DAVID BECKHAM - HOLLYWOOD BECKONS BECKHAM

HOLLYWOOD BECKONS BECKHAM

The $250-million deal to bring David Beckham to Los Angeles as the starring player for the Los Angeles Galaxy Major League Soccer team may only represent the prelude to a more intimate business relationship between him and Anschutz Entertainment Group, owner of the team, and billionaire Phil Anschutz in particular, analysts observed Thursday. Following the success of his The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, which was distributed by Disney, Anschutz has reportedly been planning a wider expansion of his film output, and the glamorous Beckham could provide him with significant international star appeal. Today's (Friday) Los Angeles Times reported that within hours after the announcement that Beckham was coming to Los Angeles, Brandy Navarre, co-owner of the X17 photo agency had assigned five photographers to cover Beckham and his wife Victoria, the former "Posh Spice." But Harvey Levin, who runs the celebrity website TMZ.com, expressed skepticism that the Beckhams will attract the kind of attention in the U.S. that they have overseas. Noting that he's still relatively unknown in the U.S., Levin remarked, "He can't just come in here and expect that he's going to be the same huge celebrity he was in England."

12/01/2007