According to Variety Gwyneth Paltrow is in negotiations to play opposite Antonio Banderas in "Guernica 33 Days" the tale of Pablo Picasso's emotional turmoil as he painted his masterpiece.
Carlos Saura ("The Hunt," "Raise Ravens,") directs (Variety, Feb. 20) from a screenplay he co-wrote with Spanish producer Elias Querejeta and French scribe Louis-Charles Sirjacq.

Guido Rud's FilmSharks Intl. has acquired worldwide rights outside France and Spain. Spain's Idem 4 and France's Cinevedas produced.

As reported in Variety, Banderas plays Picasso; Paltrow is up to limn his lover Dora Maar, a Spanish-speaking French photographer, who snapped the stages of "Guernica's" creation.

Paltrow speaks Spanish, having lived as an exchange student for a year in Spain at age 15.

Spain's Imanol Arias will portray writer Jose Bergamin, while Barbara Goenaga is Picasso's assistant.

Budgeted at €8 million ($10.4 million), "Guernica" will be one of the biggest Spanish films going into production this year.

It shoots mid-September to mid-November in Guernica and France, for delivery next May, Rud said.

Basque pubcaster ETB is co-financing.

in Cannes Riviera B19 

By JOHN HOPEWELL, EMILIANO DE PABLOS