By Dan Cox

HOLLYWOOD (Variety) - Call it dueling shutterbugs.

Two projects about the real-life ``Bang Bang Club'' -- a group of four daredevil war photographers in South Africa -- are currently in development and racing to go into production.

Not so strangely, both are titled ``The Bang Bang Club.'' But a major rights fight is expected between Emilio Estevez's Avatar Entertainment and the producing team of A.J. Barber and Jo Jo Marr's Arrival Entertainment.

The squabble raises the thorny issue of distinguishing rights. In a story about four separate individuals, does buying the rights to one provide access to all four?

Estevez is planning to direct and star in his version, which is expected to start shooting April 6, 1998. Robert Orr wrote the script.

Rivals Barber and Marr have signed South African indie helmer Michael Oblowitz (''This World, Then the Fireworks'') to direct their version of the international political drama. The pair has a script penned by Barber and Pete Riesenberg, but it has no financing in place yet.

The dueling pictures are both based on the actual Bang Bang Club, a fearsome foursome that thrived on dodging bullets, ''getting the shots'' and covering wars. One of them, Ken Oosterbroek, was killed by a stray bullet from peacekeeping forces in South Africa on the eve of the country's first free elections. Another, Kevin Carter, committed suicide.

The remaining two survivors, Greg Marinovich and Joao Silva, sold the rights to their story to Barber and Marr and are consultants on the project.

Estevez, meanwhile, nabbed rights from Oosterbroek's wife and Carter's family. Sources close to Estevez said that in his version Marinovich and Silva are fictionalized characters.

``He has no rights at all,'' Marr said of the Estevez project. ``It's got our characters.''

Estevez's reps counter that much of the story of the foursome is in the public domain, having been chronicled heavily by the news media.

``We're under the impression that there is no real rights issue,'' said Peter Richards, Estevez's attorney. ``Most of it is in the public domain and two of the main characters are dead.''

Sources said that Estevez and Barber-Marr had discussions late last year about teaming up on the project, but couldn't come to an understanding.

Reuters/Variety

07:53 11-26-97