Patrick Goldstein’s Tuesday column in the L.A. Times is quickly becoming a lightning rod. Last week, he wrote about Miramax’s dump job with The Yards, just a week after raging about the Oscar disqualification of Croupier. Rage... dig it!

In any case, Patrick’s article on The Yards was clearly driven by director James Gray’s discomfort with Miramax’s handling of the picture. (You could read the story yourself, except that the L.A. Times has buried it deeper on its website than Miramax has ever buried anything.) Yesterday, Miramax responded. (That story still exists as of this writing. Click here. 

To be fair, although Harvey Weinstein didn’t talk to Patrick on the record for his story or partake in this response by Mark Gill and Jon Gordon, Gill did talk to Patrick for the original story, and some of what Patrick quoted is repeated in this response.

Both pieces are rife with subtle gamesmanship. Patrick mixes two realities in his analysis of the situation: 1) Miramax buried The Yards; and 2) Miramax is out of the small indie-film business. Both are true... at least for the moment. What is not true is that Miramax treated The Yards any differently than many, many of their other films. And that’s what the Miramax execs say in their letter to the Times. But while they say they handled it like they do other films, they don’t acknowledge the well-known tendency of the company to buy stuff up and then pull back after dipping a toe into any water that is less than very warm. So where is Miramax these days? I’ve been saying this for months, and it has been confirmed every way it can be confirmed: Miramax has been in a cocoon since Harvey’s January Surprise last year, and they are clearly reforming the idea of what Miramax is and what Miramax is going to be... even if they have films in the pipeline. While Harvey Weinstein hasn’t said this to me, his behavior speaks loudly. For the second straight year, Harvey will not be at Sundance. In the old days, Miramax owned Sundance.

But back to The Yards... the decision by Miramax to reshoot part of the movie almost a full year after the film was delivered is extraordinary and suggests enormous good will. And Miramax made a real effort to push the film at Cannes, but the fire just didn’t take. James Gray says to Goldstein near the end of Patrick’s column, "It just would have made a big difference to me and to the actors if Harvey had acted as if he were proud of the movie and judged the film on its merits, not just on its salability." Well, that would be lovely. But that would have been a serious change of direction for the Miramax leader. Yes, it must be uncomfortable for Gray not to be Miramax’s chosen child for Oscar. But there is no real surprise here.

Miramax's high-wire act of bridging mainstream and arthouse entertainment grew more perilous but also more profitable in 2000, co-chairman Harvey Weinstein asserted Tuesday.

In a wide-ranging interview with Daily Variety, Weinstein said the company's profits hit record levels this year thanks to strong box-office returns on "Scary Movie," "Scream 3" and "The Legend of Drunken Master," plus 1999 leftovers "The Cider House Rules" and "The Talented Mr. Ripley." And the year's not over, of course. "Chocolat" and "All the Pretty Horses" are still in the wings, and both have strong chances with critics and Oscar voters.

The hits of 2000 and the financial muscle of genre banner Dimension Films has left the Disney-owned minimajor open to charges that it has departed from its artistic roots and from the acquisitions game. Skeptics point to Miramax's commitment to big-budget, quasi-studio productions such "Gangs of New York" and "Four Feathers" as well as the addition of Talk magazine, Talk Miramax books, a music label and TV production to the fold.

But Weinstein retains a voracious appetite for quality product of any stripe, viewing these new offshoots as
nothing less than synergistic refinements. He will be on the prowl at January's Sundance Film Festival after being sidelined by illness during last year's fest. Even though acquisitions are no longer the top priority, especially amid such adverse arthouse market conditions, count on Weinstein to be part of most bidding wars.

While giving due respect to brother Bob Weinstein, architect of Dimension's success, Harvey Weinstein also stressed the important role of foreign-lingo pics such as "Butterfly," which grossed $2.1 million in the U.S. last summer. Miramax not only is one of the few believers in the shrinking U.S. market for foreign-lingo pics -- it actually strives to produce such films, the next being "Malena," helmed by Giuseppe Tornatore.

Strong feelings on strike

Movie production is one thing, but if you really want to reveal Weinstein's contrarian streak, simply mention the increasingly common corporate view of the upcoming strikes as a money-saver.

"To suggest that a strike is good for this business is pure arrogance," he said. "I will fight desperately against a strike. I will do anything to bring the two sides together."

