``Numbers,'' Starring John Travolta, Directed by Nora Ephron to Begin Principal Photography.

HOLLYWOOD--(ENTERTAINMENT WIRE)--Nov. 15, 1999--

"Numbers," a comedy starring John Travolta and directed by Nora Ephron will begin principal photography on November 15th on location in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania and in Los Angeles.

Also starring are Lisa Kudrow, Tim Roth, Ed O'Neill, Michael Rapaport, Chris Kattan, Michael Moore, Michael Weston, Daryl Mitchell and Bill Pullman.

Paramount Pictures presents "Numbers," produced by Andrew Lazar, Jonathan Krane, Sean Daniel and Nora Ephron. G. Mac Brown serves as the executive producer. The screenwriter is Adam Resnick. Paramount Pictures is part of the entertainment operations of Viacom Inc.

John Travolta stars in "Numbers" as Russ Richards, a TV weatherman and local celebrity who's on the verge of losing his shirt. What money he doesn't squander on his own lavish lifestyle he loses in an unsuccessful snow mobile dealership he owns. Desperate to escape financial ruin, Russ schemes with Crystal Latroy (Lisa Kudrow), the TV station's lotto ball girl, to rig the state lottery drawing. The numbers come up right, but everything else goes wrong as their plan starts to unravel and the game turns rough. The fictional comedy is inspired by the events surrounding a 1980 Pennsylvania Lottery scam worth $1.2 million.

Travolta re-teams with Nora Ephron in "Numbers," having starred in the hit comedy "Michael," which Ephron directed and co-wrote. Earlier this year, he starred in the Paramount Pictures' box-office success "The General's Daughter."

Travolta has been honored twice with Academy Award(TM) nominations, most recently for his riveting portrayal of a philosophical hit man in Quentin Tarantino's "Pulp Fiction." He was also praised as a Mafioso-turned-movie producer in "Get Shorty," garnering a Golden Globe Award for Best Actor in a Motion Picture, Musical or Comedy.

This year he was the winner of the Alan J. Pakula Award from the U.S. Broadcast Film Critics Association for his performance in "A Civil Action" and received a Golden Globe nomination for his performance in "Primary Colors."

Travolta earned his first Oscar(R) and Golden Globe nominations for his role in "Saturday Night Fever," which launched the disco phenomenon of the late 1970s. He went on to star in "Grease" and "Urban Cowboy," which also influenced trends in popular culture. Additional film credits include "Carrie," "Blowout," "Look Who's Talking," "Phenomenon," "Broken Arrow," "Face/Off," "She's So Lovely" and "Mad City."

Lisa Kudrow will soon be seen in "Hanging Up" and she recently starred in the hit comedy "Analyze This." Other feature film credits include: "Clockwatchers," "The Opposite of Sex," "Romy and Michele's High School Reunion" and "Mother." A three-time Emmy nominee, Kudrow received an Emmy Award for her performance as Phoebe on the comedy series "Friends."

Tim Roth made his studio feature debut in "Rob Roy" opposite Liam Neeson and Jessica Lange and his directorial debut with "The War Zone." Roth gained worldwide recognition for his roles in "Reservoir Dogs" and "Pulp Fiction." Currently Roth can be seen in "Legend of 1900" and will soon star in "Vatel."

Ed O'Neill is best known as the working class hero Al Bundy in the 10 year television hit "Married....With Children." O'Neill has starred in "Little Giants," "Blue Chips," "Wayne's World" and "Wayne's World II." Presently O'Neill can be seen in "The Bone Collector" starring Denzel Washington and Angelina Jolie.

Michael Rapaport made his memorable screen debut in "Zebrahead" which garnered him an Independent Spirit Award nomination. Rapaport has been consistently singled out for his memorable performances in "Higher Learning," "Kiss of Death," "Mighty Aphrodite," "Beautiful Girls" and most recently "Deep Blue Sea." Rapaport recently completed filming "Kiss Toledo Good-bye," "Girl Talk," "King of the Jungle" "Navy Diver" and "Bamboozled" and will soon start production on "The Sixth Day."

Chris Kattan made his feature film debut in "A Night at the Roxbury" which began as a sketch on "Saturday Night Live," where Kattan has starred since 1995. Kattan previously worked in the famous Los Angeles comedy company The Groundlings and has guested on "Def Comedy Jam," "Grace Under Fire" and "NewsRadio."

Michael Moore is famous for his provocative populist documentaries that are unapologetic attacks on callous business corporations, opportunistic right-wing politicians and other social wrongs as portrayed in the highly acclaimed "Roger & Me" which he wrote, directed, produced and in which he starred. Moore can currently be seen in the controversial film "The Insider."

"Getting To Know You," Michael Weston's first film, was presented this year at the highly respected Sundance Film Festival. Weston will soon be seen starring in "Cherry Falls" and "Coyote Ugly."

Daryl Mitchell is most recognizable for his role as `Leo' in the NBC comedy "Veronica's Closet." He will next be seen in the feature film "Galaxy Quest," having appeared previously in "Home Fries" and "10 Things I Hate About You." Mitchell first came to the public's attention as a member of the three-man rap recording group Groove B. Chill.

Bill Pullman made his big-screen debut in the comedy "Ruthless People" in 1986 and followed that with two lead roles in "Spaceballs" and "The Serpent and the Rainbow." Most recently Pullman has starred in "Brokedown Palace," "Lake Placid," "While You Were Sleeping," "Independence Day" and "Zero Effect."

