By Romeo San Vicente
Another gay Rock?
How times change. The last time an actor named Rock played gay, he only did it "offscreen." Now it looks like Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson – a butch thing if ever there was one – will play a man-loving man in "Be Cool," the sequel to "Get Shorty." Negotiations are still in the works, but the sequel, to be directed by "The Italian Job"'s F. Gary Gray, will most likely star John Travolta, reprising his role as Chili Palmer (good idea, too, John – you need a hit), and The Rock as a singing gay bodyguard. After getting beaten up by the big, bad bruiser on their first meeting, Chili agrees to help Mr. Johnson's character become a star. No word on whether the pair will duet on "You're the One That I Want."
Shane West's career crashes
Hot young up-and-comer Shane West (star of "A Walk to Remember" and "League of Extraordinary Gentlemen") will soon take on the role of a different sort of extraordinary gentleman – Darby Crash. If you've never heard of Mr. Crash, then you've been listening to way too many show tunes. He was the troubled gay lead vocalist of the influential, late-'70s Los Angeles punk rock band The Germs, and his life and untimely death in 1980 of a heroin overdose was recently documented in the book "Lexicon Devil." The film is set to be titled "What We Do Is Secret," after an old Germs song, and casting is ongoing, with Bijou Phillips attached as Germs bassist Lorna Doom. Look for it to make a big noise in art house theaters soon enough.
Lessons in lug
Is this when the "Queer Eye for the Straight Guy" backlash begins? New Line Cinema just bought a script from screenwriters Dudi Appleton and Jim Keeble that could put a dent in the newfound appreciation hetero men seem to have for home decorating and wearing cute shoes. The project, titled "What a Man's Gotta Do," tells the story of a metrosexual – you know, one of them that looks and dresses like one of us – who's way too into the whole exfoliating thing and has to be taught by a middle-aged Brooklyn mechanic how to be a "real man" in order to woo the woman he loves. Of course, once he gets her, he'll have to knock off all that stuff anyway.
Shankman steps into Christmas
The winning streak that director Adam Shankman is on shows no sign of slowing down. Now the hit-making gay director of "Bringing Down the House" is going home, home, home, home for the holidays and signing on to helm "Four Christmases" for Columbia Pictures. The comedy concerns a young couple who realize that, with their respective parents' divorces and remarriages, they now have four different families to visit on Christmas Day. No word yet on casting, a shooting schedule, or a projected release date, but the faster Santa Shankman gets it in the can, the faster it'll become a perennial moneymaker as a December cable TV staple.
