By Romeo San Vicente
The 'Lulu' that neve do
Now that she's dancing (and producing) her way through Robert Altman's "The Company," Neve Campbell also has her eye on the story of fellow dancer-turned-actor Louise Brooks. Campbell recently bought the script "Lulu" from writers Peter Nickowitz and Bill Oliver and plans to turn it into a starring vehicle for herself. Best known as the star of 1929's "Pandora's Box" – which is widely regarded as the first screen representation of lesbianism – Brooks was willfully modern and nonconformist and quit acting in the 1930s. "The story has to do with the mystery of her," says gay scribe Nickowitz. "She was a dancer and gave that up to act, then gave that up. She was a painter and a writer, too." Come to think of it, that sounds a little like Campbell's multi-tasking career path. Look for "Lulu" to bob its way into theaters in the not-too-distant future.
Sarsgaard smooches Scott
Campbell Scott meets Peter Sarsgaard meets Patricia Clarkson in the upcoming film adaptation of "The Dying Gaul," by gay playwright Craig Lucas. In "Gaul," the characters played by Scott and Sarsgaard start having an affair. Then Clarkson, as the wife of one of the men, finds out and becomes secretly involved with them through an Internet chat room, creating a romantic triangle. The project marks the third collaboration between Lucas and Scott: the actor appeared in the Lucas-penned "The Secret Lives of Dentists" and "Longtime Companion." Filming is already finished and the movie is in the editing room, so look for it later this year.
Seconds on 'Seconds'
Jonathan Mostow, director of "U-571" and "T3," will take the helm of Paramount's remake of the 1966 John Frankenheimer drama, "Seconds." The original, which starred John Randolph and Rock Hudson, was about a man who literally has two lives. Unhappy with his existence and the choices he's made, Randolph gets a new face and identity and emerges as Hudson, only to wreck his newer, more handsome life as well. It was a story that had unusual resonance for Hudson later in his career, when it became a metaphor for his life in the closet. The fast-tracked project is the second (detect a theme here?) Frankenheimer movie – the first is "The Manchurian Candidate" – to be redone by the studio. Meanwhile, the plan is to retitle this second "Seconds," but there's no word yet on what that new name will be.
'Nurse' sings for America
An audience favorite on last year's film festival circuit, the kooky Dutch musical comedy "Yes Nurse! No Nurse!" will make its way across the ocean to American theaters later this year, as Regent Entertainment's Here Films has acquired the movie for distribution. Based on a Dutch TV show from the '60s, it's the story of Nurse Klivia, her nursing-home patients, and their battles with a mean landlord. A decidedly queer sensibility prevails and has led to the movie being compared to everything from "Singing in the Rain" and "Little Shop of Horrors" (minus the murders) to "Pee-wee's Playhouse." It could be just what the doctor ordered.
