Hollywood Digest

'CALLAS FOREVER' AT PALM SPRINGS FESTIVAL

Organizers of the 14th Annual Palm Springs International Film Festival have announced that "Callas Forever" will open the festival on Jan. 9.

Director Franco Zeffirelli and stars Jeremy Irons and Fanny Ardant are expected to attend the screening, which will double as the film's North American premiere.

"'Callas Forever' is a perfect example of the sort of film the Palm Springs Film Festival strives for," said the festival's new executive director Mitch Levine. "International in scope and subject matter, it's an absorbing, fascinating and highly-cinematic story of a well-known, beloved individual in a 'what-if' situation."

The movie offers a fictionalized take on the final days of the legendary diva Maria Callas, played by Ardant ("8 Women," "Ridicule"). Irons plays a Faustian impresario and talent agent who convinces Callas to make an ill-advised comeback.

Callas, considered by many to be one of the greatest divas in opera history, died shortly after shipping magnate Aristotle Onassis left her for Jacqueline Kennedy. Callas was a longtime friend of Zeffirelli, best-known internationally for his screen adaptations of Shakespeare's "Romeo and Juliet" and "Hamlet," and Verdi's operas "La Traviata" and "Otello."

DIRECTOR BADHAM JOIN AFI FACULTY

Director-producer John Badham ("Saturday Night Fever," "Stakeout") is joining the faculty of the AFI Conservatory to lead seminars in directing.

James Hindman, provost of the AFI Conservatory, said Badham will lead workshops addressing the professional relationship between directors and actors for current fellows on the AFI campus. The AFI Conservatory is an accredited Master of Fine Arts program that trains aspiring filmmakers in cinematography, directing, editing, producing, production design and screenwriting.

Badham's book, "Directors Working with Actors," is scheduled to be published in spring 2003. Badham is also the designer of Shotmaster, a software program popular with directors for use in creating storyboards.

SILVERSTONE HEADED FOR SMALL SCREEN

Alicia Silverstone ("Clueless," "Batman & Robin") has a deal with NBC to star in the pilot of a new comedy by Darren Star ("Sex and the City") and Jeff Rake ("The $treet").

Silverstone will play a New York lawyer specializing in matrimonial law who also does some matchmaking on the side, but whose own love life is sub-par. Her most recent project was a nine-month run on Broadway in "The Graduate."

The character in the new show is based on a true-life New Yorker who has cultivated a reputation for bringing well-heeled clients together in matrimony.

LINDA LAVIN ON 'LAW & ORDER'

Emmy, Golden Globe and Tony winner Linda Lavin will guest-star in NBC's legal drama "Law & Order: Criminal Intent" in December, as an overly protective Jewish mother whose son has a secret, shameful life.

In the episode, titled "Shandeh," Lavin plays the matriarch of a prominent family who comes under suspicion when her daughter-in-law is brutally murdered. Best-known for the TV comedy "Alice" (1976-85), Lavin won a Tony for her performance in Neil Simon's "Broadway Bound." She currently appears on Broadway in "Hollywood Arms," a new play by Carrie Hamilton and Carol Burnett based on Burnett's memoir.

BIG MONEY IN RERUNS

Twentieth Century Fox Television and Sony Pictures TV have sealed basic-cable syndication deals for "Malcolm in the Middle" and "King of Queens," respectively, that Daily Variety reported will bring the companies more than $150 million.

Twentieth TV sold "Malcolm" to FX -- also a Fox company -- for an estimated $600,000 per episode over five years. The deal also reportedly calls for Fox to get 90 seconds worth of commercial availability for each play on FX.

Sony Pictures Television sold cable rights to "King of Queens" to TBS in a six-year deal worth a reported $425,000 per episode in license fees. Variety said SPE could also collect another $200,000 per half-hour for three 30-second spots during each run.

FX should begin airing "Malcolm" in fall 2007. TBS is expected to add "King of Queens" to its schedule in September 2006.

KILMER RESEARCHES PORN ROLE

As Val Kilmer gets ready to play legendary porn star John Holmes in the upcoming movie "Wonderland," there is word that he will not go to extreme lengths to research the character.

Gossip columnist Liz Smith reported that Kilmer has decided he doesn't need to do the kind of research that Mark Wahlberg is said to have done when he prepared to play porn star Dirk Diggler in "Boogie Nights." Wahlberg reportedly screened Holmes' movies to get ready for the role.

"Wonderland" is described as an account of Holmes' involvement in a quadruple murder case in 1981 and his last days before dying in 1988 from AIDS-related complications.