Wordsmiths

Steven Spielberg called for a “return to the word� at the Oscars last year--but this?

In the case of “Rainman� (a one-time Spielberg project), the Dustin Hoffman-Tom Cruise starrer at United Artists to film in April with Sydney Pollock directing, Outtakes estimates it’s about $10,000 per page.

Writer Barry Morrow’s original script was so admired, it attracted the likes of Hoffman and director Marty Brest. But not content to let a good thing stand, it’s been reworked by, among other reworkers, Ron Bass (“Black Widow�), Richard Price (“Color of Money�) and Michael Bortman (“Who Will Love My Children�). Now, Pollack has employed both of his favorite script docs, David Rayfiel (“ ‘Round Midnight�) and Kurt Luedtke (“Out of Africa�).

Our industry Deep Throat--noting that none of the above reworkers rework for scale--claimed that almost $1.5 million has been spent on writers to date, an amount only exceeded by the star salaries.