Joel Silver

Movie producer Joel Silver brought his Hollywood panache to Venice on Wednesday, unveiling plans for revamping the former Venice Post Office as the new headquarters of his Silver Pictures. With Tom Hanks putting in a cameo appearance, Silver and his design and construction team spoke to dozens of invited guests amid the exposed concrete and wires of the 1939 Works Progress Administration building that the producer of "The Matrix" and "Lethal Weapon" franchises recently bought from the downsizing U.S. Postal Service.

Movie producer Joel Silver brought his Hollywood panache to Venice on Wednesday, unveiling plans for revamping the former Venice Post Office as the new headquarters of his Silver Pictures. With Tom Hanks putting in a cameo appearance, Silver and his design and construction team spoke to dozens of invited guests amid the exposed concrete and wires of the 1939 Works Progress Administration building that the producer of "The Matrix" and "Lethal Weapon" franchises recently bought from the downsizing U.S. Postal Service.

There's no denying that producer Joel Silver ("Lethal Weapon," the upcoming "Demolition Man") is one colorful dude. The legend of Silver--that of a shouting, high-strung, arm-waving impresario in the Sammy Glick mode--has become so vivid in Hollywood that whenever a movie mogul character appears in a film, the actor always seems to be "doing" Silver. It all started, as everyone knows, in 1988 with "Who Framed Roger Rabbit."

Joel Silver, producer of movie franchises "The Matrix," "Lethal Weapon" and "Sherlock Holmes," has bought the former U.S. post office in Venice and plans to refashion it as the new home of his Silver Pictures. The red-tile-roofed 1939 Works Progress Administration building on Windward Circle has been a beloved fixture in Venice. The interior features a mural painted by Edward Biberman in 1941 with the coastal community's visionary developer Abbot Kinney at its center, surrounded by beachgoers in old-fashioned bathing suits, men in overalls and once-ubiquitous oil derricks.

You remember the dueling Robin Hoods, Christopher Columbuses and Wyatt Earps. Now it seems heavenly voices have been bending studio ears: There are no fewer than three versions of the life of Joan of Arc in the works. Disney's Touchstone is developing a "Joan of Arc" with director Brian Gibson ("What's Love Got to Do With It"); producer Joel Silver is tackling another for Warner Bros.

His last action-packed blockbuster ("The Matrix") just won four Academy Awards, and two sequels are on the fast track. His current release (the modestly budgeted "Romeo Must Die") has already taken in more than twice what it cost to make, and its soundtrack was No. 5 last week. And as if that weren't enough, producer Joel Silver confided giddily over lunch the other day, "Wait until you see what we're doing with Steven Seagal."

Bruce Willis, as one of the most popular and highly paid stars in Hollywood, is familiar to most moviegoers. Joel Silver's name isn't a household word. But, as one of Hollywood's biggest producers, the controversial and press-shy Silver has brought to the screen such box-office hits as "Lethal Weapon," "Lethal Weapon 2," "Predator" and "Commando."

Although many performers and presenters would love to command the stage of L.A.'s celebrated new venue, the landlord of the Walt Disney Concert Hall says there won't be much room, at least for a while, for events and performances that haven't already been booked by the hall's two main tenants, the Los Angeles Philharmonic and the Los Angeles Master Chorale.

Even the walkie-talkies, which sing all day like canaries in a coal mine, have fallen silent. It is a rare, quiet moment on the futuristic set of "Demolition Man," the Warner Bros. action film that has been shooting forever--well, since Feb. 8--here on the Burbank back lot. All the expensive smoke machines and fancy lighting rigs have been shut down. The crew is off to lunch. It is time to decide how to stage a climactic fight scene between the film's 21st-Century adversaries: Sgt.

Thank God I am not alone. I too have gone through past-life regressions like Laurel Phelan, "The Once and Future Queen," and discovered that I was a member of royalty who has been portrayed incorrectly. When I was King Tut I cruised the desert in a hopped-up chariot picking up numerous teen-age chicks. My ability to drink copious amounts of sacramental wine while puffing on papyrus cigarettes put the girls in a swoon. I was one bitchin' partying dude! Do you think there is a screenplay in this?

