Pittsburgh will play itself -- in all of its Cloud Factory, Lost Neighborhood, Checkpoint of Too Much Fun glory -- in "The Mysteries of Pittsburgh." Unless something unforeseen happens, the movie will not be the one that got away.

	Suzanne Hanover Max Minghella, recently of "Art School Confidential" has been tapped to star in "Mysteries of Pittsburgh." Click photo for larger image.

In April, there was doubt that Pittsburgh would land the movie version of Michael Chabon's novel, but the production company found ways to cut costs, with the help of the city, county and state.

If "Mysteries" had gone elsewhere, it would have been a psychological, moral and financial blow. Chabon told the Post-Gazette at the time, "Look, it's in the title, right? I really hope and pray and wish that it can be worked out."

Director Rawson Marshall Thurber, who also is adapting the novel, will be in town this weekend scouting locations for the film.

It will star Max Minghella, an up-and-coming actor who is the son of "The English Patient" director Anthony Minghella. He will play the lead alongside previously announced actors Peter Sarsgaard and Sienna Miller.

A star of "Art School Confidential," Max Minghella was George Clooney's teenage son in "Syriana" and the religiously rebellious brother of the champion speller in "Bee Season," also featuring Richard Gere and Juliette Binoche.

"I think that we feel pretty confident that Pittsburgh is giving us every reason to make the movie in Pittsburgh. Our issues are more just pleading the financing for the movie now, which we're in the home stretch of," Michael London, CEO of Groundswell Productions, said by phone.

"It's more like when we shoot in Pittsburgh now than if we shoot in Pittsburgh," London added. He has shaved the budget to $6 million to $7 million and hopes to start shooting in early September.

"The city and state were very aggressive in terms of what they offered to us, so part of the scouting trip is just to talk about the nuts and bolts and make sure that we can take advantage of everything they've talked about. It's kind of a fact-finding mission just to be sure that everything that's been discussed we can actually make concrete."

London, who wasn't flying to Pittsburgh on this trip, said the production had been discussing hotel costs, crew rates and the state's grant initiative, which can return 20 percent to a production company.

Vicki Dee Rock, the head of physical production for Groundswell who was production accountant on "The Silence of the Lambs" here, said help was being provided on a number of fronts, from financing the scouting trip to securing office space at very little charge.

Dawn Keezer, director of the Pittsburgh Film Office, said yesterday, "We're thrilled. It's been an exciting process to have the governor's office and county executive's office all step forward to offer them much needed assistance to secure the filming of 'Mysteries' in Pittsburgh, where it belongs.

"We're hopeful that this will bring even more opportunities for more cooperation from these entities to have even more work in the region. Pittsburgh's been fortunate to have some of the lowest union rates in the country," and that, coupled with a change in incentives, could lure other projects.

Starting July 1, the state will offer outright grants rather than tax credits to filmmakers, a change that should make Pennsylvania more attractive in an increasingly competitive world.

The state will provide up to a 20 percent film production grant. Sixty percent of the total expenses of a feature or TV movie, TV pilot or episode must be incurred in the state, and some expenses are eligible (construction, lighting, wardrobe, for instance) and others (marketing and music rights, for instance) are not. The pool of money will be capped at $10 million a year.

"Mysteries" is a coming-of-age story set almost entirely in the East End. It's about a character named Art Bechstein, a University of Pittsburgh economics graduate spending the summer working in a bookstore.

The novel put Chabon on the map and held up a new mirror to the city for natives and newcomers alike. Among the book's most vivid descriptions is the "Cloud Factory," where a building spits out "these great clouds, perfectly white and clean, white as new baseballs."

No details yet on who will handle local hiring or casting.

Truth or dare

Pittsburghers can try to win tickets to a sneak preview or the first weekend showings of "An Inconvenient Truth," the documentary in which Al Gore sounds the alarm about global warming.

PennFuture, the Sierra Club, Group Against Smog and Pollution (GASP) and the United Jewish Federation's Environmental Committee are giving away tickets to Thursday's advance showing at the Manor Theater in Squirrel Hill.

You can register for an online drawing at www.pennfuture.org/movie. You can also try to win passes for the opening weekend, next Friday through June 18.

Allen Kukovich, director of the Governor's Southwest Regional Office, will talk after Thursday's show, and the sponsoring groups will report, briefly, on local efforts to fight global warming.

Wash and watch

The Oaks Theater in Oakmont is offering car washes on a first-come, first-served basis for $12.50.

Buy a ticket to "Cars" Saturday or Sunday and -- space and time permitting -- you can purchase the car wash and air freshener, with the interior vacuumed, along with a $5-off coupon for an oil change from Jiffy Lube in Aspinwall. The Oaks also will give away prizes to one winner at each 7 p.m. showing of "Cars."

In honor of this weekend's late-night screenings of "Napoleon Dynamite" (at midnight Saturday, 10 p.m. Sunday), the Oaks will sell Tater Tots at the concession stand.

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Correction/Clarification: (Published June 10, 2006) There is a $12.50 charge for moviegoers who want to get their cars washed while they watch the movie "Cars" at the Oaks Theater in Oakmont. A story yesterday incorrectly said the service was free.