While next year's film landscape remains riddled with questions, Miramax already is placing its bets on several high-profile pics, among them "Bridget Jones' Diary," "Captain Corelli's Mandolin" (a co-venture with Universal), and "Gangs," which could be ready by year-end. Dimension, meanwhile, is readying a "Scary Movie" sequel as well as Antonio Banderas starrer "Spy Kids."

"Serendipity," a John Cusack starrer set for national summer release, aims to pick up where fall's modestly successful "Bounce" left off.

"'Bounce' showed me that we could make mainstream movies in our own way," Weinstein said. Alluding to the plot, he added, "We took a love story and threw a plane crash in as a challenge." The Gwyneth Paltrow-Ben Affleck romance will likely finish its U.S. run with a respectable $40 million. 

Disappointments in 2000 included "The Yards" -- which exceeded its $17 million budget by $7 million -- and "Reindeer Games," whose $23 million domestic gross was dwarfed by production and P&A costs. (Stellar video and DVD numbers have somewhat redeemed "Reindeer," Weinstein said.)

Oscar wild cards

Two of the biggest wild cards in the Oscar race are "Chocolat" and "All the Pretty Horses," both of which could well find sizable audiences in this lean movie year.

"Horses," which developed a bad rap over the summer after partner Sony kicked it to Miramax for domestic release, should clock in at around two hours upon its Christmas Day release. Early screenings have been fairly successful and few members of the target audience will likely dwell on helmer Billy Bob Thornton's initial resistance to trimming his much longer version, or producer Mike Nichols requesting that his name be removed from the credits after viewing one cut.

"Chocolat" also has just emerged on Academy members' radar and several critics have registered advance praise. One of its producers, David Brown, could become a sentimental favorite. The 84-year-old Hollywood vet, married to Cosmopolitan doyenne Helen Gurley Brown, has never won a competitive Oscar despite racking up producing credits on "Jaws," "The Verdict," "The Player" and "A Few Good Men."

One boon to Miramax's Oscar fortunes in the future, Weinstein noted, is Talk Miramax Books. He praised editor-in-chief Jonathan Burnham, who came to Talk Miramax after running U.K. publisher Chatto & Windus.

Since unveiling its first list last spring, it has recorded one New York Times bestseller, "A Density of Souls," by Christopher Rice (son of Anne), and shipped 75,000 copies of Simon Schama's massive $40 "History of Britain."

Helen DeWitt's just-published first novel, "The Last Samurai," is receiving strong reviews, and January will see the release of "Icebound," by Dr. Jerri Nielsen, the physician who diagnosed and treated her own breast cancer after being stranded last year on the South Pole.

Miramax's record imprint also has close ties to the film side. It has mainly released movie soundtracks during its five years of existence.

The L.A.-based label has scored several hit singles and collected seven Grammy noms this year. Recent smashes include last year's N' Sync/Gloria Estefan duet "Music of My Heart" from the soundtrack to the Meryl Streep film "Music of the Heart" and Sixpence None the Richer's "Kiss Me" from "She's All That."

This summer, the label expanded operations with the long-term goal of cultivating new musical talent to appear on Miramax soundtracks. But no new acts have been signed thus far, according to label chief Randy Spendlove.

BEVERLY HILLS -- Jennifer Aniston, Courteney Cox Arquette, Lisa Kudrow and 900 of their friends had a ball raising more than $2 million for a serious cause Monday night at the Beverly Hills Hilton. 

The three Friends stars, looking like glamorous triplets in their slinky black dresses, hosted the 10th annual Fire & Ice Ball. The beneficiary was the Revlon/UCLA Women's Cancer Research Program, aimed at eradicating breast and ovarian cancer. 

 ''It's definitely an important night, considering a lot of women in my own family and just this world in general suffer from this disease,'' said Aniston, whose hubby, Brad Pitt, is filming in Morocco.

Also on hand were UCLA cancer research program creators Lilly Tartikoff and Ron Perelman, plus Antonio Banderas, Melanie Griffith, Ralph Fiennes, Kristin Davis, Angela Bassett, Dylan and Shiva McDermott, Christian Slater, Allison Janney, Mark Wahlberg, Ray Romano, Tracee Ellis Ross, Sela Ward and the Arquettes: David (Courteney's husband), Rosanna and Patricia.

''I've been waiting 10 years to get to come to this,'' squealed Jennifer Love Hewitt. ''It's the most glamorous, beautiful, talked-about night of the year.''

