Father Geek here just back from a whirlwind trip to LA to catch the last 3 features of the WORLD 3-D EXPO on Sunday at the Egyptian. (It was well worth it too!) Managed to work in "extended" get-togethers with Directors Richard Kelly, Eli Roth and Ron Howard, as well as the great James Horner, Paul Dini, and some of our regular AICN Hollyweird crew (Moriarty, Mr. Beaks, and Tom Joad among others) in our Oh-So-Brief 26 hours in town. Man, I still can't get MISS SADIE THOMPSON out of my head... fantastic flick, Rita was never better! The 3-D was perfect! Well, on to this week's Recap for those of you who may have lost track of all last week's movie news...

THE WEEKLY RECAP...

TAKEN FROM VARIETY AND HOLLYWOOD REPORTER

CASTING

* Lucas Black, Peter Coyote, Lesley Ann Warren, Mia Maestro and Xander Berkeley will star in the indie DEEPWATER, based on the novel by Matthew F. Jones. Adapted/directed by David S. Marfield for Halcyon Entertainment, the dark psychological thriller concerns a drifter who happens upon the town of Deepwater. His arrival in town has sinister consequences, and it is not long before he is seduced into a twisted game of deceit and murder.

* Amy Madigan joins Ed Harris, Will Ferrell, Zooey Deschanel and Amelia Warner in WINTER PASSING for Stratus and writer/director Adam Rapp. Madigan plays a theater actress who has become a surrogate mother for a young woman who returns home to her estranged father and the unusual group of people who have been living with him. Harris plays the father.

* Ray Liotta, Heather Graham and John Goodman are attached to star in the comedy FRIENDS AGAIN, written by Neal Gumpel, for director George Gallo and producers David Permut, Michelle Grace and Julie Gallo. Comedy centers on a New York fishmonger and a director who were childhood friends but now find themselves back together for less-than-friendly reasons when the director steals his buddy's idea for his next movie.

* Joan Allen is in talks to star opposite Matt Damon in THE BOURNE SUPREMACY for Universal Pictures and director Paul Greengrass. Tony Gilroy adapted the sequel, which is inspired by Robert Ludlum's second novel in the BOURNE series.

* Kimberly Elise and Jon Voight will co-star Denzel Washington and director Jonathan Demme in the upcoming Paramount remake of THE MANCHURIAN CANDIDATE. She will play the girlfriend of Washington's character, a Desert Storm war leader who is disgraced for having discounted terrorist theories. Jon Voight has taken the remaining key role of Senator Thomas Jordan. Meryl Streep and Live Schreiber also star.

* Gisele Bundchen, Jennifer Esposito, Christian Kane, Henry Simmons and Ana Cristina De Oliceira are joining Queen Latifah and Jimmy Fallon in 20th Century Fox's TAXI for director Tim Story.

* WWE star Triple H will star JORNADA DEL MUERTE, a modern-day Western from writer John Milius, and will battle Wesley Snipes in New Line's BLADE: TRINITY.

* Meryl Streep and Jude Law are joining Jim Carrey in LEMONY SNICKET for director Brad Silberling and Paramount/DreamWorks. The project is an adaptation of the Daniel Handler children's book series. Liam Aiken and Emily Browning have also been set to play Klaus and Violet Baudelaire, two of the three orphans who are the central protagonists of the series. Shooting begins in November, for a holiday 2004 release.

* Denise Richards, Sean Astin and Annie Potts has joined John Corbett and Kim Basinger in Capitol Films' ELVIS HAS LEFT THE BUILDING for director Joel Zwick (MY BIG FAT GREEK WEDDING). The script is by Adam-Michael Barber and Mitchell Ganem.

* Evan Rachel Wood (THIRTEEN) will join the cast of PRETTY PERSUASION for director Marcos Siega. James Woods, Ron Livingston and Christina Applegate will star in the project, which begins shooting in summer 2004. It's a black comedy centering on a sexual harassment scandal that engulfs an exclusive Beverly Hills private school. Skander Halim wrote the script.

* Sara Paxton, Brie Larson, Sean Faris and Steve Carell join Alexa Vega. Mika Boorem and Kallie Flynn Childress in SLEEPOVER for director Joe Nussbaum and MGM. Production begins Sept. 30 in Los Angeles.

