Cusack and Gere Land Meaty Roles

By Stephen M. Silverman

10/02/2001 at 12:42 PM EDT

Work isn't all laughs for John Cusack. The actor, who opens in the romantic comedy "Serendipity" this Friday, steps into a much darker role next month, reports Variety. Cusack, 35, will star in the period drama "Max," in which he is due to play a Munich art gallery owner who takes a young Austrian painter under his wing. That painter's name is Adolf Hitler. English actor Noah Taylor ("Shine," "Almost Famous") will play the future fuehrer. Meanwhile, a singing and dancing Hitler can be seen, lampooned to death, in Mel Brooks's current Broadway smash, "The Producers." And speaking of Broadway smashes, the hit revival of Bob Fosse's 1975 "Chicago" is finally, finally, finally going to roll before the cameras. Productions have been announced for the past quarter century, with everyone from Liza Minnelli and Goldie Hawn to Madonna purportedly having been set to star, but the pieces never fell into place. Now, apparently, they have, says Variety. Richard Gere, 52, will play shifty lawyer Billy Flynn (the role originated by "Law and Order" 's Jerry Orbach in the first production), costarring with Catherine Zeta-Jones and Renee Zellweger. They will play, respectively, the tough-hearted Velma Kelly (Chita Rivera in the original) and the sweet but amorally ambitious Roxie Hart (Gwen Verdon in the original, and Ginger Rogers in the movie on which the musical was based). Before making movies, Gere sang and danced on the London stage in "Grease." Rob Marshall will direct "Chicago" for Miramax.