Ok, So Now Brett Ratner Isn't 100% Commited To Conan

But is Ratner actually committed to doing the film? In two words: Not really. When I called him today, he sounded somewhat agitated, unhappy that news of his negotiations with Lerner had surfaced, especially since he is extremely close to getting a green light from Paramount to make "Beverly Hills Cop 4." "Let me make this very clear," he told me. "I am not doing 'Conan' now. This is totally premature. For now, 'Conan' is only a development deal. I have a deal at Paramount and I'm doing 'Beverly Hills Cop' first, no matter what. Avi shouldn't be telling you or anyone else in the press what I'm doing."

So what happened here? And how did Avi get the rights to "Conan" in the first place? Keep reading:

The timing of Lerner's press release is revealing, since it surfaced during the annual American Film Market here in Los Angeles, a colorful film-sales carnival where international producers like Lerner do much of their overall business. Lerner was probably eager to make a splash with the news that such a high-profile project was moving ahead with an A-list director attached. Lerner said as much in his press release, boasting "this is a coup for Millennium Films and proves that our choice of projects and material is attracting much higher-profile directors and actors."

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