Happy Easter to you all from Father Geek and the staff of Aint It Cool News and Its offices in Los Angeles , Paris , and Austin,Texas and how better to start it off than with a scan through Elston's Easter Edition of the WEEKLY RECAP with your morning cup of coffee. Lots of interesting tidbits came up last week and they're all reborn right here in his report. Enjoy...

TAKEN FROM VARIETY AND HOLLYWOOD REPORTER

CASTING

* Faye Dunaway plans to star in a project for director Pedro Almodovar (ALL ABOUT MY MOTHER), though the director is working on three scripts and has yet to decide on his next project.

* Peter O'Toole joins Aidan Gillen in THE FINAL CURTAIN about the rivalry between a showbiz veteran and a newcomer for director Patrick Harkins.

* Kevin Reynolds (WATERWORLD) will direct THE COUNT OF MONTE CRISTO based on the Alexandre Dumas book for Spyglass Ent. Jim Caviezel stars. Reynolds may also direct OKRACOKE with Kevin Costner.

* Nick Nolte, Neve Campbell, Robin Tunney, Tuesday Weld, Terrence Howard and Til Schweiger will star in INVESTIGATING SEX for director Alan Rudolph (BREAKFAST OF CHAMPIONS) about a group of men who study sex and two female stenographers who transcribe the sessions. German actor Schweiger will also star in CHAMPS opposite Sylvester Stallone with Renny Harlin at the helm.

* John Travolta will star in SWORDFISH with Dominic Sena (upcoming GONE IN 60 SECONDS) at the helm. The story follows a CIA agent who persuades an ex-con computer hacker to help him steal billions of dollars and if he succeeds he'll get custody of his daughter and a new life.

* Charlie Sheen will star in the romantic comedy GOOD ADVICE about an investment banker who loses it all and has to find out what's important in life.

* Giancarli Giannini and Francesca Neri (LIVE FLESH) join HANNIBAL--they'll play police investigators. Shooting begins next month in Florence.

* Heath Ledger (upcoming THE PATRIOT)will take the lead in FOUR FEATHERS for Miramax and director Shekar Kapur. The film is a remake of the 1939 Zoltan Korda film.

* Jet Li is in talks to star in THE FIRST KING for producer Joel Silver and Warner Bros. about the first king of China and his court brought into modern times.

* Roger Moore will star in the biological warfare pic THE ENEMY.

* Jason Gedrick ("Falcone") joins Freddie Prinze Jr. in SUMMER CATCH.

* Richard Riehle (OFFICE SPACE) joins SAY IT ISN'T SO with Heather Graham.

* Michael McKean will have a role in NEVER AGAIN for director Eric Schaeffer.

* Jim Caviezel will star opposite Jennifer Lopez in ANGEL EYES for director Luis Mandoki. He replaces Aaron Eckhart in the drama.

* Tim Robbins joins Patricia Arquette, Rhys Ifans and Mirando Otto in the comedy HUMAN NATURE written by Charlie Kaufman (BEING JOHN MALKOVICH) and to be directed by Michel Gondry. The story follows a woman covered in body hair, a scientist who teaches table manners to mice and a French lab assistant who have their eyes on a young man who was raised as an ape.

* Jason Isaacs (THE PATRIOT) joins SWEET NOVEMBER with Keanu Reeves.

* Illeana Douglas will have roles in both GHOST WORLD and PLUTO NASH.

* David Ramsey joins PAY IT FORWARD.

* Laura Harris (THE FACULTY) will star in and produce the indie pic COME TOGETHER for writer/director Jeffrey Macpherson. Tygh Runyan also stars.

* Norman Reedus (upcoming BEAT) will have roles in both DEUCES WILD and EDDIE KILLED THE PRESIDENT.

* Kiefer Sutherland and Melora Walters will star in the thriller DESERT SAINTS about the relationship between a vulnerable woman and an assassin. Jamey Sheridan, Leslie Stefanson and Rachel Ticotin also star in the pic co-written and to be directed by Rich Greenberg.

* Wesley Snipes will star in and produce FAST FLASH TO BANG TIME for director Gary Fleder about a crack-addicted FBI agent and his sex-addicted female partner who team up to prevent a terrorist attack. Shooting begins this summer.

