Films going into production:CASUALTIES OF WAR...

Films going into production:

CASUALTIES OF WAR (Columbia). Shooting in Thailand. Sean Penn is “Sergeant” and Michael J. Fox plays a newly arrived private in a Vietnam War drama based on the Daniel Lang book. Brian De Palma directs. Producer Art Linson. Screenwriter David Rabe.

DEAD BANG (Lorimar). Shooting in Calgary and L.A. John Frankenheimer directs Don Johnson who portrays a Los Angeles sheriff (he will need to shave) who crosses our fair country in search of a cop killer. Based on a true story. Executive producer Robert L. Rosen. Producer Steve Roth. Screenwriter Robert Foster. Early ’89 release.

FISTS OF STEEL (Fists of Steel). Shooting in Hawaii, L.A., Las Vegas and Chicago. Action fare with ex-boxing champ Carlos Palomino playing a Latin James Bond type who inadvertently gets caught up in an international drug ring and tries to dismantle it. Executive producer Patrick J. Shannon. Producer/director/screenwriter Jerry Schafer. Also stars Marianne Marks, Henry Silva and Sam Melville. October release.

NIGHT OF THE EAGLES (Vandale). Shooting in Dallas. Set in a 1966 rural Southern town. Action-adventure deals with civil rights, revolution and the Vietnam War. Executive producers Troy Dale and Regina Dale. Producer/screenwriter Samuel Vance. Director Sam Firstenberg. Stars Steve James and Margaret Avery.

OPERATION: PARATROOPER (Smart Egg). Shooting in Yugoslavia. Espionage action thriller set in Northern Italy involving U.S. Cpl. Martin Hewitt, Sgt. Joe Dallesandro and sexy journalist Kimberly Beck, who trails them both. Producer Luigi Cingolani. Director/screenwriter Frank De Palma. Early ’89 release.

PHANTOM OF THE RITZ (Hancock). Shooting in Tampa. Monster take-off of the “Phantom of the Opera” scenario following a guy who acquires an old theater and converts it into a ‘50s club that, unknown to him, contains an evil entity. Executive producer Jerry Kutner. Producer Carol Marcus Plone. Director Allen Plone. Screenwriters Allen Plone and Tom Dempsey. Stars Peter Bergman and Russell Curry.