The Princess Diaries...

''Diary'' dear to Marshall

By Michael Fleming

NEW YORK (Variety) - ``Runaway Bride'' director Garry Marshall will take the helm of ``The Princess Diaries'' for Walt Disney Pictures.

Based on a novel by Meg Cabot, the project focuses on a rebellious 16-year old New Yorker who discovers she is the princess of a small European country. Shooting will begin in early September.

Whitney Houston is serving as a producer via her BrownHouse Prods. banner. Disney made the deal for Cabot's book last summer after Houston and her production partner Debra Chase brought the project to the studio.

It tells the story of a precocious teen who is a reluctant participant in a fairy tale existence when her mother confesses that the daughter is the result of a one-night fling in Italy with a member of a royal family. As the only heir to the throne, she's pressed into taking princess lessons from her matronly grandmother.

The book is the first of a multibook series for the young adult audience that will be published later this year by HarperCollins.

For Brownhouse, it's the second Disney-based film about a princess, after Houston and Chase served as executive producers of ``Rodgers & Hammerstein's Cinderella,'' in which Houston starred for ABC's ``Wonderful World of Disney'' franchise.

Marshall's directing credits include ``Beaches'' and ''Pretty Woman.'' His ``Runaway Bride''
grossed $152 million at the domestic box office.

Reuters/Variety

NEWSFILE: 24 MAY 2000