Films beginning production this week :...

Films beginning production this week : BRENDA STARR (Tomorrow Ent./Tribune Ent./Empire Investments). Shooting in Jacksonville, Fla., and New York. Comedy-adventure based on the comic strip with Brooke Shields as the ace female reporter. Conflict is generated when Brenda comes to life and her illustrator and cartoon-character lover both wish to have her. Producers John Backe and Mickey Hyman. Director Robert Ellis Miller. Screenwriters Jim Buchanan, Noreen Stone and Delia Ephron. Stars Shields. Distributor and release date undetermined.

BURGLAR (Warner Bros.). Shooting in San Francisco and L.A. Lawrence Block’s novel is imbued with mystery, adventure and comedy in this tale of a bookstore owner-occasional cat burglar and her friend who is framed for murder. Executive producer Tom Jacobson. Producers Kevin McCormick and Michael Hirsh. Director Hugh Wilson. Screenwriters Joseph Loeb III, Matthew Weisman and Wilson. Stars Whoopi Goldberg and Bobcat Goldthwait. Distributor Warner Bros. Release date undetermined.

PRICK UP YOUR EARS (Zenith Productions). Shooting in London. The true story of lovers Joe Orton and Kenneth Halliwell. Orton’s success as a playwright (“Loot”) rapidly eclipsed Halliwell’s as an actor, however, and the latter was frustrated to such an extent that he murdered Orton and then took his own life. Producer Andrew Brown. Director Stephen Frears. Screenwriter Alan Bennett. Stars Vanessa Redgrave, Gary Oldman, Alfred Molina, Julie Walters and Wallace Shawn. Distributor Goldwyn. Spring release.

SHALLOW GRAVE (E.L.F. Productions Inc.). Shooting in Florida. A suspense-thriller involving four girls who witness a murder while on their way to spring break in Fort Lauderdale. The killer, not wanting them to blab to the authorities, starts bumping them off one by one. Executive producer George E. Fernandez. Producer Barry Waldman. Director Richard Styles. Screenwriter Fernandez. Stars Tony Bentine and Carol Cadby. Distributor undetermined. March release.

TIN MEN (Touchstone Films). Shooting in Baltimore. A comedy about a couple of aluminum-siding salesmen whose outrageous feud takes on epic proportions. Producer Mark Johnson. Director/screenwriter Barry Levinson. Stars Richard Dreyfuss, Danny DeVito and Barbara Hershey. Distributor Buena Vista. Release date undetermined.