* Cliff Curtis (WHALE RIDER) will star in the thriller SPOOKED for director Geoff Murphy and the newly formed Capital Pictures and Silverscreen Films. The feature is based on the true story of a man who lands in trouble when he buys second-hand computers with sensitive banking records on their hard disks.

* Thora Birch joins the cast of John Sayles' SILVER CITY, a political drama/murder mystery which is due to start production this week in Denver. Danny Huston, Chris Cooper, Kris Kristofferson, Cheech Marin, Maria Bello and Daryl Hannah star.

* Nick Stahl (TERMINATOR 3) has joined the ensemble cast of the indie drama WEST MEMPHIS THREE for director Alex Steyermark and writer/producer Curt Johnson. Based on the true story of a 1993 Arkansas murder case in which three teenagers were controversially arrested and charged with killing three other young boys, the project also stars Michael Pitt, Jacob Reynolds, Doug Hutchison, Drea de Matteo, Gina Gershon, Michael Madsen and Ricki Lake. Production begins in November in Dallas.

* Giovanni Ribisi is near a deal to join Dennis Quaid and Jacob Vargas in the action remake of THE FLIGHT OF THE PHOENIX for director John Moore, 20th Century Fox and producer John Davis. Filming begins in Africa on Oct. 20.

* Benjamin Bratt and Lambert Wilson will star opposite Halle Berry in Warner Bros. Pictures/Village Roadshow Pictures' CATWOMAN for French director Pitof and Di Novi Pictures. Shooting begins Sept. 29.

* Tom Wilkinson has joined Helen Hunt and Scarlett Johansson in the indie pic A GOOD WOMAN for director Michael Barker. Production begins next month in Italy. Written by Howard Himelstein, the project is inspired by the Oscar Wilde play LADY WINDERMERE'S FAN about a seductress who steals the husband of a younger woman.

* Cameron Diaz is attached to star in Fox 2000's W.A.S.P.S., a WWII-set drama about the first female pilots recruited by the military in 1942. Jan Eliasberg is set to rewrite the script for Gitlin Prods. and Millbrook Farm Prods.

* Arnold Vosloo (THE MUMMY) will star as an apartheid-era cop tormented by past atrocities he committed in FORGIVENESS for director Ian Gabriel and Dv8.

* Jason Schwartzman will star opposite Steve Martin and Claire Danes in an adaptation of Martin's novella SHOPGIRL for helmer Anand Tucker. Shooting starts Oct. 13 from a script also written by Martin.

* Jon Favreau has signed to join the cast of Universal's WIMBLEDON, opposite Kirsten Dunst and Paul Bettany.

* Matt Davis has been cast in HEIGHTS for director Chris Terrio and Merchant Ivory. Elizabeth Banks, Glenn Close, James Marsden and Jesse Bradford also star.

* Michael Pitt, Cherry Jones, Jayne Atkinson, Celia Weston and Brendan Gleeson round out the ensemble cast of director M. Night Shyamalan's THE WOODS for Disney. The new cast members will join stars Adrien Brody, Joaquin Phoenix, Bryce Dallas Howard, William Hurt and Sigourney Weaver.

* Tim Meadows, Amy Poehler, Lacey Chabert ("Party of Five") and Jonathan Bennett join Lindsay Lohan and Rachel McAdams in MEAN GIRLS for Paramount/Broadway Video and director Mark Waters. Production will start this month in Toronto.

* Diane Lane will star in Escape Artists' NEED about a successful New York therapist who discovers that one of her patients -- a suicidal woman named Beth -- is having an affair with her husband. Chloe King penned the screenplay, which is based loosely on Lawrence David's novel of the same name. Jon Bokenkamp rewrote the material.

* Justin Long ("Ed") will star opposite Vince Vaughan and Ben Stiller in 20th Century Fox's comedy UNDERDOGS. He is also shooting the DreamWorks comedy ANCHORMAN, starring Will Ferrell.

* David O'Hara has been added to the cast of Kevin Reynolds' TRISTAN AND ISOLDE, starring James Franco and now shooting in Ireland and Prague.

* Alec Baldwin is being eyed to star in SIMPLY HALSTON, based on the book by Steven Gaines, with Jane Krakowski playing Liza Minnelli for Killer Films.

