Another of my favorite directors, Mike Newell, who made, "Four Weddings and a Funeral" and "Pushing Tin", is the latest director being courted to make "Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire".

This British director would be the third dude to direct and first Brit, to drive the franchise.

Mexican director Alfonso Cuaron, who directed "Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban", has the third installment already shot and scheduled to hit theaters in summer 2004.

Cuaron, took over from American director Chris Columbus, who bowed out after the first two installments, "Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone" and "Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets". Columbus still serves as a producer on the franchise.

Newell has yet to see a script or meet with the studio, so an official announcement is not expected for at least a few weeks.

Expect Hugh Grant to star...

I was driving by an old apartment building on Ivar street today that was the hangout of the screenwriter played by William Holden in "Sunset Boulevard" when I heard the News on the radio...

The Hammer Museum at the University of California, Los Angeles will name a new theater after late filmmaker Billy Wilder.

Audrey Wilder made a $5 million donation in honor of her late husband to create the Billy Wilder Theater. Construction will begin next year on the project, which also will be used for screenings by the UCLA Film and Television Archive.

Wilder died last year at 95. The influential Austrian-born writer-director's films included "Sunset Boulevard," "Some Like It Hot" and "The Seven Year Itch."

Audrey Wilder said her gift "reflects Billy's passion for film and art, and his dedication to supporting and encouraging artists of all kinds."

As co-writer, director and producer of the 1960 film "The Apartment," Wilder collected three Oscars, the only person to do so for one film until Frances Ford Coppola won three for 1974's "The Godfather: Part II."

Wilder also won an Oscar in 1951 for co-writing "Sunset Boulevard" and two others in 1946 for co-writing and directing "Lost Weekend." Other hits included "Double Indemnity," "Stalag 17" and "Witness for the Prosecution."

A nine-disc collection of Wilder films was recently released on DVD.