Howdy folks... Father Geek reporting in from Deep in the Heart of Texas with Elston Gunn's regular weekend review of the week that was out in ol' tinseltown, USA. Yep, its Weekly Recap time once again, soooo hop off that pony of yours, grap a monster-sized cup of steaming hot Java, and prepare yourself for all the news that was fit to print...

Of course the big stories were of the passing of a couple of entertainment legends, John Lee Hooker and Carroll O'Connor. Then there was that bit about John Woo returning THE TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLES to the big screen and their original edginess.

Then there's the news of a new bigtime entre in that spooky sub-genre Father Geek likes to call "The Flying Dutchman" genre after the 1923 film of that name that started it all. You know flicks like DEATH CRUISE, GHOST SHIP, VIRUS, DEATH SHIP, DEAD CALM, PANDORA & THE FLYING DUTCHMAN; hell, even major elements of those great classics SEA WOLF and NOSFERATU could be worked into it, or stretching it some GOONIES. Anyway, Christopher McQuarrie is developing CHIMERA for Warner Bros. and others about some boat salvagers who find a lost ship floating pilotless out on the ocean waves, and bizarre things start to plague them.

Buuuuuuut, the absolute scariest thing to cross Father Geek's desk this week was the following:

We spoke to Brian Helgeland yesterday who was talking about his proposed remake/update of THE WILD BUNCH. It was news to me, anyway.

For the full story, check out: This Site

Cheers, Sykes

Personally, that's downright terrifying... I guess they'll just never learn... Now on to Elston's regular report...

TAKEN FROM VARIETY AND HOLLYWOOD REPORTER

CASTING

* Rapper/actor DMX (ROMEO MUST DIE, EXIT WOUNDS) will star in an untitled project based on the 1931 German classic M for Warner Bros. and producer Joel Silver. Production is expected to begin in the fall. The original story centered on a police investigation of a child-murderer. When the authorities are unable to catch him, local criminals, who are uneased by all the police activity, try to help. Reginald Blythewood will write the script.

* Tia Texada (NURSE BETTY) joins Eriq La Salle, Michael Beach, Ronny Cox and Steven Weber in CRAZY AS HELL for director La Salle. This adaptation of the Jeremy Leven novel SATAN follows a psychiatrist who consents to a 30-day documentary about the effects of psychotherapy on metal illness.

* Italian thesp Raoul Bova (THE KNIGHTS OF THE QUEST, ULTIMO) will star opposite Sylvester Stallone and Madeleine Stowe in the romantic comedy AVENGING ANGELO for Dante Entertainment and director Martyn Burke. It's about a woman who finds out she is the daughter of a mob boss. When he is offed by a hit man, she seeks revenge with his bodyguard, who is later the object of her affection. The movie also features Anthony Quinn's final performance.

* Jean Rochefort has recovered from the injury that forced him to drop out of Terry Gilliam's DON QUIXOTE and is going to join the French action ensemble pic BLANCHE with Lou Doillon, Gerard Depardieu, Carole Bouquet, Sergi Lopez, Jose Garcia, Roschdy Zem, Antoine de Caunes and Catherine Jacob. Bernie Bonvoisin directs the pic in September.

* Ewan McGregor and Tilda Swinton will star in YOUNG ADAM about a drifter who finds work on a barge heading to Edinburgh from Glasgow, only to find a female corpse in the water. David Mackenzie directs.

* Samuel L. Jackson, Milla Jovovich and Stellan Skarsgard will star in the thriller NO GOOD DEED for director director Bob Rafelson based on Dashiell Hammett's short story, "House on Turk Street." It's about a San Francisco policeman who is about to take an overdue vacation but happens upon an international ring of bond thieves. Christopher Canaan penned the adaptation.

* Harvey Keitel will star in and produce MURDER TRUST, a dark comedy, to be directed by James Riffel, based on a true story about a group of five working-class barflies who devise a scheme to kill people in order to get their insurance money. But one of the guys they try to kill won't seem to die, and they try several ways to get rid of him.

* Nicolas Cage is in early talks to star in GHOST RIDER, based on the popular Marvel Comic, for Dimension Films and director Steve Norrington. David Goyer wrote the script. Marvel's Avi Arad is producing the pic with Crystal Sky's Steven Paul and Jon Voight.

* Bernie Mac is in final talks to star in THE LAST RIDE, New Regency's action-comedy pic described as a hip-hop take on THE CANNONBALL RUN. Mike Mahern wrote the screenplay with rewrites by Aaron Mendelsohn and Paul Tamasy.

* William Gregory Lee ("Dark Angel") joins Desmond Askew and Rainn Wilson in the WHEELMEN about two limo drivers in L.A.