HOLLYWOOD (Variety) - After fielding a handful of other offers, Mark Wahlberg has committed to star in Jonathan Demme's ''The Truth About Charlie,'' a remake of Stanley Donen's 1963 thriller ``Charade.''

Thandie Newton (''Mission: Impossible 2'') will co-star with Wahlberg; the two will respectively assume the roles played by Audrey Hepburn and Cary Grant. Luc Besson will serve as a producer on the project, along with Ed Saxon and Peter Saraf. Neda Armian will associate produce.

The "Charade'' remake, penned by Demme and Steve Schmidt, is a thriller that kicks into gear when a Parisian learns that her husband is murdered and she is suddenly pursued by four strangers. Though rescued by another stranger, the woman grows unsure of the man's motives.

Wahlberg had been in talks to work with Rod Lurie and Robert Redford on "The Castle'' a DreamWorks project that's also to begin shooting prior to potential strike writers' and actors' strikes next summers. But it's likely that Wahlberg's commitment to Demme will make his schedule too tight to accommodate both.

Wahlberg starred recently in "The Perfect Storm'' and "The Yards'' He will be seen next April, opposite Jennifer Aniston, in Stephen Herek's "Rock Star'' at Warner Bros. 

LOS ANGELES (The Hollywood Reporter) --- Mark Wahlberg is in final negotiations to star in Universal Pictures' thriller "The Truth About Charlie" (aka "Charade") for director Jonathan Demme. Thandie Newton is also expected to star in the project, which is slated to begin production in the spring.

Demme had been courting Wahlberg and Newton to star in the remake of the 1963 Audrey Hepburn-Cary Grant thriller "Charade" for a few weeks, and sources said the actors have committed to the project as their reps try to work out their deals.

Wahlberg would segue to the project after the actor wraps shooting 20th Century Fox's "Planet of the Apes," inspired by the original 1968 film, for director Tim Burton.

"Charlie" is about a Parisian woman (Newton) who is being pursued by four strange men after her husband is mysteriously murdered. She is subsequently rescued by a stranger (Wahlberg) whose motives are unclear to her.

Demme and Steve Schmidt wrote the script for the updated remake. Demme is producing the film with Ed Saxon and Peter Saraf.

Wahlberg, repped by Endeavor and manager Steve Levinson, next stars in Warner Bros.' "Rock Star" (aka "Metal God"). He was most recently seen on screen in Miramax's "The Yards" and Warner Bros.' "The Perfect Storm."

Newton, repped by CAA, was most recently on screen in "Mission: Impossible 2."

WHAT: The World Premiere of Universal Pictures' and Beacon Pictures' ``The Family Man,'' starring Academy Award® winner Nicolas Cage as a high powered Wall Street trader who finds himself with Kate (Tea Leoni), the wife he never married, with two kids he never had, in the life he would have led had he made different choices as a younger man. 

WHO: "The Family Man" stars Nicolas Cage, Tea Leoni, Don Cheadle, Jeremy Piven, Harve Presnell, Saul Rubinek and Makenzie Vega will join director Brett Ratner, producers Marc Abraham, Zvi Howard Rosenman, Tony Ludwig and Alan Riche, executive producers Armyan Bernstein, Thomas A. Bliss and Andrew Z. Davis, co-screenwriters David Diamond and David Weissman, composer Danny Elfman and recording artist Seal on the red carpet.

Other celebrity guests include: Jackie Chan, Chris Tucker, Cindy Crawford, Jesse Bradford, The Rock, Reese Witherspoon, Ryan Phillipe, Ben Stiller, Scott Caan, Matthew Broderick, Teri Polo, Rob Zombie, William H. Macy, Jon Voight, Clint Howard, Casper Van Dien, Mark Ruffalo, Oded Fehr, Jake Gyllenhaal, John Hannah, Lou Diamond Phillips, Ozzy Osborne, Lara Flynn Boyle, Carson Daly, Christian Slater, Britney Spears, Mark Wahlberg, Nick Turturro, Tim Allen, Elizabeth Shannon, Joely Fisher, LL Cool J., Paul Sorvino, Talia Shire, Marlon Wayans and many more.

WHERE: Mann's Chinese Theatre
                6925 Hollywood Blvd.

WHEN:  Tuesday, December 12
               Celebrity Arrivals: 6:30PM
               Screening:          7:30PM

"The Family Man" opens nationwide on Friday, December 22, 2000.

