Casting a Turner Tale

Does Cheryl Ladd have the inside track to the role of Lana Turner in the telefilm “Detour: A Hollywood Story,” from the book by Turner’s daughter, Cheryl Crane? Depends on whom you talk to.

Ladd’s publicist, Richard Grant, says yes--that co-producer Richard Cohen “has told Miss Ladd the role is hers if she wants it, and that’s the truth.”

And publicist Sam Maddingly is telling us that her client, Frank Stallone, is “in negotiations” for the role of Johnny Stompanato, Turner’s abusive lover, killed by Crane in 1958 when she was 14.

But co-producer Allan Carr is fuming with denials: “There is no script, no director, no negotiation. No one is set. Nothing can be done until after the writers strike is resolved.”

Someone close to the project, however, confirmed that there have been talks between the production company and Ladd and Stallone.