Leonardo Dicaprio News

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It would be a rare outing for the media-shy actor. He promised director Woody Allen that he would support his new comedy, "Celebrity," in which DiCaprio plays a movie idol who's mobbed by fans everywhere he goes. But DiCaprio fears that if he shows up for the Lincoln Center gala, life will imitate art.

Is DiCaprio — who angered "Titanic" director James Cameron when he skipped the Oscars — making too much of his own celebrity? Not if you consider what happened to writer and actor George Plimpton when he spent the night recently in a hotel suite at L.A.'s Chateau Marmont.

"As I was let in, the housekeeper said, 'This is the room where Leonardo DiCaprio usually stays.' I hadn't seen 'Titanic,' so I didn't really know who he was,"the 71-year-old editor of the Paris Review tells us.

About 2:30 in the morning, he found out.

"There was a knock on the door," Plimpton says. "I was absolutely naked, but I got up and went padding down the corridor to see who it was. There were some enchanting nymphets — about eight of them, all dressed in the sort of black slips teenyboppers wear these days. They said they were there to find Leonardo. They said, 'He's in there! We know he's in there!'

"A couple of them pushed the door open. They skittered down the hallway past me. I put a bathrobe on. There was one guy in motorcyle goggles. Apparently, they were waiting for another guy who knew Leonardo. His name was Leash. Or Lash.

"They were looking in closets. One of the girls put her head on my pillow, because that's where Leonardo had rested his head. "I would have said it was a nightmare — except that they were so terribly attractive. One of them finally said, 'I know you. I saw you on the plane this afternoon — in "Good Will Hunting, " in which Plimpton has a cameo as one of Matt Damon's psychiatrists.

"For about 15 minutes, I became a vague movie star," Plimpton says. "But once they were convinced Leonardo wasn't coming, they all left. Afterward, I remembered the room had a bar. I should have offered them something."

"The paparazzi say such ugly things to him to try and get him to react violently, so they'll have a photo they can sell. "We've one out for a meal and not been able to eat because of all the cameras flashing and people asking him for autographs."

Maguire has just finished filming Ang Lee's new Civil War movie Ride With the Devil and begins work on the film version of John Irving's epic novel The Cider House Rules with Paul Rudd, Michael Caine and Charlize Theron.

Except in Utah County.

Here, after Don Biesinger processes your copy, it's more like 3 hours, 12 minutes. For $5, Biesinger's Sunrise Family Video will splice out two sexually charged scenes -- including a shot of Kate Winslet posing nude. ``Titanic'' mania was rekindled Tuesday, the first day of the epic's video release, with thousands of movie lovers across the country lining up for copies.

The fever hit Sunrise Video, too, with one big difference: Customers streamed in to drop off their copies. More than 50 were piled on Sunrise's shelves by closing time -- a four-day backlog for the process, which takes Biesinger's employees about 35 minutes a copy.

Once word spread, Sunrise's phone rarely stopped ringing, and customers like Connie Pixton rushed to the store.``I'm thrilled. My husband and kids haven't seen it'' because of those scenes, the Lehi mother of five said. ``My teenage daughter is excited. She's going to invite her friends over to watch it.''

Biesinger discovered that many of his neighbors wanted a cleaned-up version of the film when a nearby theater packed the house in July by editing out the nudity and a steamy love scene -- at least until Paramount Pictures revoked its print. He decided to offer his store's video-repair equipment and expertise once ``Titanic'' was released for sale.

The editing doesn't completely cleanse the PG-13 film; a sketch of the nude Winslet remains, and some profanity is scattered throughout, to say nothing of the violent deaths and icy corpses. To wipe out the swearing, Sunrise Video, which doesn't rent R-rated movies, sells the $149.99 TV Guardian, a device touted as ``The Foul-Language Filter.'' It scans closed-caption coding for vulgarities and automatically mutes the sound briefly to eliminate them.

One iceberg looms: Hollywood's reaction. Biesinger expects to hear from Paramount Home Video, the distributor, but believes he is doing nothing illegal. ``There may be some rattling of sabers, but without any substance. These are people's personal copies,'' he said. ``I'm not afraid of any repercussions.''

A Paramount spokeswoman said the company was investigating the matter and would have no comment Tuesday. Copyright law is uncertain in such editing cases, said Susan Poulter, a University of Utah law professor. Consumers who buy books, for example, are within their rights to cut them up, loan them out or even resell them, she said.

``One concern is that this store is making money from this, which puts it into the commercial realm,'' Poulter said. ``But whether the copyright owners still retain their rights, that's not clear. It's a close call.'' Not to Biesinger. But his home library will contain an uncensored tape.

Human values are either missing or clunkily handled. There's no sense of the power and presence of the tragedy that killed 1,500 people. The first sight of the Titanic, docked in England, is breathtaking. The real Titanic was 885 feet long. For the film, a 775-foot replica was built. It's imposing and awe-inspiring to watch the passengers board the ship, history come back to life.

Shots of the meticulously re-created interiors -- the ornate first-class lodgings, the sepia and brass-colored engine room, the ballroom with its winding staircase -- take the viewer back to 1912. But when people start talking, we've returned to a clumsy 1997 action movie.

