Jessica Lange will star in “Blue Sky”...

Jessica Lange will star in “Blue Sky” for Orion and producer Robert Solo. The psychological drama, written by Rama Blum and directed by Tony Richardson, concerns a woman who lives on a southern Army base during the 1950s with her nuclear-physicist husband and two children. Production should get under way in February or March on location in the South. . . . Warner’s “Seven-Year Storm” is performing so well in test screenings that its star, Steven Seagal (“Above the Law”), is hot. It looks like his next project will be “In a Safe Place,” an action film written by Michael Grais and Mark Victor (“Poltergeist”). The deal is contingent upon finding a director acceptable to the martial-arts whiz and 20th Century Fox. . . . Meanwhile, sources indicate that Warner is talking to Seagal about a film called “Demolition Man” and producer Joel Silver is interested in him for his “Predator” sequel. British actress Sammi Davis (“The Rainbow”), newly relocated to L.A., joins Brad Dourif and Vic Tayback in Relentless Entertainment’s “The Horseplayers,” currently being directed by Kurt Voss (“Border Radio”). She plays the wife of an artist who paints portraits of her lovers. Performance artist M.K. Harris plays the painter. . . .

C. Thomas Howell plays a young man who returns to his small desert town to settle old scores in Tapistry Films’ “The Kid.” Mark Robinson (“Roadhouse 66”) directs the drama, which also stars Lee Ermey (“Full Metal Jacket”), Dale Dye (“Casualties of War”) and newcomer Sarah Trigger. . . . Tom Sizemore, last seen as a scruffy low-lifer in “Lock-Up,” plays a suave fighter pilot in John Milius’ “Flight of the Intruder,” shooting in Hawaii. . . .

The write stuff: Alive Pictures has optioned “Impact,” a novel by Stephen Greenleaf, published this month by William Morrow, about a plane crash and the courtroom drama that follows. Roger Towne (co-writer of “The Natural”) is scripting. . . . It’s not child’s play for Don Mancini. The screenwriter who wrote the first draft of the horror film “Child’s Play” completed the sequel earlier this year and has now been given the go-ahead for Part III. Meanwhile, “Child’s Play Part II” goes into production this month with John Lafia directing and Grace Zabriskie starring. . . . Director Chris Cain (“Young Guns”) has optioned L. Ron Hubbard’s 1940 novel “Final Blackout” and is currently writing the script. The post-apocalyptic tale concerns a world war that has degenerated into virtual caveman warfare among roving bands of soldiers. A young lieutenant who attempts to end the madness. . . . New Line Cinema is negotiating with Marvel Comics for film rights to the character of the Ghost Rider.