After the coffee. Before sneaking out early to catch the Celtics-Heat game. The Skinny: Thursday's headlines include an appreciation of science fiction genius Ray Bradbury, producer Joel Silver is near a deal with Universal Pictures and a close look at Netflix's content deal with CBS, which could mean headaches for the streaming service. Daily Dose: Next week, Disney/ABC Television Group President Anne Sweeney will jet to beautiful Monte Carlo so Prince Albert II can present her with the "Golden Nymph" prize at the Monte Carlo Television Festival.

Although many performers and presenters would love to command the stage of L.A.'s celebrated new venue, the landlord of the Walt Disney Concert Hall says there won't be much room, at least for a while, for events and performances that haven't already been booked by the hall's two main tenants, the Los Angeles Philharmonic and the Los Angeles Master Chorale.

His last action-packed blockbuster ("The Matrix") just won four Academy Awards, and two sequels are on the fast track. His current release (the modestly budgeted "Romeo Must Die") has already taken in more than twice what it cost to make, and its soundtrack was No. 5 last week. And as if that weren't enough, producer Joel Silver confided giddily over lunch the other day, "Wait until you see what we're doing with Steven Seagal."

Sitting at his personal computer, clicking ineffectually at a track ball, Joel Silver--Hollywood producer, legendary thrower of tantrums and relisher of excess--is for the moment strangely humbled before the gods of technology. "I hate waiting," he says to a visitor, dispensing his vice presidents of production and finance to fuss with the communications equipment so the demonstration of his new World Wide Web site can get underway.

You remember the dueling Robin Hoods, Christopher Columbuses and Wyatt Earps. Now it seems heavenly voices have been bending studio ears: There are no fewer than three versions of the life of Joan of Arc in the works. Disney's Touchstone is developing a "Joan of Arc" with director Brian Gibson ("What's Love Got to Do With It"); producer Joel Silver is tackling another for Warner Bros.

Regarding "Hollywood's Big-Bang Theorist," by Patrick Goldstein (Aug. 1): After reading your article about "Demolition Man," I realized what scares Sylvester Stallone: film directors. Judging by the way Stallone has always bashed the reputation of every director he has worked with, it becomes obvious that the shallow talent of this one-dimensional individual cannot meet the grade of a versatile actor. My compliments to writer Goldstein for bringing out the obnoxious personalities of Stallone and producer Joel Silver.

"The Adolescent Radioactive Black Belt Hamsters"--The little critters are at Rankin-Bass Prods., being developed for animation. "American Flagg"--His name is Ruben Flagg (he's Jewish); he's a member of the futuristic law-enforcement squad, the Plexus Rangers. Now being developed by producer Larry Gordon ("48 HRS," "Predator"). "Ant Man"--New World Pictures (which owns most Marvel Comics properties) has it; the hero can communicate with ants--and shrink to their size.

Regarding "Hollywood's Big-Bang Theorist," by Patrick Goldstein (Aug. 1): After reading your article about "Demolition Man," I realized what scares Sylvester Stallone: film directors. Judging by the way Stallone has always bashed the reputation of every director he has worked with, it becomes obvious that the shallow talent of this one-dimensional individual cannot meet the grade of a versatile actor. My compliments to writer Goldstein for bringing out the obnoxious personalities of Stallone and producer Joel Silver.

Even the walkie-talkies, which sing all day like canaries in a coal mine, have fallen silent. It is a rare, quiet moment on the futuristic set of "Demolition Man," the Warner Bros. action film that has been shooting forever--well, since Feb. 8--here on the Burbank back lot. All the expensive smoke machines and fancy lighting rigs have been shut down. The crew is off to lunch. It is time to decide how to stage a climactic fight scene between the film's 21st-Century adversaries: Sgt.

Thank God I am not alone. I too have gone through past-life regressions like Laurel Phelan, "The Once and Future Queen," and discovered that I was a member of royalty who has been portrayed incorrectly. When I was King Tut I cruised the desert in a hopped-up chariot picking up numerous teen-age chicks. My ability to drink copious amounts of sacramental wine while puffing on papyrus cigarettes put the girls in a swoon. I was one bitchin' partying dude! Do you think there is a screenplay in this?