Cameron, who wrote the script, aims to convey the tragedy of the Titanic through a tale of young love, which was probably a dubious strategy. And when the happy-go- lucky Jack (Leonardo DiCaprio) meets Rose (Kate Winslet), he uses his charm to talk her out of throwing herself overboard (she's engaged to a nasty rich guy). It smells of a screenwriter's contrivance.

Things never get better. Jack teaches her how to spit in the wind. She looks at his portfolio of pencil drawings and pronounces him a fabulous artist. The movie gives us almost two hours of this mismatched pair before mercifully introducing the iceberg.

All the action involving the ship's slowly sinking is surefire. At every chance, Cameron cuts and intercuts and cranks up the soundtrack. It's all a lot of fun, and yet the film never delivers the vicarious thrill of making us feel what it might have been like to have been on that ship.

The scenes are great to look at, though. As the Titanic tilts into the water at a steeper angle, people rush to the top of the ship. Some stumble and slide all the way down the long deck. The last hour of ``Titanic'' is huge and staggering, but there's no horror in it. No gravity, either. Entrusted with one of the century's monumental stories, Cameron can present it only as a crying shame. And that's a crying shame.

Anxious fans stood on line, stayed up late - and even resorted to crime - to get a copy. In San Francisco, a man was hospitalized after an assailant knocked him to the ground, kicked his head, and attempted to steal his new copy of Titanic outside a Blockbuster outlet. Meanwhile, in New York, fans lined up to get their hands on the double-cassette version of the film.

0It's really going well, said Bob Gerhinger, Blockbuster Video's marketing manager for the Northeast. It's exceeding all my expectations. Gerhinger spoke from one of the chain's stores in Bay Ridge, where an eight-foot ice sculpture of the doomed cruise ship was stationed outside the front door. He said that at times, the lines for both sales and rentals were 10- to 15-people deep.

At Kim's Underground, a video shop near NYU in the West Village, manager Michael Ferrari said most of its copies had been rented or purchased by yesterday afternoon.

Kathy Cuomo, who works at Parrot Video on Staten Island, said she was very busy, with 18 of the store's 20 copies having been rented. (The store does not sell videos.)

In upstate Woodstock, a spokeswoman at a local video store said everybody's asking for it.

Fans not willing to brave long lines ordered copies of Titanic through the Internet. Reel.com, an online video retailer, said it had already recorded 220,000 pre-orders and was selling more than 1,200 copies per hour.

But not every outlet was reporting brisk business. At Kim's West in the Village, clerk Carrie Johnson said Titanic was not doing very well. No copies had been sold and only a few had been rented by late afternoon.

And at World Wide Video in Rego Park, Queens, salesman Robert Babayev said sales and rentals were slow because most of his customers had already seen Titanic in theaters.

Paramount Home Video, which is distributing the Titanic videos, says it has shipped more than 20 million cassettes.

Retailers were charging from $10 to $30 a copy.

Directed by James Cameron, the film was produced by Paramount Pictures and 20th Century Fox, and won 11 Oscars. It has grossed more than $600 million in the United States and over $1.8 billion worldwide, and is still playing in some moviehouses.

Publishers thought the bubble might burst after the "Titanic" waves subsided, particularly since he has taken a six-month break from movies to sort out his personal life. But no. The appetites of DiCaprio's fans appear to be insatiable.

"Leo books are even more popular with fans, possibly because they will not see him in any new film for quite a while and so miss him," says Anthony Goff of Pocket Books, whose "Leonardo DiCaprio: A Biography" by Nancy Krulik — at 96 pages — is one of the longest. It sells as many copies per month now in Britain and the United States as it did in the spring. So, rather than turn away aspiring DeCaprio biographers, publishers are continuing to embrace them. Three more come out next month.

There appears to be no market for critical copy about DiCaprio, though in the past few weeks about 10 anti-Leo Web sites have appeared in America, such as The Completely Unofficial Leonardo DiCraprio Page.

Brian J. Robb of Edinburgh, Scotland, was quick off the mark last autumn with his "Leonardo DiCaprio Album," published by Plexus. "We weren't surprised the book was successful, but we were when sales remained so high for so long," says Robb. His book reached the top 10 best-seller lists in Britain and the United States. It even sold 10,000 in the English version in Japan.

While most readers of Leo books are teenage girls, one middle-aged woman phones Plexus twice a week to ask for news of the latest in Leo's life. Yet few of the books have anything new or revealing to say. All comment on his eyes, though the description varies. Krulik calls them a beautiful, sea-like soft green while Grace Catalano, who wrote "Leonardo DiCaprio: Modern-Day Romeo," says they are "a piercing blue-green."

British author Douglas Thompson has them simply as "piercing blue," a color also favored by Mark Bego's "Leonardo: Romantic Hero."  Earlier this summer, DiCaprio was being lined up to play the lead in the firm version of Bret Easton Ellis's "American Psycho," though this plan has, it seems, been dropped. Instead he is now being linked to "The Beach," a film to be made by the "Trainspotting" and "Shallow Grave" team — and to the next Woody Allen film.

The move comes just days after DiCaprio and possible costars Cameron Diaz, Jared Leto and James Woods participated in a script reading for Oliver Stone, who was interested in helming the film. Ever since Cannes, when Lions Gate giddily announced it had locked up Leo, American Psycho has been dogged by controversy.

