Cinefile

The producers are calling it “Die Hard Meets the Dead Poets Society.” Louis Gossett Jr., Wil Wheaton, Sean Astin, Keith Coogan, Denholm Elliott, Mason Adams, Michael Champion, Andrew Divoff and Lee Ermey star in “Toy Soldiers,” a suspense-drama from Island Pictures/Tri-Star in which terrorists take over an elite boys prep school and demand the release of the head terrorist’s father, a Colombian drug lord. Screenwriter Dan Petrie Jr. makes his directorial debut from his own script, based on a novel by William Kennedy (not the Albany novelist). Mark Burg and Chris Zarpas, the new management team at Island, will executive produce while Jack Freedman and Patricia Herskovic produce. Production gets underway Sept. 5 in Virginia.

Two movies featuring down-and-out writers moving into strange new digs head for the cameras. In Sotela Pictures’ “Let Sleeping Dogs Lie,” Dylan McDermott, Joan Chen, Sharon Stone and Ted Sizemore star in a suspense tale of a burned-out writer moving into a Hollywood Hills home where a horrible multiple murder had taken place. Peter Finch (son of the late actor) directs from a script he wrote with Yolande Turner. Production begins locally Sept. 10. Paul Mason executive produces.

Then, in Avenue Pictures’ “Honeysuckle Cottage,” Val Kilmer will play a struggling author who moves into the Gothic home of his aunt, the late author of best-selling Gothic romance novels. Here his life takes a new turn. Christopher Guest directs for producers Neal Moritz and Karen Murphy. Production begins mid-October, the location as yet undecided.

Damon Wayans of Fox Broadcasting’s “In Living Color” has been cast opposite Bruce Willis in “The Last Boy Scout,” Shane Black’s tale of gambling and corruption in pro football, which Joel Silver is producing for the Geffen Co. and Warners. A January start is planned.

Bill Campbell has landed the much sought-after starring role in “The Rocketeer,” Gordon Co./Walt Disney Pictures’ film adaptation of the famed comic-book character. Danny Bilson and Paul De Meo wrote the script. Joe Johnston rolls cameras in Northern California in mid-September for producers Lawrence Gordon, Charles Gordon and Lloyd Levin.

Glenn Ford will star as a police captain in American International’s “Raw Nerve,” a psychological thriller getting underway Aug. 27 in Mobile, Ala. Rita Aras produces and David Prior directs from a script he wrote with Lawrence Simeone.

Largo Entertainment plans to pair “Little Vera” star Natalya Negoda and Frank Whaley in its mystery drama, “Icons.”

Meanwhile, Jared Chandler, who just finished re-shoots on Paramount’s “Flight of the Intruder,” joins Patrick Swayze, Keanu Reeves, Gary Busey and Lori Petty in Largo’s action-thriller “Riders on the Storm,” currently filming in Southern California. Chandler plays an FBI agent. Kathryn Bigelow directs.

Felicity Waterman, who just completed her starring role in “Lena’s Holiday” for Crown, joins Christopher Atkins in Quest Studios’ “Fire, Ice and My Wife,” a relationship comedy which Atkins wrote. Director-producer Hugh Parks launches production in November.

Correction: Producer-director George Vouros’ name was misspelled in last week’s item about his production of “Medea” starring Eartha Kitt.