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Thursday, 17^th May 2012

Keira Knightley, soon to be seen opposite Steve Carell in Seeking A Friend For The End Of The World, is apparently gearing up to replace Scarlett Johansson on Can A Song Save Your Life?  The film is currently being touted for sale at Cannes and is set to be directed by Once director John Carney.  The film tells the story of a female singer, played by Knightley, who moves to New York only to be dumped by her boyfriend and then discovered by a producer, to potentially be played by Mark Ruffalo.  Johansson has apparently pulled out for personal reasons, we just hope it’s not because Ruffalo went all green and angry on her in Avengers before chasing her around a flying aircraft carrier.  Another Oscar nominee Hailee Steinfeld is also on board to play Ruffalo’s daughter while Knocked Up director Judd Apatow is on producing duties.  Knightley has recently finished work on her third collaboration with director Joe Wright on his adaptation of Anna Karenina.  Source – The Playlist

Morgan Freeman, soon to be seen as Lucius Fox in Christopher Nolan’s concluding part in the Batman trilogy The Dark Knight Rises, has joined the cast of old-men-in-Vegas comedy Last Vegas.  He joins the already cast Michael Douglas and Robert De Niro.  The film sounds like an OAP version of The Hangover as the old men head to Vegas for one final hurrah before Douglas’ character gets married.  However, while there, and under the influence of alcohol, Douglas and De Niro’s character try to settle a score over an old love rivalry.  National Treasure director Jon Turteltaub is marshalling the film and trying to make sure all Zimmer-frames are kept in order.  Source – Deadline Hollywood

Jude Law, last seen as one half of the super-sleuth duo in Sherlock Holmes: Game Of Shadows, has signed on to star in Dom Hemmingway.  Law will play the titular character who is an expert safe cracker with a short temper but quick and profane humour.  Recently released from prison Hemmingway he’s looking to get what he’s owed for keeping quiet about his last job.  Richard E Grant is also on board to star though it’s not clear what part he will play.  The film is currently at Cannes trying to drum up funding and is the latest project from The Matador director Richard Shepard.  Law is currently filming Steve Soderbergh’s Bitter Pill before we see him next opposite Keira Knightley in Anna Karenina.    Source – The Hollywood Reporter

Joss Whedon, currently the toast of all things cinema with The Cabin In The Woods being brilliantly bonkers and The Avengers now climbing to 9^th on the all time top grossing films list, has been talking about the potential of directing the sequel to Avengers.  Whedon told The Los Angeles Times that he’s “torn” on the matter.  On the one hand he says it takes a lot of time and he’s essentially telling someone else’s story but at the same time says he has “a bunch of ideas” he’d be interested in pursuing with the team of superheroes.  One of those ideas is he would like more female action roles in not only Avengers 2 but also film in general sighting The Hunger Games as a film led by a strong female character.  This is the man who bore Buffy after all.  Of course it remains to be seen if the producers of the film will ask Whedon back but based on the box-office takings and the job he did juggling all those huge characters it would seem only reasonable to ask the master back.  Source – Hero Complex   

James Badge Dale, recently seen as Michael Fassbender’s boss in Shame and soon to be seen opposite Brad Pitt in World War Z, has joined the cast of Iron Man 3.  Badge Dale will play the Marvel character Eric Savin, a Lieutenant Colonel in the US Army who steps on a land mine.  Undergoing cybernetic surgery Savin is reborn as the cyborg Coldblood.  Now lets be honest with a name like that he hardly sounds like a warm and cuddly friend for Tony Stark to snuggle up with.  Robert Downey Jr, Gwyneth Paltrow and Don Cheadle are all returning for the third instalment and are being joined by Guy Pearce, Ben Kingsley and Rebecca Hall.  Lethal Weapon scribe Shane Black is taking over directing duties from Jon Favreau.  Source – Variety

Joel Edgerton, the star of Warrior and soon to be seen in Baz Luhrmann’s The Great Gatsby, has written and will star in thriller Felony.  The story will see Edgerton as a police officer who, after a night out drinking with his colleges having apprehended a gang, knocks a young cyclist off the road.  When other officers arrive to take his statement he tells them a lie about what really happened and in so doing sets off a chain of events which will change all their lives.  Matthew Saville will direct the film.  Source – Coming Soon

 

Wednesday, 16^th May 2012

Idris Elba, best known for his role as Stringer Bell in The Wire and soon to be seen in Prometheus, has confirmed that after he plays Nelson Mandela in A Long Walk To Freedom he will return for duty in Thor 2.  He will of course be returning as the gate keeper of Asgard Heimdall although not even he has read the script so is unable to tell the world any more about what we can expect from the Norse god sequel.  Before all that though Elba will be seen in Guillermo Del Toro’s Pacific Rim followed by kidnap thriller No Good Deed.  Source – Collider

Amy Adams, recently seen on comedic duties in The Muppets, is heading to more serious territory with Dark Places.  Adams will play a young girl whose family were murdered when she was seven.  At the time she testified that her brother was the culprit but years later a group into suspicious cases starts to ask her questions about the events of that night which brings up repressed memories.  Gilles Paquet-Brenner will direct the film from his own script which in turn is based on the book by Gillian Fiynn.  Although Adams is set to star there is no start date for the production.  But before that Adams has just finished starring opposite Clint Eastwood for Trouble With The Curve before moving onto Paul Thomas Anderson’s The Master and finally playing Louis Lane in The Man Of Steel.  Source – Variety

Anthony Hopkins, currently playing the legendary director Alfred Hitchcock, is close to finally star in supernatural drama Solace.  The script, which was originally touted as a potential sequel to David Fincher’s Se7en, has gone through numerous writers and changes over the years.  The current incarnation will have no connection to Se7en and will see Hopkins play a psychic doctor helping the FBI find a serial killer.  The latest draft is written by Peter Morgan with Afonso Poyart slated to direct.  Source – Variety

Aaron Sorkin, the Oscar winning writer of The Social Network and TV god of such shows as The West Wing and Sports Night, has finally agreed to write the script based on Walter Isaacson’s best selling book Steve Jobs.  What’s that you say?  There’s already a film about Steve Jobs in the works with Ashton Kutcher playing the role?  Studio Sony don’t seem to care.  For one Isaacson’s book is a best seller and considered the definitive book on Jobs as it is based on interviews with the man himself as well as those closest to him.  And frankly if you’ve got the man behind The Social Network on script duties you can be damn sure it’s going to have bite, humour and dark undertones to proceedings.  Sorkin had been approached back in November to write the film but has been kept busy with his new HBO drama The Newsroom.  You suspect Sony felt he was the only man who could pull off the script so waited, courting him like a horny teenager would his prom date.  Source – The Hollywood Reporter

Martin Scorsese, currently gearing up to shoot The Wolf Of Wall Street with Leonardo DiCaprio and Jonah Hill, has put his name on the producing roster for Silver Ghost.  The film tells a love story unfolding around the genesis of Rolls-Royce cars.  The story will tell of Lord Montagu Of Beaulieu who had an affair with his secretary Eleanor Thornton who he would later use as inspiration for the famous Rolls-Royce hood ornament The Spirit Of Ecstasy.  There is no director in place yet but Lord Richard Attenborough and Anthony Haas are producing with Scorsese.  Source – Zuma Productions

Chris Pine, best known as the Captain of the Starship Enterprise James Tiberius Kirk in the latest Star Trek movie, has found the time to pen a script of his own which he now plans on starring in as well.  The script in question is Mantivities which sees a group of 30-something men who refuse to grow up despite the reality of life staring them in the face.  That is until they decide to help on of their number mature.  Pine wrote the movie with (deep breath) Will Greenberg, Drew Howerton, Robert Baker, Tony Liebtrau and Ian Gotler.  Pine told Deadline he had such a great time writing with all his friends that he can’t wait to start filming.  How that many writers combined to write a single script is anyone’s guess, unless each writer wrote a character each?  Before that we’ll see Pine in People Like Us and hear him in animated movie Guardians.  Source – Deadline Hollywood  

Dominic Cooper, last seen in My Week With Marilyn and soon to be seen in Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter, is close to signing on to star alongside Pierce Brosnan in November Man.  The story, based on the book There Are No Spies by Bill Granger, sees a former CIA operative, played by Brosnan, brought back into the fray in order to take on a former apprentice of his as well as high ranking CIA officers and the Russian political system.  Granger has a series of books so if the film is a success there is room for a blossoming franchise.  The film has been something of a pet project for Brosnan for some time and, in his producing role, has hired his Dante’s Peak director Roger Donaldson to direct.  Source – The Hollywood Reporter

Isabelle Fuhrman, best known as the creepy girl in Orphan and recently seen in The Hunger Games, has been cast in the long gestating remake of Dario Argento’s Suspiria.  Writer and director David Gordon Green, best known for more comedic outings like Pineapple Express and The Sitter, says the story will loosely follow the original film’s plot of seeing a young girl travel to Europe to attend a prestigious dance school.  While there strange events take place and she soon begins to realise the school is run by a coven of witches.  Sounds like most schools really.  Before that Fuhrman will be seen opposite Will Smith in M. Night Shyamalan’s After Earth sci-fi.  Source – Variety

Scott Z. Burns, the writer behind Steven Soderbergh’s viral disaster movie Contagion, is rumoured to have been hired to write the sequel Rise Of The Planet Of The Apes.  The film was release last year and cost around $93 Million to make and went on to gross $481.8 Million at the global box-office those are pretty good numbers for any film so a sequel was always to be expected.  The new film will apparently see the apes gaining power and becoming society’s ruling species.  Original director Rupert Wyatt and Andy Serkis, who did the motion capture for lead ape Caesar, are both expected to return for the follow-up.  Source – Heat Vision

 

Tuesday, 15^th May 2012

Taylor Lautner, the star of Twilight and, um, Abduction, is not ready to give up on the action genre just yet as he’s signed on to star in Tracers.  The film will see Lautner as a New York bike courier who owes a debt to the leader of a drugs ring.  All seems to be going wrong until he meets a sexy stranger who introduces him to the world of Parkour, or freerunning.  Then it turns out he’s adopted, oh wait that’s a different film, with an equally ridiculous plot.  Not surprisingly this film comes from Mary Bowen and Wyck Godfrey two of the producers of Twilight.   Lautner will next be seen in, you guessed it, Twilight Breaking Dawn Part 2.  Source – Deadline

Robert Downey Jr, currently part of the team shattering box-office records as Iron Man in The Avengers, is being linked to star in action comedy El Presidente.  The film, written by Parks And Recreation staff writer Dan Goor, sees a secret service agent assigned to guard a former President.  Depressed at having to take such a boring detail things changed when a threat is made against his annoying new boss.  The rumour is Tom Cruise is firmly attached to the film which would imply that Cruise would be the body guard while Downey Jr would be able to play all Tony Stark as the sleazy ex-President.  Meet The Parents director Jay Roach is being courted to direct the film but at the moment no formal offers have been made.  At one point the film looked likely to star Cruise with Nicholson in the President role so things could still change.  Source – Vulture

Channing Tatum, recently seen in 21 Jump Street and soon to be seen stripping in Magic Mike, is in talks to join action thriller White House Down.  The film is being directed by the man famous for blowing up the White House in Independence Day Roland Emmerich.  The script has been written by Amazing Spider-Man co-writer James Vanderbilt and, while plot details are sketchy, will likely see a group of terrorists take over the home of the President with only one secret service agent, presumably Tatum, able to stop them.  So Die Hard meets Air Force One.  Source – The Hollywood Reporter

Alan Rickman, last seen in Harry Potter And The Deathly Hallows Part 2, is set to star in his Bottle Shock director Randall Miller’s next film.  The film will tell the story of CBGB club owner Hilly Kristal who opened the now famous New York club in the 1970s for Country, Bluegrass and Blues Music.  But when artists of those genres were scarce on the ground he opened it up it up for local talent which saw the likes of Patti Smith and The Ramones get their big breaks there.   Miller had been gearing up to shoot another music biopic with Aaron Eckhart playing Beach Boy Dennis Wilson in The Drummer but with production pushed back on that until the autumn Miller has looked to fill the void with this project.  The Hollywood Reporter

David Yates, the director behind the final four Harry Potter movies, has had to pull out of directing his Harry Potter star Emma Watson in the film Your Voice In My Head.  The reason is not down to the usual scheduling or creative differences but due to a family health situation.  Studio Warner Brothers are anxious to push ahead with the project which will see Watson as a girl who attempts suicide and the cancer suffering psychiatrist who helps her.  Stanley Tucci had been rumoured to be attached to the latter role but it remains to be seen if will still appear.  Source – Deadline Hollywood

 

Monday, 14^th May 2012

The Avengers, the collective of heroes consisting of Thor, Captain America, Iron Man, Hulk, Hawkeye, Black Widow and a partridge in a pear tree, has now passed the $1 Billion mark at the global box-office in just 19 Days!  This weekend in America the film grossed $103.2 Million the only film in history to pass the $100 Million mark in consecutive weekends.  Who cares you ask?  Well put into perspective the film has now surpassed The Dark Knight’s total global box-office and has already moved to number 11 in the all time highest grossing films.  IN JUST 19 DAYS!  And the film is still to be released in Japan who have to wait till August 17^th.  Not surprisingly Disney and Marvel have already green-lit Avengers 2.  Source – Coming Soon

Alec Baldwin, soon to be seen in Woody Allen’s To Rome With Love, obviously made an impression on Allen as he is set to take role in the writer director’s next film.  Little is known about the project other than it will see Allen return to America having made his last few films in Europe.  Sally Hawkins is attached to star with Cate Blanchett and Bradley Cooper also in talks to star.  In other news Baldwin is also reuniting with his Rock Of Ages star Russell Brand in the comedy Man That Rocks The Cradle.  The film sees a man hire a super-nanny to look after his kids but is surprised when the nanny turns out to be a Manny.  Yes it sounds like someone has ripped-off an episode of Friends again.  It would seem that Baldwin would play the father with Brand as the nanny but there’s not concrete information on that front.  The script is currently being re-written with the two stars in mind.  Source – Deadline Hollywood

Neil Marshall, one of the members of the Splat-pack thanks to films like Dog Soldiers, The Descent and Centurion, is the latest name attached to direct The Last Voyage Of The Demeter.  The film charts the journey made by the boat which transported Dracula from Transylvania.  In Bram Stoker’s book the ship arrives in England with all the crew missing bar the captain who is roped to the helm.  In the script, Bragi Schut,  the story is told from the point of view of the Russian crew and takes a similar tone as Ridley Scott’s Alien as the crew begin to realise they have taken something deadly onboard.  Hard Candy director David Slade had originally been set to direct the film but it now seems to have fallen to fellow Brit Marshall.  Source – The Hollywood Reporter

Luke Wilson, brother to Owen and star of films like The Royal Tenenbaums, Old School and My Super Ex-Girlfriend, has signed on to star in The Invitation.  The film, which also stars Star Trek’s Zachary Quinto, Topher Grace, and The Big Bang’s Johnny Galecki, will see Wilson’s character invited to a dinner at his ex-wife’s house.  Once there he becomes convinced that something insidious has taken hold of her and her other guests and once the night is out it will become clear that the events of the evening stretch far beyond the dinner party.  Jennifer’s Body’s Karyn Kusama will call the shots on the film.  Source – XYZ Films via Coming Soon

Michelle Monaghan, recently seen in Source Code and briefly as Tom Cruise’s girlfriend in Mission Impossible; Ghost Protocol, has joined Owen Wilson and Pierce Brosnan in The Coup.  The film sees and American family move to South-East Asia and find themselves in a violent military coup.  Monaghan will play Wilson’s wife with Brosnan a shadowy government agent who agrees to help them escape the country.  Devil and Quarantine director Erick Dowdle will call the shots.  Source – Crime Scene Pictures via Coming Soon

 

Friday, 11^th May 2012

Chloe Moretz, currently to be seen opposite Johnny Depp in Dark Shadows, is looking to play the zombie daughter of Paddy Considine in the film Maggie.  The film will see an undead virus sweeping across the USA.  Moretz will play Maggie a mid-West girl who catches the virus.  However, her family, and in particular her father Considine, refuses to give up hope of her fighting the disease as she slowly turns into one of the undead.  The script by John Scott 3 (yup he’s a sequel, the man has a number in his name) made 2011’s Black List.  The film is being directed by Henry Hobson and looking to sell at this year’s Cannes Film Festival.  It’s safe to say that with her upcoming role in the Carrie remake and having already played an pint sized assassin and vampire Moretz has a penchant for the darker side of filmmaking.  Source – Variety

Rachel McAdams, star of The Notebook and The Vow, is looking likely to star in Richard ‘Love Actually’ Curtis’ return to directing About Time.  The film is a romantic comedy about a guy, to be played by Domhnall Gleeson who discovers he can travel back in time.  But his new founds ability might cause more harm than good when he meets the girl of his dreams McAdams.  Zooey Deschanel had been ear-marked for the role but she looks to have pulled out of the running.  It makes sense for McAdams how has a little experience with time travelling lovers having starred in The Time Traveller’s Wife.  She’ll next be seen in Terrence Malick’s as yet untitled next project.  Source – The Hollywood Reporter

Catherine Zeta-Jones, soon to be seen in Rock Of Ages opposite a head-banging Tom Cruise, is in talks to star in RED 2.  The sequel to the sleeper hit which saw Bruce Willis, John Malkovich and Helen Mirren as Retired Extremely Dangers former government agents.  All the above names as well as Mary-Louise Parker are set to return for the second outing which will see the agents heading to Europe to battle bad-guys.  There’s no word on who Zeta-Jones will play but with Galaxy Quest director Dean Parisot calling the shots it should be a fun adventure.  Source – Deadline Hollywood

Cameron Diaz and Benicio Del Toro, soon to be seen in What To Expect When You’re Expecting and Savages, have both signed to star in Agent: Century 21.  The story, pray they change the title, will follow Diaz as a woman down on her luck after a divorce.  In an attempt to keep her kids and her real estate job she agrees to do a favour for her boss which sees her kidnapped and caught in the middle of a drug war with some Mexicans and the FBI.  Through trial and error she must clear her name, save the day and make it home in time to feed the kids.  Stuart Little writer Greg Brooker has penned the script with Adam Hashemi making this his feature film debut.  Source – Coming Soon

Paddington Bear, the much loved children’s character created by Michael Bond, is getting closer to a new film adaptation thanks to Harry Potter producer David Heyman.  He’s now hired Mighty Boosh veteran Paul King to write and direct the film which will be a live-action with CGI motion-capture for Paddington himself.  No word on specific plot details yet but Paddington is one of those much loved children’s characters who would surely attract an audience, after all the terrible Yogi Bear did and Paddington could kick his ass any day of the week.  Source – The Hollywood Reporter

Guillermo Del Toro, the man behind Pan’s Labyrinth and the upcoming Pacific Rim, is set to co-direct a stop-motion interpretation of Pinocchio with Fantastic Mr. Fox animation Director Mark Gustfason.  The film will be shot in 3D and based on Carlo Collodi’s classic tale of a puppet brought to life who dreams of becoming a real boy.  Del Toro has form in the animation stakes having recently executive produced for Dream Works on Puss In Boots and Kung Fu Panda 2, but this will mark his first foray into animation direction.  Source – Coming Soon

 

Thursday, 10th May 2012

Selena Gomez and Vanessa Hudgens, two actresses firmly seen as sweet and adorable due to their Disney connections with Wizards Of Waverly Place and High School Musical Films, have gone bad.  Really bad judging by the latest pictures released from their upcoming movie Spring Breakers.  The film sees a group of girls arrested for robbing a restaurant in order to fund their spring break.  They are bailed out by a drug dealer, being played by James Franco, who needs them to do some of his dirty work for him.  Although the film does not have a distributor yet these pictures will certainly go some way of drumming up publicity, be it good or bad.  Source – Interview Magazine.

Simon Pegg, Nick Frost and Edgar Wright, the brains and star power behind hit films Shaun Of The Dead and Hot Fuzz, are reuniting to complete the Cornetto Trilogy with the final instalment The World’s End.  Due to all three’s meteoric rise after the success of Dead and Fuzz the film has been long delayed but news now comes that they will start shooting this September for a 2013 release.  Furthermore a few plot details have also been revealed.  The film will follow five friends who reunite in order to complete a pub crawl in their home town 20 years after they all went their separate ways.  The gang is led by 40 year-old Gary King, presumably to be played by Pegg or Frost, who refuses to grow up.  Said pub crawl ends at a pub called World’s End but along their way they discover that humanity’s future is at stake.  Pegg recently tweeted something about ‘plasma’, either he’s in the market for a new TV or could he be hinting at aliens and the like?  So what do you think Filmjuicers?  How is the final part of the Cornetto trilogy shaping up?  Source – Deadline Hollywood

Roman Polanski, who last directed Carnage and never far from controversy himself, is set to make D, based on The Dreyfus Affair, his next project.  In 1894 Captain Alfred Dreyfus one of the very few Jewish within the French Army was secretly tried and court marshalled for passing secrets to the Germans.  He was sent to Devil’s Island for a life sentence.  However, Colonel Georges Picquart, the new leader of French counter-intelligence, soon realised the actual criminal was still at large so started proceedings to have Dreyfus released.  Of course justice never runs smooth and Picquart was then framed for crimes he didn’t commit.  The case became one of the most talked about things in the world at the time and it was a full twelve years before Dreyfus was cleared of all charges.  It’s the sort of subject that Polanski, ever the persecuted, revels in with films like The Pianist under his belt.  Robert Harris, a long term Polanski collaborator, will pen the script.  Source – Coming Soon

Hayley Atwell, the star and love interest of Captain America, has signed on to star in the sequel to 10 Things I Hate About You.  Given the original film was made over 13 years ago it seems odd that a ‘sequel’ should suddenly be put into development.  The reality is it’s unlikely to be a sequel, after all it doesn’t look likely to star Julia Stiles and the supremely talented Heath Ledger is no longer with us.  However, original director Gil Junger was recently inspired by a man who committed suicide, as is want to inspire anyone, by leaping from a scenic overlook. In the new 10 Things two ordinary people both arrive at the same place at the same time to end their lives and their encounter is saw awkward they decide to postpone their demise.  The original film is Junger’s most successful film and he was also involved in the attempted TV spin-off from the film in 2009.  Atwell meanwhile will next be seen opposite Ray Winstone in The Sweeney.  Source – Variety

Paul Rudd, last seen in Wanderlust and soon to be seen in Knocked Up spin-off This Is 40, has signed on to star in They Came Together.  The film, from Wanderlust director David Wain, will poke fun at the clichés of the rom-com genre and see Rudd as a man who meets a girl, to be played by Parks And Recreation’s Amy Poehler, and immidiatley dislikes her as his company is trying to shut down her small business.  Of course they then embark on an on-again-off-again romance.  Wanderlust did less than stellar work at the box-office so Wain is going smaller on this script writing with his fellow Wet Hot American Summer scribe Michael Showalter.  Source – Variety  

Stephen Frears, the director of The Queen and High Fidelity, could be swapping one Queen for another with news that he might direct the film based on Queen front man Freddie Mercury.  The film is set to star Sacha Baron Cohen as Mercury and has been penned by The Queen writer Peter Morgan.  The film will cover the early years of the legendary rock band leading up to their Live Aid appearance in 1985, with Mercury dying just six years later after complications from AIDS.  Cohen certainly has the larger than life mentality to bring Mercury to life.  Source – Variety

Luke Evans, last seen in Immortals and soon to be seen in The Hobbit films, has official signed on to play the villain in Fast & Furious 6.  Evans joins Vin Diesel, Paul Walker, Dwayne Johnson and Michelle Rodriguez for the film being directed by Fast & Furious veteran Justin Lin.  The only plot details imply we will see the gang travel to a country to pull off a heist with Evans leading a rival gang also trying to pull of the same robbery.  Source – Variety

 

Wednesday, 9^th May 2012

The Avengers, keeps smashing box-office records having just past the $702 Million mark at the global box-office, is now gearing up for a not entirely unexpected sequel.  With Iron Man 3, Thor 2, Captain America 2 and potentially a new Hulk film in the works the Avengers sequel was always likely to be in the pipeline but with the success of the first film makes that a certainty.  Indeed anyone who stayed for the post-credits sequence will realise Avengers was always destined for a likely follow-up although at this early stage there is no word on who might be attached to write and direct.  On Thor’s hammer pray it’s Joss Whedon again as few filmmakers out there can juggle those characters as well as he did.  All we really know for certain is Disney head honcho, Bob Iger, has said Avengers 2 is ‘in the works’.  Quite what that means is anyone’s guess; perhaps Stark Industries is literally building the sequel.  Source – The Hollywood Reporter

Iron Man 3, the latest film in the Robert Downey Jnr starring franchise, may have lost Jessica Chastain yesterday due to scheduling issues but is now looking to recruit Rebecca Hall to its ranks.  The plot is being guarded tightly by Stark Industry employees but Hall is widely expected to play a sexy scientist who may come between Tony Stark and his lady Pepper Potts.  If she signs Hall will join the already cast Ben Kingsley, Guy Pearce and Andy Lau as well as the returning Downy Jnr, Gwyneth Paltrow and Don Cheadle.  Shane Black, of Lethal Weapon fame, is co-writing and directing the film.  Source – The Hollywood Reporter

Kick Ass, the film based on Mark Millar’s comic book series, is looking like it might be getting sequel.  Original director Matthew Vaughn has been overseeing writer Jeff Wadlow as he works on the latest instalment in the franchise.  Vaughn has had to pass on directing the new film due to his commitment to direct a certain X-Men First Class 2.  So Wadlow, who is currently about to direct Air Marshall thriller Non-Stop, will also call the shots.  One big question hangs over the availability of the original cast with the likes of Chloe Moretz and Aaron Johnson all being fairly busy after their break-out success on the first film.  If they can make space on their schedules it is expected that they will return.  Although the first film was not a smash at the box-office it did make $103 Million from a budget of just $28 Million which is the kind of return Universal are likely to want to see again.  Source – Deadline Hollywood

Vince Vaughn, soon to be seen alongside Ben Stiller and Jonah Hill in Neighbourhood Watch, is in talks to star in the remake of Canadian film Starbuck.  The film follows David Wozniak who as a sperm donor known as Starbuck discovers that he has fathered more than 500 children.  When a group of said children get a petition together to find out who their biological father is he must decide whether he wants them to know who he is, all the while his girlfriend is trying to decide if she’s happy for him to be the father of their potential child.  Before all that Vaughn will re-team with his Wedding Crashers co-star for The Internship.  Source – Variety

Nicole Kidman, last seen opposite Nic Cage in Trespass and soon to be seen in Stoker, has signed to star in The Family Fang.  Reuniting with Rabbit Hole writer David Lindsay-Abaire the pair will adapt the book by Kevin Wilson.  The book follows two parents who routinely use their children as part of their performance art.  When the kids grow up they blame all their parents for their misfortunes and yet find themselves sucked into one last performance.  Lindsay-Abaire recently scripted Oz: The Great And The Powerful for Sam Raimi while Kidman has just started shooting The Railway Man opposite Colin Firth.  Source – Deadline Hollywood

Nicolas Cage and Juno Temple, stars of Leaving Las Vegas and Cracks, have signed up to star in Wilde Side.  Temple will play a former beauty queen, Lila Belle Clyde, who is trying to escape New Orleans with some stolen diamonds.  Cage will be a vengeful madman who stole the diamonds in the first place and will stop at nothing to get them back.  Jack Ass Johnny Knoxville is also attached to play a part in the film.  Source – Deadline Hollywood

Clark Gregg, better known to many as Agent Phil Coulson from The Avengers, has joined the cast of Jason Reitman’s new film Labor Day. The film will follow Kate Winslet and her son Gatlin Griffith who find themselves offering sanctuary to an escaped convict in the menacing shape of Josh Brolin.  Brolin, rather than threaten the family, becomes a surrogate like father to the boy.  Reitman adapted the script from Joyce Maynard’s book and will start shooting next month.  There’s no word on who Gregg will play yet but we’re hoping he turns up to try and recruit the ‘family’ to an initiative called, oh wait a minute.  Source – The Hollywood Reporter

David Slade, the director behind 30 Days Of Night and Hard Candy, not to mention a small film called Twilight Eclipse, is set to direct psychological thriller Villain.  The story follows two brothers confronting their dark past in an unforgiving wilderness.  The production is currently looking for the two leads for the film.  The script is by new Robocop scribe Josh Zetumer.  Source – Wayfare Entertainment via Coming Soon

Nick Cassavetes, the director behind Alpha Dog and The Notebook, is set to call the shots on Kirsten Stewart staring thriller Cali.  The film will see Stewart, with the aid of the boyfriend, fake her own death throw the use of a snuff movie.  Years later though she must return home in order to save her sisters.  The script is from 30 Minutes Or Less scribe Michael Diliberti.  Source – Variety

Sean Bean, last seen in Mirror Mirror and Clean Skin, will take the lead role in the first of a planned trilogy based on the books by Deon Meyer.  The first book in the series Devil’s Peak sees protagonist Ben Griessel, a detective in Cape Town’s Violent Crimes Unit, tracking down a serial killer.  The problem is Griessel is a suffering alcoholic who is also trying to get his wife and kids back.  No word on who will direct yet but it could spell a potential franchise for Bean who has a habit of being the first major character to always be offed in other franchises, like Lord Of The Rings and SPOILER Game Of Thrones.  Source – Variety

 

Tuesday, 8^th May 2012

The Avengers, the Marvel film that brings Thor, Hulk, Captain America and Iron Man all to one party, is a, to quote Hulk, “SMASH” at the box-office.  Having already done pretty stellar work across the globe it opened State side this weekend and did, well it broke the record for the biggest opening weekend of all time, beating out Harry Potter And The Deathly Hallows Part 2 with an estimated $207.4 Million opening weekend.  For those not in the know, that’s huge.  That means the film is pushing the $640 Million mark at the global box-office and that is before the film has opened in Japan.  In other words a certain Mr. James Cameron’s $1 Billion takings for films like Avatar and Titanic are potentially there for the taking of breaking the biggest grossing film of all time.  Source – Box Office Mojo

James Cameron, having just dived to the deepest part of the oceans in The Mariana Trench, seems to be diving further and further into the world of Avatar.  Cameron told The New York Times that with all his expeditions and the length of time he spent making Avatar he has basically abandoned the development side of his production company.  He then went on to declare “I’m in the Avatar business” insisting that while Avatar 2 and 3 are in the works he might even go so far as to make a 4^th film in the big blue alien franchise.  The reason behind sticking to the one franchise is Cameron believes within the world of Pandorum he can say everything he wants to about the world, the state it’s in and what we need to do about it, all in an entertaining way.  So what do you think Filmjuicers?  Ready to take a potentially three more film long trip to Pandorum or is that too much?  Source – The New York Times

Arnold Schwarzenegger, soon to be seen in Expendables 2 before heading to The Tomb to also star with Sylvester Stallone, has signed on to star in David Ayer’s Ten.  The film will see an elite DEA team who deals with the world’s deadliest drug cartels.  Then they decided to steal some ill-gotten gains from one of the cartels and believe they’ve got away with it.  That is until one by one they all start being killed off!  Is anyone else having Commando flashbacks at this point?  No, okay, moving on.  Ayer is best known for directing Keanu Reeves starring Street Kings and writing Training Day.  His next film, starring Jake Gyllenhaal, End Of Watch is coming out towards the end of this year.  Source – Open Road Films via Coming Soon

Jonah Hill, Oscar nominated for his star turn in Moneyball and soon to be seen in Neighbourhood Watch, has joined the cast of Martin Scorsese’s The Wolf Of Wall Street.  Hill will play Danny Porush who is convinced by best friend Jordan Belfort, being played by Leonardo DiCaprio, to quit his badly paid furniture sales job and join him in the lucrative world on the stock market.  From there the two lived the hedonistic life-style of the 1990s with more money than God spending it all on women and drugs before Belfort eventually succumbed to alcoholism and served 20 months in prison for financial fraud and corruption.  The film is based on Belfort’s memoirs with the script by Boardwalk Empire and Sopranos writer Terence Hill.  Source – The Hollywood Reporter

Jessica Chastain, the Oscar nominated actress of The Help, had looked like she was set to star in Iron Man 3 opposite Robert Downey Jnr and Guy Pearce but has now had to pull out of the running for the role of a sexy scientist.  The reason behind her having to bail on the project is due to her already fit to bursting schedule.  That leaves the part open for a host of other actresses to now be talked about for the part.  Shane Black is calling the shots on the latest instalment.  Source – Jessica Chastain via Coming Soon. 

Brendan Gleeson and Abbie Cornish, stars of In Bruges and Sucker Punch, are set to star alongside each other in writer director Brad Siberling’s An Ordinary Man.  The film will tell the story of a war criminal in hiding who begins to fall for his only human contact, his maid.  The film is described as a cat and mouse like thriller with the two actors going firmly toe-to-toe with each other.  Siberling is best known for directing City Of Angels and Lemony Snicket’s A Series Of Unfortunate Events.  Source – Radiant Film International via Coming Soon

Tommy Lee Jones, soon to be seen in Men In Black 3 this summer, is gearing up to step behind the camera again with Homesman.  The last time Lee Jones directed was for the under-seen but broodingly good The Three Burials Of Melquiades Estrada.  Homesman will tell the story of a frontier woman teaming up with an ambitious prospector come claim-jumper and together they try and escort three insane women from Nebraska to Iowa.  It’s the kind of dark and disturbing Western that Lee Jones looks to be made for.  He’s currently in the process trying to raise funding for the project.  Source – Variety

Henry Joost and Ariel Schulman, the directors behind Catfish and the latest Paranormal Activity instalment, are turning their attention Edward Abbey’s graphic novel The Monkey Wrench Gang.  The story follows four men who are determined to put an end to over-development in America.  While three agree not to harm any living soul in their eco-mission the fourth has more hostile and anarchists ideas.  Before they turn their attention to that though they will finish writing and directing Paranormal Activity 4.  Source – Deadline Hollywood

Michael Arndt, the Oscar Winning writer of Little Miss Sunshine and Toy Story 3, has been approached to write the latest draft of The Hunger Games sequel Catching Fire.  Now that new director Francis Lawrence is locked in Arndt is in talks to re-draft Simon Beaufoy’s first draft of the script.  He’ll have to be quick about it as the film is supposed to start filming this summer in order to allow star Jennifer Lawrence to head off for X-Men First Class 2.  Source – The Hollywood Reporter

Gareth Evans, the director currently wowing audiences with The Raid while busily working on the sequel to his high-kicking action extravaganza, is planning on directing Breaking The Bank for Universal.  The film is based on the true story of former Ultimate Fighting Champion fighter “Lightning” Lee Murray who managed to plan and execute the biggest cash robbery in England back in 2006.  The film was originally intended for Darren Aronofsky but he’s busy with Russell Crowe in Noah so the film has fallen to Evans instead.  Source – Deadline Hollywood

 

Friday, 4^th May 2012

Joseph Gordon Levitt, soon to be seen in little heard of franchise movie The Dark Knight Rises, is developing Little Shop Of Horrors as a starring vehicle for himself.  Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa, the man behind the Broadway show Spider-Man: Turn Of The Dark, is writing the script but as yet there is no director on board.  Little Shop started life in 1960 as a Roger Corman film before becoming a hit Broadway show which led to the 1986 film starring Rick Moranis and Steve Martin.  The story tells the tale of a young florist who find success in life thanks to his new friend a man-eating, talking, plant.  If the project all comes together as planned Gordon Levitt will take the part of Seymour, the young florist.  The actor is no stranger to musicals as was seen recently in his hosting of Saturday Night Live where he performed a brilliant version of Singing In The Rain’s Make ‘Em Laugh. The actor will be seen later this year, after he's appeared in that small Batman movie, in Rian Johnson's time travelling sci-fi Looper opposite Bruce Willis.  Source – The Hollywood Reporter

Robert Pattinson, having been cast yesterday in the film about Saddam Hussein’s capture, is now being linked to Rover.  From Animal Kingdom director David Michod, Rover will see Guy Pearce setting out to hunt down the group of car thieves, led by Pattinson, who have nicked his wheels.  Michod came up with the idea with Animal Kingdom star Joel Edgerton.  Pattinson will next be seen in Twilight Breaking Dawn Part 2 before we see him in much bleaker form in David Cronenberg’s Cosmopolis.  Source – Variety

Sharlto Copley, the District 9 star having already been cast in Open Graves and Spike Lee’s Old Boy remake earlier this week, is now looking to join none other than Angelina Jolie in Maleficent.  Copley will play the role of King Stefan in the film which will explore the origins of Maleficent, to be played by Jolie, before she became the evil queen who would later curse Aurora in Disney’s Sleeping Beauty.  The film is being directed by visuals effects Robert Stromberg in his directorial debut.  Source – Deadline Hollywood

Kellan Lutz, one of the many budding young stars to emerge from the Twilight films, is set to play Edgar Rice Burrough’s Tarzan.  Well sort of, he’ll be donning the always fetching motion capture leotard for a digital animation version of the story.  Animals United director Reinhard Kloos has been planning the project for a couple of years and has already cast Resident Evil actress Spencer Locke to play Jane.  Tarzan is a character and story which is constantly being re-invented by Hollywood and if this version comes off then Warner Brothers in particular may be more than a little miffed as they’ve recently set their own version into development.  Source – Deadline Hollywood

Brad Bird, the Pixar director behind The Incredibles and Ratatouille before moving more recently into live action with Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol, will next turn his attention to Lost co-creator Damon Lindelof’s Sci-fi feature 1952.  Lindelof is also on producing duties having co-written the script with Jeff Jensen.  Little is known about the project as it, like Lost, is shrouded in secrecy but it is said to be an epic tentpole movie.  Source – The Hollywood Reporter

Timur Bekmambetov, the director behind Wanted and soon to be seen Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter, is set to turn his attention to 2011 Black List script The Current War.  Written by Michael Mitnick the script the true-life clash between Thomas Edison and George Westinghouse as to who was going to dictate the future of electricity.  It will be something of a change of pace for Bekmambetov who is more used to action fair than straight up drama.  Source – Variety  

 

Thursday, 3^rd May 2012

Robert Pattinson, soon to be seen in the final Twilight movie, is certainly not allowing himself to the typecast as a teenage heartthrob now the vampire franchise is drawing to a close.  He has now signed on to star in Jean-Stephane Sauvaire’s Mission: Blacklist.  Not a spin-off of the Mission Impossible series the film will be based on the book by Eric Maddox and tells the story of the hunt, capture and interrogation of Saddam Hussein.  Maddox was heavily involved in the operation so knows a thing or two about the events while Band Of Brothers writer Erik Jendresen will adapt the book to screenplay.  Much attention has been given to Kathryn Bigelow’s hunt for Bin Laden film, now titled Zero Dark Thirty, so this film is being touted at Cannes this year to drum up some interest and financing.  With the calibre of talent involved it should find no end of suitors.  It will be aided by Pattinson’s presence as he’ll be on the beach promoting his next film David Cronenberg’s Cosmopolis.  So are Pattinson’s blood-sucking days firmly behind him?  Source – Variety

Gary Ross, having recently made a massive hit at the box-office with The Hunger Games, has now signed on to direct Houdini.  The film will be based on biography of the legendary magician by William Kalush and Larry Sloman.  The book became famous back in 2006 for implying that Houdini had acted as a spy for the British government as well as an adviser to Czar Nicholas II of Russia.  The book also suggests that Houdini spent much of his time outing spiritualists as nothing more than con-artists with the implication being that those same spiritualists were responsible for his death.  After the success of The Hunger Games Ross was widely expected to return for the sequel Catching Fire but recently announced that the turnaround on the project was too quick for him to make the film he wanted to.  Source – The Hollywood Reporter

Jon Favreau, better known these days for his directing talents on films such as Iron Man and Cowboys & Aliens, is set to jump in front of the camera to take a role in Seth Gordon’s The Identity Thief.  The film will see Bridesmaids’ Melissa McCarthy steal Horrible Bosses’ Jason Bateman’s identity which causes him to have a bit of a realisation about his life when he confronts the thief.  Sounds a lot like an episode of Friends but with the talent involved this one certainly has potential.  Source – Variety

Demian Bichir, the Oscar nominated actor for A Better Life, has now signed onto to not one but two new projects.  The first is to take a role in Robert Rodriguez’s sequel Machete Kills alongside Danny Trejo and new cast member Mel Gibson who is playing the villain.  After that he will head over to William Friedkin’s Trapped.  Little is known about that film but it is rumoured that Bichir will play a Israeli operative.  We will next see him though in Oliver Stone’s drug thriller Savages opposite Aaron Johnson, Taylor Kitsch and Gossip Girl’s Blake Lively.  Source – Variety   

 

Wednesday, 2^nd May 2012

Alex Kurtzman and Roberto Orci, the block-buster writing mega-minds behind such behemoths as Transformers, Star Trek and Cowboys & Aliens, have signed a first look deal with Universal Studios.  Kicking off the new deal Kurtzman and Orci will pen a new version of The Mummy.  But more interesting is the revelation they will also write a new Van Helsing movie with Tom Cruise attached to star in the lead role.  Before all that though they have the small task of penning the next Amazing Spider-Man script.  Source – Universal Studios

Pierce Brosnan, the former 007 and Thomas Crowne, has joined the cast of Owen Wilson starring thriller The Coup.  The film will see Wilson as a family man whose family are trapped in a military coup in Southeast Asia.  Brosnan will play a mysterious government agent who is forced to help Wilson and his family escpae the madness.  Devil and Quarantine director John Erick Dowdle.  Source – Crime Scene Pictures via Coming Soon

Elijah Wood, the former Frodo Baggins soon to be seen with the furry feet again in The Hobbit, is set to star in Grand Piano.  The story will tell of a professional pianist who has not performed for years due to crippling stage fright.  When he finally overcomes his fear he must continue to play or his wife and child will be killed by a mysterious madmen.  Eugino Mira will direct the project.  Source – The Hollywood Reporter

Michelle Rodriguez, the star of Avatar and Girl Fight, is set to star in Fast & Furious Six.  Not surprising to anyone who watched the post-credit sting of Fast Five Rodriguez will reprise her role from previous films as Letty, the girlfriend and accomplice of Vin Diesel’s Dominic Toretto, who supposedly died in Fast & Furious Four.  Furthermore Rodriguez will also reprise her role of She/Luz from Machete for the sequel Machete Kills.  Fast & Furious Six will be released in May of 2013.  Source – Variety

Sharlto Copley, the star of District 9 and recently confirmed as the villain of Spike Lee’s Old Boy remake, will take the lead role in Open Graves.  The story follows a man who wakes in a mass grave with no recollection of who he is.  Rescued by a group of fellow amnesiac sufferers he must establish which one of them is in fact the murderer.  Ten to one says it’s actually him in a Tyler Durden Fight Club scenario.  If that turns out to be a spoiler….sorry.  The film is being directed by Apollo 18 helmer Gonzalo Lopez-Gallego.  Source – Deadline Hollywood

 

Tuesday, 1^st May 2012

The Hulk, the big green alter ego of Bruce Banner and currently smashing (although not in a Richard Keys sort of way) things in Avengers Assemble, could be getting a solo film all to himself.  The word is that Avengers Huik, aka Mark Ruffalo has signed the standard Marvel six-picture deal and that due to the popularity of the character currently wowing audiences in Avengers they will look to bring him back for more.  Currently there was already a plan to make a stand-alone TV show of the Hulk which is unlikely to feature Ruffalo who would want to focus on his film career.  However, the merchandise potential for the angry green giant has got Marvel’s consumer products chief Paul Gitter so excited we could be seeing more of him.  The previous two Hulk films, starring Eric Banner and Ed Norton, were not as successful as some would have liked, although Ang Lee’s Hulk is a somewhat underrated comic-book delight, so here’s hoping Hulk can continue to SMASH.  Source – Collider

Emma Watson, the Harry Potter star and soon to be seen in The Perks Of Being a Wallflower, is set to cameo as herself in Seth Rogen and Jay Baruchel’s End Of The World.  The film is based on a mock-trailer Rogen and Baruchel made which has now been picked up as a full on feature idea with regular writing partner Evan Goldberg coming aboard as well.  As the title suggests the film will see Rogen and Baruchel, playing themselves, holed up in a flat as the world ends outside.  Also set to star, all as themselves, are James Franco, Craig Robinson, Jason Segal, Danny McBride and Jonah Hill.  Rogen and Baruchel will co-direct the film and had a one point targeted other Harry Potter star Daniel Radcliffe to make an appearance but that has not worked out.  Watson meanwhile is currently shooting Sofia Coppola’s The Bling Ring in LA so will drop by the Apocalypse set to perform her cameo.  Wow, a current news story with the words Coppola and Apocalypse in them, that’s kind of made Filmjuice’s day.  Source – The Hollywood Reporter

Emily Watson, the Oscar nominated actress of such films as Breaking The Waves and Hilary And Jackie, has joined the cast of 33 Liberty Lane.  She is joined by Grey’s Anatomy’s Sandra Oh and My Big Fat Greek Wedding’s Nia Vardalos.  The trio will play group of friends who create a phone-sex company in order to help pay the bills.  Of course having little knowledge of how to talk dirty they recruit the services of a local call girl to help teach them.  Peter Hewitt, who is best known for directing Bill & Ted’s Bogus Journey, will call the shots on the project which has the potential to be a Calendar Girls meets the Full Monty.  Source – The Hollywood Reporter

Dinosaurs, stars of such films as Jurassic Park and The Land Before Time, are about to star in a film based on a spec-script by John Clisham.  Warner Brothers are deciding to get on the dino band-wagon with Steven Spielberg overseeing a new Jurassic Park film and Pixar making them the subject of The Good Dinosaur.  Little is known about Clisham’s script other than it involves dinosaurs who evolve at a rapid rate attacking present day Los Angeles, that city really can’t catch a break in the disaster stakes.  Clisham has a little bit of knowledge in the big blockbuster stakes having worked for James Cameron for a number of years.  He will also look to direct the film.  Source – Deadline Hollywood

Armando Iannucci, the creator of The Thick Of It and currently busy on HBO spin-off Veep, has confirmed to Empire that an Alan Partridge (Ahh Haa) movie will indeed shoot later this year.  Iannucci will take an Executive Producer credit with Father Ted alumni Declan Lowney.  Iannucci thinks that Partridge will hit screens some time in 2013.  Source – Empire

Wagner Moura, the star of the Elite Squad films, is set to play Federico Fellini in a story about the legendary director’s life Fellini Black And White.  The film is being written by Homeland writer-producer Henry Bromell who will also direct the film.  The story will chronicle Fellini’s first trip to America in 1957 when he went missing for 48 hours while on route to that year’s Oscars.  Bromell’s film will speculate about what happened in those missing hours which clearly had an impact on the director as he returned home to make 8½ and La Dolce Vita.  With this and Alfred Hitchcock And The Making Of Psycho in the works clearly Hollywood has found a new toy to play with in the shape of classic directors.  Better than remakes at least.  Source – Variety

 

Monday, 30^th April 2012

Poltergeist, the hit horror movie from way back in 1982 when films where still vaguely original, is about to get a much-unneeded remake.  Sam Raimi, obviously slightly miffed at Spider-Man getting ‘remade’ not to mention Evil Dead getting a remake is producing the new Poltergeist.  The original, which was directed by Texas Chainsaw Massacre director Tobe Hooper and produced by Steven Spielberg, saw a family move into a new home in which a malevolent evil spirit tries to take over the young daughter.  Raimi is not exactly new to possession having directed three Evil Dead movies and recently Drag Me To Hell.  The search is now on for a director for the new Poltergeist movie.  Source – The Hollywood Reporter

Kristen Stewart, soon to be seen in the final Twilight film, has signed on to the lead role for action thriller Cali.  The film tells the story of a young boyfriend and girlfriend who fake their own deaths via a snuff movie so they can runaway.  Years later though she is forced to return home in order to save her sisters.  No director is yet attached to the film but haven’t we seen enough of Stewart ‘dying’ to get away from teen angst?  Not to worry coming this summer we will see her as Snow White in Snow White And The Huntsman before later in the year seeing her in Walter Salles’ On The Road.  Source – Variety

Julianne Moore, last seen as Steve Carell’s wife in Crazy Stupid Love, has been offered the crucial role of Chloe Moretz’s mother in the remake of Stephen King’s Carrie.  Carrie was King’s first novel, published in 1974, and tells the story of a pubescent girl who develops telekinetic powers and uses them to take revenge on her schoolmates who mock her.  Remake haters should take note at this point that director Kim Peirce has made it clear that this is not a remake of De Palma’s Sissy Spacek starring classic but a new adaptation of King’s novel.  Moore will play Margaret the slightly religiously infused nutbag mother of Carrie.  Parents can be sooo embarrassing.  Source – Deadline Hollywood

Guillermo Del Toro, currently putting the finishing touches to his monster movie Pacific Rim, is set to produce true life movie The Bloody Benders.  The film will tell the story of John and Kate Bender, and their two children of the same name, who ran an inn in 19^th Century Labette County, Kansas.  During that time they are believed to have killed several guests using a trap-door in the basement and a bonk on the head with a hammer.  No stars or director is yet attached to the project.  Source – Deadline Hollywood

Casey Affleck, Ben Foster and Rooney Mara, stars of Gone Baby Gone, Contraband and The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo, are all set to star in Ain’t Them Bodies Saints.  The feature is being based on the short which entered Sundance this year directed by David Lowery.  The film tells the of a an outlaw who escapes prison and travels across 1970s Texas in order to get back to his wife and daughter but soon finds his past catching up to him.  Mara has just been cast in Spike Jonze’s latest film, Affleck is currently starring opposite Christian Bale in Out Of The Furnace and Foster has just wrapped on Kill Your Darlings.  Source – Deadline Hollywood

Neil Gaiman, the other behind such book to film adaptations as Coraline and Stardust, is about to see his 2008 novel The Graveyard Book turned into a film.  Influenced heavily by Rudyard Kipling’s The Jungle Book, which has also recently been announced as getting a new film version, The Graveyard Book tells the story of young orphan Bod.  Stumbling into a graveyard as a baby Bod is raised by ghouls and ghosts meaning he is the only living member of a very dead community.   But someone means to kill Bod and they are getting closer meaning that he and the ghosts must band together to protect the graveyard.  It’s the kind of story that sparks Harry Potter levels of franchise, at least that’s what studio Disney will no doubt be hoping for.  Meanwhile Gaiman will hope that this adaptation will appease his fans of waiting impatiently for the HBO adaptation of American Gods.  Source – Deadline Hollywood

 

Friday, 27^th April 2012

Django Unchained, the new film from Quentin Tarantino which stars Jamie Foxx and Leonardo DiCaprio, has released its first images.  Above you can see DiCaprio in his villainous guise, bearing more than a striking resemblance to Bill The Butch from Gangs of New York, and below Jamie Foxx as the vengeful slave with Inglorious Basterd’s star Chrioph Waltz.  The film is Tarantino’s first stab at a western and is due out towards the end of the year. 