CONTACTS:  Television, William Hendley, 818-777-1392, or Print, Amanda Scholer, 818-777-0641, or Photographers, Bette Einbinder, 818-777-3226, or Online

"I'd like you to meet my wife."
--How a Planet of the Apes cast member says star Mark Wahlberg introduced him to Jordana Brewster 
Come again? 

I don't know which news flash is more unsettling this week--the fact that Titans just got axed by NBC or the thunderbolt that humpy Mark W. is in fact off the mushy market? 

Could the lovable bad boy indeed be married? If so, why hasn't he announced the happy fact? Whose feelings is he trying to protect--George Clooney's? 

Calls to M.W.'s rep were not returned, and all Ms. B.'s flack would say is that her client, who starred in The Faculty, is returning to Yale early next year. When pressed, Brewster's publicist said of the altar info, "I don't know." 

Add that mysterious lack of knowledge to the fact that there were--it turns out--published reports of a Wahlberg-Brewster wedding in December of last year, and whaddya get? A perfect storm of gossipy Sturm und Drang, that's what. 

Further fodder: The New York Times reported in its October profile of Wahlberg that "serious relationships are difficult for" the actor. 

As is completing any sort of moderate education. (Brother, who needs it with that kinda dough?) I suspect Ivy Leaguer Jordana, 20--who would have been 19 when the good-lookin' duo reportedly got hitched--must be tutoring the Massachusetts-born babe in more ways than one, as he made scholastic endeavors somewhat of a lesser priority when he dropped out of high school (though he did later get his GED). Still, he gets an A in amour, as far as I'm concerned.

(Belated) congrats, you two!

Charlton Heston has turned down the chance to join the cast of the new version of the Planet Of The Apes.

The latest £75 million special effects adventure is still in production.

It is directed by Tim Burton and stars Mark Wahlberg and Helena Bonham Carter as The Ape Princess.

George Clooney has agreed to make a cameo appearance as an excited ape in a crowd scene.

But Heston, who played Colonel George Taylor in the 1968 original saga, has told friends he would be "uncomfortable" in the ultra-modern re-make.

They said he had been offered a small role as a captured human mutant bound for the experimental chamber.

One friend told Ananova: "Chuck didn't want to distract the audience away from what was probably a very good dramatic plot with what he thinks is a fun gimmick. Fun gimmicks have their place but not this time.".

BURBANK, Calif.--(ENTERTAINMENT WIRE)--Dec. 6, 2000--Warner Bros. Pictures' highly acclaimed drama ``The Perfect Storm,'' which launched on the July 4th weekend to the largest three-day box office opening in Warner Bros. history, will open in an all-digital projected format in New York and Los Angeles on Dec. 8. 

