& QUT "pHE QTHER’
News from Lucasville
Revenge of the jew unit feature Alec
Guinness as Ohi Wan Kenobi after
all, in the land of Lucas, death isn't
quite so permanent WhenJedi, (which
will reportedly tie up all loose ends
from the previous pix) is finished,
work will begin on the next trilogy —
pans 1, 2 and 3 As every Star Wars fan
must know. Star Wars, The Empire
Strikes Back and Revenge of the Jedi
comprise the middle three of nine
parts — 4, S and 6 However — there
may yet be a way to put youthful ver
sions of Princess Leia, Han Solo and
Luke Skywalker in the next trilogy, in
' prequel" form.
Bad news there won't be a sequel
to Raiders of the Lust Ark until 1984
Deals, Schmeals
Loots malm and John glare director
and writer, respectively, of
Academy Award-nominated Atlantic
City, will next collaborate on a film
version of the ABSCAM scandals, to
star Belushi and Aykroyd
Beu.'shi and aykboyd. meanwhile,
are still being investigated by the
W riters Guild disciplinary committee;
they 've been charged with scabbing’
while filming Neighbors during last
year's writers strike Aykroyd admitted,
in an interview with the Hollywood
Reporter, that the changes made were
in the "improvisationa! role of actors,
not writers ' Perhaps this case will
lead to a clearer definition of what
constitutes writing It isn't, apparently,
just a typewriter and some paper
Steven spielberg has announced
plans to remake A Guy Called Joe,
an undistinguished fantasy that starred
Spencer Tracy and Van Johnson and
World War II The title will be changed
to Always
Producer allan carr <Don't Stop the
Music, Grease) has offered Elton
John the lead in the Broadway revival
of Anthony Newley s The Hoar of the
Greasepaint, the Smell of the Crowd
The bobby darin story, based on Al
Di Orio's book On harrowed
Time, will get its star from open audi
tions held in New York. Though the
film will be dramatic, not a musical,
there will be a soundtrack album on
Beverly Hills Records (through RCA)
David deepen just signed a five-year
deal with Warner Bros, films (he
once worked there as a lop exec) The
studio will fully finance and distribute
the pictures, but Geffen and company
will have artistic control Geffen is cur
rently listed as executive producer of
Personal Best, but he claims he won't
be involved in any future pictures as a
producer This year Geffen plans to
make two films: one to lie announced,
the other Man Trouble, written by
Carol Eastman (who, using the alias
Adrian Joyce, wrote Five Easy Pieces).
Dr earner Is, currently on Broadway
and coproduced by Geffen, will not
necessarily be part of this deal, but it
will be filmed eventually Dreamgtrls
is the story of a black female singing
trio a la the Supremes.
Cbs records and ? up will pool their
resources for promotional pur
poses — a $1 million merchandising
campaign, based on a contest running
through April 15, with 13 million game
cards with hidden symbols distributed
to 45,000 7-Up outlets around the
country. Winners redeem their cards
through the mail and get CBS records
in return. Wouldn't it be easier to fust
buy them?
Hand made films, the outfit that gave
us Time Bandits, is planning
three more for our amazement: The
Missionary’, written by and starring
Monty Python Michal Palin, will also, if
they're lucky, star John Gielgud and
Alec Guinness; John Cleese, also a
Python, will star in the film version of
a play called Privates cm Parade, and
the first to see the light of production
will be Scrubbers, about women in
prison, directed by Mai Zetterling Ye I
lowbeard, written by Python Graham
Chapman, is still in limbo.
Mick jaggeb needs «is million (don’t
call us) in order to launch film
ing erf Gore Vidal’s Kalki Allegedly
Alec Guinness (his third mention in
this column, if anyone's counting) has
agreed to play the diabolical scientist,
while director Hal Ashby is still com
mitted, and Vidal himself wrote the
screenplay. We re waiting .
Knacksters on Track
Michael des babbes. formerly with
Detective, has been cutting
demo tracks for a new LP, to be pro
duced by formerly hot ("Heart of
Glass," ’ Hot Child in the City”) wax
master Mike Chapman Helping out
are Bruce Gary, Berton Averre and
Prescon Niles, former members of
the Knack. Officially, the Knack is part
ing “temporarilyThe group tried for
an image makeover with the release of
their third Capitol LP, to counter the
snotty reputation earned in their one
hit wonder days. But, since post- 'My
Sharona” album sales have been slack,
and since (rumor has it) the rest of the
band totally loathes headman Doug
Fieger, temporary probably means
forever. Feiger, meanwhile, is at work
on a solo album.
Brassy Women Sought
IVY AND THE ELEGANTS, who plan tO be
the best all-woman R&B band in Los
Angeles (and that's just for starters),
are auditioning horn players Appli
cants must be female, funky, and will
ing to display their embouchure.
Need Wheels?
Just offered FOR SALE in a Hollywood
paper's classifieds: The Goldfinger
prop car, a perfectly normal 1964
Aston Martin DBS with select options
— an ejector seat, two machine guns,
metal tire slashers that extend from
the wheel hubs and devices that can
lay smoke screens and oil slicks in the
path of wicked pursuers And did we
mention the revolving license plates?
