Hollywood, by the Book

NEW YORK — At lunch this week, the book publisher to whom tycoon Rupert Murdoch gave free rein and full control--Judith Regan--told me she is ready to embark on a new phase of her career: She’ll dip her toe into the Hollywood stream that is moviemaking.

A lot of people have predicted this would happen in due time. Regan has made a great success out of Regan Books with her flair for publicity and promotion (much of which features Regan as the Sicilian-Irish star that she is), her creative new looks for books and her ability to take the work of unknown authors nobody else wants to publish and make them into bestsellers.

Regan will turn her friend Bernard Kerik’s work, “The Lost Son,” into a film for Fox Searchlight, which is hoping to make itself into “the new HBO.” The former police commissioner’s story is a touching tale featuring illicit elements from his own life.

I admire Regan’s chutzpah and style. She has brought a new dash to publishing, and now we’ll see if La-La Land is ready for her. In my eyes, she has all the attributes for a successful killer producer....

Sophia Loren is a star of stars for the ages, and she blew everybody away in the Napa Valley last weekend when she made a first-ever visit there. She was on hand for son Carlo Ponti Jr.’s conducting stint for the Russian National Orchestra at Villa Montalvo in Saratoga.

Sophia and son then went to John Traina’s Napa Valley ranch and visited his vineyards. In her honor, Traina had a Neapolitan lunch served by chef Don Giovanni of the Bistro, a local hot spot.

Sophia wandered into the kitchen, sniffed and said, “It smells just like home!”