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week 40-01
ShowBiz Weekly: news from the UK & US...

MARIAH CAREY has defied the advice of doctors and her record company to embark on a promotional tour of Japan and Australia for her new Glitter CD. The singer, who is still recovering from a breakdown, had been told to take six months off to recuperate from her two recent spells in hospital. But she was reportedly galvanised by the response to her appearance two weeks ago on the national celebrity telethon for terrorist victims. Observers say her decision to make the trip was also fuelled by her desire to steal some of the limelight from JENNIFER LOPEZ and BRITNEY SPEARS, who have both had lots of publicity lately.

JENNIFER LOPEZ, who married her dancer boyfriend CRIS JUDD last weekend, is forming something of a bond with Britain. She has just finished working with director MICHAEL APTED on the thriller Enough, and will have a British male co-star for her next film, the romantic comedy Chambermaid. Casting is still under way for the actor to play a British gentleman guest at a luxury Chicago hotel where Lopez's character is working as a chambermaid. Lopez joined the project after the original star, HILARY SWANK, changed her mind.

JANE FONDA has not ruled out a return to acting, although it would take a special project to attract her, according to her son, actor TROY GARITY. ``My mum has become very spiritual in what she calls the third act of her life,'' he says. ``She has achieved a lot of things and there are still things she wants to do. But if there is a script that meets her expectations or furthers one of her causes, she would consider it.'' Garity, whose father is Jane Fonda's former husband TOM HAYDEN, is rapidly making a name for himself as an actor. He is currently co-starring with BRUCE WILLIS, BILLY BOB THORNTON and CATE BLANCHETT in the comedy adventure Bandits.

Many of the cast and crew who worked on the upcoming Second World War romantic drama Charlotte Gray are being asked to reunite for producer DOUGLAS RAE's next project. On Green Dolphin Street, like Charlotte Gray, is based on a book by SEBASTIAN FAULKS and will be directed by GILLIAN ARMSTRONG. It centres on an affair between a British diplomat's wife and a Washington reporter, set against the backdrop of the presidential race between JOHN F KENNEDY and RICHARD NIXON in 1960. Charlotte Gray, which stars CATE BLANCHETT in the title role, is to be released in December so it can qualify for the Academy Awards.

DIANE KEATON, who sold her home in Beverly Hills to MADONNA for 5 million, has bought another house 60 miles down the coast in Laguna Beach. The five-bedroom house, which is by the Californian beach, was built in 1924, and was in the process of being upgraded when Keaton bought it. The 55-year-old actress has made a hobby out of refurbishing older houses and is well-known for her taste in decor and architecture. As for acting, Keaton is developing a 10-part television series on the women's rights movement. A film about raging forest fires in the western United States will be the first to pay tribute to firemen in the wake of the World Trade Centre tragedy.

DreamWorks has bought the rights to SEBASTIAN JUNGER's book Fire, a collection of magazine articles featuring reports from the front lines of various hot spots around the world. Junger previously wrote the book The Perfect Storm, on which the subsequent film starring GEORGE CLOONEY and MARK WAHLBERG was based.

The Big Breakfast reject KELLY BROOK has been dealt another blow with the cancellation of her planned American television series. The Misadventures of Fiona Plum, in which Brook was to have played a bratty British witch banished to nanny service in the US, has been scuttled by creative differences, according to a Warner Bros spokesman. ``We had some creative issues with the programme and the shape it was taking,'' he says. ``We felt it best not to continue with the programme.'' Negotiations are now under way for the 21-year-old model to appear in Smallville, the new series about a teenage Superman, in which she would play Lex Luthor's girlfriend.

KATE WINSLET is negotiating to star in director ALAN PARKER's The Life of David Gale which begins filming next week in Austin, Texas. It would be the first film in America since Titanic for the British actress, who recently separated from her husband, JIM THREAPLETON. KEVIN SPACEY is also starring in the drama about a professor who advocates the abolition of capital punishment but finds himself on Death Row after being wrongly convicted of murder. According to the Hollywood Reporter, Winslet would play a journalist who interviews him about his predicament and then takes up his case.