Director Wolfgang Petersen will participate in Q&A sessions in New York at the AMC Empire 25 (Dec. 7) and in Los Angeles at the Burbank AMC Media Center 6 (Dec. 8.) The announcement was made today by Dan Fellman, President, Domestic Distribution, Warner Bros. Pictures. 

```The Perfect Storm' is an ideal film to showcase digitally and we are delighted by the opportunity to bring it back to theatres in this way,'' Fellman said. ``We are enormously proud of `The Perfect Storm' and thrilled that technological advances enable us to show it to audiences in this spectacular new format.'' 

The epic drama from Warner Bros. Pictures and Baltimore Spring Creek Productions, in association with Radiant Productions, starring George Clooney and Mark Wahlberg and based on a true story, opened on the July 4th weekend to the most successful three-day opening in Warner Bros. Pictures history. 

It was the second most successful debut this summer and the third highest box office gross for any July 4th weekend opening ever. One of the best reviewed films of the year, ``The Perfect Storm'' has grossed $182,597,218 to date. 

George Clooney and Mark Wahlberg star in ``The Perfect Storm'' as Warner Bros. Pictures presents a Baltimore Spring Creek Pictures production in association with Radiant Productions, a Wolfgang Petersen Film. The film also stars Diane Lane, William Fichtner, Karen Allen, Allen Payne, Bob Gunton, with Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio and John C. Reilly. Music is by James Horner. The film is edited by Richard Francis-Bruce, A.C.E. William Sandell is the Production Designer. John Seale, ACS, ASC, is the Director of Photography. The Executive Producers are Barry Levinson and Duncan Henderson. Based on the book by Sebastian Junger, the screenplay is by Bill Wittliff. Paula Weinstein, Wolfgang Petersen and Gail Katz produced ``The Perfect Storm,'' which is directed by Wolfgang Petersen. For more information, visit www.perfectstorm.com. 

The veteran Hollywood star and gun lobbyist Charlton Heston is to return to the screen in a remake of his 1968 hit, Planet of the Apes. But the actor, aged 76, will not reprise his role of astronaut Colonel George Taylor, the hero of the original cult film. Instead, he plays an aging ape who, on his deathbed, speaks of his despair at human nature. 

The big-budget remake - or 're-imagining', as 20th Century Fox which is making the film is calling it - started shooting last month in Arizona and is being directed by Tim Burton. 

Details of the plot and cast have been closely guarded by Burton's team, but the film is known to star British actors Helena Bonham Carter, who will play an ape princess, and Tim Roth, who is cast as an evil chimpanzee general. The leading male human role will be played by Mark Wahlberg, the former rap star who appeared in the action adventure, The Perfect Storm. 

Heston's visit to the set of Planet of the Apes will be something of a reunion. The actress Linda Harrison, who appeared with him the first time around as the beautiful savage Nova, will play a lady ape and the film is being produced by Richard Zanuck, the man who ran 20th Century Fox when the first film was made more than 30 years ago. 

Speaking to an American newspaper about his return to the ape world, Zanuck said that the film will not stick to the original story. 

'Mark Wahlberg is not playing the Charlton Heston character. He's playing a totally new part, in this upside-down world of ape and human,' he said. 

The original screenplay, which was based on the 1963 book Monkey Planet by Pierre Boulle, spawned a series of sequels and a television series and the remake has been the subject of intense speculation among fans. 

In the first film, Heston and his space crew wake from hibernation to find that their spacecraft has crashed on an unknown planet ruled by literate orangutans, chimpanzees and gorillas. The humans on the planet are pre-lingual and uncivilised. Heston is captured and taken to the city of the apes, but cannot communicate with them. 

Speaking at Oxford Union Heston, the president of America's National Rifle Association, told undergraduates that Planet of the Apes was one of his favourite films. From an actor whose career began in the 1940s, and who starred in Ben-Hur, in the 1959 spectacular, this is high praise. 

Heston also said it had the best ending of any film he had seen. In its final sequence Taylor realises that he is on earth when he sees the top of the Statue of Liberty in the sand. 

The new version, with the working title The Visitor, will not pick up where the last film, Battle for the Planet of the Apes, stopped in 1973. Instead, screenwriter William Broyles, who wrote Apollo 13 , is thought to have expanded the species to include baboons, mandrills, mangabeys and howler monkeys. The all-star cast also includes Kris Kristofferson as a rebel leader and the English actor David Warner as Helena Bonham Carter's ape father. Estella Warren will play the human 'love interest' and George Clooney, a friend of Wahlberg, is thought to have agreed to play a cameo role as an ape to fulfill his part of a wager.

Helena Bonham Carter's ape princess is an idealist who believes that apes and humans could live together - so much so that there is the hint of a groundbreaking, cross-species love scene with Mark Wahlberg. 

