It had to happen: Film maker Steven...

It had to happen: Film maker Steven Spielberg has decided to run off to join the circus--he signed to develop Columbia’s Cirque du Soleil project with the celebrated Canadian acrobatic troupe, according to sources at the studio and Spielberg’s Amblin Ent. No word on how he will dramatize the big-top show. . . . Director Tim Burton, currently in Britain for pre-production on Warner’s “Batman,” started preliminary discussions with Jack Nicholson about playing the crime fighter’s arch enemy, The Joker. Burton is still searching for an unknown to play the title role. Filming begins in September. . . . It’s an ad man’s revenge in HandMade’s “How to Get Ahead in Advertising” set to start to London this month. The straw that breaks this pitcher’s back is a pimple cream campaign. Writer Bruce Robinson (“Killing Fields”) directs this farce starring Richard Grant (“Withnail and I”) and Rachel Ward.

Let ‘er Rip Van Winkle: Tommy Chong portrays a hippy who’s been in retreat for two decades and finds adjusting to ‘80s society a cultural shock in “Far Out, Man!,” which he also wrote/directs for CineTel. Solution: He creates Hippyland. It’s a family affair starring wife Shelby Fiddis, daughter Rae Dawn and her real-life boyfriend C. Thomas Howell and sons Paris and Gilbraun. . . . CineCorrection: Actor Jason Patric won’t be doing “The Abyss” as (mis)reported here. He is developing a personal project at Columbia. . . .

Along with Paramount’s “Fat Man and Little Boy,” about the making of the atom bomb, there will also be “The Big Band Theory,” a black comic version of the same historic event to be directed by Robert Downey Sr. Both productions shoot this fall but Downey’s, among other things, contends there’s a link between scientific and jazz fusion. Alan Arkin plays physicist Enrico Fermi, Robert Downey Jr. is Col. Leslie Groves and Bruce Dern assays F.D.R. . . .

Can’t Stand the Heat Department: Fox’s “Outer Heat” is getting out of the kitchen now that “Dead Heat” and “Red Heat” are in the marketplace and will go out in August with the title “AlienNation.” The futuristic thriller stars James Caan and Mandy Patinkin as respectively a human and an alien cop working the streets of L.A. . . . Director Mary Lambert (“Siesta”) directs Stephen King’s “Pet Sematary” for Paramount, the yarn of a doctor and his family who discover quiet rural Maine is actually rife with evil spirits. King did the adaptation and Richard Rubinstein produces on location in September . . . .

Producer Gary Kurtz makes his directorial debut in Winmill Productions “Feathers,” a Harveyesque yarn of an illustrator whose bird creation comes to life to provide him with sage advice. Mark Hamill stars for producers Chip Miller and Dennis Winfrey.