The Super Bowl of 'Survivor'

Imagine such A-list stars as Tom Cruise, Denzel Washington, Julia Roberts, Tom Hanks, Halle Berry, Russell Crowe and Meryl Streep as a bunch of snakes and scoundrels in a movie directed by ... Steven Spielberg.

Talk about a film with humongous box-office potential.

Well, that's what CBS suits are hoping for with "Survivor: All-Stars," the eighth edition of the hit reality series featuring 18 of the game's most memorable castaways competing for a $1 million grand prize and the chest-thumping bragging rights to be called the ultimate survivor.

"This," crows executive producer Mark Burnett, "is our blockbuster."

Call it Cutthroat Island.

CBS is certainly doing everything it can to make sure the latest _ and possibly last _ "Survivor " installment opens big. Taped off the coast of Panama late last year, All-Stars will air immediately after Sunday's Super Bowl, when it'll likely get a super-sized audience.

Yet it remains to be seen whether "All-Stars " can live up to the super hype. Even though the show boasts such unforgettable Type A players as the cunning _ and still naked _ Richard Hatch, mouthy Sue Hawk, toothy Colby Donaldson and manly Rupert Boneham, "All-Stars " could falter under a dreaded been-there-done-that feel.

And don't forget that there's a little soon-to-be-gone sitcom on NBC called "Friends " that will undoubtedly give "All-Stars" fierce competition when they face off Thursday nights.

"With that show winding down, I don't anticipate "Survivor " doing a blockbuster (ratings) number," says Brad Adgate, a senior vice president and research director at Horizon Media, a New York-based media buying company. "While "Survivor" is a bona-fide top 10 hit, there's just a glut of these types of shows. How much of these reality shows can the public stand?"

Burnett isn't worried about answering such questions, considering that "Survivor" has long been considered the "Rolls-Royce" of reality shows.

The idea of producing an all-star "Survivor" has been tossed around for more than a year. When Les Moonves, CBS' head honcho, finally gave the project the green light, Burnett says, pulling the show together went smoothly.

Unlike the intense casting sessions on the previous shows where producers spent months looking at thousands of videotapes from every "Survivor" wannabe, Burnett says, finding the right mix of people for All-Stars was simple.

"I got a yellow legal pad and wrote down 24 names and cut them down to 18," he recalls. "It was just that quick and not that scientific this time."

Two of those names on that original list were cutie-pie Colleen Haskell from the first "Survivor " and the "Australian Outback's" Elisabeth Hasselbeck.

Haskell, however, declined Burnett's invite.

"She just had enough and had moved on in her life and just didn't want to go through that again," he says.

And Hasselbeck (formerly Filarski) passed because she was offered a gig on "The View."

"She made a good choice, huh?" Burnett cracks.

Some of CBS' choices, however, might have viewers scratching their heads. Like Amber Brkich, who registered no kind of impression during her appearance on the "Outback" edition.

Host Jeff Probst admits the mousy Brkich was asked back because she's cute.

And why is Shii Ann, from season 5's "Thailand," returning?

"A lot of people asked, 'Why Shii Ann?' and one of the considerations is going to your producers and saying, 'Who drove the drama?"' Probst says. "Shii Ann was the first person to shoot from the hip and say, 'You're full of s--t, and I'm going to tell you at Tribal Council.'"

Although "All-Stars " will have familiar faces and challenges, the big difference is that this edition will feature 18 players instead of 16 and three tribes (Chapera, Saboga, Mogo Mogo named after the Panamanian islands) instead of two.

If Burnett has any big twists in store, he's keeping them under wraps. He acknowledges, though, that he took a perverse delight in playing with the contestants' heads.

"When the all-stars showed up, they could not have been more paranoid," he says. "They'd watched all of these seasons and were expecting us to do crazy things right off the bat. It allowed us just to play pretty much the original game. Their own imaginations did them in."

Knowing what to expect this time _ or believing they did _ many players took great strides to prepare. Reportedly the acid-tongued Rob Cesternino hired a personal trainer while the pushy Kathy Vavrick-O'Brien joined forces with a corporate therapist to determine whom she would get along with.

Probst isn't surprised.

"We told them, 'You better come strong,''' he says. "You say you're the best, so you better know how to build fire. You better know how to build a shelter, and you better damn well know how to source food."

Probst also points out that the players have no reason to gripe about getting beat by an unsuspected player.

"You've all played," Probst told them. "The under-the-radar thing? Don't bitch about it. Get rid of them. The too likable? Then get rid of them. A mother, whatever. There's no excuse. So far as I'm concerned, whoever wins this game, they beat what we consider 18 of the best people to ever play the game. And I'm sure they'll take the bragging rights for life."

Let the game begin.