British actors COLIN FIRTH and HELENA BONHAM CARTER will star together in the romantic comedy New Cardiff which is set in New England. The story revolves around a British artist (Firth) who is dumped by his fiancee (Bonham Carter), and then holes up in a motel where he meets a local girl, to be played by HEATHER GRAHAM. MARY STEENBERGEN rounds out the cast as the owner of the motel who plays matchmaker to all the characters. Firth is known in America for his role in Bridget Jones's Diary and Bonham Carter attracted much attention as the freedom-fighting simian in Planet of the Apes.

RUPERT EVERETT is to star in his own weekly television series in America. The British actor will help write the fish-out-of-water comedy called Mr Ambassador, and star as an eccentric British ambassador stationed in Washington DC. Everett, well-known in America through his roles in My Best Friend's Wedding and The Next Best Thing, has been guaranteed payment for 13 episodes of the series, which will air on the NBC network.

CHRISTOPHER WALKEN is going to Wales to join British actors ALFRED MOLINA and BRENDA BLETHYN in Plots with a View, a comedy about funeral homes. Walken, who is accustomed to playing the villain, will portray an upstart American who lures customers from a rival funeral director with glitzy stunts. Molina plays his rival, who also pines for a local woman, played by Blethyn.

Martial arts star CHUCK NORRIS is pressing for a TV film to be aired as soon as possible despite its similarities to the World Trade Centre tragedy. In The President's Man: Ground Zero, Norris plays a presidential troubleshooter who is pitted against a terrorist, a thinly-veiled Osama bin Laden character. The terrorist demands freedom for his men who were behind the 1993 attack on the World Trade Centre, threatening to detonate a nuclear bomb if the president fails to comply. ``I basically go to Afghanistan and kidnap bin Laden, whom we call Rasheed, and bring him to trial,'' Norris tells Daily Variety. ``The film has a positive message. What's good about it is it doesn't blame all Arabs for the actions of a few. ``It was originally planned to be shown in January but I'm concerned that if it waits until then or later people will think that we just made it and that we were trying to capitalise on the tragedy.'' The CBS network says it has made no decision on when the film will air.

KIM BASINGER is in negotiations to portray EMINEM's mother in the controversial rapper's film debut, Detroit Project. The project reunites Basinger with director CURTIS HANSON. Their previous collaboration on LA Confidential earned both of them Oscars, with Basinger winning best supporting actress and Hanson best screenplay. Detroit Project is described as a provocative examination of a critical month in the life of a young man as he searches for identity and a sense of purpose. Basinger, who recently separated from her husband ALEC BALDWIN, has the film People I Know, in which she co-starred with AL PACINO, awaiting release.

SIR PAUL McCARTNEY's new single From a Lover to a Friend will soon be receiving worldwide exposure. It forms the centrepiece of the soundtrack to the romantic thriller Vanilla Sky, which stars TOM CRUISE, his girlfriend PENELOPE CRUZ and CAMERON DIAZ and is due out on December 14. Record executives believe there is huge potential for the song, which is from Sir Paul's forthcoming album Driving Rain. It is described as a farewell to lost love and closing chapter of life - references to the death in 1998 of the former Beatle's wife Linda. McCartney last had a solo Top 10 single in 1987 when Once Upon a Long Ago reached No 10 in the UK charts.

RICHARD GERE is brushing up on his singing voice to join CATHERINE ZETA JONES and RENEE ZELLWEGER in the film adaptation of the hit musical Chicago. He is taking over the role of the sleazy lawyer Billy Flynn, for which HUGH JACKMAN was originally the favoured contender. Flynn makes stars out of two accused murderesses in Chicago during the Roaring 20s. Gere's musical background, which includes playing the lead in a production of Grease, is considered suitable for the Flynn character, who has three musi cal numbers in the film.

MADONNA and her director husband GUY RITCHIE are going ahead with filming the romantic drama Swept Away in Malta despite security concerns. The film's producer, MATTHEW VAUGHN, has refused to comment on security arrangements but sources say the Maltese government is supplying extra guards at the studio and laying on coastguard launches to patrol offshore. Madonna and Ritchie's decision comes as most studios and production companies are adjusting their schedules to film in Hollywood rather than travel to foreign locations. Swept Away is a remake of an Italian film, but has a new screenplay by Ritchie.