Father Geek here, fresh from a preview screening of K-19, immediately afterwhich I had to deal with a flat tire in the rain, then I get home and my tail lights won't go out so I have to disconnect the battery and of course its still raining. Then I get into Geek Headquarters to discover the light in my office area is out and I have to screw with that, buuuuuut at least I don't have radiation burns... Here's Elston and the latest edition of his weekly column that fills you in on all the Hollywood news you may have missed during the last work week...

TAKEN FROM VARIETY AND HOLLYWOOD REPORTER

CASTING

* Colin Farrell will star opposite Samuel L. Jackson in Columbia Pictures' S.W.A.T., rooted in the 1970s ABC series, for director Clark Johnson and producers Oliver Stone, Dan Halsted, Chris Lee and Neal Moritz. David Ayer (TRAINING DAY) wrote the most recent draft of the script. Michelle Rodriguez is in talks to join the cast.

* Vin Diesel will star in Revolution's HANNIBAL, based on the novel by Ross Leckie about the third century B.C. Carthaginian general who rode an elephant across the Alps to attack Rome.

* Sharon Stone is in talks to star with Rupert Everett in A DIFFERENT LOYALTY for director Mark Kanievska (LESS THAN ZERO) as well as THE LIAR'S CLUB for director Nadia Tass. The first project is written by Jim Piddock and tells the true story of Eleanor Philby, whose husband, superspy Kim Philby, infiltrated British intelligence for the Russians before defecting in 1963. LIAR'S CLUB, penned by Robert Schenkkan, is about a dysfunctional Texas family that splits up, gets back together, splits again and reunites again.

* Heather Locklear joins the MGM/Greene Street Films comedy MOLLY GUNN, starring Dakota Fanning and Brittany Murphy, for director Boaz Yakin. It's about a young socialite who has never grasped the concept of money. When her parents die in a plane crash and her inheritance is stolen, she must earn an income by working as a nanny for a precocious girl.

* Maggie Gyllenhaal is in talks to join the cast of Lions Gate's SHATTERED GLASS, starring Greg Kinnear and Hayden Christensen.

* Sandra Oh (ARLI$$) is in talks to join Diane Lane in the romantic comedy UNDER THE TUSCAN SUN, based on the bestseller by Frances Mayes.

* Nate Dushku (ANTITRUST), Marina Black ("Six Feet Under") and A.J. Buckley (BLUE CAR) star in the indie pic REVERIE about two young men whose lives are changed forever when they make a documentary about the homeless. Anthony Perretta will direct from his own script.

* Benicio Del Toro will produce and star in TO HAVE AND HAVE NOT, a modern thriller based on the novel by Ernest Hemingway. Tod "Kip" Williams (THE ADVENTURES OF SEBASTIAN COLE) will script and direct for Universal Focus. Del Toro will play a fisherman in the Florida Keys who isn't making enough money to feed his family and becomes involved with unsavory smugglers.

DIRECTOR/WRITER ATTACHMENTS

* Karen Moncrieff (BLUE CAR) is in talks to rewrite and direct the period thriller THE ROSE for Miramax. It's based on the Martin Cruz Smith novel about a scandal in 1872 in an English mining town centering on the disappearance of a young cleric. An American mining engineer is brought in to investigate, going into the underworld of violent miners and their "pit girls."

* Ron Howard has turned his attention away from Disney's THE ALAMO, due to the time it's taking to get the project into production, and is focusing on other projects which may include CINDERELLA MAN and THE BURIAL. Meanwhile, Stephen Gaghan is rewritng John Sayles' ALAMO script.

* Wolfgang Petersen (THE PERFECT STORM) will direct Warner Bros.' BATMAN VS. SUPERMAN for a targeted 2004 release. Andrew Kevin Walker (SEVEN) has written the script about the two superhero allies who come to mighty blows over differing philosophies.

* German director Oliver Hirschbiegel (THE EXPERIMENT) is in talks to direct BLADE 3 for New Line Cinema.

* Martin Weisz will direct Halcyon Entertainment's THE SETT, written by Danny Taylor (THE SCORE) and Scott Roberts (K2), about the journey of a man who is falsely accused of the murder of his family. It's based on the novel by Ranulph Fiennes. Meanwhile, Halcyon has also tapped David Denneen to direct the heist thriller BREAKBACK.

* Jessica Stevenson will write and star in the adventure comedy DOUBLE AU PAIR for New Line. It's about the black sheep of a spy family who gets a job as a British Ambassador's au pair. She then uses her job as a way to an imaginary mission, taking the children on an unforgettable spy adventure that leads them to real life intrigue.

* Lightstorm Entertainment has picked up Aaron Mendelsohn's comedy pitch TWICE IN A LIFETIME about a man who is accidentally regressed to the age he was when he first met his wife. As he progresses back to his normal age over the course of 10 days, he and his wife get to relive their relationship and make it better.

