LIFE AFTER ‘ISHTAR’

Writer-director Elaine May, a much-in-demand script doctor who shuns credit for such work, is currently consulting with the producers of Paramount’s updated “Scrooge,” which stars Bill Murray and goes before the cameras in a few months under the direction of Richard Donner.

Producer Art Linson confirmed that May was “script consultant”: “She has a great comic mind. Bill, the writers (Michael O’Donohue and Mitch Glazer) and Richard Donner have welcomed her contributions.”

“Elaine, of course, worked with (co-producer/director) Sydney Pollack in a similar capacity on ‘Tootsie’ and she’s very fond of Bill’s work,” said May rep Bert Fields. “But there’s no arrangement for Elaine to write or rewrite the screenplay.”