AEROSMITH'S ROLLER-COASTER RIDE.

Byline: Marilyn Beck & Stacy Jenel Smith

Those stadium-filling rock gods Aerosmith have finally finished their two-year ``Nine Lives'' world tour. Now, it's back to business at home.

There is, of course, business aplenty, with an agenda that includes the likelihood of a remake of their hit ``It's Tricky'' with rappers Run-DMC, a plethora of soundtrack offers and the band's new Rock 'n' Roller Coaster opening Thursday at Disney World.

For Steven Tyler, there's also the continuation of his battle to keep his ex-wife, Kathleen Tallarico, from publishing nude pictures of him in a new edition of her ``Dream On'' biography.

``It's just a bunch of sensationalistic crap,'' he blasts. ``She has some old pictures we took one night in a toxic psychosis, and she thought it would be very funny to put them in her book. All it means is more sales for her. Well, bless her heart - not on my time.'' The singer has a suit in motion and won a restraining order on the matter this year.

Tyler, who, by the way, says he's now in his 13th year of sobriety, has a young son and daughter with his current wife, Teresa - in addition to his grown-up daughters, actress Liv and model Mia.

His thrill right now is the new thrill ride that was eight years in the making - and features Aerosmith's ideas, likenesses and songs. ``At one point, there's a 300-foot drop, and you hear, `Going dowwwwwwn!' '' demonstrates Tyler, singing a bite from the band's ``Love in an Elevator.'' He adds that he and guitarist Joe Perry went to Orlando and tested the Rock 'n' Roller Coaster awhile back - 30 times in a row. ``We had such vertigo, we had to go next door and ride the Tower of Terror just to tweak us straight.''

Mack the DiCaprio

Don't be surprised if the Bobby Darin biopic finally gets made - with Leonardo DiCaprio in the title role, no less. The project was in the works for years at Warner Bros., with Barry Levinson producing, and with Johnny Depp expected to play the lead.

Now, it's producers Robert Rehme, Arthur Friedman, Moctesuma Esparza and Bob Katz serving as Sisyphus - pushing the project uphill into readiness. There's finally a script to everyone's liking, deep interest we hear from DiCaprio, and at this point, three studios vying to be part of the project.

Blast from the past

``Dawson's Creek'' star Michelle Williams plays ``such a polar opposite of her series character'' in the Aug. 4 big-screen comedy ``Dick,'' director Andrew Fleming says some preview audience members didn't realize hers was the face they knew from the WB series.

The complete change of pace may also have intimidated Williams - at first. ``Initially, she was afraid of doing an out-and-out comedy,'' says the director. Fleming notes that Williams' fame ``has skyrocketed'' since she and Kirsten Dunst made the movie, about a daffy pair of 1973 teen-agers who stumble into Watergate.

The two are backed by Dan Hedaya as Richard Nixon, Dave Foley as H.R. Haldeman, Harry Shearer as G. Gordon Liddy and Saul Rubinek as Henry Kissinger.

``The tone of the movie is so daffy that we wanted it to be grounded in reality,'' says Fleming, who also tells us that some of the most bizarre bits of business in ``Dick'' actually happened. For instance? ``We have a series of jokes about the dog in the White House. In fact, we learned that Nixon was insecure around dogs. He had troubled relationships with dogs. You find there are a lot of pictures of him scolding dogs. So, those jokes were based on reality.''

On the `Felicity' beat

``Felicity'' co-star Tangi Miller has just returned from a sightseeing tour of Egypt - by herself. The beautiful young woman tells this column that making the trip solo ``was a little scary, but when my friends wouldn't go along, I finally told myself I wouldn't cheat myself of the experience. And I'm glad I didn't. It was very safe, and the people were very friendly.''

Tangi, who landed the role of Elena on ``Felicity'' just a year after she graduated from the University of California, Irvine, expected to be heading to New York in late July to reunite with the ``Felicity'' troupe as they gathered to shoot exteriors for the new season. ``But for some reason,'' she told us, ``things are suddenly unsettled.'' She didn't learn until nearly a week later that things were up in the air because Keri Russell was holding out for a pay increase to return to her role as Felicity. All has now reportedly been resolved, and shooting starts Aug. 2.

With reports by Stephanie DuBois.

CAPTION(S):

3 Photos

PHOTO (1) TYLER

(2) WILLIAMS

(3) MILLER