* Carrie Anne-Moss (THE MATRIX) has signed to star in both MATRIX sequels for Warner Bros. as well as CHOCOLAT for director Lasse Hallstrom (THE CIDER HOUSE RULES) where she'll play the daughter of Judi Dench's character.

* Meg Ryan is being pursued to star in CRIMINAL CONVERSATION for Iain Softley (WINGS OF THE DOVE) or Oliver Stone's BEYOND BORDERS with Kevin Costner, both for Paramount.

* Portia DeRossi ("Ally McBeal") and Teri Hatcher will star in the indie film TWO GIRLS FROM LEMOORE.

* Josh Lucas (AMERICAN PSYCHO) joins Radha Mitchell (HIGH ART) and Barry Watson (TEACHING MRS. TINGLE) in Screen Gems' SHEARER'S BREAKFAST.

* Rick Yune (SNOW FALLING ON CEDARS) and Paul Walker will star in the street-car racing pic REDLINE (formerly titled RACER X) for Universal and director Rob Cohen.

* Colin Farrell (upcoming TIGERLAND) will play the title character in JESSE JAMES, an action-comedy Western about the outlaw and his gang as they go up against greedy railroad barons. Les Mayfield (BLUE STREAK) is directing the Morgan Creek/Warner Bros. pic in June.

* Devon Sawa (FINAL DESTINATION) and Jason Schwartzman (RUSHMORE) are in talks to star in SLACKERS about three college students who are scamming the school, but are then blackmailed by a geek to win over the most popular girl on campus. Shooting begins June 8 with Dewey Nicks directing the David Steinberg script.

* Nestor Serrano joins Armand Assante and Benjamin Bratt in Trimark's AFTER THE STORM.

* Lynne Thigpen (RANDOM HEARTS) joins NOVOCAINE with Steve Martin, Helena Bonham Carter and Laura Dern.

* William Shatner will play a beauty pageant host in MISS CONGENIALITY starring Sandra Bullock and Michael Caine. Jennifer Gareis (upcoming THE SIXTH DAY) will play Miss New Jersey, Raquel Robinson will be Miss California and Diedre Quinn shall play Miss Texas. The Castle Rock pic will begin shooting next month.

DIRECTOR/WRITER ATTACHMENTS

* Trimark pickedup Alex Rosio's spec UNTITLED LOW-BUDGET THRILLER THAT WILL SCARE THE SHIT OUT OF YOU about a police officer and a female television producer and an investigation of a serial killer.

* Lewis Colick (OCTOBER SKY) has written DOMESTIC DISTURBANCE about a strong bond between a father and a son, which has been sent to directors and is on the fast-track at Paramount.

* Karen McCullah Lutz and Kirsten Smith (10 THINGS I HATE ABOUT YOU) have written PUBLIC DISPLAYS OF AFFECTION which was put in turnaround by Disney but may get picked up by Fox 2000 about a woman who falls for the guy she's helping to fix up.

* Laurice Elehwany and Rick Copp (THE BRADY BUNCH MOVIE) are writing the sex comedy EVERY SEVEN MINUTES about a 17-year old virgin and his quest for a supermodel during summer vacation.

* Simon Kinberg will write an untitled script for Village Roadshow based on his pitch about five friends who come upon an eerie town. He's also written GHOULS OF NEW YORK for Redeemable Pictures and BREAKAWAY for Edward R. Pressman.

* Stacy Peralta will direct the documentary DOGTOWN about the world of skateboarding for Vans.

* Mike Judge is in talks to direct and co-rewrite Clay Tarver (SQUELCH) the remake THE INCREDIBLE MR. LIMPET for Warner Bros., Baltimore/Spring Creek and Gerber Pictures.

* David Magee has written NEVERLAND, acquired by Miramax, about author J.M. Barrie's relationship with his children neighbors and how it influenced his writing PETER PAN.

* Onion writer Todd Hanson will script 10TH CIRCLE ADDED TO RAPIDLY GROWING HELL for DreamWorks Animation about the need for an expansion in hell due to a growing number of demographers, ad execs, tobacco lobbyists and monopoly law experts.

* Jeff Daniels has directed an adaptation of his play ESCANABA IN DA MOONLIGHT about a family on the night before deer hunting season. Daniels also stars.

* Fred Wolf (BLACK SHEEP) will write the comedy THE FIVE JOES for Adam Sandler to produce for New Line Cinema.