 

Rooney Mara, the star of The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo and yesterday linked with Spike Jonze’s new movie, is set to star in the lead role in the adaptation of the novel Brooklyn by Colm Toibin.  Mara will play Eilis Lacey and Irish immigrant to New York in the 1950s.  Arriving in New York she is homesick and slowly begins to make friends and maybe more.  But just as her life is picking up she forced to return to Ireland and make a devastating choice.  Before that Mara will be seen in Steven Soderbergh’s Bitter Pill.  Source – Variety

Colin Farrell, about to be seen in full on action mode for Total Recall, is in talks to take the lead role in Winter’s Tale.  The film is a pet project for writer-producer, and now director, Akiva Goldsman and will be based on the novel by Mark Helprin.  Farrell, if he takes the role, would play the part of a thief who breaks into an expensive New York mansion and encountering the dying woman who lives there.  The story takes place in 19^th Century and modern days and muddies the water with mob bosses and various supernatural demons and ghouls.  Downtown Abbey star Jessica Brown Findlay is already signed on to star in the project.  Source – Variety

Willem Dafoe, you know the voice of the Polar Bear from the Bird’s Eye adverts but more importantly star of Platoon and soon to be seen in 4:44 Last Day On Earth, has joined the already impressive cast of Out Of The Furnace making it that much more impressive.  The film, based on the book The Low Dweller by Brad Ingelsby, will see Christian Slater setting out to reek bloody revenge on Woody Harrleson for the death of his brother Casey Affleck.  Dafoe will play a sleazy bookie who is instrumental in Affleck’s death.  Sam Shepard and Zoe Saldana are also on board to star.  The film is being directed by Crazy Heart’s Scott Cooper and at one point was in the hands of Ridley Scott and Leo DiCaprio.  Source – Variety

Jennifer Connelly and Saoirse Ronan, stars of A Beautiful Mind and Atonement, have joined the already cast Russell Crowe in Darren Aronofsky’s Noah.  Specifics on their parts have not been made clear but Connelly has starred opposite Crowe before in A Beautiful Mind and acted for Aronofsky in Requiem For A Dream.  There is also word that the film will be aiming for a PG-13 rating which is much more friendly than Aronofsky’s normally pitch-black tone of such films as Black Swan and Pi.  Noah is budgeted at around $125 Million which makes it one of Aronofsky’s biggest films to date.  Source – Cinema Blend   

Josh Gad, recently seen as Jake Gyllenhaal’s brother in Love And Other Drugs, is set to take on the key role of Steve Wozniak in the upcoming film about Steve Jobs.  Ashton Kutcher will play Jobs in the film being directed by Joshua Michael Stern.  Woz, as Wozniak has become known, became friends with Jobs when they both worked at Hewlett Packard in the 1970s.  In 1976 the pair founded Apple Computers together and the rest, as they say is history.  This casting rumour should at least put to bed any theories that Ashton Kutcher’s casting was an April Fool’s…right? Source – Variety

Todd Phillips, the man behind the Hangover franchise and currently gearing up for the third film, is adding Mule to his To Do List.  He’s hired Cyrus writer-directors Jay and Mark Duplass to adapt Tony D’Souza’s novel.  The story sees a couple with serious cash problems during the recession and to add to their woes they are expecting a baby.  That all changes when a friend offers him a bucket load of money, which will help them for months to come, to do one drug run from California to Florida.  Of course one run turns into many when they see how much cash there is to be had.  Phillips recently produced Project X while the Duplass brothers have Jeff Who Lives At Home about to hit cinemas. 

 

Thursday, 26^th April 2012 

Mel Gibson’s stuttering career may have found some semblance of a saviour in the form of Robert Rodriguez.  The rumour is he wants Gibson to play a part in his upcoming Machete sequel Machete Kills.  The film will see Danny Trejo’s character return as the Federale in Texas who must track down an arms dealer before he launchers a missile.  With shooting set to start shortly Rodriguez has been getting all the original cast members, or at least the ones who survived the first film’s carnage, back and also wants to recruit Michelle Williams for a role.  He hopes to be able to direct it before Sin City 2 goes into pre-production.  Source – Deadline Hollywood

Rooney Mara, the star of The Social Network and better known as The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo, is set to replace Carey Mulligan on Spike Jonze and Charlie Kauffman’s latest outing.  Mulligan, the soon to be star of The Great Gatsby, has had to pull out due to scheduling conflicts.  Little is known about Jonze’s latest film but it has already got Amy Adams, Samatha Morton and Joaquin Phoenix starring.  Mara will next be working on Steven Soderbergh’s The Bitter Pill.  Source – Variety

Josh Duhamel, best known for his role in the Transformers movies, is looking like he will sign on to star in Lasse Hallstrom’s Nicholas Sparks adaptation of Safe Haven.  The story, from the writer of The Notebook, sees a woman trying to escape her past and moving into a quiet town.  There she meets and falls for a widowed father and together they help each other to heal.  The film is still looking for its female lead and Hallstrom has form in this field having made a similar themed movie in An Unfinished Life.  Source – Variety

Andrea Riseborough, the star of Brighton Rock and W.E., has signed on to star opposite True Blood star Alexander Skarsgard in Hidden.  The script, which made the 2011 Black List, is written by Matt and Ross Duffer and will see a family hiding in a bomb shelter after escaping a deadly outbreak.  But then they emerge the world is not as they left it.  Before that though Riseborough has landed the much in demand role opposite Tom Cruise in Tron Legacy director Joseph Kosinski’s Oblivion.  Source – The Hollywood Reporter

Christina Ricci, recently seen rubbing up against Robert Pattinson in Bel Ami, is rumoured to have joined the cast of Smurfs 2.  She will supposedly voice and evil version of Smufette called Vexi.  It makes sense that Ricci should feature in a Smurf movie as we’re farily sure she used to be one.  The original cast of the first film, including Neil Patrick Harris and Katy Perry, are all expected to return.  Source – The Hollywood Reporter

Kelly Oxford, the Twitter comedian and TV writer, has sold her first feature script to Warner Brothers.  The script sold for a low six-figure sum and is said to be in the vein of Bridesmaids.  Son Of A Bitch tells the story of young stoner woman who is determined to maintain her party reputation despite discovering she is pregnant.  Source – Deadline Hollywood

 

Wednesday, 25^th April 2012

Pixar, currently gearing towards the release of Brave, announced yesterday one of their upcoming films will focus on the Mexican holiday of Dia De Los Muertos.  The festival is celebrated around the world as family members honour their lost loved ones by visiting graves and building altars.  Toy Story 3 director Lee Unkrich is directing the film.  Prior to that we will see Pixar’s dinosaur film The Good Dinosaur which sees a Earth had the meteor not hit and wiped out the dinosaurs.  Source – Deadline Hollywood

Owen Wilson, star of The Wedding Crashers and Midnight In Paris, has signed on to star in thriller The Coup. From Devil director John Erick Dowdle, and his writer brother Drew Dowdle, the film is said to be a violent thriller that sees an American family is South East Asia who find themselves caught in a political coup when rebels attack the city.  Who will play the rest of Owen’s family is unclear at this point but the script apparently taps into the primal fear a parent has of keeping their family safe.  Source – Crime Scene Pictures via Coming Soon

Alex Kurtzman and Roberto Orci, the creative writers and producers behind such hits as Transformers, Cowboys & Aliens and Star Trek, are gearing up to write the second draft of The Amazing Spider-Man 2.  Although the re-boot of the Spider-Man franchise is yet to hit cinemas studio Sony are confident enough that its box-office takings will be more than enough to justify a sequel.  Kurtzman and Orci are both said to be very keen to join the Spidey family as they are huge fans of the character.  Before that though they have People Like Us, starring Elizabeth Banks and Chris Pine, which marks Kurztman’s directorial debut as well being in production on Now You See Me and Ender’s Game.  Source – Sony Pictures via Coming Soon

Armie Hammer, Ben Kingsley, John Malkovich, Michael Sheen and Teresa Palmer have all signed on to star in crime thriller Cut Back.  The script by Robert Patino made the 2009 Black List and follows a character called Dwayne McLaren a mechanic and former high school footballer desperate to get out of the dead end town.  His methods of trying to break free will set in motion events that will change his and the town’s lives forever.  Mad Men and Six Feet Under director Matt Shakman will call the shots.  Source – Deadline Hollywood

Justin Lin, the man behind the hit Fast Five and currently shooting Fast Six and potentially Seven, will next turn his attention to something a little less high speed in the form of play adaptation Chinglish.  Chinglish follows an American businessman who travels to China to find business for his sign making company but he soon learns that the language barrier is not so easily overcome.  The play is in both English and Mandarin with subtitles on the later during its Broadway run.  Playwright Henry Hwang will also write the screenplay to the film for Lin.  Source – Variety

 

Tuesday, 24^th April 2012

Jennifer Lawrence, having all but conquered the world with the success of The Hunger Games, is now in talks to star in another literary adaptation in the form of Jeanette Walls’ The Glass Castle; A Memoir.  The book tells of Walls’ upbringing in her dysfunctional but vibrant family.  Lionsgate, the studio behind The Hunger Games, has optioned the book and hired Marti Noxon to write the screenplay.  Given her success in The Hunger Games Lawrence may well want to stick with the winning formula she and Lionsgate have going right now.  Source – Deadline Hollywood

Jessica Chastain, the breakout star of last year with films like The Debt, The Help and Tree Of Life, is rumoured to be in the running to play a sexy scientist in Iron Man 3.  With shooting set to kick off next month, with Lethal Weapon writer and Kiss Kiss Bang Bang director Shane Black at the helm, the film has been locking in more cast members including Guy Pearce and Ben Kingsley.  Plot details are being guarded more tightly than Tony Stark’s little black book but it is understood Chastain would play a sexy scientist whose intelligence rivals even Stark’s.  Could Pepper Pots have another love rival?  There are rumours though that Chastain is not the only actress in the running for the role so it remains to be seen if she will nab the part.  Source – Deadline Hollywood

Charlie Kaufman, the writer behind such excellence as Being John Malkovich and Adaptation as well as director of Synecdoche New York, is being linked to the latest young adult novel series Chaos Walking.  With the success of The Hunger Games proving there is a huge appetite for such novels studio Lionsgate have snapped up the rights to Patrick Ness’ trilogy.  The story finds humans living on another Earth in a dystopian future when a virus, called the Noise, infects all and makes all thoughts audible.  With the race in chaos an autocrat seizes control and takes the opportunity to make an attack on the native alien race on the planet humans now inhabit, only one person can stop them in the form of a young man named Todd Hewitt.  Kauffman’s normal surreal repertoire might not make him the obvious choice but he has done uncredited script work on Kung Fu Panda 2 so knows how to do mainstream if the need calls for it. He’ll first be directing Steve Carell as a film director waging war on Jack Black’s Blogger in Frank Or Francis.  Source – Deadline Hollywood

Stretch Armstrong, the popular Hasbro toy, looks like it might be getting the cinema outing it was promised a few years ago.  Relativity Media has now hired The Manchurian Candidate and Lara Croft 2 writer Dean Georgaris to pen a more serious version then the first drafts.  Although no other talent is attached to the film Twilight’s Taylor Lautner was set to star in the earlier incarnation so it could be that he will return to the project.  Source – Variety

Richard Jenkins, currently making Cabin In The Woods 33% better as he is want to do with any film he features in, has joined the cast of One Square Mile.  The film will star Twilight; Eclipse’s Cameron Bright as a disenchanted teenager from the wrong side of the tracks who meets grumpy old track coach Jenkins.  Together the pair team up to race their way to happiness.  Charles-Oliver Michaud is making this his first English language film.  Source – Coming Soon

Gina Carano, the break-out star of Steven Soderbergh’s Haywire, is being targeted for another action-caper in the form of Fast & Furious 6.  The franchise has grossed nearly $1.5 Billion at the global box-office and already stars action stalwarts Vin Diesel, Paul Walker and Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson.  Justin Lin, who has directed the last two hugely successful instalments in the series is looking to Carano to up the female action quota.  Plot details on the film are being kept under wraps but it is expected that two sequels will be shot back to back.  Source – The Hollywood Reporter

Sean Penn, last seen in Robert Smith style get-up in This Must Be The Place, is eyeing a role in the remake of The Secret Life Of Walter Mitty.  The film is being directed and will star Ben Stiller, his first time behind the camera since Tropic Thunder, and will see Stiller as the titular Mitty.  Mitty is a henpecked husband who is so unhappy in his life he has a habit of withdrawing into a fantasy world where he plays a pilot, doctor and many other roles.  Kristen Wiig is also aboard as one of Mitty’s co-workers who features in his fantasies.  Penn, who will soon be seen in Gangster Squad, will play a photographer if he takes on the role.  Source – Deadline Hollywood

 

Monday, 23^rd April 2012

Guy Pearce, currently seen as a wise talking ex-con in sci-fi actioner Lockout, is apparently in final talks with Marvel and Disney to star in Iron Man 3.  The film, being directed by Kiss Kiss Bang Bang’s Shane Black will see Robert Downey Jnr, Gwyneth Paltrow, Don Cheadle and Scarlett Johansson return to the Iron Man story.  Ben Kingsley has recently been cast as the villain.  Pearce is expected to play Aldrich Killian, a geneticist who invents a virus that is spread through nanotechnology which will play a key part in the latest Iron Man instalment.  Source – Variety

Jaden Smith, son of Will Smith and star of The Karate Kid, is set to take the lead in upcoming novel and soon to be film Boy Nobody.  The book, by writer Allen Zadoff, tells the story of a brainwashed teenager who is able to kill without emotions and follows order without question before forgetting all about it.  That is until he begins to find his memory.  Zadoff himself has described it as a teenage Jason Bourne, which is mildly worrying considering the monstrosity that was Taylor Lautner starring Abduction.  The hope is the book, and then the film, will form part of a trilogy which will then no doubt be made into five movies for the sake of milking as much green out of the source material as possible.  Jaden will next be seen starring with his dad, again, in M Night Shyamalan’s After Earth.  Source – Variety

Paul Feig, the director behind last year’s smash hit Bridesmaids, is gearing up to direct Reece Witherspoon project Wish List.  Written by Kung Fu Pander pair Jonathan Aibel and Glenn Berger the film will see a young girl making ten wishes when she throws a coin down a wishing well.  None of the wishes come true though until the coin reaches the bottom of the well in her later adult life meaning that the now adult, Witherspoon, has to deal with all her childhood wishes coming true at a slightly odd time in her life.  We’re hazarding a guess that one of the wishes is prince charming white wedding and a pony…isn’t that what we all want when we’re young?  Source – The Hollywood Reporter

Ray Liotta, soon to be seen opposite Ryan Gosling and Bradley Cooper in The Place Beyond The Pines, is set to join Chloe Moretz and Jeffery Dean Morgan on The Rut.  The story, to be directed by Karyn Kusama, follows a teenage girl looking to win her hunter father’s approval by heading out into the woods to track and hunt dear.  Liotta will play a local hunter, and rival to Morgan’s character, who Moretz will have to deal with as well.  The film has been described as Winter’s Bone meets The Deer Hunter meets Whale Rider so expect lots of existential coming of age imagery.  Source – Variety

Glenn Ficarra and John Requa, the writers behind hit film Crazy Stupid Love, have been tapped up by Warner Brothers for their latest project which they will also look to direct.  The film will follow a con man who takes on a new grifter to train.  Only problem is the pair fall in love and the world of conning is not ideally suited to a relationship.  Splitting up they later run into each other again with interesting consequences.  The rumour is Ficarra and Requa want Crazy Stupid Love pair Emma Stone and Ryan Gosling to play the conning couple but whether or not their schedules will allow it remains to be seen.  Source – Deadline Hollywood

 

Friday, 20^th April 2012

Penelope Cruz, soon to be seen in Woody Allen’s To Rome With Love, is set to join the already impressive cast of Ridley Scott’s The Counselor.  With her husband Javier Bardem already cast she also joins Brad Pitt and star Michael Fassbender in the first script by No Country For Old Men author Cormac McCarthy.   The film tells the story of Fassbender’s lawyer who believes he can make a quick buck by dealing in drugs but soon finds out that it’s not a world he is cut out for.  At one point Cruz’s role was said to be eyed up by Pitt’s fiancé Angelina Jolie so it seems The Counselor won’t be an all family affair after all.  Source – The Hollywood Reporter

Mickey Rourke and Rosario Dawson are both geared and ready to reprise their roles from Sin City in the upcoming Sin City 2; A Dame To Kill For.  To be directed by original directors Robert Rodriguez and Frank Miller the film will follow another of Miller’s Sin City comics.  There have been a lot of rumours over the years since the first film that Angelina Jolie (she’s popular today) might be the titular Dame To Kill for but although it could still happen Rodriguez has told MTV that he hasn’t had a chance to even talk to the star.  Before all that though Rodriguez has another sequel to focus on in the shape of Machete Kills.  Source – MTV

Francis Lawrence, the director behind films such as Constantine, I Am Legend and Water For Elephants, is apparently the man who is set to take over the reigns from Gary Ross on The Hunger Games sequel Catching Fire.  Ross decided not to tackle the follow-up sighting the turnaround as too quick for him to make the film he wanted.  Earlier this week it was rumoured that studio Lionsgate were looking at both Lawrence and Moneyball director Bennett Miller but with Miller busy on Foxcatcher Lawerence seems their priority.  Source – The Hollywood Reporter

Mark Wahlberg, soon to be seen in Seth McFarlane’s Ted, is looking to star in the long gestating Avon Man.  At one point Hugh Jackman was set to play the lead role back in 2009 but it has been stuck in development ever since.  Now Wahlberg will help Austin Powers and Baby Mama writer Michael McCullens bang out a new script.  The story follows a man who is let go from his car dealership. Unable to find new employment he becomes an Avon Man and although reluctant at first his natural salesmanship means he becomes very good at his job and even recruits his former colleagues to help them win a regional sales competition.  It will be a while before Wahlberg can don the make-up though as he’s first got Michael Bay’s Pain & Gain followed by 2 Guns and then Lone Survivors with Denzel Washington.  Busy man that Marky Mark.  Source – Deadline Hollywood

 

Thursday, 19^th April 2012

Justin Timberlake and Ben Affleck, Hollywood heartthrob stars of The Social Network and The Town respectively, will star in thriller Runner Runner.  Plot details are scarce on the actual plot but it is said to be set in the world of online gambling.  The Lincoln Lawyer director Brad Furman will call the shots on the film based on the script by Brian Koppelman and David Levien who have form with gambling in the shape of Rounders and Ocean’s Thirteen.  Timberlake will next be seen in Clint Eastwood’s Trouble With The Curve while Affleck is starring and directing Argo.  Source – Variety

Anthony Hopkins may have eaten people as Hannibal Lecter in The Silence Of The Lambs and had to handle a bolshie demi-god in Thor but that all seemed to pale in comparison when bringing the late great Alfred Hitchcock to life.  That was until we got our first look at Hopkins as Hitch and as you can see from the still top right he more than fits Hitch’s unique look.  The film in question is the latest offering from Anvil! The Story Of Anvil director Sacha Gervasi and will be called and, do pretty much exactly what it says on the tin, Alfred Hitchcock And The Making Of Psycho.  Helen Mirren plays Hitch’s wife while Scareltt Johansson will play scream queen Janet Leigh.  Source – People

Robert De Niro, soon to be seen in supernatural thriller Red Lights, looks like he may be joining the OAP squad heading to Las Vegas in Las Vegas.  Yesterday it was announced that Michael Douglas would play one of the cast members of the film about a group of older men who refuse to grow up.  Before one of the marries a much younger girl they all head to Vegas for one final night of debauchery.  The film is being directed by National Treasure helmer Jon Turtletaub.  Source – Vulture

Charlize Theron, expected to be something of a box office draw this summer with Snow White And The Huntsman and Prometheus, has set her sites on becoming Agent 13.  Plot details are being kept tightly under wraps but what is known is the film will be directed by Rise Of The Planet Of The Apes director Rupert Wyatt.  Although there is no studio attached to fund the film, based on newcoming T.S. Nolan’s script, with Theron and Wyatt on board it is surely only a matter of time before one jumps at the chance to back the project.  Source – Variety

Bradley Cooper, his schedule looking slightly more open since Paradise Lost shut down, is looking to join the already cast Christian Bale in American Bull Sh*t.  The Fighter director David O Russell is calling the shots on the film, having worked with Bale in that film and Cooper more recently in The Silver Linings Playbook.  American BS, the title will probably be changed for it’s release, tells the true story of how the FBI hired professional con-man Melvin Weinberg and set-up a fake company called Abdul Enterprises to help them lure crooked Congressman out of hiding.  Ben Affleck was at one point approached to star and direct the project but he passed and with this cast and director on board it could be an interesting project worth keeping an eye on.  Source – Deadline Hollywood  

James Cameron, not content with setting world records for deep sea diving, is talking about what his future film projects will be.  There’s the small matter of both Avatar 2 & 3 both of which are currently in pre-production but after that Cameron insists he is still determined to make Manga adaptation Battle Angel.  The story is set in the 26^th Century where cyborgs dominate the world and follows the path of a young female cyborg who is found in a scrap yard before being rebuilt and discovering she has no idea who she is.  Cameron told MTV that he has no intention of letting someone else direct the film but feels that the Avatar films are of greater importance at the moment.  Source – MTV

Magic Mike, the film based loosely on Channing Tatum’s stripping career before he turned big time actor, has got its first trailer.  Directed by Steven Soderbergh the film looks like a delightfully fun comedy romance with some great dialogue and characters.  You can check it out HERE.

 

Wednesday, 18^th April 2012

Vince Vaughn, soon to be seen alongside Ben Stiller in Neighbourhood Watch, looks set to take over the role of Jim Rockford for the big screen adaptation of The Rockford Files.  James Garner originally played the role in the 70s TV show about an ex-con who becomes a private investigator with a knack for solving closed cases.  David Levien and Brian Koppleman have been hired by Universal to update the story with Vaughn very much in mind for the lead.  The rumour is that Vaughn would also produce with older sister Victoria Vaughn.  Source – Deadline Hollywood

Ed Harris and January Jones, stars of The Truman Show and TV’s Mad Men, are set to star in Western thriller Sweetwater.  The story will follow Jones as a young widow in 1886 New Mexico who sets out to avenge her husbands murder.  Harris will play the town’s sheriff who helps Jones in her quest.  The film is being directed by Noah and Logan Miller who have previously worked with Harris on Touching Home in which he played their father.  Source – Deadline Hollywood  

Toni Collette and Steve Carell, two of the stars of indie breakout hit Little Miss Sunshine, look to be re-teaming for The Way, Way Back.  Jim Rash and Nat Faxon, who co-wrote and won an Oscar for writing The Descendants, will make this their directorial debut and tell the story of a teenage boy struggling through a summer holiday.  Collette will play his disinterested mother with Carell breaking type and playing his alcoholic and drugging stepfather.  The cast already boasts such talents as Allison Janney and Sam Rockwell.  Rash and Faxon also have their untitled action comedy pitch floating around with Kristen Wiig loosely attached to star.  Source – Variety

Michael Douglas, recently seen in Steven Soderbergh’s Haywire, is rumoured to be one of the first cast members to attach himself to ensemble film Las Vegas.  If he does sign, Douglas will play a character who refuses to grow old and before marrying a girl half his age jets off to Vegas with four of his best friends for a stag night full of mischief.  So The Hangover for OAPs?  National Treasure director John Turteltaub is directing from a script by Crazy Stupid Love scribe Dan Fogelman.  There are other rumours that Dustin Hoffman and Christopher Walken will play two of his friends but neither has been confirmed yet.  Source – The Hollywood Reporter

Darren Aronofsky, currently in pre-production on his pet project Noah with Russell Crowe in the titular role, is apparently looking to another historical epic as his next project in the shape of The General which will look at a specific period in the life of American President George Washington.  Sources say that the film will be less straight history lesson and more styled in the form of Unforgiven which frankly makes it sound brilliantly dark and brooding, what Aronofsky does best basically.  Adam Cooper and Bill Collage wrote the script but the film will have to wait until Aronofsky has finished what is expected to be a long project with Noah before it gets started.  Source – Variety

Gerard Butler, already a busy man with Afterburn, Motor City, Olympus Has Fallen and Brilliant all on his schedule, has now added yet another project to his already bulging diary in the shape of Manhunt.  The film sees the FBI tracking a domestic terrorist through the North Carolina Wilderness.  In order to help them they recruit a local bear hunter but when the FBI team are all killed it becomes a lethal game of cat and mouse as the villain is a survivalist expert.  It’s not clear whether Butler would play the terrorist or the bear hunter but lets be honest his grizzled look could pull of either.  Crazies and Sahara director Breck Eisner is calling the shots from a script by Iron Man writers Mark Fergus and Hawk Ostby.  Source – Deadline Hollywood

James Van Der Beek, the man still best known as Dawson from Dawson’s Creek, is gearing up to take a supporting role in Jason Reitman’s latest movie Labor Day.  The film will see Kate Winselt take in Josh Brolin’s escaped convict over the Labor Day weekend.  Over the weekend Brolin will teach Winslet and her teenage son, to be played by Gattlin Griffith, a thing or two about life.  Van Der Beek will play a role of a policeman, presumably looking for Brolin.  Source – The Hollywood Reporter

Pierre Moral, the director behind Liam Neeson cult favourite Taken, is gearing up to direct Bastille Day.  The film will see an art student and a wash-up CIA agent having to prevent Paris against an imminent attack.  The script has been written by Andrew Baldwin who is currently working on the script for the new Logan’s Run which is being directed by Nicolas Winding Refn with his Drive star Ryan Gosling in the titular role.  Moral also directed the action extravaganza that was With Paris With Love.  Source – Vendome Pictures

Mr. Toad’s Wild Ride, the Disney theme park ride based on Kenneth Grahame’s Wind In The Willows, is set to get the Pirates Of The Caribbean treatment and be adapted into a movie.  Disney are currently looking for a writer who can craft the ride into a story, because you know, it’s a ride, having hired Tron Legacy producer Justin Springer to over-see the project.  Source – Deadline Hollywood

 

Tuesday, 17^th April 2012

Emily Blunt, soon to be seen in Salmon Fishing In The Yemen and The Five Year Engagement, is set to join none other than Tom Cruise for All You Need Is Kill.  The film is an adaptation of Hiroshi Sakurazaka’s novel which sees a soldier, to be played by Cruise, thrown into a battle with an alien race who dies, only to find himself re-born each day to fight again and die in the exact same manner.  That is until one time he sees something different in the shape of another soldier known as The B*tch Of War.  Blunt will play another soldier caught in the conflict with Cruise’s character.  Source – Variety

Jared Harris, recently seen as Moriarty in Sherlock Holmes: A Game Of Shadows and in TV’s Fringe and Mad Men, has signed on to star in Hammer’s The Quiet Ones.  The story is about an unorthodox professor who takes his students off campus to create a poltergeist using negative human energy.  John Pogue, who directed Quarantine 2, will call the shots.  The Quiet Ones will be Hammer’s first film since the international success of The Woman In Black.  Source – Exclusive Media via Coming Soon

Mark Ruffalo, soon to be seen smashing his way through The Avengers as The Hulk, is close to signing on to star in Foxcatcher.  The film tells the true story of John du Pont, to be played by Steve Carell, who suffered from paranoid schizophrenia.  Through one of his episodes in 1996 he shot and killed his friend, and Olympic Wrestler, David Schultz, the character Ruffalo would play.  Channing Tatum is already locked in to play Schultz’s younger brother Mark with Moneyball and Capote director Bennett Miller calling the shots on the project.  Source- Variety

David O Russell, the Oscar nominated director for The Fighter, is looking to add another film to his long roster of To Do Films in the shape of bringing controversial politician Buddy Cianci’s life to the big screen.  Based on Cianci’s biography Politics And Pasta: “How I Prosecuted Mobsters, Rebuilt A Dying City, Advised A President, Dined With Sinatra, Spent Five Years In A Federally Funded Gated Community And Lived To Tell The Tale." The title gives you a broad idea of just some of the shenanigans Cianci got up to in his life while he was Providence Rhode Island Mayor including serving time in prison on racketeering charges.  Before all that though O Russell is putting the finishing touches to The Silver Linings Playbook.  Source – The LA Times

Tommy Wirkola, the director behind the brilliant Dead Snow, is close to signing on to direct comic book adaptation Afterburn.  The film follows a group of mercenaries who make a living scouring a solar-flare-burned Earth while trying to dodge other mercs and mutants that now inhabit the planet.  Gerard Butler is now in talks to play the head of the team, with the previously attached Tobey Maguire dropping out after a long time in development.  Before that though Wirkola’s Hansel & Gretel: Witch Hunters has been slightly delayed and will now hit screens in early 2013.  Source – The Hollywood Reporter

Jake Kasdan, who last directed Bad Teacher, is looking to direct the adaptation of Joel Stein’s book Man Made.  The boo follows Stein as he welcomes his new born son into the world with concerns he won’t be man enough to be a father.  With this thought running through his mind he sets out to test himself by taking on Marine training and fighting an MMA Fighter.  Before that though Kasdan is also attached to direct the Jason Segal starring Sex Tape.  Source – Entertainment Weekly  

 

Monday, 16^th April 2012

Leonardo DiCaprio, soon to be seen in Baz Luhmann’s The Great Gatsby and Quentin Tarantino’s Django Unchained, is rumoured to be gearing up to take the lead role in Live By Night.  The film is based on the novel by Dennis Lehane, who wrote the books of Mystic River, Shutter Island and Gone Baby Gone, which is released later this year and is set in the prohibition era.  The book is the second in the planned trilogy of books which started with The Given Day.  DiCaprio will also look to act as a producer on the film and is currently looking for a director for the project.  Source – Deadline Hollywood   

Felicity Jones, the British actress last seen in Like Crazy, is being lined up by Nancy Meyers for her first film behind the camera since It’s Complicated.  The film in question is called The Chelsea which will be an ensemble drama about the residents Chelsea apartments in New York.  The script has been written by Meyer’s daughter Halle Meyers-Shyer who is said to be a very up and coming writer who has recently signed to a blind deal by Universal.  Source – Deadline Hollywood

Tina Fey, while we’re on the subject of Nancy Meyers, is also looking to star in a Meyers film in the shape of The Intern.  The star of 30 Rock, Fey, would play the found of an e-business company based in fashion who decides to take on an intern.  The problem is that the intern who arrives is a 70-year-old man who is bored of retirement and wants to prove he can still be useful.  At first he rubs his boss up the wrong way before proving that he can cut it in the fast based world on online business.  Meyers told Deadline that she was attracted to a film about a character who deals with the pressures of family and business and seeing it all through the eyes of a man who has done it all before.  Source – Deadline Hollywood  

Wentworth Miller, best known as the star of TV’s Prison Break, will see his latest script The Disapointments Room be made thanks to Killer Films who previously produced Boys Don’t Cry and Mildred Pierce.  The film is about a woman who moves into a mysterious old house in the country with her son and husband only to discover it posses a dark past.  Miller previously wrote Stoker which has finished production and stars Nicole Kidman and Mia Wasikowska.  Source – Deadline Hollywood.

Danny McBride, last seen in 30 Minutes Or Less and best known for TV’s Eastbound And Down, is looking to write and star in the American remake of Dutch comedy Kloven, or as it will be translated Clown.  The TV comedy, which became a movie in 2010, sees two characters planning a canoe trip filed with all manner of debaucheries.  But when of their girlfriends falls pregnant he is told that he must take her 13-year-old son along for the trip.  Of course they agree fully aware that they still plan on having the time of their lives.  The Hangover director/creator is seeing this as a potentially new franchise when The Hangover films lose their appeal, so now, but he will only be producing this venture.  Source – Deadline Hollywood  

 

Friday, 13^th April 2012 

Sin City, the hit film from Robert Rodriguez and Frank Miller, has been rumoured to be getting a sequel for a long time but nothing has materialised.  Until now as it seems that it is officially a ‘go movie’.  Miller has written a script, with the help of The Departed’s Oscar winning writer William Monahan, based on his graphic novel Sin City; A Dame To Kill For.  And just to really whet the appetite it is stated that almost all of the original cast will return for the second outing.  Further castings will also take place soon with Rodriguez and co looking to start shooting this summer.  So there you have it, are you excited to return to Sin City, did the originals unique look and style demand a sequel?  Let us know your thoughts.  Source – Dimension Films

Sharlto Copley, the man who made such a huge impression in District 9, is being targeted by Spike Lee for his remake of Old Boy.  He is likely to take the part opposite Josh Brolin’s protagonist and Elizabeth Olsen.  The film tells the story of a man, played by Brolin, who is imprisoned for 15 years for no knowable reason.  Upon his release he is given four days to find out why and with the help of a waitress he meets tracks all the issues down to a villain with a grudge to bare.  At one point Lee was looking at actors such as Colin Firth and Clive Owen but they both decided not to take the part.  Copely has Elysium in the pipeline at the moment which will reunite him with his District 9 director Neil Blomkamp.  Source – Variety

Harrison Ford and Gary Oldman, two of cinema’s most reliable statesmen, are set to star together in Paranoia.  The film will see a young man, to be played by The Hunger Games Liam Hemsworth, throw a lavish retirement party for one of his colleagues using company money.  When he is caught by his boss he is told that he must spy on a rival company and steal information or be prosecuted for embezzlement.  Ford is currently shooting Ender’s Game, Hemsworth will appear in at least two Hunger Games sequels and Oldman will apparently be seen in some film called The Dark Knight Rises.  Robert Luketic, who directed RED, so has form with older spies, is calling the shots on Paranoia.  Source – Deadline Hollywood

Dwayne Johnson, soon to be seen in GI Joe Retaliation, is set to star in the adaptation of graphic novel Lore.  Written and illustrated by husband and wife team Ashley Wood and T.P. Louise the story tells of how for years earth has been protected from mythical creatures by a secret society known as Shepherds.  But when the line of Shepherds is broken a reluctant hero finds her world threatened from all angles.  Can she prevent the arrival of the creatures and save the earth?  It’s unclear what role Johnson will play in the film but he’s no stranger to comic book adaptations as will soon start shooting Hercules with Bret Ratner based on the comic series.  Source – The Hollywood Reporter

 

Thursday, 12^th April 2012 

Will Ferrell and Mark Wahlberg, more than an entertaining pair in The Other Guys, are looking to reunite for another comedy caper in the form of 3 Mississippi.  The film, which had been previously known as Turkey Bowl, will see Ferrell and Wahlberg as the heads of two competing families who get together every Thanksgiving to play a game of touch football.  The film now looks like it has snagged a writing director team in the shape of Sean Anders and John Morris who have previously written Hot Tub Time Machine and She’s Out Of My League while Anders directed Sex Drive.  He will be the one to call the shots on Mississippi after the pair have finished work on Adam Sandler’s That’s My Boy.  At one point Alex Baldwin was set to play Wahlberg’s dad in Mississippi but there is no word if he is still attached.  Source – The Hollywood Reporter

Mel Gibson, soon to be seen in How I Spent My Summer, looks to have hit the skids again with his latest project Judah Maccabee.  The film Gibson was hoping to direct was being written by Jade and Basic Instinct scribe Joe Eszterhas and would tell the story of Judah in 165 BC as he led the Jews in a revolt against Seleucid Empire who had forbidden Jewish practices.  Eszterhas commented last year that a film of this scale would allow Gibson to unleash some of his Braveheart epic on the screen once more.  But studio Warner Brothers has rejected the lastest script and Eszterhas has recently commented that Gibson is the reason for the film’s stalled status.  In fact Esterhas has gone so far as to state Gibson only planned this film as a publicity stunt to try and repair some of the damage Gibson had caused to the Jewish community with his anti-Semitic remarks last year.  Add to this an outcry from Jewish groups about the making of the film, and probably also Gibson’s involvement in it, and it seems that unless another studio comes knocking the film remain in limbo.  Source – The Wrap  

Eric Bana and Rebecca Hall, last seen in Hanna and The Awakening respectively, are set to star in Working Title and Focus Features’ suspense thriller from Boy A director John Crowley.  The film will see the pair play ex-lovers who find themselves reunited as part of the defense team on a terrorist trial.  Eastern Promises’ Steve Knight has written the screenplay with Four Lions Riz Ahmen, Jim Broadbent and Anne-Marie Duff also set to star.  Source – Working Title

Sabrina The Teenage Witch, the popular comic which became a TV show starring Melissa Joan Hart, looks like it is going to get big screen outing.  Created by George Cladir and artist Dan DeCarlo Sabrina tells the story of Sabrina Spellman who discovers she is a witch.  The new version will be an origins story in the vein of a superhero movie about Sabrina discovering her powers.  Andrew Barrer and Gabriel Ferrari will write the script with Mark Waters potentially directing.  The casting of Sabrina will no doubt be a hotly contested battle among the young actresses of Hollywood.  Source – Deadline Hollywood

Django Unchained, the latest film from Quentin Tarantino, out later this year has revealed its first teaser poster (below).  Not surprisingly the title of the film is not mentioned but when you’ve got a filmmaker as well known as Tarantino his name alone seems to be the thing to do the early selling.  The film will see Jamie Foxx’s escaped slave Django train to become a Bounty Hunter before setting out to rescues his wife from the evil Calvin Candie played by Leonardo DiCaprio.  Source – Yahoo

Wednesday, 11^th April 2012

The Hunger Games, the adaptation of Suzanne Collin’s hit books, might be the year’s biggest blockbuster so far but that hasn’t stopped director Gary Ross stating that he will not be returning for the sequel Catching Fire.  There had been rumours that Ross might not return to the director’s chair but that now seems official.  Fear not though it’s nothing to do with creative differences but simply a matter of time.  Ross has nothing but praise for studio Lionsgate insisting they gave him as much room as he needed on Hunger Games but he does not feel that he can do the sequel justice in the tight time period until the scheduled release date of the second.  There is already a script in place by Simon Beaufoy so it is a case of finding a director who is willing to work against the ever-ticking clock of the studio’s release schedule for the film to be out on 22^nd November 2013.  Source – Variety

Angelina Jolie, arguably Hollywood’s most go to leading lady, is rumoured to be taking a supporting role in Ridley Scott’s next film The Counselor.  Michael Fassbender, who Scott has just worked with on Prometheus, is already attached to take the lead in the story which sees a lawyer decide to go into the drug trade.  The script is the first from novelist Cormac McCarthy who wrote No Country For Old Men and The Road.  It’s unclear what part Jolie would take but she is also attached to star in another of Scott’s up coming films in the shape of his Gertrude Bell biopic.  Source – The Vulture

Mark Wahlberg, soon to be seen in the frankly hysterical looking Ted, is set to star and produce the adaptation of John Grisham’s The Partner.  Wahlberg will play the partner in a successful law firm who becomes disenchanted with life.  So he decides to steal $90 Million dollars from the firm and flee the country, as you do.  Although at first it looks like a perfect crime it seems that the theft seems to suddenly come with a murder charge putting him on the run further.  Producer Arnon Milchan has form with Grisham books having already produced The Client, Runaway Jury and A Time To Kill.  Source  - Variety   