However, there has already been trouble creating the right simian look for Bonham Carter. Early last month a hairdresser was flown in from Italy to try to improve her appearance in costume. 

The ape make-up has been designed by the oscar- winning Rick Baker, who has worked on Gorillas in the Mist, Greystoke and this year's Christmas hit in the United States, How the Grinch Stole Christmas. 

It remains to be seen, however, whether the new film will use the same publicity slogan as the original: 'Somewhere in the Universe, there must be something better than man!' 

After an illicit sabotage operation with his friend Willie (Joaquin Phoenix) ends in murder, Leo Handler (Mark Wahlberg) is on the run. Hiding out, he's desperate for help from Willie's boss - and his uncle by marriage - Frank Olchin (James Caan). 

Frank arrives at the derelict building where Leo is sheltering. The two stand a few feet from each other, surrounded by rubble. 

"You know," says Frank, "you've been causing me a lot of difficulties. Policemen came to see me." 

Leo stares at him anxiously. 

"Can't you help me?" 

"What is it you think that I can do?" 

Leo shakes his head, then gazes at the floor. 

"I really don't know. I thought maybe you could talk to some of them people you know. Because I didn't kill anybody." 

Frank nods sympathetically. 

"I wish I could help you, I really do. But, ah I got to do what I can to protect what I do. My family - that's all I got left." 

Glancing back up, Leo notices that Frank has a handgun tucked in his belt. He turns, and runs, sprinting from the building until he can barely stand. 

See also: Chariots Of Fire, Run Lola Run, Marathon Man, Without Limits, 

Don't see also: Forrest Gump, The Girl With Brains In Her Feet 

Pointless trivia: Mark Wahlberg secured his breakthrough role in Boogie Nights after it was turned down by Jason (Chasing Amy) Lee. 

The best bribery scene - The Yards
Thursday November 23, 2000 - The Guardian (UK)

New York. In voiceover, Willie Gutierrez (Joaquin Phoenix) explains to his friend Leo Handler (Mark Wahlberg) how the city's subway operation runs on his and boss Frank Olchin's behalf. 

"In the business," he says, "favours are more important than friends." 

We see Willie ending a dinner with a smartly-suited associate; the two shake hands warmly. 

"It's about making people feel wanted in life. Making them feel appreciated." 

Cut to Willie shaking another man's hand, while Leo keeps watch outside. 

"You find out what they like, and you make it happen for them. They want to go to a ball game, or a show, you get 'em tickets." 

Cut to Willie with the second man, pulling an envelope from his inside jacket pocket. 

"A little something for the wife or girlfriend? You get 'em a fur." 

Cut to Willie outside his car, beaming and handing a third man a fur coat. 

"Sometimes all they want is an expensive bottle of wine." 

Cut to Willie slapping a man's back. 

"If all they want is cash, there's always plenty of that." 

Cut to Willie, sidling up to Leo, and handing him a bundle of notes. 

"If you take care of them, the business is going to take care of you." 

He whispers in Leo's ear. 

"Just don't spend it all in one place." 

See also: The Godfather II, The Front Page, LA Confidential, The Big Easy 

Don't see also: Up The Creek 

Pointless trivia: At the age of four, Joaquin Phoenix changed his Christian name to Rain, before later changing it back. 

Friday November 10, 2000 - The Guardian (UK)
the best parole officer scene - The yards

Having returned home from prison, Leo Handler (Mark Wahlberg) notices his parole officer (Joseph Ragno) sitting in the corner of the party thrown for his release. 

"We need to go over a few things," he mutters. "Where can we talk?" 

"Uh, in the bedroom I guess." 

In Leo's bedroom, the parole officer pulls out a file. 

"Our records show that you were released at 4 o'clock this afternoon." 

"That's right." 

"You're supposed to make an arrival report." 

"Nobody told me that. I thought I had 24 hours." 

The parole officer looks up from his papers. 

"OK, well, in future you should know that you're required to report with due diligence. Now, it says here that you've had some problems. I see that you served 16 months for auto theft. Your parole terms have you on attentive supervision." 

Leo nods. 

"I'll have access to your bank records, your W2s and your pay slips. That's to keep track of your cash flow. What about employment? You know what you're gonna do?" 

"Yeah, I think I got something." 

"What's that?" 

"Well, my aunt's new husband has his own business. It's actually very, very important. I'm supposed to go and interview with him tomorrow. A couple of my friends are out there - they're working for him too." 

Leo catches the parole officer's eye. 

"I don't wanna cause no problems. I just want to become a productive person again, you know... in society." 

See also: Shockproof, Straight Time, Made In Britain 

Don't see also: Double Jeopardy 

Pointless trivia: Prior to launching his acting career, Mark Wahlberg worked as a bricklayer. 

Filming started Nov. 2 on Tim Burton's eagerly anticipated new version of Planet Of The Apes, and already a cloak of secrecy is descending on the set. 

Actor Tim Roth didn't want to discuss the movie when he talked to reporters the other day because he felt it would be unfair to Burton, one of Hollywood's most innovative directors. 

