BY TERRY JACKSON
Elian Gonzalez: survivor of a tragedy, focus of a bitter custody
feud, international
symbol of the fight against Communism.
And subject of the perfect made-for-TV movie plot.
The tale of the world's most famous 6-year-old has gotten the
attention of CBS,
which has signed a deal with a production company to turn Elian's
saga into a
two-part, four-hour miniseries, a network executive confirmed
Tuesday.
The only major hurdle: How will the movie end?
A CBS entertainment executive, who would not be quoted by name,
said there
are too many loose ends to the real story to predict when a script
might be
finished and when the TV movie might air. Industry speculation
has the network
rushing to film the movie so it could be ready for the ratings
sweeps period in
May, when the case would still be fresh in people's minds. But
the network official
said that was largely wishful thinking.
''It's not likely to happen that quickly. They haven't even hired
a writer yet,'' the
executive said.
Craig Anderson Productions -- which produced the upcoming CBS
miniseries
Sally Hemings: An American Scandal, about the relationship between
President
Thomas Jefferson and Hemings, his slave mistress -- will handle
the Elian movie.
Ripped-from-the-headlines stories always have been fertile ground
for television.
This season, the infamous cases of Mary Kay Letourneau, the Seattle
teacher
who had an ongoing affair with a 14-year-old boy, and the Chicago
woman whose
baby was forcibly removed from her womb have been TV movie fodder.
CBS is
also working on a film about the murder of JonBenet Ramsey.
When a story with television potential erupts, a movie producer
often will quickly
sign contracts with the principal characters to lock up rights
to their story. But
that doesn't appear to have been the case with Elian's tale.
Delfin Gonzalez, Elian's great-uncle, said Tuesday the family
knew nothing about
a planned CBS movie. But because so much of Elian's story has
already been
made public, a movie could be made without compensating the family
or getting
their permission.
Copyright 2000 Miami Herald