Challenging ‘The Iron Mask’ to a Duel

With all the buzz surrounding screen hunk Leonardo DiCaprio in “Titanic” these days, United Artists is pulling out all the stops to hype the actor’s upcoming role in the Three Musketeers adventure film “The Man in the Iron Mask.” But this being Hollywood, there is not one but two movies coming out called “The Man in the Iron Mask.” The second one is a comedy shot on a minuscule budget that is scheduled to make a limited run this weekend at the Aero Theater in Santa Monica. William Richert--who wrote, directed, produced and co-starred in the movie--is not put off that UA’s version of Alexander Dumas’ classic comes with big-name talent like DiCaprio, Jeremy Irons and John Malkovich. After a one-week test earlier this month at the Aero, Richert said: “People were coming to my movie looking for Leonardo DiCaprio wondering what happened to him, but they were staying and laughing.” He noted that his actors all agreed to defer their fees until the movie turns a profit. “I play Aramis because the actor who was originally going to play my part was pulled from the movie by his agent so he wouldn’t be in the movie and possibly be compared to Jeremy Irons,” Richert said. “Since I’m so little compared to Jeremy Irons, they won’t confuse me.” Also starring are Timothy Bottoms, Edward Albert, Meg Foster and Nick Richert, the director’s 27-year-old son, who plays the dual role of King Louis XIV and his imprisoned twin, Phillipe. While the director concedes it is only a Hollywood promoter’s dream, he’d like to see a duel staged between the actors of both films. On one side would be Irons, Malkovich, Gerard Depardieu and Gabriel Byrne from UA’s movie and on the other would be Richert (Aramis), Albert (Athos), Rex Ryon (Porthos) and Dennis Hayden (D’Artagnan) from Richert’s film. “I don’t think their agents will let them do it,” the director joked, “but our agents are encouraging us.”

CBS Dice, ‘Por Favor, Vea Este Programa’

Seeking to tap into a vast and underserved audience, CBS will for the first time use a second audio channel to offer one of its prime-time series with a Spanish-language simulcast. The translation, now regularly done on most major sporting events, will be featured on “Four Corners,” a new serialized drama starring Ann-Margret and Sonia Braga that premieres Tuesday. CBS has several reasons to try the experiment with this particular program, beginning with the fact that soap operas are extremely popular on Spanish-language stations, where they are known as telenovelas. “Four Corners,” with Ann-Margret playing the matriarch of a New Mexico ranch, figures to be plenty soapy, coming from the producers of “Knots Landing.” The show also features an ethnically mixed cast, including Braga, who started her career in Brazilian soaps during the early ‘70s. Viewers can access the Spanish version by pushing the SAP (second audio program) or Multiple TV Sound button on TV sets or remote controls. KCBS-TV Channel 2--with more than 5 million Spanish-speaking residents in its local broadcast area--will be among those making the simulcast available, joined by CBS outlets in such cities as Miami, Houston and Portland. CBS also began closed-captioning “60 Minutes” in Spanish last month.

Will She Be the Queen of Her ‘Castle’?

Ani DiFranco, the independent singer-songwriter who records for her own Righteous Babe label, will have two chances this week to measure her career rise. The maverick folk-rocker from Buffalo, N.Y., can check the weekly SoundScan sales reports Wednesday to see the first-week figures for her new album, “Little Plastic Castle,” before turning her attention to that night’s Grammy Awards ceremony in New York. Her nomination for best female rock vocal performance, a career first, is her latest step toward the mainstream after the cult success of her last two albums, 1996’s “Dilate” and last year’s double live CD, “Living in Clip.” “Dilate” has sold about 244,000 copies, according to SoundScan, while “Living in Clip” has sold about 164,000--and both sold well enough during their first week in stores to land on the Billboard 200, a rarity for an independent artist. The encouraging news for DiFranco is that advance orders for “Little Plastic Castle,” her 10th album, have already reached 250,000 copies. And by releasing records on her own label, she is able to pocket twice the $2 per album that superstars receive from major labels. But would she sell better if she were recording for a major? “It’s hard to say,” says Geoff Mayfield, Billboard’s charts editor. “She’s not exactly invisible. She’s done a really good job of making people aware of her.” Adds Bob Feterl, a regional manager for Tower Records: “She’s so entrenched now, I don’t think the trade-off would be worth it to her. She’d lose a lot of freedom.”