People: May 21, 2001

MANHATTAN MONEY MYSTERY

WOODY ALLEN filed a lawsuit in Manhattan Supreme Court claiming that Jean Doumanian, his producer, collaborator and friend of 40 years, bilked him out of profits from his last eight films. Friends of Allen and Doumanian were shocked that the former partners may do battle in court. Industry observers were shocked to discover that there were profits from those films. The suit alleges that Doumanian deprived Allen of his guaranteed 50% share of the gross proceeds from his films since 1993. The eight movies in question (spanning from Bullets over Broadway to Small Time Crooks) grossed $67.1 million at the box office, $1 million less than The Mummy Returns took in last weekend. Doumanian says she is saddened that her friend "has chosen this course. These allegations are false." Allen presumably stands by an earlier statement from Without Feathers: "Money is better than poverty, if only for financial reasons."

Bosom Buddies

Juanita Jordan must be a very patient woman. Her husband MICHAEL JORDAN lives in Chicago, works for a team in Washington and jets all over the world playing golf and doing business. Now Michael has invited a friend, CHARLES BARKLEY, to stay at the house for a while. Barkley says he's moving into the Jordans' Highland Park, Ill., home so the two former Dream Team-ers can train together, drop weight and determine by the end of June whether they are in any kind of condition to return to the NBA, presumably for the god-awful but Jordan-run Washington Wizards. Barkley proudly claims that he has lost 45 lbs. since beginning sessions with a personal trainer in January and is down to a positively Rubenesque 292. He adds that Jordan has trimmed down by 25 lbs. and "looked great" playing in a pickup game last week. Juanita was surely thrilled.

MULDER & SCULLY REDUX

For months JESSICA ALBA--who plays the omni-racial, genetically perfect and tantalizingly saucy character Max Guevara on James Cameron's sci-fi dweeb spectacular Dark Angel--has danced a softshoe around rumors that she and co-star MICHAEL WEATHERLY were dating. She even resorted to the "just good friends" line. This week her publicist confirmed what those in nerddom feared all along: not only are the couple involved, they're engaged. Alba is 20. Weatherly is 32. It seems superfluous to mention that this is Alba's first marriage, but hey, it is. Weatherly, who plays wheelchair-bound cyberjournalist Logan Cale, was married once before, to actress Amelia Heinle. He has previously described Alba as "exceptionally cool." Only a cyberjournalist could be so eloquent.

WHAT WOULD MR. ROPER SAY?