The New Salman Rushdie?

By Rebecca Winters Keegan

Anyone whose parents named him Albert Einstein knows the impact of a provocative title. So the actor and filmmaker who renamed himself ALBERT BROOKS can't be surprised that his next project is raising some eyebrows even before it's finished. In Looking for Comedy in the Muslim World, which Brooks wrote and is directing, the Broadcast News funnyman plays a comic sent abroad by the U.S. State Department to discover what makes Muslims laugh. Sony Pictures Entertainment passed on distributing the comedy, fearing the title was insensitive, and Brooks fans are debating its offensiveness online. Brooks is keeping mum about the film, due out next year from Warner Independent Pictures. What's Arabic for "focus group"?