The Ellis novel with its detailed descriptions of torture and violence never endeared itself to critics or women's groups. Sure enough, the film version--and DiCaprio's involvement--was immediately targeted by the National Organization for Woman.

Soon after, Leo's camp back-pedaled, insisting the actor never signed a contract with Lions Gate. But, his reps added, he was still interested. The project also rankled indie film types. Originally conceived as a relatively cheap $10-$15 million flick starring Christian Bale (The Portrait of a Lady) and directed by Mary Harron (I Shot Andy Warhol), American Psycho suddenly exploded into a $40 million extravaganza once DiCaprio came aboard. Both Bale and Harron got their walking papers.

(Sources said that Bale and Harron, who worked on the film for two years, were "crushed" after discovering they had been dumped from the project--they apparently first read the news of their dismissal in Variety.) Suddenly Leo-less, American Psycho will now revert to its initial low budget status, with Harron returning to the director's seat. No word yet on casting or Bale's status with the project. Calls to the actor's manager were not immediately returned.

Publishers thought the bubble might burst after the "Titanic" waves subsided, particularly since he has taken a six-month break from movies to sort out his personal life. (The video goes on sale Sept. 1.) But no. The appetites of DiCaprio's fans appear to be insatiable.

"Leo books are even more popular with fans, possibly because they will not see him in any new film for quite a while and so miss him,"' says Anthony Goff of Pocket Books, whose "Leonardo DiCaprio: A Biography," by Nancy Krulik -- at 96 pages -- is one of the longest. It sells as many copies per month now in Britain and the United States as it did in the spring. So, rather than turn away aspiring DiCaprio biographers, publishers are continuing to embrace them. Three more come out next month.

There appears to be no market for copy that badmouths DiCaprio, though in the past few weeks about 10 anti-Leo Web sites have appeared in America, such as The Completely Unofficial Leonardo DiCaprio Page.

Brian J. Robb of Edinburgh, Scotland, was quick off the mark last autumn with his "Leonardo DiCaprio Album," published by Plexus. "We weren't surprised the book was successful, but we were when sales remained so high for so long," says Robb. His book reached the top 10 best-seller lists in Britain and the United States. It even sold 10,000 in the English version in Japan.

While most readers of Leo books are teenage girls, one middle-aged woman phones Plexus twice a week to ask for news of the latest in Leo's life.Yet few of the books have anything new or revealing to say. All comment on his eyes, though the description varies. Krulik calls them a beautiful, sea-like soft green while Grace Catalano, who wrote "Leonardo DiCaprio: Modern-Day Romeo," says they are "a piercing blue-green."

British author Douglas Thompson has them simply as "piercing blue," a color also favored by Mark Bego's "Leonardo: Romantic Hero."

DiCaprio will next be seen on screen in "Celebrity," the new Woody Allen film slated for release this fall, which will either bring a whole new audience to DiCaprio, Allen or both. Earlier this summer Leo was being lined up to play the lead in the firm version of Bret Easton Ellis's "American Psycho," though this plan has, it seems, been dropped. Instead he is now being linked to "The Beach," a film to be made by the "Trainspotting" and "Shallow Grave" team. Meanwhile, British teen-girl magazines like Sugar, Bliss and Big are staying loyal to Leo with stories each issue. "He's meant to be having a year off, but our readers still love him," says Sarah Piper, editor of Sugar magazine. "Readers are worried about what they hear or read about him. They don't want him to go the same way as River Phoenix."

After Leo announced he was no longer interested in starring in American Psycho, Lions Gate Films — the company behind the movie version of Bret Easton Ellis's controversial novel — began conducting a poll on its web site: Who would audiences like to see take on the role of the murderous yuppie?

As of yesterday evening, Bale, the Little Women looker who was Lions Gate's original choice to star in the movie, had received a whopping 93 percent of the vote. Christian Slater, whose 1997 biting rampage suggests he'd turn in a convincing performance, was in second place with 4 percent. Matt Dillon and Johnny Depp each garnered 1 percent of the vote, thereby achieving the dubious honor of tying for third place with rotund South Park kid Eric Cartman.Whether Lions Gate will take popular opinion into account, however, remains to be seen. The company had not returned our request for comment by press time. Voting in the poll continues through Friday.

Virgin Megastore Sunset will provide Los Angelenos with a unique opportunity to actually star (for a brief moment) in Paramount Pictures' and 20th Century Fox's "Titanic," while being entertained by the "Titanic" "steerage party" band, Gaelic Storm.

Virgin Megastore Sunset will co-host an unprecedented public opportunity for consumers to appear on the bow of the Titanic in what is, by all accounts, the most enduring scene of cinema's newest classic.To accomplish this extraordinary feat, AmuseMatte Digital Studio will be on tap with its interactive event-imaging system that uses filmless camera hardware and a software system to capture an image electronically.

Then, via the magic of a "green screen," the image is combined, or "matted," into an interactive scene and printed out in four-color hard copy. That means that "Titanic" fans and visitors to the Virgin Megastore Sunset will actually appear to be "flying" on the bow of the Titanic a la Kate Winslet and Leonardo DiCaprio.