Suspiria, the long gestating remake of Dario Argento’s classic horror film, looks like it’s finally prepping to go into production.  Based on Argento’s 1977 giallo horror about an American who heads to Europe to attend a famous dance school only to find it is in fact a cover for a coven of witches has been in development hell for a while now.  However, it seems that director David Gordon Green, who is more at home directing comedic fair like Your Highness and The Sitter, is ready to get the project underway.  Of course there will be film aficionados who scream bloody murder at remaking probably Argento’s most famous film but this is Hollywood we’re talking about.  The place where nothing is sacred and talk of a Citizen Kane remake is probably only days away.  Source – Deadline Hollywood

Ti West, best known for his horror films House Of The Devil and The Innkeepers, has numerous projects on the burner at the moment and can now add one more in the shape of adapting Ben H Winter’s Bed Bugs into a screenplay.  At the moment West is only slated to write the film for someone else to direct but publisher Jason Rekulak believes that the book reads like a Ti West film so perhaps he will also attaché him to step behind the camera for the film as well.  The story is about a family who move to a New York apartment and before long one member seems to be suffering from bed bug bites while the others seem to escape.  However, they soon discover the bites are something much worse.  Source – Deadline Hollywood

Alex Proyas, the director of Dark City and I, Robot, is set to adapt the 1942 novella by Robert Heinlein The Unpleasant Profession of Jonathan Hoag.  The book sees Hoag suddenly realising one evening that he has no memory of what he does during the day.  He then hires a husband and wife detective team to follow him and what they discover is more worrying than first thought.  And that’s before a sinister agency tells them to drop their investigation.  Proyas had been working on his pet project adaption of Milton’s Paradise Lost but that has been shut down thanks to budget concerns.  Source – Variety

 

Tuesday, 10^th April 2012 

Niole Kidman, last seen opposite Nic Cage in Trespass and currently in pre-production on The Railway Man with Colin Firth, is in talks to play a true Hollywood icon in the shape of Grace Kelly.  Based on Arash Amel’s Black Listed script Grace Of Monaco the film will follow a short segment of the actresses life when she worked behind the scenes as Monaco and France had a disagreement over Monaco’s tax status.  Kelly was of course famed for her roles in Hitchcock films Dial M For Murder, To Catch A Thief and Rear Window as well as her Oscar win for The Country Girl.  Of course she gave up acting after she met the Prince of Monaco in 1955 and married him before her tragic death in 1982 while suffering a stroke at the wheel of her car.  There is no question that in Kidman’s hands the role will generate award buzz and their looks are not too dissimilar.  La vi en Rose’s Olivier Dahan will direct the film.  Source – Variety

Jennifer Aniston, last seen in Wanderlust, is in talks to star in the long gestating comedy We Are The Millers.  If she signs Millers could re-team her with her Horrible Bosses co-star Jason Sudeikis.  We Are The Millers has been in development hell for some time now but sees Sudeikis’ character hire a prostitute, in the shapely form of Aniston, and a couple of juvenile delinquents to pretend to be his family so he can smuggle 1000 pounds of weed across the border in his RV.  Dodgeball’s Rawson Thurber is the latest name attached to the directors chair and you would think that with a name like Aninston’s attached the film should finally be a go.  Source – Deadline Hollywood

Steve Carell, soon to be seen in Seeking A Friend For The End Of The World, is in talks to star in an adaptation of Judith Viorst’s 1972 children’s novel Alexander And The Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day.  The book tells the story about a particulary bad day in the titular character’s life which leads him to want to move to Australia. Carell is considering playing the part of Ben.  Lisa Cholodenko, who last directed The Kids Are All Right, is in line to direct from a script by Rob Lieber.  The film will mark another turn to kids friendly stuff for Carell after his voice action of Despicable Me and Horton Hears A Who, this will see a more live action kids version of Carell though.  Source – Deadline Hollywood

Woody Harrelson, currently seen in smash hit The Hunger Games, is in talks to play the villain opposite Christian Bale in Into The Furnace.  Billy Bob Thornton had been attached to play the role but he seems to have pulled out paving the way for Harrleson.  If he signs Harrelson will play a character how lures Casey Affleck into a life of crime before something very bad happens.  Bale will play Affleck’s brother who, upon his release from prison, swears bloody revenge on Harrleson.  Zoe Saldana is playing Bale’s love interest while Sam Shepard is now set to play his uncle.  Crazy Heart’s Scott Cooper is calling the shots.  Source – Variety 

Gemma Arterton, last seen in Tamara Drewe and soon to be seen in Byzantium and Hansel & Gretel Which Hunters, is in early talks to star in The Wright Girls.  The film, based on the Japanese movie 2LDK, sees two female co-stars of a successful TV show show live together.  In the press they are BFFs but in reality the two despise each other.  It all boils over when the two actresses end up competing for a prime movie role.   Easy A’s Bert Royal has penned the script while Race To Witch Mountain’s Andy Fickman will direct the film.  The other part has yet to be cast but there was rumours that Megan Fox was in talks at one point.  Source – The Hollywood Reporter

Ben Kingsley, no stranger to playing villains as seen in Thunderbirds and Prince Of Persia not to mention his terrifying turn in Sexy Beast, is in final stage talks to play the big bad guy in Iron Man 3.  It’s easy to forget with The Avengers round the corner that Shane Black, writer-director of Kiss Kiss Bang Bang, will start shooting Tony Stark’s next adventure in May this year.  There is no definite word on who Kingsley will play opposite Robert Downey Jnr’s Iron Man but there are strong rumours suggesting he will be Marvel’s The Mandarin.  Black of course created the Lethal Weapon franchise and continues the trend of Marvel hiring left-field directors for their big tent-pole heroes.  Source – Variety

Snow White And The Huntsmen, not even in cinemas yet but hitting screens in June, could spawn a franchise according to Universal Studios chief Ron Meyers.  The surprising news is that he told The Hollywood Reporter that a follow-up movie would focus more on the Huntsman than on Snow White.  This would of course mean yet another franchise for Thor himself Chris Hemsworth, who plays the Huntsman of the title, along with the God Of Thunder and of course The Avengers.  It is perhaps surprising that Kristen Stewart’s Snow White was not more heavily connected with a sequel but that could be in part due to her coming off the back of the Twilight Saga and her now surely large fee for any film a stumbling block about getting her to return.  Of course all of this depends on whether or not Snow White And The Huntsmen does the business that Universal expects it to at the Box Office this summer.  Source – The Hollywood Reporter

Terrence Howard, soon to be seen in the long to be released Red Tails and best known for Hustle And Flow, is set to go head to head with Colin Farrell and Noomi Rapace in Dead Man Down as the big bad villain.  The film sees Farrell as Howard’s right hand man in a New York crime syndicate who falls for Rapace’s vengeful victim and together they figure out a way to deal with the nasty Howard.  Niels Arden Oplev, who directed the Swedish The With The Dragon Tattoo which starred Rapace, will call the shots with Dominic Cooper also attached to star.  Source- Variety

 

Thursday, 5^th April 2012

Taylor Lautner, soon to be seen in Twilight; Breaking Dawn Part 2, could be about to take a turn to the attempted funny if he signs for Adam Sandler’s first ever sequel in the form of Grown-Ups 2.  Lautner is currently in talks to play what is described as a ‘fun role’.  What does that even mean?  That he spends the entire film on a bouncy castle enjoying his perfect abs?  Anyway the original cast of Sandler, Chris Rock, Salma Hayek, Kevin James, Rob Schneider and David Spade are all returning for the most feared sequel in cinema history as is original director Dennis Dugan.  And on that note we’re off to see if we can find the Four Horsemen of The Apocalypse riding around the streets.  Source – The Hollywood Reporter

Bradley Cooper, last seen in the forgeable The Hangover Part II and soon to be seen alongside other ab-man Ryan Gosling in The Place Beyond The Pines, is a wanted man when it comes to captaining ships and killing monsters.  That’s because Warner Brothers want him to headline Here There Be Monsters.  The film follows the story of real life revolutionary war veteran John Paul Jones who is relieved of his naval commission and hired by a shipping tycoon to discover why his ships keep disappearing.  He sets sail and what should he find but sea monsters.  Warners are lining ups Jaume Collet-Serra, the man behind Unknown, who was scheduled to direct the long gestating live-action Akira film until that hit the skids due to budgetary concerns.  Serra also has Dracula story Harker in the works but that won’t shoot until 2014 when lead actor Russell Crowe is available.  Of course Cooper is no stranger to films coming to an abrupt holt due to money issues as he was recently attached to the now cancelled Paradise Lost film.  He’s not that fussed though as he’s probably about to net a cool pay day in the shape of the Hangover Part III, see what we mean about looking for those Four Horses now?  Source – Vulture  

The Mummy, perhaps a little late considering mother’s day was a few weeks ago, is set to get a reboot.  The Mummy first came to life at Universal in 1932 spawning four sequels before then being resuscitated by Stephen Sommers in 1999 and followed up by two sequels and a spin-off franchise in the shape of The Scorpion King.  Now Universal have hired Prometheus writer Jon Spaihts to bring The Mummy back to life saying that he has been given reign to take the series back to its dark and creepy origins, just like he looks to have done with the Alien franchise.  Source – Variety

Liam Neeson, yesterday announced as boarding a plane for Non-Stop, is now set to board Olivia Wilde.  Lucky man.  Although that is pure speculation at this point.  The pair have been cast in Paul Haggis’ latest film Third Person which will see three love stories taking place in three separate cities New York, Paris and Rome.  Neeson and Wilde will take part in the New York plot and have both worked together, and with Haggis, on The Next Three Days.  Neeson will soon be seen in Battleship while Wilde has just wrapped on Ron Howard’s Formula One film Rush.  Source – Vulture

Alexander Skarsgard, soon to be seen commanding Battleship and best known as a conflicted vampire in TV’s True Blood, is close to signing to horror movie Hidden.  Warner Brothers have hired twin brothers Matt and Ross Duffer to direct the film about a family who survive a strange outbreak of a virus by hiding in a bomb shelter.  When they emerge they find the world is not how they left it, presumably because the virus does horrible but not necessarily fatal things to people.  Of course Skarsgard is not unfamiliar with apocalyptic events having last been seen in Von Trier’s Melancholia.  Source – Variety

James Bond, you know 007 Her Majesty’s finest, looks like his found another lady to woo in his upcoming film Skyfall in the of Greek actress Tonia Sotiropoulo.  Of course Daniel Craig’s Bond already has both Naomi Harris and French actress Berenice Marlohe to contend with but news is that Sotiropoulo will Bond briefly romances early on.  That normally doesn’t end too well for Bond girls.  Source – MI6 News via Empire.

 

Wednesday, 4^th April 2012

Liam Neeson, currently being godly in Wrath Of The Titans and about to be seen as a naval commander in Battleship, is set to star in Non-Stop.  The film will team him again with Unknown producer Joel Silver and will see Neeson using his unique set of skills as an air marshal on a flight which is interrupted by nasty goings on.  There is no word what the nasty stuff is but you can bet your bottom dollar that Neeson will stop at nothing to get his daughter back, sorry, that’s unlikely.  Anyway he’ll be taking names and kicking ass no doubt. Never Back Down director Jeff Wadlow will direct the film.  Source – Variety

Dominic Cooper, last seen in Captain America and The Devil’s Double, is in talks to join the cast of Dead Man Down.  The film is being directed by Swedish The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo helmer Niels Arden Oplev and re-teams him with his Lisbeth Salander Noomi Rapace.  Also along for the ride is Colin Farrell.  Farrell will play the right hand man to a crime lord in New York who falls for the vengeance Rapace who is looking for a bit of payback against his boss.  Together they set out to right hers and others wrongs.  No word on who Cooper will play, is he too young to play the crime lord, but he will next be seen in Abraham Lincoln; Vampire Hunter.  Source – Variety

Emma Thompson, soon to be seen dealing with aliens in Men In Black III, is set to reprise her Oscar nominated role of Gareth Peirce from In The Name Of The Father.  It rarely happens whereby a based on a true story gets an actually based on a true story sequel but it seems that is exactly what happened in Peirce’s life.  The crusading lawyer in the new film The Secret Evidence will help a couple who are caught in the cross fire of the war on terror get out of prison.  Nicholas Racz will direct the film but more importantly Cerie Bullivant is one of the co-writers who was held under house arrest for two years for suspected links to terrorism who had legal help from the real Peirce.  You can’t make this stuff up.  Source – Screen Daily

Abigail Breslin, the girl formerly known as Little Miss Sunshine and about to star with Halle Berry in The Hive, has signed on to star in Cube director Vincenzo Natali’s latest film Haunter.  The film will see Breslin play a girl who dies in mysterious circumstances in 1986 but is unable to cross into the after life.  When a young girl is threatened in her old room Breslin’s ghost must try and reach out from the spiritual world to help.  Natali is one of those directors who always deals with interesting ideas and while this one on paper seems a little kitsch we’re trusting that Natali will put a creepy spin on it.  Source – Variety

 

Tuesday, 3^rd April 2012

The Woman In Black, the box office horror hit return for Hammer Films, is looking to gear up for a slightly unexpected sequel.  These days of course a successful film demands a second helping.  This film will be set 40 years after the events of the first film with a family moving into the haunted Eel Marsh House to obviously terrifying consequences.  The Woman In Black has taken around $112 Million at the global box office to date.  Of course with that title could it be that Daniel Radcliffe will be returning as a ghostly figure?  Who knows, he might have had enough of franchise films for the time being.  So what do you think?  Do you want more from The Woman In Black?  Source – Empire.

Adam Sandler, fresh off winning every Razzie going at this year’s awards for Jack & Jill, will produce a remake of 1987 movie Summer School.  The original saw Mark NCIS Harmon play a gym teacher who has to forgo his Hawaiian Holiday in order to teach a remedial English summer class.  At the moment Sandler is not attached to star, but don’t let that stop the fear from going as plans could change.  Before that though Sandler is planning on Grown Ups 2, okay, now you can panic.  Source – The Hollywood Reporter

Roland Emmerich, the man no averse to destroying land marks with films like Independence Day and 2012, is set to direct White House Down.  The film is based on The Amazing Spider-Man writer James Vanderbilt’s spec script which sold for a cool $3 Million.  Although plot lines are being kept under wraps the script is set to be a cross of Die Hard meets Air Force One.  Vanderbilt is currently working on a Spider-Man sequel before then moving on to do a polish on the new Robocop.  All the while he’s also working on a version of Red Riding for Sony.  It will be good to have Emmerich back in blowing-sh*t-up mode rather than the slightly mis-firing attempt at period conspiracy thriller Anonymous, at least he won’t offend Shakespeare with his film.  Source – Deadline Hollywood

 

Monday, 2^nd April 2012

Ashton Kutcher, these days bumbling around Two And A Half Men as Charlie Sheen’s replacement on the show, will apparently play none other than Apple co-founder Steve Jobs in the biopic of his life.  Now some may call April Fool on this one as it did appear in the stories yesterday but the rumour is Kutcher will play a young Jobs from his bohemian days through his early struggles and his eventual success with Apple.  It might no be as much of a leap of faith as first thought as early photos of Jobs do show him to look remarkably like a the scruffy Kutcher.  Joshua Michael Stern, who directed Swing Vote, is looking to start directing as early as next month when Kutch is on hiatus from Two And A Half Men.  Source – Variety

The Hunger Games, the film based on the hugely popular book by Suzanne Collins, remains top of the US Box-office taking a massive $61.5 million over the weekend.  It beat out the likes of Wrath Of The Titans and Mirror Mirror.  All this means that the first film in the Hunger Games proposed franchise has now grossed well over $250 Million in the US alone making. Source – Box Office Mojo

Mia Wasikowska, best known as Tim Burton’s Alice In Wonderland, will take on the daunting role of playing Madame Bovary in the latest big screen adaptation of Gustave Flaubert’s novel.  Bovary sees the titular character marry a small town doctor in order to escape her father’s pig farm.  Once there she spends much of her time in other peoples beds in an attempt to climb the social ladder.  Paul Giamatti will play the role of Monsieur Homais who discovers Bovary’s indiscretions and threatens to inform her husband of them.  Cold Souls director Sophie Barthes will helm this incarnation.  Source – Variety

Chris Columbus, the man who brought Harry Potter and Percy Jackson to life, is looking to more literary characters for his next project in the shape of Kristin Hannah’s Home Front.  The book, which has been sitting pretty in the us book chart, tells the story of a wife and mother who acts as a Black Hawk helicopter pilot in the National Guard.  This fits in with her family life until she is called up to serve in Iraq.  This isn’t the only Hannah book looking to get an adaptation at the moment with The Things We Do For Love, about a destitute 17 year-old pregnant girl making a tough decision looking to cast Abigail Breslin in the lead role.   Source – Deadline Hollywood

Amanda Peet, recently having huge success on TV’s Bent, will join Jason Bateman and Melissa McCarthy for The Identity Thief.  The film re-teams Bateman with his Horrible Bosses director Seth Gordon and sees Bateman’s identity stolen by Bridesmaid’s McCarthy.  It’s unclear what role Peet will fill but she knows how to do comedy, see Studio 60 On The Sunset Strip, and has repeatedly proved herself to be a solid screen presence.  Source – Variety

 

Friday, 30^th March 2012

Twins, the 1988 comedy starring Arnold Schwarzenegger and Danny DeVito, looks like it’s going to get a sequel called, yup you guessed it, Triplets.  The first film saw an experiment try to create the ultimate human, Schwarzenegger, but in the process also produced the ‘left-over crap’ in the tiny form of DeVito.  If this latest film goes ahead it would also see Eddie Murphy as the third sibling in the oven.  Although at the moment the film is just an idea from original director Ivan Reitman all three actors are loosely attached to the project and Reitman is looking for a writer and director to bring the magic to life.  So good idea or horrible monstrosity?  It’s got 80s nostalgia written all over it either way.  Source – The Hollywood Reporter

Ben Affleck, last seen in The Town and soon to be seen in his third directorial effort Argo, is set to star in Nathan Decker for Warner Brothers.  Affleck will play the titular character who is a disgraced politician who returns to home town to put some ghosts to rest.  The film was originally intended to star Tom Cruise by due to various scheduling issues and a slate of upcoming projects the length the Titanic he’s had to pull out.  The script was written by Dan Fogelman who last wrote Crazy Stupid Love so knows a thing or two about good-hearted dramedy.  Source – The Hollywood Reporter

The Thin Man, the latest adaptation of Dashiell Hammett’s former detective, already boasts none other than Johnny Depp in the lead role but now director Rob Marshall is looking to fill the role of his wife Nora Charles.  And they’ve got the following names in mind to play the par, deep breath, Carey Mulligan, Emily Blunt, Emma Stone, Eva Green, Isla Fisher, Amy Adams Kristen Wiig and Rachel Weisz.  So basically everyone.  Our vote is a fight to the death, with tridents, and hand grenades.  No?  Worth a shot.  Suffice to say it’s going to be one of those hotly tipped part which will be cast, then scheduling commitments will mean it’s recast over and over.  Don’t hold your breath for an announcement any time soon.  Source – Deadline Hollywood

Colin Firth, last seen in Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, is in talks to star in Bridesmaids’ director Paul Feig’s latest film Untouchable.  Based on the French film, which in turn is based on a true story, the film will see Firth as a wealthy aristocrat who suffers from a hand gliding accident leaving him a quadriplegic.  In an effort to find a suitable caretaker he forms an unlikely bond with an immigrant and the two soon realise that together they are a match to be reckoned with.  The Weinsteins are releasing the French version around the globe before hitting us all with the American remake.  Source – Variety

Gerard Butler, recently seen in Machine Gun Preacher, is now in talks to take the lead role in Motor City. First it was Dominic Cooper, then it was Jake Gyllenhaal and now it falls on Butler’s broad shoulders to potentially fill the role.  If he does sign on, and there’s no guarantee of that given those who have tried and failed in the past, he’ll play a prisoner released from jail and determined to take revenge on the people who put him there.  Gary Oldman is on board as the big baddy with Amber Heard likely filling the love interest.  Source – Variety

 

Thursday, 29^th March 2012

Ron Burgundy fans rejoice!  Anchorman 2 is now happening, officially.  Will Ferrell turned up on The Conan O’Brien show last night and informed the world that the Action Four News Team will be once again putting on the Sex Panther, pouring a glass of scotch and gracing our screens.  The reason for the huge delight is that for many years Anchorman was something of a box-office ‘failure’ but has since gone on to be a huge selling DVD and something of a cult classic.  For those who don’t know Anchorman sees Ferrell play Ron Burgundy San Diego’s premier newscaster in the 1970s.  Forget the sexual politics of Mad Men Burgundy puts that lot to shame.  Original director Adam McKay has confirmed, via Twitter, that he and Ferrell are currently writing the sequel and hope to shoot as early as next February.  You can see Mr. Burgundy’s Conan O’Brien appearance below.   Source – Ron Burgundy and Adam McKay   

Zack Galifianakis and Owen Wilson, last seen in The Muppets and Midnight In Paris respectively, are set to join forces and star in You Are Here.  The film is being directed by Mad Men creator Matthew Weiner.  The film will mark Weiner’s feature debut having directed numerous episodes of his  hit show over the past five years.  You Are Here will see Wilson as a local weatherman escorting his best friend Galifianakis on a road trip after his father passed away.  Problem is that what his father has left him will get in the way of the duo’s friendship.  Source – Deadline Hollywood

Julianne Moore, last seen in Crazy Stupid Love, is set to join the cast of Joseph Gordon Levitt’s directorial debut.  The film is yet to finalise a title but will see Levitt playing a modern day Don Juan and realising that he needs to change his ways and be less selfish.  All this is so he can win the affections of Scarlett Johansson and Moore will play an unlikely mentor figure who helps him do the right thing. Levitt has found funding from The Hurt Locker producer Nicholas Chartier and hopes to start shooting next month. Source – Variety

DJ Caruso, the man who gave us I Am Number Four and Eagle Eye, is in talks to direct Invertigo for Sony.  Before all you Hitchcock fans start to worry and remind us of how Caruso already ripped-off Hitch with Rear Window inspired Disturbia, Invertigo is in fact a Sci-fi movie, so no obsessions with mysterious blondes, that we’re aware of.  Instead Invertigo will focus on a satellite that crash lands in New York creating a reverse-G vortex.  What the hell is one of those you ask?  Well it seems a reverse-G vortex is a reverses the earth’s gravity putting us all at risk.  The script was written by Transformers Dark Of The Moon scribe Ehren Kruger with Brandon Camp.  Caruso is currently putting the finishing touches to his pet low-budget project Goat Island.  Source – Deadline Hollywood

 

Wednesday, 28^th March 2012

Kenneth Branagh, last seen in My Week With Marilyn but more importantly last in the director’s chair for Thor, looks like he could be in line to bring the next Jack Ryan film to life.  Last week the film’s latest director Jack Bender had to leave the long gestating since 2006 project due to scheduling conflicts.  Paramount have now stepped up their pursuit by talking to Branagh after proving he can do big budget thrills with Thor last year.   The film is not based on a Tom Clancy, who created the Jack Ryan character, but instead will see Ryan fresh out of the marines advising a Russian Billionaire and framed for an act of terrorism.  Ryan is similar to a Jason Bourne but relies much more on his intelligence than his ability to kill people with magazines.  Chris Pine is still firmly attached to play the young Ryan and the hope is surely to start shooting shortly after he has finished on the lastest Star Trek film.  Source – Variety

Zooey Deschanel, best known for 500 Days of Summer and soon the be the dictionary definition of the word ‘kooky’ is being linked to Richard Curtis’ first dictatorial effort since The Boat That Rocked, or Pirate Radio to our American friends.   About Time, that’s the title of the film not our thoughts on Curtis not directing in a while, will see Tim a man who suddenly finds out he comes from a long line of time travellers.  As soon as he learns of his new ability he goes about changing his past for the better.  Tim could be played by Harry Potter’s Domhnall Gleeson.  Deschanel will play his love interest but only if he can change the past enough to make it happen.  The actress would look to shoot this while he TV show New Girl is on hiatus.  Source – Variety

Stanley Tucci, one of those actors who makes any film at least 25% better and currently to be seen as Caesar Flickerman in The Hunger Games, is in talks to star alongside Harry Potter’s Emma Watson in Your Voice In My Head.  The film is slated to be directed by Harry Potter’s (he’s popular today isn’t he?) David Yates and will see Watson as a girl who tries to killer herself after she breaks up with her journalist boyfriend.  Tucci would play her New York therapist who tries to help her through her problems while he himself as dying of cancer.  The film is based on Emma Forrest’s memoirs with studio Warner Brothers hoping it might prove to be something of an Oscar contender.  Source – Variety

Justin Lin, the man behind the bombastic and brilliant Fast Five, has found his writers for one of his countless slate of upcoming movies Lone Wolf And Cub.  Those writers are none other than 12 Monkeys’ scribes David and Janet Peoples.  The pair will get to work adapting the manga comic from Kazuo Kouke.  Wolf is set in feudal Japan and sees the Shogun’s top executioner’s wife murdered and he framed for murder.  Fleeing for his life with his three-year-old son he becomes an assassin for hire before choosing to take revenge on the people who framed him.  After the success of Fast Five Lin is hot property right now having signed a first look deal with Universal back in August last year.  Source – Deadline Hollywood

The Dictator, aka Sacha Baron Cohen’s latest opus, has a new trailer and it shed a little more light on the plot of the leader of The Republic of Wadiya:

Tuesday, 27^th March 2012

Mila Kunis, last seen in Friends With Benefits, and Channing Tatum, currently proving his comedy chops with 21 Jump Street, are being lined up to star in Andy and Lana Wachowski’s next film Jupiter Ascending.  The directing duo who gave us The Matrix trilogy have just finished shooting Cloud Atlas with Tom Tykwer and starring Hugh Grant, Tom Hanks, Halle Berry, Susan Sarandon and Hugo Weaving are keeping the plot to Jupiter Ascending on the down low but it is known to be their first fully fledged Sci-fi film since The Matrix.  They’re aiming to start shooting towards the end of this year.  Source – Deadline Hollywood

Will Ferrell, soon to be seen in Spanish language comedy Case de mi Padre, is having Crazy U: One Dad’s Crash Course In Getting His Kids Into College adapted from the novel as a potential star vehicle for the comedian.  Andrew Ferguson wrote the book which New Line Cinema have now acquired the rights to.   The plot will see Ferrell as a dad stopping at nothing to get his son into the best college possible.  That included going on all the college tours, talking to all the Deans and helping him get the best marks on his SATs, all the while knowing that the end result will be a severe drain on his bank balance.  Source – Deadline Hollywood

Robocop, the future of law enforcement or so we’re told, with the reboot in the works new star and director have been offering up some tip-bits as to what we can expect.  Star Joel Kinnaman, best known for the US version of The Killing, has said that Robocop will have a much more human look to him with theories in neural science showing that the brain is not the control tower of the body we once thought it was.  Meanwhile Jose Padilha, best known as the director of Brazilian crime thriller Elite Squad, has said that the film will take place between the moment cop Alex Murphy is shot and the moment he becomes Robocop.  We will apparently see how you take the humanity out of a person by programming their brain and how that will affect Murphy.  Source – MTV via Coming Soon

Teenage Fiction, hot off the back of The Hunger Games, is getting a movie shot in the arm with a new trilog being optioned.  Said work is the Quarantine trilogy, with the first book being called The Losers.  The book, written by Lex Hrabe and Thomas Voorhies who will also write the first draft of the script for Black Forest Film Group,  is set in a future where a virus attacks anyone who has been through puberty.  In the hope of stemming the tide the US government quarantine teenagers in a school where it all goes a little Lord Of The Flies as they form rival gangs to try and survive.  There is no director attached at the moment but it if can achieve even a small percentage success of The Hunger Games expect a mad scrabble for casting and directors to begin shortly.  Source – Variety

 

Monday, 26^th March, 2012

The Hunger Games, the film based on Suzanne Collins’ first in the popular series of books, had the best opening weekend of the year so far with an estimated $155 Million.  That makes it the highest grossing opening for a none-sequel, beating Tim Burton’s Alice In Wonderland, while also becoming Lionsgate Films highest grossing film ever, in just two days.  All his bodes well for the franchise and the film is expected to continue good business thanks to solid reviews and good word of mouth.  Source – Box Office Mojo

James Cameron, while we’re on the subject of record breaking, has gone and broken a record himself.  The man who is no stranger to water with films like The Abyss and Titanic under his belt has broken the record for the deepest solo sub dive to the bottom of the ocean.  Cameron dived into the Mariana Trench, the deepest known part of the world’s oceans, to a depth of 35,756 feet aboard his sub The Deepsea Challenger, which he naturally helped design and build.  The man even had internet connection to tweet “Hitting bottom never felt so good”.  The word over-achiever springs to mind, apparently having the two biggest grossing films in Hollywood history, in the shape of Avatar and Titanic, is not enough for the king of the world.  Source – The LA Times

Melisa Leo, the Oscar winning actress of The Fighter, has joined the cast of Tom Cruise starring Oblivion.  The film, being directed by Tron Legacy’s Joseph Kosinski, is set in the future where man lives in floating cities about an uninhabitable earth.  The planet is under threat from aliens who are warded off by drones on the earth’s surface with Cruise character the man to keep them running.  That is until Andrea Riseborough crash lands and causes Cruise to question everything he has been told about the world as he knows it.  The film will also feature the likes of Morgan Freeman and Olga Kurylenko and is due in 2013.  No word on who Leo will play but she’s currently working on the third season of HBO’s Treme. Source – Deadline Hollywood

Chloe Moretz, last seen in Hugo and soon to be seen in Dark Shadows, is in the running to play none other than Carrie in Kimberly Pierce’s remake of the Stephen King classic.  It’s early days yet but Moretz is one of the front-runners with The Hole’s Haley Bennett having already beaten out the likes of Dakota Fanning and Lily Collins.  Pierce, who is best known for Boys Don’t Cry,  is said to want to go back to King’s material rather than tackling De Palma’s horror classic and make it more grounded than its predecessor.  Whoever wins the role of Carrie will have to get used to bullying before allowing her telekinetic powers to run amok at Prom.   Source – Vulture via Empire

 

Friday, 23^rd March 2012

Billy Bob Thornton, last heard in Puss In Boots and last seen in Faster, is apparently close to signing on to play the villain opposite Christian Bale for Into The Furnace.  The film sees Bale released from prison and hoping to go straight and marry his girlfriend Zoe Saldana.  That is until his younger brother Casey Affleck is killed and Bale swears revenge against the people responsible.  Thornton is in talks to play the big bad while rumours are also circulating that Forest Whitaker will play the part of a sleazy bookie also involved in the killing.  The film has had a few casting issues with Viggo Mortensen at one point set to play Thornton’s role.  Crazy Heart director Scott Cooper is calling the shots on the film.  Source – Deadline Hollywood

Michael K Williams, the man forever known as Omar from The Wire but more recently seen in Boardwalk Empire and The Road, is set to play another memorable character in the form of Wu-Tang Clan founding member Ol’ Dirty Bastard.  The film will be called Dirty White Boy and tell the story of Bastard, real name Russell Jones, after he is released from prison and trying to make his comeback.  At the time a 22 year old VH1 production assistant convinced Russell to let him be his manager and together the pair actually started to blaze the come back trail.   That was until 2004 aged 35 when Jones died of a drug overdose.  We Own The Night cinematographer Joaquin Baca-Asay will make this his directorial debut.  Source – Entertainment Weekly

William Monahan, the Oscar winning writer for The Departed, is taking another stab at directing with his script Mojave.  Monahan is regarded as one of the best writers in Hollywood right now but his time behind the camera has only resulted in the disappointing London Boulevard.  That’s not stopping him having another crack at directing but plot details on crime thriller Mojave are being kept tightly under-wraps.  What is known is that Dark Knight producer Chuck Roven is producing via his Atlas Independent company which specialises in films budgeted at under $10 Million.  Monahan will start casting the film as soon as possible with a start date hopefully this August.  Source – Deadline Hollywood

 

Thursday, 22^nd March 2012

Jason Segel, last seen in The Muppets and soon to be seen in Jeff Who Lives At Home, is making a Sex Tape.  Not literally, at least that we’re aware of or would want to see, but instead in a film.  He’ll play one half of a married couple who make the Sex Tape of the title which then goes missing.  The couple must then desperately try and recover the tape.  Jake Kasdan, who last made Bad Teacher, is replacing Nicholas Stoller in the directors-chair due to scheduling conflicts and there has been word that Reece Witherspoon might play Segel’s sex taping wife but those are just rumours at this point.  Source – Variety

Midnight Run, the cult classic starring Robert De Niro and Charles Grodin, is gearing up for a sequel with De Niro returning as former Chicago cop turned Bounty Hunter Jack Walsh.  The film will pick up after the last one with Walsh using the money he gained in the film to start up a coffee house.  Bret Ratner, no stranger to buddy movies with the Rush Hour films under his belt, is in talks to direct the film but there is no word on whether Grodin will come out of acting retirement to reprise his role.  De Niro is certainly on board as the film is being produced by his Tribeca Pictures.  Source – Deadline Hollywood

Jessica Brown Findlay, star of last year’s Albatross but better known as star of Downtown Abbey, is set to star in Oscar winning writer Akiva Goldsman’s directorial debut Winter’s Tale.  The film, based on the 1983 novel by Mark Helprin, will see Findlay as dying woman who falls in love with the thief who breaks into her fancy New York apartment.  Goldsman has called upon old muckers Russell Crowe and Will Smith to play supporting roles in the film which also has a supernatural feel to it with Crowe to play a mob boss who also happens to be part demon.  Kick Ass’ Aaron Johnson and Tron’s Garrett Hedlund are rumoured to be in line to play the burglar.  Goldsman is also working on the script for Ron Howard’s Dark Tower adaptation but will hope to have that done by the time Winter’s Tale goes into production in October.  Source – Deadline Hollywood   

Huckleberry Finn and Tom Sawyer, the beloved literary creations of Mark Twain, are getting another Hollywood outing this time in an adult re-invention.  If it works for Snow White and Hansel & Gretel there’s no stopping it working for Huck And Tom.  Based on a spec script by Andrew Burg plot details are being kept under wraps but it is understood that the story will see the two boys all grown up and dealing with a supernatural foe.  The film is being produced by Rise Of The Planet Of The Apes duo Peter Cherin and Dylan Clark along with Matt Lopez.  No word on a director or potential stars yet though.  Source – The Hollywood Reporter

Martin Campbell, the director behind Casino Royale and more recently the forgettable Green Lantern, is set to direct James Cameron’s passion project The Dive.  The story tells the true story of Francisco ‘Pipin’ Ferraras and his wife Audrey Mestre both professional freedivers.  Tragedy struck when Mestre died on a record breaking attempt dive, where she plummeted to 557.7 feet a record held by herself with no air but that in her lungs.  After her death Ferraras took over the mantle determined to beat the record for the sake of his wife.  Cameron is still on board the film as a producer but is too busy dealing with some films called Avatar 2 & 3 to commit to directing the film.  Source – Deadline Hollywood

David O’Russell, the Oscar nominated director of The Fighter and Three Kings, is set to direct the film American Bullsh*t for Sony.  The film tells the story of a con artist working with the FBI to solve a corruption case.  Russell is putting the finishing touches to The Silver Linings Playbook with Bradley Cooper and was set to direct video game adaptation Uncharted: Drake’s Fortune but pulled out while the project was in pre-production.  Source – Variety

Wednesday, 21^st March 2012

Jessica Biel, last seen in New Year’s Eve and soon to be seen opposite Coin Farrell in Total Recall, has joined the cast of Alfred Hitchcock And The Making Of Psycho.  The film tells the story of Hitch’s efforts to make his now iconic 1960 classic.  Anthony Hopkins is playing Hitchcock with Helen Mirren playing his wife Alma.  Meanwhile, Scarlett Johansson will play Vivien Leigh with James D’Arcy in the Anthong Perkins role.  Biel will play other lead Psycho actress Vera Miles.  The film is being directed by Anvil, The Story Of Anvil’s Sacha Gervasi from a script adapted by Black Swan’s John McLaughlin.  Source – Deadline Hollywood

Anthony Head, best known as Buffy The Vampire Slayer’s Giles, is joining the ranks for the new Percy Jackson And The Sea Of Monsters.  He’ll play Chiron the centaur leader of Camp Half-Blood.  The role was played by Pierce Brosnan in Percy Jackson And The Lighting Thief but for reasons unknown, possibly scheduling, Head has replaced him.  The latest Percy film, which recently added Firefly’s Nathan Fillion to the cast, sees Percy and his friends have to retrieve the Golden Fleece in order to save Camp Half-Blood.   Thor Freudenthal (with a name like that he should only be directing movies involving gods) is taking over directing duties from Chris Columbus on the first film while Columbus returns as a producer.  Source – Heat Vision

Robert Ben Garant and Thomas Lennon, the writing team behind Night At The Museum, are choosing to dip their toe in the directing pool by tackling Hell Baby.  The pair have also written the script which sees Hot Tub Time Machine’s Rob Corddry and Iron Man’s Leslie Bibb as a couple who move into the most haunted building in New York.  There they encounter a Satanic infant who is something of an unwelcome house guest so call upon The Vatican to help them out.  Garant and Lennon will also play the Vatican team sent into deal with the menacing child.  

Martin Helgeland, son of legendary Hollywood writer Brian of LA Confidential and Mystic River, is following in daddy’s footsteps by writing Slayer.  The spec script has been bought by Legendary Pictures and sees a doctor who tries to find out who his father was after his untimely death.  What he discovers is his father was a dragon slayer and that he must now carry on the role less the fire-breathing monsters destroy everything.  Brian is onboard as a producer for his son who is still a student in LA and seemingly wrote the script in his spare time.  Source – Variety

 

Tuesday, 20^th March 2012

John Carter, the Disney adaptation of the Edgar Rice Burroughs novel and still in cinemas, has proven, as expected, to be something of a disaster at the box-office.  In fact despite a splurge of marketing, not to mention director Andrew Stanton telling the world via Twitter about the merits of the film, it now seems Carter could turn out to be one of the biggest cinematic flops in Hollywood history.  The latest figures imply that Disney is going to make a $200 Million loss on the film.  That figure would usurp the current record loss, adjusted for inflation, held by Cutthroat Island of $147 Million.  Disney are unlikely to suffer in the long run but must now hope Pixar’s Brave and The Avengers prove to have box-office clout.  Source – Deadline Hollywood

Jake Gyllenhaal, last seen in Duncan Jones’ Source Code, is eyeing up the dual role in An Enemy.  The film, to be directed by Incendies’ Denis Villeneuve, sees a man recommended a video only to discover that he seems to be the pain part only five years younger.  Against some sound advice and his better judgement he decides to track down his double and learns a thing or two about himself in the process.  Gyllenhaal would play both roles and the film is likely to start shooting quickly as Villeneuve is also gearing up to shoot Prisoners with Hugh Jackman.  Source – Variety

Paul Rudd, currently in cinemas in Wanderlust, is looking to take the male lead opposite Tina Fey in Admission.  It looked, at one point, as if Owen Wilson would play the role but he has since bowed out leaving the vacancy for Rudd to fill.  The film sees Fey as a college admissions officer whose routine life is shaken up by an attractive prospective student and someone from her past who carries a torch for her.  The latter part will be played by Rudd.  The film is being directed by About A Boy’s Paul Weitz and is looking to shoot while Fey is on hiatus from her 30 Rock duties.  Rudd will soon be seen in Judd Apatow’s Knocked Up spin-off This Is 40 playing the same role he did in Knocked Up.  Source – The Hollywood Reporter

Dan Aykroyd and Chevy Chase, former Saturday Night Live alumni and co-stars of Spies Like Us, are re-teaming for a new comedy script they plan on writing together.  Aykroyd announced on his Facebook page that he can’t reveal too much about the plot but he is delighted to be working with Chase again calling him “one of my favourite people, and one of great anarchistic and physically committed comedians in the business.”  The two have not worked together since 1991’s Nothing But Trouble which was Aykroyd’s only sole directing credit.  Looks like they’re putting the band back together.  Source – Dan Aykroyd via Coming Soon

Josh Trank, the break-out hit director of Chronicle, has been linked with all manner of projects since that film’s success but it now seems he has added yet another flim to his To Do List in the shape of The Red Star.  Based on Christian Gossett’s award winning works the story sees an alternative USSR where magic and science live along side each other.  Cue all manner of gods, spirits and demons not to mention flying fortresses and a heroic married couple.  At one point Warner had set Wanted director Timur Bekmambetov to take the reigns on the film but he has since moved on to Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter.  Trank is also potentially working on a Venom film for Sony.  Source – Deadline Hollywood

Jack Ryan, Tom Clancy’s CIA agent played previously by Harrison Ford, Alex Baldwin and Ben Affleck, is taking his time returning to the big screen.  Chris Pine was cast shortly after the first Star Trek movie but it now seems the film will be further delayed as they have lost director Jack bender.  He’s too busy committed to TV show Alcatraz to take the time to worry about Ryan.  It seems the latest draft of the script was written, for a large sum of money, by Mission Impossible and Jurassic Park writer David Koepp and will likely see Ryan, fresh out of the marines, acting as a financial consultant to a Russian billionaire before being framed for terrorism.  There is no word one when the film might shoot but it looks like it will be a while longer as Paramount track down a new director.  Source – Variety

 

Monday, 19^th March 2012

Gerard Butler, last seen in Machine Gun Preacher, has signed on to star action thriller Olympus Has Fallen.  The spec script, written by Creighton Rothenberger and Katrin Benedikt, will see Butler as a former Service Agent who is the President and The White House’s only hope when terrorists take over the resident of the president.  Sounds like it could be a fun combination of Air Force One meets Die Hard.  The search is currently on to find a director for the film.  Source – Variety

J Blakeson, the director behind 2009’s The Disappearance Of Alice Creed, is in talks to direct Black List script The Imitation Game.  The script, written by Graham Moore, tells the true story of Alan Turing a mathematician and logician who helped break the Enigma Code in World War II.  However, after the war Turing was arrested for his sexuality and tried taking oestrogen supplements to suppress his sexuality.  In 1954 he was found dead from cyanide poisoning which was ruled as a suicide.  Indeed two years ago Gordon Brown issued a public apology for the way Turing was treated.  Warner Brothers are hoping that Leonardo DiCaprio will play the part Turing although the actors schedule is looking increasingly full at the moment.  Source – Variety

Will Gluck, the director behind Easy A and Friends With Benefits, is looking to attach himself to direct How To Disappear Completely.  The film is a remake of Swedish comedy Vitus and sees a young prodigy child having to deal with his pushy parents.  That is until he’s had enough of being destined for greatness and decides to follow his own chosen life.  The added element to the English language version will see the young man have an accident and therefore bringing his IQ down to more usual levels rather than genius.  The script was written by Men In Black’s Ed Solomon while Gluck is looking to help add some of his comedic charms to the film.  Gluck also has an untitled Emma Stone comedy in the works as well as Stealing The Moon.  Source – The Hollywood Reporter

Lily Collins, daughter of Phil and soon to be seen in Mirror Mirror, has signed on to play Clary Fray in the adaptation of Cassandra Clare’s Mortal Instruments.  The Karate Kid director Harald Zwart will direct the film about a young girl who discovers she is descended from a line of Shadowhunters, a secret army of half angel warriors who protect the world from demons and other evil forces.  The film is being based on the first book in the series, City Of Bones, with the hope of launching a franchise.  Source – Deadline Hollywood

 

Friday, 16^th March 2012

Martin Scorsese and Leonardo DiCaprio, having already worked together on no less than four films, are about to embark on their fifth project together in the form of The Wolf Of Wall Street.  The film is based on the true story of Jordon Belfort during his time as a drug-addict stockbroker was found guilty of money laundering and fraud and spent 22 months in prison in the late 90s.  The film will keep the period setting of the true story with a script by Boardwalk Empire, for which Scorsese directed the pilot, writer Terence Winter.  The last time DiCaprio and Scorsese worked together was on the somewhat under values Shutter Island though the pair have some way to go to match Scorsese’s collaboration with Robert De Niro on no less than eight films.  Source – Deadline Hollywood

Halle Berry, the Oscar winner of Monsters Ball and soon to be seen in Dark Tide and Cloud Atlas, has signed on, again, to star in The Hive.  At one point Joel Schumacher was set to direct the film, however when he dropped out The Machinist director Brad Anderson took over and it was thought that Berry would not be able to star due to scheduling conflicts.  But it seems she is still interested in playing an emergency line operator who, in trying to help a young girl, comes up against a killer from her own past.  Now we need to hope it’s more Se7en and less Perfect Stranger.  Source – Variety

Keira Knightley, soon to be seen with Steve Carell in Seeking A Friend For The End Of The World, is rumoured to be in talks to star in Safe Haven.  The film is an adaptation of The Notebook author Nicholas Spark’s novel and will see Knightley playing a woman, with a dark past, who arrives in a small North Carolina town and starts a relationship a widow and his two children.  The film will be directed by Lasse Hallstrom who is no stranger to Sparks’ material as he also directed Dear John.  Knightley will be seen later in the year in Joe Wright’s Anna Karenina.  Source – Twitch

Clive Owen, as well as Milas Kunis and Billy Crudup, have all joined the cast of Tell No One actor-director Guillaume Canet’s 70s set thriller Blood ties.  Canet had already cast his wife Marion Cotillard and has been helped on the script by We Own The Night director James Gray.  The film will see Crudup convince his convict older brother Owen to return to a life of crime for the sake of the family.  Cotillard and Kunis will play the brothers’ love interests.  Source – Heat Vision  

Hugh Jackman, currently singing his way round Tom Hooper’s Les Miserables adaptation, is set to star in Prisoners.  The film is to be directed by Incendies director Denis Villeneuve and will see Jackman playing a small-town carpenter whose young daughter and best friend are kidnapped.  When the cops come up empty-handed Jackman will take matters into his own hands, the problem is he keeps coming up against a big city cop assigned to the case.  The script has been written by Contraband scribe Aaron Guzikowski with production starting on the film once Jackman has completed fiming The Wolverine in towards the end of this year.  Source – Alcon Films via Deadline Hollywood

Zoe Saldana and Megan Fox, commonly known as Hollywood eye candy and stars of Star Trek and Transformers respectively, have teamed up to star in Swindle.  The pair wanted to star in something together so approached Paramount, where both Star Trek and Transformers were made, who duly delivered by snapping up the rights to the heist script by Enzo Mileti and Scott Wilson.  Universal had been sniffing around it but with Fox and Saldana ready to star Paramount wasted no time.  There is no real plot details at this point other than it is a heist thriller.  Saldana is currently working on JJ Abrams’ next Star Trek movie while Fox will next be seen in Friends With Kids.  Source – Deadline Hollywood    

 

Thursday, 15^th March 2012

Colin Farrell, soon to be seen in the remake or re-adaptation of Total Recall, could sign on to star in Arthur & Lancelot.  Written by David Dobkin the film was about to go into production earlier in the year when studio Warner Brothers pulled the plug due to budgetary concerns.  At the time Game Of Thrones Kit Harrington was set to play Arthur while The Killing’s Joel Kinniman was cast as Lancelot.  When the money went south so did the original cast due to scheduling conflicts.  However, it seems the Farrell is a more bankable star than Harrington and Kinniman at the moment so the film would appear on firmer ground this time around.  Dobkn is better know for his comedies like Wedding Crashers but Arthur & Lancelot is said to be more in the vein of a Braveheart action thriller.  Source – Variety

Michael Fassbender, wowing audiences all round with Shame and A Dangerous Method, is in talks to add yet another film to his ever growing roster in the shape of The Mountain Between Us.  Based on the novel by Charles Martin the story sees two strangers surviving a plane crash in the Colorado Mountains and having to rely on each other in order to survive leading them to eventually fall in love.  Miss Bala director Gerardo Naranjo will call the shots.  Fassbender meanwhile will next be seen in android looking form for Ridely Scott’s Alien prequel Prometheus.  Source – Variety

24, the film based on the popular TV show, has once again had its movie incarnation put on hold.  There is no definite rumour as to why the hold has happened but star Kiefer Sutherland is having scheduling conflicts with his new show Touch while the production is said to be over budget and struggling to lock in a director.  That is in spite of rumours suggesting Training Day director Antoine Fuqua had been approached.  It’s unlikely to be a definite no go on the film though as Fox fully realise that the show had a global fan base and therefore a successful film could potentially launch a franchise.  Source – Deadline Hollywood

Tom Felton, better known as Harry Potter’s Draco Malfoy and recently seen in Rise Of The Planet Of The Apes, is set to star in American History X director Tony Kaye’s latest film Attachment.  The film sees Sharon Stone as a married teacher who has an ill-advised one night stand with her student Felton.  When she makes it clear there is no future in their relationship he becomes an obsessive stalker going to far as to draw attentions from her teenage daughter.  Kaye is out promoting his other education movie Detachment to presumably this film is a pseudo follow up in the vein of the Three Colours films.  Felton will next be seen in The Apparition.  Source – Coming Soon

The Drummer, the film based on former Beach Boys drummer Dennis Wilson, has added Chole Moretz and Rupert Grint to its cast.  The film stars The Dark Knight’s Aaron Eckhart and Vera Farmiga with Eckhart in the Wilson role and Moretz set to play his daughter Jennifer while Grint, best known as Ron from the Harry Potter films will play Wilson’s friend Stan Shapiro.  Randall Miller is in the director’s chair.  Source – Variety

 

Wednesday, 14^th March 2012

Olivia Wilde, recently seen in films like Cowboys & Aliens and The Change-Up, will star opposite, rumoured real-life boyfriend, Jason Sudeikis in Relanxious.  The film sees Sudeikis as a man suffering from agoraphobia and unable to leave his home.  While surfing the web he encounters Wilde’s character who has one or two anxiety issues of her own.  The two naturally fall for each other and discuss dates they’d like to do on if only they could leave their respective apartments.  Wilde will next be seen in Butter while Sudeikis is set to appear opposite Will Farrell and Zack Galifianakis in The Campaign.  Source – Deadline Hollywood

Mandrake The Magician, the comic book hero created way back in 1943, is looking to get a bit of the old re-boot treatment thanks to Warner Brothers.  While Mandrake used to appear in all manner of cartoon strips in the 30s and 40s for many he will be best remembered as one of The Defenders Of The Earth TV cartoon series.  Mandrake is a powerful illusionist who uses his powers, and his trusty sidekick Luthor, to battle all manner of evil.  Warner want to give Mandrake a Sherlock Holmes style re-invention to bring him back into popular culture so expect all manner of big name stars to scrabble to be part of a potential franchise.  Source – Heat Vision

Julian Fellows, the writer behind Downtown Abbey and Oscar winner for Gosford Park, is being tapped by Barbara Streisand and Joel Silver to pen a script based on the play Gypsy.  Gypsy tells the real life story of burlesque dancer Gypsy Rose Lee and her pushy mother, to be played by Streisand if all goes to plan, Momma Rose.  The play was created by Stephen Sondheim and Arthur Laurents and this is not the first time it will have been adapted for screen, most famously in 1962.  Source – The Hollywood Reporter

Jeremy Irons, last seen in Margin Call, has joined the cast of supernatural love story Beautiful Creatures.  The film sees a local teenager and a mysterious new girl in town uncover secrets about their families.  The likes of Viola Davis, Emma Thompson, Emmy Rossum and newcomers Jack O’Connell and Alice Englert are already on board with Irons set to play the role of Macon Ravenwood one of the pair’s reclusive uncles.  The film is based on the book by Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl.  Source – Alcon Entertainment via Coming Soon.

