FIRST OFF . . .

A Swedish anti-apartheid group has called for a boycott of all films starring Dolph Lundgren for his “degrading” involvement in the controversial movie “Red Scorpion,” now shooting in South Africa-ruled Namibia with South African armed forces support. In a related matter, a Warner Bros. spokesman in Los Angeles said Tuesday that the studio has ended its agreement to distribute the film because of the production’s South African involvement. “Part of our agreement stipulated--in advance--that if they went into South Africa or had any business with them, any deal would be off,” said Warner Bros. publicity executive Rob Friedman. Meanwhile, a spokesman for Sweden’s Isolate South Africa Committee told Reuters that Swedish-born Lundgren’s films would be put on the United Nations blacklist of performers deemed “unacceptable” for their cultural contact with South Africa. Including Lundgren on the list could hamper overseas distribution of all his films--”Rocky IV” and “He-Man and Masters of the Universe” as well as “Red Scorpion,” a story of rebellion in black Africa. South African Defense Forces have provided tanks, trucks, troops and mortars for the production, Namibian newspapers and the New York Times reported last week. Lundgren’s agent, David Schiff of Creative Artists Agency, would not comment on the matter. Efforts to contact “Red Scorpion” producer Dan Sklar on Tuesday were unsuccessful. In September he told The Times: “We would never film in Namibia. That would cut our policy to not support South Africa.”