Geri Flick Still Kicking

October 2 -- Despite reports to the contrary published on Sunday, ex-Spice Girl Geri Halliwell's new film project, Therapy, is still slated to begin production in spring 2001. Thank goodness.

Yesterday, the Sunday edition of U.K. tabloid the Daily Express quoted an unnamed source from the project's production company, September Films, as saying there had been "no progress" on the flick, which had reportedly failed to raise its $15 million budget.

Balderdash, shot back director David Green today, calling the rumors "fallacious" in an interview with BBC Online. "We have the money and Geri is 101 percent behind the film," he insisted. "The film is fully funded and we have $15 million in place."

Halliwell, who made her big-screen bow in 1997's Spice World, is on deck to star as Amy, a young Londoner who seeks assistance in sorting out her troubled love life, only to discover that her therapist has become smitten with her.

Green, whose credits include the Phil Collins vehicle Buster, said casting for the movie's two male leads would begin shortly, and that he was shocked by the rumors. However, he admitted that the project had encountered a bump or two already: "We did have some problems with the script, but after a major rewrite, everybody is very happy with it."

Halliwell is currently in the studio working on her second solo album, which will feature several songs written specifically for the movie; she is also producing a separate soundtrack album.

In the meantime, Halliwell-fixated cinéastes can abate their appetites by checking out the animated Rugrats in Paris, in theaters Nov. 17, which features Halliwell's cover of Nancy Sinatra's "These Boots Are Made for Walking." The soundtrack — which also features TLC vocalist Tionne "T-Boz" Watkins' solo single "My Getaway" — will be released Nov. 7 on Maverick.