Roth was even reluctant to confirm what people knew already -- which was that he would be portraying a chimpanzee and that Helena Bonham Carter and Michael Clarke Duncan would also be portraying apes. "All the better known actors play apes, with the exception of Mark Wahlberg," he finally conceded. 

Wahlberg is taking on the old Charlton Heston role of the confused astronaut whose craft crash-lands on a strange planet inhabited only by simians. 

Roth admits he will be uncomfortable for six months or longer, but he says the misery will be worth it because he's always wanted to work with the idiosyncratic director of Batman and Edward Scissorhands. "I've always loved Tim's stuff and wanted to work with him for a long time. ... I don't know him that well yet, but as a director he seems to be very open and very interesting." 

Although Roth refuses to discuss what promises to be a unique storyline, he does have something to say about makeup wizard Rick Baker's contribution in designing the ape costumes. 

"We've been doing makeup tests and Rick Baker is absolutely extraordinary. But none of us have gotten through wearing the outfits for any length of time ... that's going to be the real test." 

The original Planet Of The Apes, directed by Franklin Schaffner, was released in 1968. This time, Burton is reportedly taking advantage of technological advances and having computer-generated creatures talking and interacting with the humans. 

The animal population will include chimpanzees, baboons, orangutans, mangebeys, gorillas, spider monkeys and loris monkeys. Duncan, the hulking Death Row inmate from The Green Mile, will play a giant silverback gorilla, but spider and loris monkeys are too small and delicate to be portrayed by actors, so this is where the computers will come in. 

Unconfirmed reports also say studio officials are unhappy with Wahlberg for pumping too much iron in preparation for his role. They complain that he now looks too bulky on screen and have told him to shed some muscle.

     As the executives in charge of supervising and marketing Miramax's production of"The Yards," we have firsthand knowledge of Miramax Co-Chairman Harvey Weinstein's consistent enthusiasm and dedication to this project. So it was with great disappointment that we read Patrick Goldstein's inaccurate discussion of the events surrounding the recent release of the film and his suggestion that Miramax is no longer dedicated to independent filmmakers ("Scrappy Miramax Disappears on 'Yards' Marketing," Nov. 28). 
     While Goldstein is a terrific film writer, he unfortunately chose to base this story on inaccurate and incomplete information and excluded relevant facts that we provided him that contradicted his thesis. Had Goldstein included the relevant information, it would be obvious that "The Yards" is clearly not, as he suggests, evidence of "a change of priorities" at Miramax that has "moved the company away from quirky independent films." 
     Goldstein failed to mention that we used the same plan to market "The Yards" as we used to great success on other films such as "Il Postino," "Life Is Beautiful," "Smoke" and "The Crying Game." Our plan utilized aggressive publicity, platform release, crossover art theaters and selective newspaper ads--but no television ads during the first few weeks. These other films succeeded with that support, because they were embraced by both audiences and critics. To our great disappointment, "The Yards" did not succeed, because it did not receive the same support from critics or from audiences completing exit surveys. 
     We hope that the film will find the expanded audience it deserves through video, DVD and television. Sometimes good films just don't perform well at the box office. 
     Contrary to the complaints attributed to director James Gray by Goldstein, we agreed to nearly all of Gray's requests while making the film and remained supportive despite cost overruns totaling almost 40% of the film's original budget of $17 million--an amount far more generous than other studios would have offered. It just did not make sense for us to throw more money at this film and drain funding from others, just to make the director and producers of "The Yards" feel better. And contrary to Gray's claims, we gave him plenty of time to complete the film. 
     While we are in no way questioning the integrity of Goldstein's account of Gray's remarks, Gray himself has written a letter to Harvey Weinstein, saying that his comments to Goldstein were "cruelly isolated out of context" and that "I have stressed repeatedly, to the press and public, how supportive Miramax has been of my efforts." 
     While discussing this article with us, Goldstein inquired about the film's "superior" performance overseas as a possible contrast to problems with Miramax's domestic release of the movie. We provided evidence to the contrary that was not included in the article. In the United Kingdom, where the film enjoyed stronger reviews and a marketing campaign developed and implemented by the film's producer, Paul Webster of Film 4 (and not by Miramax), "The Yards" still opened poorly at No. 13 and dropped off precipitously after its opening weekend. Even in France, where we all expected the film to take off, the film opened modestly at No. 10 and substantially declined in each of the following weeks, grossing only $1.3 million in three weeks. 
     When he learned that the film's performance overseas was lukewarm at best, Goldstein apparently changed his mind and decided it was no longer relevant to its domestic performance and left out the preceding facts. 