 

Tuesday, 13^th March 2012

The Dark Tower, the series of books from Stephen King, looked destined to remain just in novel form after Ron Howard, Brian Grazer and Akiva Goldsman’s attempts to make three films and a TV show connecting each film fell through at Universal.  However, Warner Brothers has now bought the script for the first film saying they are willing to make at least one.  The other good news is Warner own TV company HBO so there is hope that even if there is only one Dark Tower movie it might morph into a long running TV show.  It seems that Ron Howard’s first choice to play the lead character of the gunslinger Roland Deschain is still Javier Bardem so the part would be his if he still wants it.  Source – Deadline Hollywood

Idris Elba and Naomie Harris, soon to be seen in Prometheus and James Bond Skyfall respectively, are both in talks to join the Nelson Mandela biopic A Long Walk To Freedom.  Elba, who has just finished work on Guillermo del Toro’s Pacific Rim, would take the role of Mandela while Harris would play his wife Winnie.  Unlike Invictus, which stared Morgan Freeman in the Mandela role, Walk will cover the whole of Mandela’s life including the 18 years his spent in Robben Island.  The Other Boylen Girl’s Justin Chadwick will be calling the shots. Source – Screen Daily

Garbage Pail Kids, probably only familiar to people who remember the 80s, is getting another big-screen outing.  The Garbage Pail Kids where collectable cards that parodied the Cabbage Patch Kids in as wong, disgusting and frankly brilliant a manner possible.  Artist and short filmmaker PES will make this his feature debut with a script by relative newcomer Michael Vukadinovich.  Source – Deadline Hollywood

Jonathan Levine, the director behind last year’s 50/50, is in talks to tackle the screen adaptation of John Stock’s novel Dead Spy Running.  The book mixes Jason Bourne style action with Tink Tailor Soldier Spy like espionage and sees a suspended MI6 agent choosing to spend his time running the marathon.  The problem is it seems that even such a charitable activity as that comes fraught with terrorists and bad-guys.   Before that Levine will see his Warm Bodies adaptation hit screens this year and has a number of other projects potentially in the works.  Source – Twitch

The Last Days Of American Crime, the graphic novel by Rick Remender, is finally looking to make its way to the big screen.  The story sees the US Government create a signal which will prevent people knowingly committing crimes.  To do this they introduce a new form of currency which will only exist on charge cards.  But when the press release the news of the signal a career criminal assembles his team to rob one of the charge stations in order to live the high life before he is forced to retire.  Video director Anthony Mandler will call the shots with rumours at one point suggesting Noomi Rapace and Sam Worthington were attached to star.  Source – Deadline Hollywood

The Raid, although said to be one of the year’s best action movies, has yet to hit cinemas but the word on the street now is that a sequel is already been given the go ahead.  Plot details are being kept under wraps due to no one really seeing the first film but it is said to pick up where that left off.  The first film sees a team of Indonesian SWAT trapped in a building run by underworld types.  There only way out is to fight and survive.  There is of course talk of an American remake already doing the rounds but the word on the street is The Raid is so good many people will happily flock to see it.  The working title for the next film will be Berendal and will see director Gareth Evans and star Iko Uwais both returning for more.  Source – Heat Vision

 

Monday, 12^th March 2012

Tom Cruise, having just wrapped as Jack Reacher in One Shot and soon to be seen in Rock Of Ages, is in early talks to star in Clint Eastwood’s remake of A Star Is Born.  The film has taken its sweet time coming to screen due to Eastwood wanting Beyonce to play the Judi Garland role about a young upcoming star, mentored by the part Cruise would take.  Of course Mrs. Jay-Z then had a baby so the film is still some way from going into development and Eastwood has also toyed with the idea of Will Smith, Hugh Jackman, Leonardo DiCaprio and Christian Bale for the mentor role.  Cruise however is still one of the most in demand stars on the planet and is anxious to work with Eastwood so this could be a match made in heaven.  Source – Variety

Richard Kelly, the man that gave us Donnie Darko and recently The Box, is ready to step back into the director’s chair with his latest opus Corpus Christi.  The film is set in 2014 and sees an Iraq war veteran dealing with severe post-traumatic stress disorder forming a close bond with a Texas industrialist.  Kelly has bagged himself a star in the shape of Edgar Ramirez to take the war vet.  Ramirez was in Domino which Kelly himself wrote so the two are not strangers.  Meanwhile, Robert Rodriguez and Eli Roth have helped put together the funding for the film.  Source – Variety

Emma Roberts, recently seen in The Art Of Getting By and Scream 4, is close to signing to star alongside Dwayne Johnson and Liam Hemsworth in Empire State.  The film tells the true story of Hemsworth’s character plotting the biggest armoured car robbery in US history with Roberts as his love interest and Johnson as the New York detective trying to track him down.  Dito Montiel, who is best known for A Guide To Recognising Your Saints, is calling the shots.  Source – Variety

Rosemarie DeWitt, soon to be seen in Neighbourhood Watch opposite the likes of Ben Stiller and Vince Vaughn, is set to star opposite Matt Damon and John Krasinski in Gus van Sant’s Promised Land.  At one point Damon was set to make this his directorial debut having co-written the script with Krasinski but plans change and his Good Will Hunting director has taken over the reigns.  The film sees Damon’s character as a sales executive moving to a new town and finding his life turned upside down.  Krasinski will play a rival salesman but it’s unclear who DeWitt or Frances McDormand will play.  Source – Deadline Hollywood

 

Friday, 9^th March 2012

Tom Hardy, currently to be seen in This Means War and then later this year as Bane in The Dark Knight Rises, has recently signed a first look deal with Warner Brothers and has now signed onto to star in one of their upcoming films.  The film does not yet have a title but will see Hardy playing a Wounded Vietnam veteran returning to San Francisco and rising to become the leader of the most vicious biker gang in California.  John Linson is producing the film and knows a thing or two about biker gangs having produced TV’s Sons Of Anarchy.  Hardy of course is used to playing the criminal type with Bronson under his belt so imagining him on a bike and beating people up is not a stretch.  Source – Variety

Angelina Jolie, recently turned director of In The Land Of Blood And Honey and professional Oscar Leg Flasher, has signed on to Disney’s Maleficent.  She’ll play one of Disney’s most iconic villains in the shape of the fairy sorceress in the live action film of Sleeping Beauty.  Elle Fanning is apparently in talks to play the Sleeping Beauty role with while Avatar and Alice In Wonderland Production Designer Mark Stromberg will direct the film.  Source – Heat Vision

Action Comics No. 1, the comic which featured the first ever appearance of one Superman, is set to get a film adaptation.  Well sort of.  While The Man Of Steel is in the works this film will not actually feature Superman but rather the comic itself.  Back in 2000 ardent Superman fan Nicolas Cage, yes that Nic Cage, had his Action Comic No. 1 stolen from him.  It recently turned up at auction and was sold for $2.1 Million.  Although the thief was never caught the film will invent a story that the comic was stolen by a group of nerds banding together to hatch a plan to get their geek gold.  While the script is said to have the part of Cage in it he is apparently unlikely to play the role.  Probably isn’t a memory he wants to relive having something so special taken from him.   The script was written by Robert Ben Garant and Thomas Lennon. Source – The Hollywood Reporter

The Man From Nowhere, the South Korean action thriller, is set to get an American remake thanks to the Weinsteins.  The original film was South Korea’s biggest grossing film on it’s year of release beating such films as Iron Man 2 to take the top spot.  The film sees a retired special forces agent who now runs a remote pawn shop.  However, when he takes possession of a camera bag full of drugs the dealers want it back and so take his neighbours hostage.  That’s were our high-kicking, quick shooting hero lets loose and takes revenge.  Abduction’s Shawn Christensen is writing the English language script.  Source – Coming Soon

Correction! Yesterday it was reported that Jake Gyllenhaal would replace Dominic Cooper on Motor City.  It now seems that he too has had to drop out due to scheduling conflicts….the casting merry-go round continues.   Source – Deadline Hollywood

 

Thursday, 8^th March 2012

Forest Whitaker, the Oscar winner for The Last King Of Scotland, is in early talks to take the titular role in Lee Daniel’s The Butler.  The film is based on the Washington Posts story about the White House butler Eugene Allen who served under eight Presidents between 1952 and 1986.  Just to add to the acting clout of the piece Oprah Winfrey is in early talks to star as Allen’s wife.  The film was at one point set to star Denzel Washington with Sony producing but the film never managed to get out of development.  Now Lee Daniels, Oscar nominated for Precious, is at the helm the film seems to be full steam ahead.  Source – Variety

Jake Gyllenhaal, last seen bending time and trying to save an explosive train in Source Code, is set to replace Dominic Cooper on revenge thriller Motor City.  Gyllenhaal will play an ex-convict who is trying to track down the people responsible for putting him behind bars for a wee-o-bit of retribution.  Drive Angry’s Amber Heard will play the love interest while recent Oscar nominee Gary Oldman will play the boo-hiss villain.  The Book Of Eli’s co-director Albert Hughes will call the shots.  Source – Variety

Wally Pfister, the Oscar winning cinematographer behind such films as The Dark Knight, Inception and most recently Moneyball, has signed on to a top-secret script to mark his directorial debut.  The producers at Alcon Entertainment have been anxious to get Pfister in the directors chair since working with  him on Christopher Nolan’s Insomnia and now look to have got their wish.  No plot details are available yet and one has to slightly worry if poor Mr. Nolan will have to start shopping around for a new Director of Photography if Pfister’s film is a success.  Source – Deadline Hollywood

Bryan Cranston, star of TV’s Breaking Bad and last year’s Drive, has signed on to star in Get A Job.  The dramedy will see a group of recently graduated college students realising that the big wide world is not as easily navigated when it comes to the failing job market.  Stars such as Up In The Air’s Anna Kendrick, Superbad’s Christopher Minz-Plasse and Community’s Alison Brie will be amongst the youngsters while Cranston will play one of their fathers who also out of a job and seeking employment.  Roger Dodger director Dylan Kidd is calling the shot and with that cast hopes are high for some fun high-jinx.  Source – CBS Films via Empire

Max Landis, son of the legendary John and co-writer of the recent Chronicle, has been hired to write the sequel to the low-budget hit about teens that develop super powers.  Although Chronicle is still in cinemas it has grossed over $100 Million and only cost $12 Million to make.  In Hollywood terms that is a veritable slum dunk so a sequel was inevitable.  Landis has a number of other scripts he’s involved with including a Pied Piper  script, a Frankenstein script and thriller Amnesty which Ron Howard is attached to.  Busy boy then.  Source – Deadline Hollywood

Vampires, the blood suckers continue to reign supreme thanks to all things sparkly and Twilight related, are getting another movie but this time from horror gore-master Alexandre Aja.  Yes the man behind such blood-soaked affairs as Switchblade Romance and Piranha 3D is turning his attention to Undying Love.  The film sees a soldier falling for a vampire and sets out to save her.  The only way to do that is to kill her master which means taking on a lethal group of vamps in the Hong Kong underworld.  The film is based on Tomm Coker and Daniel Friedman’s graphic novel who are also writing the script.  While it might sound romantic you suspect that with Aja in charge this will be more 30 Days of Night and less Twilight.  Source – Deadline Hollywood

 

Wednesday, 7^th March 2012

Journey 2: The Mysterious Island, the sequel to Journey To The Centre of The Earth, may have only been recently out of cinemas but that’s not stopping studio Warner Bros from going ahead with a sequel.  Director Brad Peyton and writers Brian and Mark Gunn have been set the task of following up the Dwayne Johnson starring vehicle which raked in an impressive $270 Million at the box-office.  There is no word on which cast members will return, given that Brendan Fraiser didn’t return for the sequel, but the end of Journey 2 implies that most of that film’s cast could be back.  Source – The Hollywood Reporter

Venom, the nasty black gooey symbiotic being from Spider-man, looks like he could be getting a movie all to himself.  Although he appeared in Spider-Man 3 many fans were disappointed by his side-lined plot due to director Sam Raimi’s lack of love for the sticky dude.  Now, in a twist of fate becoming superheroes and villains, Chronicle director Josh Trank, who looked a dead cert to direct The Fantastic Four as his next project, looks set to bring Venom screaming back to life.  It’s all early days though as there isn’t even a script the studio are happy with and it is likely Trank could co-write with his Chronicle writer Max Landis.  Watch this sticky black spot.  Source – The LA Times

Etan Cohen, the co-writer on Tropic Thunder and often script polisher for Ben Stiller, has been set the task of directing the Black List script of Boy Scouts Vs Zombies.  The title does much of the storytelling for you but it will naturally see a group of Boy Scouts encountering a horde of the undead while on a camping trip meaning they can finally earn that all important ‘Zombie Killing Badge’, if they survive.  The original script made the Black List back in 2010 and was written by Carrie Evans and Emi Mochizuki.  The script will have a few touch-ups here and then from Cohen and Drop Dead Gorgeous writer Lona Williams before going before the camera but the premise alone should make for a fun romp if they can avoid the dull trappings that Cowboys & Aliens fell into.  Source – Heat Vision

Project X, currently in cinemas, might have been resoundingly panned by critics but it’s still doing good business at the box-office and so, thanks to its low budget, is looking likely to get a sequel.  Producer, and Hangover director, Todd Philips and writer Michael Bacall have been brainstorming ideas about where to take the next film.  Given the first films lack of star power it means a sequel will be still cheap to make although it is unclear if the original cast will return of it we will move on to a new party in a worrying copy-cat scenario, not unlike The Human Centipede films.  That’s right we just likened Project X to The Human Centipede.  Source – The Hollywood Reporter

Lily Collins, soon to be seen in Mirror Mirror and daughter of Phil, is set to take a role in Writers.  The film is about Greg Kinnear and Jennifer Connelly as too successful authors who are divorced but Kinnear is still obsessed with.  Collins will play their college daughter who finds herself on the end of a love obsession herself courtesy of Percy Jackson’s Logan Lerman.  Josh Boone is making Writers his directorial debut and the film is said to be a comedy drama which will focus on numerous story lines involving the central family.  Source – Variety

 

Tuesday, 6^th March 2012

Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson, soon to be seen in GI Joe Retaliation and now confirmed to play Hercules for Brett Ratner’s comic book adaptation, is set to star in Ciudad.  The film is a pet project for You, Me And Dupree directors Joe and Anthony Russo and will see Johnson as a mercenary hostage retrieval expert working in the titular city of Ciudad in Paraguay where he must rescue the daughter of a Brazilian drug lord.  The Russos have not directed an action thriller before but are anxious to prove they are capable of a variety of different genres.  In the meantime don’t judge them too harshly for Dupree as they’re also behind, in directing and producing capacity, TV’s Community.  Source – Deadline Hollywood

Rose Byrne and Anna Faris, two of Hollywood’s premium comic actresses after Bridesmaids and countless Scary Movies (Okay maybe not the latter depending on your taste), have joined the cast of I Give It A Year.  The film sees Byrne and Rafe Spall as a couple trying to survive their first year of marriage.  Faris and Simon Baker will play friends doubting the couple’s chances.  Source – Variety

Bill & Ted, the film and character that launched the careers of Alex Winter and more importantly Keanu Reeves, is edging closer to a third film in the instalment.  Reeves and Winter have been telling anyone who will listen that the script is not only finished but it’s good.  Now they just need someone who is willing to fun the film.  This time out Bill & Ted are said to be trying to fulfil their destiny of writing the amazing songs that will save the world.  Source – The Independent

Ouija, the film based on the board game where by players commune with spirits, looks to be raised from the dead with a greatly reduced budget.  The film, which was slated to be directed by McG, was put in to production turnaround after the estimated budget spiralled out of control and went north of $100 Million.  Now it seems the film is back in pre-production with a new budget of around $5 Million.  This is clearly the way studios will start to do business with projects that are not star led but genre pieces.  Films like Project X and Chronicle have both shown that with limited budgets films can still perform at the box office.  No word on who is directing the new incarnation of Ouija but it is unlikely McG will be back at the helm on such a reduced budget.  Source – Deadline Hollywood

Kristen Bell, last seen saving whales in Big Miracle, has signed on to star in not one but two different movies.  The first is a live-action film called Some Girls.  The film sees Adam Brody on the verge of getting married but wanting to right the wrongs of past relationships.  Bell will play one of those previous relationships who isn’t best pleased to see Brody when he shows up.  The other film Bell will star in is on vocal duties for Disney’s Frozen.  Frozen is a take on Hans Christian Anderson’s The Snow Queen story but it is unclear which part Bell will be voice.  Disney of course have form shifting fairy tales with the recent success of Tangled.  Source – The Hollywood Reporter

Zoe Saldana, currently strutting her stuff in Star Trek 2 and last seen in Columbiana, is looking to sign on to star opposite Christian Bale in Out Of The Furnace.  Being directed by Crazy Heart’s Scott Cooper the film is said to be a 70s throw-back thriller about a man released from prison who is given no choice but to avenge his brother’s death.  There is also strong rumours mounting that Casey Affleck will take the part of Bale’s brother.  Source – Variety

 

Monday, 5^th March 2012

Idirs Elba, last seen in Thor and best known for playing The Wire’s String Bell and BBC’s Luther, has signed on to star in No Good Deed.  The film will see Taraji P Henson as a former District Attorney turned stay at home mum.  With her two children in the car they witness Elba’s vehicle run off the road and offer the charming man a lift.  The problem is it turns out that Elba’s character dabbles in a little kidnap and things take a turn for the worse.  Elba is currently on something of an upward trajectory as he is soon to be seen in Ridley Scott’s Prometheus and then del Toro’s Pacific Rim before potentially returning for Thor 2.  Source – Variety

Nicole Kidman, recently seen opposite Adam Sandler in Just Go With It and then Trespass with Nic Cage, has signed up to star in The Railway Man.  The news comes that Rachel Weisz has had to drop out of the film due to scheduling conflicts with The Bourne Legacy and Oz; The Great & The Powerful.  Enter Kidman stage left to play the wife of Colin Firth who is playing the true life Railway Man Eric Lomax. The film is based on Lomax’s book, which tells the story of how he was captured during World War II by the Japanese and sent to work on the infamous Burma-Siam railway.  Brutally tortured Lomax later tracked down one of his tormentors not for revenge but reconciliation.  The film is being directed by Jonathan Teplitzky who has Burning Man waiting to be released.  Source – Variety

Owen Wilson, who is looking to blaze the come-back trail thanks to the success of Midnight In Paris, is close to signing on to star in Admission.  30 Rock’s Tina Fey is also in to talks to take the lead role as a college admissions officer who falls for a potential 17 year old student.  Naturally this has consequences on her personal and professional life.  Wilson, if he signs, would play a high school teacher who falls for the admissions officer further complicating matters.  Paul Wetiz is directing the film from a script by Karen Croner.  Source – Vulture

Emmy Rossum, best known these days for TV’s US Shameless and also for films such as Mystic River and Poseidon, has joined the cast of Beautiful Creatures.  She’ll star opposite The Help’s Viola Davis and Emma Thompson in the supernatural love story.  The film tells the story of a local teen falling for a mysterious new girl in his Southern town as they both uncover secrets about each other and the town they live in.  Rossum will play the nemesis to the couple.  Source – Variety

Olivia Williams, best known for her role in Wes Anderson’s Rushmore, is set to join the cast of The Seventh Son.  She’ll join the already cast Jeff Bridges, Julian Moore, Kit Harrington and Ben Barnes.  The film is being directed by Sergei Bodrov and tells the story of a boy who is the seventh son of a seventh son which allows him to obtain supernatural powers and join an order called Spook.  The film is adapted from the book by Joseph Delaney’s novel and is no doubt hoping to be a new Harry Potter style franchise.  Source – Deadline

 

Friday, 2^nd March 2012

Scarlet Johansson, soon to be seen in figure hugging leather in The Avengers, has signed on to star in Alfred Hitchcock And The Making Of Psycho.  She’ll play Janet Leigh in the film about how Hitch made his most famous film.  Meanwhile James D’Arcy will star alongside her as Leigh’s Psycho co-star Anthony Perkins.  Anthony Hopkins is onboard to play Hitchcock himself while Helen Mirren is to star as his wife Alma Reville, although at this point that is not confirmed.  Source – Variety

The Muppets, having re-captured everyone’s hearts and funny-bones after a long absence from the big screen, look to be getting a sequel thanks to the success of the latest film.  Director James Bobin and co-writer Nicholas Stoller are both set to return for the follow-up but star and co-writer Jason Segal might find it hard to return.  Not that he has expressed a desire not to return but prior commitments are preventing him from taking part in the pre-production stage and it is unclear whether he or any of the original human cast member will return for the sequel.  The Muppets of course is now an Oscar winning film thanks to Bret McKenzie’s Best Original Song win last week.  Source – Vulture

Mary Elizabeth Winstead, star of Death Proof and Romona Flowers from Scott Pilgrim Vs The World, has joined the cast of A.C.O.D.  The title stands for Adult Children Of Divorce and will see Adam Scott as a man still trying to deal with the ramifications of his parents divorce.  Richard Jenkins and Jane Lynch are also due to star with Winstead playing Scott’s character’s long term girlfriend.  She’ll next be seen in Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter.  Source – Deadline Hollywood  

The Lost Symbol, the third book in series of books featuring Robert Langdon and written by Dan Brown, is getting the film adaptation as per its two prequels The Da Vinci Code and Angels & Demons.  Danny Strong has been tasked with writing the screenplay and it is widely expected that Never Let Me Go’s Mark Romanek will direct the film.  Original director Ron Howard has opted out of directing the third film but is still on producer duties with Tom Hanks expected to reprise his role as Langdon.  We’re hoping he doesn’t turn up with that bizarre mullet from the first film.  Source – Deadline Hollywood

Bruce Willis, soon to be seen in GI Joe Retaliation as well as Wes Anderson’s Moonrise Kingdom, has signed on to star in Five Against A Bullet.  The film tells the story of a Mexican politician whose father is killed by a drug cartel.  With an election coming up the politician hires five of the world’s best body guards to make sure he survives an election that many want him to lose.  Willis has also got the fifth in the Die Hard franchise to keep him busy and is expected to return for the sequel to RED.  Source – Columbia Pictures via Coming Soon

Mila Kunis, last seen in Friends With Benefits, has joined the voice cast of Hell & Back.  The film will see two best friends travel to Hell to rescue their buddy who has been dragged there by mistake.  Along the way they meet Kunis’ character who is different from many of the demons down there as she is half human and the daughter of Orpheus.  Kunis is no stranger to giving her voice to animated characters with Family Guys’ Meg under her belt but more importantly her regular spot on Robot Chicken which is produced by the people behind Hell & Back.  She will be seen, in all her physical form rather than just vocal, in Ted and then next year’s Oz: The Great And The Powerful.  Source – Deadline Hollywood

 

Thursday, 1^st March 2012

Emma Watson, coming off the success of Harry Potter and My Week With Marilyn not to mention recently being cast in Guillermo del Toro’s live action Beauty & The Beast, has now been cast in Sofia Coppola’s next film.  The Bling Ring tells the true story of a group of teens who burglarised celebrities towards the end of the noughties.  Over the course of a year they stole enough loot to value around $3 Million from the likes of Paris Hilton, Megan Fox and Lindsay Lohan.  Watson will star as one of the teens while Coppola will write and direct the film.  So can the sweet looking Watson cut it as a thief? She did steal a lot of things in Harry Potter and wear that hoody towards the end so she’s got the look down.  Source – Variety

The Day Of The Triffids, the classic sci-fi by John Wyndham, is getting another film outing.  There has been a 1962 version and more recently a TV incarnation starring Eddie Izzard but now Luther writer Neil Cross has been brought on board to inject new life into the 1951 book.  Cross is very much a writer to watch at the moment having done a polish job on Guillermo del Toro’s Pacific Rim as well as writing Mama for him and Midnight Delivery.  The Day Of The Triffids sees much of the world’s population blinded by a meteor storm allowing the menacing plants the triffids slowly take over.  It has been the inspiration for endless films in the past including Danny Boyle’s 28 Days Later lifting heavily from the opening scenes. Source – Ghost House Pictures via Coming Soon

Cinderella, you know the girl with the glass slipper and the evil step-sisters, is getting a reboot for a live action film and has now acquired a new writer in the shape of Chris Weitz.  Best known for writing and directing About A Boy, The Golden Compass (the less said about that the better) and Twilight New Moon, Weitz will write a second draft after Aline Brosh wrote the first draft.  Mark Romanek who last gave us Never Let Me Go will direct the film with Disney funding the film.  Expect a long drawn out casting rumour surrounding who will play old Cinders.  Source – The Hollywood Reporter

Gerard Butler, last seen in Africa in Machine Gun Preacher, will replace Eric Bana on Brilliant.  Robert Lucketic who directed Butler in The Ugly Truth is directing the film about a small time criminal who joins a gang of jewel thieves on a big heist.  The rest of the gang will no doubt be made up of an ensemble cast of sorts who will fall in to place in the coming weeks.  Source – Variety

Top Gun, you know the one where they fly jets and feel the need for speed, is still very slowly dragging itself towards a sequel.  Now comes word that Peter Craig, who wrote Ben Affleck’s The Town, is having a crack at penning the follow up to the 1986 movie.  Tom Cruise is loosely attached at this point in time with original director Tony Scott also said to be involved.  Craid has recently been helping Top Gun producer Jerry Bruckheimer throw ideas around for Bad Boys 3.  Source – Variety

 

Wednesday, 29^th February 2012

Mark Wahlberg, who can soon be seen in action movie Contraband, is in talks to star in Lone Survivor.  The film is based on a true story about a Navy SEAL team who came under attack from 250 Al Qaeda soldiers which resulted in the loss of 15 troops and a rescue helicopter, co-writer of the book Marcus Luttrell was the only survivor and that is the part Wahlberg is looking to play.  The film is being directed by Peter Berg, recently dealing with all things military in Battleship, and has also approached Contraband co-star Ben Forster and Battleship star Taylor Kitsch for other roles in the film.  Wahlberg has also expressed a key interest to be involved in the English remake of Jo Nesbo’s Headhunters which arrives next month in it’s original Norwegian form.  Source – Deadline Hollywood

Kristen Wiig, having recently been Oscar nominated for co-writing Bridesmaids, is teaming up with her comedy troupe friends, and fellow Oscar nominated, and winning, writers for The Descendants Nat Faxon and Jim Rash for an action comedy.  There is little known about the story but apparently all manner of studios were desperate to buy the concept and make the film but it was however production Indian Paintbrush and the people who will bring the idea to life.  Before that though Faxon, best known as TV’s Community Dean, and rash will co-direct their Black List script The Way,Way Back starring Sam Rockwell and The West Wing’s Allison Janney.  Source – Variety

Russell Crowe, currently singing his lungs out in Tom Hooper’s take on Les Miserables, is now in official talks to star in Darren Aronofsky’s Noah.  Although there had been rumours that Aronofsky wanted Crowe for the title role there had been no official word.  It now seems that Crowe will play the man who becomes disenchanted by humanity and is told my God to build his ark.  It’s unclear at this point what kind of spin Aronofksy will put on the the story.  Crowe meanwhile is also in talks to star in Dracula detective film Harker as well as A Winter’s Tale, The Man Of Steel and Broken City.  Source – Variety

Elizabeth Olsen, star of the recent Martha Marcy May Marlene, is apparently front of the cue to star in Spike Lee’s English language remake of Oldboy.  She will play the girl who helps Josh Brolin unravel the mystery behind his fifteen-year imprisonment.  The role had been hotly contested with the likes of Rooney Mara and Mia Wasikowska both apparently considered at one point.  The villain of the film still remains uncast though with the likes of Colin Firth, Clive Owen and Christian Bale all asked but passed on the project.  Olsen meanwhile will next be seen in the horror movie Silent House.  Source - Twitch

Jonah Hill, still buzzing from his Oscar nomination for Moneyball, has confirmed that he is writing a sequel to his yet to be released action comedy 21 Jump Street.  Although the film does not open until the middle of next month Sony have already asked Hill to start penning a follow-up to the film in which he and Channing Tatum are cops who go undercover at their local high school.  The first film is getting solid reviews and good word of mouth and Sony clearly expect it to do well.  Source – E!

Robert Redford and Diane Keaton, Hollywood heavy-weights and stars of Butch Cassidy And The Sundance Kid and The Godfather respectively, are both in talks to star in The Most Wonderful Time.  The film is said to be an Amelie-esqe story about people who are always looking to the future or living in the past meaning they never appreciated the hear and now.  Stephen Rogers, who wrote P.S. I Love You and Kae & Leopold, wrote the script while I Am Sam director Jessie Nelson is set to direct.  Source – Deadline Hollywood

Ryan Murphy, the man who help create TV show Glee and Nip/Tuck, will write and direct One Hit Wonders.  The film will be a musical comedy which will star none other than Hollywood A-listers Gwyneth Paltrow, Cameron Diaz, Reese Witherspoon, Beyonce and Adam Sandberg.  The film will see Witherspoon, Diaz and Paltrow as singers who all had big hits in the 90s only to see their career burn out.  They then unite to form a super-group.  The idea apparently came out during a dinner with the three leads and Murphy who then took it to his Eat Pray Love producer Amy Pascal who bought the project for Sony straight away.  Source – Deadline Hollywood

Marc Forster, who last directed Machine Gun Preacher and who is currently putting the finishing touches to Brad Pitt starring World War Z, will direct Cowboy Ninja Viking.  The film will be based on the graphic novel with the script written by Zombieland’s Paul Wernick and Rhett Reese.  The film sees a schizophrenic enter into a program to turn him into an assassin.  Most of the subjects are left brain damaged and put in mental wards but this one acquires the skill set of a Cowboy, Viking and Ninja and sets out to find the man who funded the project to take revenge.  Disney originally held the rights to the comic but it didn’t fit in with their family friendly mandate and so Universal stepped into take over.  Source – Deadline Hollywood

Brian Kirk, best known here for helming episodes of Luther and BBC’s Great Expectations, is in talks to direct the film adaption of Robert Ludlum’s The Osterman Weekend.  The story follows a man called John Tanner as he is about to embark on a weekend retreat with some close friends.  Then a reporter tells him his friends are not who they pretend to be and then turns up dead.  The rest of the story sees Tanner on the run and trying to figure out who he can and cannot trust.  The script has been adapted by Simon Kinberg and Jesse Wigutow.  Kirk meanwhile is also developing Paper Wings as a potential vehicle for Tom Cruise while also working on Midnight Delivery with Guillermo del Toro.  Source – Deadline Hollywood

 

Tuesday, 28^th February 2012

James Franco and Jonah Hill, two of Hollywood’s darlings after 127 Hours and Moneyball respectively, are to star in True Story together.  Brad Pitt, who stared in and produced Moneyball, will produce the film which tells the true story of two Michael Finkels, one of whom wrote for the New York Times.  It seems that the real Finkel discovered that a man by the name of Christian Longo, who was wanted for murdering his family, had faked Finkel’s identity in order to escape the law.  However, once he had been arrested in Mexico he told police the only person he would speak to was the real Finkel who set out determined to get the truth behind the event and the two formed an intense and paranoid fuelled relationship.  Hill will play Finkel while Franco will play Longo.  Source - Deadline Hollywood

Dracula, you know the guy that started that whole vampires are cool, sexy and generally nothing but trouble thing, looks like he’s getting another screen outing.  The film will tell the origins of Drac, or Vlad The Impaler as he better known, for a period film that Sony hope to turn into something of a franchise. Quick someone call Christopher Lee.  But seriously, written by Machine Gun Preacher and Mirror Mirror writer Jason Kelly the film is not the only Dracula film in the works with Dracula Year One recently rising from the dead while Guillermo del Toro is trying to get his co-written book The Strain off the ground and Matt ‘Let Me In’ Reeves is adapting Justin Cronin’s The Passage.  So do we need another Dracula film?  Or have all these Twilights and other incarnations sucked the life blood from vampires.  Source – Deadline Hollywood

Saving Mr. Banks, not a film about taking pity on those at the centre of the financial crisis, having made the no famous Black List of unproduced Hollywood scripts looks to be moving forward into development.  The script follows the true story of Walt Disney’s attempts to buy the rights of Mary Poppins off Australian author PL Travers.  Having finally convinced her Mary Poppins went on to huge commercial and critical success winning four Oscars in the process.  But Travers was never happy with the film, in particular the animated sections and refused to allow Disney rights to any of her other properties as a result.  The script was written by Kelly Marcel  with The Blind Side’s John Lee Hancock in talks to potentially direct.  There are also rumours that Disney are hoping to lure both Tom Hanks and Meryl Streep to the project.  Anyone else smell Oscar hopeful?  Source – Deadline Hollywood

Vacation, or better known to most originally as National Lampoon’s Vacation, is getting a sequel/re-boot thanks to writer/directors Francis Daley and Jonathan Goldstein.  The pair have not directed before but have written films such as Horrible Bosses.  The new vacation will follow Rusty Griswold, son of Chevy Chase’s Clark Griswold, as he embarks on his own holiday with hysterical repercussions.   Rusty was at one point played by The Big Bang Theory’s Johnny Galecki, though there is no word on whether the will return to the role.  The big question is will Chevy Chase make an appearance and perhaps more importantly do we need another movie of this ilk?  Source – The Hollywood Reporter

 

Monday, 27th February 2012

The Oscars kicked up few surprises last night with The Artist coming out as the firm winner with five wins including Best Director, Best Actor and Best Film. Martin Scorsese’s Hugo also took five in the technical categories while Meryl Streep made it three wins from seventeen nominations in her hugely impressive career. Christopher Plummer became the eldest ever winner for with his Best Supporting Actor win at the ripe old age of 82. You can see all the winners below (winners are in Bold):

Best Picture
The Artist
The Descendants
War Horse
Moneyball
Tree Of Life
Midnight In Paris
The Help
Hugo
Extremely Loud And Incredibly Close

Best Director
Michel Hazanavicius – The Artist
Alexander Payne – The Descendants
Martin Scorsese – Hugo
Woody Allen – Midnight In Paris
Terrence Malick – Tree Of Life

Best Lead Actor
George Clooney – The Descendants
Jean Dujardin – The Artist
Gary Oldman – Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy
Brad Pitt – Moneyball
Demian Bichir – A Better Life

Best Lead Actress
Glenn Close – Albert Nobbs
Viola Davis – The Help
Rooney Mara – The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo
Meryl Streep – The Iron Lady
Michelle Williams – My Week With Marilyn

Best Supporting Actor
Kenneth Branagh – My Week With Marilyn
Jonah Hill – Moneyball
Nick Nolte – Warrior
Christopher Plummer – Beginners
Max Von Sydow – Extremely Loud And Incredibly Close

Best Supporting Actress
Berenice Bejo – The Artist
Jessica Chastain – The Help
Melissa McCarthy – Bridesmaids
Janet McTeer – Albert Nobbs
Octavia Spencer – The Help

Best Animated Feature Film
A Cat In Paris
Chico & Rita
Kung Fu Panda 2
Puss In Boots
Rango

Best Original Screenplay
Michel Hazanavicius – The Artist
Kristen Wiig & Annie Mumolo – Bridesmaids
JC Chandor – Margin Call
Woody Allen – Midnight In Paris
Asghar Farhadi – A Separation

Best Adapted Screenplay
Alexander Payne, Nat Faxon and Jim Rash – The Descendants
John Logan – Hugo
George Clooney, Grant Heslov & Beau Willimon – The Ides Of March
Steve Zaillian & Aaron Sorkin – Moneyball
Bridget O’Connor & Peter Straughan – Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy

Best Cinematography
Jeff Cronenweth – The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo
Robert Richardson – Hugo
Janusz Kaminski – War Horse
Emmanuel Lubezki – Tree Of Life
Guillaume Schiffman – The Artist

Best Foreign Language Film
Bullhead – Belgium
Monsieur Lazhar – Canada
A Separation – Iran
Footnote – Israel
In Darkness - Poland

Best Original Song
"Man or Muppet" from The Muppets, Bret McKenzie
"Real in Rio" from Rio, Sergio Mendes, Carlinhos Brown and Siedah Garrett

Best Original Score
John Williams, The Adventures of Tintin
Ludovic Bource, The Artist
Howard Shore, Hugo
Alberto Iglesias, Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy
John Williams, War Horse

Best Visual Effects
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2
Hugo
Real Steel
Rise of the Planet of the Apes
Transformers: Dark Side of the Moon

Best Documentary Feature
Hell and Back Again
If a Tree Falls: A Story of the Earth Liberation Front
Paradise Lost 3: Purgatory
Pina
Undefeated

Best Sound Mixing
The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo
Hugo
Moneyball
Transformers: Dark Side of the Moon
War Horse

Best Sound Editing
Drive
The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo
Hugo
Transformers: Dark Side of the Moon
War Horse

Best Film Editing
Anne-Sophie Bion and Michel Hazanavicius, The Artist
Kevin Tent, The Descendants
Kirk Baxter and Angus Wall, The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo
Thelma Schoonmaker, Hugo
Christopher Tellefsen, Moneyball

Best Makeup
Martial Corneville, Lynn Johnston and Matthew W. Mungle, Albert Nobbs
Nick Dudman, Amanda Knight and Lisa Tomblin, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2
Mark Coulier and J. Roy Helland, The Iron Lady

Best Costume Design
Anonymous
The Artist
Hugo
Jane Eyre
W.E.

