Father Geek here, nearly recovered from our annual BUTT-NUMB-A-THON 24 hour film fest, great fun as usual, of course many of the out of state attendees are still in town. This morning (Monday) at 9am Harry and I, and a few others saw GANGS OF NEW YORK, then lunched with a lovely Seattle guest on her way to Idaho, then visited with CABIN FEVER Director Eli Roth and Hercules the Strong in the AICN screening room, for a couple of hours while a couple of nympets danced around the AICN Compound , then 3 British fest attendees (2 English and a Scot) dropped by Geek Headquarters, then Moriarty and the LA crew along with Johnny Wad stopped in, then Tom Joad's group arrived and we all (12 of us) stuffed ourselves with great mountains of Italian food.

BUTT-NUMB-A-THON is really much more than the 24+ hours of the fest proper... For Harry and I it all offically started Thursday around noon... as Harry filled out the seating chart Tim League and I loaded the Alamo Roadshow Trailer will all the swag that had been building up here at Geek Headquarters over the pass few months to stuff our attendee's goodie bags: Posters (2 diff from "TTT", 4 diff from "Chicago", "Adaption", etc...); 700 tins of Penguins Caffeinated Mints; T-Shirts ("Goldmember", "Simone", "Rush Hour", "Jason X", "Adaption", etc...); 300 cans of Starbucks doubleshot - Expresso & Cream; Ball Hats (Dragonfly, Jason X, Mummy Returns, Rush Hour 2, Erin Brockovich, Goldmember, etc...); "Jason X" Masks; "Barbwire" and "Mummy Returns" keychains; "Jackie Brown" and other DVDs; "Adaption" Coffee Mugs; "Rules of Attraction" door signs and bookmarks; "Far From Heaven" pot holders; "8 Femmes" ballpoint pins; newly reissued CD's from "Reanimator", "Zulu Dawn" and others (some autographed); Magicwands from Roy D. Tolkien you-know-who's-grandson; "Clay Pigeons" frisbees; plus tons more coolness, annnnnnnd BNAT T-shirts & Posters to boot. No sooner had that ended than people started showing up here at the AICN Screening room in the Geek Headquarters Compound... including West Coast Editor Moriarty, Hercules the Strong, Harry Lime, and others. We told tall tales of film going experiences and then Harry and I broke out our Mint condition 16mm Scope print of "The Empire Strikes Back" (original release) and we all tripped to a place far, far way.

Friday Harry and I awoke early and headed down to the Alamo to stuff the 250 giftbags for the BNAT guests. We arrive to find Rav, Quint, Auntie Meat, Massawurm, and approx a dozen other local Boils and Ghouls rolling the 1000+ posters we were to give away and stuffing them in our BNAT shipping tubes. (not an easy task, as the 10 papercut fingers attested) A little later the West Coast Crew showed up doubling our forces and we spent the next 5 hours sorting the swag into bags. Just as this all wound down the "Minn.-St. Paul Dozen" burst into the Alamo to help wrap things up. Harry and I headed off to eat at HUT'S, a 70 year old Austin Hamburger joint and we found ourselves seated next to Rene from Manchester, England and two other Brits, then before our food could arrive 2 guests from Seattle wandered in, then the "Minn. Dozen" showed up and BNAT took the place over, all by simple chance. That night ol'Father Geek built a roaring Bondfire at the Geek World Headquarters Compound to brace us all against the 38 degree cold and about 50 Buttnumbers (off and on) partied the night away. After all had left (many of the more adventurious trekked over to Annette Kellerman's new abode near Geek Headquarters) John Robie and others from the West Coast showed up knocking on the door (approx 1:30 am).

