"ER"'s ERIQ LA SALLE and his production company, Humble
Journey Films, have acquired MIKE ELLIOT's screenplay
"WINNER'S OUT," which is described as a "modern-day 'Brian's
Song' set in the" NBA. The story revolves around a black
man and a white man who "befriend each other at a free-agent
basketball camp as they pursue their hoop dreams." La Salle
is expected to direct the film next year while on hiatus
from "ER" (HOLLYWOOD REPORTER, 8/18).
YOU DA-MON! WILL SMITH and MATT DAMON are "set to team
up" in the ROBERT REDFORD-directed "The Legend of Bigger
Vance," which is based on a '95 novel about the relationship
between a GA pro golfer (Damon) and his caddie (Smith).
Production is slated to begin in October (USA TODAY, 8/18).
EQUAL TIME: Presidential candidate BILL BRADLEY's
appearance in the opening montage of HBO's "ARLI$$" has
prompted Time Warner to ask producers "to offer equal time
to other candidates" (USA TODAY, 8/18).
A SEVENTH ROUND KO: USA TODAY's Mike Clark reviews "ON
THE ROPES," a documentary film by NANETTE BURSTEIN and BRETT
MORGEN that follows amateur boxing and which won a Special
Jury Award at this year's Sundance Film Festival. Clark
gives the film, three stars and writes that the film's
producers have crafted a "brisk 90-minute story" that won't
"vaporize from memory half a day after you see it." The
film opens today in N.Y. (USA TODAY, 8/18).
YO, ASK ADRIAN: "ROCKY VI" is in limbo, as SYLVESTER
STALLONE "has no idea where the story will take the aging
pugilist." Producer IRWIN WINKLER: "Sly has the desire, but
doesn't have the idea" (PHILADELPHIA DAILY NEWS, 8/18).
