Yahoo Tuesday April 13

Travolta Musical Shelved

It's Scientology first, singing second for John Travolta.

The Sweat Hog-turned-superstar was all set to croon anew on screen--the first time since he "shamma-lamma'd" as Grease's Danny Zuko in 1978--for a movie called Standing Room Only.

The film teams Travolta with his real-life wife, Kelly Preston, in the story of legendary New Jersey lounge crooner, Jimmy Roselli, a Hoboken rival of Frank Sinatra. Gus Van Sant (Good Will Hunting) is on tap to direct.

But the singin' Scientologist has put that project on hold so he can get started on Battlefield Earth, an effects-heavy sci-fi epic based on a book by pulp novelist/Scientology founder L. Ron Hubbard.

Travolta's manager tells Daily Variety that because Standing Room Only has many elaborate song-'n'-dance numbers for the actors to learn, preproduction would take longer than originally thought--thus cutting into Battlefield Earth's production schedule.

So now, Travolta will swap projects: Battlefield Earth will commence shooting in July and Standing Room Only in October.

Travolta will have little time to relax after that--he reportedly is still committed to a film version of the E. Annie Proulx bestseller, The Shipping News.