Negotiations are being completed for Arnold Schwarzenegger...

Negotiations are being completed for Arnold Schwarzenegger to star in Nelson Entertainment’s “The Taking of Beverly Hills,” a fall start locally, then moving on to Mexico City. The hostage thriller, written by Rick Natkin and David Fuller, is in the “Die Hard” mold, with Arnold as the muscular hero. Sidney Furie directs and David Giler produces. . . .

Michelle Pfeiffer--mentioned in the press as a possibility for the role of a female FBI agent investigating a series of grisly murders in Orion’s “The Silence of the Lambs”--has some competition, according to a production source. Discussions are also under way with Jodie Foster and Meg Ryan. The adaptation of Thomas Harris’ best seller starts in late September with producer-director Jonathon Demme. Jack Nicholson is reportedly negotiating to play creepy Dr. Lektor, an institutionalized killer. . . .

Nicolas Cage and Judge Reinhold team in October for Electric Pictures’ “Adios Thierry,” a taut romantic thriller. Marie Kornhauser’s script centers on a woman, frustrated in marriage, who enters an affair with the best friend (Cage) of her husband (Reinhold). Reinhold co-produces with William Blaylock and Eyal Rimmon. Sam Pillsbury directs in New Orleans for ITC Productions. . . .

Veteran actor Arthur Kennedy plays the title role in Frame by Frame Productions’ “Grandpa,” filming in Northern California next month. The story focuses on the strained relationship between Kennedy and grandson Lee Maddox. Nicole Eggert plays the young woman who smoothes their troubled waters. Alan Ruffier wrote the screenplay and directs for producer Tom Durbin. . . .

Newcomer Balthazar Getty (son of John Paul III) stars as a young man on the rodeo circuit who tries to affect a rapprochement with his father in producer Martin Poll’s “Home Grown.” Ben Johnson, Tess Harper and Gary Busey co-star in Joel Don Humphrey’s script, directed by Stuart Rosenberg. . . .

Alexander Gudonov plays a modern Norseman in search of a priceless artifact in Hyperion’s “Full Moon,” a lighthearted thriller filming next month in Toronto. Writer-director Willard Carroll’s screenplay centers on the mythical rune stone, a harbinger of disaster. Peter Riegert, Dennis Boutsikaris and William Hickey co-star for producer Joe Michael Terry. . . . Rain Pryor (daughter of Richard) joins the cast of Pressman Films’ “Blackbird Fly” as the daughter in a strife-ridden black family. Danny Glover stars and co-produces the drama by writer-director Charles Burnett. . . . Virginia Madsen lures Don Johnson from a straight and narrow path in Orion’s “Hot Spot.” Dennis Hopper directs the steamy thriller, filming next month in Texas.