IN SEARCH OF SEQUELS

Where there’s “Smoke,” there’s . . . confusion.

Consider: Producer Martin Ransohoff begins filming next month in Toronto and Seattle on “Smoke” for Columbia. It’s a thriller about a private investigator framed for murder and the female public defender who takes on his case. Michael Crichton directs Burt Reynolds and Theresa Russell in roles that were originally intended for Robert Loggia and Glenn Close.

The reason: “Smoke” was conceived as “Jagged Edge II.”

Said Ransohoff, the sequel was put into development at Columbia (which did “Jagged I”) when Guy McElwaine was at the studio. But, he went on, when the script was finished, new studio chief David Puttnam informed him that the studio wasn’t interested in sequels. So, the characters were changed and rewriting ensued.

“It’s a good mystery on its own terms. I think the story is really more effective as an original,” said Ransohoff. “Because there wasn’t an agreement with Loggia and Close, we had always designed the project to go either as a sequel or on its own terms.”

But . . . since “Jagged II” became “Smoke,” Puttnam has had a change of mind. This, according to Ransohoff, who has pressed ahead, hiring new writers to script a second “Jagged II,” which should be completed in September for filming next year. “Columbia will get first refusal. If they don’t like it, I’ll make it elsewhere,” he said.

But Puttnam told us that Ransohoff was creating a “Smoke” screen: “ ‘Jagged Edge’ is an important asset to the company. We passed on the first script because it wasn’t good and for no other reason. ‘Smoke’ is not ‘Jagged Edge II’ but it is of that genre.”

Puttnam was adamant: He’s not opposed to sequels, but “if you’re going to make a sequel, it has to be first-class to appeal to those who loved the original. We’re taking considerable care therefore on ‘Karate Kid III’ and ‘Ghostbusters II.’ And when there’s a terrific script on ‘Jagged Edge II,’ Columbia will be anxious to make it.”