Monday March 3 8:54 AM EST BUZZ: Howard Stern's Star Turn By Michael Fleming NEW YORK (Variety) - Like it or not, Hollywood is going to have to deal with Howard Stern -- and the studios that shunned him are going to be kicking themselves. The Betty Thomas-directed, Rysher/Paramount picture Private Parts had its Gotham premiere at the Paramount Theater on Feb. 27. It was easily the city's largest since The Lion King premiered in Central Park in 1994. Aside from the 9,000 who watched two screenings, West 31st Street was lined with bleachers filled with an estimated 40,000-plus Stern listeners who didn't even get to see the film. The diversity of Stern's following was evident in a VIP room party, where suits, celebs and Stern curiosities mixed in what could only be likened to the cantina scene in "Star Wars." Paramount executives Jonathan Dolgen, Arthur Cohen and Sherry Lansing mingled with the members of metal bands White Zombie and Marilyn Manson, tall and tarted-up transvestites, chrome-domed Smashing Pumpkins lead singer Billy Corgan, Donald Trump, Henny Youngman, Eddie Murphy, Joey Buttafuoco, porn stars and even former pint-sized Spam pitchboy Mason Reese. The sheer scope of the event -- it attracted a larger crowd than the Grammys did a day earlier -- proved Stern's film following should be formidable as well as his video potential. His picture's expected to singlehandedly revive the sagging fortunes of its financier, Rysher Entertainment, which is now getting competitive bids from UIP and Columbia over prime foreign territories. This, even though Stern's radio show has no overseas penetration. "I feel like I missed the lottery by one number," said JF Lawton, the Pretty Woman scribe whose The Adventures of Fartman would have been Stern's debut. Lawton wrote a funny script and planned to direct, but Fartman went pffft at New Line in a dispute over merchandising. "Howard and I killed ourselves trying to get that movie off the ground," he said. I've been telling studio executives for years he could be a movie star and they'd say, 'Yeah, maybe we should consider him.' Now I'm getting all kinds of calls from people desperate for 'Fartman,' but I fear Howard may be beyond that now." Stern is being talked up for other picture roles. There was even a rumor he was in contention to play the villainous Scarecrow in the next Batman. Warner Bros. labeled that "100% false." But it will be interesting to see what kind of offers Stern scares up if his movie breaks $100 million domestic, which Paramount insiders are now guardedly predicting. "Private Parts" executive producer Ivan Reitman, who has mentored Stern's film career for six years, has already met with him on whether to sequelize or do a new pic. "We'll probably do something together again," says Reitman, who might next direct Stern himself. "I'm proud of what we've accomplished, and the question is what next," Reitman added. "Like 'Seinfeld,' Howard's life is like a soap he details every day on the radio. He can continue that on film, but I also think he's a good actor and has a unique look. He could do both. We'll see how the film opens, how it plays in cities he doesn't broadcast in and how it does foreign. It'll be easier to decide at that point." Rysher CEO Keith Samples says Stern's a free agent on his next picture, and that "we'll be in line with everybody else trying to get him." Copyright © Reuters/Variety
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