DIRECTOR/WRITER ATTACHMENTS

* Jeremy Pikser (BULWORTH) is adapting the Tony Johnson chrildren's book THE IGUANA BROTHERS: A TALE OF TWO LIZARDS for Fox Animation and Blue Sky Studios. John Leguizamo will produce and lend his vocal talents. It's about Dom and Tom, two laid-back iguana brothers living in Mexico. They embark on several adventures thanks to Tom, such as trying to go vegetarian by eating flowers instead of bugs, trying their hand at being dinosaurs and stargazing at their favorite constellation, the Big Iguana.

* Regardt van den Bergh will direct the biblical epic THE LAMB about a journey of faith by Mattias and his son Joel, intertwined with encounters with Jesus. Shooting begins in South Africa in December.

* Michael France (THE HULK) will write TITANS for New Line and Horseshoe Bay Prods. about a group of teens who just happen to be the future gods of Mt. Olympus. The story begins when they are teenage mortals in Greece who've learned of their futures and must come to grips with their destiny.

* Tim Daly and cinematographer Clark Mathis will co-direct the indie feature BEREFT, with Vinessa Shaw (EYES WIDE SHUT) in the lead role. Daly, Tim Blake Nelson, Michael C. Hall, Marsha Mason and Edward Herrmann will also star. Shooting is under way in Vermont. Based on a screenplay by Peter Ferland, it's about a young Vermont widow haunted by the memory of her husband, who died at a young age.

* Danny Boyle is in negotiations to direct Warner Bros./Imagine Entertainment's WORCESTER COLD STORAGE, an adaptation of Sean Flynn's book 3000 DEGREES: THE TRUE STORY OF A DEADLY FIRE AND THE MEN WHO FOUGHT IT. Scott Silver (8 MILE) adapted the screenplay.

* Channing Gibson (LETHAL WEAPON 4) will script the untitled cop-buddy project starring Queen Latifah and Jada Pinkett Smith for Paramount.

* Darryl Quarles (BIG MOMMA'S HOUSE, BLACK KNIGHT) will pen a remake of 1969 Don Knotts comedy THE LOVE GOD? for Universal/Imagine.

* Paul McGuigan (THE ACID HOUSE) is set to direct Jason Smilovic's script LUCKY NUMBER SLEVIN for indie shingle FilmEngine. Company is eyeing a first quarter 2004 start to production on in New York City. The project is a neo-noir thriller that spans four decades and involves a Rabbi, a hit man, a horse and a case of mistaken identity and is set in the world of black and Jewish gangsters.

* Annabel Jankel is attached to direct and produce SKELLIG, based on the young adult novel by David Almond, for Phoenix Pictures. Irena Brignull (COME TOGETHER) is attached to adapt the screenplay. In the novella, Skellig is the mysterious creature who transforms the lives of a young boy, his new friend Mina and his ailing baby sister.

* Davis Films has optioned Konami's video game franchise SILENT HILL, with Samuel Hadida set to produce and Christophe Gans (BROTHERHOOD OF THE WOLF) set to direct.

* Gina Wendkos will write the live-action feature adaptation of the graphic novel JINGLE BELLE for Revolution Studios. The graphic novel, written by Paul Dini, centers on the precocious teenage daughter of Santa Claus, who has had enough of the North Pole and goes off on her own, inadvertently triggering a sequence of events that puts Christmas in jeopardy.

* Victor Salva is set to write and direct New Line's World War II thriller THE WATCH, based on an original script by John Claflin and Daniel Zelman. It revolves around a team of inexperienced soldiers who are sent to blow up a critical Nazi bridge only to discover that they are being hunted by Abaddon, a spirit of the devil.

* Thomas Vinterberg (THE CELEBRATION) will direct DEAR WENDY, starring Jamie Bell (BILLY ELLIOT), with production beginning Sept. 26 in Copenhagen. Lars Von Trier wrote the original script for the film, which will tell the story of Dick, an 18-year-old outsider, who -- although a pacifist -- is fascinated by guns. He and his gang of misfits, the Dandies, have all given named to their weapons -- Wendy is his own -- but they have also sworn never to draw. Still, rules are to be broken.