     With regards to the film's L.A. premiere, the film's producers were aware in advance that the cast would not be attending but that they would be at the New York opening. And, in fact, the New York premiere was attended by Miramax's top executives and many of the film's stars, including Mark Wahlberg, Joaquin Phoenix and James Caan, and not just by Wahlberg, as stated in the article. 
     Perhaps most important--despite Goldstein's claims to the contrary-- Miramax remains dedicated to producing and distributing top-quality independent and foreign films. Miramax's successful "independent" releases this year include Spain's "Butterfly," this year's highest-grossing foreign film; "East Is East," a dark-themed British comedy about a Pakistani family; the Latino jazz film "Calle 54"; and "Hamlet," which will be profitable because of its tiny budget. 
     In our opinion, there is no other film company that consistently releases such a diverse mix of films every year. 
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Mark Gill Is President of Miramax/l.a. Jon Gordon Is Executive Vice President of Production for Miramax Films

HOLLYWOOD (Variety) - Robert Redford is in final negotiations to star in ``The Castle'' film critic-turned-scribe and director Rod Lurie's follow up to ``The Contender''

Lurie has begun scouting locations for the DreamWorks project ahead of a mid-March shooting start.

DreamWorks is still in talks with Mark Wahlberg to assume the co-lead with Redford. Insiders said one consideration is Wahlberg's schedule, which may be complicated depending on which other pictures he decides to make prior to a possible actors' and writers strike next summer. Wahlberg is already starring in Tim Burton's ``Planet of the Apes'' at Fox.

The picture centers on a five-star general (Redford) who is convicted of a capital crime. Sent to the military's only maximum security prison (known as the castle), the general turns the convict population into his own 1,200-man army and threatens to take the prison by storm. 

Gorillas in the Midst: There's a lot of monkey business going down on Sony's Stage 30, where a breathtaking desert valley has been created that spans floor to ceiling.

What's going on behind the closed doors?

It's the filming of Tim Burton's Planet of the Apes, which features an ending so top secret few connected with the project have even been allowed to read it. (I hear it contains a visual revelation as heart-stopping as that Statue of Liberty poking through the sand of the original.)

In case you can't wait for a peek at Burton's vision, the first Apes trailer could arrive in theaters as early as today. Here's some of what you can expect the notoriously cagey Burton to reveal:

Apes begins in the near future when a gorilla genetically altered for long-distance space travel is sent into the cosmos, where he falls into a time portal that transports him 2,000 years into the past. Mark Wahlberg plays an astronaut who somehow follows this craft into the same black hole.

Wahlberg crash-lands on a familiar-looking planet and discovers that the area where the simian touched down has been branded a holy land--the Forbidden Zone--and that this ape could be the missing link. His descendants revere him, which leads to the big question: Did humans evolve from apes or vice versa?

The gorillas in the film also promise to be less like humans in face masks and more beastly. They live in caves, walk with a Neanderthal hunch and give off a more savage vibe.

Yes, Charlton Heston will appear in a role that remains undefined. And yes, Wahlberg will have a hint of a relationship with Helena Bonham Carter's ape princess. But--sorry, Mark fans--Wahlberg will not do his work in a loincloth. He'll be decked out in a space suit for most of the film.

NEW YORK (Variety) - Jonathan Demme is finalizing plans to direct ``The Truth About Charlie'' as his next picture, looking to start production in the spring for Universal.

The film is a retitled remake of Stanley Donen's 1963 thriller ``Charade.'' Demme is in Paris eying locations and meeting with director Luc Besson for advice on how best to shoot a film there.

Demme is courting Mark Wahlberg (''The Perfect Storm'') and Thandie Newton (''Mission: Impossible 2'') for the roles originated by Cary Grant and Audrey Hepburn, but it is unclear whether either actor will commit. Wahlberg, for instance, has been offered several plum roles for the project he undertakes after he completes starring in the Tim Burton-directed ``Planet of the Apes'' at Fox.

Demme had been expected next to direct Universal's ''Intolerable Cruelty,'' a dark romantic comedy with the most recent script draft done by Joel and Ethan Coen. Demme would have done that film, but the cast didn't come together the way he'd hoped in the timetable needed to complete production before the projected actors' and writers' strikes next summer. Sources said Demme's still planning to make the movie with Tea Leoni, but will return to it sometime next year.

With that project postponed, the Oscar-winning director of ''Silence of the Lambs'' then turned his attention back to ''Charlie,'' a Hitchcockian thriller in which a Parisian discovers that her husband is murdered and she is being pursued by four strange men. She's rescued by an attractive stranger, but his motives are murky.