* Mae Whitman joins Henry Jaglom's SHOPPING, starring Lee Grant, Rob Morrow and Sam Robards.has been added to the cast of director Henry Jaglom's ``Shopping,'' filming in Los

* Ronny Cox has been added to the cast of Eriq LaSalle's feature directorial debut CRAZY AS HELL, playing the head of a psychiatric hospital.

DIRECTOR/WRITER ATTACHMENTS

* Spike Lee may direct a film adaptation of the popular Broadway musical RENT for Miramax Films.

* Production designer Bo Welch will co-direct (with Matt Drake) PARASYTE, a strange buddy comedy based on a Japanese comic about aliens that invade the earth in the form of seeds. When they land on any living creature, it becomes an alien. The story's hero is able to confine the alien transformation process to just his left hand, and his alien hand and he team up for a battle to save the world from alien invasion.

* Warner Bros. grabbed Cary Solomon and Chuck Konzelman's script THE INFERNO for producer Joel Silver. The screenplay centers around 12 brave yet flawed men who descend through the recently uncovered gates of Hell to bring back a sacred key.

* John Brancato and Michael Ferris (THE GAME) will rewrite TERMINATOR 3 for director Jonathan Mostow.

* Christopher McQuarrie will develop and possibly direct CHIMERA for Warner Bros. and producer Joel Silver as well as Robert Zemeckis' Dark Castle Entertainment. It's about a group of boat salvagers who find a lost 1953 passenger ship floating aimlessly in the Bering Sea. After claiming the ship and attempting to tow it to land, bizarre things start to happen aboard the vessel.

* Maria Ripoll is in talks to direct Alcon Entertainment's A LITTLE LOVE, based on C.C. Medina's novel about five women at different stages of their lives who get together at one of their daughters' quinceanera, a festive celebration of a Latina's 15th birthday marking her transition into womanhood. Lisa Loomer (GIRL, INTERRUPTED) adapted the novel for the big screen.

* Filmmakers Ted Demme and Richard LaGravenese will co-write, co-direct and co-produce an untitled feature documentary about American cinema in the 1970s for IFC Entertainment.

* Tom Sierchio will write the remake of MADE IN HEAVEN, Alan Rudolph's 1987 film about two souls who meet in heaven and fall in love, for Castle Rock Entertainment.

* John Woo is developing a computer-animated feature film based on the TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLES franchise. The project will return "to their darker, edgier comic book roots." Woo is co-developing the pic, tentatively scheduled for release in Christmas 2002, with Terence Chang.

* Ted Tally will adapt a trilogy of novels about Alexander the Great for producer Dino De Laurentiis and Universal Pictures.

MISCELLANEOUS PRODUCTION TIDBITS

* Helkon International Pictures, Helkon SK, Tri-Pictures and Eagle Pictures have bought the upcoming comic book GENE POOL from creators Len Wein and Marv Wolfman. The four companies will develop the project into a live-action, English-language feature film centering on a team of reluctant heroes with superpowers who are thrown together for survival and protection when they find themselves hunted and their normal existence in jeopardy.

* Producer Dan Halsted and Gary Gilbert have optioned the rights to SHTICK MAN OF THE SEA, a Steve Friedman-penned Washington Post feature about comic Jim McDonald and his move from the standup circuit to a gig on a luxury cruise ship. The project will ultimately be a romantic comedy to be written by McDonald and Chuck Martin and will focus on McDonald's experiences of how Murphy's Law can go into effect when a wannabe standup comic meets the Love Boat crowd.

* FilmColony has optioned rights to Arthur Miller's play A VIEW FROM THE BRIDGE for a feature film to star Anthony LaPaglia, who won a Tony for his performance in the Broadway revival of the drama. Andrew Bovell will write the script.

* Greg Harrison and Danielle Renfrew (GROOVE) are working on two projects for their Map Point Pictures banner: ETC (Experimental Treatment Center), a comedy written by Garry Trudeau, is about scientists who try to find a cure for a fictional disease caused by changes in the environment. MINOR CHARACTERS, penned by Benjamin Brand, is an adaptation of Joyce Johnson's memoir of coming of age in the Beat generation, which she observed as Jack Kerouac's girlfriend.

GUNN SHOTS

(NOT from the trades)

* Check out www.mawn.net for info on an Action Filmmaking Camp in New York July 11-15.

* Awesome Factory Comics wants you to check out their site. www.awesomefactory.com

* Indelible Pictures has launched a website for the new David Mamet film THE HEIST. www.heist-movie.com

This week has flown by and I didn't really absorb the news. Anything good? Until next week...Happy Summer Solstice.

Elston Gunn

elstongunn@hotmail.com