PACINO, REEVES FOLLOW `DEVIL'S ADVOCATE' TRAIL.

Byline: Marilyn Beck & Stacy Jenel Smith

Al Pacino and Keanu Reeves will be heading to Europe soon - sooner than expected - to tub-thump for ``The Devil's Advocate.'' Director Taylor Hackford tells this column that many overseas release dates of the feature have been pushed forward from early '98 to December, when audiences are traditionally larger.

It could come as a surprise to some who remember the stories of friction on the set - Pacino habitually tardy and not impressed with either Reeves or Hackford - that the filmmaker and his stars are planning a reunion. But Hackford, in London overseeing foreign-language dubbing of the film that should win Pacino an Oscar nomination, insists, ``Al and Keanu were never the problem. The problems were between me and the studio. They asked me to make the movie. I got them everything they wanted, only to have to start wondering if they really wanted to make the movie. It's a normal process - the studio holds the purse strings. They gave me a budget of $57 million, I spent $60 million and ...''

With a U.S. take of some $27 million in less than two weeks, the devilishly good film seems a sure shot to earn back its cost fast.

Healing touch

A nice chapter amid difficult life experiences is how Elton John's team is characterizing a music phenomenon involving Elton, Beth Nielsen Chapman, and Chapman's ``Sand and Water'' song. Elton, as has been widely reported, won't perform his ``Candle in the Wind '97'' tribute to Princess Diana in concert. On the other hand, he felt he simply couldn't ignore the recent loss of two friends - Diana and Gianni Versace - during his current Big Picture concert tour. So, he thought of singing ``Sand and Water,'' the song he mentioned last month on Oprah Winfrey's show as having helped him deal with his grief. Elton asked Chapman to pen a personalized lyric for him to sing in concert, and he's been performing it.

The result: a huge spike in sales for ``Sand and Water,'' the song and the similarly titled album, Chapman's comeback vehicle after years of tending to her husband as he fought a losing battle against cancer. Chapman wrote the disc in response to her own sorrow - and, eventually, her rediscovery of life. Reprise Records knows it has something very special on its hands and has slated the album for international release and is laying plans to send Chapman on a promo tour to the United Kingdom.

Precociousness Inc.

How about that LeAnn Rimes? Barely 15 years old, collecting country music awards and selling giant amounts of records all year, she makes a $1 million deal to co-write a book, and, snap! The book has just hit stores. And now, for her next trick ... LeAnn has just finished starring in an ABC TV movie version of her book, ``Holiday in My Heart,'' with Bernadette Peters, and it's already set for airing in mid-December.

Airing dirty laundry?

Remember Dallas actress Mary Crosby ... the one who shot J.R.? Well, the daughter of the late Bing Crosby may be ready to pick up a gun for real after the indie film ``Divorce'' comes out. Written and directed by Crosby's ex-husband, Eb Lottimer, ``Divorce'' is an autobiographical piece about his breakup with Crosby, says ``Just Shoot Me'' series regular Wendie Malick, who plays Crosby in the film. ``I understand Mary still hasn't seen it and probably has no intention of seeing it. It must be very strange to have your ex-husband do a piece like that.''

Bones for Halloween

``Sesame Street'' writer and songwriter Jeffrey Moss just got word that his new ``Bone Poems'' dinosaur book is going into a second printing. He's doing readings from the delightful tome tonight in front of the fossils at the Natural History Museum of New York City - which sponsored the book and provided paleontologists to check it for accuracy.

Moss finds himself encountering kids who grew up on ``Sesame Street'' who now have kids these days, and many of his songs from the earliest episodes remain popular - such as ``Rubber Ducky.'' ``I just found out they're going to use it in the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade this year,'' reports Moss, who keeps the original Rubber Ducky atop his piano at home. Like a lot of rock stars, he comes out of retirement every so often to do farewell tours.

CAPTION(S):

3 Photos

Photo: (1) Al Pacino

Tub-thumping tour

(2) Keanu Reeves

Not the problem

(3) Elton John

A nice chapter