Tattle | Owen Wilson survived, but did he kill his career?

SEEKING to get his life back in order after his recent suicide attempt,

Owen Wilson

has dropped out of "Tropic Thunder,"

Daily Variety

and the

Hollywood Reporter

reported yesterday.

The Ben Stiller-directed comedy is already six weeks into production in Hawaii.

The Hollywood Reporter said Owen had a minor part in the movie, which stars Jack Black and Robert Downey Jr., and is about a number of actors who find themselves in the middle of a war.

As for how Owen's recovery may affect his career, Bernie Brillstein, a veteran Hollywood manager, said the reported suicide attempt is "serious, but it's a singular case. Anyone can have a bad day, a very bad day."

Unfortunately, if you have too bad a day, you sometimes don't get a next day.

As for Owen's completed films, Fox Searchlight had no comment about "The Darjeeling Limited," except to say it will still open Sept. 29. Paramount had no comment about "Drillbit Taylor," due in March.

20th Century Fox refused comment about how Wilson's hospitalization might change the upcoming "Marley & Me," in which he was to star as former Inquirer columnist John Grogan opposite Jennifer Aniston.

"It's an inappropriate question to ask," a Fox spokeswoman said. "All our thoughts and concerns are with his health and well-being. Owen asked his privacy be respected, and we intend to honor that."

Wilson's emotional issues could have "a deep impact on his future employability and the ability to obtain insurance," said longtime publicist Michael Levine.

And the scene in "Wedding Crashers" in which he's become depressed after he's blown it with Rachel McAdams isn't going to seem so funny anymore.

Gross brings home the Bacon

Even though our colleague Dan Gross is off, the hardest working man on the periphery of show business left us these tidbits from his recent interview with Kevin Bacon.

"I told my agent I want to do something where I get to kick some ass, and the script arrived two weeks later," the Center City-raised actor said of "Death Sentence," his vigilante action film opening tomorrow.

Bacon is curious to see audience reaction to the film, which has one of his darkest roles.

"I like to leave my work at the office, but then again, I'm not a light switch and it's hard to turn on and off," he said of getting in and out of the mind of a man hellbent on revenge. Bacon said that at this point in his career, he finds himself attracted to darker material.

Aside from a trip last year promoting "Loverboy," in which he directed his wife, Kyra Sedgwick, Bacon hasn't been to town since the death of his father, city planner Ed Bacon, in October 2005.

"I have a lot of memories there," he said, "a lot of fondness for the first 17 years of my life. It's a very formative period. When I walk those streets, it definitely still feels like home."

He hopes to get to town soon to see one of his sisters, who just moved to Northern Liberties.

Gross does the weather

New York Newsday's Tuesday report that former NBC 10 weatherdude John Bolaris has put his 5BR Long Island mansion on the market (it's yours for $2.7 million) has tongues at Fox 29 wagging that an announcement will be made any day that he will soon become the station's chief meteorologist.

So says Dan Gross, again breaking news while vacationing.

Gross reported July 2 that Bolaris had not renewed his contract with New York's CBS station and was in talks with Fox 29 and other local newscasts.

Friends of Bolaris told Gross he misses Philadelphia and wants to return - he'd consider working only in a market close to NYC, where his daughter, Reina Sofia, lives with mom Tiffany McElroy, a former NBC 10 anchor now with the NYC CW station.

Bolaris, as widely remembered here for the Storm of the Century that never was as he was for his way with the ladies, spent 12 years at NBC 10. He had no comment when we reached him last night.

Fox 29 execs did not return Gross' calls, but a Fox TV spokeswoman said there was nothing to be announced at this time regarding Bolaris.

In other Fox 29 news, sports director Don Tollefson's name is being bandied about as the person to replace departing "Good Day Philadelphia" anchor George Mallet, who is off soon for Milwaukee. Tolly declined comment last night.

Oscar-winner in town

Director Robert Benton ("Kramer vs. Kramer") was here yesterday talking up his new film, "Feast of Love," due Sept. 28.

Between his print and TV interviews, the three-time Oscar winner feasted on a Four Seasons cheese sandwich (yum) and took a quick tour of the Art Museum.

When Benton wasn't talking to Tattle about "Feast of Love," he discussed:

* Julie Delpy: "I'm in love with her.

When I saw 'Before Sunrise' and 'Before Sunset,' I was filled with envy. [Director Richard Linklater] should just follow those two people for the rest of their lives."

* James Bond: "I would love to do a

James Bond movie," he said, "but I would f--- it up." Concerned more with Bond's failings than his heroics, Benton said his Bond "probably would get killed in the first reel."

* His next project: Benton has com-

pleted a screenplay adaptation of John O'Hara's "Appointment in Samarra."

If he can cast it and raise the money, Benton hopes to film the Depression-era Pennsylvania-set story on location late this year or early next. *

Daily News wire services contributed to this report.

Send e-mail to gensleh@phillynews.com