Adding to the evening's excitement is a performance by the "Titanic" "steerage band," Gaelic Storm, which is the actual band from the film that entertained the immigrant third-class passengers with their festive Irish revelry.The festivities begin at 10 p.m on Monday, Aug. 31, and continue until 2 a.m. The video will officially will go on sale at 12:01 a.m. in order to adhere to the official Sept. 1 street date. Gaelic Storm will also be available to autograph copies of the video as well as their recently released self-titled CD, "Gaelic Storm."

Virgin is expecting a larger-than-usual turnout for this unusual promotion. Accommodations will be available for fans who wish to line up early. "Titanic" prints are available on a limited basis and neither Paramount Pictures or Virgin can guarantee how many prints can be made.

Honchos at Paramount Home Video, which is releasing the "Titanic" cassettes in the United States, are so confident that copies will fly off the shelves that they are issuing a huge first batch of 20 million copies. It's a bold step considering Disney has shipped a grand total of 27.5 million copies of "The Lion King" since it came out on video in 1995.

The double-cassette package, which will retail for about $19.95, goes on sale following a massive, $50-million marketing push. According to some industry watchers, moving 20 million units is just the tip of the, ahem, iceberg. "It's going to be a huge seller," predicts Thomas Arnold, editor-in-chief of Video Store magazine, a weekly trade paper that covers the home-video industry. "It's such a huge pop-culture phenomenon, and teen-age girls are going to pick it up like candy." And, indeed, the heavyweight title enters the home-video sales arena after racking up an impressive list of victories.

For months, "Titanic" and its star, Leonardo DiCaprio, ruled the box office, earning a record-setting $600 million domestically and $1.8 billion worldwide. It captured 11 Academy Awards, including Hollywood's major movie prize: the Oscar for best picture. Nonetheless, beating the reigning animated champ will be no easy feat, say other experts.

"The Lion King" heads a Top 10 list of kid-friendly titles, such as "Aladdin" and "E.T. The Extraterrestrial." In fact, best-sellers are so dominated by children's flicks that the only adult title on the top 10 list is "Forrest Gump," which has sold 18 million copies.

"It absolutely won't do as well as "The Lion King,'" said Bob Alexander, head of Alexander & Associates, a home-video consulting firm that tracks consumer buying habits. "The titles that sell ^spectacularly_ have broad family appeal. "Titanic' will appeal just to teen-age girls who like Leo. It's not a family movie."

The PG-13 rated "Titanic" might also be hampered by its running time; it's more than three hours long, which means two cassettes are needed. Typically, such packaging has not gone over well in the home-video marketplace, according to Alexander.

"It's always a bit of an obstacle to overcome for buyers," he said. "It just takes up more shelf space." Meanwhile, an Internet dealer is hoping to attract more online buyers by selling "Titanic" for the cut-rate price of $9.99. Reel.com has already sold 100,000 copies in advance and estimates sales could go as high as 350,000.

"We're losing money with every unit," said Reel.com CEO Julie Wainwright. "But we wanted to make the customer aware that they can go shopping on the Internet for videos and get our brand name out there." In addition to the TV ads for "Titanic" by Reel.com, Paramount is hyping the release with magazine ads and has teamed up with Max Factor and Sprint as promotional partners.

To kick off the festivities, Blockbuster will extend its normal business hours by keeping its doors open all evening on Aug. 31 until 2 a.m. on Sept. 1. This is the first time that the video retailer has extended its store hours to rent or sell a video the minute it is legally available for release, 12:01 a.m. on Sept. 1.

Blockbuster is also providing an array of exciting incentives for members who participate in this late-night celebration that will include contests and free giveaways. Members who purchase or rent a copy of "Titanic" that evening will receive a free limited-edition print available exclusively at Blockbuster that features Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet on one side and DiCaprio on the other.

The first 100 customers who visit a Blockbuster location that evening may be eligible to participate in a sweepstakes that includes a Grand Prize Fantasy Cruise to anywhere in the world or 100 trips for four to Paramount's Carowinds theme park. Many Blockbuster stores will feature live radio broadcasts, free prizes and other promotions to build excitement among the late-night avid "Titanic" fans.

The film was a box-office smash and is expected to create the same fervor in home video. In fact, a recent survey commissioned by Blockbuster showed that 43 percent of active video renters say they are likely to purchase a copy of "Titanic," even though 61 percent of the respondents had seen the film in a theater.

"This film captivates audiences with all of the elements that create broad audience appeal -- a fantastic story with love, tragedy, heroes and phenomenal special effects," says Dean Wilson, Blockbuster executive vice president, merchandising. "In fact, almost one in four people who saw the film, saw it more than once (according to the survey). We expect 'Titanic' to make history again as the highest selling and highest renting movie on home video."

Blockbuster is making it simple for movie fans to rent "Titanic," by guaranteeing the movie will be in stock for rent at participating Blockbuster locations or the rental is free.

"This is our most aggressive guarantee ever," says Wilson. "We have stocked up and put our guarantee behind it to make sure Blockbuster customers go home with the video they want, when they want it."

To help build excitement for the midnight to 2 a.m. event, the first 100 customers at each store will receive a "boarding pass" with information about the Blockbuster "Titanic" sweepstakes. Each boarding pass contains abbreviated sweepstakes rules and a toll-free number customers call to find out if they are a contest finalist. Prizes are awarded through a random drawing.

