Source: Parker Cut Hair to Pursue Role in "Howl"

Superstar Sarah Jessica Parker shockingly lost her “Sex and the City” locks last week -- cutting her famous tresses back to a dramatic and demure Audrey Hepburn length – in order to pursue a small but coveted role in Gus Van Sant’s upcoming film “Howl,” according to close friends of the actress.

To the shock of many star-gazers, Parker debuted her new look at the launch party this week for the “Sex and the City” film DVD. That film has raked in over $500 million in ticket sales worldwide, setting a record for its genre.

“Sarah is looking to do some more serious roles, as evidenced by her involvement in the film ‘Spinning Into Butter,’” says one close friend. “Her longer hairstyle had become both a psychic burden to her, as well as a bit of a career burden. The hair screamed ‘Sex and the City,’ while the real Sarah inside was crying out for something completely new.”

With the huge financial success of “Sex and the City” the film worldwide, superstar Parker is now in an extremely strong position to call the tunes when it comes to her own career, say sources, and is in the process of deciding exactly how to cash in her existing chips with New Line Cinema, “Sex and the City’s” producer.

“And those chips are huge ones,” says one source.

In honor of the 50th anniversary of beatnik Allen Ginsberg’s classic poem "Howl," the Ginsberg Trust approached Academy Award-winning documentary filmmaker Rob Epstein ("The Times of Harvey Milk"), who will co-write and direct the film with Jeffrey Friedman.

"Fifty years later, Ginsberg's vision is as relevant as the year he wrote it," Friedman told the Hollywood Reporter. "It resonates with issues of free speech, government censorship, militaristic empire building, fear-mongering, sexual conformity and the co-opting of religion."

The docudrama features the many players in the 1957 trial: prosecuting attorney Ralph McIntosh (David Strathairn), Judge Clayton Horn (Alan Alda), prosecution witness Professor David Kirk (Jeff Daniels), radio personality and prosecution witness Gail Potter (Mary-Louise Parker) and literary critic and defense witness Luther Nichols (Paul Rudd).

In the grand tradition of attractive Hollywood stars portraying iconic literary figures -- think Nicole Kidman as Virginia Woolf, Anne Hathaway as Jane Austen, Joseph Fiennes as William Shakespeare, etc. -- James Franco has been cast as the groundbreaking beatnik poet.

The role is a major coup for “SpiderMan” star Franco, who has been anointed "the next big thing" for a while but is capitalizing on that potential in a big way this year with a rave comedic performance as the stoner with a heart of gold in “Pineapple Express.” He will next be seen in the Nicholas Sparks adaptation “Nights in Rodanthe,” and will appear as Sean Penn's partner in the biopic of gay politician Harvey Milk in Gus Van Sant's “Milk.” Van Sant, incidentally, will serve as a executive producer on Howl.

“Howl,” published in 1956, was Ginsberg's lengthy poem that served as a sort of diatribe against conservative America. Its then-taboo subject matter, including a blatant frankness about homosexuality and drug usage, led to an obscenity trail against the book's publisher.

Ginsberg was briefly portrayed by a bearded David Cross in last year's Bob Dylan-inspired biopic hybrid “I'm Not There.” And as strange as it may sound, Franco and Cross both bear more than a passing resemblance to their real-life counterpart (at different stages in his life, of course).

Eric Drooker, a graphic novelist who created "Illuminated Poems," an illustrated book of Ginsberg's work, is on board to create an animated version of "Howl" for the film. A theatrical release date has not been announced.

Parker’s “Spinning Into Butter,” directed by Mark Brokaw, debuted at Cannes in 2007 but has not found a theatrical distributor. Interest has been expressed by OWN, the Oprah Winfrey Network to be launched in 2009 to replace the Discovery Health Channel, in acquiring rights to its world premiere. The film stars Sarah Jessica Parker as Sarah Daniels, Miranda Richardson as Catherine Kenney, Beau Bridges as Burton Strauss and Mykelti Williamson as Aaron Carmicheal.

The film was taken from a highly succcessful play of the same name that takes place at the fictional Belmont College, a mostly-white liberal arts school in Vermont. Simon Brick, one of the few African-American students, begins receiving hateful, racist notes. The all-white administration, including a dean named Sarah Daniels, scrambles to contain the problem and reassure parents that everything is under control. But Daniels, in a controversial scene, reveals her not-so-latent racism, calling blacks lazy, stupid, and scary.
The play's treatment of racism has sparked some controversy. Several productions include a forum at the end for audience members to discuss the issues raised. The well known novelist Ishmael Reed criticized the play, calling it racist and clumsy. But other critics defend the play, arguing that it exposes rather than perpetrates racism.

The play's treatment of political and social issues in an academic context have prompted comparisons to David Mamet's play Oleanna (1992).

The play's title comes from the story of Sambo. In this famous and controversial tale, Sambo's clothes are stolen by tigers, who then begin to argue about who among them is dressed the finest. They chase each other around a tree until they spin themselves into butter, which Sambo eats with pancakes. In “Spinning into Butter,” one of the characters uses this story to explain the behavior of Simon.

OWN’s interest in airing “Spinning Into Butter” arose with the news last week that Maria Grasso was expected to exit Lifetime to join rival cable upstart OWN: The Oprah Winfrey Network.

Details about Grasso's post at OWN are still sketchy, but she would assume a top development role at OWN under president Robin Schwartz. Grasso is the second key executive hire for Schwartz after the appointment of Nina Wass as senior vp creative affairs last month. As of Thursday, Grasso was still working at Lifetime, visiting the set of the network's pilot "Drop Dead Diva" in Atlanta. Grasso's pending departure would follow the exit of Lifetime entertainment president Susanne Daniels in June.

Grasso had worked under Daniels at the WB Network, where Daniels was president of entertainment and Grasso was senior vp drama development. Daniels brought her to Lifetime shortly after she took the reins of the network in September 2005. At Lifetime, Grasso oversaw the development of the network's slate of scripted series, including breakthrough hit "Army Wives."

Before that, she spent five years at WB, where she was instrumental in developing such series as "Everwood," "One Tree Hill" and "Jack & Bobby." Grasso also has served as senior vp comedy development at Warner Bros. TV, executive vp development at Will Vinton Studios and senior vp comedy development at Universal TV.