's Brazilian pay-TV revenue rose 26.6% percent last quarter from a year earlier, compared with a 2.4 percent decline in the wireless business. State finance secretaries plan to vote on the tax proposal September 28.