William S. Burrough’s surreal novel “Naked Lunch,”...

William S. Burrough’s surreal novel “Naked Lunch,” which Mary McCarthy once likened to “a neighborhood movie with continuous showings that you can drop into whenever you please,” is about to become a movie. Judy Davis and Peter Weller will star in the film adaptation, which will be written and directed by David Cronenberg (“The Fly”). Production begins in January in Toronto for interiors and special-effects sequences, then shifts in March to Tangier, Morocco, for exteriors. Jeremy Thomas and Gabriella Martinelli will produce for British-based the Recorded Picture Co.

Meanwhile, Weller heads this week for Malaysia to star with Robert Hays in Cannon’s “50-50,” a comedy-adventure written by Michael Butler and Dennis Shryack about a pair of mercenaries on a South China Seas island. Filming starts Oct. 18 under the direction of Charles Martin Smith. Maurice Singer and Ray Wagner produce. Then in April, Weller will make his directorial debut with ITC’s “Morning Glory,” filming in Texas, which he will star in opposite Deborah Raffin.

Kevin Bacon and wife Kyra Sedgwick will co-star in “Pirates,” a sex comedy concerning the second great Chicago fire. The film marks the directorial debut of its writer Noah Stern. Jonathan Furie (son of veteran director Sidney Furie) will produce for Pyro Productions this fall.

Brooke Adams, who just finished her starring role in “The Heidi Chronicles” on Broadway, now stars in Concorde’s “The Unborn,” shooting locally. First-time director Rodman Flender describes Henry Dominic’s drama about in vitro fertilization as a cross between “Rosemary’s Baby” and “The Fly.”

Judd Nelson, John Savage and Sally Kirkland will star in Ascension Films’ “Primary Motive,” a political drama set against a Massachusetts gubernatorial race. Writer-director Dan Adams drew on his own experiences in various campaigns in that state for his script. Production on the Hemdale release begins in Boston in January.

“Twin Peak’s” Grace Zabriskie will not star in “The Pit and the Pendulum” as was indicated in a previous column.