The Hollywood Exclusive - Column by Marilyn Beck & Stacy Jenel Smith

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The Hollywood Exclusive: Cheadle's Miles Davis Bio-Pic On Track For '09 Production Start/Jonas Bros. Add Teen Idol Touch To Davis' Diabetes Fund-Raiser

Marilyn Beck and Stacy Jenel Smith

Forget reports of the demise of the long-talked-about Miles Davis film biography. Erin Davis tells us he's just finished reading the script for the feature that Don Cheadle plans to direct, with Cheadle himself starring as the mercurial music legend.

"It was great, a great script," Davis enthuses. "They'll probably do some revisions on it and tighten it up, but maybe it can get started next year for a release in '10."

The project has already had a 17-year journey. Notes Davis, "We've been talking about it since he died in '91. At one point, Walter Yetnikoff was planning to do it with Wesley Snipes. Finally my cousin Vince [Wilburn Jr.] and Darryl Porter and I started taking it to studios on our own. We've seen successful bio-pics out there, and we wanted to do it. We hired a couple of writers and started the process."

As far as Cheadle's involvement, "Don is the only guy who is perfectly right for it," claims Erin, who plays golf with the actor. "We were really glad he wanted to direct it. He has a specific vision for it, and we're staying out of his way. We don't want too many cooks."

Erin's been cooking up goodies of his own. He's been busy of late dividing his time between producing Kyle Eastwood's next album, and helping launch "Kind of Blue: The 50th Anniversary Collector's Edition" box set of Miles' landmark album -- including a CD of alternate takes and live tracks, a 55-minute documentary film and memorabilia.

Next on the Miles reissue front, "We're talking about getting together compilations of board tapes and bootlegs," Erin reveals. "A lot of people have come forward with bootlegs. Carlos Santana has a whole lot on his own."

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THE BIG SCREEN SCENE: Jason Isaacs mentioned to press recently that he was going in for a day's work on the sixth "Harry Potter" film -- and unleashed a torrent of stories speculating on his popular evil character's, (Lucius Malfoy), involvement. Now he says, "I've really got to watch myself talking to journalists. I may or may not be on a portrait on the wall, but my character isn't in that book so it stands to reason he wouldn't be in the film." He's prominently featured in the rest of the saga, but whether or not he'll be in films seven and eight is "up to the people who are doing 'Harry Potter,'" says Isaacs. "They said, 'See you next year,' but that might be because they're inviting me to a Christmas party, who knows? If I'm not in those two films, I'll do a one-man hunger strike."

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EEEEEEEEE!!!: Luminaries attending Barbara Davis' 30th Carousel of Hope gala for juvenile diabetes Oct. 25 may want to bring along ear plugs to protect themselves from the sounds of screaming teenage girls en route into the party -- as teen idols The Jonas Brothers have been added to the lineup of performers for the evening.

The youngest one has diabetes," notes Barbara Davis, speaking of 16-year-old Nick. "That's how we got into it. Actually, I called his dad and I had to congratulate him as well as their mom on raising boys who are so well-grounded. This boy wrote a song about diabetes ("A Little Bit Longer"), and he will sing that," she reveals.

The Beverly Hilton event is on track to live up to its lavish predecessors, with literally pages worth of luxurious items to be auctioned off -- ranging from a shiny new $142,000 Mercedes SL 63 AMG to a three-night stay for 12 at a fully-staffed seaside estate. Honoring Denzel and Pauletta Washington, its star lineup of guests includes Tom Hanks and Rita Wilson, Halle Berry, Cuba Gooding, Jr., Antonio Banderas and Melanie Griffith, Diane Keaton, Virginia Madsen, Sharon Stone, Shaquille O'Neill, Steven Spielberg, Forest and Keisha Whitaker, Jimmy Woods, Adrien Brody, Garth Brooks and Trisha Yearwood. Performers will include Josh Groban, Babyface, Donna Summer and emcee Jay Leno.

"I think I'm very lucky, the way the economy has crashed in the past month. I'm honestly a pain in the neck, and I started bothering everybody about this event a year ago. You really need to get a head start," says Davis, whose mission to help children with diabetes dates back to when her own daughter Dana was diagnosed as a child. With funding from her late husband, billionaire Marvin Davis, she established Denver's 18-year-old Barbara Davis Center for Childhood Diabetes, where 5,000 youngsters currently receive care and research is ongoing.

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REAL TEARS: Paris Hilton tells us that the hardest part of making her "My New BFF" MTV reality show was "going through the eliminations. I hated doing that. It was so emotional, people would be crying. It was really tough," she recalls.

She's now focusing on the Nov. 7 limited release of "Repo! The Genetic Opera" in which she stars with Alexa Vega, Anthony Head, Sarah Brightman and Paul Sorvino. The soundtrack, on which Paris has five songs, is already in release.

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With reports by Stephanie DuBois and Emily Feimster. To find out more about Marilyn Beck and Stacy Jenel Smith and read their past columns, visit the Creators Syndicate Web page at www.creators.com.

Copyright 2008 Creators Syndicate Inc.

This news arrived on: 10/07/2008

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