DUCK OUT OF WATER

He’s 2-foot-10, 28 years old and likes cigars and beer. He’s Howard the Duck--a tough-talking, no-nonsense waddler from the planet Duck World--and he’s accidentally blasted into another dimension. Ours.

That’s the premise of Lucasfilm’s upcoming “Howard the Duck,” based on the mid-’70s Marvel Comics character. Willard Huyck and Gloria Katz (“Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom”) scripted; Huyck directs.

The live-action movie (with a dab of animation) was super-secretly filmed because Lucasfolk didn’t want you to know there’s a little man inside the duck suit. Due this summer, the story, according to the script we saw, has Howard coming to the aid of a would-be rock star (Lea Thompson), who later helps Howard when some scientists pull the old let’s-dissect-him routine.

While a young good-guy scientist works on a ticket home for Howard, the duck-on-the-run gets a job at a health spa and buys some new duds--including a new wave-style suit and little jammies with duckies on ‘em. He also tries a new haircut (a feather-cut) and comes to appreciate female humans (though he carries around a wallet snapshot of a couple of feathered bikinied cuties). He also downs plenty of brew--but refuses to have eggs in his beer (or on a plate).

The reason: “Whataya think, I’m into cannibalism or something. . . . What’s white and reminds me of my birthday?”