Best Art Direction
The Artist
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2
Hugo
Midnight in Paris
War Horse

Short Film (Live Action)
Pentecost
Raju
The Shore
Time Freak
Tuba Atlantic

Short Film (Animated)
Dimanche/Sunday
The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore
La Luna
A Morning Stroll
Wild Life

Documentary Short Subject
The Barber of Birmingham: Foot Soldier of the Civil Rights Movement
God Is the Bigger Elvis
Incident in New Baghdad
Saving Face
The Tsunami and the Cherry Blossom

Christian Bale, soon to be seen in some movie where he plays Batman called The Dark Knight Rises, has signed on to star in revenge thriller Out Of The Furnace. Scott Cooper, best known for directing Crazy Heart, is set to call the shots and might bring on his Crazy Heart cast member Robert Duvall to co-star. Out Of The Furnace is in the vein of a gritty 70s thriller with Bale playing a recently release ex-con who has no other choice but to avenge his brother’s death. Source – The Hollywood Reporter

Joel Kinnaman, best known from TV’s The Killing, has been offered the lead role in Jose Padilha’s re-boot of Robocop. Kinnaman has been offered the role of Alex Murphy, originally played by Peter Weller, who is fataliy injured in the line of duty before scientist bods transform him into the future of law enforcement Robocop. The new film will apparently address, in more detail then the 1987 film, the concept of making a human more robotic and programme a human brain and in doing so take away his humanity. Padilha is best known for his gritty Brazilian Heat like crime thrillers Elite Squad and that films sequel The Enemy Within so seems like an ideal fit to take on a darker Robocop without original director Paul Verhoeven’s wry wit. Source – Deadline Hollywood

 

 

Friday, 24^th February 2012

Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson, the man mountain star of Fast And Furious and the forthcoming GI Joe: Retaliation, is in talks to play man mountain come Greek demigod Hercules.  Tower Heist and Rush Hour director Brett Ratner is the man in the director’s chair and basing the film on Radical Publishing’s comic book.  The story will chart Hercules, the son of Greek god Zeus, as he finds his own form of solace on this earth is in battle.  Recruited by The King Of Thrace to train his army Hercules soon realises he is fighting for the wrong team.  That team with The Rock in charge is Team Bring It for those wondering.  Before all that though Johnson will be seen in Michael Bay’s Pain & Gain opposite Mark Wahlberg.  Source – Variety

Lily Collins, soon to be seen in Mirror Mirror and daughter of Phil, is in talks to star in Rosaline.  Rosaline is a modern day re-telling of Romeo & Juliet told from the point of view of Rosaline, Romeo, on in this stories case Rob’s, original love.  That is until Juliet, Rosaline’s cousin, comes back to town with an unexpected vendetta against Rosaline and a hint of a psychopathic edge to her.  She promptly steals Rob from Rosaline but Rosaline becomes worried about Juliet’s possessive nature and what she might do to Rob.  We all know how the story ends, not well if you’re being honest.  The story is based on the book by Rebecca Serle called When You Were Mine.  Collins has previously been seen opposite Twilight star Taylor Launter in Abduction.  Source – Variety

Turbo, the Dreamworks animation project, seems to be gearing up again with news of a spate of names joining the voice cast.  The likes of Samuel L Jackson, Paul Giamatti, Bill Hader, Michael Pena, Luis Guzman, Ken Jeong, Michelle Rodriguez and Snoop Dog have all signed onto to voice alongside Ryan Reynolds.  The story follows a snail, voiced by Reynolds, who dreams of racing.  Naturally being a snail and not really built for speed he is something of a laughing stock until he gains to power of speed and looks to compete in the Indy 500.  So will this be another Shrek like franchise or as forgettable as Shark Tale?  Source – Heat Vision

Jamesy Boy, the film based on the real story of James Burns, has added a host of names to its cast that include Ving Rhames, Mary-Louise Parker and James Woods.  The lead role will be played by Spencer LoFranco.  The film sees a young man sent to prison for gang related crimes and forminer a close bond with a serial killer in the slammer.  Once the friendship develops both realise that they are changing each other’s lives for the better.  Trevor White will direct this as his feature debut.  Source – Coming Soon

 

Thursday, 23^rd February 2012

Sacha Baron Cohen, the man better known as Ali G and Borat, has been banned from the upcoming Oscars.  Despite being a member Cohen has been told by the Academy that his ticket has been pulled.  The reason behind this is the Academy had heard that Cohen planned to walk the red carpet in custom for his latest film and character The Dictator (main picture).  Oscar has stated that the red carpet is “not about stunting” and have informed Paramount, with whom Cohen would have been part of the party attending for Hugo, that unless they receive assurances he is coming only as himself then he is uninvited.  So in other words the Academy are dictating The Dictator cannot come to the party.  Source – Deadline Hollywood  

Edgar Wright, the man behind Shaun Of The Dead, Hot Fuzz and recently Scott Pilgrim Vs The World, is being tapped up by Disney to come and direct none other than Johnny Depp in a filmic adaptation of The Night Stalker.  Depp and producing partner Christi Dembrowski have brought the rights to the project due to their fond memories of the TV show.  The story follows tabloid reporter Carl Kolchak who unearthed all manner of crimes being perpetrated by vampires, werewolves, zombies and other unpleasant nasties but of course neither his editor nor the law believed him so his stories never got printed.  Depp will take the lead role which is not dissimilar to his current project with Tim Burton, Dark Shadows, which is also based on one of the stars former TV favourites.  Source – Deadline Hollywood

John McClane, better known as the scurge of boo-hiss villains and thieves across the world and bearing an uncanny resemblance to Bruce Willis, has found his son.  Yup that’s right the latest Die Hard film, called A Good Day To Die Hard, sees McClane travel to Russia to see his estranged son Jack McClane.  That coveted role has seen an international casting call with Australian actor Jai Courtney bagging the role.  Of course the estranged father and son have to stop all manner of bad guys from destroying world democracy.  Jai Courtney will soon be seen opposite Tom Cruise in One Shot so clearly big things are to be expected from the man.  Source – Twentieth Century Fox

Bleach, not the stuff you put down the loo but, the popular Manga series is getting a live action adaption thanks to the folks at Warner Brothers.  The story follows a young man who sees ghosts and one day meets a woman who tracks evil spirits known as Shadows.  She then passes her power onto him meaning she can return to the mortal world while he becomes a Soul Reaper.  Peter Segal, who recently directed Get Smart, will direct with Dan Mazeau, who has just written Wrath Of The Titans, on script duty.  Source – Variety

Robert Zemeckis, still trying to blaze the live-action come-back trail after the flop that was Mars Needs Mums, is attached to produce an adaptation of Andrew Pyper’s upcoming novel The Demonologist.  The book is yet to even be given a release date but will follow Professor David Ullman who believes that Christianity is nothing more than a myth deeply entrenched in the human mind.  When he is invited to Venice to consult on an exorcism he sees it as a free holiday for him and his daughter.  However, once the case is over he soon realises that he is not alone and the voice coming from his daughter’s mouth is no longer her own forcing him to reassess his beliefs.  It all sounds much darker than what Zemeckis is normally attached to but perhaps this is an intentional move away from more kid-orientated films.  Source – Deadline Hollywood

 

Wednesday, 22^nd February 2012

Guillermo del Toro, the man behind Pan’s Labyrinth, still beavering away on monster movie Pacific Rim has now added another project to his endless to-do list.  The project in question is an animated film called Day Of The Dead which he will produce for writer/director Jorge R Gutierrez.  Day of The Dead, nothing to do with Romero’s zombies, instead focuses on the Mexican holiday that honours the deceased with all manner of festivities.  The film is said to include a lot of musical numbers so del Toro and Gutierrez are looking to international stars to help write and perform the songs.  Source – Heat Vision  

Josh Duhamel, best known for being married to Fergie from the Black Eyed Peas and starring in the Transformers movies, has signed on to star in Scenic Route.  He’ll star alongside Dan Fogler, last seen in 80s throw-back Take Me Home Tonight, in the film about two college students who go on a road trip and get stranded in the desert.  When they begin to realise they’re not going to be rescued they begin to bicker.  Kevin and Michael Goetz are directing with The Beaver writer Kyle Killen on pen duties.  The biggest problem is surely going to do something about convincing any sane audience that Duhamel could possibly still be in college!  Source – Deadline Hollywood

American Assassin, the film based on the book by Vince Flynn, was all geared up to be directed by The Last Samurai’s Ed Zwick but that has all changed.  Zwick is too busy prepping and shooting The Great Wall and so step forward Jeffery Nachmanoff to replace him.  The film will tell the story of Mitch Rapp who was destined to be a high-flying college student and athlete until an accident meant a change of career path and become one of the CIA’s most dedicated terrorist hunters. At one point the likes of Colin Farrell, Matthew Fox and Gerard Butler were talked about for the role but it is now looking to cast someone younger.  Nachmanoff meanwhile is the man behind Traitor and wrote the latest Arnold Schwarzenegger movie Last Stand.  Source – Deadline Hollywood

Antje Traue, having finished trying to kill Henry Cavill in The Man Of Steel, is joining the cast of The Seventh Son.  The film will see Ben Barnes as a teenager who is the seventh son of a seventh son and therefore allowed to train as a wizard (makes sense).  Jeff Bridges is the man to train him and teach him how to defend himself against ‘The Dark’ which includes some witches.  Sergey Bodrov is the man behind the camera with Julian Moore also set to star.  Source – Variety

The Night Circus, the book by Erin Morgenstern, is getting the cinematic treatment thanks to Jane Eyre and Tamara Drew writer Moira Buffini.  The book is about a circus which only opens at night as it travels the country.  But this is merely a back-drop for a battle between two illusionists which only one can survive.  The problem is the magicians in question have fallen in love making their powers do strange things but the battle must go ahead nonetheless.  Summit Entertainment have bought the rights to the book are will now be looking to find a director.  Source – Deadline Hollywood    

 

Tuesday, 21^st February 2012

Orlando Bloom, last seen swash-buckling in The Three Musketeers, is looking to join the cast of Zulu.  Fear not Michael Cain fans, and fans of the original film about Rorke’s Drift, this is not a remake or re-imagining but simply a film with the same title.  Bloom will team with Blood Diamond’s Djimon Hounsou to play a pair of post-Apartheid South African cops who investigate the murder of a Springbok rugby player’s daughter. Jerome Salle, who directed The Burma Conspiracy, will call the shots with regular writing partner Julien Rappeneau writing the script.  Source – Screen Daily

Mark Miller, the comic book creator behind such films as Wanted and Kick-Ass, has been speaking about the status of some of his material’s latest film installations.  It seems that Kick-Ass 2 will shoot as soon as this summer, although it seems that original director Matthew Vaughn will only produce as he’s committed to making X-Men; First Class 2.  Meanwhile, Vaughn is also working with Miller on American Jesus which will see Jesus return in a modern day US during the financial crisis, although Miller is anxious to point out the film is intended to be beautiful rather than irreverent like much of his work.  And finally Miller is working with Vaughn on the script for Secret Services which sees a nerd being taught how to be a sophisticated spy.  None of the studios involved in any of these projects have made any sounds so this all could be wishful thinking from Miller with the rumour being that producers are struggling to re-assemble the original cast for Kick-Ass 2.  Only time will tell if we get to see more of Chloe Moretz as Hit-Girl. Source – Daily Report via Heat Vision

Jim Caviezel, better known as Jesus from The Passion Of The Christ, has joined the cast of The Tomb.  For those who don’t remember The Tomb will star Sly Stallone and Arnold Schwarzenegger as two men trying to break out of an in-escapable prison.  Well every movie prison needs a villainous Warden so step forward Jesus, sorry Jim Caviezel.  The film will start production later this year, for a 2013, with Mikael Hafstrom calling the shots.  Source – Ain’t It Cool News

 

Monday, 20^th February 2012

Michael Fassbender, hot off the heals of Shame, Haywire and the expected return of Magneto in the X-Men First Class sequel, is looking to take the lead role in the film adaptation of Cu Chulainn.  Chulainn was a skilled warrior of the Ulaid tribe in 8^th Century Ireland who was said to be of divine ancestry.  Fassbender has teamed with Public Enemies writer Ronan Bennett to help him craft the script but at this point in time there is no director attached and Fassbender is one of the busiest actors in cinema right now so who knows how far away this project could be.  Source – Variety

I Am Legend, the film based on the book by Richard Matheson which starred Will Smith, has long since been looking to gear up for a sequel to the successful first film.  For a while a prequel was touted but it now seems that studio Warner Brothers are anxious to get a sequel up and running having hired writer Arash Amel, producer Akiva Goldsman and most importantly star Will Smith.  Of course there is a slight problem of where to take the next film giving Smith’s character’s final moment at the end of the first film.  Still death should never stand in the way of a vampire making cash-cow.  Source – Deadline Hollywood

RED, Retired Extremely Dangerous, the film, based on the comic, which starred Bruce Willis and Helen Mirren as retired special agents taking revenge on their former employers looks to be getting ready to come out of retirement for sequel.  Jon and Erich Hoeber, who wrote the first film, have been hired to pen the sequel with original director Robert Schwentke opting not to return.  However, Summit Entertainment has now hired Dean Parisot, who last directed Fun With Dick And Jane but is more famous for Galaxy Quest, to call the shots.  Apparently stars of the first film Willis, Mirren, John Malkovich and even the killed in the first film Morgan Freeman could all return.  With the inclusion of Freeman it’s possible this could be a sequel but these guys are spies so who knows if bullets can in fact kill them.  Source – Heat Vision

Michael Winterbottom, having recently dabbled in TV with The Trip, is returning to big screen affairs but bringing with him his Trip and 24 Hour Party People star Steve Coogan.  The film in question is The King Of Soho and will see Coogan playing real life porn publisher Paul Raymond who was the man behind such publications as Razzle and Mayfair.  Also along for the ride are Anna Friel as his wife, Chalet Girl’s Tamsin Egerton as his mistress and Imogen Poots as his daughter.  Control writer Matt Greenhalgh is on writing duties.  Source – Variety

Kyle Chandler, the star of TV’s Friday Night Lights and recently seen in Super 8, has bagged a role in The Hurt Locker’s Kathryn Bigelow’s latest film based on the assassination of Osama Bin Laden.  The film is still to be given an firm title but already boasts a cast including Joel Edgerton, Jessica Chastain, Chris Pratt, Edgar Ramirez and Mark Strong.  Having said all those names though none of them have been ‘officially’ confirmed with a whole host of names still rumoured to be circling the project.  Locker writer Mark Boal is once again teaming with Bigelow to crank out the script.  Chandler meanwhile will next be seen in Ben Affleck’s Agro.  Source – Deadline Hollywood

Perry Mason, the classic character based on Eric Stanley Gardner’s books is looking to get a cinematic outing.  Formerly a long running TV show starring Raymond Burr the new incarnation is being put together, in order for him to star, by none other than Robert Downey Jnr.  Marc Guggenheim, who last wrote Green Lantern, has been hired to pen the script about the master attorney who takes on difficult criminal cases.  Downey Jnr’s wife Susan is on producing duties which could see Iron Man taking on another role in the vein of Sherlock Holmes.  Source – The Hollywood

 

Friday, 17^th February 2012

Gael Garcia Bernal, the star of Y Tu Mama Tambien and The Science Of Sleep, is being lined up to play the infamous swashbuckling sword fighter Zorro.  But this will not be your normal run of the mill Zorro.  Studio 20^th Century Fox has decided to take the character and place him in an apocalyptic future where he will still be a masked vigilante.  A clever twist on a classic character or a re-invention too far?  Only time will tell but Sony, who made The Mask Of Zorro and The Legend Of Zorro, are also prepping another film based on the character’s origins.  Two Zorro’s for the price of one or are we looking at another Deep Impact Vs. Armageddon?  Source – Variety

Sienna Miller, not seen on screen since 2009’s GI Joe: Rise Of Cobra, as joined the cast of A Case of You.  The film stars and was co-written by Justin Long and tells the story of a writer who meets a girl through online dating by telling some pretty tall stories about himself.  The problem is he has to keep these lies up when they start getting serious for fear she won’t like him otherwise.  Evan Rachel Woods, Busy Philips and Peter Dinklage are also all onboard with Long in the lead role and Kat Coiro on directing duty.  Source – Variety

Simon Kinberg, the writer behind Mr. & Mrs. Smith and producer behind X-Men: First Class, has been speaking about his writing duties on the currently in development X-Men First Class sequel.  Kinberg said as a huge X-Men fan it was a happy day when Michael Fassbender and James McAvoy agreed to play Magneto and Professor X.  Of the sequel plot details remain locked firmly in the producers heads with only Cerebro levels of psychic powers being able to unlock them but Kinberg has said that the film will feature a lot more Magneto as he grows ever more into the villain role he is destined to fill.  Source – MTV

John Carter, the movie adaption to Edgar Rice Burrough’s classic series rather than the Doctor from ER, is already gearing up for a sequel despite the first film still being three weeks from release.  Director/writer Andrew Stanton and co-writer Michael Chabon are apparently beavering away on a script which would be, for the moment, called John Carter: The Gods Of Mars.  Although Stanton and Chabon are obviously keen to follow up their first film, and early rumblings are it could be a big hit, studio Disney has by no means greenlit the project and indeed won’t until they are satisfied with the box office takings of the fist outing in cinemas next month.  Source – Coming Soon

Scott Waugh, the former stuntman turned director who managed to shoot upcoming SEAL movie Act Of Valor without anyone really knowing, is lining up his next project in the shape of Real Speed.  Not dissimilar to The Fast & The Furious Speed will see a team of elite pursuit cop drivers take on an illegal street racing ring which holds races through major cities.  Greg Russo, who wrote action thriller Autobahn, is working on the script which Waugh hopes to shoot independently of studios to sell to distributors once it’s finished.  Before that though he’ll re-team with his Valor co-director Mike ‘Mouse” McCoy to shoot Arnold Schwarzenegger in Black Sands.  Source – Deadline Hollywood

 

Thursday, 16^th February 2012

Julia Roberts and Meryl Streep, two of Hollywood’s biggest hitting and most successful actresses are both on the verge of signing to star in August: Osage County.  The film follows the troubled lives of the Weston Clan with matriarch Violet, to be played by Streep, soothing her pains with drugs and alcohol.  Meanwhile eldest daughter Barbara Fordham, Robert’s character, discovers her husband is having an affair with one of his students.  Based on the Pulitzer and Tony award winning play buy Tracey Letts the Weinstein company are producing and unsurprisingly see this as a major Oscar contender and have hired John Wells to direct the film.  Source – Deadline Hollywood

Forrest Whitaker, the Oscar winning actor of The Last King Of Scotland, is set to play another historical figure in the shape of Desmond Tutu for the film The Archbishop And The Antichrist.  Roland Joffe has adapted Michael Ashton’s play which sees the real Tutu in a fictional story about meeting mass serial killer Piet Blomfeld who is seeking redemption.  Joffe is of course the director behind The Killing Fields and The Mission so if this goes according to plan there’s every chance both he and Whitaker could be looking at further Oscar nominations.  Source – Screen Daily

Jennifer Aniston and Dennis Quaid are in talks to star in the adaptation of Elmore Leonard’s The Switch.  The book is a pseudo prequel to Rum Punch, which was adapted into Jackie Brown by Quentin Tarantino, and tells the story of younger versions of Louis Gara and Ordell Robbie, played by Robert De Niro and Samuel L Jackson in Brown but her to be played by Winter’s Bones’ John Hawkes and Yasiin Bay.  The two goons are hired Mickey Dawson (Aniniston) to get revenge on her tycoon husband (Quaid) after her refuses to pay a kidnap ransom for his wife.  Dan Schechter is calling the shots on the film but the producers have made it clear the film is not intended to act as a prequel to Jackie Brown but a stand-alone story.  Source – Deadline Hollywood

The Butler, a project that has languished in development hell for quite some time, seems to be getting new life in the form of Precious director Lee Daniels.  The film will track the live of Eugene Allen a black man who rose in the White House to become a butler and ended up serving eight Presidents between 1952 and 1986.  His life took in all the civil rights of Martin Luther King and the two Kennedy brothers before finally watching in awe as Barrack Obama took to the White House only to loose his wife 65 hours after election day.  Daniels is looking to pack the characters with a plethora of stars including Hugh Jackman, Mila Kunis, John Cusack, Oprah Winfrey and David Oyelowo.  Source – The Hollywood Reporter

Tony Scott, director of hit films like Top Gun, True Romance and most recently Unstoppable, looks to his set his sights on his next project in the shape of Lucky Strike.  The film is an action thriller, well this is Tony Scott after all, and will see a DEA agent team with  a drug runner in order to take down a drug cartel.  At present it looks like Vince Vaughn will take one of the two lead roles but nothing is set in stone on that front.  Source – Deadline Hollywood

 

Wednesday, 15^th February

Gina Carano, the break-out star of Steven Soderbergh’s Haywire and Mix Martial Arts expert, has found her next project to star in.  John Stockwell will direct In The Blood which is said to be in the vein of Liam Neeson starring Taken and will see Carano as a wife on holiday with her husband in the Caribbean when he is kidnapped and killed.  This being Carano she doesn’t sit at home and mop, nope she goes out and tracks down the villains to exact bloody, high-kicking revenge.  Well you would if you could.  Stockwell is best known for directing Into The Blue and Blue Crush so based on that we can expect to see Carano kicking-ass in a bikini?  Count us in. Source – Heat Vision

The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, better known as Leonardo, Michelangelo, Raphael and Donatello, are getting another live action outing.  The franchise had three movies in the 90s before getting an animated film in 2007.  This current project has been in the works for a while but has now signed Battle Los Angeles director Jonathan Liebesman to direct.  For those not in the know the TMNTs are a group of turtles, obviously, who are mutated, keep up, into human sized and speaking characters who are learn ninja from their rodent master Splinter.  Along the way they must fight the evil Shredder and make friends with intrepid reporter April O’Neil.  Michael Bay’s Platinum Dunes is producing the movie but before all the Liesbesman will release his Clash Of The Titans sequel Wrath Of The Titans.  Source – Variety

Brian Taylor, part of the manic Neveldine/Taylor co-writer and co-director of films like Crank, Gamer and the upcoming Ghost Rider: Spirit Of Vengeance, has reportedly signed a seven figure deal to direct a the movie based on the hugely popular video game Twisted Metal.  The game is in the vein of a Death Race style genre where players take part in underground street races with cars kitted out with all manner of nasty weapons to kill their opponents.  This will be Taylor’s first time directing without his normal partner in crime Neveldine.  Source – Deadline Hollywood

Oren Peli, the man behind the first Paranormal Activity, has now announced the name of his latest project which will be called The Chernobyl Diaries. Peli won’t direct this one, instead that role will fall to FX hot shot, who did wonderful things on Fight Club and Let Me In, Bradely Parker with Peli on writing duty with Cary and Shane Van Dyke, grandsons of Dick Van Dyke.  Don’t expect any Diagnosis Murder here though as the film will see a group of friends stranded in a town that has long since been abandoned due to a nuclear incident.  The problem is that the radiation seems to have created something unpleasant that is now after our gang of heroes. Source – Shock Till You Drop via Empire

 

Tuesday, 14^th February

Emma Watson, last seen in My Week With Marylyn and soon to be seen in The Perks Of Being A Wallflower, is rumoured to be attached as Beauty for Guillermo del Toro’s Beauty And The Beast movie.  The film is something of a pet project for del Toro who has just wrapped on his monster movie Pacific Rim.  Watson of course is also a good fit after her dealings with a certain boy wizard she is no stranger to fantasy worlds and monsters trying to get the better of her.  No word yet on whether there will be talking crockery in this version but we remain hopeful.  Source – Variety

Michael Bay, the popcorn master to some and the devil of cinema to others, has now signed on the dotted line to direct at least one more Transformers movie.  It is not surprising given the success of the franchise so far, especially the last film which grossed $1.24 Billion at the global box-office, that studio Paramount would want to make another film and want to get Bay back to direct it.  It’s unclear at this point what the plot will be but it seems that Shia LeBeouf is not interested in returning to the franchise.  With that in mind there have been rumblings, of the huge robot kind, that Jason Statham could take over the lead human role of the saga.  That remains a firm rumour though.  Before all the Bay will direct Mark Wahlberg and Dwayne Johnson in Pain And Gain.  So Filmjuicers, what do you think?  More Transformers with Bay back in the chair a good thing or bad thing?  Let us know via Facebook and Twitter.  Source - MTV

Dominic Cooper, last seen in My Week With Marilyn and soon to be seen in Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter which you can see the trailer for HERE, is looking to sign on to Roger Donaldson’s Cities.  It seems Clive Owen is dropping out of the project and Cooper is stepping in to fill his boots.  The film tells the stories of various people just before the stock market hit a high.  One story will see a young English couple trying to get on the property ladder, another sees a policeman in India dealing with corruption and in New York a Hedge Fund manager doing his thing.  The only problem for Cooper is scheduling might mean he has to drop out of Albert Hughes crime thriller Motor City which he was supposed to be taking the lead in opposite Amber Heard and the villainous Gary Oldman.  Time will tell on whether he can fit in both.  Source – Variety

Michael Mann, acclaimed director of Heat and Collateral who is currently working on TV’s Luck, will apparently make The Big Stone Grid as a future project.  The film, which was written on spec by S. Craig Zahler, is said to be in the vein of Se7en or Marathon Man about two decorated New York cops who uncover a terrifying extortion ring.  Before that though Mann has the small matter of Go Like Hell which sees the war between Ford and Ferrari for motoring supremacy in the 1960s.  Source – Deadline Hollywood

Alfred Hitchcock seems to be flavour of the month in terms of Hollywood ideas.  Last week saw the announced remake of Rebecca and now comes news that Veena Sud, the executive producer behind the US The Killing, has been hired to write a script for Suspicion.  Like Rebecca the original was based on a book by Francis Illes so the term remake will rapidly be rejected.  The story follows a woman, played by an Oscar winning performance from Joan Fontaine, who marries a man against her rich father’s wishes only to realise that he is plotting to kill her for her money.  It’s a solid female lead role which will no doubt have the cream of actresses trying to get the part. Source – Variety

Dan Aykroyd, he of The Great Outdoors fame and Blues Brothers and a few other major comedy hits if you’re getting pernickety about it, has been talking about the possibility of Ghostbusters 3.  It seems that none of the Ghostbusters want to make a film unless it is absolutely right but at the same time, while they hope Rick Moranis will return, it seems that Bill Murray is unlikely to.  Indeed it seems so unlikely that Murray will return that Aykroyd is condisdering finding another actor to play the sarcastic Peter Venkman.  Only time will tell what will actually come to fruition.  Source – Empire

 

Monday, 13^th February

Russell Crowe, currently singing away in Tom Hooper’s Les Miserables adaptation, is being linked to the title role for Harker.  The film tells the story of Dracula from the position of Jonathan Harker and places him as a detective in Scotland Yard hunting the blood sucking vampire as he commits a series of murders.  At one point Unknown director Jaume Collet-Serra was attached to direct but he left for the now doomed Akira adaptation so it is possible he could return to this project instead.  Between this and the news that Dracula: Year Zero is now back in development it seems vampires and their dark master are hot again right now.  Source – Vulture.

Jennifer Aniston, last seen firmly strutting her stuff in Horrible Bosses, has signed onto star in Miss You Already.  The film will follow two life-long best friends who find themselves torn apart when one of them becomes pregnant and the other falls ill.  It is said to be a classic tearjerker in the vein of Beaches.  Paul Andrew Williams is directing the film and the production are currently looking to cast the other best friend opposite Aniston.  The film will be set and shot in London this summer. Source – Deadline Hollywood

Paddy Considine, having scooped a BAFTA last night for Tyrannosaur, has said that he is now looking to adapt The Years Of The Locust.  The true story, written by Jon Hotten, is about Rick ‘Elvis’ Parker, a door-to-door salesman turned boxing promoter and the naïve fighter he took under his wing Tim Anderson.  The film is said to be about paranoia, murder, money and intrigue which after Tyrannosaur seems right up Considine’s street.  Source – Deadline Hollywood

Saoirse Ronan, seen last year kicking-ass in Hanna, has signed on to take the lead in Order Of The Seven.  Formally titled Snow White & The Seven the film sees an Englishwoman in 19^th Century leading a group of warriors.  It was previously going to be closely linked with the story of Snow White but with Mirror Mirror and Snow White & The Huntsman coming out this year those references have been dropped.  Source – Variety

Will Ferrell, soon the be seen in Casa de mi Padre, has signed on to star in Flamingo Thief.  Based on the book by Susan Trott, Ferrell will play Tim Forrester who becomes obsessed with stealing figurines of Pink Flamingos after his wife leaves him.  Ben Stiller’s Red Hour films will produce the film with Michael LeSieur, who directed You, Me And Dupree, will call the shots.  It’s not the first time Ferrell has focued on more down-beat comedy having made Everything Must Go last year and Stranger Than Fiction in 2006.  Source – Variety

The BAFTAs, The British Academy Film Awards 2012, happened at a glittering affair in The Royal Opera House in London last night.  Stephen Fry was on hosting duties with The Artist dancing its way to biggest winner of the evening. You can see a full list of the winners below:

Best Film

The Artist

Outstanding British Film

Tinker Tailor Solider Spy

Outstanding Debut By A British Writer, Director or Producer

Tyrannosaur - Paddy Considine (Director), Diarmid Scrimshaw (Producer)

Best Film Not In The English Language

The Skin I Live In

Best Documentary

Senna

Best Director

Michel Hazanavicius – The Artist

Best Original Screenplay

Michel Hazanavicius – The Artist

Best Adapted Screenplay

Tinker Tailor Solider Spy – Bridget O’Connor, Peter Straughn

Best Leading Actress 

Meryl Streep – The Iron Lady 

Best Supporting Actor

Christopher Plummer – Beginners

Best Supporting Actress

Octavia Spencer – The Help

Best Actor

Jean Dujardin – The Artist

Best Original Music

The Artist – Ludovic Bource

Best Cinematography

Guillaume Schiffman – The Artist

Best Editing

Senna – Gregers Sall, Chris King

Best Production Design

Hugo - Dante Ferretti, Francesca Lo Schiavo

Best Costume Design

The Artist – Mark Bridges

Best Make Up & Hair

The Iron Lady

Best Sound

Hugo

Best Special Visual Effects

Harry Potter And The Deathly Hallows Part 2 - Tim Burke, John Richardson, Greg Butler, David Vickery

Best Short Animation

A Morning Stroll

Best Short Film

Pitch Black Heist

The Orange Wednesdays Rising Star Award (Voted for by the public)

Adam Deacon

Outstanding British Contribution To Cinema

John Hurt

BAFTA Fellowship Award

Martin Scorsese

 

Friday, 10^th February

Naomi Watts, recently seen opposite Leonardo DiCaprio in J Edgar, has now signed on to play Prince Diana in the film Caught In Flight.  It had been rumoured that Oscar Nominated Jessica Chastain would be playing the role but it seems that the English born Watts will instead fill the role.  The film depicts the final two years of the Princess’ life and many believe will cause no end of controversy surrounding the famously private and much loved Diana.  Downfall director Oliver Hirschbiegel will direct the film.  Source – Ecosse Films

Ridley Scott, the director behind such classics as Alien and Blade Runner and currently putting the finishing touches to the cut of Prometheus, a prequel to Alien, and the script for a Blade Runner sequel/prequel, has nabbed his next project after Prometheus in the shape of Cormac McCarthy’s first script The Counsellor.  McCarthy, best known for his novels No Country For Old Men and Blood Meridian (a book Scott was anxious to adapt) submitted the script to his publishers when there were in fact expecting a new book.  Given how highly McCarthy is regarded all manner of directors were trying to get their chance to direct the story about a lawyer who thinks he understands the legal system well enough to beat it by going in to the drug business, things naturally don’t go smoothly.  What this means for Scott’s proposed adaptation of Child 44 is anyone’s guess but with his visuals and McCarthy’s words this could be an impressive project.  Source – Deadline Hollywood

Paradise Lost, the film adaptation of John Milton famous poem, is indeed to go the way of Paradise.  It turns out that budgetary concerns have well and truly put an end to this incarnation of the project that was set to be directed by I Robot’s Alex Proyas and star Bradley Cooper as Lucifer.  The poem depicts the war between heaven and hell but it seems the technology to create such an epic skirmish was simply too much for the studio to agree to.  Source -Variety

Henry Cavill, soon to be seen wearing his pants outside his trousers in The Man Of Steel as Superman, is close to signing on to star in The Great Wall.  The film will tell the mysterious story of how China’s Great Wall came into existence.  Ed Zwick, whose last film was a bit of a break from his normal epic scale Love And Other Drugs, will call the shots.  Source – Variety

Rebecca, the classic novel by Daphne DuMaurier which was then made into a classic movie by Alfred Hitchcock, is getting a reboot thanks to Dreamworks.  Most people will know that Hitchcock remakes don’t normally fair very well, ask Gus Van Sant about Psycho, as you simply can’t best the Master of Suspense.  This of course is slightly different as it is based on a successful novel which sees a young girl marrying a rich man but finding that his staff are eternally loyal to his former wife.  Before long a mystery begins to unravel as to what happened to the former wife as Rebecca is forced to try and keep her sanity through all the madness.  Steve Knights, who wrote Eastern Promises and Dirty Pretty Things, is taking a shot at the new script.  Source – Variety

Brendan Gleeson, soon to be seen opposite Denzel Washington and Ryan Reynolds in Safe House, obviously had such a great time working on The Guard with John Michael McDonagh that he’s joined the cast of the writer/director’s next film.  Calvary will see a good-hearted priest trying to make the world a better place but let down by the people who live in his small town.  Then things take a turn for the worse when his life is threatened during confession.  Gleeson will take the lead role with Kelly Reilly, Chris O’Dowd and Aiden Gillen in supporting roles.  Based on Gleeson and McDonagh’s last film together The Guard we’re very excited about this one.  Source – The Hollywood Reporter

 

Thursday, 9th February

Arnold Schwarzenegger, soon to be seen in The Expendables 2 with The Stath, has now officially signed on to star opposite his other Expendables 2 co-star Sylvester Stallone in The Tomb. The film will see Stallone as a designer of unbreakable prisons who finds himself thrown into, and having to escape of course, one of his own jails.  There he recruits Schwarzenegger, who will play another inmate called Church, to help him break out.  The Rite director Mikael Hafstrom will call the shots on the action thriller.  Source – Summit Entertainment.

Jason Statham, soon to be seen in Safe and The Expendables 2, has signed on to star in Brian De Palma’s remake of Heat.  Calm down Michael Mann fans, it’s not that Heat but the 1987 film about a recovering gambling addict who acts as a body-guard in the rough gambling world.  Refusing to use guns he resorts to only hands and rough edged weapons.  The original film was written by legendary screen-writer William Goldman, which in turn was based on his book of the same name, and would you believe your luck he’s also writing this updated version.  Frankly after the likes of Butch Cassidy & The Sundance Kid and Misery Mr. Goldman can do no wrong in our eyes.  Source – Sierra/Affinity via Coming Soon.

Natalie Portman, having taken some time off since Thor to have her baby, is looking to jump back in to movies with both feet.  In fact she is now signed on to star in not one but two Terrence Malick movies.  She will join the impressive cast of Christian Bale, Cate Blanchett and Isabel Lucas for Knight Of Cups before heading to Malick’s other film which stars Ryan Gosling, Rooney Mara, Hayley Bennett and Blanchett (again) for Lawless.  The rumour is the two films are not connected but with both sharing Portman and Blanchett could there be some character cross-over.  Plot details are being kept under wraps but it’s nice to see the normal decade between films Mr. Malick straight back at it after Tree of Life.  Source – Deadline Hollywood

Blade Runner, the remake/reboot/sequel call it what you like has been chewing up column inches this week like Deckard would a good chow Mein, and now director Ridley Scott has weighed in with his take on all things Harrison Ford.  Indeed Scott has come out saying that there is still debate as to whether the new film will be a prequel or a sequel.  So the project is still clearly up in the air but Scott has said that if the story is right he would love to work with Ford again.  So that clear that up like the smog over Neo Los Angeles.  Any thoughts Filmjuicers? Let us know through Facebook and Twitter. Source – Entertainment Weekly

Hammer Films, hot off the success of The Woman In Black, have announced two upcoming films which will be next up on their slate of productions.  The first is The Quiet Ones which is based on a true story about an unorthodox professor who experiments on his students in the belief that negative human energy creates poltergeists, the problem is a wayward experiment creates something much worse.  That film will be directed by Quarantine 2 helmer John Pogue.  Hammer will then follow it up with Jack The Ripper thriller Gaslight by new writer Ian Fried.  The script, which made it on to the Black List of best unproduced scripts, sees Jack helping Scotland Yard, from his insane asylum, solve a series of grizzly murders.  It is said to be From Hell meets Silence of The Lambs which is fine by us.  It’s too early for a director on that one but one thing is for sure Hammer Horrors are back with a big old Harry Potter sized bang.  Source – Hammer Films    

Philip Seymour Hoffman, recently seen going toe-to-toe with Ryan Gosling in The Ides Of March, is in talks to star in Anton Corbijn’s next film A Most Wanted Man.  Based on the novel by John Le Carre, who is all the rage again after Tinker Tailor Solider Spy’s success, the story follows a Chechen-Russian Muslim who finds himself playing a part in the war on terror.  Hoffman will play the rogue head of a German spy unit who is trying to track the mysterious man down.  The script has been written by Edge Of Darkness writer Andrew Bovell and Le Carre’s book is loosely based on the real life of Murat Kurnaz, a Turkish citizen living in Germany who was sent to Guantanamo Bay before being released in 2006.  Source – Deadline Hollywood

Wednesday, 8^th February

Vince Vaughn and Owen Wilson, the hit pairing that made Wedding Crashers such a hit, are looking to re-unite for a new film called Interns.  The film sees two cooperate men living the high life in easy jobs.  However, when both are laid off due to downsizing they take intern jobs at a Google-style tech company in the belief the experience will do them well.  The only problem is they find themselves pitted against internet intelligent high-flying 22-year-olds who seem to have the edge on them.  Vaughn wrote the script which is now looking to be produced at Fox, having previously been at Universal, with his Neighbourhood Watch producer Shawn Levy looking to produce the film.  Source - Vulture

Amy Adams, soon to be seen in The Muppets, has signed on to take the lead role in the adaptation of Steve Martin’s book An Object Of Beauty.  Although best known for his comedy and acting Martin is also a novelist and has seen one of his books Shopgirl already turned into a movie in which is starred.  In An Object Of Beauty Adams will play Lacey Yeager a girl who climes the arts social ladder thanks to her power of seduction and keen eye for works of art.  Before that though Adams has the small part of Louis Lane to play in The Man Of Steel before playing Clint Eastwood’s daughter in Trouble With The Curve.  Source – The Hollywood Reporter

Joseph Gordon-Levitt, recently seen in 50/50, will make his directorial debut, and also star opposite Scarlett Johansson, on an untitled comedy film.  The film is about a modern day Don Juan and his determination to settle down.  Gordon-Levitt will play that role with Johansson and an as yet un-cast other female character playing the love interests of the film.  Before that though Gordon-Levitt will be seen in The Dark Knight Rises as well as taking a small part in Quentin Tarantino’s Django Unchained.  Source – Deadline Hollywood

Denzel Washington, soon to be seen in Safe House opposite Ryan Reynolds, is looking to join the Mark Wahlberg starring 2 Guns.  Based on the comic by Steven Grant the film tells of two thieves who plan to rob a bank which is a mob front for money laundering.  However, one of them is a DEA agent while the other has his own secret agenda.  Wahlberg’s The Fighter director David O Russell was originally set to direct the film but it seems that he and Wahlberg have fallen out.  With that in mind Wahlberg has turned to his new Contraband director Baltasar Kormakur to helm the project.  Source – Deadline Hollywood

The Karate Kid, the Jaden Smith starring hit, looks set to get a sequel.  Hardly surprising considering the first film cost in the region of $40 Million and went onto make $300 Million at the box-office.  It seems the second film will take the action from Japan to The United States.  Jaden’s dad Will Smith will once again produce with Zak Penn, who wrote X-Men The Last Stand, doing a second draft of the script originally written by Kung-Fu Panda teams of Cyrus Voris and Ethan Reiff.  No word yet if Jackie Chan will return for the sequel.  Source – Variety

The Vampire Lestat, first portrayed by Tom Cruise in Interview With The Vampire and then Stuart Townsend in Queen Of The Damned, could be heading back to the big screen.  Based on Anne Rice’s book The Tale of The Body Thief, which is the fourth instalment in the Vampire Chronicles, sees Lestat trade bodies with a human psychic for a day only to discover the human has no intention of returning the body to its owner.  Lestat must then recruit some vampire friends to get his immortal body back.  Fringe producers and Transformers writers Robert Orci and Alex Kurtzman are producing the film.  Source – The Hollywood Reporter

 

Tuesday, 7^th February

Jessica Chastain, fresh off her Oscar Nomination for The Help, will star along side Joel Edgerton in two separate but closely associated films.  The Disappearance of Eleanor Rigby: Her will tell the story of a strained marriage from Chastain’s character’s side while The Disappearance Of Eleanor Rigby: him will tell the story from Edgerton’s character’s side.  The project is being written and directed by Ned Benson and will see Edgerton as a restaurateur whose wife Chastain returns to college.  Source – Twitch

Alcon Entertainment, the powers that be behind the new Blade Runner film, have shot down yesterday’s rumours of Harrison Ford being involved in the film.  In fact producer Andrew Kosove went so far as to call the rumour ‘patently false’.  Oh well it was a nice idea while it lasted and it seems the movie is at a much earlier stage than first thought with story ideas still being thrashed out and a similar approach to the material as director Ridley Scott’s other re-boot/spin-off from the Alien franchise Prometheus.  Can we expect to see any original cast members from Blade Runner in the new incarnation?  Stay tuned for more rumour control as it happens.  Source – Deadline Hollywood

Robert Rodriguez, still jumping from kids movies to adult films, is going ahead with his planned sequel to his 2010 film Machete.  The next instalment in the film which he and star Danny Trejo came up with on the set of Desperado, which later became a fake trailer for Grindhouse, will be called Machete Kills.  The first film starred Trejo alongside Michelle Rodriguez, Jessica Alba and Robert De Niro.  There is no firm word on who, if any other than Trejo, will return for the sequel but Robert Rodriguez confirmed in typical Grindhouse style the second film would include a fake trailer for the third film called Machete Kills Again…In Space.  Source – Deadline Hollywood

 

Monday, 6^th February

Blade Runner, the iconic classic Sci-fi from Ridley Scott, is gathering pace in the sequel stakes and to make it even more intriguing it now seems that Harrison Ford, star of the original film, is in early negotiations to play a key role in the new film.  At this point, as with Ridley Scott’s current film Prometheus’ relationship to Alien, it is unclear whether this is a sequel or a reboot.  Either way Ford’s involvement would imply it is closely related to the 1982 classic.  Of course it is unclear if Ford will return as Deckard or perhaps a different role, a replicant who looks like Deckard would be an intriguing twist.  Either way with Scott and Ford’s potential involvement this is one film that could prove to be worth the re-visit to the classic neo-Los Angeles of the stunning original.  Source – Twitch

Insidious, the hit horror film from last year, is looking likely to get a sequel.  The first film starred Rose Byrne and Patrick Wilson who believed their house was haunted only to realise it was in fact their son.  The film cost almost nothing in Hollywood terms with a budget of $1.5 Million which then went onto gross $100 Million at the box-office.  The sequel was almost a forgone conclusion with that success and a cliff-hanger ending.  It is unclear if Byrne and Wilson will return but the first film’s writer and director James Wan and Leigh Whannell are in early negotiations to come aboard the sequel.  Source – Heat Vision

Catherine Hardwicke, director of the first Twilight movie, is set to re-team with her Thirteen star Evan Rachel Wood for the erotic thriller Plush.  It is unclear who Wood will play as plot details are being kept under wraps but it seems it will likely see Hardwicke return to gritty teenage lives involving drugs, sex and with any luck no sparkly vampires.  Source – The Hollywood Reporter

The Avenger’s stars Mark Ruffalo and Scarlett Johansson are set to reteam for a new film called Can A Song Save Your Life?  John Carney, who directed the hit sleeper film Once, will call the shots in a story which will see Johansson play a girl who dreams of making in the New York music scene.   Only problem is her boyfriend dumps her when he is offered a lucrative solo career.  Thankfully she runs into down-on-his-luck record producer Ruffalo who sees some talent and the two start the road to fame and fortune.  Source – Exclusive Media via Coming Soon  

Gary Oldman, fresh off the back of his Oscar Nomination for Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, has signed on to star in Motor City.  Oldman will play a villain responsible for sending Dominic West’s character to prison while he tries to get back the love of his life in the shapely form of Amber Heard.   Albert Hughes, who directed Oldman in The Book Of Eli, will call the shots.  Source – The Hollywood Reporter

 

Friday, 27^th January 26

Captain America, while he might be getting ready to throw his shield with the other Avengers, looks like he might be getting a sequel to Captain America First Avenger sooner than expected.  Neal McDonough, who played Old Cappy’s comrade Dum Dum Dungan has made it clear he will be repeating the role for Captain America 2 which will shoot later this year.  That’s not all he let loose though as he also told IMDb that he would be playing the same role in the spin-off movie Nick Fury about Samuel L Jackson’s character in the Marvel movies.  In the comics Dugan is Fury’s right hand man.  Of course at this stage this is all just rumour coming from an actor who might just have a case of wishful thinking, so till we hear it from Marvel treat with care but the prospect look good for not one but two new Marvel movies.  Source – IMDb.com

Jane Lynch, daughter of David Lynch and director of Surveillance, will next direct  A Fall From Grace.  The dark thriller (it’s Lynch what do you expect?) will see a homicide detective tracking a serial killer along the Mississippi River who burns his victims.  Lynch also wrote the screenplay with Eric Wilkinson. Source – The Hollywood Reporter

Romeo & Juliet, those star-crossed Shakespearean lovers, is finally rounding out the cast of the latest adaptation by adding Paul Giamatti to the roster to play Friar Lawrence the man who helps the young lovers.  The BBC’s Great Expectations star Douglas Booth is on as Romeo while True Grit, and Oscar nominated star, Hailee Steinfeld is on as Juliet.  Add to that Ed Westwick as Tybalt and Kodi Smit-McPhee as Benvolio and it’s shaping up nicely in Old Verona.  Carlo Carlei is directing from a script by Downton Abbey writer Julian Fellows.  Source – Variety

Greg Kinnear and Jennifer Connelly have both signed on to star in the indie film Writers.  Kinnear will play a successful novelist who is dealing with his complicated relationship with his ex-wife Connelly and his two teenage children.  Josh Boone will make his feature film debut making the film.  Source – The Hollywood Reporter

Chronicle, the found footage super hero movie soon to be in cinemas, has made quite a name for writer Max Landis as his latest script has just been bought by Disney.  Story details are being kept tight lipped but it is said to be a sci-fi in space which focuses on a brother and sister.  Landis comes from a high pedigree of Hollywood being the son of American Werewolf In London director John Landis.  Max has also written the upcoming Untitled Frankenstein Film as well as the Pied Piper movie.  Source – Variety

And Finally….With the Super Bowl around the corner there are all manner of teaser trailers and potential commercials that are about to air but here at Filmjuice this one got us particularly excited. It sees an all grown-up Ferris Bueller, aka Matthew Broderick, wondering how he can work today followed by that famous theme from John Hughes’ 80s classic.  Don’t expect a Ferris Sequel any time soon but it’s nice to see Ferris is some guise or other none the less.  

