Play Sparked by 9/11 Moving to Big Screen

Sigourney Weaver and Anthony LaPaglia will co-star in a feature film adaptation of "The Guys," a one-act play commissioned and staged by lower Manhattan's Flea Theater in response to the Sept. 11 attacks.

 Flea Theater artistic director Jim Simpson, who is Weaver's husband, directed the play and will helm the picture, which will be financed and distributed by ContentFilm. Production was set to begin this month in New York.

Both Weaver and LaPaglia appeared in the stage production, which centers on the true story of a fire captain who lost eight men in the collapse of the World Trade Center towers and the editor who helps him put together the eulogies he must deliver.

The play was written by that editor, Anne Nelson, director of the international program at the Columbia School of Journalism. She met Simpson at a dinner party, and at his suggestion took nine days to turn her experiences into a one-act drama. Open City Films will produce the film.

"I'm pleased that ContentFilm and Open City Films have embraced this unique project," Simpson said. "'The Guys' puts a human face on this catastrophe, and its intimacy should transfer well to the screen."

Since the play debuted in December, a handful of actors have rotated playing the roles on stage. Bill Murray originated the lead role and was followed by Bill Irwin, then LaPaglia. Susan Sarandon also performed the play for a number of weeks and Tim Robbins has just begun performing it with Swoosie Kurtz.

"The Guys" will be published in paperback by Random House in August. Other films produced by Open City Films include such specialty pictures such as Tony Bui's "Three Seasons," as well as romantic comedy "Down to You," starring Freddie Prinze Jr.

In the six months since its formation, ContentFilm has greenlit "The Cooler," starring William H. Macy and Alec Baldwin; "Party Monster," to star Macaulay Culkin and Seth Green; and "The Hebrew Hammer," starring Adam Goldberg.

The company has acquired worldwide rights to Larry Fessenden's cult thriller "Wendigo" and is working with Magnolia Pictures on the film's domestic release.

Philip Kaufman set To Direct 'Blackout'

Philip Kaufman has come aboard to direct Ashley Judd in Paramount Pictures and Intertainment AG's "Blackout" for Kopelson Entertainment. The project will go into production July 8.

Written by Sarah Thorp, the project is described as a female-driven gritty thriller. It's about a female police officer investigating a murder who finds herself at the center of the investigation when her past lovers start dying around her.

Kopelson senior vp production Sherryl Clark brought the script to the company. Oscar-winning producers and Kopelson toppers Arnold and Anne Kopelson will produce with Barry Baeres and Linne Radmin. Stephen Brown and Robyn Meisinger will executive produce.

Paramount and Intertainment -- which has a production financing agreement with Kopelson -- jointly plunked down $1 million to acquire the spec last week after making a pre-emptive bid in February. Judd also came aboard the project in February.

Kaufman, repped by ICM, most recently directed "Quills." His other credits include "Rising Sun," "Henry & June" and "The Unbearable Lightness of Being."

Robin Wright Penn to Co-Star with Robert Downey

Robin Wright Penn will star alongside Robert Downey Jr. in the upcoming film "The Singing Detective," and producer Mel Gibson has signed on to play a supporting role in the remake of the BBC television mini-series.

The film stars Downey as a psoriasis-ridden invalid whose fever-plagued brain causes him to fantasize an alternative reality that revolves around reworking a novel he wrote titled "The Singing Detective."

He becomes the protagonist of the story, pursuing Nazis in the 1940s. Penn will play his ex-wife and nurse, with whom he has a bitter relationship but who is worked into dreams. Keith Gordon will direct the film from a script by Dennis Potter

Gibson, who is producing the film with his Icon Productions partner Bruce Davey, will play Downey's psychiatrist. Michael Gambon originated the role in the BBC original.

"The Singing Detective" is the first feature project Downey has committed to since the Curtis Hanson-directed "Wonder Boys," and the first since he ended a yearlong prison stay in August 2000 for a drug conviction.

