Chris Rock, Eddie Murphy and Chris Tucker In One Film

Chris Rock, Eddie Murphy and Chris Tucker in One Film | Dick Clark: No More Golden Globes | Hollywood Notes From All Over Town | Record Biz Crisis: Sales Plummet

Chris Rock, Eddie Murphy and Chris Tucker in One Film

The biggest names in "Black Hollywood" are about to get together for one big extravaganza of a film.

I’m told that "Rush Hour" director Brett Ratner is putting together his very own black "Ocean’s Eleven," a heist film that would feature Chris Tucker, Chris Rock and Eddie Murphy at the very least.

Ratner is also said to be talking to Denzel Washington about playing a roguish villain. He also may ask longtime pal Courtney Love to join the cast.

Washington should be interested, since the script for this unnamed project is being written by Russell Gewirtz, who wrote Washington’s hit Spike Lee film "The Inside Man."

The untitled film will be produced and distributed by Universal, which has quickly usurped its smaller indie label Focus Features as the more interesting of the two imprints.

Watch for Ratner to add more heavy hitters once the script is finished. These could include young actors like Derek Luke or Anthony Mackie, comedian Martin Lawrence and some older actors too, like Sidney Poitier or even Bill Cosby.

Dick Clark: No More Golden Globes

For some reason, everyone thinks Dick Clark has something to do with the Golden Globes. He doesn’t.

It turns out that Clark sold his company, Dick Clark Productions, in 2002 to a group of investors for $140 million. He retained control of his New Year’s Eve show, but otherwise, Clark is long gone from the company that bears his name.

In other words: Clark has nothing to do with the Golden Globes. But the people at that weird organization had better be on alert. Next month, Clark’s non-compete clause runs out after five years. He will be able to go back into business and create a new show that might give the Globes a run for their tainted money.

One option Clark has is investing in the Broadcast Film Critics Association's Critics' Choice Awards. The show, which Joey Berlin did such a good job with, is ripe for knocking off the Globes. All it needs is the imprimatur of someone like Clark and all bets are off for the Hollywood Foreign Press.

If Clark does that, and gets the interest of CBS or FOX, it’s a whole new ballgame for the Critics’ Choice Awards.

What is interesting though is how almost none of the stories about Clark since his stroke in late 2004 even mention the sale of the company.

And Dick Clark Productions, which went private after the sale, goes out of its way to avoid stating the situation.

Reading articles, one is left with the impression that Clark is on the premises. The New York Times, for example, ran a 115-word piece on Feb. 15, 2002, announcing that Clark had sold the company, but was staying on as chief. So much for media reporting.

Hollywood Notes From All Over Town

Just how ill is famed actor Tony Curtis? Very, from what I’ve heard.

The great star of “Sweet Smell of Success” and “Some Like it Hot” is considered to be in grave condition from pneumonia. We send out prayers and good wishes. …

Irwin Winkler lunching with Endeavor’s Chris Donnelly at the Grill on Tuesday. …

James Spader, looking more and more like the bastard child of Ernest Hemingway and Orson Welles, shopping at Zegna on Rodeo Drive. Spader is not just alarmingly heavy and bloated, but also wears a suede fedora and a kind of brown cape. He also has an assistant who walks behind him with a small dog on a leash. …

Dustin Hoffman at Trudie Styler’s birthday party, wishing her and Sting good luck on their trip to meet musicians in Cuba. …

Chad Lowe — looking healthy and happy — with a pretty date at FOX’s Globes-viewing party, looked away from the big screen when ex-wife Hilary Swank occasionally turned up. …

Harry Shearer and Judith Owen, celebrating “For Your Consideration” before heading east to do several performances of their music and comedy show. …

Shearer’s co-star and buddy Fred Willard, the underrated and beloved comedy genius, at the Critics’ Choice Awards. Willard says he got the idea for the cowlick he sports in “FYC” from none other than Cruise soccer buddy David Beckham. …

Isaiah Washington crossing the lobby of the Beverly Hilton with his beautiful wife, stopped and talked with me twice on Monday night. I don’t know what the issues are backstage on "Grey’s Anatomy," but this man seems like a genuine, polite and articulate fellow. We joked that the wife’s family is happy she married a doctor. …

At the Weinstein Company party, Jon Voight conceded he and daughter Angelina Jolie have made no progress in their estrangement. It's sad that a U.N. goodwill ambassador can’t solve this problem. …

Danny Huston, who’s on track for a breakthrough film as a leading man, chatting with the ever-incredible Jacqueline Bisset at the BAFTA/LA tea party. Bisset should be celebrated as an example of graceful aging in Hollywood. She’s really the town’s hidden gem. …

Actress Colleen Camp, who’s in “Factory Girl,” zooming around town with producer-casting director Bonnie Timmerman like a modern-day Lucy and Ethel. …

Hell has frozen over: the AARP is using the Buzzcocks’ “Everybody’s Happy Nowadays” in a commercial. …

And how about that Mediterranean member of the Hollywood Foreign Press bouncing a blonde on his lap at the HBO Chateau Marmont extravaganza? The same guy is a steady party guest, skulking about unrecognized by nearly anyone in town as he enjoys free drinks and food . At 50 something, he’s a young member of the group. …

And finally: what were Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes celebrating last Friday at Cut in the Beverly Wilshire? The staff was under the impression they were toasting baby Suri’s first birthday, even though it’s four months away. …

Record Biz Crisis: Sales Plummet

The recording industry, or what used to be known as the music business, is in a free-fall disaster.

Last week, the total number of CDs sold in the top 10 came to less than a half million. The actual number is closer to 445,000. And the No. 1 album, the soundtrack to the "Dreamgirls" movie, sold only 60,000 copies, according to hitsdailydouble.com.

This should be considered a crisis. Tower Records is gone, and if things keep up this way, more record stores and chains will start disappearing.

And it’s not like downloading has completely taken over from physical CD sales. Despite the hype, Apple reported a 65 percent drop in downloading in December.

Even with overall numbers for 2006 up 89 percent, everyone will look now for a trend down. And it’s likely: at some point, most of the existing pop music catalog will have been downloaded by customers who didn’t already have the CDs on hand to upload into their computers.

And then what? There isn’t much coming in the next month to alleviate the situation. A new Norah Jones album appears on Jan. 30, but it’s unlikely to be as big as her first two, which sold in the millions.

Jones’ sophomore album benefited from sales of the first, a big hit single and a slew of Grammy Awards. The second album had monster sales as a result, but yielded no hits and didn’t have the same cultural impact. It will be interesting to see how No. 3 does.

Of course, radio is largely responsible for this disaster, as are A&R types who are too scared to sign new artists or really take a hard listen and look at what’s presented on MySpace among rising Internet stars.

But it’s really radio's fault, because those same A&R people are wondering if they could sign a new act they liked, where would it get played?

Last week, I told you about Naomi Striemer, one of Billboard’s acts to watch in 2007. She can’t get her single played on the radio because she’s on Steven Nowack’s independent S Records.

Naomi is not alone. Big-name stars with terrific records can’t get on the radio, either. Where is the new Fantasia single, for example? And what happened to Diddy’s single, “Last Night,” which should have been a smash?

Maybe while some of the people who colluded to kill the business are on the unemployment line, they can review what happened.