In a surprise decision, Israel's attorney general has announced that he will not press charges against Hollywood producer Arnon Milchan for his central role in a case of alleged corruption involving Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.Israeli police had recommended last year that Milchan, the head of New Regency Productions, be indicted on bribery charges stemming from gifts he acknowledges giving to Netanyahu, which the prime minister says were merely presents between friends. But on Thursday evening, Atty. Gen. Avichai Mandelblit said, without...
New Regency Productions
Arnon
Milchan
Founder
Milchan, a billionaire who turned his family fertilizer business into one of his Israel’s largest agro-chemical companies and a former secret agent, had already had a full life before he came to Hollywood, where early successes like “Brazil” and “Pretty Woman” led him to found New Regency Productions as a company that would champion uncompromising new voices. Recent years have brought successes like “Birdman” and “The Revenant” as well as controversies, including a lawsuit over the flop of “Rules Don’t Apply” and a lingering attachment to an Israeli political scandal. Still, his output has continued unabated with films like the Queen behind-the-music tale “Bohemian Rhapsody” and starry Steve McQueen project “Widows.” Meanwhile, “Pretty Woman” opened on Broadway with New Regency on the list of producers.