Well Father Geek here awoke at 7am Saturday morn and started picking up the 100 or so Shiner Bok bottles that decorated the compound, oh, there was more... empty Merlot bottles, and bottles of that world famous Black Irish Brew lay among the night's ruins. 9 bottles of Shiner and 1 and 1/2 bottles of Merlot survived the BNAT onslought. Then it was off to the fest... There were several campers (some since Thursday) waiting for standby tickets (they all got in) there to greet us when we arrived at the Alamo. I'll not talk of the fest itself, others will be doing that, but this years fest had attendees from across ye olde British Empire: India, New Zealand, Scotland, Canada, and England were represented. We had guests from Chicago, Seattle, Atlanta, Denver, and Louisville, Kentucky. They came from Iowa, Kansas, Oklahoma, Nebraska, Minnesota, California, Arizona, New York and New Jersy, from Idaho, North Carolina, Alabama, and Louisiana. Annnd we all had a ball!

Annnnnnd now... Now I sit here posting up our regular weekly report from Elston... Trying to slip back into my regular life here at World Geek Headquarters... Of course, SOME of the BNATers' planes don't take off till late Tuesday afternoon sooooooooooooo... Oh Yeah, Harry and I have a back to back double feature of FELLOWSHIP OF THE RINGS and THE TWO TOWERS Tuesday night starting at 9pm at the Alamo North (Just a few blocks from Geek Headquarters), we'll be revisiting many local BUTT-NUMB-A-THON members there, and maybe a few out-of-towners.

The WEEKLY RECAP...

TAKEN FROM VARIETY AND HOLLYWOOD REPORTER

CASTING

* Jude Law and Gwyneth Paltrow will star in the sci-fi thriller THE WORLD OF TOMORROW for writer/director Kerry Conran. Production begins in late February in London. The project is described by the producers as "retro sci-fi" in the vein of RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARK. It's set at the turn of the 20th century, it follows a reporter and pilot who team up on an adventure.

* Alec Baldwin is in talks to star opposite Matthew Broderick in PROVIDENCE for Disney and writer/director Jeff Nathanson. The project was inspired by the true story of a sting operation in Providence, R.I. It centers on a young filmmaker who is given millions of dollars to make his first movie by a mysterious benefactor he eventually discovers is an undercover FBI agent.

* Adam Sandler will star in 50 FIRST KISSES, which will start shooting in the spring. Sandler will play a man who falls in love with a woman after a memorable encounter. However, he discovers that she suffers from severe short-term memory loss and has no idea who he is. To win her, he must get her to fall in love with him all over again every day. Drew Barrymore is in talks to join the cast.

* Mark Ruffalo is in final talks to join Jim Carrey, Kate Winslet and Kirsten Dunst in ETERNAL SUNSHINE OF THE SPOTLESS MIND, written by Charlie Kaufman, for director Michel Gondry (HUMAN NATURE) and Focus Features. The project takes place in the recesses of the human brain and centers on a man who tries to erase a particularly steamy relationship he had with an ex-mate. Ruffalo will play a lab technician involved in the memory-erasing procedure.

* Matthew Perry will star in the indie drama FEVER, opposite Robin Tunney, for film editor Mia Goldman who is making her directorial debut on the project from her own script. It's about a couple who are shocked out of the predictability of their relationship by an event that challenges them to either love more deeply or lose each other for good.

* Cheri Oteri joins the cast of New Line's WHEN HARRY MET LLOYD: DUMB & DUMBERER, starring Eric Christian Olsen and Derek Richardson. She'll play Ms. Heller, a high school cafeteria worker who poses as a special ed teacher in the prequel to the 1994 blockbuster comedy. Troy Miller directs from a script by Robert Brener.

* James Woods and Christian Slater will star in the indie drama FAIRHOPE, USA for director Harold Becker. Anthony Di Pietro wrote the script about a convicted sex offender who moves to a small town to live in obscurity after his release from jail. However, when legally forced to register with the police, the entire town quickly learns of his past and he is exiled from the community and local church. When a compassionate pastor decides to minister to him privately, tensions escalate and convictions are tested.

