Diesel-fueled 'Nightlife'; Bening has 'Vision'
Diesel, the 29-year-old director and star of "Strays" and an earlier short film "Multi-Facial," has agreed to direct the Interscope film "Nightlife" after Interscope chairman-CEO Ted Field saw his pic. MTV execs who saw it have given him a deal to develop "Strays" into a TV series for MTV. And Steven Spielberg liked Diesel's work in "Multi-Facial" enough to include him alongside fellow actor-directors Tom Hanks and Ed Burns in "Saving Private Ryan," which Spielberg will direct later this year for DreamWorks and Paramount.
The latter studio responded by signing Diesel to a two-picture option acting deal. Aside from this Diesel-fueled activity, he's now getting distrib offers for "Strays."
"It has been like a fairy tale," Diesel said during a break from scouting "Nightlife." The film's about a Jersey guy who gets caught up in the nightlife scene and manipulated by a Machiavellian club kingpin. Diesel's taking a pass at the script, whose last draft was done by "Bright Lights, Big City" author Jay McInerney. Tom Engleman and Scott Kroopf are execs on the project.
"I'd been a bouncer at just about all the clubs for about nine years, starting with the Tunnel, so I know that world and all the people in it," said Diesel, who also promoted parties at Gotham clubs to raise money to finance "Strays." Field hired him after seeing "Strays," the story of a multiracial group of men who bond as they prowl for superficial sexual conquests.
Diesel began writing the script nearly five years ago, when he bought a $639 word processor from the Wiz. Diesel disproved that store's motto --- "Nobody Beats the Wiz" --- by writing most of the script within 30 days, then returning the machine he couldn't possibly afford. "I had 80 pretty good pages," he said, then scratched out the rest of the script and the money to film it. MTV reacted first, with exec Ken Mok acting as point man on the series. Diesel is creator and will direct. The biggest surprise benefit from the film was the Spielberg call.
"My agents, Clar Ryu and Howard Cohen of United Talent, sent the short to casting director Denise Chaimian, who sent it to Spielberg. He sent it to Frank Darabont, who's doing a rewrite of the Robert Rodat script for 'Saving Private Ryan,' " Diesel said. "He had Frank write a role for me in the film everybody's trying to get a role in."
The Interscope job got Gramercy interested and Paramount is into it as well. Diesel's managed by Banner Entertainment's Brian Swardstrom and Stacy Boniello and lawyered by Patti Felker and Warren Dern.
FILM FODDER: Annette Bening, reportedly co-starring with Robin Williams in Interscope's "What Dreams May Come," is in talks to follow that role with another supernatural thriller. It's the Neil Jordan-directed "Blue Vision" at DreamWorks. The pic's about a woman who gets in a car accident and loses her child. Amidst her grief, the accident gave her a mysterious psychic power. ...
While Hugh Grant is deciding whether to next do the Lieberville comedy "The Reluctant Groom" at Universal or the Robert Kuhn-scripted comedy "Otherwise Engaged" for Castle Rock, he may become attached to Working Title and Propaganda's "The Persuaders." The film will be based on a short-lived TV series that ran on ABC in 1971, starring Tony Curtis and Roger Moore as rich playboys assigned to solve cases by a retired judge. Curtis played a rough-and-tumble New York stockbroker, while Moore played a wealthy British aristocrat. Guess which one Grant's being courted for. Grant and Elizabeth Hurley are also producers on "Otherwise Engaged," which was developed by their Simian Prods.
ROLE REVERSAL: "Partridge Family" heartthrob David Cassidy was a hard act to follow for brother Shaun, who became a teen idol in "The Hardy Boys." Now, David's following the lead of his younger brother, who hatched "American Gothic." David Cassidy has created the pilot "Ask Harriet" for TriStar and Fox, about a newspaperman dumped from his job writing a men's column.
He poses as a woman to take over a woman's advice column. Cassidy's busy performing the MGM Grand show "EFX" and couldn't star in the series. The role went to newcomer Anthony Tyler Quinn.
ANDERSON'S "SACRED" TRUST: As webs await decisions on fall pilots, one interesting casting is Kevin Anderson of "Sleeping With the Enemy" and "Sunset Boulevard" fame. He's playing a priest in the 20th TV pilot for ABC, "Nothing Sacred," which Richard Peerce directed. Anderson's career has been quiet, for good reason.
He's only beginning to regain momentum, after his motorcycle trek across the country ended when a car knocked him off his bike near Seattle. He spent nearly two years on the shelf with a badly broken leg and arm. "There were other complications, like a fat embolism, where fat entered my bloodstream and put me in intensive care."
Though Anderson had to learn to walk all over again, he's fully healthy. He recently completed starring roles in the Wind Dancer film "Firelight," and is playing Michelle Pfeiffer's husband in "A Thousand Acres." Series work is a departure, but he responded to the script, in which he plays an inner-city priest. "I did it because the script was so good and though I had no idea what to expect, it's been a better creative experience than some movies I've done," he said. Anderson's managed by Mel McKeon and his series deal was made by William Morris' Marc Schwartz.