Since then, Downey's only acting gig has been a recurring role on "Ally McBeal" that earned him Golden Globe and Screen Actors Guild awards.

Martin Scorsese Will Be Swimming With The Sharks.

The acclaimed director has signed to join Will Smith, James Gandolfini, Angelina Jolie and Renee Zellweger as under-the-sea voice talent for DreamWorks Pictures' animated project "Sharkslayer." He will be voicing Sykes, a puffer fish.

The CGI-animated "Sharkslayer" -- described as an underwater mob film -- is in preproduction, with a 2004 release date pegged. It tells the story of how the underworld is shaken up when the son of the "Soprano" of all sharks gets killed and a young fish named Oscar is found at the scene of the crime. Oscar takes advantage of the situation to play the hero, only to find that there are consequences to posing as the great Sharkslayer.

"Sharkslayer" is being directed by Eric "Bibo" Bergeron ("The Road to El Dorado") and Vicky Jenson ("Shrek"). Michael Wilson, who wrote the Jackie Chan-Jennifer Love Hewitt starrer "The Tuxedo" for DreamWorks, penned the screenplay.

Jack Black is expected to voice a character in the film as well. If a deal can be made, Black will voice a shark named Lenny.

The deal for Scorsese isn't the first time a well-known director has been drafted by DreamWorks to lend his voice to an animated project. Woody Allen lent his trademark inflections to the character Z-4195 in the 1998 feature "Antz."

Scorsese's next film to hit the big screen is the period crime drama "Gangs of New York," starring Leonardo DiCaprio, Cameron Diaz and Daniel Day-Lewis, via Miramax Films.

Foes of SAG's Talent Agency Deal Plan Rally

Hollywood actors who oppose their union's tentative deal to relax investment limits for talent agents plan to stage a rally Thursday outside the national headquarters of the Screen Actors Guild

The agreement, narrowly endorsed last month by SAG's national board, has sharply divided the union since it was hammered out in late February following several weeks of closed-door negotiations.

Ballots for the referendum on the pact, which amends SAG's "master franchise agreement" governing agent-actor relations since 1939, went out Wednesday to 98,000 union members, with results to be announced April 19.

The deal would permit talent agencies for the first time to sell as much as 20 percent of their business to independent TV and film production houses or buy stakes of up to 20 percent in those such companies. The same cap would apply to talent agency investments made in or received by advertising firms.

Opponents argue the deal would effectively scuttleconflict-of-interest safeguards that prevent agents from having too big an ownership interest in companies for which their clients work.

"This is a bad deal, terrible for actors," said SAG treasurer Kent McCord, who chairs the Actors Rights group opposed to the pact. "Our guild is trying to scare members into voting for an incomplete contract that will take away actors' rights to uncompromised representation."

Supporters of the deal cite the need to avoid the chaos of deregulation that could occur if the agreement is voted down. They contend that investments allowed under the deal would be fully disclosed and represent non-controlling interests, leaving the nature of actor-agent relationships unchanged.

The pact still forbids movie studios, television networks or their affiliates from holding a stake in talent agencies.

For the agencies, the deal gives them greater ability to attract much-needed capital and to compete with talent managers in Hollywood who already can represent clients' interests while producing movies and TV shows.

The Actors Rights group plans to rally at SAG headquarters at 11:30 a.m. Thursday for an event that will include celebrity speakers and "street theater" with actors wearing masks.

SAG board members opposing the deal include Seymour Cassel, Richard Dreyfuss, Frances Fisher, Elliott Gould, Valerie Harper, Sally Kirkland, Diane Ladd, Esai Morales and Fred Savage. Rob Schneider has also announced his opposition, asking last week that SAG set representatives stop distribution of pro-deal material on the set of "The Hot Chick" at Disney.

Supporters of the deal include SAG president Melissa Gilbert and board members Mike Farrell, Tess Harper, Jane Kaczmarek and Tom LaGrua.

