Disney And Touchstone Pictures To Develop ‘Pretty Woman’ Sequel

After years of rumblings that a sequel to “Pretty Woman” was in the works, the event is at last becoming a reality, agency sources said.

Disney and Touchstone Pictures have quietly begun searching for a storyline that would reunite principals Richard Gere, Julia Roberts and Hector Elizondo.

Sources close to the project confirmed that a sequel was being developed and said that all the actors, along with director Garry Marshall, were “open to the idea of reteaming” on the project, which would be shot in the fall.

However, the sources stressed that none of the key players was contractually bound to appear in the film, a follow-up to the 1990 vehicle that revitalized Gere’s career, made Roberts a star and took in $176 million at the domestic box office.

Film industry at $5.4 billion

It’s official: 1994 U.S. theatrical film box-office performance reached a record $5.4 billion, driven by a 34-year high of nearly 1.3 billion tickets sold at the nation’s theaters.

These numbers were disclosed at the NATO/ShoWest film industry convention by the heads of the industry’s two key trade organizations. Last year’s national box-office record was nearly 5 percent over the 1993 high of $5.2 billion and represents a leap of more than 12 percent from 1991, when the recession pulled the box-office down to $4.8 billion.

‘Oprah’ ratings slide

King World’s “Oprah” Winfrey show suffered a major-market ratings decline of 21 percent in February, but that still wasn’t a big enough fall to drop the show out of the No. 1 spot in the daytime rankings.

Winfrey’s gabfest, hurt by pre-emptions in some West Coast markets because of O.J. Simpson trial coverage, still posted a chart-topping 9.0 rating (percentage of the 51 million in Nielsen’s 32 market sample) and a 22 share (percentage of sets in use).

Among the “topical” talk shows, “Sally Jessy Raphael” was No. 2 with a 4.9 rating/16 share. Four shows, “Jerry Springer,” “Ricki Lake,” “Jenny Jones” and “Maury Povich,” tied for third with matching 4.7 ratings, although they differed in shares.

“Montel Williams” and Phil “Donahue” each earned 4.4 ratings to tie for No. 4. “Rolonda” Watts had a 3.5/15 to finish No. 5.

‘Duckman’ returns!

If you’re looking for real comedy tonight, tune in to the USA Network at 10:30 p.m. for the second-season premiere of “Duckman,” the best animated, adult-oriented satire on TV.

Duckman, the “private dick, family man” voiced by Jason Alexander of “Seinfeld,” is just as alienated as ever. The premiere’s lampoon at our media-saturated society includes a hefty swipe at the USA Network itself.

Rod Perth, the network’s president, says he’s “convinced that ‘Duckman’ can become an anchoring, ‘signature’ series that viewers will come to identify with USA, as they identify ‘The Simpsons’ with Fox and ‘Seinfeld’ with NBC.”

Fox yanks ‘Defender’

It’s a case of case-closed for Fox’s new courtroom drama “The Great Defender” - at least for now.

After just one extremely low-rated telecast, Fox has yanked the series from the Sunday schedule and replaced it with a combination of “Encounters: The Hidden Truth,” repeats of “Martin,” and a new series, “Sliders.”

Fox debuted “The Great Defender” last weekend - and it ended the week as the lowest-rated prime-time program on the four fulltime networks.

The hourlong series, set in a Boston law firm, stars Richard Kiley (“A Year in the Life”) and Kelly Rutherford (“Homefront”). Fox said the show could eventually return. Eight episodes were produced.

‘Carrier’ flies well

The ratings ship came in for the Discovery Channel on Sunday.

The cable channel drew its best ratings ever with its two-hour 9 p.m. special on aircraft carriers, “Carrier: Fortress at Sea.” The show earned a 4.0 rating, which translates to about 2.6 million households.

“Carrier” displaced “Normandy: The Great Crusade” as the Discovery ratings champion. That special, which aired last May 30, averaged a 3.5 rating.

Discovery will repeat “Carrier,” much of which was filmed on the USS Carl Vinson, today from 1 to 3 p.m.; then again next Saturday from 8 to 10 p.m. and 11 p.m. to 1 a.m.; and March 19 from noon to 2 p.m.

Tarantino and ‘U.N.C.L.E.’

Quentin Tarantino fans will be pleased - or mortified - to hear that he is eyeing a big-screen version of “The Man from U.N.C.L.E.” for his next project. If he’s interested, he’ll write and direct the movie.

Meanwhile, the Oscar nominee for “Pulp Fiction” has directed one chapter of an anthology movie called “Four Rooms,” which also has pieces by directors Alison Anders, Alex Rockwell and Robert Rodriguez. “Four Rooms” stars include Madonna, Tim Roth, Lili Taylor, Bruce Willis, Ione Skye, Jennifer Beals and Seymour Cassel.

Also, Tarantino will appear on the other side of the cameras in a movie called “Hands Up,” to be directed by Virginie Thevenet. In the nightclub-set noir, he’ll play a low-life bootlegger.