When the Glimmer Dims . . .

Although his latest film for Warner Bros., “Fire Down Below,” opened Friday, Steven Seagal’s long-standing production deal at the studio is marked for death.

Even high-ranking studio sources don’t expect the movie to be a big performer. “Let’s face it,” said one executive, “with the exception of ‘Under Siege’ [and its sequel] this guy has been on a downhill run in box office. Good riddance.”

Officially, Warner Bros. stands behind Seagal and his movie. As for the aging action star, his representatives said he was not available to discuss the end of his deal at the studio or negotiations underway with any other studio to bankroll his Seagal/Nasso productions.

Seagal and Julius Nasso, his producing partner of 12 years, have raised financing for their next project, called “The Patriot,” his publicist said. She added that he was in discussions with Warner as well as other unnamed studios about distributing the film, in which Seagal plans to star.

“I don’t think we’d be interested in picking up a deal with him,” said one 20th Century Fox source. “It’s over. He’ll have to do like every other aging action star out there . . . he has to reinvent himself.”

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Seagal Under Siege

How Steven Seagal’s pictures have done at the box office:

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Year Title Domestic Gross (millions) 1988 “Above the Law” $18.9 1990 “Hard to Kill” $47.4 1990 “Marked for Death” $44.1 1991 “Out for Justice” $39.6 1992 “Under Siege” $83.5 1994 “On Deadly Ground” $38.6 1995 “Under Siege II: Dark Territory” $50.0 1996 “The Glimmer Man” $20.3

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