Ricky Martin Pegged for 'Assassination'.

RUMORS that Ricky Martin is being eyed as a potential cast member for "The Assassination" are now confirmed by Constellation Entertainment, which reports that he is already signed.

Martin's approximate $5 million paycheck in the $25 million picture may be more than that of the veteran actors in the picture, including Ed Harris, James Coburn and Anthony Quinn.

Everyone is hustling to beat the looming actor/writers' strike in June, including Sly Stallone, currently working on three pictures including an auto racing movie called "Driven." Also hurrying to finish Tim Burton's hefty budgeted remake of "Planet of the Apes" is a bearded, long-haired Kris Kristofferson. "I leave for Prague the day I finish this film and begin "Blade 2" with Wesley Snipes," he said.

Country western singer Dwight Yoakum's low-budget independent film "South of Heaven, West of Hell" was hell to get completed. "We almost shut down three times," said Yoakum, who invested most of the $3.8 million needed to complete the movie. "We were involved with unscrupulous people who had us over a barrel when it came to the bridge loan."

The cast was filled with friends like Billy Bob Thornton, Vince Vaughn and Yoakum's girlfriend, Bridgette Fonda, who worked for less than scale because they wanted to make the film.

Trimark felt it had made Yoakum a really fair deal for DVD and video distribution of what Yoakum describes as a quirky, offbeat Western. "They told me Westerns are a good investment and do consistently well on DVD and video, but I don't anticipate ever seeing my money back," he said.

Yoakum, who said he has three more Westerns kicking around in his head, first has to dig himself out of lawsuits and problems incurred from this film.

In the meantime, he is finishing "Panic Room," formerly starring Nicole Kidman, who dropped out due to stress fractures suffered during the filming of "Moulin Rouge."

Director Robert Zemeckis, who said he is taking a year off, is keeping his cards close to his chest by not revealing his next big project. But his film editor Arthur Smith, with whom he has worked on many films (including the recent Oscar-nominated "Cast Away"), said there is a big project in the wind.

Smith describes the editing for "Cast Away," which has so far grossed $221.2 million, as challenging. "Many scenes, including the plane crash, were filmed in pieces and I had to make it appear seamless," he said.

Art Director David Gropman was ecstatic that he won an Art Director Guild Award from his peers for "Chocolat." "I was fortunate to have a $1 million budget to rebuild a medieval city in a contemporary film," said Gropman. The city, which was modeled after a neighboring French town, took eight weeks to build.

Have you ever wondered what it costs to produce the Oscars? It is a closely guarded secret. An Art Guild Award winner from last year's telecast puts the cost at somewhere. between $1 million and $5 million, but adds that it is never enough. Just the cost of air-conditioning the floor of the stage runs $10,000, he said.