* Tom Hanks will star in THE LADYKILLERS, a remake of the 1955 black comedy, for the Coen Brothers. He'll play an eccentric Southern professor who puts together a gang of double-crossing thieves to rob a riverboat casino. They rent a room in an old woman's house, but when she discovers the scheme, somebody has to kill her - a tougher job than it would seem. Production is set for next summer in L.A., with additional shooting along the Mississippi River.

* Seann William Scott is in final talks with Paramount to star in the romantic comedy TINY BOYFRIEND about a self-absorbed young man who is accidentally shrunk to a few inches in height.

* Mel Gibson will star in FURY ROAD, the fourth installment of the MAD MAX franchise, for 20th Century Fox and writer/director George Miller, who has been working on the script for the last three years. The project will begin shooting in Australia next May.

* Regis Philbin, Jim Belushi and Eric Idle join Breckin Meyer, Glenn Close, Queen Latifah, Kevin James, Eddie Griffin, Topher Grace, Cheech Marin and David Suchet in voicing the English dub of Miramax's PINOCCHIO, directed by and starring Roberto Benigni.

* Nia Vardalos will star in the music-driven buddy comedy CONNIE AND CARLA, which she scripted, set for an April start. It's about two working-class dinner theater singers who are forced to go undercover in Los Angeles as drag queens.

* Sophie Marceau, Vincent Perez and Charles Berling will star in Diane Kurys' JE RESTE (I'M STAYING) about a love triangle between a businessman, his wife and the writer/intellectual she falls in love with. The screenplay was penned by Florence Quentin (LIFE IS A LONG QUIET RIVER).

* Sylvester Stallone is near a deal with MGM to write, star in and produce ROCKY VI. The new installment will return the franchise to its indie-style roots, with hopes of a $10 million-$15 million budget range. The story would find Rocky as a 50-year-old who is now at work running a youth center. He is lured out of retirement from the ring for one last fight.

* Mo'Nique is in talks to star in PHAT GIRLZ for Screen Gems and producer Todd Black. Negest Likke wrote the urban comedy.

DIRECTOR/WRITER ATTACHMENTS

* Mike Mitchell will direct the superhero comedy SKY HIGH, written by Paul Hernandez, for Disney and Gunn Films. It's about a high school for the kids of superheroes.

* Crossroads Films has hired Peter Speakman and Michael M.B. Galvin to adapt the upcoming Charles Huston novel CAUGHT STEALING. The dark comedy focuses on a failed baseball player who makes a big mistake when he agrees to a weekend of cat-sitting for his sexy neighbor. Crossroads is also developing MCGOORTY, a period drama that follows the 40-year career of professional pool hustler Danny McGoorty.

* Callie Khouri's is attached to direct three upcoming projects: the recently acquired dramedy HOT MONEY for MGM, the NASCAR biopic UNTITLED PETTY PROJECT for Disney and the UNTITLED CHARLIE PETERS PROJECT for Strike Entertainment. The newest project, HOT MONEY, is a dramedy based on a British telefilm about the true story of three women who worked as a night cleaning crew in the British Treasury and managed to skim money from the department before it was incinerated. The women then used the money for charitable causes.

* DreamWorks Pictures is in talks with director Gore Verbinski and scribe Ehren Kruger to return for a sequel to THE RING.

* Disney bought the pitch FOURTEEN FEET by Andrew Ungvari, who'll write the script, about the true story of a coach who used football to rehabilitate troubled kids in Texas. The studio has secured life rights to Sandy Brown, whose coaching of a football team at a juvenile hall gave the kids pride and something constructive.

* Bob Edwards will rewrite Revolution Studios' psychological thriller PERFECT STRANGERS, which Julia Roberts' Red Om Films is producing. The project is set in the world of the internet.

* Warner Bros. Pictures grabbed the script THE COLLEGE EXPERIENCE, written by Dax Shelby and Robert Stevens, about a Brentwood socialite who gets a rude awakening when she finds herself newly divorced and broke and is forced to return to college.

