Company Town : Steven Bochco Plans to Enter the Feature Film Court

Steven Bochco is taking his act to movie making. After a run of TV series that have dealt with the law--”Hill Street Blues,” “L.A. Law” and “NYPD Blue”--he is planning an as-yet-untitled feature film drama about another aspect of the justice system, the Supreme Court, MGM announced Monday.

It is Bochco’s first feature film as a producer and his second as a writer. He will write the screenplay with “NYPD Blue” co-creator David Milch. Bochco also co-wrote the 1971 motion picture “Silent Running” with Michael Cimino and Deric Washburn.

The upcoming film, suggested by MGM Pictures President Michael Marcus, is Bochco’s second recent pact with a company making a comeback. The producer, winding up a 10-series deal with ABC, is switching to bottom-ranked CBS.

Bochco said he sees no problem in preparing the MGM film while also turning out his new, fall drama series for ABC, “Murder One,” which focuses on a single case for the entire season.

He said his time frame for the MGM film is “somewhere inside of a year.” Marcus said he hopes it can be shot “early next year.”

With the script yet to be written, Marcus declined to estimate a projected budget, but he said it “would be unrealistic for it to be less than $15 million and would probably not be more than $40 [million] to $45 million. With the right stars, maybe more.”

Bochco said he has “no intention of reducing my involvement” in TV: “I love television and couldn’t imagine not working in it. But this [film] is about a subject I’m real interested in--law as it applies to how we all survive in this country.”

Said Bochco, whose TV series have been known for ensemble casts rather than blockbuster stars: “I don’t think that changes from TV to the movies. We’re not writing for anybody. We’re writing a script.”