Hollywood

By Jeffrey Ressner/Los Angeles

Hollywood was buzzing last week with reports of MGM/UA being in play and a handful of rival studios looking at its assets, which include the valuable James Bond franchise. The day before the beleaguered studio issued an SEC filing stating it was considering mergers or other "business combinations" to bail itself out of financial straits, news leaked that director MICHAEL APTED had been selected to helm the company's next Bond entry. The Lion studio had been trying frantically to find someone, seemingly anyone, to handle the film, with Small Soldiers director JOE DANTE and others chatted up before the SEC filing. Apted, whose well-known films include Nell and Coal Miner's Daughter, has never made an action picture, and his selection seemed a curious, almost desperate choice. "They needed a director for hire," says an agent whose client was also approached for a Bond gig. "With these films, it's not about creating art; it's about making the release date." And perhaps appropriately supporting an asset. Bond 19 is scheduled to debut Nov. 19, 1999.

--By Jeffrey Ressner/Los Angeles