Sweepstakes participants have a chance to win a Grand Prize Fantasy Cruise vacation or one of 100 trips for four to Paramount's Carowinds theme park in Charlotte, NC.

The winner of the Grand Prize Fantasy Cruise vacation can select the destination, cruise carrier, air travel, accommodations and other features to build the perfect fantasy cruise vacation for two.

The 100 winners of the Paramount's Carowinds trips will be treated to a trip for four to the theme park in Charlotte, NC, which includes airfare, hotel accommodations, park admission and a tour of the "Titanic" exhibit, which is sponsored nationally by Blockbuster.

"The pre-sale of 'Titanic' has surpassed all of our best expectations and has even topped our previous record-holder, 'The Lion King'," said Wilson.

Blockbuster has been running a pre-sale special offer that includes an exclusive $5 collectible Blockbuster GiftCard with any pre-purchase of "Titanic," and sales have been brisk. The Blockbuster GiftCard features the artwork from the movie's box cover and may be redeemed for rentals or purchases at participating Blockbuster stores.

Before they signed on to bring alive the ill-fated voyage of the Titanic the starring performers were featured in other great movies available for rent at many Blockbuster locations.

Leonardo DiCaprio

"The Man in the Iron Mask"

"William Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet"

"Marvin's Room"

"What's Eating Gilbert Grape?" (Best Supporting Performance by an Actor

Academy Award(R) nominee)

Kate Winslet

"Sense and Sensibility"

"Kenneth Branagh's Hamlet"

"Jude"

Kathy Bates

"Primary Colors" (Available on home video Sept. 8)

"Misery" (Best Actress Academy Award(R))

"Fried Green Tomatoes"

"Dolores Claiborne"

Billy Zane

"The Phantom"

"Only You"

"Posse"

One of the most popular actresses of the late silent/early sound era, Ms. Stuart came out of retirement to appear in "Titanic." She was nominated for a Best Supporting Actress Academy Award(R) for her portrayal of the elder Rose.

Bill Paxton

"Twister"

"True Lies"

"Apollo 13"

Blockbuster also carries an array of movies that directly deal with, or touch on, the maiden voyage of the Titanic. They include:

"A Night to Remember" (Kenneth More, David McCallum, 1958)

"Titanic" (Clifton Webb, Barbara Stanwyck, 1953)

To find out more about activities at Blockbuster surrounding the release of "Titanic" on home video, access the dedicated "Titanic" web site at www.blockbuster.com/titanic. Find out more about the film's cast or research disaster movies on Blockbuster's web site at www.blockbuster.com.

Blockbuster operates approximately 6,000 Blockbuster Video and 400 Blockbuster Music neighborhood entertainment stores in the United States, its territories and 26 other countries and may be accessed internationally at www.blockbuster.com. Blockbuster is a unit of Viacom Inc., one of the world's largest entertainment and publishing companies and a leading force in nearly every segment of the international media marketplace.

"Titanic" has taken the lead as the favorite disaster movie, chosen by 36 percent of the survey respondents. Following are the survey results.

Movie Percent of Responses

1) "Titanic" 36

2) "Apollo 13" 22

3) "Twister" 12

4) "Outbreak" 6

5) "Deep Impact" 5

6) "The Poseidon Adventure" 5

7) "The Andromeda Strain" 3

8) "Airport" 2

9) "The Towering Inferno" 2

10) "Earthquake" 1

Survey, commissioned by Blockbuster, included only active (within past three months) video renters or purchasers.

And, in just a few weeks, the first showing of DiCaprio's next film, Woody Allen's "Celebrity," will kick off the New York Film Festival. The black-and-white comedy, which is mostly about the aftermath of the divorce of a high-powered New York couple, played by Kenneth Branagh and Winona Ryder, will add some fuel to the DiCaprio fire. This, despite reports that his role -- that of a preening, stuck-up rock star -- adds up to just 12 minutes of screen time.

Meanwhile, back in Los Angeles, copies of John Hodge's script of "The Beach," which DiCaprio will begin filming in Thailand and Australia in January under director Danny Boyle, are starting to circulate. Fans of Alex Garland's original, elegantly written novel can rest easy. It's going to make an unusual, captivating film.

DiCaprio will play Richard, a sardonic young traveler who comes upon a map of a secret island paradise during a layover in Bangkok. He and a young couple make their way to the island, off the coast of Thailand, where they find a small community of youths living off the land and sea, answerable only to nature -- and to themselves. The story is about how various pressures, external and internal, gradually bring about the disintegration of their utopia.

"The Beach" has been called a Gen-X "Lord of the Flies," which tells you right off that dark things come to pass. But it's a good choice for DiCaprio -- and not just because he's rumored to be earning $21 million to $25 million for his work.

He'll be 24 when shooting begins, the same age as the book's Richard. Read it, and it's easy to understand DiCaprio's attraction: He and Richard are similar Gen-X types -- wry, inquisitive, compulsive smokers, into video games.

Playing Richard will be a challenge physically as well as creatively for the young actor. DiCaprio will spend most of his screen time shirtless and barefoot, in a pair of scruffy cutoffs, his hair long and scraggly, swimming underwater, spearing fish, and padding through dense jungle with the animal-like stealth of Tarzan.