* Author Jackie Collins will develop the romantic comedy FISH OUT OF WATER for Anonymous Content and Focus Features. Script is being written by Ardwight Chamberlain, based on a story by Collins. It's about a young woman from the Midwest who comes to Hollywood to marry a studio mogul and finds herself in rich-and-famous central but unexpectedly falls in love with the caterer.

* Alex Turner is set to direct the indie thriller DEAD BIRDS, written by Simon Barrett, for Silver Nitrate. Story centers on aConfederate soldiers who rob a bank, then hide out in a deserted plantation house where an occult event has unleashed all sorts of terrifying mayhem. Henry Thomas, Nicki Aycox, Isaiah Washington, Patrick Fugit, Michael Shannon and Mark Boone star.

* Jim Uhls (FIGHT CLUB) and Yalda Tehranian-Uhls have launched Peculiar Films and teamed with Hyde Park Entertainment for its first production, HARD HEARTS. Uhls scripted the darkly comic crime actioner which concerns a bounty-hunting couple who must chase down their most dangerous prey while planning their wedding. The company is also developing THORNELY AND OSWALD by Stephen Barnes and FOOL THAT I AM by Uhls and Knarik Koop.

* Raw Progressive Films has optioned three scripts: Angus Fraser's cop thriller THE PUGILIST, set in the 1970s, concerns a rebellious boxer-turned-policeman who discovers that a string of brutal NYPD cop killings are part of a larger conspiracy; Stephen Feder's CAT THIEF, a heist film in which a femme gumshoe becomes romantically involved with the globetrotting master thief she's supposed to capture; and Mark Mallouk's crime drama SOMERSET SQUARE.

* Rob Bowman has sealed a deal to direct THE LAST BUFFALO HUNT for Intermedia Films and Mad Chance Prods. about a band of voyagers who encounter mercenaries, angry local tribes and government assassins as they track lost treasure from WWII in the South Pacific. Peter Buchman wrote the script.

MISCELLANEOUS PRODUCTION TIDBITS

* Former Aardman exec Michael Rose has joined forces with producer Martin Pope to launch Magic Light Pictures. The complay will focus on comedy and family movies, working across live action and animation. Their development slate includes Paul Unwin's cross-cultural romantic comedy WILD THING; two projects from the directing team Neil Hunter and Tom Hunsinger; and MARSHALL, a 21st century Western blending CGI with live action, by Kiwi writer/director James Cunningham.

* Producer Lorenzo di Bonaventura has been recruited by Hasbro to make a feature film deal for G.I. JOE. Bonaventura has secured the rights from the toymaker and will pitch, with screenwriter Michael Gordon (THE 300 SPARTANS) a live-action film based on the long-running popular toy.

* Paul Schrader will no longer continue as director of Morgan Creek Prods.' EXORCIST: THE BEGINNING due to creative differences. Pic is currently in post-production and scheduled for release through Warner Bros. in early 2004.

* WetWorks has acquired three properties to develop into feature films: Midway Games' video game FREAKY FLYERS, ARTHUR C. CLARKE'S VENUS PRIME book series and Joseph Badal's new novel THE PYTHAGOREAN SOLUTION.

* New Jersey indie filmmakers Robert Whitehill and Scott Harmolin have founded Chester River Films. They're currently developing the comedy-thriller BLUE RINSE, about three women blackmailed by a mobster to carry out a murder, and MAMZER, a farce about Jesus returning to earth. Also in development is TWO GUYS FROM VERONA, NJ, a modern retelling of Shakespeare's TWO GENTLEMEN OF VERONA and high-tech action thriller WI-FI.

GUNN SHOTS

(NOT from the trades)

* John Truby will be teaching his famous 22-step Story Structure Class on Saturday, October 4 & Sunday, October 5 in New York City at DV Dojo. Details for this special weekend class are available at http://www.screenstyle.com.

* Metreon-A Sony Entertainment Center presents the 3rd Annual Metreon Festival of Anime on Saturday, October 11 from 10am-11pm in San Francisco. Visit http://www.metreon.com for more info.

* Coppola Enterprise Studio & Academy - Acting, Modeling, Hair, Make-Up Classes. For more information, visit http://www.coppolafx.com.

Until next week...

Elston Gunn

elstongunn@hotmail.com