Crispin Glover, Peter Boyle, Karen Black and...

Crispin Glover, Peter Boyle, Karen Black and Michael Greene star in “Rubin and Ed,” which goes into production tomorrow in Salt Lake City and the southern Utah desert. The dark comedy, which Paul Webster will produce and Trent Harris wrote and will direct, tells of two misfits who hate each other yet wind up on a weird desert odyssey together. This is the second American production for British-based Working Title, Ltd. The first, “Drop Dead, Friend,” wrapped in Minneapolis last week.

William Sanderson (formerly Larry on “Newhart”) will play a mechanic, Terry O’Quinn will portray Howard Hughes and Paul Sorvino a gangster in the Gordon Co./Touchstone’s “The Rocketeer,” now filming in Southern California. This adaptation of the comic-book series set in 1938 Hollywood also stars Bill Campbell (see Outtakes, Page 19) , Jennifer Connelly, Timothy Dalton and Alan Arkin. Joe Johnson directs.

P Kathy Baker, John Mahoney, Keith David and Jeffrey Tambor join Ray Liotta in Orion’s “Article 99,” which begins filming Oct. 8 in Kansas City, Mo. Howard Deutsch directs Ron Cutler’s script, a dark comedy set in a VA hospital, for producers Michael Levy and Michael Gruskoff.

Eric Idle, Wallace Shawn, cover girl Kathy Ireland, Dwier Brown and Thalmus Rasulala join Jon Lovitz, Teri Garr and Jeffrey Jones in “Mom and Dad Save the World,” an HBO/Cinema Plus presentation of a Mercury/Douglas Production now shooting locally. Michael Phillips is producing and Greg Beeman directing this comedy, written by Ed Solomon and Chris Matheson, about a middle-aged couple abducted and whisked to another planet. Warner Bros. will distribute.

Luca Bercovici, Ray Barry, Matt Craven and Patricia Charbonneau (in a role originally written for a man) join Michael Biehn in “K2,” a drama about mountain climbing that Franc Roddam directs for producer Jonathan Taplin this month in Vancouver and Pakistan. Screenwriter Scott Roberts adapted his own play.

William Friedkin has agreed to direct Morgan Creek’s “Tail Gunner,” an action-drama about the world’s best bodyguard written by John Fasano. Production gets under way early next year.

Hulk Hogan and Christopher Lloyd will star in Katja Motion Pictures’ “Urban Commando.” Howard Gottfried produces and Burt Kennedy directs this tale of an intergalactic space mercenary who takes a vacation on Earth. Filming begins locally this month.