UPDATE

news for 10-19-98

Wilson signs to 'House'

NEW YORK (Variety) - Owen Wilson has joined the cast of ``The Haunting of Hill House'' for director Jan De Bont.

Liam Neeson, Catherine Zeta-Jones and Lili Taylor star in DreamWorks' redo of the 1963 film ``The Haunting,'' based on the Shirley Jackson novel about a group of people who gather in an old house to decide whether a ghost inhabits the home.

Wilson is building currency both as an actor and writer. He co-wrote ``Bottle Rocket'' and Touchstone's upcoming ``Rushmore,'' and he recently appeared in ``Armageddon'' and ``Anaconda.'' He just wrapped the starring role in ``Minus Man,'' an indie film by writer/director Hampton Sancher, who wrote ``Blade Runner.''

''Practical Magic'' & "Bride of Chucky"

LOS ANGELES, Oct 18 (Reuters) - Sandra Bullock and Nicole Kidman cast a spell on moviegoers at the weekend as their romantic comedy ``Practical Magic'' opened in top spot at the North American box office, according to studio estimates issued Sunday.

The Warner Bros. picture, in which the duo play sibling witches involved in a murder cover-up, earned about $13.6 million for the Friday-to-Sunday period.

However, it garnered bad reviews in the main newspapers, and ``it's probably going to hurt the movie long-term,'' said Barry Reardon, the studio's president of distribution. He predicted it would earn about $50 million domestically.

``Bride of Chucky,'' the latest installment in the ``Child's Play'' horror franchise, surprised industry observers by opening in No. 2 with $11.6 million. The Universal release did not screen in advance for critics, which usually indicates that it is expected to be a box office weakling. A spokesman for Universal, which has released a string of under-performers recently,
said the opening score was ``terrific.''

Reigning champ ``Antz'' slipped to No. 3 in its third weekend with $11.3 million. The DreamWorks animated comedy has a cumulative total of about $51.6 million, and is holding up ''extremely well,'' said Jim Tharp, the studio's president of distribution.

Two films claimed the No. 4 spot: New Line Cinema reported $8.6 million for the Jackie Chan cop comedy ``Rush Hour,'' while Walt Disney Co. reported $8.5 million for newcomer ``Beloved,'' starring Oprah Winfrey. However, other studios said
the ``Rush Hour'' estimate was way too high, and ``Beloved'' was clearly ahead. One studio was forecasting $8.4 million for ``Beloved'' and another had it at $8.1 million. Both of these had ``Rush Hour'' at $7.8 million.

Disney forecast $8.3 million for ``Rush Hour,'' and New Line $8.1 million for ``Beloved.'' But spokesmen for both studios said they did not want to get into scraps with each other. More accurate data will be issued on Monday.

Trio joins 'Letters

By Chris Petrikin and Dan Cox

HOLLYWOOD (Variety) - Patricia Clarkson, Vinessa Shaw and Walton Goggins have joined Harry Connick Jr. and Pete Postlethwaite in ``Letters from a Wayward Son.''

The $7.7 million indie film concerns a Southern man (Connick) who struggles to shed his social stigma after having been wrongly convicted. The man works for a plantation owner (Goggins) and rents a shed from a farmer (Postlethwaite) with two daughters (Clarkson and Shaw); when a murder occurs, he is forced to prove his innocence.

Production begins Oct. 26 in Nashville, with Randall Harris making his directorial debut from his original screenplay. The picture does not have domestic distribution yet.

Clarkson and Shaw take on roles that had reportedly been designated for Embeth Davidtz and Tara Reid.

Clarkson (``Jumanji'') recently shot a role in the Tom Hanks vehicle ``The Green Mile'' for director Frank Darabont. Shaw recently shot Stanley Kubrick's ``Eyes Wide Shut.'' Goggins just finished work on Billy Bob Thornton's ``Daddy and Them'' with Thornton, Laura Dern, Kelly Preston and Ben Affleck.

Estefan plays '50 Violins'

By Chris Petrikin and Benedict Carver

HOLLYWOOD (Variety) - Singer Gloria Estefan has snagged her first dramatic feature film role, joining Meryl Streep in director Wes Craven's ``50 Violins.''

In the Miramax picture, which is based on a true story, Streep plays Roberta Tzavaras, a single mother who moves to East Harlem to teach the violin to deprived kids. Despite numerous bureaucratic obstacles, her pupils end up playing concerts in Carnegie Hall. Estefan will play Streep's friend and co-worker. Shooting begins Oct. 26 in New York.

