BATMAN TO BATTLE DEVITO'S PENGUIN

By Jay Carr

From The Boston Globe, 03.03.1991, City Edition

HOLY BATMOBILE! Warners is dusting off the Batgear, having finally signed its Batman 2 lineup. Tim Burton will repeat as director, Michael Keaton will return as the caped one, but don't look for Jack Nicholson when shooting begins in London this summer. The Joker will be succeeded by The Penguin--to be played by Danny DeVito. . . . Burton, coming off Edward Scissorhands, likes the cartoony route. He's developing a film called Mai, the Psychic Girl, based on a popular Japanese comic book series. . . . Another Batman nonreturnee: Kim Basinger, too busy elsewhere. The Marrying Man, with current flame Alec Baldwin, opens this month. She's signed for two more: Final Analysis and Cool World. In the first, she'll play an accused husband-murderer counseled--then romanced--by psychiatrist Richard Gere. The second is about a cartoon character who comes to life.

HOLD THAT OSCAR: This is the month when the trades are stuffed with ads chasing Oscar votes. But China is going the opposite route. In a letter to the Academy, the Chinese Film Bureau urged the removal of Zhang Yi-Mou's Ju Dou from the vote for best foreign film--after having successfully nominated it earlier. Beijing-watchers say the move is part of the ongoing crackdown there, and that the harsh story line of the film, well-received abroad, presents China in an unflattering light. It's tentatively scheduled to open in Boston March 22. . . . Ay, Carmela!, the new Carlos Saura film that opened at the Nickelodeon over the weekend, cleaned up at the Goyas--Spain's Oscars--walking away with 13, including best film and best actress (Carmen Maura). Pedro Almodovar's Tie Me Up! Tie Me Down! was shut out.

THINGS ARE TOUGH ALL OVER: Just when Richard Attenborough thought he found his Chaplin star--Robert Downey Jr.--and was ready to roll, he's cooling his heels again. Universal put the project on hold after Attenborough said he'd need more than the $25 million originally budgeted. . . . The plug was pulled on David Drury's Dylan, about the Welsh poet and his wife, Caitlin. Gary Oldman and Uma Thurman (husband and wife in private life) were to have starred. . . . Delirious, the new John Candy comedy that was to have opened this month, has been delayed indefinitely because MGM can't come up with the $7 million it is contractually obligated to spend on prints and advertising, The Hollyood Reporter says. . . . And Hollywood is still buzzing about Disney topper Jeffrey Katzenberg's recent memo calling for an end to megabudget films.

HEAD TRIP: Silence of the Lambs posters are being stolen in large numbers from movie theaters. Reason: the skull on the death's head moth contains at least six nudes worked into the design. A marketing spokesman for Orion said the change in last week's newspaper ads, cutting the death's head in half and relegating it to the left margin of the ad, was solely so Orion could stuff more critics' raves into the space. . . . Scorn from anticolorization forces isn't stopping Ted Turner. He's colorizing at least 24 films next year, and another 24 in 1993. Ironically, he often strikes new black-and-white prints to do so, which means another go-round for the vintage classics in repertory houses.