Take One (Jul 1978)

UPFRONT SHORTS now be complete on DINO DE LAURENTIIS’s King of the Gypsies... JOHN AVILDSEN is to produce and direct Robin Hood for Universal. . .DAVID BOWIE and MARLENE DIETRICH are said to be co-starring in DAVID HEMMINGS’ Just a Gigolo (Hemmings acts as well as directing). It’s Dietrich’s first film since 1961, and also represents something of a comeback for KIM NOVAK, who also plays in the picture. No connection with American Gigolo, which PAUL SCHRADER is to direct for Paramount (from his own screenplay) this fall. JOHN TRAVOLTA stars in thatone. . . Comic DAVID STEINBERG has plans to produce, direct, write and star in his own feature film: Sex in America. Presumably, he hasalready started researching. . : ROBERT ALTMAN was so impressed with the acting job that CAROL BURNETT did for him in A Wedding that he has asked her to star in his forthcoming satirical look at the health-food industry, tentatively titled Health. . Star Wars II goes into production this summer, under the direction of IRVIN (The Luck of Ginger Coffey, Eyes) KERSCHNER and based on a script by LEIGH (The Big Sleep, Rio Bravo) BRACKETT. Budgeted at $10-million, the film is to be released (probably for Christmas next year) by 20th Century-Fox, but entirely financed by GEORGE LUCAS‘s own company. . .BERTRAND TAVERNIER is working with DAVID RAFIEL (who wrote Three Days of the Condor) on the script for a science-fiction film. . .Producer MICHAEL PHILLIPS has hired DAVID 4 NEW5 FRANKLY, WE COULDN'T GIVE WARD to prepare a screenplay that would make a single film out of John Steinbeck’s two classics: Cannery Row and Sweet Thursday. . .BOB FOSSE is all set to start shooting, and RICHARD DREYFUSS all set to start acting in, AM That Jazz, which is said to be based on Fosse’s life story. . .Independent producer STEVE KRANTZ has a joint venture with FRANK YABLANS to coproduce a film version of Last Exit to Brooklyn (UA was to have filmed the working-class gay novel in 1975, starring ROBERT BLAKE, but dropped the project after the brou-ha-ha over their Last Tango im Paris started). . .The end of April saw the start of shooting on Rose, starring BETTE MIDLER and ALAN BATES... We're less than a year away, now, from the projected release date of Star Trek—The Motion Picture. Those 371 Star Trek fan clubs (reading 50 Star Trek books, and 431 Star Trek publications, and attending as many as 30 Star Trek conventions a year) obviously had some effect in Paramount’s decision not to revive the TV series but to go for a $15-million feature film instead. Each important actor in the series will, of course, repeat his or her role in the film: WILLIAM SHATNER, LEONARD NIMOY, DE FORREST KELLEY, JAMES DOOHAN, GEORGE TAKEI, NICHELLE NICHOLS, WALTER KOENIG, etc. ROBERT WISE is directing. . JEANNE MOREAU is spending this summer directing her second film, and will follow that with a murder story on which she will be working with novelist PATRICIA HIGHSMITH. . .Also this summer, and also in France, FRANCOIS TRUFFAUT is starting L’A sour en fuite (Love on the Run, or Love Escapes), the last of the director’s ‘‘personal’’ films, starring JEAN-PIERRE LEAUD (along with CLAUDE JADE and MARIE-FRANCE PISIER). . . Pisier is also scheduled to play one of The Bronte Sisters in the ANDRE TECHINE film of the same name (ISABELLE ADJANI and ISABELLE HUPPERT share the title roles). ..The next MONTY PYTHON film: Brian of Nazareth. ae = Peter Guber, producer of The Deep, takes our award for metaphorician-of-the-month. _ Explaining to an audience at LA’s Filmex how it is that his film has yet to show any profits, despite having grossed more than $100 million at the box office, Guber likened the filmmaker-studio relationship to that of a reservoir feeding a stream—the closer the independent (be he producer, director or actor) is to the source, the greater his chances of obtaining a share of the profits. The object behind negotiations is to be positioned as far upstream as possible. Guber hasn’t gotten wet from The Deep yet, he explained, because he’s out in the desert and it takes clout to swim. HEALTH HINTS FROM THE STARS (1) Bruce Dern to The Runner: I was racing a 60-miler on a hot, sunny day. I had passed through every conceivable wall and was into that part where the body is gone and only your mind remains. I felt bad but calm. I was aware of being vertical and on the course, and those were my main considerations. But then Andrea pulled up next to me and said, ‘‘It’s time to stop.’’ I said, ‘‘No, I’m all right.’’ Shesaid, ‘‘Bruce, get into the car. It’s over.’’ I said, ‘‘I know I’m not moving very fast, but I’m making progress. I’m getting there.’’ And she said, ““You’re not moving.’’ So I looked down and saw I was running in place. Then she said, ‘‘Wipe your forehead.’’ I did and my hand was covered with blood. I had been standing still, sweating blood, and didn’t even know it. HEALTH HINTS FROM THE STARS Tony Curtis to The Hollywood Reporter: What keeps me fit is an active sex life. I’m horny. I have no hang-ups about it. Also, art comes out of sexuality (doesn’t everything?), it’s another form of ejaculation, peak, renewal. Nothing can beat rubbing against someone’s leg, and boom . .a thousand colors flash! DAISY, DAISY, GIVE ME YOUR ANSWER DO VeSGax i eo ne eo, Y Not too many faded film stars find their way into the Smithsonian Institution, but a lead performer in When Worlds Collide and Earth vs. The Flying Saucers has done just that. The performer in question is the 12-ton, 32-foot by 9-foot mechanical analog computer