Merrick here...


Brett Ratner and Chris Tucker of RUSH HOUR will re-team on a Frank Sinatra project. Tucker will play Sinatra in the prime of his Rat Pack years; it's hoped this casting will broaden the singer's appeal to wider, hipper audience.

I'm kidding.

Tucker would play George Jacobs, Sinatra's valet, who recently co-authored a book called "Mr. S: My Life With Frank Sinatra" - from which the film is being drawn.

Book, a dishy tell-all penned by Jacobs and William Stadiem, was first published by HarperCollins in 2003. It offers a behind-the-scenes glimpse into the world of Sinatra and the Rat Pack.

Stadiem, a longtime chronicler of old Hollywood, has been tapped to write the screenplay, which weaves in celebrity anecdotes involving Marilyn Monroe, Peter Lawford, the Kennedys, Ava Gardner, Humphrey Bogart, Mia Farrow, Elvis Presley, Swifty Lazar and Marlene Dietrich, among others.

...says THIS ARTICLE in Variety.

I've always wondered what DIRTY HARRY would've been like if Sinatra had taken the role, as originally planned.

Insert obligatory Ratner bashing here _____________.