Latest Hollywood script deals

NEW YORK (Variety) - In one of the largest script deals made by Dimension Films, the Miramax division has bought scribe Ehren Kruger's action spec ``Reindeer Games.''

The script is described as a taut drama in which an ex-con is set up by a former cellmate in a casino heist where the ex-con becomes the central figure. The title comes from the heist's taking place around the holidays and the heisters' donning Santa suits.

Miramax paid a high six-figure sum with the scale sliding up to the low seven-figure range as options are exercised and the project gets produced. The deal also calls for two blind script commitments for either Dimension or Miramax, which brings the total guaranteed script payday to $2.5 million.

Kruger, a former talent agent's assistant, wrote ``Arlington Road,'' which PolyGram is scheduled to release early next year.

He is currently writing ``Trail of the Dragon,'' a Propaganda film generated from a Howard Blum magazine article, which Wayne Wang is developing to direct. He is also writing the remake of the Hitchcock classic ``The 39 Steps'' for Robert Towne to direct for Village Roadshow Pictures and Warner Bros.

HOLLYWOOD (Variety) - Mandalay Entertainment has acquired the spec script ``Servicing Sarah'' by ``Spin City'' scribes Jay Scherick and David Ronn, and is putting it on the fast track.

The project will be developed at Oliver Stone's Illusion Entertainment, which signed a three-year, first-look deal with Paramount-based Mandalay last week.

``Servicing Sarah'' is described as an offbeat comedy about a process server who is persuaded by a New York woman to serve divorce papers to her Texas-based husband instead of her. The duo then embarks on a road trip from Gotham to the Lone Star state.

Mandalay coughed up a high six-figure sum, rising to the low six-figures if the project is produced. The deal also includes an additional blind script, which the duo most likely will write during their ``Spin City'' hiatus.

Based in New York, Scherick and Ronn previously sold their action-comedy ``National Security'' to Warner Bros.-based Outlaw Prods.

HOLLYWOOD (Variety) - Producer Mace Neufeld optioned David Brin's award-winning science fiction novel ``Startide Rising,'' as well as three sequels that collectively make up ``The Uplift Series.''

Neufeld, who has an exclusive production deal with Paramount Pictures, paid an initial $100,000. No writer has been set.

``Startide,'' which was originally published in 1983 and went on to win Hugo and Nebula awards for best novel, is the tale of the first starship crewed by humans and sentient dolphins, who discover an ancient relic in deep space. When hostile space-faring alien races learn the relic may hold the key to the origins of intelligent life, an intergalactic hunt ensues.

While the deal included the three other titles (``Brightness Reef,'' ``Infinity's Shore'' and ``Heaven's Reach''), Neufeld is eyeing ``Startide'' as the cornerstone of a high-tech, futuristic adventure franchise.

``I've always loved these books,'' Neufeld told Daily Variety, but they always looked impossible to do technologically. ``Now with the right filmmaker, and with the leaps and bounds digital effects have made, we can develop this into a franchise like 'Star Wars' or 'Planet of the Apes.'''

As part of the deal, Brin will receive executive-producing credit and will serve as a consultant on the projects. With the bonuses contained in Brin's deal (including a $250,000 production bonus for the first film), the scribe would make $1.1 million if ``Startide'' gets made. He also will receive production bonuses for each sequel and a piece of the merchandising.

Stone makes stand with Custer picture

By Michael Fleming

NEW YORK (Variety) - Director Oliver Stone will lead the charge on ``Marching to Valhalla,'' a high profile film about General George Armstrong Custer.

Brad Pitt has been attached to the New Line project, although his current status is unclear. Stone, who will direct, and also share production chores with his Illusion Entertainment partner Dan Halsted, is looking to begin filming next year.

The duo will begin work immediately on finalizing a shooting script with screenwriter Michael Blake, author of the Random House book on which the film will be based.

New Line made a staggering $3 million preemptive purchase of the film rights to Blake's book in December 1995. Blake wrote the novel ``Dances With Wolves'' and the Oscar-winning adaptation for the Kevin Costner-directed film.

Though best remembered for being on the losing side of the Battle of Little Big Horn, Custer became the youngest U.S. Army general at the age of 21, triumphed in the Battle of Gettysburg and was then assigned to vanquish Indians as settlers moved
westward.

At the same time, he had a tender romance with his wife Libbie, which will be a major part of the film. The movie will cover Custer's life from age 21 through his death at age 37.