Ones That Got Away

The folks at 20th Century Fox continue to prove shrewd at establishing young stars--like Johnny Depp and Richard Grieco, spawned in Fox Broadcasting’s “21 Jump Street.” But Fox can’t seem to keep ‘em--both are making features for other studios--and the Fox brass is concerned.

We’ve learned that execs from the TV and film divisions recently convened to discuss how to avoid such future defections. Of particular worry, said a source, are the ensemble of attractive young actors in Fox’s midseason replacement series, “The Outsiders.”

“If those kids take off (as hot new stars),” said the source, “Fox is going to try to tie them up with film projects.”

Consider what happened with Depp and Grieco: Depp spent his series hiatus starring in a movie for Universal--Imagine Entertainment, “Cry Baby.” Grieco--another “Jump Street” heartthrob, and star of Fox TV’s new spinoff series, “Booker,” will spend next spring’s hiatus making “If Looks Could Kill” for Warner Bros.

Our source tells us that when Fox discovered that Grieco was considering the Warner project, the studio attempted to counteroffer with “Gasoline Cowboys,” a motorcycle gang pic.

But Grieco went with “Looks,” an action-adventure-comedy directed by William Dear, produced by Craig Zadan and Neil Meron.

A rep for Grieco stressed that there are no hard feelings: “In fact, he’s currently talking with Fox about several other film projects.”