* Computer graphics facility Rhythm & Hues Studios (BABE) has optioned the fantasy comedy script BLOND WARRIOR from writer Steve Rayvler Greenberg. The story is set in the mythical land of dragons and ogres and centers on an elderly warrior who leads a ragtag band of misfits into battle with a man-eating though dapper giant in order to save a beautiful princess.

* Stephen Daldry (BILLY ELLIOT, THE HOURS) is in negotiations to direct THE AMAZING ADVENTURES OF KAVALIER & CLAY for Paramount, based on the Pulitzer Prize-winning novel by Michael Chabon. The project deals with the birth of the comic book industry intertwined with the Jewish experience during World War II. Chabon also penned the adaptation. Daldry is also attached to an adaptation of Jonathan Franzen's THE CORRECTIONS, which is being adapted by David Hare (THE HOURS).

* Steve Martin is bringing to the big screen TRAITOR, a suspense thriller based on his own idea that Jeffrey Nachmanoff is now scripting. Martin is executive producing for the Walt Disney Co. and Mandeville Pictures. The plot line is being kept secret but is described as a topical, politically relevant story dealing with international terrorism and U.S. traitors.

* Gary Goddard and Ty Granaroli have penned SOLDIER BOY, based on Joseph Anthony's 1960 autobiographical book THE RASCAL AND THE PILGRIM, with Goddard attached to direct for Electric Entertainment and Landmark Global. It's the true story of an orphaned boy in Korea who, after witnessing atrocities inflicted on his country during the war, ingratiates himself to American soldiers who help him get to the U.S., where he is adopted and begins a new life.

* The Doors' Ray Manzarek (LOVER HER MADLY) will direct the indie pic RIDERS ON THE STORM, with Brad Renfro, Edward Furlong and Peter Stormare in negotiations to star. The script, written by Manzarek, Chris Kobin and Tim Sullivan, follows three UCLA film students who embark on a road trip to New Mexico in search of enlightenment. In the process, they come face to face with their own demons.

* Neil Burger (INTERVIEW WITH THE ASSASSIN) will direct the caper pic AIRTIGHT, set in Florida, for Castle Rock Entertainment and producer Mike Lobell. Tony and Joe Gayton wrote the script which is being geared to start production in mid-2003. Burger is also attached to direct the studio's' ANIMAL ATTRACTION, a romantic comedy about two zoologists who fall in love at the Washington, D.C. zoo while trying to mate two giant pandas.

* Martin Scorsese will direct Leonardo DiCaprio in THE AVIATOR, a film about the early life of Howard Hughes. Miramax Films is teaming with Warner Bros. and Initial Entertainment Group to finance the $100 million-plus project. Shooting will begin May 12 in Los Angeles for likely release in fall 2004. The script begins as a young Hughes directs one of Scorsese's favorite films, HELL'S ANGELS. The story ends in 1946, when Hughes was still a dashing young man and romancing actresses like Eva Gardner and Katharine Hepburn. John Logan penned the script, which was owned by Michael Mann until he decided to step aside.

MISCELLANEOUS PRODUCTION TIDBITS

* Producer Scott Rudin has resigned as producer of LEMONY SNICKET'S A SERIES OF UNFORTUNATE EVENTS, the Paramount/Nickelodeon Films adaptation of the bestselling Daniel Handler book series. Rudin set up the project to be directed by Barry Sonnenfeld and star Jim Carrey. Handler wrote the script. Rudin exited in a disagreement over budgets and fees. The first film is to shoot next year.

* Twentieth Century Fox has pulled out of its co-production with Universal Pictures on Baz Luhrmann's historical epic ALEXANDER THE GREAT, with DreamWorks Pictures stepping in as a partner. Leonardo DiCaprio remains attached to star in the title role, while Nicole Kidman has expressed interest in playing Alexander's mother, Olympia. Martin Scorsese, who had been developing his own "Alexander" project, will executive produce with Dino and Martha De Laurentiis. Production is set to begin at the end of next year.

Until next week.

Elston Gunn

elstongunn@hotmail.com