PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN - TWO MORE MOVIES DERAILED BY STRIKE

There will be no overture for a new movie about William Tell, at least while the writers' strike remains in effect. Spyglass productions on Wednesday announced that Ironbow: The Legend of William Tell would be postponed because the script by former game-show producer Jay Wolpert needed additional work, which could not be performed during the strike. Wolpert has one previous screenplay credit -- 2002's The Count of Monte Cristo. He also received story credit on Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl. Also stalled is Rogue Pictures' Dracula flick Castlevania, based on the video game, with a script by Paul W. S. Anderson (the Resident Evil films). Studios had previously announced strike-related delays of three other films. Meanwhile, in another strike-related development, today's (Thursday) Los Angeles Times reported that the studios have hired a new team of public relations advisors for the duration of the strike, including Mark Fabiani and Chris Lehane, who have served as aides to Bill Clinton and Al Gore and Steve Schmidt, who managed Gov. Schwarzenegger's 2006 campaign. Fabiani and Lehane, the Times observed, "have a reputation for hardball tactics in damage control and inflicting damage on opponents."

06/12/2007