By Army Archerd, Daily Variety Senior Columnist 

HOLLYWOOD (Variety) - A big aloha to you fans of ``Hawaii Five-O'': the TV
drama is catching the big wave and will be a feature. And it will be big,
promises George Litto, saying it will be in the $50 million-$70 million
dollar range. 

The script's by Litto and Avery Duff; Litto says he has visions of the
Steve McGarrett role being played by Mel Gibson, Michael Douglas or
Harrison Ford. 

Jack Lord starred as McGarrett and James MacArthur played Danny Williams.
(We didn't discuss casting possibilities for the Williams role.) What
about a role for Lord (66)? ``He could play the governor or senator from
Hawaii,'' said Litto. 

Lord was in the CBS series from '68-'80; it followed with 14 years in
syndication of its 284 hours and will probably next go to cable. The
script goes out to major studios Wednesday. 

Litto says, ``I like developing my own projects, then going to studios.''
As for a director, he thinks Andy Davis, Brian De Palma (with whom Litto's
made three films) or Paul Verhoeven would be great. 

The story would be international in scope, with Hawaii as the gateway,
says Litto, and roles for the president of the U.S., premiere of Japan,
leaders of Pacific Rim countries, China, Australia, etc. 

``It would be filled with intrigue, danger and adventure.'' He, of course,
hopes the feature will become a franchise, a la James Bond. Litto packaged
the series back in 1967 with client and ``Five-O'' creator Leonard
Freeman, with whom Litto also teamed for ``Route 66,'' ``Mr. Novak'' and
``Hang 'em High.'' 

``We had the golden touch,'' Litto reminisces. The ``Hawaii'' feature is
partnered with Litto and the Freeman estate in agreement with Freeman's
widow, Rose. Of course, the ``Five-O'' theme, by Morton Stevens, would be
incorporated in the feature, just as Lalo Schifrin's ``Mission:
Impossible'' theme was used in that pic. 

Litto is readying another feature, ``Soul of the City.'' It was originally
written by Robert Peete and set in Detroit; however, in '76 black-themed
pix weren't marketable, said Litto, so they set it in Texas. Litto
financed and produced the result, ``Drive-In.'' Now, he's going to remake
it and switch the locale to south L.A., with Peete again scripting. 

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Wednesday July 10 4:07 PM EDT 

'Hawaii Five-O' To Splash Onto Silver Screen

LOS ANGELES (Reuter) - ``Hawaii Five-O'', the classic 1970s police drama,
could be coming to a theater near you soon. 

Producer George Litto said Wednesday he has acquired the rights to the Tv
favorite and hopes to start filming next spring. 

Litto plans to turn the program's television success into box office
dollars, joining such hits as ``Mission: Impossible'' and ``The
Fugitive,'' which have scored big with movie goers. 

``Hawaii Five-O'' ran from 1968 to 1980, making it the longest running
hour-long show in television history, clocking a total of 284 hours. 

The movie is an international thriller in the action genre set at an
Asian-Pacific conference for peace and cooperation in Hawaii, hosted by
the president of the United States and his counterpart from Japan. 

Just as the conference is set to begin, a Japanese secret service agent is
killed -- a job for ``Steve McGarrett'' of Hawaii Five-O. 

``It's going to have lots of action and special effects and extraordinary
fantastic events and situations,'' Litto said. 

Harrison Ford and Mel Gibson would be top choices for the role of
McGarrett, while Jack Lord, who played McGarrett in the original, might
make a cameo appearance, Litto said. 

One thing that will stay unchanged from the original is the theme music
from Morton Stevens. 

Litto is already betting on a sequel. 

``We think this is the beginning of a franchise. We expect to make three
or four or five,'' Litto said. 

Litto penned the script for the movie with Avery Duff and is looking for a
studio to come up with the $50 million to $70 million needed for the
project. 

Litto has been in retirement since 1989, when his company produced ``Night
Games'' starring Roy Scheider. 

``I dropped out for a while,'' said Litto, addign that now that his
daughters have grown up, ``I have to go back to work. It's what I enjoy
most.'' 

Reuters/Variety