Can a comic from Brooklyn find happiness...

Can a comic from Brooklyn find happiness in the Old West? Eddie Murphy has told Paramount that he wants his next picture to be a western. Development is underway at Murphy’s production company.

William Petersen will play a lieutenant colonel who trains fighter pilots in Stonebridge Entertainment and Columbia’s “Second to None” (a.k.a. “Fly By” and “Thai Pirates”). Tim McCanlies’ script sends these top guns in Harrier Jump Jets after pirates who prey on boat people in the South China Seas. Rod Daniel will direct for producers Michael Douglas and Rick Biever this summer in a still undetermined location.

Vincent D’Onofrio, Jenifer Jason Leigh and Peter Berg are set for “Crooked Hearts,” a family drama A&M; Films is producing for MGM/UA. Writer-director Michael Bortman, who adapted Robert Boswell’s novel, and producers Dale Pollock, Rick Stevenson and Gil Friesen roll cameras in Vancouver in June.

Rick Moranis and Sara Jessica Parker join Steve Martin and Victoria Tennant in “L.A. Story,” a Melnick/IndieProd romantic comedy for Carolco. Mick Jackson directs from Martin’s own script. Filming begins locally this month. Tri- Star distributes.

Kim Cattrall will play Tom Hanks’ wife in Warners’ “The Bonfire of the Vanities.” Producer/director Brian DePalma begins production mid-April.

Actor-musician Lee Ving and William Prince join the growing cast of villains Ken Wahl must battle in Nelson Entertainment’s “The Taking of Beverly Hills.” Director Sidney J. Furie and producer David Giler start cameras cranking this month in Mexico.

Shirley Knight will play Nancy McKean’s mother in “The Gravity of Stars.” H. Gordon Boos rolls cameras in L.A. for Arrowhead Entertainment in late June.