Recently Nora Ephron directed, produced and co-wrote the smash hit "You've Got Mail," starring Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan, whom she had previously directed in "Sleepless In Seattle."

She also co-wrote (with her sister, Delia Ephron) and directed "This Is My Life," starring Julie Kavner as a single mom turned stand-up comic, and "Mixed Nuts," starring Steve Martin as a suicide hotline employee on Christmas Eve.

Ephron has received three Academy Award(TM) nominations for Best Original Screenplay, for "Sleepless In Seattle" (with David Ward and Jeff Arch), for the classic romantic comedy "When Harry Met Sally..." and for the drama "Silkwood" (co-written with Alice Arlen). Her other screen writing credits include "Heartburn" (which she adapted from her own best-selling novel), "Cookie" (co-written with Alice Arlen) and "My Blue Heaven."

Producer Andrew Lazar recently wrapped production on "Space Cowboys" starring Clint Eastwood and Tommy Lee Jones. He also produced the independent film "Panic," which stars William H. Macy, Neve Campbell, Donald Sutherland and Tracy Ullman, this year's hit teen comedy, "10 Things I Hate About You" and "The Astronaut's Wife," with Johnny Depp and Charlize Theron. Other credits include the critically acclaimed "Bound," written and directed by the Wachowski Brothers and "Assassins," with Sylvester Stallone and Antonio Banderas.

He began his career with producer Richard Zanuck, then joined Dino De Laurentiis Communications, where he rose to executive vice president of production. During his years at Dino De Laurentiis Communications, the company produced such feature films as "Army of Darkness," "Once Upon A Crime," "Kuffs" and "Body of Evidence." He was also the executive producer of "Unforgettable," starring Ray Liotta and Linda Fiorentino. Lazar currently has a production deal with Warner Bros.

Producer Jonathan D. Krane began his career as Chairman and CEO of Blake Edward's Entertainment where he executive produced the last two "Pink Panther" films, "The Man Who Loved Women," "Mickey and Maude" and several others. He founded and took public his own company, MCEG, which grew to represent over 150 top directors, writers and actors and as a manager, he managed such talent as John Travolta, Ellen De Generes, Kim Basinger, Steve Somers, Peter Medak, Keith Gordon, Randall Kleiser, etc., and produced such critically-acclaimed hits as Sandra Bernhard's "Without You I'm Nothing," Randall Kleiser's "Getting It Right," Keith Gordon's "The Chocolate War," Bridget Fonda's first film, "You Can't Hurry Love" and the phenomenally successful "Look Who's Talking" trilogy.

Krane has produced or executive produced 42 films over the last 20 years, including those previously referenced above and the recently completed "Battlefield Earth," "The General's Daughter," "A Civil Action," "Primary Colors," "Face/Off," "Mad City," "Michael," "Phenomenon," "Blind Date," "That's Life" and "Point of Betrayal" which he wrote and which won the Golden Palm Award at the Palm Beach Film Festival.

Krane is chairman and CEO of the Jonathan Krane Group through which he develops, packages, finances and produces films and manages talent. Krane has taught production and management for 17 years at UCLA and has gained stature as a scholar and lecturer on the economics and dynamics of the entertainment industry and is publishing a book on the subject next year. He is also the Chairman and CEO of a new company, Krane Studio, which has a 3 year, 9 picture distribution deal with Paramount on a rent-a-system basis.

Producer Sean Daniel served as president of production for Universal Pictures' motion picture group from 1984 through 1988, during which time he supervised such films as "National Lampoon's Animal House," "Coal Miner's Daughter," "Missing," "Fast Times At Ridgemont High," "The Breakfast Club," "Brazil," "Sea of Love," "Field of Dreams," "Do the Right Thing" and "Gorillas in the Mist."

Daniel is a partner in Alphaville Productions, an independent media company headquartered at Paramount Pictures. The company has produced "Michael" (which teamed John Travolta and Nora Ephron), the recent hit "The Mummy," "Tombstone," "Dazed and Confused," "The Jackal," "Hard Target," "Heart and Souls," "CB4" (the rap music satire written by and starring Chris Rock) and "American Me" (starring Edward James Olmos). The company's next release will be "Freedom Song" written and directed by Phil Alden Robinson and starring Danny Glover.

Executive producer G. Mac Brown previously collaborated with Nora Ephron as executive producer of "You've Got Mail" and as co-producer of "Michael." A 20-year veteran of motion picture production, he has co-produced or executive produced films such as the upcoming "Anna and the King," "She-Devil," "Once Around," "Light Sleeper" and the Academy Award(TM)-nominated "Scent of a Woman."

Other productions include "Flesh and Bone," "With Honors," "The Cowboy Way" and "To Wong Foo, Thanks for Everything, Julie Newmar," the last of which marked his first solo producer credit. Brown also served as co-producer of "In and Out" and "Gloria."

Writer Adam Resnick started as a writer on "Late Night With David Letterman," where he shared an Emmy Award and several Emmy nominations for Outstanding Writing in a Variety or Music Program.

He also received an Emmy nomination for Outstanding Comedy Series for "The Larry Sanders Show," on which he was an executive producer and writer. With writer-performer Chris Elliott, Resnick created the sitcom "Get A Life," starring Elliott, for which Resnick was a writer-producer.

Resnick also created, executive produced and wrote for the quirky HBO series "The High Life," and teamed up with Elliott once again for the feature film comedy "Cabin Boy," which he wrote and directed.