Issue Four, baby!

In the spirit of unflagging fairness that has threaded The Reeler since Day One, I wanted to update you on a few developments affecting a couple of this site's past sideswipes:

--In a stunning act of defiance or blackmail or something, the powers-that-be behind Sly Magazine have coaxed at least one more issue of Sylvester Stallone's flatlining men's magazine out of American Media. You might remember WWD's Jeff Bercovici telling readers last month that Sly appeared down for the count, only to have Stallone fire back with a desperate lunge of self-defense in Page Six. Now Bercovici writes the magazine could indeed be saved by the bell:

The magazine's ad hoc editorial team of freelancers and Men's Fitness staffers, which had been placed on hiatus, has resumed work on the title. "It's nice to have an alternative magazine that comes from someone's voice, someone's perspective," said editor in chief Neal Boulton. … No word on whether Stallone's tantrum played a part in AMI's decision to grant Sly a reprieve, but chairman David Pecker recently told Business Week Stallone has been "unbelievably aggressive" to work with. Clearly he wasn't ready to go 15 rounds with Rocky Balboa.

Really, though, who knows? If reading four issues of Sly feels like going 15 rounds, we can only imagine how publishing four issues must feel.

--All that drama over who will direct the movie musical remake of John Waters' Hairspray finally appears to have settled down. Variety reports that Bringing Down the House director Adam Shankman has officially replaced Jerry Mitchell and Jack O'Brien, who split in June after continued production delays. As I mentioned at the time, Hairspray's producers originally aimed high for their replacement—as in Rob Marshall-high—but hey, Shankman is close enough. I mean, kinda:

Though best known for comedies, Shankman trained as a dancer at Juilliard, and danced in videos of Janet Jackson and Paula Abdul before becoming a prolific choreographer on nonmusical films. His efforts included helping Brendan Fraser move like an ape in George Of The Jungle and assisting the cast of The Flintstones.

"It is rare to find a director who can speak the language of musicals," [co-producer Neil] Meron said. "He lives and breathes this language."

Right. Well, thank God for that, because John Travolta still looks like the front-runner to take over the role of Edna Turnblad. Anyway, on the bright side, shooting should begin in Water's beloved Baltimore—not Toronto, as initally planned—in early 2006. Hoo-fucking-ray.