* Jeff Nathanson is in talks to direct the Walt Disney Co. comedy PROVIDENCE from his own script. It's about two young filmmakers who are given $3 million to make their first movie by a mysterious benefactor on the condition that they shoot it in Providence, R.I. Once they get there, they discover that they have been unwitting players in an FBI sting operation.

* Todd Phillips has made a three-year first-look deal with Dimension and Miramax, and will direct at least one film under the pact. Phillips will write, direct and produce a remake of the 1960 British comedy SCHOOL FOR SCOUNDRELS after he directs STARSKY AND HUTCH for Warner Bros.

* Chap Taylor (CHANGING LANES) will adapt Robert Ludlum's THE SIGMA PROTOCOL for Universal, director Antoine Fuqua and producer Paul L. Sandberg.

* Mark Rydell (TNT's "James Dean") will direct THE LOCKED ROOM based on the third novella in Paul Auster's THE NEW YORK TRILOGY. It's about a young writer who, on the death of his best friend, takes over his friend's life, wife and career, throwing his own life into a maelstrom. Lem Dobbs (THE LIMEY) and Chloe King (B. MONKEY) wrote the screenplay.

* Disney grabbed the pitch THE GUARDIAN from writer Ron Brinkerhoff (D-TOX) for Firm Films to produce. It's described as TOP GUN in the Coast Guard in a story that follows a and follows a legendary rescue swimmer who, after losing his crew in a fatal crash, mentors a young recruit, teaching him the meaning of sacrifice.

* Phoenix Pictures has optioned the romantic comedy spec KISS & TELL, written by Kevin O'Hare, for Underground Films to produce.

* Mitchel Katlin and Nat Bernstein have sold an untitled pitch to Columbia Pictures with wrestling superstar-turned-action star the Rock attached to star. The buddy actioner is described as a comedic take on the 1985 pic WITNESS.

* Electric Entertainment has purchased the sci-fi pitch NOAH from Jan Skrentny and Neal Tabachnick. It takes place in the near future and centers on a young scientist's battle for survival.

* Eric Wald will write a contemporary remake of the 1948 comedy feature MISTER BLANDINGS BUILDS HIS DREAM HOUSE for director Steve Carr and RKO Pictures. The original centered on a couple who live in a New York apartment and decide to move to the country and build a home, which is easier said than done.

* Michael Arndt will adapt Glen David Gold's novel CARTER BEATS THE DEVIL for C/W Prods. and director Robert Towne. It's set in 1920s America and follows Charles Carter, aka Carter the Great, a stage magician known for outrageous stunts carried out on elaborate sets. He runs into major problems when he puts on the most outrageous stunt of all, using President Harding.

* Rod Lurie will direct the romantic comedy BEAT THE EAGLE, about a beloved two-term president who retires to a small East Coast town to write his memoirs. When asked to becoming the town's mayor, he finds himself challenged for the post by a local hardware proprietor and the election escalates into a battle royal. Tom Schulman (DEAD POET'S SOCIETY) wrote the script.

* Rick Famuyiwa (THE WOOD) will write and direct FEELING ARETHA about a father and son in the world of college basketball coaching.

* Tracey Jackson (upcoming THE GURU) will write three new projects with Warner Bros. Pictures, MGM and GreeneStreet Films: INTO THE FRYING PAN is the Warners project-a romantic comedy about a spoiled young woman who's left at the altar and tries to comfort herself with a week in Tuscany but accidentally registers for a boot-camp cooking school; MGM has tapped her to rewrite a remake of the Claude Lelouch film ONE FOR ALL about three beautiful actresses who hatch a lot with a vengeful airline attendant; and GreeneStreet grabbed Jackson's untitled romantic comedy pitch, with Fisher Stevens eying it as a directing project. It's about a long-distance love affair between a telemarketer and the would-be customer.

MISCELLANEOUS PRODUCTION TIDBITS

* Warner Bros. will release THE MATRIX RELOADED domestically on May 15, while THE MATRIX REVOLUTIONS will be released during the holiday season of 2003.

* Miramax Films is developing its first computer-animated feature for children. targeted for a 2004 release. The project is based on the Lego Co.'s Bionicle line of action figures and will center on six heroes, known as the Toa. They join forces to collect legendary artifacts the Masks of Power and defeat Makuta, an evil ruler who has taken over the island of Mata Nui.

* Nimbus Films has optioned MALDONNE, a 1962 novel by Pierre Boileau and Thomas Narcejac. It's the story of a down-on-his luck musician hired to pose as a rich look-alike to procure an inheritance, who ends up serving as the decoy for an assassination.

Until next week.

Elston Gunn

elstongunn@hotmail.com