Sarandon, Hawn eye ‘Sisters’ act
Susan Sarandon and Goldie Hawn are negotiating to play the title roles in The Banger Sisters, a comedy-drama about the reunion of two groupies who were best friends during their wild rock‘n’roll days.

One sister, a punked-out waitress (Hawn), is only too happy to wax nostalgic about the good old days, while the other, a prominent socialite (Sarandon), is desperate to hide her past. The Fox Searchlight film was written by Bob Dolman who will make his directing debut on the project after writing scripts like Far and Away and Willow. The actresses have been courted for the film for several months, but negotiations are just getting under way. The intention is to get The Banger Sisters into production so it can be completed by summer and possible before the writers’ and actors’ strikes.

Survivor star Colleen lands ‘Animal’ role
Colleen Haskell was one of the last to go on CBS’ Survivor, but now she’s the first of the cast to land a major role in a feature film. The Miami University student will play the love interest of Rob Schneider (Deuce Bigalow: Male Gigolo) in the comedy Animal.

The film centers around a man (Schneider) who receives organ transplants from a multitude of animals and slowly finds himself taking on those animal traits. Shooting begins Oct. 17 in Los Angeles. The picture will be released June 22 via Columbia Pictures. Rookie director Luke Greenfield will take the helm, working from a script by Tom Brady.

Norton Won’t Make ‘War’
Edward Norton has become a deserter in Hart’s War, the WWII movie that would have reunited the actor with Gregory Hoblit, the director who gave him his big break in 1996’s Primal Fear.

Sources cited the usual ‘creative differences’ were the reason behind this. Norton was to have played Tommy Hart, an American who is shot down over Europe and winds up defending a fellow prisoner of war facing a murder charge. The MGM project is based on John Katzenbach’s novel, which was in turn based on the exploits of his father, former U.S. attorney general Nicholas Katzenbach.

War was to have begun shooting in Prague in January, but whether that schedule remains intact remains to be seen. A January start would have ensured enough time to spare for looping and mixing before possible writers and actors strikes expected to begun after contracts expire May 1 and July 1, respectively.

MGM is understood to be recasting the film based, in part, on a list of desirables furnished by Bruce Willis, who has been circling both War and Fox 2000’s remake of La Femme Infidele, Unfaithful.

Parker Mulls ‘Dick’
Sarah Jessica Parker (HBO’s Sex and the City) is in final negotiations to star in Life Without Dick, a romantic comedy about a woman who unwittingly falls in love with the hitman hired to kill her boyfriend.

Insiders familiar with the Columbia Pictures project said Craig Ferguson (Saving Grace) and Elijah Wood (Black and White) are also in discussions to star. The picture was written by Bix Skahill, who will make his directing debut on the film. He most recently wrote the upcoming Warner Bros. picture Shiny New Enemies (aka Chain of Fools), which stars Steve Zahn, Jeff Goldblum, Salma Hayek and Orlando Jones.

Cooper pacts For Adaptations
Chris Cooper will join Nicolas Cage and Meryl Streep in Adaptation, the Spike Jonze-directed adaptation of the Susan Orlean novel The Orchid Thief at Columbia. Cooper will also co-star with Matt Damon in the Doug Liman-directed The Bourne Identity the adaptation of the Robert Ludlum thriller at Universal. Cooper, who most recently starred in American Beauty and The Patriot will play Laroche in Adaptation, which reteams the Being John Malkovich tandem of Jonze and scripter Charlie Kaufman. Filming will begin in the spring. He’ll play an Ivy League prof in The Bourne Identity, with production beginning in the fall.

Former TV Host Gifford to
Star in E! Film
Former morning talk diva Kathie Lee Gifford, in her first gig since leaving the side of long-time co-host Regis Philbin, has inked a deal with cable TV’s E! Entertainment Television to star in a for-cable film.

In Spinning Out of Control, set to air in March 2001, Gifford will play the role of a sitcom actress who wants to control studio and network executives and privately battles a drug and alcohol problem. Actor Howie Mandel will co-star.
“I’m delighted to be involved in this new project for E!” Gifford said. “Not only is this a role for which I’ve been ‘in training’ for years, I also get the added pleasure of working with my friend Howie Mandel,” she said. The film is inspired by the headline-grabbing antics of actresses whose out-of-control behavior has wreaked havoc on many a movie or television set, E! said in a statement.