"The Beach," which 20th Century Fox will distribute, won't hit screens until late '99, at the earliest. If it opens by Christmas, nearly 20 months will have passed since DiCaprio's last starring role, in the pallid costumer, "The Man in the Iron Mask." And a full two years since the opening of "Titanic," his last certifiable success.

Seen another way, DiCaprio finished "Iron Mask" in July 1997. Skip over his two or three weeks shooting "Celebrity" in September, and he'll have gone through a 2-year hiatus between "Mask" and "The Beach."

It's curious to some that DiCaprio chose to take an extended boozy vacation from filmmaking just when his star was peaking. Over the first half of this year he flirted with this and that project ("American Psycho," "All the Pretty Horses," "Summer of Sam"), but seemingly spent most of his energies clubbing and carousing and putting on a few pounds.

Before he finally decided on "The Beach," DiCaprio's behavior had begun attracting bad press. Reports of his relentless nocturnal shenanigans created an image of an indecisive squanderer.

New projects mean new heat, and in "The Beach," DiCaprio has chosen wisely -- if belatedly.

And the song the crowds will most want to hear?

That's easy: "My Heart Will Go On," the Oscar-winning pop ballad from "Titanic" and its soundtrack. (In case you've worn out your copy, a slightly altered version, with some added dialogue from the movie, will also appear on a sequel CD, "Back to Titanic," due Aug. 25. Dion also will perform at the CoreStates Center Aug. 25 to a sold-out crowd.)

"I'm just very happy that this newborn pleased a lot of hearts," Dion says of the hit tune. "Now it's time for me to deliver it on stage, do a great tour, and do the best I can. It was a big thrill to be associated with such a beautiful song. It's just a gift of show business."

The emotion-drenched "My Heart Will Go On" was recorded in just one take, Dion said in an interview last week from her new Florida home, where she lives with her husband and manager, Rene Angelil. Dion had enjoyed previous soundtrack success with "Beauty and the Beast" (a hit duet with Peabo Bryson), but no one knew how big "My Heart Will Go On" would be.

"What happened was that James Horner [ the movie's music supervisor ] talked to me about the story before I sang the song. He got me into it," Dion says. "He put me into the mood and I was in tears by that time. I was very emotional, and that is when I went to sing the song. And it's actually the demo. I went to sing it for the first time and I never re-sang it. They built the orchestra around it afterward."

So there was no thought of doing more takes of the song?

"Technically, I could have done it better, but emotionally, it was there," says Dion. "Everybody was crying [ in the studio ] and I think there's something good in that. Sometimes you can't push your luck and say, 'Oh, let me do it again, I know I can do better.' If it's all there, don't push it. You can always work on something and refine it and make it better, but sometimes it takes away a lot of things. So just do it and let it out."

Dion let it out, all right, but surprisingly, she didn't track it on radio once it became a runaway hit. "I don't listen to radio, because I'm often too busy," she says, somewhat sheepishly. "But I would hear it in restaurants and shopping malls, things like that."

Some observers are worried about the possibility of overkill with the "Back to Titanic" sequel (which will have some previously unreleased music, including the jig that Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslow danced to before becoming lovers). But Dion is not bothered by it.

"The real fans are going to be happy about it," says Dion, the youngest of 14 children from a Montreal family. "Because if you're a real fan of the movie and the song, you can never be tired of it, especially if [ the record ] is different, and dialogue and things like that are included."

And though she's busier than ever, Dion will take some time soon to visit the recently paralyzed Chinese gymnast Sang Lan in New York. The gymnast expressed the wish to meet two celebrities: DiCaprio (who just visited her) and Dion.

"She's a fan," says Dion, who is known for greeting fans with special needs, such as the woman with cystic fibrosis she met before her last Boston tour opener.

"It's sad what happened," Dion says of the gymnast, who suffered an accident during a warm-up drill at the Goodwill Games. "And it's the least we can do to cheer her up and give her some hope. If she wants to see us, I think we have to go. And it will be a pleasure and an honor to meet her. I hope I can just give her some strength and some hope."

For those who are unfamiliar with the film's plot, it's a love story set against the catastrophic sinking of the cruise ship Titanic in 1912. It stars teen heartthrobs Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet.

This state-of-the-art extravaganza will feature visual projections and effects with a stage that will include a replica of the ship's bow, made famous in the movie's romantic scene with Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet.

The "Back to Titanic" tour coincides with the release of Sony Classical/Sony Music Soundtrax's "Back to Titanic" album, the sequel to the record-breaking "Titanic" soundtrack to be released Aug. 25. The new album will include a newly composed James Horner orchestral symphonic suite, Celtic music from the film, previously unreleased tracks and an unreleased dialogue version of Celine Dion's recording of the song "My Heart Will Go On."

The "Back to Titanic Live in Concert" will feature Norwegian singer Sissel, whose haunting wordless vocals are featured on the original "Titanic" soundtrack. Additionally, Irish-American fiddler Eileen Ivers, a new musical star from "Riverdance," brings her Irish-based fusion sound to some of Horner's original compositions.

Tickets for the world premiere go on sale Monday, Aug. 24, at 10 a.m. By calling Ticketmaster at 213/480-3232, 714/740-2000, 805/583-8700 or 619/220-8497, tickets can be charged by phone. Tickets can also be purchased at Tower Records, Robinsons-May, Wherehouse, Tu Musica & Ritmo Latino locations, as well as the Hollywood Bowl box office.

