Egg cooks up 'Wild' pic with 'Game' duo

By SUZAN AYSCOUGH

Jodie Foster's Egg Pictures has hatched its first feature project, joining with "The Crying Game" team to co-produce "Jonathan Wild," a script that has been incubating for some five years with producer Stephen Woolley.

The $ 20 million-plus pic is a 50/50 co-prod between Woolley's Scala Pictures and Foster's Egg Pictures. It will be the first movie greenlighted through Egg's financing deal with Polygram Filmed Entertainment.

Mobster movie is based on Dan MacPherson's original screenplay, which he's rewriting under the supervision of Neil Jordan, who will direct.

Saga is about the "first real big city mobster" in London, circa 1720, when "free enterprise had run riot from the top to the bottom," Woolley told Daily Variety.

Jonathan Wild was a charming, ruthless villain who controlled gangs in London at a time when anarchy was brewing.

England's King George I was a German who spoke no English. The country was at the tail end of a drawn-out religious war with France. There were no police and the South Seas were opening up. Opium was becoming a popular drug. Common folk carried guns for protection. "It's about society on the verge of a breakdown," said Woolley.

In a separate interview, Jordan said what attracted him was that the "portrait of London that it gives in the 18th century is actually far more akin to Los Angeles and New York today. It's the portrait of a society out of control. It's tremendously comforting to realize things were always the same."

Foster was in Paris dubbing "Sommersby" and could not be reached for comment. In a news release, she said the project fits "perfectly into our long-term goal ... of respecting the vision of passionate filmmakers while producing commercial motion pictures.""The screenplay is superbly written, and the roles are wild, sexy and funny. ... We can't wait to start casting this picture," Foster said.

It's undecided if Foster will star. Egg Picture's Stewart Kleinman noted Egg "is not a vanity production company to develop (pictures) for Jodie to act in. Steve and Neil both realize we're an alternative to the studio system. We want to work with filmmakers of vision."

Technically, "Jonathan Wild" is the first project Foster will produce through Egg. However, she's also developing the Jean Seberg project with Hexagon Films, which may go into production first.

Sked-wise, Woolley said he and Jordan will shoot "Interview With the Vampire" via David Geffen's company for Warner Bros. this summer in New Orleans. The "Wild" project is targeted for a summer '94 shoot in England.

"The main thing for me as a producer is to work with Jodie -- I think she's a leading light in cinema. We're privileged to work with Geffen and then Jodie. That's not being sucked into the black hole of Hollywood, it's working with the best," Woolley commented.

Polygram Filmed Entertainment also has a long track record with British indies. It is the parent company of A&M Films ("Birdy"), Interscope Communications ("The Hand That Rocks the Cradle"), Propaganda Films ("Bob Roberts"), Working Title Films (upcoming "Posse") and London-based Manifesto Film Sales.

Polygram subsid Gramercy Pictures (a co-venture with Universal Pictures) may distribute Stateside because "Egg has an option to go through Manifesto or Gramercy," said Woolley, who noted Manifesto will likely handle foreign sales.