Coming Soon: 'The Gong Show' -- The Movie

By Stephen M. Silverman

09/16/1998 at 12:00 AM EDT

Just when you thought the success of "Gladiator" might spark a surplus of sword-and-sandal epics, the Wall Street Journal reports that the latest trend in Hollywood is celebrity "biopics" -- biographical pictures. Warners Bros. is prepping the life of "Gong Show" producer Chuck Barris, based on his autobiography, "Confessions of a Dangerous Mind," with Mike Myers as a candidate to star. But wait, there's more in the pipeline: the lives of Muhammad Ali (played by Will Smith), aviatrix Amelia Earhart, disgraced silent screen star Fatty Arbuckle, even tanned personality George Hamilton. Meanwhile, Johnny Depp, Robin Williams and Tom Cruise are all said to be interested in playing Liberace. This is despite the fact that recent biopics -- "Isn't She Great" (author Jacqueline Susann's story) "Man on the Moon" (Andy Kaufman's) and "The Hurricane" (Hurricane Carter's) -- fared poorly at the box office.