Thursday, 26^th January

Steven Spielberg, currently wowing audiences with War Horse while he put the finishing touches to Abraham Lincoln biopic, is close to agreeing to direct Gods And Kings.  The film is about a certain man called Moses who was apparently a big deal in the Bible.  It would follow his story from being sent down the Nile as a baby, adopted, leading the Jews out of slavery, receiving the Ten Commandments before fleeing Egypt and parting the Red Sea, as you do.  Warner Brothers are excited at the prospects of Spielberg brining a gritty Saving Private Ryan aesthetic to the project.  Before though The Beard has to shoot his next film Robopocalypse.  Source – Deadline Hollywood

The Hangover stars Ed Helms, Bradley Cooper and Zack Galifiankis are rumoured to be teaming up to demand $15 Million each to reprise their roles in the third instalment in the franchise.  The rumour is that they are likely to get their wish as well.  Supposedly the actors only got paid $1 Million each for the first film which then made $467 Million at the box-office, then got paid $5 Million for the second which made a whopping $581 Millions at the box-office.  It seems only right then that the main attractions should get a slice of the pie.  While the Hollywood gods are granting wishes though can we wish that, after the last film, there are no more Hangover films?  Source – The Hollywood Reporter

The Saint, the popular 60s TV show starring Roger Moore, is set to get another stab at a movie.  The last film, starring then Batman Val Kilmer, did OK at the box-office but didn’t launch the franchise that many were hoping for.  The show sees Simon Templar using methods outside of the law to bring to justice corrupt politicians and the like.  Eagle Eye writer Travis Wright has been hired to bang out a new script for what the big-wigs hope will be the start of a trilogy.  Of course there are a few spies like him out there these days with Bond, Bourne and Hunt all fighting to be top dog maybe The Saint’s suave ways can rival the now moody Bond for a bit of charm.  Source – Variety

Russell Brand, the comedian turned actor who starred in last year’s Arthur, is set to star in The Hauntrepreneur.  The film is said to be a kids supernatural story similar to Charlie And The Chocolate factory about a family who hire Brand’s character to build them a haunted house.  The spec script was written by Con Air and High Fidelity writer Scott Rosenberg and will be produced by Paramount Pictures.  Source – Variety

 

Wednesday, 25^th January

Catherine Zeta-Jones, last seen in The Rebound and soon to be seen in Rock Of Ages, has joined the cast of Steven Soderbergh’s Side Effects, formerly known as The Bitter Pill.  The film will see doctors Zeta-Jones and Jude Law trying experimental drugs to which Blake Lively becomes addicted.  She in turn starts and affair with Law’s character while her husband Channing Tatum is about to be released from prison.  It’s not the first time Zeta-Jones has worked with Soderbergh having also had a key role in his 2000 film Traffic.  First thing on a Wednesday morning and we’ve covered sex, drugs and rock and roll.  Today’s looking up already.  Source – Deadline Hollywood

Emma Roberts and Craig Roberts, the stars of Scream 4 and Submarine respectively (no relation to each other), have signed on to star in Lymelife director Derick Martini’s next film I Am My Family Secret.  The film will see two brothers who couldn’t be any more different learning a shocking family secret which involves them after 20 years.   No word on what that secret might be.  Emma is of course the daughter of Eric and niece of Julia Roberts, while it’s good to see Craig getting some solid recognition for his part in one of last year’s best films.  Source – Deadline Hollywood  

Liam Hemsworth, brother to Thor’s Chris and soon to be star of The Hunger Games, has signed onto star in director Philip Noyce’s sci-film film Timeless.  The film sees a young man plagued by unresolved issues between himself and his late wife.  Using the money she left after her death he builds a time machine, as you do, so travel back and see her one last time.  Enchanted writer Billy Kelly wrote the script.  Source – Moviehole

The Crow, having sorted out the legal dispute between Relativity Media and The Weinstein Company, is now going full steam ahead and looking to hire writer Jesse Wigutow and director F Javier Gutierrez to direct.  The Crow is based on J. O’Barr’s 1989 comic book and was famously adapted into a cult film which lead to the tragic death of Brandon Lee while on set.  At one point this new incarnation of the story was set to star Bradley Cooper in the lead role but he has since moved on to pastures new.   Source – Deadline Hollywood

Ron Livingstone and Lili Taylor are in talks to join Vera Farmiga and Patrick Wilson in the project formerly called The Conjuring but now going under the working title of Untitled Warren Files Project.  Livingstone and Taylor would play a couple who move to a farmhouse and are terrorised by a nasty ghost.  Based on a true story Farmiga and Wilson will play the demonologists who are called in to deal with the pesky spectre.  Source – The Hollywood Reporter

 

Tuesday, 24^th January

The Oscar Nominations are in!  See the full list of nominees below.  The winners will be announced on 26^th February and based on these nominations The Artist and The Descendants should fair.

Best Picture
The Artist
The Descendants
War Horse
Moneyball
Tree Of Life
Midnight In Paris
The Help
Hugo
Extremely Loud And Incredibly Close

Best Director
Michel Hazanavicius – The Artist
Alexander Payne – The Descendants
Martin Scorsese – Hugo
Woody Allen – Midnight In Paris
Terrence Malick – Tree Of Life

Best Lead Actor
George Clooney – The Descendants
Jean Dujardin – The Artist
Gary Oldman – Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy
Brad Pitt – Moneyball
Demian Bichir – A Better Life

Best Lead Actress
Glenn Close – Albert Nobbs
Viola Davis – The Help
Rooney Mara – The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo
Meryl Streep – The Iron Lady
Michelle Williams – My Week With Marilyn

Best Supporting Actor
Kenneth Branagh – My Week With Marilyn
Jonah Hill – Moneyball
Nick Nolte – Warrior
Christopher Plummer – Beginners
Max Von Sydow – Extremely Loud And Incredibly Close

Best Supporting Actress
Berenice Bejo – The Artist
Jessica Chastain – The Help
Melissa McCarthy – Bridesmaids
Janet McTeer – Albert Nobbs
Octavia Spencer – The Help

Best Animated Feature Film
A Cat In Paris
Chico & Rita
Kung Fu Panda 2
Puss In Boots
Rango

Best Original Screenplay
Michel Hazanavicius – The Artist
Kristen Wiig & Annie Mumolo – Bridesmaids
JC Chandor – Margin Call
Woody Allen – Midnight In Paris
Asghar Farhadi – A Separation

Best Adapted Screenplay
Alexander Payne, Nat Faxon and Jim Rash – The Descendants
John Logan – Hugo
George Clooney, Grant Heslov & Beau Willimon – The Ides Of March
Steve Zaillian & Aaron Sorkin – Moneyball
Bridget O’Connor & Peter Straughan – Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy

Best Cinematography
Jeff Cronenweth – The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo
Robert Richardson – Hugo
Janusz Kaminski – War Horse
Emmanuel Lubezki – Tree Of Life
Guillaume Schiffman – The Artist

Best Foreign Language Film
Bullhead – Belgium
Monsieur Lazhar – Canada
A Separation – Iran
Footnote – Israel
In Darkness - Poland

Dakota Fanning and Elizabeth Olsen two of the hottest young talents working at the moment are set to star together in Nomi Foner’s Very Good Girls.  The film will see Fanning and Olsen as two life long friends who have just graduated high school.  They make it their summer mission to lose their virginity but things take a turn when they both fall for the same guy in the shape of Star Trek’s Anton Yelchin.  Fanning will next be seen in Twilight Break Dawn Part 2 while Olsen is to be seen in the acclaimed Martha Marcy May Marlene.  Source – Deadline Hollywood

Ben Stiller, having just wrapped on action comedy Neighbourhood Watch, is looking to turn his attention to TV in the shape of HBO’s All Talk.  He will star, direct and executive produce the show that tells the story of a Jewish family in Washington DC.  The concept is from Safran Foer whose book Extremely Loud And Incredibly Close is currently wowing audiences with Tom Hanks and Sandra Bullock.   Stiller has also hooked in his Tower Heist star Alan Alda to co-star in the show.  However, the show will not shoot until later this year giving Stiller time to focus on The Secret Life Of Walter Mitty and While We’re Young before he heads to TV.  With Stiller still being very much an in demand movie star it remains to be seen how often his character will be seen in the TV show.  Source – Deadline Hollywood

Paul Feig, the director behind Bridesmaids, is also heading to the google box for HBO for The Viagra Diaries.  The show is being run by Sex And The City producer Darren Star and will see a 65 year old woman, to be played by Goldie Hawn, left by her husband of 35 years and finding her way in the world without him.  Like Sex And The City the show will be based on a book by Barbara Rose Brooker but at this stage will have to go through a pilot episode to see if it gets a full series.  Source – Deadline Hollywood.

Selena Gomez, speaking of young actresses who was last seen in the film Monte Carlo, has signed on to star in the adaption of Jandy Nelson’s The Sky Is Everywhere.  Gomez will play Lennie Walker a talented young musician who lives in the shadow of her even more talented older sister.  But when her sister suddenly dies Lennie finds herself thrust into the limelight and being comforted by her sister’s boyfriend on the one hand and being seduced by a young French musician on the other.  Gomez is one of those annoyingly talented young things that Hollywood seems to sign in the womb and with her long running TV show The Wizards Of Waverly Place coming to an end we can expect to see her a lot more on the big screen.  Source – Deadline Hollywood

 

Monday, 23^rd January

Julia Roberts, Alec Baldwin and Marc Ruffalo have all signed on to star in Ryan Murphy’s next film The Normal Heart.  The film, based on the semi-autobiographical play by Larry Kramer, tells the story of a group of people caught up in the AIDS outbreak in New York.  Ruffalo will play Ned Weeks a homosexual suffering from the disease while Baldwin will play his brother struggling with his brother’s sexuality.  Roberts meanwhile will play a wheelchair-bound doctor who is one of the only doctors taking the disease seriously.  Source – The Hollywood Reporter

Ryan Reynolds and Reece Witherspoon have agreed to star in Tim Burton produced film Big Eyes.  The film, being written and directed by Scott Alexander and Larry Karaszewski, will tell the true story of Margaret and Walter Keane who became famous for their pop-eyed paintings in the 1960s.  It was Margaret, to be played by Witherspoon, who painted the paintings but they were sold under Walter’s, Reynolds’ part, name.  Burton will produce the indie film via his productions company.  Source – The Hollywood Reporter

Patrick Wilson and Vera Farmiga, two of Hollywood’s most reliable supporting actors, are in final negotiations to star in The Conjuring.  Re-teaming Wilson with his Insidious director James Wan, the film will see Wilson and Farmiga as a husband and wife teams of demonologists taking on their biggest case in a Rhode Island farmhouse.  The film is based on the true life story of the Perron family and the paranormal investigators Ed and Lorraine Warren.  Wilson can soon be seen in Jason Reitman’s Young Adult while Famriga will face off against Ryan Reynolds and Denzel Washington in Safe House.  Source – The Hollywood Reporter

Jan De Bont, the director behind Speed who hasn’t directed since the forgettable Croft Tomb Raider: The Cradle Of Life, is gearing up to remake Johnny Cash starring thriller Five Minutes To Live.  The plot sees a pair of robbers hold a bank manager’s wife hostage and unless one calls the other every five minutes she will die.  The only problem for the robbers is the manager was planning on leaving her anyway.  No word on casting yet but let’s hope De Bont can find his groove from Speed back rather than Speed 2.   Source – Deadline Hollywood

 

Friday, 20^th January

Deadpool, aka The Merc With The Mouth, Marvel’s X-Men spin-off character who was last seen in Wolverine still looks like he’s going to get his own movie with none other than Ryan Reynolds, who played him in Wolverine, taking up the role.  The character is said to be very dear to Reynolds who has been keen to reprise his role for some time.  It now seems that the film could go into production in 2012 with former X-Men visual effects guru Tim Miller at the helm.  Now we just have to hope that Deadpool fairs better than Reynolds’ other superhero The Green Lantern.  Source – Coventry Telegraph’s The Geek Files

Kristen Wiig, having distanced herself from the recent rumours of a Bridesmaids sequel, looks to be playing the female lead opposite Ben Stiller in remake of The Secret Life Of Walter Mitty.  Stiller will also direct the film and play Mitty who is so hen-pecked by his wife he lives much of his time in a fantasy world he creates in his mind.  Wiig will play one of his co-workers who plays an alternative version of herself in Mitty’s fantasies.  It will be Stiller’s first time behind the camera since Tropic Thunder.  Source – The Hollywood Reporter

Bill Bob Thorton, last seen as a cop in The Rock starring Faster, is switching wrestlers for bears in the upcoming film Red Machine.  Thornton will play a bear-hunting expert who has to help Thomas Jane and James Marsden as two brothers being stalked by a man-eating bear.  The film is being directed by Saw V director David Hacki.  Source – Variety

Olga Kurlenko, the former Bond girl of Quantum Of Solace, is set to join Tom Cruise in Tron Legacy director Joseph Kosinski’s sci-fi opus.  She’ll play Vika a woman who works alongside Cruise on what remains of a scorched Earth fixing drone robots that fight of aliens.  When they pair find a crashed ship containing Julia, to be played by newly cast Andrea Riseborough, Cruise finds himself drawn to her and realising she may hold secrets to humanity’s fate.  At one point Jessica Chastain was attached to one of the roles but she has since left the project.  Source – Variety

Dan Lin, the producer behind Sherlock Holmes, clearly has a thing for literary adaptations as he’s now turning his attention to Tad Williams’ sci-fi novels Otherland.  Set 100 years in the future it sees a group of people having to evade an assassin as they travel through a digital world.  There are five books in total in the series so no doubt studio Warner Brothers are looking at this as a big old franchise to make a profit from.  2011 Black List topping writer John Scott III, who wrote Zombie, has been charged with finding a way of putting the story in script form.  Source – Variety

 

Thursday, 19^th January

Kurt Russel and Matt Dillon are set to play brothers in The Black Marks who try to pull of one final heist.  They rope in Jay Baruchel to help them along the way and Katheryn Winnick will play Russell’s Ukranainian stripper girlfriend both along for the ride.  Of course when the job goes well Dillon wants to pull off another one and the brother’s soon realise they have very separate motivations in life.  Jonathan Sobol is directing the film. Source – Variety

Liv Tyler, last seen in Super and more recently a Pantene advert (less said about that the better), has signed onto to star in Ti West’s latest film The Side Effect.  Tyler will play Catherine Rigby a test subject of a pharmaceutical company in outer space.  Having been subjected to a new drug Rigby falls pregnant and must try and understand what has happened to her.  West is famed for his horror movie The House Of The Devil so this could be a kind of Rosemary’s Baby set in space, so The Astronaut’s Wife?  Source – Deadline Hollywood

George Lucas, the mega-bucks making filmmaker behind Star Wars and Indiana Jones, says he’s retiring from making big movies.  His latest Red Tails has been a struggle having been turned down by every major studio Lucas has had to finance it himself.  With this in mind he says that, barring any more Indiana Jones films he may produce, he will be focusing his time on smaller, experimental films.  Of course Red Tails was actually directed by Anthony Hemingway but Lucas’ friend Francis Ford Coppola is pleased that Lucas has moved on to a new brand of filmmaking.  Source – The New York Times

Richard Curtis, the hit writer of Notting Hill and writer director of Love Actually and The Boat That Rocked, is ready to step behind the camera once again for a time travelling dramedy called About Time.  There is no word on the actual plot but having recently written an episode of Dr. Who Curtis knows a little bit about time travel.  Source – The Hollywood Reporter

Stephen King’s The Stand has already been adapted for TV once in its history but it seems getting a big screen version going has proved a little stop start.  At one point Harry Potter director David Yates was sniffing around the project as a multiple picture story.  Then Ben Affleck was confirmed to direct the film but little has been heard since.  Until now as Warner Brothers have hired screenwriter David Kajganich to adapt King’s behemoth novel.  For those unfamiliar The Stand tells the story of a global virus that wipes out most of humanity.  The survivors then form two groups and battle it out as to who will rule this earth, the good and Godly side or the bad Satanic side.  Kajganich was hired off the back of his yet unproduced adaptation of another King novel It. Source – The Vulture

 

Wednesday, 18^th January

Joel Edgerton, rising star of films like Warrior and The Thing, is now proving he is not just an actor but also a writer having sold a spec script to New Regency.  One Night Stand tells a comedic story of the aftermath between a man and a woman after a one night stand, obviously.  Edgerton will only look to executive produce the film rather than star in it which is not surprising given his slate is currently busy with films like Wish You Were Here, The Odd Life Of Timothy Green and the upcoming Baz Luhrmann’ The Great Gatsby and that’s all before he is set to star in Kathryn Bigelow’s film about the killing of Bin Laden.  Like we said, he’s a busy man there’s no time for a One Night Stand in Edgerton’s life.  Source – The Hollywood Reporter

Tommy Lee Jones, last seen barking orders at Captain America, has signed on to star in Emperor in the key role of General Douglas MacArthur.  Turns out barking orders are his strong suit.  Directed by Peter Webber the film will tell the true story of MacArthur’s relationship with Emperor Hirohito and whether or not the former ruler of Japan should be tried as a war criminal.  The film will also see Lost star Matthew Fox as MacArthur’s right hand man General Bonner Fellers as MacArthur found himself temporary ruler of the country.  Source – Coming Soon

Cormac McCarthy, the best selling author of books that would become hit films like No Country For Old Men and The Road, has turned his hand to screenwriting.  His publishers were slightly surprised when they opened a package expecting people to find a new book only to discover it was in fact a script.  It didn’t take long for The Road producers Steve Schwartz and Paula Mae Schwartz to snap up to the rights to the script called The Counsellor.  The script sees a successful lawyer who believes he’s smart enough to become a drug dealer without getting caught of succumbing to the trappings of the lifestyle.  He’s wrong of course, this is Cormac McCarthy, cheaters never prosper.  No director is yet attached but with McCarthy’s words behind them it is expected that many will come flocking.  Source – Deadline

Jamie Bell and Tilda Swinton are in talks to join Captain America’s Chris Evans on Bong Joo-ho’s Snow Piercer.  Joo-ho is best known for The Host and co-wrote the script with Oldboy director Park Chan-wook.  The film sees a group of mismatched people on a train travelling through a frozen waste-land.  Evans is apparently close to signing with Tintin and Kevin’s mum also said to be keen on roles.  Source – Variety

Matthew Lillard, best known as Shaggy in the Scooby-Doo movies and about to be seen in The Descendants, is close to signing on for Clint Eastwood starring Trouble With The Curve.  The film is being directed by Eastwood’s long term producing partner and already boasts Eastwood and Amy Adams as his daughter in the cast.  The film sees Eastwood as an aging, well he’s hardly young, Baseball scout whose vision is failing.  Determined to make one last scouting mission he takes his daughter along for the ride in an attempt to re-bond with her.  Lillard, if he signs, will play a rival scout.  Source – The Wrap

Seth Gordon, the director behind last year’s hit comedy Horrible Bosses, has signed onto helm Jason Bateman and Bridesmaid’s Melissa McCarthy in The ID Theft.  The film will see McCarthy, who the script was re-written after her star performance in Bridesmaids, steal Batman’s identity.  The script was originally written by The Pursuit Of Happiness writer Steve Conrad before The Hangover Part II’s Craig Mazin did a re-write to change the McCarthy character from a male to a female.  Source – Deadline Hollywood

Ti West, the director of the brilliant The House Of The Devil, is busy getting his next project together in the shape of The Side Effects.  After pulling out of making Cabin Fever 2, due to budget issues, West is looking to make a slightly bigger film than his normal independent fair.  The Side Effect is about pharmaceutical testing and the paranoia surrounding it but is crucially a sci-fi movie set in space.  Of course with space comes space ships which need to be built so in this instance it’s no surprise that West needs a little more cash to make the money than usual.  His latest film The Inkeepers has just become available in the US on video on demand and it is unclear what kind of release it will get globally so West will be hoping The Side Effect can put him back on top.  Source – The Playlist

 

Tuesday, 17^th January

Idris Elba, better known as The Wire’s Stringer Bell, has confirmed that he will be returning to his character of Heimdall for Thor 2.  Talking to MTV Elba stated that he’s back for the film but is yet to meet with newly hired director Alan Taylor.  Elba isn’t the only returning cast member of the Thor franchise with Chris Hemsworth, Natalie Portman, Tom Hiddleston and the recently announced Jaimie Alexander all on board for the Norse God’s return.  Source – MTV via Coming Soon

Diablo Cody, currently getting rave reviews for her script for Young Adult and writing the new Evil Dead film, has hinted for her in development Sweet Valley High film might be going the High School Musical route by featuring original songs.  The film, based on the hit series of books, features the perky lives of twins Elizabeth and Jessica Wakefield as they clash in the titular school.  The film is still some way off and even more so now the songs have to be written so in the meantime Cody will be working on the script for her directorial debut Lamb Of God starring Russell Brand.  Source – MTV via Empire

Simon Beaufoy, the Oscar winning writer behind Slumdog Millionaire and 127 Hours, has been hired to pen the sequel to this year’s upcoming Twilight/Harry Potter young adult adaptation of The Hunger Games.  The second in the franchise will be based on the second book, surprisingly, by Suzanne Collins.  Gary Ross, who wrote the first film and co-wrote the script will return to direct the second film which will be called Catching Fire. 

BAFTA, The British Academy Film Awards, announced their nominations last night and, perhaps as a surprise given the Golden Globe nominations, it includes such films as the brilliant Drive and Tinker Tailor Solider Spy.  Shame and Senna also get nods for in the Outstanding British Film category so overall it seems that BAFTA have got it right where other awards seem to be overlooking some of the better films of the last year.  See the full list of nominations below.

BEST FILM
THE ARTIST 
THE DESCENDANTS 
DRIVE 
THE HELP 
TINKER TAILOR SOLDIER SPY

OUTSTANDING BRITISH FILM
MY WEEK WITH MARILYN 
SENNA 
SHAME 
TINKER TAILOR SOLDIER SPY 
WE NEED TO TALK ABOUT KEVIN 

OUTSTANDING DEBUT BY A BRITISH WRITER, DIRECTOR OR PRODUCER
ATTACK THE BLOCK Joe Cornish (Director/Writer)
BLACK POND Will Sharpe (Director/Writer), Tom Kingsley (Director), Sarah Brocklehurst (Producer)
CORIOLANUS Ralph Fiennes (Director) 
SUBMARINE Richard Ayoade (Director/Writer) 
TYRANNOSAUR Paddy Considine (Director), Diarmid Scrimshaw (Producer)

FILM NOT IN THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE 
INCENDIES 
PINA 
POTICHE 
A SEPARATION 
THE SKIN I LIVE IN

DIRECTOR
THE ARTIST Michel Hazanavicius
DRIVE Nicolas Winding Refn
HUGO Martin Scorsese
TINKER TAILOR SOLDIER SPY Tomas Alfredson
WE NEED TO TALK ABOUT KEVIN Lynne Ramsay

ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY
THE ARTIST Michel Hazanavicius
BRIDESMAIDS Annie Mumolo, Kristen Wiig
THE GUARD John Michael McDonagh
THE IRON LADY Abi Morgan
MIDNIGHT IN PARIS Woody Allen

ADAPTED SCREENPLAY
THE DESCENDANTS Alexander Payne, Nat Faxon, Jim Rash
THE HELP Tate Taylor
THE IDES OF MARCH George Clooney, Grant Heslov, Beau Willimon
MONEYBALL Steven Zaillian, Aaron Sorkin
TINKER TAILOR SOLDIER SPY Bridget O'Connor, Peter Straughan

LEADING ACTOR
BRAD PITT Moneyball
GARY OLDMAN Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy
GEORGE CLOONEY The Descendants
JEAN DUJARDIN The Artist
MICHAEL FASSBENDER Shame

LEADING ACTRESS
BÉRÉNICE BEJO The Artist
MERYL STREEP The Iron Lady
MICHELLE WILLIAMS My Week with Marilyn
TILDA SWINTON We Need to Talk About Kevin
VIOLA DAVIS The Help

SUPPORTING ACTOR
CHRISTOPHER PLUMMER Beginners
JIM BROADBENT The Iron Lady
JONAH HILL Moneyball
KENNETH BRANAGH My Week with Marilyn
PHILIP SEYMOUR HOFFMAN The Ides of March

SUPPORTING ACTRESS
CAREY MULLIGAN Drive
JESSICA CHASTAIN The Help
JUDI DENCH My Week with Marilyn
MELISSA MCCARTHY Bridesmaids 
OCTAVIA SPENCER The Help

DOCUMENTARY
GEORGE HARRISON: LIVING IN THE MATERIAL WORLD Martin Scorsese
PROJECT NIM James Marsh, Simon Chinn
SENNA Asif Kapadia

ANIMATED FILM
THE ADVENTURES OF TINTIN: THE SECRET OF THE UNICORN Steven Spielberg
ARTHUR CHRISTMAS Sarah Smith
RANGO Gore Verbinski

ORIGINAL MUSIC 
THE ARTIST Ludovic Bource
THE GIRL WITH THE DRAGON TATTOO Trent Reznor, Atticus Ross
HUGO Howard Shore
TINKER TAILOR SOLDIER SPY Alberto Iglesias
WAR HORSE John Williams

CINEMATOGRAPHY
THE ARTIST Guillaume Schiffman
THE GIRL WITH THE DRAGON TATTOO Jeff Cronenweth
HUGO Robert Richardson
TINKER TAILOR SOLDIER SPY Hoyte van Hoytema
WAR HORSE Janusz Kaminski

EDITING 
THE ARTIST Anne-Sophie Bion, Michel Hazanavicius
DRIVE Mat Newman
HUGO Thelma Schoonmaker
SENNA Gregers Sall, Chris King
TINKER TAILOR SOLIDER SPY Dino Jonsater

PRODUCTION DESIGN
THE ARTIST Laurence Bennett, Robert Gould
HARRY POTTER AND THE DEATHLY HALLOWS – PART 2 Stuart Craig, Stephenie McMillan
HUGO Dante Ferretti, Francesca Lo Schiavo
TINKER TAILOR SOLDIER SPY Maria Djurkovic, Tatiana MacDonald
WAR HORSE Rick Carter, Lee Sandales

COSTUME DESIGN
THE ARTIST Mark Bridges
HUGO Sandy Powell
JANE EYRE Michael O'Connor
MY WEEK WITH MARILYN Jill Taylor
TINKER TAILOR SOLDIER SPY Jacqueline Durran

MAKE UP & HAIR
THE ARTIST Julie Hewett, Cydney Cornell
HARRY POTTER AND THE DEATHLY HALLOWS – PART 2 Amanda Knight, Lisa Tomblin
HUGO Morag Ross, Jan Archibald
THE IRON LADY Marese Langan
MY WEEK WITH MARILYN Jenny Shircore

SOUND
THE ARTIST Nadine Muse, Gérard Lamps, Michael Krikorian
HARRY POTTER AND THE DEATHLY HALLOWS – PART 2 James Mather, Stuart Wilson, Stuart Hilliker, Mike Dowson, Adam Scrivener
HUGO Philip Stockton, Eugene Gearty, Tom Fleischman, John Midgley
TINKER TAILOR SOLDIER SPY John Casali, Howard Bargroff, Doug Cooper, Stephen Griffiths, Andy Shelley
WAR HORSE Stuart Wilson, Gary Rydstrom, Andy Nelson, Tom Johnson, Richard Hymns

SPECIAL VISUAL EFFECTS
THE ADVENTURES OF TINTIN: THE SECRET OF THE UNICORN Joe Letteri
HARRY POTTER AND THE DEATHLY HALLOWS – PART 2 Tim Burke, John Richardson, Greg Butler, David Vickery
HUGO Rob Legato, Ben Grossman, Joss Williams
RISE OF THE PLANET OF THE APES Joe Letteri, Dan Lemmon, R. Christopher White
WAR HORSE Ben Morris, Neil Corbould

SHORT ANIMATION 
ABUELAS 
BOBBY YEAH 
A MORNING STROLL

SHORT FILM
CHALK 
MWANSA THE GREAT 
ONLY SOUND REMAINS 
PITCH BLACK HEIST 
TWO AND TWO

THE ORANGE WEDNESDAYS RISING STAR AWARD (voted for by the public) 
ADAM DEACON
CHRIS HEMSWORTH
CHRIS O’DOWD
EDDIE REDMAYNE
TOM HIDDLESTON

 

Monday, 16^th January

Chris Evans, Captain America himself, is rumoured to be in talks to star in Bong Joo-ho’s Snow Piercer.  The film, written by Joo-ho with the help of Oldboy’s Park Chan-wook, sees a world covered in snow and ice and follows a group of mismatched people on a train who struggle to co-exist together.  All other story details are being kept under wraps but it is clear evidence that Evans is firmly jumping between big studio films to smaller independent projects.  Source – Variety

Josh Trank, the director behind the incoming found-footage superhero film Chronicle, has apparently jumped to head of the queue as potential directors for the reboot of The Fantastic Four.  From one superhero film to another seems to make sense but it’s all the more impressive given Chronicle hasn’t been released yet and it is Trank’s first feature film.  However, Fox need to make another Fantastic Four film soon or the rights revert to Marvel.  With this in mind it is assumed that the likes of Chris Evans and Jessica Alba will not be returning but instead Fox will try and bring a more adult feel to the feuding family vibe of The Fantastic Four.  Source – Variety

Twilight, the hit movie franchise based on Stephanie Meyer’s best selling novels, might not end with the final instalment Twilight Breaking Dawn Part 2.  How? Why? We hear you ask.  Well it seems Lionsgate, the people behind the franchise, feel that Breaking Dawn Part 2 will generate them roughly $700 Million at the box-office.  If this turns out to be true it would be hard for the producers not to at least attempt another instalment.  Even though all the books would have been adapted there is nothing to say that an original sequel, prequel or spin-off couldn’t be created by some Hollywood magic.  Whether of course the likes of Kristen Stewart and Robert Pattinson would be willing to return is another matter but there is nothing to suggest that at re-boot with a new cast or even new characters couldn’t be implemented.  So what do you think Filmjuicers?  More Twilight or time to let the franchise turn to nighttime? Let us know on Twitter and Facebook. Source – The Los Angeles Times.

The Golden Globes, often considered the dress rehearsal for the Osacars, happened last night and may or may not be a betting guide as to where the other big awards will go as the season unfolds.  The full list of winners is below but it is fair to say that there were one or two surprise winners in the mix.

Best Picture, Drama: The Descendants

Best Picture, Musical or Comedy: The Artist

Best Actor, Drama: George Clooney, The Descendants

Best Actress, Drama: Meryl Streep, The Iron Lady

Best Director: Martin Scorsese, Hugo

Best Actor, Musical or Comedy: Jean Dujardin, The Artist

Best Actress, Musical or Comedy: Michelle Williams, My Week With Marilyn

Best Supporting Actor: Christopher Plummer, Beginners

Best Supporting Actress: Octavia Spencer, The Help

Best Foreign Language: A Separation

Best Animated Film: The Adventures of Tintin

Best Screenplay: Woody Allen, Midnight in Paris

Best Original Score: Ludovic Bource, The Artist

Best Original Song: Masterpiece (music and lyrics by Madonna, Julie Frost, Jimmy Harry), W.E.

 

Friday, 13^th January

Arnold Schwarzenegger, fresh off The Expendables 2, is looking to reunite with old mucker Sly Stallone on his next starring vehicle The Tomb.  It’s all very what goes around comes around on the project as Schwarzenegger was at one point attached as the lead in the film, as was other Planet Hollywood Alumni Bruce Willis, but it will now see Sly in the lead.  The Rite director Mikael Hafstrom will call the shots on the film which sees a prison designer framed for murder and thrown into his ‘inescapable prison’.  Of course this means he has to beat his own design to escape.  Sly will play the designer and it’s unclear who Schwarzenegger will play but we’re just happy to see the former Governor or LA back in the saddle.  Source – Ain’t It Cool

James Franco, busy with his degree, soap operas and any number of other projects, looks set to star as famed photographer Robert Mapplethorpe.   Mapplethorpe became famous thanks to his huge black and white photos of men and women as well as his photos of other stars like Andy Warhol and Debbie Harry.  He died in 1989 after complications from AIDS but spent much of his life championing funding for the arts.  The film in its self has been championed by former Buffy star Eliza Dushku and her brother who was intended to take the Mapplethorpe role.  However, with Franco on board funding will no doubt be easier to find.  Source – The Hollywood Reporter

Daniel Radcliffe, soon to be seen in The Woman In Black and hot off the end of Harry Potter, is now locked into to star alongside Elizabeth Olsen in Kill Your Darlings.  The film is the true story of a murder that affected the lives of famous poet Allen Ginsberg (Radcliffe), William S Burroughs, Edie Parker (Olsen) and Kerouac to be played by Jack Huston.  Of course James Franco recently played Ginsberg in Howl so Radcliffe seems a similar fit to the beat poet.  Meanwhile Elizabeth Olsen, younger sister to Mar-Kate and Ashley, has been earning rave reviews for her starring role in Martha Marcy May Marlene.  John Krokidas is directing the film.  Source – Variety

Ethan Hawke, soon to be seen in a small role in Total Recall, is set to star in another sci-fi in the shape of Vigilandia.  Next to nothing is known about the plot of the film as writer director James DeMonaco is keeping it all under his hat.  Hawke and DeMonaco have worked together before on Little New York as well as DeMonaco writing the script for Assault On Precinct 13.  Source – The Hollywood Reporter

 

Thursday, 12^th January

The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo, David Fincher’s adaptation of Stieg Larrson’s novel, didn’t do sterling business at the box-office but it seems studio Sony are looking to go ahead and complete the Millennium Trilogy nonetheless.  Screenwriter, and writer of Dragon Tattoo, Steve Zaillian has already finished a draft of The Girl Who Played With Fire and is said to be close to completing a draft for The Girl Who Kicked The Hornets Nest.  Fincher is not confirmed to return for either of the films but both Rooney Mara and Daniel Craig are rumoured to be signed on for the full trilogy if Sony do go ahead.  Source – Deadline Hollywood

Billy Crudup, better known as Dr. Manhattan in Watchmen and star of Almost Famous, has signed onto to star in At These Speeds for first time director, and one two Time Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle, Leif Tildan.  Also starring is Douglas Booth, seen in BBC’s Great Expectations, as a young boy who is grief stricken when his best friend dies.  He turns to running as a form of therapy and before long is determined to become a talented long-distance runner.  Crudup will play his coach and mentor.  The film has been written by Marc Novak and based on Jeremy Jackson’s novel.  Source – Variety

Hover Car Racer, the book for young adults by Matthew Riley, is set to get the movie treatment thanks to Disney.  Dan Harris is adapting the script that follows Jason Chaser as he joins a school that trains youngsters to compete in futuristic hover car races.  So basically Speed Racer without the technicolour vomit on the screen?  Harris also adapted I Am Number Four so certainly has form in bringing these ever popular ‘young adult’ novels to the big screen.  No word yet on a director.  Source – Heat Vision

After Earth, the epic sci-fi extravaganza starring Will Smith and really life sprog Jaden, looks to have added another cast member in the form of Orphan’s Isabelle Fuhrman.  The film sees Will and Jaden as father and son, talk about type-casting, crash landing on a now uninhabitable Earth.  When Will is hurt it is up to Jaden to save the day.  Fuhrman joins the already cast Zoe Kravtiz and Sophie Okonedo.  M. Night Shyamalan, hot on the heels of The Last Airbender, is directing this one so we all wait with baited breath.  Source – Heat Vision

 

Wednesday, 11^th January 2012

Jim Carrey, old rubber face himself and the former Ace Ventura Pet Detective, could be tempted back for a sequel to his 2003 smash hit Bruce Almighty.  The film got a spin-off, with Steve Carell in the form of Evan Almighty, which did less than stellar business but studio Universal is still willing to take a punt.  Carrey is by no means signed onto star, and is normally reluctant to commit to sequels, but Hot Tub Time Machine writers Jarrad Paul and Andrew Mogel have been hired to hopefully pen a script that could tempt Carrey back.  Meanwhile he’ll next be seen alongside Steve Carell in magician movie Burt Wonderstone.  Source – Variety

Thor 2, after much trouble in Asgard with switching directors, looks set to get a re-write.  After initial director Patty Jenkins dropped out and was replaced by Andrew Taylor is seems the script will need a bit of a tweak to keep the new helmer happy.  The man drafted in to do just that is Saving Private Ryan scribe Robert Rodant.  The film will see the return of Chris Hemsworth as Thor with Tom Hiddleston and Natalie Portman also reprieving their roles.  Source – Deadline Hollywood

Jersey Boys, the hit stage musical, will follow in the footsteps of other Broadway to screen adaptations like Mama Mia, Chicago and the upcoming Rock Of Ages.  John Logan, the writer behind last year’s Hugo and films like Gladiator, not to mention the upcoming James Bond script for Skyfall, will write the film.  The stage musical follows the rise of The Four Seasons and Frankie Valli who had hits such as  Big Girls Don’t Cry and Walk Like A Man.  Over it’s running time the production has grossed more than $1 Billion in tickets sales so it seems a logic step to turn it into a film.  Source – The Hollywood Reporter

Garrett Hedlund, the star of Tron Legacy, has signed on to star in the Coen Brothers latest film Inside Llewellyn Davis.  He had been attached to the live action film of Akira but with the film being put on hold for budget reasons he’s free to take on other projects in the meantime.  He joins the a cast that already includes Carey Mulligan, Justin Timberlake, Oscar Isaac and John Goodman.  The film tells the story of the rise of folk music in 1960s New York.  Source – Twitch

 

Tuesday, 10^th January 2012 

Jude Law, who is currently doing the Watson to Downey Jnr’s Holmes, has signed onto to star in Steven Soderbergh’s latest The Side Effects.  Law will play also cast Blake Lively’s psychologist as she worries about the impending release of her husband, to be played by Channing Tatum, from prison.  Soderbergh has never worked with Gossip Girl star Lively before but Law appeared in Contagion while Tatum is in upcoming Haywire and Magic Mike, both of which Soderbergh directed.  After his on again off again issues with The Man From Uncle the ever busy Soderbergh will no doubt be itching to get started on another project.  Source – The Playlist

Police Academy, the franchise that launched careers of such ‘stars’ as Steve Guttenberg, Bobcat Goldthwait, Bubba Smith, Sharon Stone and Sex And The City Star Kim Cattrall looks set to get a remake.  Of course whether we need another incarnation of the badly run, full of misfits school for want to be cops is another matter, but New Line is moving ahead with director Scott Zabielski calling the shots.  Part of the reason he got the gig is because in his spare time Zabielski is a West Hollywood Reserve Officer so knows a little bit about the law.  Source – Deadline Hollywood

Katee Sackhoff the break-out star of TV’s Battlestar Galactica, has been cast as a bounty hunter in the latest in the Riddick franchise.  She’ll lead a team of mercenaries on the hunt for Vin Diesel’s Riddick no doubt star hopping across the galaxy.  The film is again being written and directed by David Twohy and will also see Karl Urban reprise his role from The Chronicles Of Riddick as Necromonger Vaako.  Before that Sackhoff has Sexy Evil Genius and another sci-fi romp in Lockout both of which are released this year.  Source – Deadline Hollywood

Superman, aka The Man Of Steel, looks to be getting a little political injection thanks to The West Wing star Richard Schiff, aka Toby Ziegler, taking on the role of Dr. Hamilton.  The film will see Henry Cavill done the pants as Superman with Amy Adams as Louise Lane, Russell Crowe as Superman’s Kryptonian father, Kevin Costner and Diane Lane as Jonathan and Martha Kent while Michael Shannon will play the villainous General Zod.  Dr. Hamilton was a henchmen of Lex Luthor in the comic books so could this suggest that the bald Luthor could make a surprise appearance in the film?  Watchman’s Zack Synder is calling the shots on the film while none other than Christopher ‘The Dark Knight’ Nolan produces. Source – Variety

 

Monday, 9^th January 2012

George Clooney, hotly tipped for Oscar Nominations for upcoming The Descendants, is already looking to his next project called The Monuments Men.  Clooney wrote the script with producing partner Grant Heslov from the book The Monuments Men: Allied Heroes, Nazi Thieves and The Greatest Treasure Hunt History.  As the book’s title suggests the film is about a group of art experts assembled by the US government to track down stolen artworks stolen by the Nazis during World War II.  Clooney will direct the movie and almost certainly star in but has said it will be a much more commercial film than his past directing efforts with a bigger budget which will include a landing on the beaches of Normandy.  Source – The Wrap via Empire Online.   