The "Titanic" soundtrack has sold nearly 25 million copies worldwide to date. The biggest and fastest-selling original score album in history, it spent 16 consecutive weeks at No. 1 on the Billboard charts. The film "Titanic" is the winner of 11 Academy Awards and now the top-grossing film of all time.

"Back to Titanic Live in Concert" is produced by Andrew Hewitt/Bill Silva Presents. Commenting about the show, Silva said: "The show coming to stage is the culmination of seven months of hard work by Peter Gelb, president of Sony Classics, and Gary McEvay, president of CAMI Theatrical. Their vision will be brought to life by George Tsypin, known for his dramatic opera designs around the world."

Issues to subscribers are already in the mail, if not the mailbox. The magazine is due to hit newsstands September 8. A Playgirl spokeswoman says the DiCaprio spread features outtakes from his 1995 art-house film, Total Eclipse--the same box-office flop that became a video hit thanks to its steamy, Leo-revealing scenes.

No comment yet from the DiCaprio camp. It was unclear how today's developments jibed with a lawsuit the actor filed against--and settled with--the magazine earlier this year.

Last March, Playgirl's then-editor-in-chief said she quit over the mag's plans to publish naked Leo photos in its July issue. (For the record, Playgirl says she was fired.) The mag refused to confirm or deny the editor's charges--even staying mum on the subject as to whether it even had possession of the hot pics.

Just in case, DiCaprio sued to head off publication. The suit was settled in June, with both sides declining to disclose terms of the agreement.

The ever-amazing Jeremy Irons wrests the most sheer drama out of this staid, sluggish production. As Aramis, the religious musketeer, Irons seethes with compelling moral indignation over the selfish, pleasure-seeking reign of the boy king, who ignores the peasants starving in the streets.

Gabriel Byrne also stands out as D'Artagnan. His misplaced loyalty to the petulant king is so deep that he risks a break with the musketeer trio. And dark romantic secrets are hidden in his sad gaze. Gerard Depardieu seems to have a terrific time playing Porthos, turning the role into a clever, lusty send-up -- complete with a nude scene -- of an aging musketeer still trying to cut the mustard with wine, women and song. John Malkovich is ridiculous as the third musketeer, Athos. As he does in every film, he stubbornly plays John Malkovich, sounding like a Brooklynite who has strayed off the tour bus.

The Dumas story is a classic sepa rated-at-birth yarn, and the twist is engagingly laid out through the interweaving of palace intrigues and romantic mismatches. Viewers expecting chandelier-swinging swordplay are likely to be disappointed by the measured tone and portentous verbal interplay.

The film is handsome throughout, with gorgeous French settings and lush period costumes. The grandiose architecture, gilded ornamentation and fancy clothes play well against the burning emotions and betrayals at the heart of the story. However, writer-director Randall Wallace (who wrote ``Braveheart'') is almost too formal in his camera approach, with slick presentations emphasizing symmetry and order.

Titled ``Titanic,'' the sculpture featured a 6-foot-high representation of the hull of the ship with a smokestack sinking into the sand and a giant likeness of Leonardo DiCaprio floating in the cold sea, his strands of hair like icicles. But most people - especially young boys - were drawn to the Kate Winslet portion of the sculpture, which showed the buxom star as she appeared in the movie when DiCaprio was sketching her - wearing the Heart of the Ocean necklace and nothing else.

``We know we're going out on a limb to show Kate topless, but we're going to be tasteful and just show the waist up,'' said Paul McMahan, the sculpture's designer and last year's champion. McMahan, 37, of Winthrop, teaches at the Wentworth Institute of Technology when he's not playing in the sand.

When one spectator complained about the realism of the sculpture, McMahan replied, ``Hey, we're trying to do serious art here.'' One man, with his young son in tow, walked up to the sculpture and said, ``Hey, this is PG-17.'' His wife then caught a glimpse and said, ``Oh my God,'' and pulled her son away.

The other entries were less risque: a Volkswagen Beetle, a giant rotary telephone, tigers, a forest, and lots of castles.

The beach was littered with the tools of the trade - trowels, spades, buckets of water, and shovels - as contestants labored to complete their sculptures by the 3 p.m. deadline. There were five categories, ranging from masters to children, and three prizes were given in each one.

Three overall prizes were also awarded: $300 for first place, $200 for second, and $100 for third. The grand prize went to ``Greenhead Self-Preservation,'' a sculpture of a giant greenhead fly devouring a person. The theme of the competition - preservation - invited many different interpretations and a few political statements.

The video has over eight years of paparazzi footage on Leo.  Leo "at play", with exclusive stories of some secrets of Leo. It takes you inside his inner circle of friends, his favorite hangouts and shows you his hobbies.  For all you true Leo fans you will learn some other secrets of the actors behind-the-scenes life.

Leo: Unauthorized - Hangin' With Leonardo DiCaprio, will be available on August 25.  The release date is just one week prior to the release date of the home video version of his blockbuster movie Titanic.Neither Leonardo DiCaprio or anyone from his organization has made any comment on this video or it's release as of press time.

