New Scrooge for Christmas TV

NEW YORK, Jan. 20 (UPI) -- Grammy Award-winning composer and screenwriter Leslie Bricusse has been contracted by CBS for a new three-hour adaptation of "Scrooge."

Bricusse was behind the 1970 update of Charles Dickens' classic, "A Christmas Carol," starring Albert Finney. He has written a new script and seven original songs for the $12 million CBS project that begins shooting in June in Ireland for release Christmas 2004, Daily Variety reports.

It's the first announcement by new Margaret Loesch and Bruce Stein venture, The Hatchery, launched last fall. They are "Scrooge" executive producers, along with Bricusse and Dan Angel and Billy Brown, who won last year's Emmy for TNT's "Door to Door."

Bricusse won two Oscar nominations for the Finney version of "Scrooge," Best Original Song and Best Original Score. It was a story that people never tire of, that could constantly be retold, he said. "Even the Muppets did a version." He previously adapted the movie, for the stage.