Robert Downey Jnr and Tim Burton, the first doing the round in Sherlock Holmes the latter putting the finishes touches to Dark Shadows, are in talks with Warner Brothers to star and direct on a live-action film of Pinocchio.  Burton would call the shots while Downey Jnr is in talks to star as Geppetto, Pinocchio’s father.  This is not the only Pinocchio project in development though with the Jim Henson Company also working on bringing the real boy to life thanks to a script co-written by Pan’s Labyrinth writer-director Guillermo del Toro.  Source – The Hollywood Reporter

Martin Campbell, the director behind Green Lantern and Casino Royale, has taken over the reins on paranoid thriller Umbra.  Both Roger Donaldson and Joe Carnahan had both been attached to direct the film at one point but Campbell now looks set to bring some of his James Bond thriller experience to proceedings.  He’s also brought his Casino Royale writer, and Oscar nominated director for Crash, Paul Haggis to do a re-write on the film.  The film follows a businessman who received a mysterious package that opens him and his family up to a dark government plot.  No word on casting but with a solid script and Campbell working in the real world, rather than Technicolor superhero land this could be a good yarn to spin.  Source – Deadline

Michael Hazanavicius, the French director behind one of the most hotly tipped movies of the year The Artist, has announced his next film.  Inspired by Fred Zimmeman’s 1948 film the new film will transfer the location from post Holocaust World War II to Chechnya and sees a young woman trying to find her son who she knows survived the horrors that occurred there.  Considerably darker than his current film then but he has already cast The Artist’s leading lady and his wife Berenice Bejo as a NGO worker involved in the story.  Source – Variety

 

Friday, 6^th January 2012

Natalie Portman, the Oscar winning actress of Black Swan, has been taking some much earned rest after a host of films and a baby but now looks like she might be ready to jump back into work.  The Wachowskis are looking to cast her in their latest Jupiter Ascending.  The directors behind The Matrix are keeping plot details close to their chest but it is known to be a sci-fi, well with that title it was either that or a film about Mystic Meg, and they are hoping to convince their V For Vendetta star Portman to take the lead.  Portman will also get back into work for Thor 2 now that has a director locked in.  Source – The Los Angeles Times

Emma Stone, one of 2011’s break-out stars with The Help and Crazy, Stupid Love to her name, has signed on to star in Little White Corvette.  The film sees Stone travelling to Miami with her younger brother in their late father’s corvette which they have found a huge stash of cocaine in, their mission is to sell it.  Stone will be seen this year in The Amazing Spider-Man and is generating Oscar buzz for her turn in The Help.  Source – Deadline Hollywood

Akira, the live-action adaptation of the popular Manga comic and anime, has been put on hold due to budget concerns.  The film is still going ahead but the studio, Warner Brothers, wants to cut the budget from the current $90 Million to a more realistic $70 Million.  Apparently the project will spend the next two weeks trying to re-jig the budget and word is if it can’t be cut the film may be shelved for good.  It’s not the first time a live-action Akira film has had problems in development indeed this is the third incarnation of the film.  Slated director Jaume Collet-Serra will hope he can sort things out before this project bites the dust.  Source – The Hollywood Reporter

Liam Hemsworth, brother to Thor’s Chris Hemsworth and soon to be seen in The Hunger Games, has signed on to star in Empire State alongside Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson.  The film tells the true story of the 1982 NYC armoured car company robbery which at the time was believed to be the biggest cash heist in US history.  Source – Deadline Hollywood

 

Thursday, 5^th January 2012

Benedict Cumberbatch, the British star of TV’s Sherlock and Spielberg’s upcoming War Horse, has been cast in a key role in JJ Abrams’ Star Trek sequel.  Although there is no word on who he will play the belief is Cumberbatch has nabbed the coveted part of the film’s villain.  The role was at one part set to be played by Benicio Del Toro before he bowed out and the likes of Edgar Ramierz looked to be in the running.  Those rumours could of course still be true if Cumberbatch’s part is another clever ploy by Abrams and his team to divert attention away from other castings.  However, in other casting news another British star Noel Clarke has also been cast in the sequel with the only details about his character being that he is a family man with a wife and child.  Has JJ Abrams been watching lots of British TV and Movies to find more cast members to back up Simon Pegg’s Scotty? Source – The Hollywood Reporter

Carrie, one of the most iconic horror movies of all time, looks like it’s getting the remake/fresh adaptation.  Based on the Stephen King book the story about Carrie sees the young girl bullied at High School before developing telekinetic powers and reeking bloody revenge on the school on prom night.  The new version is set to be directed by Kimberly Peirce and will look to be more grounded and closer to King’s book than Brian De Palma’s classic.  Love it or hate it the current Hollywood trend of re-using old material shows no sign of going away.  Source – Deadline Hollywood

Les Miserables, the new adaptation of the classic story come musical, looks to have added the talents of Amanda Seyfried to it’s already impressive cast.  The film is being directed by The King’s Speech’s Oscar winning director Tom Hooper and will star the likes of Hugh Jackman, Russell Crowe, Anne Hathaway and Eddie Redmayne.  Seyfried will play the part of Cosette and is no stranger to musicals having starred in Mama Mia.  Source – Deadline Hollywood

Horrible Bosses, one of last year’s biggest comedies, looks set to get a sequel.  Studio New Line has hired original writers John Francis Daley and Jonathan Goldstein to pen a follow-up to the story about three guys who group together to off their horrible bosses.  The original trio of Jason Bateman, Jason Sudeikis and Charlie Day are all expected to return while director Seth Gordon is also said to be in early talks to helm the project.  Source – The Hollywood Reporter

Bridesmaids, another monster hit comedy from last year, looks set to potentially get a sequel but could do so without the previous film’s star and writer Kristen Wiig.  Studio Universal are in talks with a number of filmmakers to come up with some interesting ideas and if they like what they conjure then they will move ahead without Wiig.  Wiig, and writing partner Annie Mumolo, are busy on other projects at the moment and producer Judd Apatow has said he will return if he likes the ideas that the new team come up with.  What do you think?  Can Bridesmaids 2 work without the star of the show?  Source – The Hollywood Reporter

 

Wednesday, 4^th January 2012

World War Z, the film adaptation of Max Brooks’ hugely successful book, is rumoured to be set for a trilogy of films.  The first film stars Brad Pitt, who also acts as a producer on the film, and sees him as United Nations delegate Gerry Lane whose job it is to get to the bottom of the zombie apocalypse which is decimating the world.  The film is being directed by Marc Forster but Pitt has now told the LA Times that studio Paramount are planning the project as the first in a franchise.  The film is not out until the end of 2012 so we’ll have to wait and see if it brings the success the studio are clearing banking on.  Source – The Los Angeles Times

Matthew Fox, the star of Lost and appearing in World War Z (see above), has joined the cast of Emperor.  The film, being directed by Peter Webber most famous for directing The Girl With The Pearl Earring, tells the story of Japan’s surrender at the end of World War II.  General MacArthur found himself in charge of the nation and wanted to have the Emperor and his family exonerated rather than tried as war criminals.  Fox will play MacArthur’s second in command General Bonner Fellers and the story will likely be told from his perspective.  Source – Variety

Lovelace, the film about the life of Linda Boreman who became the first pornstar Linda Lovelace, is now in production and as such has added to its cast.  Demi Moore is now onboard as the founder of Ms Magazine Gloria Steinem, Adam Brody has joined as Lovelace’s Deep Throat co-star Harry Reems and Eric Roberts will play Nat Laurendi who conducted a lie detector test on Lovelace to certify that her biography was indeed truthful.  Lovelace will star Amanda Seyfried as the titular star and is being directed by Howl’s Rob Epstein and Jeffrey Friedman.  Source – Variety

Rocketman, the film about Elton John’s life that will be a fantasy musical, is aiming high in its talent search for the man who can play Elton himself.  The man himself is acting as one of the film’s producers and when asked by the LA Times who he would like to play him his response was easy.  That man is Justin Timberlake who has indeed played Elton before in the video for This Train Don’t Stop There Anymore (See below).  The current rumours have James McAvoy attached to play the part but after Timberlake’s stunning portrayal in the David LaChapelle video it seems Timberlake could get first refusal.  Source – The Los Angeles Times

Tuesday, 3^rd January 2012

Welcome Back Filmjuicers!

Paramount, the studio behind last years’ Mission Impossible Ghost Protocol, Super 8 and their first animated movie Rango, finished 2011 as the No 1 grossing studio.  Managing to topple expected winner Warner Brothers, Paramount took a staggering $5.17 Billion worldwide.  2012 is expected to be another bumper year for the studio with films like Brad Pitt’s World War Z and Sasha Baron Cohen’s The Dictator both expected to do big business.  Source – Deadline Hollywood

Thor, Marvel’s Norse god who was pretty nifty with his hammer, seems to have found a director to helm the superheroes second outing.  That director is Game Of Thrones veteran Alan Taylor.  It seems that the show has proved something of a creative scouting breeding ground for Marvel as they also considered some of Thrones other directors like Daniel Minahan.  Taylor also has form in shows like The Sopranos, Lost and The West Wing.  He replaces the departed Patty Jennkins who was either fired or quite due to that age old Hollywood code-name ‘Creative Differences’.  Either way Thor was a lot of fun so we wait to see what Taylor and team can bring for the sequel in 2013.  Source – Heat Vision

The Avengers, Marvel’s superhero mash-up starring Iron Man, Capatain America, The Hulk and Thor, looks like it might have let a cat out of the bag a little early in the villain stakes.  While it is widely known that Tom Hiddleston’s Loki, Thor’s Brother, will play the main villain it seems that toy company NECA have told the world they will be making a (SPOILER stop reading now if you don’t want to know who the surprise villain is) Red Skull toy for the film’s release.  The Red Skull is of course leader of The Avengers Captain America’s arch-nemesis so it seems to fit in that he may make a sinister return.  Marvel are keeping quiet on the matter so this could of course just be another trick by Loki to keep attention off of him.  Source – The Hollywood Reporter

 

Thursday, 22^nd December

Harrison Ford and Abigail Breslin have now officially joined the cast of Wolverine director Gavin Hood’s adaptation of Ender’s Game.  They join Hugo’s Asa Butterfield and Ben Kingsley in the film which will see children trained as soldiers to defeat the hordes of aliens that are threatening earth.  Ford will play the previously mooted role of Colonel Hyram Graff, the man in charge of the programme to train the youngsters.  Source – Variety

David Yates, having finished the mammoth undertaking of directing the last four Harry Potter films, has signed up to direct Your Voice In My Head based on the memoirs of Emma Forrest.  The film is about a self-harming girl and the psychiatrist who helps her through her issues.  Yates has said there will be elements of escapist trippy moments but on the whole is looking forward to tackling something on a smaller scale than Potter.  It remains to be seen in Yates will then come back to such projects as Stephen King’s The Stand which he had previously been linked to.  Source – Screen Daily.

 

Wednesday, 21^st December

Jessica Biel, currently seen strutting her stuff in New Year’s Eve and in next year’s Total Recall remake, has joined the cast of Emanuel And The Truth About Fishes.  The film, which originally had Rooney Mara attached to then be replaced by Skins star Kaya Scodelario, sees a young girl become obsessed by her new neighbour’s resemblance to her dead mother.  Biel will play the neighbour who has recently lost her own daughter sparking a surrogate relationship.  Francesca Gregorini is calling the shots on the film.  Source – Variety

James Franco, seen earlier this year in The Rise Of The Planet Of The Apes, could appear in a cameo role in Lovelace as none other than Playboy creator Hugh Hefner.  The film is being directed by Franco’s Howl director Rob Epstein and tells the true story of porn icon turned feminist Linda Lovelace.  Amanda Seyfried is attached to play the star.  Source – Variety

Vin Diesel, the man-mountain star of one of 2011 biggest films Fast Five, has confirmed today that he and the team of The Fast & The Furious films are indeed planning not one but two sequels to the film.  Talking to The Hollywood Reporter he said that there were so many characters re-introduced in the latest film that to do them all justice would take too long in one film so studio Universal are hoping that two films will do it justice.  Presently the team, with returning director Justin Lin, are prepping for Fast Six but there are some suggestions that they could shoot back to back films.  Source – The Hollywood Reporter

The Hobbit showed off it’s second official image yesterday and today comes the fist trailer for the film. Click HERE to see it. 

 

Tuesday, 20^th December

Daniel Craig, currently digging up dirt in The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo, is in high demand according to James Bond Producer Michael G Wilson who says that the Bond producers would love Craig to surpass Roger Moore’s record of eight appearances as 007.  Craig is currently shooting his third outing as Britain’s best agent in Skyfall but Wilson insists that the producers are determined to retain his services for a number of other movies.  It remains to be seen if Craig shares these sentiments and whether the fans will indeed want him for that long with a strong campaign to instate Michael Fassbender gathering steam after his Bond like turn in X-Men; First Class.  Source – The People

The Dark Knight Rises full-length trailer hit the web last night and it more than lives up to expectations. You can see it by clicking HERE.

Martin Freeman, best known as Holmes to Watson or Tim from The Office, can now be seen in one of the fist official pictures from The Hobbit.  The film sees Freeman star as Bilbo Baggins who sets out to look for treasure with the help of some dwarf friends.  The film will be released this time next year.  Source – Coming Soon

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Monday, 19^th December

Leonardo DiCaprio, soon to be seen as J Edgar Hoover in Clint Eastwood’s biopic of the man, is finally looking set to bring his long term pet project The Devil In The White City: Murder, Magic And Madness At The Fair That Changed America to the screen.  He has sold the rights to the book by Erick Larson to Warner Brothers with DiCaprio attached as an actor the lead role.  The non-fiction book tells the story of Dr. HH Holmes a serial killer who preyed on anywhere from 27 to 200 hundred people in Chicago of 1893.  He lured numerous people, mainly young women, to his World’s Fair Hotel which he referred to as the “murder castle”.  There he would murder his guests, skin and dissect their bodies to sell for medical research.  DiCaprio is set to play the role of Holmes with the script being written by recent Black List toping scribe Graham Moore.  Source – Deadline Hollywood

Timecrimes, the frankly brilliantly dizzying Spanish time travel thriller, is set to get an American remake possibly with Oscar winning writer Steve Zaillian directing the film.  The original film, which is a truly great little thriller, sees a man being stalked by a masked individual who hides in a device that transports him through time and sets about a series of events that rapidly spirals out of control which in term endangers his wife’s life.  At one point David Cronenberg was attached to direct the film but he has recently denied any involvement.  Zaillain on the other hand has expressed an interest but only if he can make it really low budget believing that the source material is strong enough not to need anymore added to it.  We couldn’t agree more.  Source  - Coming Soon.

Eva Green, the former Vesper Lynd of Casino Royale fame, could be ready to sign on to star in the sequel to 300.  The film, which is being directed by Noam Murro, tells the story of Greek General Themistocles who led his army against the Perian hordes at the same time as the events of the first 300 film.  This film will have the inventive title of 300: Battle Of Artemisia and has been written by 300 director Zack Synder and his writing partner Kurt Johnstad.  Source – Coming Soon

The Lone Ranger, back in the saddle having got his budget problems sorted, has added another Brit to the bad guy roster in the shape of James Frain.  He’ll play villain Tom Wilkinson’s right hand man as they over see the building of a railroad by Chinese and Indian immigrants.  He’ll no doubt get to go fist to fist with Lone Ranger Armie Hammer and Tonto Johnny Depp.  Frain is best known for his roles in TVs The Tudors and True Blood.  Source – The Hollywood Reporter

 

Friday, 16^th December

Robert Redford, the Sundance Kid himself, is in talks to star in All Is Lost.  The film’s plot is currently being kept under wraps but is roughly a man vs nature at sea thriller.  The film was written, and will be directed, by J.C. Chandor who is getting rave reviews for his directorial debut Margin Call.  Chandor met Redford at this year’s Sundance Film Festival and was so taken by the man he wrote the role with Redford in mind.  The producers are currently scouting the Baja Film Sutidos in Mexico, which is where James Cameron shot much of Titanic and Michael Bay shot Pearl Harbour.  We’re guessing theirs a storm brewing in Chandor’s script.  Source – Deadling Hollywood

Reese Witherspoon, being fought over by Tom Hardy and Chris Pine in next year’s This Means War, is set to star in The Devi’s Knot about the West Memphis 3.  The trio, Damien Echols, Jason Baldwin and Jessie Misskelley were accused of killing eight boy scouts in an Arkansas wood.  They were released in August this year having served 17 years in prison but were told they would received no compensation for time spent.  The film will be based on reporter Mara Levitt’s book about the events and will see Witherspoon play Pam Hobbs, a mother of one of the victims who is sure the trio committed the crime but as the trial dragged on began to suspect they may be innocent.  Atom Egoyan, who directed The Sweet Hereafter, will call the shots.  Source – Variety

The Golden Globe Nominations, normally a pretty good indication of who can expect nods at the Oscars, were announced yesterday with hotly tipped film The Artist fairing very well.  George Clooney also does well with nominations for acting in The Descendants as well directing for The Ides Of March.  You can see the full list of Nominations below:

BEST PICTURE, DRAMA
The Descendants
The Help
Hugo
The Ides of March
Moneyball
War Horse

BEST PICTURE, MUSICAL OR COMEDY
Midnight in Paris
My Week with Marilyn
50/50
The Artist

BEST DIRECTOR
Woody Allen, Midnight In Paris
George Clooney, The Ides of March
Michel Hazanavicius, The Artist
Alexander Payne, The Descendants
Martin Scorsese, Hugo

BEST ACTOR, DRAMA
George Clooney, The Descendants
Leonardo DiCaprio, J Edgar
Michael Fassbender, Shame
Ryan Gosling, The Ides of March
Brad Pitt, Moneyball

BEST ACTRESS, DRAMA
Glenn Close, Albert Nobbs
Viola Davis, The Help
Rooney Mara, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo
Meryl Streep, The Iron Lady
Tilda Swinton, We Need to Talk About Kevin

BEST ACTOR, COMEDY OR MUSICAL
Jean Dujardin, The Artist
Brendan Gleeson, The Guard
Joseph Gordon Levitt, 50/50
Ryan Gosling, Crazy Stupid Love
Owen Wilson, Midnight in Paris

BEST ACTRESS, COMEDY OR MUSICAL
Kate Winslet, Carnage
Jodie Foster, Carnage
Charlize Theron, Young Adult
Michelle Williams, My Week With Marilyn
Kristen Wiig, Bridesmaids

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR
Kenneth Branagh, My Week with Marilyn
Albert Brooks, Drive
Jonah Hill, Moneyball
Viggo Mortensen, A Dangerous Method
Christopher Plummer, Beginners

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Berenice Bejo, The Artist
Jessica Chastain , The Help
Janet McTeer, Albert Nobbs
Octavia Spencer, The Help
Shailene Woodley, The Descendants

BEST SCREENPLAY
Midnight in Paris, Woody Allen
The Ides of March, George Clooney, Grant Heslov, Beau Willimon
The Artist, Michel Hazanavicius
The Descendants, Alexander Payne, Nat Faxon and Jim Rash
Moneyball, Steven Zaillian and Aaron Sorkin

BEST ANIMATED FEATURE
The Adventures of Tintin
Arthur Christmas
Cars 2
Puss in Boots
Rango

BEST FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM
The Flowers of War
In The Land of Blood and Honey
The Kid WIth The Bike
A Separation
The Skin I Live In

BEST ORIGINAL SCORE
The Artist, Ludovic Bource
W.E., Abel Korzeniowski
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross
Hugo, Howard Shore
War Horse, John Williams

BEST ORIGINAL SONG
"Lay Your Head Down," Albert Nobbs
"Hello Hello," Gnomeo and Juliet
"The Living Proof," The Help
"The Keeper," Machine Gun Preacher
"Masterpiece," W.E.

 

Thursday, 15^th December

Brian De Palma, who hasn’t directed since 2007’s Redacted, is gearing up for his remake of French film Crime d’Amour re-titled as Passion.   The French original, which starred Ludivine Sagnier and Kristen Scott Thomas, saw a young employer stealing her boss’s idea leading the older woman to resort to murder.  De Palma will invert the story and have the boss steal the young employers idea and is rumoured to have cast Sherlock Holmes: Game Of Shadows stars Rachel McAdams and Noomi Rapace in the leading roles.  Source – Thompson On Hollywood

Stephen Frears, the Oscar nominated director of The Queen and The Grifters, is planning on remaking his own movie The Hit.  The original film saw Terrence Stamp as a former gangster turned informer who is living a quiet life in sun drenched Spain.  That is until a young Tim Roth and a  menacing John Hurt turn up as two hit men to take him back to Blighty for his execution.  The new film will transfer the action to America and Mexico, presumably to cater for a larger audience but there is no definite word on whether Frears will return to direct of simply over see as a producer.  Source – Variety

The Screen Actors Guild are just a month away from hosting one of the bigger award ceremonies leading up to the Oscars and has revealed the long list of nominations for the event.  The Artist and The Decesdants have both faired well as has sleeper hit of the year The Help.  The full list of nominees can be seen below. Source – SAGAwards.Org

Outstanding Performance By A Cast In A Motion Picture
Bridesmaids
The Artist
The Descendants
The Help
Midnight in Paris

Outstanding Performance By A Male Actor In A Leading Role
George Clooney, The Descendants
Demian Bichir, A Better Life
Leonardo DiCaprio, J. Edgar
Jean Dujardin, The Artist
Brad Pitt, Moneyball

Outstanding Performance By A Female Actor In A Leading Role
Michelle Williams, My Week With Marilyn
Glenn Close, Albert Nobbs
Viola Davis, The Help
Meryl Streep, The Iron Lady
Tilda Swinton, We Need to Talk About Kevin

Outstanding Performance By A Male Actor In A Supporting Role
Nick Nolte, Warrior
Kenneth Branagh, My Week With Marilyn
Armie Hammer, J. Edgar
Jonah Hill, Moneyball
Christopher Plummer, Beginners

Outstanding Performance By A Female Actor In A Supporting Role
Octavia Spencer, The Help
Berenice Bejo, The Artist
Jessica Chastain, The Help
Melissa McCarthy, Bridesmaids
Janet McTeer, Albert Nobbs

Outstanding Performance By A Stunt Ensemble In A Motion Picture
The Adjustment Bureau
Cowboys & Aliens
Harry Potter and the Deahtly Hallows: Part II
Transformers: Dark of the Moon
X-Men: First Class

 

Wednesday, 14^th December

Denzel Washington, to be seen next year in the hotly anticipated Safe House, is apparently on top of Sony’s wish list to play the lead in the film adaptation of hit TV Show The Equalizer.  The original TV show starred Edward Woodward as a former Agent of an orgainsation called The Company.  He spent most of the show trying to atone for his past sins by hiring himself out as a protector and investigator taking out criminal types who picked on the little guys.  Richard Wenk, who has just written The Expendables 2 is slated to write the project.  Source – Columbia Picures via Coming Soon

Arthur & Lancelot, the latest film to look at the Arthurian Legend, seems to be going the same way as Paradise Lost and The Lone Ranger.  The film is set to have Game Of Thrones’ Kit Harrington as Arthur with and The Killing’s Joel Kinnaman as Lancelot but with the original budget set at $90 Million and the latest figures estimating $130 Million  Warner Brother has insisted that the project be put on hold until the budget can be lowered once again.  It seems the studio feels that much money with a film starring two unproven leads is too bigger gamble.  Although it seems the studio is still anxious to see David Dobkins film in the future but under tighter financial constraints.  Source – Deadline Hollywood

Saorise Ronan, on stunning form earlier this year in Hanna, has signed on to star in Last King Of Scotland director Kevin Macdonald’s How I Live Now.  The story sees Ronan play Daisy, an argumentative girl from New York who is sent to live in England as an evacuee from World War III.  Although she begins to fit in with English country living the evil forces soon turn up forcing Daisy and her young friends to live in the wild and fend for themselves.  Sounds all very Red Dawn meets Hanna meets Modern Warfare.  Ronan is currently sucking blood as a vampire in Neil Jordan’s Byzantium before moving onto The Host from Twilight writer Stephanie Meyers.  Source – Variety

Chris Pratt, recently hitting the big time with TV’s Parks And Recreation but also in this year’s Moneyball, is looking to go all Jeremy Renner on us by starring in Katherine Bigelow’s latest grunts on a mission movie Kill Bin Laden.  The film has had numerous problems getting to screen and still has no official title with the likes of Joel Edgerton, Tom Hardy, Guy Pearce and Idris Elba all rumoured to be part of the cast.  The only confirmed name to date Jason Clarke.  The film will tell the story of the Navy SEAL Team who tracked down and killed the Al Qaeda leader.  Source – Twitch

Lars Von Trier, the ultimate Marmite director of Melancholia and Antichrist, has announced the title of his new movie will be Nymphomaniac.  Von Trier used to co-own a porn label so it is not surprise to find him make another film which will contain scenes of a graphic sexual nature.  Indeed he plans on them being so graphic in parts that he is going to cut two versions of the film.  One will be a full hardcore cut while the other a softer version for more mainstream audiences.  The film will track erotic life from infancy to middle age.  Source – Twitch

 

Tuesday, 13^th December

Paradise Lost, the adaptation of the poem by John Milton, has been put on hold.  Dark City director Alex Proyas’ project was always going to be an ambitious one with performance capture to represent the war between heaven and hell but it seems the budget was too great and now studio Legendary Pictures were concerened at the $120 Million project so have looked to trim some of that off.  Like Disney’s The Lone Ranger earlier this year which also was put on hold for the same reason the likes of Bradley Cooper might be asked to take wage cuts in order to reduce costs.  It has been made clear that the film will go ahead and that this is simply a cost cutting measure.  Source – Deadline Hollywood

Dominic Cooper, recently seen in The Devil’s Double and as Iron Man’s dad in Captain America, has joined the cast of Summer In February.  The film, which also stars No Stings Attached’s Ophelia Lovibond as Florence Carter-Wood, focuses on The Newlyn School Of art and will see Cooper play Alfred Munnings alongside Dan Stevens as Gilbert Evans.  The film will be set against the back-drop of the Cornish country side shortly before the outbreak of World War I.  Christopher Menaul will call the shots. 

Winona Ryder, to be heard in Tim Burton’s Frankenweenie next year, has stepped into the female role for The Iceman opposite Michael Shannon.  Shannon plays a contract killer of the Mafia, who is mentored by Chris Evans, in a true story with his loving wife having no idea he is a killer.  At one point James Franco was attached to the Evans role and Maggie Gyllenhaal was supposed to be playing Ryder’s part.  Ariel Vromen co-wrote and is directing the project.  Source – Deadline Hollywood

The Black List, Hollywood’s annual list of the best unproduced scripts that producers and agents are throwing themselves over to get a piece of, was published yesterday.  Some movies on the list are in pre-production already, like Father Daughter Time: A Tale Of Armed Robbery And Eskimo Kisses, but others like Chewie, which tells the making of Star Wars through Chewie actor Peter Mayhew’s eyes are not.  However, one film on the list has just received creative backing from Drew Barrymore who has signed onto direct When The Street Lights Go On.  The film is about a 17 Year-old in the 1980s who discovers a high school beauty and the English teacher she was having an affair with dead and sets out to investigate who killed them.  Source – Deadline Hollywood

George Lucas has been speaking this week about the next Indiana Jones film.  It seems there will be a fifth instalment in the franchise.  Lucas told Entertainment Weekly that he knows what the film is about but needs to find a MacGuffin to tie it all together.  The MacGuffin, as called by Alfred Hitchcock, is the narrative device that drives the story forward.  The Indiana Jones series has presented some of cinema’s finest in the shape of the Holy Grail and the Ark Of The Covenant.  But also gave us Inter-Dimensional beings in the last film.  So are we ready to forgive poor CGI gofers and monkeys?  Source – Entertainment Weekly

 

Monday, 12^th December

Eddie Murphy, having jumped ship on hosting the Oscars, is looking to cash in on his re-found popularity, after Tower Heist, by attaching himself to star as controversial Washington Mayor Marion Barry.  Barry was mayor of Washington twice between 1979-1991 and then again in 1995-1999.  The gap came as a result of a picture showing Barry smoking crack-cocaine which led to a 6 month jail sentence.  Spike Lee is developing the project with HBO Films.  The story was previously in development with Jamie Foxx in the Barry role.  Source – Deadline Hollywood

George Clooney, fresh off the success of another directorial effort in The Ides Of March and a shoe-in for an Oscar nomination for his role in The Descendants, is looking to develop a project based on 60s comedians Tom & Dicky Smothers.  The Smothers were originally straight up comics but soon diverted into more counter-culture programming which lead them to become high up Richard Nixon’s hit-list.  Clooney has form in bringing period TV concepts to screen with Confessions Of A Dangerous Mind and Good Night And Good Luck.  Although at this point Clooney may only be on producing duties for The Smothers.  Source – Deadline Hollywood

Oscars, as the award season is very much upon us, The Academy Of Motion Picture Arts 7 Sciences are gradually drip feeding their long lists of considerations through.  The latest are the potential nominees for Best Visual Effects which includes the likes of Rise Of The Apes, Harry Potter, Transformers 3, Cowboys & Aliens, Sucker Punch, Super 8, Thor, Mission Impossible, Captain America, Hugo, Reel Steel, Sherlock Holmes, X-Men, Pirates and Tree Of Life.  So pretty much any film that had more than a pinch of VFX. Source – Coming Soon

 

Friday, 9^th December

Top Gun 2 could still happen and not only that it seems Tom Cruise could be back in the aviators and ejector seat (too soon after Goose?).  Although Christopher McQuarrie was at one point rumoured to be writing the script Cruise told MTV that he thinks the writer come director will be too busy with his other project One Shot, which also stars Cruise as Jack Reacher.  However, Cruise, currently out promoting Mission Impossible Ghost Protocol has said that if he, Tony Scott and Jerry Bruckheimer can find the right story it could happen quicker than Ice Man’s trigger finger.  Source – MTV via Coming Soon

Guy Ritchie, very much in demand thanks to the success of Sherlock Holmes and the fast approaching sequel, is being lined up to replace the now departed Steven Soderbergh on The Man From UNCLE.  The film is based on the popular TV show and has a script by Contagion writer Scott Z Burns.  Other than that though the project has had issues having lost first lead man George Clooney, due to concerns about the stunts asked of him, and then Bradley Cooper with scheduling issues.  Channing Tatum was rumoured at one point but nothing has been heard since.  So will Ritchie be calling up his old partners in crime like Jason Statham? Robert Downey Jnr perhaps or maybe even Brad Pitt?  We’ll let you know when we do.  Source – Deadline

American Psycho, the film based on the book by Brett Eastern Ellis, could be getting another screen outing.  Although the last film, starring Christian Bale in a star making performance, was only made in 2000 it seems there is a hunger for another version which would look to move the story from it’s 80s setting to present day.  Well Patrick Bateman was a banker after all so given how popular those folks are it could work very well.  Noble Jones, who shot second unit on The Social Network and is something of a David Fincher protégé, has written the script and will look to direct.  Source – Variety

Harrison Ford is in high demand at the moment.  He’s in talks to star in Gavin Hood’s Ender’s Game, which has just added Ben Kingsley to its cast, and now he’s wanted for the role of Brooklyn Dodgers General Manager Branch Rickey in 42.  Rickey is the supporting role in the film about Jackie Robinson who was the first black Major League Baseball player.   Although the search to cast Rickey is still on going it looked at one point that director Brian Hegeland was after Robert Redford it now seems Ford is a possibility.  The title of the film comes from Rickey’s famous jersey number.  Source – Deadline Hollywood

Sasha Baron Cohen, to be seen in The Dictator next year, is rumoured to be in talks to join The King’s Speech director Tom Hooper’s Les Miserables.  It is said he has landed the role of innkeeper Monsieur Thenardier.  There are rumours that Geoffrey Rush, who of course starred in the King’s Speech, is also in line for the role so file this firmly under possible casting choices at this point.  Hugh Jackman, Russell Crowe, Anne Hathaway and Helena Bonham Carter are already locked into various other roles.  Source – The Sun via Empire    

Colin Firth a few weeks ago was rumoured to be lined up to play the villain in Spike Lee’s take on the OldBoy remake.  Unfortunately he has now passed on the film meaning that the role of the big bad, opposite Josh Brolin’s vengeance seeking protagonist, is still up for grabs.  Source – Twtich

 

Thursday, 8^th December

Star Trek 2 seems determined to monopolise the casting news as rumour has it JJ Abrams has found his man to replace the now departed Benicio Del Toro.  That man is Carlos and Domino star Edgar Ramirez who is said to be a like for like replacement as the Latino villain Del Toro would have played.  However, Ramirez is not the only option with Jordi Molla also in the running for the role.  They are both rumoured to be in the running for the role of Kahn who was written with Indian ancestry but played by Ricardo Montalban meaning that whoever plays him next will need to have that Spanish vibe going for them.  Source – Variety

Helen Mirren, the always-brilliant star of The Queen and more recently Arthur and The Debt, is in final stage talks to star in Alfred Hitchcock And The Making Of Pyscho.  She would play Hitchcock’s wife as he struggled to find someone willing to bank role his horror when studios were reluctant to fund such projects.  Anthony Hopkins is all set to play Hitch with Sasha Gervasi, who directed Anvil The Story Of Anvil, set to call action.  Source – Heat Vision

Armie Hammer, two-time Winklevoss twin and soon to be Lone Ranger, has signed onto to star opposite Eric Bana in By Virtual Fall.  The film has been written and directed by Up In The Air co-writer Sheldon Turner.  Hammer will play an ATF agent sent to prison.  Once there he sets out a plan to become one really hard mofo and take revenge on the man who put him there, his former partner Bana.  Source – Deadline Hollywood

Tom Wilkinson has rejoined the cast of the now resuscitated Lone Ranger.  He was originally cast as the villain before the studio pulled the plug due to spiralling budget costs.  He’s now back on bad-guy duties opposite Armie Hammer, yup him again, and Johnny Depp as Tonto.  Pirates Of The Caribbean director Gore Verbinski is calling the shots.  Source – Deadline Hollywood

Morten Tyldum, the Norwegian director behind the highly praised Headhunters, is set to make his English language debut with What Happened To Monday?  Set in a future over populated world where families are limited to one child the story will follow identical septuplets as they hide from authorities.  Source – Vendome Pictures via Coming Soon

 

Wednesday, 7^th December

Angelina Jolie, about to release her directorial debut In The Land Of Blood And Honey, is in serious talks to star in a dramatic thriller to be directed by Leon director Luc Besson.  Besson is no stranger to strong female leads with films like Leon, The Fifth Element and latest film The Lady all under his belt so it seems only right that he team up with one the strongest leading ladies to ever grace the screen.  The film is said to be based on true scientific elements but little else is being talked about.  If she signs it looks like Jolie would shoot the Besson picture before moving on to Ridley Scott’s historical epid about Gertrude Bell.  Source – Deadline Hollywood

Michael Bay, having recently announced he’s planning on making smaller budget movie Pain And Gain, is close to signing on the dotted line to direct the fourth Transformers movie.  This is all very much whispered and rumour at present but the word is that Bay will do Transformers if he’s allowed to do Pain And Gain first, otherwise no dice, apparently.  The script for the fourth, and potentially fifth, instalment in the robot hitting franchise is currently being written by Ehren Kruger with word being Jason Statham will take over the leading man duties.  Source – Vulture

Thor 2 looks to have lost its director Patty Jenkins.  Fear not she hasn’t been banished to Asgard but simply left the project due to those pesky creative differences.  The director of Monster Jenkins was another out of left field appointment by Marvel who will now scrabble to find a new director.  Thor 2 will see bother Chris Hemsworth and Natalie Portman return to hammer throwing duties.  Source – Deadline Hollywood

Grown Ups 2? Yes it could be that Hollywood has truly jumped the shark on this one.  The Adam Sandler film which was derided by all critics but still managed to some how make $270 Million world wide is apparently in the process of getting a sequel.  The first film saw Sandler, and most of his comedic pals, goofing around and making very few people laugh.  At this stage the project seems to be on paper only as Fred Wolf is penning the script.  Sandler is yet to comment, and has never actually made a sequel, but if the offer is right and he gets to hang out with his friends again this could well happen.  Source – Variety

The Host, the latest film adaptation of the book from Twilight scribe Stephanie Meyers, looks to have added the always-welcome gruff presence of William Hurt.  Hurt was recently seen in Ridley Scott’s Robin Hood and looks like he will play the role of Jeb in The Host.  The story sees earth, and humanity, invaded by an unseen enemy that makes humans their host.  One girl manages to fight her host and sets out to find other survivors of the invasion.  Source – Entertainment Weekly

Those Across The River, the novel written by Christopher Buehlman, is making its way to the big screen thanks to Paranormal Activity 2’s Tod ‘Kip’ Williams.  The story sees a man inherit his family’s run down plantation during the Great Depression.  Although no one visits the plantation he begins to realise the locals send to pigs across the river once a month as a form of sacrifice.  When they can no longer afford to send the pigs bad things start happening.  The book is yet to be published here in the UK so we’ll have to wait and see what was dealing with those poor pigs.  Source – Deadline Hollywood

 

Tuesday, 6^th December

Star Trek 2, now officially travelling at warp speed for it’s 2013 release, has added another cast member to its already impressive roster in the shape of Robocop himself Peter Weller.  There is no word on who Weller will play but the part is said to be a primary one with the likes of Chris Pine and Zachary Quinto returning for their second outing.  As always with JJ Abrams films the plot is being kept tightly under wraps with only those of Vulcan heritage allowed to view it.  One rumour is that Benicio Del Toro will be playing popular villain Kahn in the film however that rumour now appears to be completely unfounded as word is Del Toro has turned down the production and will not star at all.  Hollywood bods and insiders are still adamant that Kahn, one of Star Trek’s most memorable villains, will still play a part in the sequel.  Source – Deadline Hollywood

Jack Bauer, the surge of all LA based terrorists in 24, is about to hit the big screen after a prolonged hiatus.  Kiefer Sutherland will return to the role of Bauer with writer Mark Bomback set to turn in a final draft of the script by the end of the year.  Studio 20^th Century Fox have around five director’s lined up with rumoured Tony Scott not being one of them.  Brian Grazer will produce the film once he has finished producing duties on next year’s Oscar ceremony.  Source – Deadline Hollywood

Michael Bay, normally at home blowing things up with smashing giant robots, is set to be shifting into a lower gear with relatively small budget film Pain And Gain.  The film is said to be something of a passion project for Bay and sees a group of body-builders get caught up in a criminal enterprise in Florida.  Bay has likened it to Fargo and has managed to sell the idea to both Mark Wahlberg and Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson as both are in talks to star in the movie.  Source – Variety

1000 AE, thankfully not the sequel to 10,000 BC, is moving into a higher gear of pre-production.  The film, which is being directed by The Sixth Sense’s M. Night Shyamalan, stars Will Smith who crashes on a now deserted Earth and must look to his son, played by real life sprog Jayden Smith, to save the  day.  It now seems that Zoe Kravitz, last seen buzzing around X-Men: First Class, and Sophie Okonedo are in talks to join the cast, with Kravitz rumoured to be Smith’s other child (no room for Williow Smith then as she’s clearly too busy whipping her hair).  Sony are hoping to have the film in cinemas some time in 2013.  Source – Heat Vision

Chris Columbus, fresh off yesterday’s news he’ll produce How To Live Safely In A Science Fiction Universe, has now attached himself to another producing gig.  This time he’ll be dealing with none other than Jesus.  The film will be based on Anne Rice’s Christ The Lord: Out Of Egypt and sees a seven year old Jesus leave Egypt to return to Nazareth and discover who is father really is.  Of course such a revelation on a young boy makes him realise that his life will take a different tact to his young friends.  No word yet on who will direct the film but between this and Seth Grahame-Smith’s Unholy Night Jesus is proving to be quite the muse lately.  Source – Variety  

 

Monday, 5^th December

The BIFAs, The British Independent Film Awards, took place in London last night with Tyrannosaur picking up Best British Independent film and Best Actress for Olivia Coleman.  Meanwhile Lynne Ramsay won Best Director for We Need To Talk About Kevin and Michael Fassbender taking Best Actor for Shame. 

Starship Troopers, the sci-fi film based on the book by Robert Heinlein, looks to be the latest film that Hollywood is adamant to remake.  Producer Neal Moritz, who is currently re-making another Paul Verhoeven movie in the shape of Total Recall, is behind the new version but it remains to be seen if the new incarnation can capture the same over the top satirical delight of Verhoeven’s 1997 delight.  The film sees a group of grunt space marines sent to a far of galaxy to fight an evil race of bugs known as The Arachnids…come to think of it they may not be bugs but are simply referred to that in the film.  Source – Vulture

Naomi Watts, the Oscar Nominated star of 21 Grams and soon to be seen in J Edgar, has joined the cast of The Grandmothers.  The film, being directed by Coco Before Chanel’s Anne Fontaine, sees two best-friends, Watts and Robin Wirght, causing quite a stir when they fall for each other’s teenage sons.  Written by Christopher Hampton, who won an Oscar for Dangerous Liaisons, the film will see Anonymous’ Xavier Samuel and Animal Kingdom’s James Frecheville as the two lucky boys.  Source – The Hollywood Reporter

Christopher Columbus, the director behind the first Harry Potter films rather than the discoverer of the New World, is set to bring another book to life in the shape of How To Live Safely In A Science Fiction Universe.  The story, written by Charles Yu, sees a time-machine repair man called Charles Yu (stick with it) living in a world where time travel is common place.  With his mother stuck in a one hour loop and his father missing Charles sets out to find a single hour in time when the two of them can be together.  He is aided along the way by a computer known as TAMMY, a dog that doesn’t exist and a future version of himself who gives him the book of the title.  Columbus will producer the film with hot-shot young director Brendan Bellomo calling the shots.  Source – The Hollywood Reporter

 

Friday, 2^nd December

Tom Cruise, about to blow stuff up in Mission Impossible Ghost Protocol before taking on Jack Reacher in One Shot, is now looking to take the leas in All You Need Is Kill.  Based on the novel by Hiroshi Sakurazaka the film follows a solider forced into battle an alien invasion.  Each day he dies only to be reborn to fight again before realising that he is rapidly learning from his mistakes and that small changes in the time-frame might offer him a means to escape.  At one point Brad Pitt was linked to the role but it now seems Cruise is numero uno to play the part.  The Bourne Identity and Mr. & Mrs. Smith director Doug Liman is calling the shots when they can figure a way round Cruise’s busy schedule.  Source – Deadline Hollywood

Haille Steinfeld, the Oscar nominated young star of the Coen Brother’s True Grit, is in talks to join the cast of Ender’s Game.  After news came earlier in the week that the producers and director Gavin Hood were after Harrison Ford it seems they are not resting on their laurel to find fill out the cast.  Hugo’s Asa Butterfield will star as Andrew ‘Ender’ Wiggin a young boy being trained as a ruthless solider in order to fight off an invading alien race known as Buggers. Source – Variety

Twilight is coming to and end and Harry Potter as hopped on his broomstick so naturally studios are currently hunting around for the next big thing to adapt into a movie.  Take a bow Laini Taylor whose gothic romance come battle between good and evil The Daughter’s Of Smoke And Bone seems to be that said hot property.  Paramount have bought the rights to the novel which sees a young girl, Karou, raised by demons and sent out on quests to collect teeth for them.  On one said errand she encounters an angel known as Akiva but he us unable to kill her due to her reminding him of his lost love.  All this is of course a sub-plot for the impending war between good and evil which it seems is coming ever popular thanks to Alex Proyas adaptation of Paradise Lost.  No word on writers or directors yet but keep an eye out for this one being a big tent pole release in the future.  Source – Deadline Hollywood

Seth Grahame-Smith, the man behind Pride & Prejudice & Zombies and Abraham Lincoln Vampire Hunter, is turning his attention to another classic story, that of Jesus and the nativity.  Specifically the Three Kings who he is imagining as thieves who help Joseph and Mary escape Egypt.  The project, known as Holy Night, will see the Kings/Thieves meet the likes of John The Baptist and Pontius Pilot as well as Biblical creatures and monsters.  Sounds all very entertaining and Monty Python’s Holy Grail but some how we suspect that some more devout viewers might take issue with such a concept.  Recently Smith has written Tim Burton’s Dark Shadows as well as the script for Abraham Lincoln Vampire Hunter.  Source – Heat Vision

Nikki Reed, one of the many stars of Twilight and Thirteen, has joined the cast of Pawn.  The Shield stars Michael Chiklis and Forest Whitaker are starring in the film about a hostage situation that goes wrong because the law and the mobsters are using it to play a bigger game of chess.  Also on board is Avatar villain Stephen Lang.  The film is being directed by regular Saw cinematographer David A Armstrong. Source – The Hollywood Reporter

 

Thursday, 1^st December

Christian Bale, having just wrapped on The Dark Knight Rises, is looking to spread his wings beyond the Batman franchise with the latest offering confirmed as his last as the Caped Crusader.  To start with he’s lined up back-to-back projects with none other that Terrence Malick. The normally rare director, who has left decades between projects in the past, seems to have a new hunger as he’s cast Bale to star in both Lawless and Knights Of Cups.  This being Malick plot details are sketchy, and will probably remain that way even upon release, but he has managed to bag two of the finest actors working today in the shape of Bale and Ryan Gosling for Lawless.  One thing is apparent though Bale will not be appearing in Darren Aronofsky’s take on Noah.  Source – Deadline Hollywood

Michael Fassbender, fully deserving of all the accolades coming his way for the staggering performance in Shame, will however sit down and discuss the matter of Noah and his Ark for Black Swan director Darren Aronofksy.  Although Christian Bale was the first choice his commitment to Malick’s projects makes the scheduling an issue.  Aronofsky has been trying to get his Noah project off the ground for quite some time having made it something of a passion project.  He wants to give an insight into Noah’s faith and it seems Fassbender could be his man to bring said faith to life.   Source – Variety

Alive Eve, the British actress best known for her roles in She’s Out Of My League, will join the cast of JJ Abrams’ Star Trek sequel.  Her character is said to be one new to the Star Trek universe rather than a reinvention of an old one.  It also seems that as well as the returning cast of the first film, including Chris Pine, Zachary Quinto and Zoe Saldana that Abrams has his sights firmly set on Benicio Del Toro as his head villain. Source – Variety

Julia Roberts, recently seen opposite Tom Hanks in Larry Crowne, is toying with the idea of starring and producing the film Second Act.  If it goes ahead Roberts will play a woman who has never had to do a days work in her life suddenly facing the prospect of having to get a job.  So kind of the antithesis of her Oscar winning role of Erin Brockovich.  New Regency is interested in finding funding for the project if it all goes ahead once a writer and director have been selected.  Source – The Hollywood Reporter

Bridget Jones, everyone’s favourite answer to Sex And The City, looks like she is slowly crawling her way, like a hung-over walk of shame, back to the big screen.  At one point, earlier in the year, Bridesmaids director Paul Feig was attached to direct before he left for pastures new.  Now Working Title, who produce the Jones films, are in talks with Full Monty director Peter Cattaneo to take over.  Seems like a solid choice given he’s English and with Monty and TV show Rev under his belt certainly knows how to do quaint British charm. Source – Deadline Hollywood

 

Wednesday, 30^th November

Harrison Ford, the former Han Solo, Indiana Jones and more recently Cowboy in Cowboys & Aliens, is in talks to join the cast of Ender’s Game.  Last week it was rumoured that Hugo star Asa Butterfield was in talks to take the lead role of Andrew ‘Ender’ Wiggin which he has since confirmed via his Twitter feed.  However, the crucial role of Colonel Hyrum Graff, which producers were apparently interested in Viggo Mortensen for, is now in negotiations with Harrison Ford to star.  Graff is the man in charge of the military school where genius young children, like Wiggin, are trained in order to fight the attacking aliens known as Buggers.  Wolverine director Gavin Hood is directing the film based on Orson Scott Card’s novels.  Source – Variety

Steven Soderbergh, fresh from Contagion, Haywire and walking away from the increasingly difficult The Man From UNCLE film adaptation, is re-teaming with his Contagion writer, Scott Z Burns, to direct Bitter Pill.  Originally intended for Burns to direct himself and based on research the writer did for Peter Berg’s cancelled TV show Wonderland, Bitter Pill is about the Pharmaceutical Industry.  Not much plot has been revealed but it is rumoured to base around how society cannot tolerate sadness and by going out of our way to avoid it often welcome it into our lives.  Soderbergh is currently in post-production on his Channing Tatum starring stripper movie Magic Mike. Source – The Playlist

Daniel Radcliffe, having finished wizarding duties in Harry Potter and with The Woman In Black in the can, is in talks to star as Allen Ginsberg in Kill Your Darlings.  Ginsberg was recently played by James Franco in Howl but Darlings will potentially see Radcliffe as Ginsberg involved in his relationship with Jack Kerouac and William S Burroughs who were drawn together through Columbia student Lucien Carr the person implicated in the murder of David Kammerer.  The film is being directed by John Krokidas and at one point announced Jesse Eisenberg in the Ginsberg role with Chris Evans as Kerouac.  Nothing is official at this point but the project has been in development now since 2009.  Source – Twitch  

David Ayer, the man who wrote Training Day and Street Kings, is now in the process or writing the latest incarnation of Scarface.  It was reported earlier this year that studio Universal was planning to remake the classic gangster story and Ayer says it is a fantasy come true for him to be involved.  Before Al Pacino’s little friends get too upset it is worth noting that De Palma’s cult classic was in fact a remake of Howard Hawks classic of 1932.  Ayer says he’s been studying both to get ideas for where the latest version should go. Source – Deadline Hollywood

Mad Max Fury Road has long since been in development hell.  Director George Miller has had countless vehicles parked in Australia waiting till he had the funds and cast ready to start production.  It is now coming out that Fury Road could be the first in a trilogy with Miller anxious to do for Australia what Peter Jackson did for New Zealand in the Lord Of The Rings films.  At present it still seems that Tom Hardy is on board to play Max with the likes of Charlize Theron, Nicholas Hoult and Zoe Kravitz also slated to star.  Source – Australian Financial Review via Empire

 

Tuesday, 29^th November

Gary Oldman, having just been honoured at the Gotham Independent Film Awards for his role as George Smiley in Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, has dropped news that production company Working Title are working on John Le Carre’s follow up novel Smiley’s People which would see Oldman reprise his staggering role.  In the novel Smiley sets out to help a friend as The Circus seem more interested in political worries.  He soon discovers that a Russian killer is offing people to protect a deadly secret.  With Tinker Tailor being not only one of the films of this year but also a breath of fresh air in the thriller stakes a follow-up film would be very welcome.  Source – Coming Soon

Tom Hanks, last seen starring and directing in Larry Crowne, has bought the rights to Erik Larson’s nonfiction book In The Garden Of Beasts.  Hanks would play US Ambassador William Dodd who is sent to represent the US in Berlin in 1933.  As Hitler and the Nazis rose to power around him he became more and more aware of the imminent danger the posed to the world.  All the while Dodd was having to deal with his socialite daughter who was happy to have numerous affairs including one with a member of the Gestapo.  It’s the kind of story that Hanks certainly has the clout to pull off.  Source – The Hollywood Reporter

Tony Scott, the director behind Top Gun, Crimson Tide and more recently Unstoppable, has signed on to direct Narco Sub.  The script, written by David Guggenheim, is about the submersibles that South American drug cartels use to smuggle cocaine into the US.  Not much more is known about the plot but it is said to be similar to Scott’s Crimson Tide and Man On Fire.  Source – Deadline Hollywood

Jared Harris, soon to be seen as Professor Moriarty in Sherlock Holmes A Game Of Shadows, has joined the cast of Steven Spielberg’s Lincoln.  He’ll play Ulysses S. Grant who served under Lincoln in the Civil War and became President after Lincoln’s own Vice President Andrew Johnson.  Daniel Day Lewis is on board as Lincoln with Sally Field playing his wife Mary Todd.  The film is based on Doris Kearns Goodwin’s Team Of Rivals which tells the story of Lincoln’s rise to politics.  Source – Variety

Bad Monday, a script from Richard Taylor, is now gearing up to shoot.  The film follows normal guy O.T. McKee who is kicked out of his home by his wife and finds himself involved in a situation with stolen cars, bags of money and all manner of people after him.  Taylor has said he wrote the script as the first in a series of O.T. adventures.  Source – Mass Hysteria via Coming Soon.  

