To Russia With Love

Quincy Jones was off to Russia last week to continue the film producing career that began with “The Color Purple.” He’s co-producing the $50-million, Russian-financed “Stalingrad,” which begins a six-month shoot this week, moving later to Czechoslovakia. Jones told us it’s the first film totally financed by the Soviet government to have a distribution deal with a major American company--Warner Bros.

“This is the essence of glasnost ,” Jones told us. “I think God really wanted this project to happen. It represented the same spirit that infused (the song) ‘We Are the World.’ ”

The epic stars Powers Boothe as a Russian general who rallies troops against a Nazi attack on his city--Stalingrad--during World War II. Soviet Yuri Ozerov writes and directs.

Jones said he’s also set to co-produce with the Soviets the biopic “Pushkin,” which could shoot next year.