Farrell and McCord debated the issue Wednesday during KPCC-FM's "Air Talk" show.

Many other high-profile SAG members have been reluctant to take a public position on the deal. Opposition from stars was a key factor in the decision in early 2000 to scuttle a tentative deal with the agents for a two-year waiver on ownership restrictions.

Legal: Star Wars porn re-makers take the fight to Lucas

as failed to get the film pulled. The makers of a porn parody of Star Wars that George Lucas failed to block struck back this week with slander proceedings against the legendary film-maker.

Media Market Group (MMG), which represents the creative inspiration behind the X-rated cartoon Starballz, filed a $10m suit in New York State Supreme Court alleging Lucasfilm publicist Lynne Hale said Starballz was aimed at children.

MMG took offense to a statement by Hale in January, when she said: "This is a pornographic cartoon utilizing Star Wars intellectual property. We feel strongly that the law does not allow for parody to be a defense to a pornographic use of someone else's intellectual property, especially when that use is directed to children."

The Starballz creators are rebutting the allegation, arguing that their animé-style video is a parody intended for adult eyes only. "[MMG] has never directed pornography to children; the cover of Starballz states 'Adult Only' in three places," the company states in paper submitted to the court.

Last November Lucasfilm took legal action to block manufacture and distribution of Starballz. A restraining order was duly granted in December but last month an Oakland judge ruled that Starballz did not breach intellectual property laws and was indeed a parody.

The film features the adventures of Wank Solo and his hairy chum, Chewhowie. The intrepid pair travel through space and time to rescue a sexually alluring princess who is being held captive on the Ass Star. Lucasfilm lawyers are proceeding with a copyright infringement suit while they decide whether or not to contest the defamation case.  

Music: Dion returns to charts with No. 1 'New' debut

Record labels often fear that artists will lose their fan base if too much time elapses between albums. Celine Dion shipwrecked that belief this week when her latest album, "A New Day Has Come," sold more than 527,000 copies.

Two years after she announced a sabbatical from music, Dion has achieved a No. 1 debut, a first for the singer. And it has been five years since Epic released "Let's Talk About Love," Dion's last album of new music, into the waiting arms of her audience.

"NOW That's What I Call Music! Vol. 9" held its own, however. Sales of 463,000 copies ensure that it slides down only one place to No. 2 as fans continued buying the Universal Music Enterprises compilation featuring tracks by U2, Aerosmith, Pink and 17 other artists.

In fact, consumers displayed a predilection for collections of songs by various artists. Compilations of one sort or another, including two new entries, make up half of the top 10. Columbia's "WWF Forceable Entry," featuring the likes of Kid Rock, Marilyn Manson and Limp Bizkit, strong-arms its way into a No. 3 debut on sales of nearly 146,000 copies. Universal's "The Scorpion King" soundtrack, which puts Creed, Nickelback, P.O.D. and others on one disk, enters at No. 8 on sales of 93,000.

Meanwhile, at the other end of the musical spectrum, Lost Highway's soundtrack to "O Brother, Where Art Thou?" loses two places but sold a fairly steady 129,000 copies to place at No. 5.

Avant carried the flag for soulful R&B, with "Ecstasy" debuting at No. 6. The first signing to Magic Johnson Music, the basketball legend's MCA imprint, Avant sold 122,000 copies of this second album. Neo-soul newcomer Glenn Lewis debuted at No. 4 last week but drops to No. 30 as "World Outside My Window" (Epic) sold less than 46,000 copies, according to Soundscan reports for the week ending March 31 obtained from industry sources.

The rest of the top 10 includes the Jay-Z/R. Kelly project "Best of Both Worlds" (Def Jam) at No. 4; Pink's "Missundaztood" (LaFace), climbing three to No. 7; Linkin Park's "Hybrid Theory" (Warner Bros.) at No. 9; and Alan Jackson's "Drive" (Arista) at No. 10.