Daryl Hannah will make a splash in Calgary this fall to shoot a film that was co-written by Lunchbox Theatre co-founder Bartley Bard just weeks before he was struck down by a car at a Santa Monica farmers' market.

Bard and his wife Margaret completed the latest draft of the screenplay in early July, says Chad Oakes, whose Calgary-based Nomadic Pictures is producing the project, entitled Danger Zone.

"(The accident was) horrendous ... but there is improvement, and we're praying and hoping for a speedy recovery."

Bard underwent brain surgery last week. His condition was improving, although it's not known when he'll be released from hospital. Ten people were killed when an 86-year-old man plowed through the crowded market last week.

The Bards left Calgary for Los Angeles in 1999 to pursue screenwriting.

They have homes in Calgary, L.A. and Vancouver.

"The last time I heard from Margaret was on July 12 which was the premiere of (Nomadic Pictures') The Incredible Mrs. Ritchie," Oakes says.

"They had seen it on (U.S. cable network) Showtime and sent me the most wonderful, unbelievable e-mail about how they were looking forward to working with us on Danger Zone."

The $5.2-million thriller will also star Leslie Hope -- who played Kiefer Sutherland's doomed wife on the first season of 24 and also appeared in Mrs. Ritchie -- as Hannah's best friend.

The plot is about a woman (Hannah) who witnesses a terrorist bombing in a small town in Texas and is put into protective custody and brought to Alberta, pursued by the men who want her dead.

Cameras are tentatively set to roll this fall, Oakes says. The project could end up as either a feature film or a TV movie.

Hannah's credits include Splash and Blade Runner. She will next be seen in Quentin Tarantino's flick Kill Bill. She also made headlines for her romance with John F. Kennedy Jr. in the early 1990s.


More Artists