A childhood buddy confided, "Leo was a skinny kid and the school's wild and funny guy. " In fact, he was voted 'Most Bizarre' in his freshman year, not the type to sweep anyone off  their feet. "Cecilia was very mature for her age. While Leo was content to play basketball and joke around, she had joined the Junior Statesmen of America, an organization for teens interested in contemporary issues.

"A number of guys had a crush on her. After her one evening out with Leo, Cecilia dated a couple of other boys more seriously -- including Leo's best friend!"

For the uninitiated, that's Leonardo DiCaprio, Matt Damon and Ben Affleck. All three already have used the springboard of their Christmas '97 hits, "Titanic" and "Good Will Hunting," to good advantage. Damon and Affleck both bounced back into the spotlight with roles in summer blockbusters: Damon in Steven Spielberg's "Saving Private Ryan," Affleck in "Armageddon." DiCaprio has gone them one better by spending the summer in the headlines (will he take $20 million-plus for "American Psycho"?) without actually making a movie.

Eventually, the mantle of idol-hood will be passed on to some kid who, at this moment, is 17 and bagging groceries in Kansas City. And do these three have the goods to hang on as actors, once the little girls start swooning over someone else? Let's look at the range they've revealed so far.

How old is he?

Which of the old movie stars is he a throwback to?

How long between the time he started acting and his breakthrough role?

Can he play sensitive?

Can he play it smart?

Is he convincing in period films?

Yes, but can he play a drug addict?

How's his choice of material?

He's best when he's playing:

Biggest mistake:

Ideal remake role:

"The guy who designed it, unlike the guy in Titanic who is this glorious character, is named Hindenberg, and he is a complete idiot," explains Mike Bender, who split a six-figure deal with his brother. "Everything he has designed, like breakaway railings, makes absolutely no sense."

The nonstop spoofing puts the ship in hot water. "The Gigantic gets off course and hits a coral reef. Unlike Titanic, where they all jump in and everyone is freezing and dying, they all jump in and it's beautiful. It's tropical, the water is 85 degrees. So the next day the sun comes up and everybody is happy. The happiness doesn't last, however," Bender continues, hinting that the ending's a scorcher.

Gigantic isn't the only Titanic spoof in the works. A rival project, going by the titles "Titanic, Too" and "Deep Titanic: Armageddon," is currently being written by Naked Gun scripter Pat Proft. Leslie Nielsen will likely star in the film, but somehow, we don't think he'll draw in the girls like Leo.

During an emotional reunion on July 25 with her mother, factory worker Chen Xiufeng, and father Sang Shisheng, a government housing-management worker, Sang, an only child, was the one who tried to comfort her parents. "Mother, don't worry about me," Chen told reporters Sang had urged. "You have to have courage to allow me to recover."

The petite athlete's spirits were buoyed by a sea of gifts. Her parents gave her a sack stuffed with 1,000 brilliant origami birds -- a good-luck symbol -- made by friends. Hundreds of cards, Beanie Babies and bouquets streamed in. Her many visitors included China's ambassador to the U.S., Li Zhaoxing, and former Jets defensive end Dennis Byrd, who recovered from a less serious spinal injury with the help of Sygen, the same experimental drug Sang is receiving to regenerate damaged nerve cells.

But her greatest desire, apart from a miraculous recovery, was to meet DiCaprio. Reading press reports of Sang's wish, Paramount Pictures rushed her a video copy of Titanic a month before its official release, and the star's publicist set up the visit. DiCaprio arrived with a couple of autographed posters just hours after Sang was transferred to Mount Sinai's spinal-cord rehabilitation unit. "He said some encouraging words to me," said the smitten teen, who has also been promised a visit from Titanic singer Celine Dion. She added in a TV interview with TBS that DiCaprio "expressed his concern and told me to be strong."

Sang will need every bit of encouragement she can find during a grueling rehabilitation process aimed at making her self-sufficient. "You don't necessarily have to have a gloom-and-doom future," says Adriana Duffy, 26, one of the handful of elite gymnasts paralyzed by a poorly executed vault. After injuring the same vertebrae as Sang in 1989, Duffy, now a quadriplegic, went on to become a lawyer. "Having other things in your life to look towards," she says, "really helped a lot."

Bright memories can also help, say the teenage girls who met DiCaprio at the Make-A-Wish Foundation luncheon catered by Planet Hollywood on June 24 in Beverly Hills. According to an adult who attended, DiCaprio coaxed 15-year-old Molly Baker of Iowa City, who suffers from cystic fibrosis, into reading a poem she'd written for him. He then planted a kiss on her cheek, which promptly burned bright red. He signed autographs, spent time with each girl and gave them Titanic T-shirts embroidered by his mother. "She's really been much more energetic since she came back," says Jennifer Nash's doctor, Denise Adams. Despite the grind of weekly chemotherapy, "she's still kind of sky-high."

Such glimpses of a kinder, gentler DiCaprio shouldn't prompt club owners to give away his perch in their VIP lounges just yet. Seemingly eager to let the good times roll, he strolled into Manhattan's new fashion-model magnet, Cafeteria, with a cockatoo on his shoulder the night before he met Sang Lan. "Why shouldn't he be out trying to date?" asks one friend. At the same time, the pal adds, "The moment he was asked, he reworked his schedule to pay Sang Lan a visit. He was so surprised that a person going through something like that would think about him. It was the least he could do."