Drew Barrymore to direct "Heist" thriller (Reuters)

LOS ANGELES (Hollywood Reporter) – Drew Barrymore has come aboard to direct and produce "Heist Society," a thriller based on the young-adult novel by Ally Carter.

The book follows a young woman named Katarina Bishop who hails from an extended family of cat burglars and master thieves. The girl leaves her illicit life behind, but when her father is the prime suspect in the case of a mobster's missing art collection, she assembles a crew to track down the art and steal it back.

The project is set up at Warner Bros., which is aging the characters a notch into their early 20s. Barrymore will also supervise screenwriter Shauna Cross. The two previously worked together on "Whip It," the roller derby flick starring Ellen Page and Kristen Wiig.

Barrymore plans to take on "Heist Society" after she finishes directing the romantic comedy "How to Be Single."

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Michael Jackson 'Thriller' jacket fetches $1.8M (AP)

BEVERLY HILLS, Calif. – A famed black-and-red calfskin jacket that Michael Jackson wore in the classic "Thriller" video has sold at auction for $1.8 million.

Darren Julien, president and CEO of Julien's Auctions in Beverly Hills, says the jacket was purchased Sunday by Milton Verret, a commodities trader from Austin, Texas.

The jacket is one of two Jackson wore during the filming of the 1983 "Thriller" video. Jackson wears the jacket in a scene with a troupe of zombies who rise from their graves and break into a dance routine.

Verret says the jacket will be sent on tour and used as a fundraising tool for children's charities.

A portion of the sale price will go to the Shambala Preserve, a big cat sanctuary caring for two tigers Jackson one owned.

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Michael Jackson's `Thriller' jacket up for auction (AP)

BEVERLY HILLS, Calif. – The jacket Michael Jackson wore in his "Thriller" video is hitting the auction block.

Auction administrator Darren Julien says the red and black leather jacket is "the most recognized and significant piece of pop culture" to come up for sale, and he expects it to fetch at least $200,000 at the Music Icons auction on June 25 and 26 at Julien's Auctions in Beverly Hills.

Jackson autographed the jacket as a gift to his longtime costume designers, Dennis Tompkins and Michael Bush. He wanted them to use the small calfskin jacket as a template for his future concert fashions. A portion of the proceeds from its sale will benefit the Shambala Preserve, where Jackson's two Bengal tigers, Thriller and Sabu, have been living since the pop star left his Neverland ranch in 2006.

Other Jackson items up for sale include the wig he wore when he announced his ill-fated "This Is It" concert series in London, a fedora and spangled glove he wore on stage, his shirt from the "Scream" video and the battered mailbox from the Carolwood Drive estate where Jackson died at age 50 in 2009.

The Music Icons sale also includes one of Eric Clapton's guitars, Frank Sinatra's patent leather boots and 1986 Jaguar, handwritten lyrics and a leather jacket from Johnny Cash, jackets and a guitar from Elvis Presley, a signed harmonica from Bob Dylan and nearly 600 other pieces of music memorabilia from Bruce Springsteen, Madonna, The Beatles and others.

The collection will be on view free to the public from June 13 to 25 at Julien's Auctions Gallery in Beverly Hills.

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Online:

www.juliensauctions.com

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David Hyde Pierce starring in psychological thriller (Reuters)

NEW YORK (Backstage) – David Hyde Pierce, best known for his Emmy-winning role as neurotic shrink Dr. Niles Crane on "Frasier," will show a different side in the upcoming psychological thriller "The Perfect Host."

He plays a seemingly well-to-do, uptight suburban man set to be victimized by a criminal seeking refuge for the night. But Pierce's character has a dinner party to throw that night, and instead of playing hostage, he decides to play host -- and hostage taker. The film opens July 1 in Los Angeles and New York through Magnolia Pictures.

The actor is also venturing into directing. His first staging venture will be "It Shoulda Been You," a new musical starring Tyne Daly, set for the George Street Playhouse in New Brunswick, N.J., this fall.

HOW DID YOU BECOME INVOLVED WITH "THE PERFECT HOST"?

David Hyde Pierce: I think part of what drew me to it is that the character starts out in ways that are kind of similar to the way people are used to seeing me. But then what happens in the course of the movie allows me as an actor to move along with the character away from that way of people seeing me. And that's a great luxury because of course the flip side of the success of a long-running television show is people tend to see you only one way, so this is a nice opportunity for me to play off my more popular image.

YOU STARTED OUT STUDYING PIANO. WHAT MADE YOU DECIDE YOU WANTED TO GO IN A DIFFERENT DIRECTION?

Pierce: I loved music, but my real skill and a lot of the pleasure I got from it was as a performer, but not necessarily as a musician. I didn't really have the technique (and) I didn't have the interest. The discipline, the time, the solitude, the work required to really be a musician, I didn't have the drive to do that, whereas I could rehearse a play all day.

WHAT DO YOU THINK THE MOST CHALLENGING ROLE YOU'VE PLAYED HAS BEEN?

Pierce: I just finished this stage production of "La Bete" by David Hirson. It was written entirely in rhyming couplets, set in the 1600s, and for large chunks of the play my character doesn't say a lot. (It's) tough because in a way nothing's been charted for you specifically by the playwright in the same way it would be if you had lines. So there's so much trial and error in the rehearsal process. You can have moments where you discover that you don't really know what this moment is about and the greatest way to find out is to turn to the other actors. Your reaction with them, your interaction with them, will tell you more than anything you try to figure out on your own.

YOU'RE MAKING YOUR DIRECTORIAL DEBUT IN THE FALL WITH "IT SHOULDA BEEN YOU." WHAT MADE YOU DECIDE TO TRY DIRECTING?

Pierce: People for years have said to me they thought I should direct. And I have never wanted to. I've always wanted to be onstage. And then this show, "It Shoulda Been You," came along. (It's) something that would attract me as an actor. I just finished "La Bete" and it was in every way different from anything I'd ever done before. So plays that were offered to me after that could be perfectly fine, but nothing came close to what that experience was and so I thought it was time to try a different direction. And at the exact time this piece came along in need of a director.

WHEN YOU'RE DIRECTING, DO YOU LOOK AT THE SHOW FROM A DIFFERENT PERSPECTIVE THAN AS AN ACTOR?

Pierce: I think the reason people always said, "Oh, you should direct" is that as an actor, I tend to be someone who is very aware of the whole picture and how my character and the other characters fit into the storytelling. Now that I'm actually directing, I find that I look at theater completely differently. Kathleen Marshall, who directed the revival of "Anything Goes," and Rob Ashford, who directed the revival of "How to Succeed in Business," let me sit in on technical rehearsals for their shows as they were mounting them. I have been through many, many, many technical rehearsals in my life, but never sitting out front in the position of having to make them happen -- looking at things like lighting and set design, meeting with the designers and all that. It's stuff that I've been aware of and appreciated as an actor, but not as the guy who's going to shape the whole event.

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