Producer for ‘Five-0’
gets good film deal

SINCE 1999, several studios have tried to obtain the film rights to "Hawaii Five-O," making offers up to seven figures, but producer and rights partner George Litto held out for a deal that gave him and the estate of the show's creator, Leonard Freeman, creative input. He also wanted an agreement regarding sequels and his family's involvement even after he dies.

The Chinese kingpin Wo Fat will be a central figure in the film -- the head of a terrorist group, perhaps -- as he was in the original two-hour CBS pilot. ...

Fox has been doing some major media resuscitation on "North Shore," which moves to Thursdays starting Nov. 4. In what an exec called the "Shannen Doherty Press Junket," photo shoots and interviews were scheduled for outlets including "E" and People magazine (no Hawaii media invited) -- in anticipation of Doherty's debut Monday.

According to the script, Alexandra Hudson (Doherty) arrives to reveal she's the illegitimate daughter of hotel magnate Walter Booth (Christopher MacDonald). That makes her Nicole's (Brooke Burns) half-sister.

In the next episode, we learn Doherty's character owns a majority of The Grand Waimea. She fires Vincent (James Remar) and promotes Tessa (Amanda Righetti) to be Nicole's new boss. When Nicole loses her temper in front of guests, Doherty fires her, too.

Comedian/actor Andy Bumatai will play an ex-Pipeline master surfer who runs a beachside burger joint. There's no surfing in Bumatai's scene to be shot Friday at the Hawaii Film Studio, but there's a possibility his character could be brought out of retirement to defend his title. ...

The WB's "Rocky Point" pilot ends 10 days of principal photography Saturday. Filming tomorrow is on the North Shore, including Haleiwa Harbor, and Friday at a downtown Honolulu restaurant. Some water sequences will be filmed Saturday at Banzai Pipeline.

If the show is greenlit, filming will begin here in November. ...

"Lost" trivia: Some cast members at the Nimitz soundstage last week referred to the island's unseen creatures as "the beings." The show premieres next Wednesday. ...

And finally, at least one network production here is trying to keep photographers from taking pictures of its sets on public land, including beaches. State film permits do not prohibit the public or news photographers from taking photos. ...