Travolta Gets "Cool" Again?

Thu., May. 29, 2003 11:00 AM PDT by Josh Grossberg

Looks like Chili Palmer's ready for a big screen comeback.

John Travolta is in talks with MGM and Danny DeVito's Jersey Films about reprising the wisecracking Miami mobster role he played in 1995's smash comedy, Get Shorty, in a sequel titled Be Cool, Variety reports.

The follow-up is once again based on a novel by Elmore Leonard, who penned the original gangster-goes-to-Hollywood tale.

With its sharp dialogue, satirical take on Tinseltown and stellar cast which also included Gene Hackman, Rene Russo and DeVito, Get Shorty was a huge success for Travolta, grossing $72 million and proving that the 49-year-old actor's comeback in Pulp Fiction was no fluke.

According to Variety, the idea for a sequel came about when former MGM head Frank Mancuso approached the author at the premiere of Get Shorty and asked if he had any more Chili Palmer stories in the works.

After a few years, Leonard churned out Be Cool, which essentially continues Palmer's adventures from Get Shorty. In the original Barry Sonnenfeld-directed film, Chili traveled to Los Angeles to collect on a gambling debt and suddenly found himself getting involved in the film industry.

The sequel will pick up with Palmer, now a Hollywood producer, discovering that while attitude got him through the door, it doesn't guarantee him a blockbuster.

After scoring a hit, then tanking with his next flick, the mobster decides to try his hand in the music biz by becoming a promoter for a wannabe popster. But it turns out, the singer also happens to be on the Russian mafia's hit list.

MGM and Jersey Films are in talks with Brett Ratner, hot off the box office success of Red Dragon and the Rush Hour franchise, to direct the project, which was scripted by Peter Steinfeld.

Securing the helmer's services however could be difficult since he has a deal to make his next film with New Line. That studio is anxious for Ratner to get rolling on Rush Hour 3.

It's likely the filmmaker--who recently bailed on Warner Bros. Superman revival--will start on that sequel before segueing into Be Cool, particularly if Travolta opts to do Dimension's Harvey remake this fall.

After Battlefield Earth Lucky Numbers, Domestic Disturbance and his his latest film, Basic, all failed to light a fire at the box office, you might say Travolta could use a little bit of Chili.

The thespian, who is wrapping up filming on the firefighter action drama, Ladder 49, is next set to play the villain in a live-action version of Marvel's The Punisher. Paramount also hopes to reunite Travolta, Olivia Newton-John, and the rest of the T-Birds and Pink Ladies in a potential next-generation sequel to Grease.