Reynolds revival starts in 'Arizona'

GOOD MORNING: Burt Reynolds will star in and direct "The Arizona Kid," a $ 16 million indie-financed Western. Reynolds celebrated the deal with g.f. Pam Seals at the Trocadero, then on to the Tiffany for "Class of 1990" where he spent an hour, after the play, discussing the acting and the play with players Michael Sutton, Matt Borlenghi, Tammy Lauren, Markus Redmond ... They're "Grumpier Old Men" and busier older men -- before starting "Grumpier," Jack Lemmon films "Temecula" and Walter Matthau now has a May start for "I'm Not Rappaport," to film in Central Park with Herb Gardner directing him, Amy Irving, Lou Gossett, etc. It's now also set for Sophia Loren to join Ann-Margret with the "Men"... A very sad Estelle Getty told me Wednesday is the finale, after 10 years, for her to play "Sophia Petrillo." She's been Sophia in the departing series "Empty Nest ," as well as in "Golden Girls,""Golden Palace,""Blossom" and "Nurses." The final seg, a two-parter, is followed by a wraparound of clips. Getty says, "It's been a great run and a fun character." And now -- ?"I'll be cheered up moving into a new house." She plans to devote herself to charities, like pediatric AIDS and abused women ... Whatta way to go! John Hurt was in town over the weekend for the "Rob Roy" junket -- having departed the Borocay Island in the Philippines by dugout to a small airstrip to Manila and on to L.A. He reversed the trek Sunday night to return to the location of the supposedly Thailand-set "Saigon Bay." He was in great spirits despite the 24-hour flights and very high on both the BBC "Bay" and UA's giant "Rob Roy," which I visited in Scotland. The busy Hurt also has "Wild Bill" and "Dead Man" in the can, and offers waiting. But he'll first head home to Ireland ... Oscar-nominated (for Castle Rock's "The Shawshank Redemption" screenplay) Frank Darabont -- who also directed "Shawshank"-- says the seven nominations for the picture have made a big difference in the pic's box office: it's now nearing its $ 25 million cost. He says Castle Rock is "a filmmaker-friendly organization" and he's readying two thriller-chillers to direct and script for 'em, "Mine" and "Mist.""Mine" has two great femme roles -- a helluva change from "Shawshank."

GETTING AROUND WITH "THE SAINT": From Berlin, David Brown called in after stops in Moscow, St. Petersburg, Prague, Budapest and Warsaw with director Philip Noyce and writer Jonathan Hemsleigh ... The Par pic doesn't start until early August and while Brown wouldn't say how far (how much) Par will go, he admitted, "It won't be cheap"; but he quickly added, "Noyce is very economical." When asked about the Mafia in Russia, he said, "I felt safer there than in New York or in L.A." What about payoffs? "You pay for protection so it's not extorted from you." In St. Petersburg, Brown wondered what William Randolph Hearst would have thought of this sight: A copy of Cosmopolitan (Russian edition) propped up on the base of the giant Lenin statue. Brown's wife, Helen Gurley B. is, of course, editor, and celebrating her 30th year at the mag's helm. She's toasted (roasted) Tuesday in N.Y. ..."The Zone" starts filming this week in Budapest with Robert Davi, Alexander Godunov and Ben Gazzara in the thriller produced by Kevin Kallberg and Oliver Hess. Davi, who just wound Paul Verhoeven's "Showgirls," plays a good guy in "Zone"... John Patrick Shanley has withdrawn as director of his screenplay of "Bell, Book and Candle" in order to direct his new play, "Psychopathia Sexualis." Miramax's Harvey Weinstein and producer Jay Weston are talking to top directors to take over reins of the remake of the '58 Jimmy Stewart-Kim Novak starrer.

IT'S OFFICIAL: Planet Hollywood is coming to the former BevHills site of Gump's on Wilshire Boulevard, sharing the location with Nike Town. And this Saturday, the 19th Planet Hollywood opens in San Diego, with star partners Arnold Schwarzenegger, Sylvester Stallone, Bruce Willis and Demi Moore leading other stars in the festivities ... Carroll O'Connor reports CBS nixed his "Savannah" series plans and script after paying for its development. O'Connor, back home in L.A. after his long Southern stand in "In the Heat of the Night," said filming out of Atlanta was a most pleasant experience. The O'Connors were among friends who happy birthday'd Ruda Dauphin at the Bunny Stivers-hostessed party at Provencia. Others on hand who'd been at Deauville with Dauphin included John Frankenheimer, Jimmy Woods, Bob Wise, Alain Bernheim, Andrea Marcovicci, Deborah Raffin and Michael Viner, Warren Cowan, Fay Kanin, Robert Ellis Miller, Steve Tolkin. Provencia's Patrick Terrail then winged to Florida to prep parties for Ivana Trump ... Sheryl Lee Ralph, fresh from the birth of daughter Ivy Victoria, winged to Vegas to join Whoopi Goldberg and Gerard Depardieu in WB's "Bogus"; Ralph plays a showgirl. She's also readying her May 6 Wilshire Ebell "Divas: Simply Singing" to benefit Baby Buddies and Project Angel Food, two AIDS/child related causes.