Priced to sell (be the first on your
block to strafe Buicks!) at only
$200,000
Three Down, Five to Go
jnoUJNC STONC EDITOR/PUBLISHER Jann
JxY Wenner's deal with Paramount,
made in the aftermath of Animal
House’s success — possibly Paramount
thought Wenner had his pinkie on the
pulse of youthful America — died
quietly, with no films ever produced
At least one was written. by former
Rolling Stone senior editor Ben
Fong-Torres: Somebody to Ixtve, about
San Francisco in the Sixties. Two
others were planned, one “an old
Hunter Thompson project,” and one
"about high school” by Stone feature
writer Cameron Crowe (Crowe in
stead wrote a book and teleplay with
out Wenner: Fast Times at Ridgemont
High.) According to a report in New
York magazine, Wenner received
$1000 a week during the 2-1/2-year
deal Paramount sez they may still
someday make a Wenner film, but it
will have to be developed with some
one else’s money.
Five lampoon projects are in the
works. We keep mentioning this
because so many people (3 or 4, at
least) insist that college students care
desperately about anything named
Lampoon Class Reunion, detailed
here last issue, is due September 1
from 20th Century-Fox; Vacation '82
starts filming at Warner Bros, this
spring; Joy of Sex at Paramount is still
waiting for a director to replace de
parting Bill Norton Jr. (Penny Marshall,
Laveme herself, has been offered the
job); and the once-axed National
lampoon Goes to the Movies has been
re-edited by Matty Simmons, head of
Lampoon and no film editor; this one
threatens to emerge sometime this
year from United .Artists. And to make
it almost universal, Universal is ‘‘con
sidering" a script of Animal House 2.
MGM and Columbia do not have any
Lampoon projects. They have all the
luck.
& Twelve More ...
Remember last issue when we listed
three, count ’em, three produc
tions of The Pirates of Penzance com
ing to big and small screens soon?
Well, hang onto your beanies — CBS
Cable TV has bought up five, count
'em, five made-for-TV Gilbert & Sulli
van musicals: HMS Pinafore, The Gon
doliers, The Mikado, lolanthe, and,
sure enough. The Pirates of Penzance
Each two-hour operetta stars William
Conrad, Peter Marshall, Peter Allen,
Frankie Howerd, Keith Michell and
Ten Years Late, but
Who’s Counting?
The concert for Bangladesh, or
ganized by George Harrison in
1971 to benefit the starving children of
that country, has finally had an official
tally of money (all proceeds donated
to UNICEF): *10,750,000. The concert,
film and album of same starred Harri
son, Bob Dylan, Ringo Starr, Eric Clap
ton, Leon Russell and Ravi Shankar.
The first two years after the con
cert, *2,250,000 was handed over to
UNICEF; in the ensuing 8 years,
*8,500,000 trickled in. The U.S. Com
mittee for UNICEF decided to honor
Harrison for his part in all this; Hugh
Downs is the chairman of the U.S.
Committee for UNICEF, which ex
plains most of the photo above.
Clive Revili. What’s more, the remain
ing seven Gilbert & Sullivan operettas
will be produced for the same outfit.
Josie, Are You Obscene?
n unusual pop tune entitled
A ‘Johnny, Are You Queer?,’’ a
standout of past stage shows by the
Go-Go's, was recently recorded by
Josie Cotton for a local L.A. label
named Bomp Records. The song’s
popularity, particularly on KROQ, a
Pasadena FMer, led Ms. Cotton to a
contract with Elektra/Asylum Records.
But the lyric, in which Ms. Cotton
questions the virility of a guy who’s
disinterested in scaling her Mount of
Venus, has spawned a backlash. A re
cent gathering of several placard
carriers outside KROQ’s studio, iden
tified as People Against Obscenity,
paraded slogans like "Think Straight"
and “Hell No, We Won’t Blow.” KROQ
reciprocated by playing the song twice
for the protesters.
Personals
Bill Hudson, former husband to
Goldie Hawn and father of her
two children, will next marry Cindy
Williams of Laveme & Shirley.
Gilda radner and gene wilder met
while making Hanky Panky, and
they’re still together. Her husband, the
rock guitarist, is out in the cold.
Tuneful News & Looney
Tunes
David bowie & giorgio moroder
have collaborated on the sound
track for Cat People (see feature this
issue). It will be released on Back
street Records.
Bucolic folk/punk rocker Neil
Young may actually be headed
from serene Burbank to nasty Hol
lywood; RCA is reportedly coaxing
Lonesome Neil with tall offers to split
from Warner-Reprise, the Warner Bros,
subsidiary whose only other current
artist is Frank Sinatra "However,” says
a Warners spokesman, “under the
terms of his contract, he owes us one
more album. So talk of his departure is
a litde premature.”
The soundtrack for One from the
Heart, with masterful songs by
Tom Waits and moody singing by Crys
tal Gayle and Waits, may not be picked
up by Columbia Records. (They have
first crack at it because Gayle records
for them, presumably). Dumb move.
(Continued next page)
1
§
©
“It’s an unusual request, but yes
you can delete the radio and install Jensen.”
Did you know a lot of new cars can be ordered without their factory installed
sound equipment and its cost is taken off the base
price? It's called a "delete" option. Investigate it.
After hearing Jensen® you'll want to exercise it
CAR AUDIO
When itis the sound that moves you.