Terror attack story to be set in Stone on screen

Nearly four years after the collapse of the World Trade Center, Oscar winner Oliver Stone will direct a film based on the story of two police officers trapped in the rubble on Sept. 11, 2001.

Nicolas Cage, who won a best-actor Oscar for “Leaving Las Vegas,” will star as Port Authority police Sgt. John McLoughlin.

McLoughlin and fellow officer William J. Jimeno were trapped after the collapse of the twin towers.

The movie, expected to be released next year, also will focus on their rescuers and families.

“It’s a work of collective passion, a serious meditation on what happened and carries within a compassion that heals,” Stone said.

“It’s an exploration of heroism in our country – but it’s international at the same time in its humanity.”

Added McLoughlin: “I feel someone had to tell the story of the people who were in the Trade Center before and after it collapsed. It needs to be told how this horrific tragedy brought Americans and the world together to help those in need.”

Particularly for the simple-minded

Maggie Gyllenhaal, who stars in the independent film “The Great New Wonderful,” about people living in New York in the aftermath of the terror attacks, learned the hard way how touchy the subject still is.

The 27-year-old actress wound up backpedaling PR-wise after saying in April that the United States was “responsible in some way” for the attacks.

Says Gyllenhaal: “I realize I have to be careful, because it’s very easy to misunderstand a complicated thought in a complicated world.”

Now that’s a real homer

Jennifer Garner‘s hometown threw a baby shower for her and hubbie Ben Affleck – but the gifts went to charity.

Hundreds of gift-bearing fans came to a West Virginia Power minor league baseball game Saturday in Charleston for “Jen and Ben Baby Shower Night.”

Admission was free for those who donated a gift and for fans named Jennifer. Among the 410 donations were a car seat, diapers and baby food.

The promotion benefited the baby pantry for Starting Points, a nonprofit group serving children.

Brooke back on Broadway

Brooke Shields is coming back to Broadway to play Roxie Hart in the long-running revival of “Chicago.”

Shields, who stars in the London production, will join the New York company Sept. 9. Her Broadway credits include “Wonderful Town,” “Grease” and “Cabaret.”

She’s best known lately for feuding with Scientologist Tom Cruise over using antidepressants following her daughter’s birth, as detailed in her memoir, “Down Came the Rain: My Journey Through Postpartum Depression.”

Loaded, lit, blasted – that’s Hunter

Honoring his wishes, friends and family of the late gonzo journalist Hunter S. Thompson are preparing to pepper the sky with his ashes.

Thompson’s cremated remains will be shot into the air Aug. 20 from a cannon installed on a 150-foot-high tower behind his Colorado home. The 67-year-old Thompson, who had been in failing health, shot himself Feb. 20.

“I just want to send my pal out the way he wants to go out,” said Johnny Depp, who played Thompson in the “Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas” film.

The birthday bunch

Actor-comedian Bill Cosby is 68. Singer Christine McVie (Fleetwood Mac) is 62. Fitness guru Richard Simmons is 57. Actress Cheryl Ladd is 54. Gospel singer Sandi Patty is 49. Actress Mel Harris (“thirtysomething”) is 48. Actress Lisa Nicole Carson (“Ally McBeal”) is 36. Rapper Magoo is 32. Actor Topher Grace is 27. Actor Erik Per Sullivan (“Malcolm in the Middle”) is 14.