* Mick Jagger is writing a script (possibly titled THE LONG PLAY) which will take a no-holds-barred look at the world of pop music. Martin Scorcese is working with Jagger and is set to direct the film.

* Skip Woods (SWORDFISH) is in final talks to write and direct a remake of the 1976 film LOGAN'S RUN for producer Joel Silver and Warner Bros.

* Steve Beck is in negotiations to direct a remake of William Castle's 1960 film 13 GHOSTS for both Warner Bros. and Columbia Pictures. It has been said the updated version will be scary as opposed to campy. Joel Silver and Robert Zemeckis will produce.

* Allison Anders (GAS FOOD LODGING) will direct THINGS BEHIND THE SUN which she co-wrote with Kurt Voss about two childhood friends: a female musician and a guy music journalist who are haunted by her rape. Kim Dickens (MERCURY RISING) and Gabriel Mann (OUTSIDE PROVIDENCE) will star. Shooting starts in June in Florida.

* Actor Grant Heslov (ENEMY OF THE STATE) will direct PAR 6 starring Jeffrey Jones later this month.

* Gary Sinyor (THE BACHELOR) will direct the romantic comedy ONE for Lions Gate about a woman whose boyfriend, a sportswriter, dies and comes back as his enemy, a tennis star. Anya Kochoff-Landis scripted.

* Chris Fallon will write the action-thriller THE ASSIGNMENT for Warner Bros. based on a story by Fallon and David Faigenblum where an undercover agent is double-crossed during an assignment. Fallon has also written PHANTOM DEER ARISE with John Schlesinger attached to direct.

* Bandeira Ent. picked up Chris Rose's script THE ANNIVERSARY MAN about a guy who wishes for a new life the same day every year until he finally gets the one he wants.

MISCELLANEOUS PRODUCTION TIDBITS

* Matt Dillon has dropped out of MISS CONGENIALITY starring Sandra Bullock and Michael Caine.

* There may be sequel to AMERICAN PSYCHO, but there have been no official discussions yet. Lions Gate does own the rights to any sequels to the film through 2005.

* Disney is buying the movie and ancillary rights to Clive Barker's upcoming fantasy quadrilogy tentatively titled THE ABARAT QUARTET about a 16-year old girl who crosses over into another dimension that consists of 25 islands where she meets a rebel named Finnegan and faces a villian called the Lord of Midnight who wants to conquer all of the islands and then the human world. The first book is due fall 2001.

* Martin Scorcese's GANGS OF NEW YORK starring Leonardo DiCaprio is scheduled to start shooting in August.

* Gemini Films has purchased the feature rights to Salman Rushdie's novel THE GROUND BENEATH HER FEET which has been described as "the rock 'n' roll version of the myth Orpheus and Eurydice." Raoul Ruiz will direct.

* Jersey Films picked up the upcoming novel LOST GIRLS by Andrew Pyper about a lawyer whose visits with a serial killer conjures up repressed childhood memories which make him believe he may have committed a murder.

* Robert Evans' best-selling biography THE KID STAYS IN THE PICTURE may be developed as a documentary by Brett Morgen and Nanette Burstein (ON THE ROPES).

* The Kaufman Co. picked up the rights to two books: Gabriel Everett's 1997 novel A STORY OF SCORPIONS about a minister who forges a relationship with his family's killer; and THE KEEPER OF THE BEES, the 1925 novel by Stratton Porter where a soldier escapes a veteran's hospital and falls in love.

Wow. The trades took Good Friday off and we still have kind of a long recap. A couple of interesting tidbits this week: the cast for INVESTIGATING SEX looks intriguing, but not as odd as MISS CONGENIALITY with Bullock, Caine and...Shatner? Jagger and Scorcese working on a script? Hope it's the definitive pop movie. Jim Caviezel is staying pretty busy doing both THE COUNT OF MONTE CRISTO and ANGEL EYES. John Travolta will play another villain in SWORDFISH. Think it'll be good? And if they HAVE to remake THE INCREDIBLE MR. LIMPET, I'm glad it's in the hands of Mike Judge. Should be cool. But will it be as cool as HUMAN NATURE, Charlie Kaufman's follow-up script to BEING JOHN MALKOVICH? I like the look of the cast so far. I also like the title FAST FLASH TO BANG TIME. Hope they keep it.

Until next week...Happy Easter.

Elston Gunn

elstongunn@hotmail.com