Celebrity Chatter: Sniper Movie Too Eerily Similar?

How eerily coincidental that a movie about a deranged sniper who sets his sites on a random man in a phone booth would be pegged for a release date so close to the terrifying trauma that is gripping the Washington, D.C., area?

The movie "Phone Booth" was scheduled for release on Nov. 15, but 20th Century Fox has reportedly had numerous conversations about moving the film to another date, according to Variety.

It's abundantly clear that moviegoers have become highly sensitive to violence in movies that makes a film mimic the day's headlines.

Consider that just after Sept. 11, Hollywood did an about-face, even scrutinizing the smallest reference to New York City and shots of the World Trade Center pre-disaster that might make filmmakers appear insensitive and moviegoers uncomfortable.

But as quickly as the headlines fade, so does the sensitivity training. "The Sum Of All Fears," which features a neo-Nazi who wants to blow up the world; and "XXX," which features a Russian terrorist who wants to destroy the world, made their way into theaters this summer, less than a year after the attacks on America. The terrorists were neo-Nazis and Russians in those two films, so any coincidence to the real Sept. 11 terrorists was a longshot.

Director Joel Schumacher told Variety that he felt that "Phone Booth" has elements that are removed from the recent shootings.

The fantasy thriller is set in New York City and Schumacher said that the two are "such different cases."

"I mean, there are many serial killers that haven't been caught," he told Variety. "Should they not release 'Red Dragon'?"

Still, Schumacher said he'd do "whatever anybody at Fox thinks is best."

A check into the film's Web site, phoneboothmovie.com, still has the movie's release date set at Nov. 15.

Sexiest Lips

A recent poll conducted by a British lip enhancement procedure company asked people who they believed had the sexiest lips.

Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie top the sexiest lips survey. No surprise there.

Runners up were Penelope Cruz and Julia Roberts, while Johnny Depp was the runner up to Pitt.

What happened to Steven Tyler? Mick Jagger? Sandra Bernhard?

Body Sculpting

Ralph Fiennes had a little bit of bodywork to do to get ready for his role in "Red Dragon." First, Fiennes said he needed to work out to play the killer in the film because Francis Dolarhyde (Fiennes), aka the Tooth Fairy, aka Red Dragon is described as a bodybuilder in the book. But Fiennes wasn't the only one on a strict workout regime. Director Brett Ratner said that Hopkins worked hard to portray the a younger Hannibal Lecter.

"He was on a workout regimen and lost 20 pounds," said Ratner. "He is back to the weight he was during 'Silence of the Lambs.'"

Emily Watson who plays the love interest to Fiennes' Tooth Fairy. says that as hard as it is to believe, she scares quite easily.

"I have been scared of the dark since I saw 'The Wizard of Oz' at the age of 4," she said before the gala screening of "Red Dragon" recently in London.

And in even more "Red Dragon" news, one of our favorite Web sites MovieMistakes.com is reporting 21 mistakes in the movie including these gems:

• When Fiennes is in the Brooklyn museum, and hits the woman over the head showing him the painting, you hear the sound before he actually hits her.
• When Fiennes wakes up after sleeping with Watson we see the elaborate tattoo work on his back. We also see the blue overspray from the outside of the stencils used to create the tattoo.

Is It True?

....that a certain gladiator flew to Romania to stay in a castle with Nicole Kidman while she was in the republic filming her to movie "Cold Mountain"? Rumors are running rampant that Kidman did indeed have a visitor... that Courteney Cox has dropped Arquette from her last name, as reported on MSBNC.com? Sources say it has nothing to do with trouble in paradise with her marriage to actor David Arquette and that she's always gone back and forth between her maiden name and having her husband's name tacked on to the end of her name. Why the switch? The "Friends" star made such a big deal out of taking her husband's name in the first place, insisting that her name appear on the "Friends" credits a specific way.

Q&A

Q.: Many years ago, Jerry Lewis made a film about the Holocaust, "The Day The Clown Cried." It supposedly has never been released, and there are only rough cuts in existence, one by Jerry himself. What has happened with this film? Will it ever be seen? Al, San Diego, Calif.

A.: The film that you speak of is mired in a legal dispute between Lewis and the writers of the screenplay. The last I heard, the film was still locked away in Lewis's vault. While Lewis has said that he'd need to shoot a few scenes, and do a couple of other tweaks here and there in order to release "Clown," the film remains in limbo.

There are many fans who'd like to see the picture released, and with Lewis's mounting health problems, I'm sure he'd like to see this released while he's alive.

For those who don't know much about the film, shooting began in 1971 with Lewis in the title role as a clown in a concentration camp during World War II who is enlisted to lure children to the gas chambers.

Michelle Solomon's gossip column, Celebrity Chatter, appears each Monday. Got a question about a celebrity? E-mail us (please include your first name, city and state) and we'll find you the answer. Michelle Solomon@Celebrity Chatter. Personal replies cannot be sent.