Exclusive

Producer: Corey Haim "Looked Extremely Well," Had Directorial Debut in the Works

Movie honcho says actor "was extremely healthy" when she saw him last fall; late star was "really excited" about new movie, set to film next month

By Gina Serpe, Whitney English Mar 10, 2010 6:01 PMTags
Corey HaimDr. Billy Ingram/Getty Images

While we await word from Corey Haim's foremost costar, Corey Feldman, to pay tribute to his fallen friend, another colleague has stepped forward in the wake of Haim's unexpected death.

Film producer Tina Brown tells E! News that Haim was set to start production on a dark new film, A Detour in Life, next month. Brown wrote the movie, about a man who succumbs to drunkenness and other self-destructive impulses, specifically for Haim, who not only would have starred but also directed.

"This was to be his directorial debut," she said. "We were going to start shooting in late spring. I talked to him back in November at the premiere of American Sunset and he was doing great, so it was really a shock."

Made all the more so by his apparent clean-living lifestyle when she last saw him.

"He was extremely healthy," she said. "I saw him the year before and he was super skinny, but he had put on a lot of weight and looked a lot more coherent and looked extremely well."

Even as recently as last week, Brown said she spoke with the former child star's manager, who relayed the news that Haim was very much looking forward to starting work on the project, which would mark a new direction for his career.

"I talked to him just last week, and Corey was waiting for an update," she said of her discussion with manager Mark Heaslip.

"[Haim] was very, very excited to do this role because it would be the first time he got to do a real adult role...being a father and everything which he had never got to do. I had written the script for him to play James. I really wanted to see him do something out of the horror stuff or the comical stuff and take on something really dramatic."

As for the project's current status, Brown said the devastated crew will continue on in Haim's honor once they all process the tragedy.

"I'm still trying to get ahold of the other producers. Only half of them know," she said.

"We plan on still doing the film and doing it in memory of him because I'm sure that's what he would want. He loved the film. To find someone to replace him is going to be a difficult task. He would have done a great, great job."

But while Haim never got to bring that project to fruition, he did complete one movie that will be posthumously released. Haim had already wrapped work on what was supposed to be the first of his comeback films, American Sunset, a low-budget horror flick.

The trailer made its way online last month, though the feature has no definite release date. Or medium. While its official website says the film is priming for a theatrical release sometime this year, it also notes that the movie will be out "on pay TV, cable or DVD" this fall.

________

Revisit all the highs and lows in Corey Haim: The E! True Hollywood Story, tonight at 6 ET/PT. And tune into E! News tonight at 7 for an exclusive lost interview with the Lost Boy.

In the meantime, don't miss our Remembering Corey Haim gallery.