Taking Names

Passion for St. Francis$>

Franciscan friars have asked Mel Gibson to make a movie biography of the founder of their order, St. Francis of Assisi.

The Franciscan Friars of the Renewal, the BBC reports, have posted a letter to Mr. Gibson on their Web site, along with an online petition.

The letter praises the director for his “work of sacred art” and asks him “to produce a sequel about a man many acclaim to be the Church’s greatest saint.”

The friars say they believe such a film “would show the world what happens when a person totally and unequivocally responds to the Passion of the Christ.”

Material woes

Madonna’s record label is in the red.

Maverick Records, home to the “Material Girl” as well as Alanis Morissette and Michelle Branch, has lost $66 million since 1999, according to recently unsealed court documents filed by its adversary and partner, Warner Music Group.

The Hollywood Reporter notes that according to Warner Music’s filing, if Maverick can’t raise the money needed to buy itself out of the joint venture, Warner can convert the label into a “purely passive economic interest,” taking all control of the label away from Maverick.

’New Negroes’

Michael Jackson’s brother Jermaine, in the Persian Gulf area to promote understanding between Muslims and his fellow Americans, said Tuesday that Muslims are “the new Negroes in America.”

According to Reuters News Agency, Jermaine Jackson, a convert to Islam, has been speaking about Islam and U.S. “adventures” in Iraq to enthusiastic audiences at Koranic centers and universities in the Gulf Arab state of Bahrain.

One Knight stand

Imprisoned rap mogul Marion “Suge” Knight plans to produce a hip-hop album to benefit financially troubled families of soldiers in Iraq — as soon as he gets out of prison at the end of the month.

Reuters reports that the founder of Death Row Records said he will work with various artists and record labels to pull together a hip-hop album benefiting the families, who are confronting mounting financial burdens.

“I’m not taking any kind of political stance on the war,” Knight said, adding that he hopes to have the record on store shelves by Christmas.

Scarlet Knight time

Listen for the bada-bing, bada-boom at Rutgers University next month.

James Gandolfini, star of HBO’s “The Sopranos,” will be among 11 alumni to be inducted into the New Jersey university’s hall of fame May 1.

“In the entertainment world, James Gandolfini is probably the most recognizable Rutgers graduate,” Cal Maradonna, associate vice president of alumni relations, told the Star-Ledger of Newark.

“The acting world has recognized him for his talent. He’s a great actor.”

Mr. Gandolfini, who plays North Jersey mob boss Tony Soprano on the HBO series, has made commercials and appeared in billboard ads for the school’s athletics program, AP reports.

Cops and authors

Frank Serpico fired away at a new book by a New York police detective who says police corruption isn’t as widespread as some think.

“The cops I know in the city say the corruption is there,” the 68-year-old Mr. Serpico told Associated Press. “It’s business as usual.”

In the book “Blue Blood,” Bronx detective Edward Conlon says “Serpico” — the 1973 hit movie starring Al Pacino as a cop crusading against police graft — was too indulgent of Mr. Serpico’s charges.

“Frank Serpico has many admirers and many detractors, but there was no disagreement that he was a very strange man,” Mr. Conlon writes.

Compiled by Scott Galupo from wire and Web reports.