 

Monday, 28^th November

Ben Whishaw, the star of TV’s The Hour and Perfume, has joined the cast of James Bond Skyfall as none other than gizmo and gadget expert Q.  John Cleese was the last man to briefly fill the boots of the man who gives Bond all his weapons and clever tricks to take on is missions but will always be best remember as Desmond Llewelyn who starred in the role in no less than 17 films.  Whishaw is a younger incarnation of the role but seems to fit director Sam Mendes remit of casting solid actors in all roles.  Source – BBC

Rachel Weisz, currently wowing audiences with The Deep Blue Sea, has joined the cast of The Railway Man.  She will play Pattie Lomax the wife of Eric Lomax, to be played by Colin Firth.  The film is based on Lomax’s book, which tells the story of how he was captured during World War II by the Japanese and sent to work on the infamous Burma-Siam railway.  Brutally tortured Lomax later tracked down one of his tormentors not for revenge but reconciliation.  The film is being directed by Jonathan Teplitzky who has Burning Man waiting to be released.  Source – Variety

Twilight Breaking Dawn Part 1 continues to rule the US box-office over the long Thanksgiving weekend.  It managed to stave off competition from the likes of The Muppets, which too a healthy $29.5 million, by taking in another $42 million.  This is means that Breaking Dawn 1 has now taking a massive $221.3 million at the US Box-office alone.  Source – Box Office Mojo

 

Thursday, 24^th November

Star Trek the on again, off again sequel to 2009’s hit movie has finally been given a release date of May 17^th 2013.  Through its development it has encountered obstacles, mainly alien in the shape of writer/director JJ Abram’s Super 8 which he had to finish before he could start work on the next bold journey of Captain Kirk and Co.  All the main cast members, including Chris Pine, Zachary Quinto, Zoe Saldana and Karl Urban are returning for the film as are co-writers Damon Lindelof, Robert Orci and Alexander Kurtzman. One revelation, although fairly predictable in current trends, is that Abrams will shoot the film in 3D.  Set phasers to stun.  Source – Deadline Hollywood

Curtis Hanson, the man behind LA Confidential and Wonder Boys, has had to undergo heart surgery while shooting his latest film Of Men And Mavericks.  The surfing film tells the story of Jay Moriarty who became known for surfing treacherous waves known as Mavericks and stars Gerard Butler.  With Hanson’s health not great he’s turning to Gorillas In The Mist director Michael Apted to help him finish off the final 15 days of principle photography.  Here’s to a speedy recovery for Hanson so he can get back up on that board.  Source – Deadline Hollywood

John Lithgow, last seen in Rise Of The Planet Of The Apes, has joined the cast of comedy Dog Fight.  There is no word on who Lithgow will play but he will star alongside Zach Galifianakis and Will Ferrell who play two squabbling politicians vying for a congressional seat in North Carolina.  The film is being directed by Jay Roach and also features the likes of Brian Cox, Dylan McDermott and Katherine LaNasa.  Source – Variety

 

Wednesday, 23^rd November

Jeremy Renner, the break-out star of The Hurt Locker, has been breaking that age old spy tradition of spilling secrets by shedding some light on the next Bourne film in which he stars, essentially replacing Matt Damon.  Renner revealed that he will play Aaron Cross an agent involved with the same Treadstone operation as Jason Bourne.  He implied that although it is distinctly a Bourne film the scope is considerably bigger.  Studio Universal clearly have high hopes if only thanks to the hugely impressive cast they have assembled.  Joining Renner is Edward Norton, Rachel Weisz, Oscar Isaac, Albert Finney, Joan Allen and Scott Glenn.  Tony Gilroy, who penned all three Bourne movies to date has written and will also direct The Bourne Legacy.  Source – Empire

Akira, the live action adapation of the hugely popular Manga comic, seems to be throwing up yet more casting ideas and this time they seem to hint at a change in direction.  It was widely rumoured that Gary Oldman had been offered the part of the Colonel by studio Warner Brothers but with him yet to sign on for the role an offer has also gone out to Ken Watanabe for the role.  Of course it could be this rumour is simply to motivate Oldman or that both actors will sign on in different roles.  At present the only cast member who seems to have signed a deal is Tron Legacy’s Garret Hedlund although both Helena Bonham Carter and Kristen Stewart have also been offered roles.  Source – Twitch

Jean Pierre Jeunet, the visionary director behind Amelie and The City Of Lost Children, looks set to dip his toe into the 3D film-pool.  Furthermore he is also looking to make his first English language film since 1997’s Alien Resurrection.  The film in question is an adaptation of Reif Larsen’s The Selected Works Of T.S. Spivet.  The story sees 12 year-old genius cartographer T.S. being told he has one the prestigious Baird Award and setting out on a trip across America.  Along the way he learns a little family history, maps mythical wormholes in the Midwest and discovers the pleasures of McDonald’s.  This is the kind of fair kids adventure with visual and plot fantastical devices that Jeunet thrives with, just pray the 3D doesn’t ruin it.  Source - Allocine via Twitch

Xavier Gens, the horror director behind films such as Frontier(s) and the upcoming The Divide, has signed onto direct House Of Horror.  The film is being produced by Insidious director James Wan and sees a group of amateur ghost hunters brutally slaughtered in said house.  The film charts the investigation into how the horrors of the night came to unfold.  Gens certainly has a penchant for violent thrillers so this could thrive under his creative presence, although the less said about his Hitman adaptation the better.  Source – Shock Till You Drop

 

Tuesday, 22^nd November

Chris Evans, last seen throwing his star spangled shield around in Captain America, has replaced James Franco in The Iceman.  The film is being directed by Ariel Vromen and based on the book The Iceman: The True Story of A Cold-Blooded Killer by Anthony Bruno.  The story sees real life Mob assassin Richard Kuklinski, to be played by Take Shelter’s Michael Shannon, who hid his killing ways in order to support his loving family.  Evans will play Robert Pronge who acts as a mentor to Shannon’s character.  There is no word on why Franco left the project but considering the sheer volume of films he’s attached to scheduling conflicts are a safe guess.  Source – Deadline Hollywood.

Amber Heard, seen this month in The Rum Diary, will star opposite Dominic Cooper in the noir thriller Motor City.  The film, which is being directed by Albert Hughes, sees Cooper as a man recently released from prison who sets out on a revenge spree against the people who helped put him there.  The Matrix producer Joel Silver is over-seeing the project.  Source – Deadline Hollywood

Kenneth Branagh isn’t letting the grass grow under his feet after the success of this year’s Thor as he turns his attention to more dramatic projects.  Already in the pipeline are The Boys In The Boat and The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Society and now he is looking to adapt Henning Mankell’s novel The Italian Shoes.  The film is about a man who lives on a remote island alone.  So isolated from the world he drops himself into the icy water every morning to remind himself he is still alive.  However, when an unexpected visitor drops by his life begins to change.  Branagh is looking to recruit the cream of English acting talent in the form of Anthony Hopkins and Judi Dench to fill the key roles.   Source – Variety

Julie Delpy, the ethereal French actress come director of the Before Sunrise/Sunset films, is a surprise choice to direct The Right Profile, a film about Clash front man Joe Strummer.  There is little word on the plot but Delpy’s attachment would hint at a personal approach to the material as her previous films have certainly spoken from the heart.  She has been slowly building an impressive directors resume with films like The Countess and 2 Days In Paris which she is also working on the follow-up called 2 Days In New York.  And just to prove she can turn a hand to anything she is also helping Richard Linklater co-write the third instalment in the Sunrise/Sunset films that will co-star her and returning actor Ethan Hawke.  Everyone should have one talent Ms Delpy, not countless.  Source – Variety

 

Monday, 21^st November

Steven Soderbergh, with Contagion out now and Haywire round the corner, is a man who likes to test himself but it seems his latest project has pushed him too far and he is departing The Man From UNCLE.  The project has been through numerous leading men including George Clooney and Bradley Cooper and lost both of them.  It seems Mr. Soderbergh was concerned at a budget of $60 Million with multiple locations in a concept that the studio want to make into a trilogy.  The hunt is now on to find two leading actors, a new writer and director for the project.  Source – The Playlist

Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson, never failing to show how to ‘bring it’ through his twitter feed, has become attached to the live action adaption of comic book movie Monster Hunter’s Survival Guide.  The source material is a comprehensive guide in how to battle, defeat and survive encounters with all manner of undead, mythical and supernatural beasts.  The project is in very early development at present and is looking for a writer and a director but with Johnson’s name attached it shouldn’t be too hard Bringing the film to life.  Source – Deadline Hollywood

Asa Butterfield, the young star of The Boy In The Striped Pyjamas and soon to be seen in Martin Scorsese’s Hugo, looks to have nabbed the lead role in the adaptation of Orson Scott Card’s Ender’s Game.  Gavin Hood, who last gave us X-Men Origins: Wolverine, has written and will direct the film.  Written in 1985 Ender’s Game tells the story of how Earth is under attack from an insect race called the Formics.  The powers that be recruit young children to transform into warriors to battle the Formics and among them is one Andrew ‘Ender’ Wiggin who turns out to be a natural.  Card’s book is hard to adapt due to its unflinching approach to violence but Hood seems to have nailed it to satisfying results.  Source – Deadline Hollywood

Arthur & Lancelot, the latest big screen outing for the legendary King and his loyal Knight of the round table, looks to have found both its title characters.  Joel Kinnaman, from TVs The Killing, will play Arthur while Kit Harrington, best known as John Snow in TVs Game Of Thrones, will play Lancelot.  The film has been written and directed by David Dobkin who hopes to bring a more light-hearted approach in the vein of the latest Sherlock Holmes.  There is also rumours that Gary Oldman has been offered the part of Merlin in a move by studio Warner Brothers to show their loyalty to the actor after all his sterling work on the Harry Potter films.  Source – Heat Vision

Twilight, love or hate those shiny vampires there really is no escaping them, has smashed its way to a huge $283.5 global box-office take in its opening weekend.  The film opened both on Friday and has shown no signs of waning as Twihards flocked to see the film if only to see some vampire/human sexual shenanigans.  If it all sounds like too much teenage pouting there is still part two of Breaking Dawn to come so best stay away till that’s all brooded out.  Source – Deadline Hollywood

 

 

Friday, 18^th November

Angelina Jolie, already connected to one powerful woman in Cleopatra, is in talks to star as Gertrude Bell, a pioneering figure in 20^th Century Middle East.  The film is being produced by Ridley Scott who is also mulling over the idea of directing the film.  Bell, described by some as a female Lawrence Of Arabia, worked for the British Intelligence during World War I in helping dismantle the Ottoman Empire and founding Iraq.  Basically along with Cleopatra Jolie is one of the only actresses currently working with the clout to pull off such a part.  Source – The Hollywood Reporter

Tarsem Singh, the man behind Immortals and upcoming Mirror Mirror, is close to signing onto direct Killing On Carnival Row.  In a script that sounds tailor made for a Tim Burton or Guillermo del Toro Carnival Row is about a Victorian City inhabited by elves, faeries, vampires and humans while a detective hunts down a serial killing dwelling within.  Based on a spec script from Travis Beacham the project has been stuck in development limbo for some time but now looks like it’s getting off the ground.  Source –Deadline Hollywood

20,000 Leagues Under The Sea, Jules Verne’s classic story of Captain Nemo, has been floundering around for a while now.  Director David Fincher has been anxious to get the project off the ground, or should that be under the water, for a while and it now seems things are go, go ,go. Or dive, dive, dive, depending on your persuasion.  Fincher has turned to his old mucker and Se7en writer Andrew Kevin-Walker to write the screenplay.  It’s unlikely that the film will be as dark as their last collaboration but hopes are high when these two team again.  To quote Ari Gold “Anyone who puts Gwyneth’s head in a box is OK by me”.  Source – Deadline Hollywood

Stephen Frears, he of The Queen and Dangerous Liaisons, is set to adapt documentary The Bengali Detective into a narrative feature.  He’s working with his High Fidelity co-writer DV DeVincentis to bring the story of Private Detective Rajesh Ji exploring the underworld of Calcutta to life.  The original documentary was directed by Philip Cox and gave a fascinating insight into modern India.  Source – Vareity

Rampage, the classic arcade game of monsters devouring cities, has been around since the 1980s but now looks like it’s getting a film version.  The original game had a small plot involving three people who are mutated into a giant Lizard, Gorilla and Werewolf.  With monsters being hip right now with Guillermo del Toro making Pacific Rim it seemed only a matter of time before someone picked this one up. Studio New Line are now in the process of finding a writer and director to flesh out the story.  Source – Heat Vision

 

Thursday, 17^th November

Ricky Gervais, after much controversy at this year’s ceremony, has once again signed onto to host next year’s Golden Globe Awards.  So while the Oscars has gone the more safe and conventional route of Billy Crystal the Globes have decided to play an edgier hand after Gervais managed to offend nearly everyone early this year.  Count us in.  Source – Deadline Hollywood

The Hunger Games, determined to rule where Twilight irritated, is looking to hire none other than Oscar winning screenwriter Simon Beaufoy to scribe the sequel.  Beaufoy, who won his Oscar for Danny Boyle’s Slumdog Millionaire, is being courted to write Catching Fire the second of three instalments of the Hunger Games books.  The rumour is that Gary Ross, who directed the first Hunger Games film, is returning for the second film.  Source – Deadline Hollywood

Amy Adams, the three time Oscar nominated actress soon to be seen in The Muppets, has been offered the role of Clint Eastwood’s daughter in his return to front of the camera film Trouble With The Curve.  At one point Sandra Bullock seemed like the actress to fill the role of the daughter who goes on the road with her estranged father the baseball coach, to be played by Eastwood.  Bullock has since ruled herself out of the running putting Adams front and centre for the film.  Source – Variety

Sharon Stone, famed for her Basic Instincts exploits, is set to join the cast of Lovelace about the famous porn actress Linda Lovelace.  Stone is onboard to play Lovelace’s mother in the film that sees Amanda Seyfried in the title role.  Lovelace will focus on Linda’s relationship with her husband Chuck Traynor who guided her into the porn industry with Peter Sarsgaard in talks to play Chuck.  Source – Deadline Hollywood

Woody Woodpecker might not be as well known as a Bugs Bunny or a Mickey Mouse but is still enough of a draw for kids that Universal have snapped up the rights to the loony bird.  They’re in talks with Blades Of Glory writers John Altschuler and Dave Krinsky to come up with a feature length story.  Woody has been around since 1940 through various short films and cartoon series and the hope is that his wacky ways on film may well spawn a franchise.  Hell if it worked for Alvin and The Chipmunks then the skies the limit.  Source – Heat Vision

Bioshock, the hit video game that was destined to be a hit movie, has now been officially shelved for the foreseeable future in terms of any cinematic outing.  At one point Pirates of The Caribbean director Gore Verbinski was slated to direct but left the project when budgets problems, rumoured to be around $160 Million, spiralled out of control.  It now seems the project is on permanent hold because the game makers do not want to make a film that does not live up to the games success.  So it seems that quality control has finally entered the film industry, hear that Mr. Bay?  Source – Industry Gamers

 

Wednesday, 16^th November

Angelina Jolie, soon to not be seen behind the camera for her directorial debut In The Land Of Blood And Honey, is set to grace the silver screen again in one of the most iconic female roles, Cleopatra.  Based on the book Cleopatra: A Life by Stacy Schiff the film will tell the tale of the final of the Egyptian Pharaohs.  The film has just found itself a writer in the form of Eric Roth who wrote The Curious Cage Of Benjamin Button and more impressive it looks as though Button and Se7en director David Fincher is interested in helming the epic project.  Source – Deadline Hollywood

Kristen Stewart, about to send fans crazy with Twilight Breaking Dawn Part 1, is rumoured to have been offered the lead female role in the live action adaptation of Akira.  She joins a host of big names linked to the project which includes Tron Legacy’s Garrett Hedlund, Gary Oldman, Helena Bonham Carter and Keira Knightley.  Stewart is up for the role of Kei the romantic interest for the head of the heroic biker gang.  Harry Potter writer Steve Kloves is writing the script with Unknown director Jaume Collet-Serra calling the shots.  Source – Twitch

Tim Burton, ever the master of macabre fantasy realms, is looking to take the director’s chair for another of his typically quirky affairs in the shape of Miss Peregrine’s Home For Peculiar Children.  The book, written by Ransom Riggs, tells the story of Jacob a 16 boy whose grandfather told him stories of an orphanage filled with magical children who could do things like walk without ever touching the ground and hold fire.   When the old man dies he leaves a message for Jacob who travels to the orphanage and discovers more about the peculiar children.  All sounds very much up Burton’s dark street while he puts the finishing touches to Johnny Depp starrer Dark Shadows.  Source – Deadline Hollywood

Bill Nighy, always a glorious screen presence, is in talks to take the villain role in I, Frankenstein.  The film sees Frankenstein’s monster, here known as Adam and being played by Aaron Eckhart, trying to stop an evil demon army from using the power within him to reanimate an army of the undead.  If he signs on Nighy would play the demon prince.  Stuart Beattie, director of Tomorrow When The War Began, is calling the shots having also written the screenplay based on the graphic novel.  Source – Variety

 

Tuesday, 15^th November

Channing Tatum, the burning hunk of man love from The Eagle and soon to be seen in Haywire, is rumoured to be in Steven Soderbergh’s sights to play the lead in The Man From UNCLE.  The project, which is a big screen version of the classic TV show, has already had and lost both George Clooney and Bradley Cooper, as it’s leading men.  However, Soderbergh has just directed Tatum in both Magic Mike and the aforementioned Haywire so the odds look good on him being involved.  Source – Deadline Hollywood

Doctor Who, the long running and hugely popular TV show looks like it could be making another film outing.  David Yates, fresh from three back-to-back Harry Potter films, is looking to direct the project but is happy to wait a couple of years to make sure the script is right.  But, fans should be aware that Yates and Co are merely using the concept of The Doctor in so far as they will not be linking their story to the currently running show.  The result of that will likely mean no Matt Smith and his current doctor cohorts.  We’ll take cover now and let the fans’ back-lash commence.  Source – Variety

Felicity Jones, the ever-rising star of films like Chalet Girl and the upcoming Like Crazy, is apparently Warren Beatty’s first choice female lead for his upcoming Howard Hughes biopic.  Jones was on a long list of potential actresses but has caught Beatty’s eyes with him looking to cast her as a woman who is romantically involved with Hughes’s driver before falling for the reclusive industrialist.  Beatty will play Hughes with rumours circulating that Justin Timberlake could take the other lead role.  Source – Deadline Hollywood

David Gordon Green, the director behind Pineapple Express and Your Highness, is set to direct Q.  Based on the book, by Evan Mandery, Q sees man visited by his future self and warned from marrying the woman he is with.  Agreeing not to is a decision he regrets and spends the rest of his life trying to track her down.  Gordon Green has a number of potential projects on the go once he has finished putting the final touches to Jonah Hill starring The Sitter.  Source – Variety

 

Monday, 14^th November

Colin Firth, normally playing the put upon nice guy in films, is about to take a turn for the darker as he is in talks to play the villain in Spike Lee’s remake of Oldboy.  If he takes the part he will play the man who imprisons Josh Brolin which leads Brolin to exact some violent revenge on the well spoken Englishman.  At one point Rooney Mara was in talks to play the female lead who helps Brolin in his quest but it now appears she has passed on the role.  Suffice to say though that Lee is assembling an interesting cast for a film many feel does not need a remake.  Source – Twitch

LEGO, the timeless toy that still causes you to shake all presents in either fear or hope depending on your persuasion, is set to get a big screen outing.  Warner Brothers have teamed with animation company Animal Logic, who worked on Happy Feet and Legend of The Guardians to bring the film to life.  At the moment it seems the film will be live-action set in the world animated LEGO.  Casting begins in January with Cloudy With A Chance Of Meatballs directors Chris Miller and Phil Lord recently recruiting Robot Chicken’s Chris McKay to help them direct the film.  Source – Variety

Sacha Baron Cohen, best known as Ali G or Borat and soon to be seen in Martin Scorsese’s Hugo, will take a small, yet key role, in Quentin Tarantino’s western revenge thriller Django Unchained.  He’ll play a gambler who had previously owned Jamie Foxx’s wife Kerry Washington.  Although the role is a small one Tarantino apparently sought Cohen out for the role.  Well, it’s always nice to be wanted even if it is as a slave buying gambler.  The film already has an impressive cast with the likes of Jamie Foxx, Samuel L Jackson, Kurt Russell, Christoph Waltz, Joseph Gordon Levitt and Don Johnson all involved.  Source – Variety

Barry Pepper, last seen in the Coen Brother’s True Grit, has signed onto two new projects.  He’ll take roles in Broken City and Snitch.  In City he’ll play a mayoral candidate running against Russell Crowe’s mayor in the nourish thriller starring Mark Wahlberg.  Meanwhile in Snitch he’ll play a DEA agent that Dwayne Johnson must report to in his attempts to break the drug ring that could see his son imprisoned for ten years.  Both films are currently in production in New Orleans and Shreveport respectively which means they are close enough for Pepper to jump between the two.  He’ll next be seen in Terrence Malick’s romantic drama alongside Ben Affleck, Javier Bardem and Rachel McAdams.  Source – Variety

Russell Brand, hot of the heels of the disappointing Arthur remake, is set to star and produce the film The President Stole My Girlfriend.  Brand will play a hippies whose girl is stolen by the president.  Brand will next be seen in Rock Of Ages before moving on to Diablo Cody’s next film.  Source – The Hollywood Reporter

 

Friday, 11^th November

The Oscars have moved quickly to replace the now departed Eddie Murphy as next year’s host and despite a Twitter campaign for The Muppets it seems an old favourite has stepped up to the plate.  Ladies and gentlemen your host for the evening will be none other than Billy Crystal. Billy has already hosted the event Eight times so will be more than comfortable reading from the auto-cues and hoping Melissa Leo doesn’t drop the F-bomb.  Source – Deadline Hollywood

Kathryn Bigelow, still to follow-up her Oscar winning The Hurt Locker, has been adding cast and in talks with others for her next project about the Navy SEAL Team who killed Osama bin Laden.  Jason Clarke, who will be seen in The Wettest County In The World and The Great Gatsby, has joined the cast with the likes of Idris Elba, Guy Pearce, Rooney Mara and Tom Hardy all reportedly in talks.  Joel Edgerton is also rumoured to be cast but there is no official word on that yet.  Source – Deadline Hollywood

Steve Carell, currently being cast in just about every movie going right now, is looking to join another in the shape or Lunatic.  The film will see Carell as a pet store owner who referees kids soccer games at weekends.  When he gets into a dispute with one of the dads at a match their argument spirals out of control and has global consequences.  Carell will also produce the film with the search now out for a director.  Source – Deadline Hollywood

Max Irons, son of Jeremy and recently seen in Red Riding Hood, has now officially joined the cast of The Host.  The film is based on Twilight writer’s Stephanie Meyer’s best selling novel that sees a girl, to be played by Saoirse Ronan, that is able to fight the ‘Soul’, which has taken over the body.  While other humans succumb to their power she is able to lead a human resistance against the invading entities.  Irons will play Jarred Hower a man who lives in hiding and the man that both the girl and her soul are in love with.  Source – Entertainment Weekly

 

Thursday, 10^th November

Eddie Murphy, back on comedy form in Tower Heist, has followed his Heist director’s lead and walked away from hosting the Oscars next year.  The move comes after director Brett Ratner resigned from producing duties amid homophobic slurs he made while promoting his latest film.  Murphy clearly decided that since it was Ratner that hired him to host he should walk with him as well.  Source – The Hollywood Reporter

Brian Grazer, the mega-producer of films like Apollo 13, American Gangster and the upcoming J Edgar, is the man replacing Brett Ratner as the new producer of next year’s Academy Award ceremony.  His first job will be to find a new host, with a huge internet campaign demanding the Muppets do it.  Grazer could well find himself with a nomination on the night he is now in charge of for Cilnt Eastwood directed J Edgar.  Source – The Hollywood Reporter

Woody Harrelson, having recently wrapped on The Hunger Games, has joined the already impressive cast of Seven Psychopaths.  The film, from In Bruge writer director Martin McDonagh, sees Colin Farrell as a struggling screenwriter who becomes involved with the LA underworld when his friends Sam Rockwell and Christopher Walken steal a gangster’s, to be played by Harrelson, dog.  Former Bond girl Olga Kurylenko and Tom Waits have also joined the cast.  Source – Deadline Hollywood 

Bradley Cooper, on of Hollywood’s most in demand leading men right now, has dropped out of playing the lead in Steven Soderbergh’s adaptation of The Man From UNCLE.  It’s another blow for the film which has also seen George Clooney pass on the lead role.  Joel Edgerton is still being linked with the supporting role but there is no definitive word on that.  Source – The Wrap

David Schwimmer, forever known as Ross from Friends, is about to turn to the dark side by playing a hit-man in The Iceman.  The films sees Michael Shannon as a ruthless assassin for the mob but keeping it secret from his loving wife, to be played by Maggie Gyllenhaal, and family.  Ray Liotta will play the mob boss who hires Schwimmer’s character.  Ariel Vromen is set to direct.  Source – Variety 

 

Wednesday, 9^th November

Bret Ratner, currently promoting Tower Heist, has now stepped down as co-producer of next year’s 84^th Academy Awards ceremony.  His resignation comes in the wake of some homophobic slurs the director made while answering questions about his plans for the Oscars.  He also made the blunder of repeatedly talking about his sexual exploits.  Not really the behaviour of someone producing the wholesome awards.  Of course it was Ratner who hired Eddie Murphy to host the event but his Tower Heist star will have to do it without the Ratner.  Source – The Hollywood Reporter

The Host, the next book to be adapted for the big screen from Twilight author Stephanie Meyer’s, is gathering pace as it looks to fill out its cast.  Already on board is Hanna and Atonement star Saoirse Ronan as the lead character of Melanie Stryder.  Stryder is a girl who is taken over by one of the ‘souls’, which are slowly occupying humanity’s minds with the intention of ruling the planet.  However, Stryder’s memories and emotions mean the ‘soul’ merges with her rather than dominates and she joins the revolution with the humans.  In Time director Andrew Niccol is directing and has just cast Jake Abel and might also add the likes of Max Irons, Liam Hemsworth and Kit Harrington.  Source – Deadline Hollywood

Taken 2 is adding members to its already growing cast.  Today it announced that Scott Grimes, best know for All The Boys Love Mandy Lane and his small role in TV’s Brothers & Sisters, to the cast as Maggie Grace’s boyfriend.  This time out Liam Neeson and his ex-wife Famke Jansen are Taken and it’s up to Grace, the daughter, to save her parents.  Source – Variety

Unforgiven, the ITV1 drama rather than the Clint Eastwood Western, looks set to get a big-screen, American adaptation.  Scott Frank, who wrote Minority Report and Out Of Sight, will write and direct the feature.  Not long ago The Usual Suspects writer Christopher McQuarrie was set to write the project as a vehicle for Angelina Jolie before he went onto Tom Cruise film One Shot.  Unforgiven tells the story of a woman released from jail after 15 years having killed two police-officers while trying to protect her family from being evicted.  Wanting to integrate back into society she is targeted by the son’s of one of her victims.  Source – Deadline Hollywood

Jennifer Saunders is bringing Absolutely Fabulous to the big screen by writing a feature film of the hit BBC show.  There are currently three special shows in production but Saunders has now signed on to pen the feature film as well.  The film will see Edina and Pattsy waking up, hung-over, on an oligarch’s yacht.  Kind of like the Hangover with two of TV’s most loved characters then.  Source – Deadline Hollywood

Snow White & The Huntsmen revealed its first banner poster highlighting the moody, almost gothic, tone of the film which stars Twilight’s Kristen Stewart, Thor’s Chris Hemsworth and Oscar winner Charlize Theron as the wicked witch. You can see the poster below.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Tuesday, 8^th November

Keira Knightley, currently shooting Anna Karina with Joe Wright, is rumoured to be in talks to star as Euphemia ‘Effie’ Gray in the film Untouched.  The film will be directed by House Of Sand And Fog’s Andrucha Waddington and will chart the true story of Effie who married artist John Ruskin who became disgusted by her and never consummate the marriage.  Untouched is not the only film about Effie currently in the works as Emma Thompson is working on a rival project with Dakota Fanning in the lead role.  Source – Thompson on Hollywood

Clive Owen, last seen getting a can of whoop-ass from Jason Statham in Killer Elite, as signed onto to star in Recall.  Nothing to do with Colin Farrell starring Total Recall, this film was written by Taxi Driver’s Paul Schrader.  Owen will play an NSA agent who is trying to understand what happened in a failed attempt to rescue some hostages. The problem is he can’t trust anyone and his memory seems to be playing tricks on him so he can’t trust that either.  Harold Becker, who last gave us Mercury Rising (yes we know, pipe down it was a long time ago), will direct the film. Source – Variety

Stephen King still seems to be firmly flavour of the month in Hollywood.  His Dark Tower series is still being pimped around by Ron Howard while the adaptation of King’s The Stand is rumoured to have Ben Affleck attached.  Add to that an adaptation of his 2009 novel Under The Dome finding a writer to make it into a TV show.  Lost’s Brian K Vaughn will adapt the story of a town who turn on each other after a force-field appears around them, cutting them off from the rest of the world.  Source – Deadline Hollywood

Where’s Wally, or as he’s more commonly known in the States Waldo, is set for a big-screen outing with MGM buying the rights to the hugely popular character.  The film is being planned as a live action family film.  No word if audiences will simply spend the film’s running time looking for Wally in the film.  Source – MGM

Rufus Sewell, soon to be seen in Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter, has joined the cast of Alex Proyas’ Paradise Lost adaptation.  He’ll play Sammael.  The film tells the story, based on John Milton’s epic poem, of the war between Heaven and Hell.  Bradley Cooper is leading the film as fallen angel Lucifer.  Sewell has previously worked with Proyas on the brilliant Dark City.  Source – Coming Soon

Monday, 7^th November

Leonardo DiCaprio and Sean Penn, two of the finest actors working in Hollywood at the moment, are both rumoured to be in talks to star in The Revenant for Alejandro Gonzalez-Inarritu.  The film, based on the novel be Michael Punke, sees a man in 1820s hell-bent on revenge after he is mauled by a bear and then robbed by the two men left to care for him in the wilderness.  DiCaprio would take the lead with Penn as one of his assailants. With the potential talent involved it could prove to be one to look out for.  Source – Deadline Hollywood

Benicio Del Toro, strangely absent from screen since The Wolfman, if you ignore his uncredited and fleeting cameo in Somewhere, is in talks to play the villain in the next Star Trek film.  Eric Bana of course played Nero in the last film and now JJ Abrams has committed to directing the sequel the villain’s casting is paramount with the rest of the crew all returning for the much hyped follow up.  Nothing is known about the project at this point as Abrams has a habit of keeping everyone in the dark to build interest in the project.  Mission accomplished Mr. Abrams.  Source – Variety

Akira, one of the most seminal Manga’s of all time, having now been given the go-ahead for its live-action version is now in the process of throwing all manner of casting rumours around as to who will star.  Tron Legacy’s Garrett Hedlund is still hotly tipped to play the lead role of Kaneda.  Meanwhile We Need To Talk About Kevin’s Ezra Miller and Tetro’s Alden Eherenreich are being talked up for the part of Tetsuo who obtains telekinetic powers and runs amok in the city.  And just in case the Brits wanted a look in Gary Oldman is rumoured to be in talks to play the General while Helena Bonham-Carter and Keira Knightley are also being tipped for unspecific roles.  Source – Coming Soon

Ridley Scott, busy putting the finishing touches to his Alien prequel Prometheus, has also been talking about re-visiting another of his greatest films Blade Runner.  It was announced awhile ago that Scott would be bringing a new Blade Runner to the screen and he has now announced that it will be a sequel to the original.  Having said that, when asked about returning cast members he said that you won’t be seeing any of the old faces.  Source – The Wall Street Journal

Jessica Chastain, having a huge break-out year with films like The Tree Of Life, The Debt and The Help, is set to spark controversy with her casting of Princess Diana.  Many Brits will feel The Peoples Princess must be played by an English actress but director Oliver Hirschbiegel has decided on Chastain for the role.  The film, called Caught In Flight, will tell the story of Diana’s relationship with Hasnat Khan, which was only revealed in 2008.  It is being rumoured that the film won’t portray Diana in a particularly favourable light so don’t expect this to be the last controversy that the film creates.  Source – Thompson On Hollywood

 

Friday, 4^th November

Emma Stone, continuing her meteoric rise in this month’s The Help, is now in early talks to star in Will Ferrell produced comedy He’s F******g Perfect.  If she takes the role Stone will play a girl who uses Facebook to stalk her friends boyfriends to check whether or not they are weirdoes or psychos.  The problem arises when she realises one of them is perfect and decides to break him up from her friend to keep for herself.  It’s the kind of role that Stone is perfect for with roles in Easy A and Crazy Stupid Love proving she’s got more than her fair of comedy timing.  Source – Deadline Hollywood

Gary Oldman, currently doing his Commissioner Gordon thing in The Dark Knight Rises, is in talks to play Merlin in the movie Arthur and Lancelot.  The Change-Up’s David Dobkin has written and will direct the new take on the Arthurian Legend and says that he wants to make the characters more grounded.  Oldman has form in playing a wizard, in the Harry Potter films, so would certainly know how to wave Merlin’s wand.  Source – Deadline Hollywood

X-Men First Class, one of the most intentionally entertaining films of the year, looks to be getting a sequel.  Simon Kinberg, who was a producer on the film is writing a sequel with Matthew Vaughn expected to return as director.  There is no official word yet but it would seem that the original cast of McAvoy, Fassbender and Jennifer Lawrence would all return for the sequel.  Source – Coming Soon

Andy Serkis, currently wowing audiences with another stunning motion-capture performance as Captain Haddock in Tintin, has now officially signed on to reprise his role as Cesar in the sequel to Rise Of The Planet Of The Apes.  Having been so brilliant in the first film it was a surprise that, unike many of the human cast members, Serkis was not signed up to a sequel.  Thankfully his monkeying around has paid off meaning that he will no doubt have negotiated a bigger deal.  It also seems that Studio Fox are putting a lot of weight behind getting Serkis an Oscar nomination for his work as Cesar, although it remains to be seen if the Academy will bow to the pressures of mo-cap.  Source – Deadling Hollywood

Brian Cox, last seen in the aforementioned Rise Of The Planet Of The Apes, has signed onto to Dog Fight.  The comedy sees Will Ferrell and Zack Galifianakis fighting it out as two rival politicians in a sleepy suburb district.  Jay Roach will direct the film with Cox on board as Galifianakis’ father and a former Senator who hasn’t always thought highly of his son.  Source – Variety

Thursday, 3^rd November

James Bond, Mr. 007 himself, was part of an all important press conference today where the worst kept secret in MI6’s history was revealed that the new Bond film, i.e. Bond 23, will indeed be called Skyfall. At the press conference, director Sam Mendes, venturing into new territory with an action film, announced that the film will see Bond’s allegiance to M, to be played by the now customary Judi Dench, tested as her past comes back to haunt her.  With MI6 under attack Bond, again played by the returning Daniel Craig, must track down and destroy the threat no matter how personal the cost.  Mendes has recently said he would like to see Bond test the Oscar nominations and with a plot as personal and dark as this Skyfall it certainly feels on the right track.  Furthermore, the producers have lined up one of, if not the most, impressive Bond casts to date.  Joining Craig and Dench are Javier Bardem, as the lead villain, Ralph Fiennes, Albert Finney, Ben Whishaw, Naomie Harris as a field agent called Eve and French actress Berenice Marlohe as the latest Bond girl.  Now if we can just convince all involved to let Muse sing the title song we’ll be donning the tuxedo long before the release date hits on 26th October 2012.  Source – Eon Productions

Jason Statham, while potentially in talks to take over from Shia La Beouf in the Transformers franchise, has signed onto star in Hummingbird.  The film will see The Stath as a former Special Forces soldier plying his trade in the London criminal underworld.  However, when he changes his identity he becomes something of an avenging angel.  The film is being directed by Easter Promises writer Steven Knight.  Source – Deadline Hollywood

Steve Carell, now clear of his Office duties, seems adamant to fill up his time with countless projects.  This week has already seen him start shooting on Burt Wonderstone and sign onto action-comedy Conviction.  Now comes news he’ll star in The Dogs Of Babel about a linguistics professor who returns to find his wife dead with the family dog the only witness.  He then sets out to teach the dog who to tell him what happened to his wife.  The film is based on the book by Carolyn Parkhurst’s novel and will be directed by Once director John Carney.  Source – Deadline Hollywood

Clash Of The Titans 2, not released here till March next year, has obviously impressed studio heads in it’s early edit phase as they’ve gone and hired writers to write a third script in the Greek mythology series.  This means that Steve Knight, yup him again, will start writing alongside Dan Mazeau and David Leslie on the next script.  With Battle Los Angeles director Jonathan Liebesman currently in post-production on the second Titans it’s unclear who will direct the third at this point.  Source – Heat Vision

Joel Edgerton, soon to be seen in The Thing remake and then The Great Gatsby, is in talks to star in 300 spin-off The Battle Of Artemisia. The film, again based on a Frank Miller graphic novel, sees Themistocles lead his soldiers to victory over the Persian army in 480BC.  Smart people director Noam Murro is calling the shots on the film while 300 director Zack Synder, with co-writer Kurt Johnstad, has written the script.  Source – Vulture

Wednesday, 2^nd November

James Franco, last seen worrying about CG monkeys in Rise Of The Planet Of The Apes, has agreed to take a supporting role in indie movie Spring Breakers.  The film, written by Harmony Korine, sees a group of girls robbing a fast food restaurant to pay for their spring break trip.  However, when drug dealer called Alien, played by Franco, bails them out it turns out they’re in more trouble than they thought.  Emma Roberts is in talks to star as Candy, one of the leaders of the gang of girls.  Source – Variety

Colin Farrell, last seen as a brooding vampire in Fright Night 3D, will star opposite Swedish Girl With The Dragon Tattoo’s Noomi Rapace in Dead Man Down.  The film is being directed by Rapace’s Tattoo helmer Niels Arden Oplev which is a tense revenge thriller not dissimilar to Tattoo.  Farrell will play Victor, the right hand man to a New York crime boss.  However, when he falls for Beatrice (Rapace) he discovers she is the victim of one of his boss’s crimes and together the pair set-out on a spree of violent revenge.  Source – IM Global via Coming Soon

Taylor Lautner, about to pounce into action on Twilight; Breaking Dawn Part 1, has clearly decided that main-stream does not suit him, after the less than enthusiastic response to his last outing in Abduction, so is producing his next project and has snagged himself none other than Indy king Gus Van Sant to direct.  Plot details and titles are sketchy at this point other than it’s based on a New Yorker article that Lautner optioned.  Source – The Hollywood Reporter

Amanda Seyfried, seen this month in sci-fi thriller In Time, is in talks to play iconic former porn star turned feminist activist Linda Lovelace.  Based on Eric Danville’s book The Complete Linda Lovelace the film will be told through three interviews at key stages of her life.  Peter Sarsgaard is also in talks to play.  Of course this is not the only Lovelace project in the works with Malin Akerman playing the star in Inferno, a film that at one point had Lindsay Lohan and then Anna Farris attached.  Source – Variety

Terrence Malick, normally prone to prolonged periods of absence from directing, has announced not one but two new films to be shot next year.  The first, Lawless, will star none other than Mr. Existential himself Ryan Gosling, Christian Bale, Cate Blanchett and Rooney Mara.  He’ll then move onto King Of Cups which will also star Bale and Blanchett as well as Isabel Lucas.  Of course this being Mr. Malick there are no plot details but the films are not connected despite sharing certain cast members.  All of this is in addition to his romance film starring Ben Affleck, Rachel McAdams, Rachel Weisz and Javier Bardem.  What ever happened to the decades between films Mr. Malick?  Either way after another staggering film to his CV with this year’s The Tree Of Life we couldn’t be happier to see more Malick.  Source – The Hollywood Reporter

Steve Carell, about to start work on Burt Wonderstone, has lined up his next project called Conviction.  Not to be confused with the Hilary Swank/Sam Rockwell film, Conviction will see Carell as a bank robber released from prison after five years and forced by an FBI agent to stop his former protégé.  The film was originally written as a Heat style thriller but with Carell on board will undergo a action-comedy remix.  Source – Deadline Hollywood

Eddie Redmayne, soon to be seen in My Week With Marilyn, has signed onto the ever growing cast of The King’s Speech director Tom Hooper’s Les Miserables.  The film already boasts Russell Crowe, Hugh Jackman and Anne Hathaway.  Redmayne will play Marius in the film based on Victor Hugo’s novel.  Source - Deadline Hollywood

 

Tuesday, 1^st November

Olivia Wilde, last seen slinking around Cowboys and Aliens, has now signed onto star opposite Steve Carell in Burt Wonderstone.  The film sees Carell as a magician who finds all his assistants and friends going to work for his new rival to be played by Jim Carrey.  Steve Buscemi is also on board to play Carell’s former assistant with Don Scardino directing. Source – The Hollywood Reporter

Martin Campbell, who directed this summer’s The Green Lantern, is circling the prospect of directing a film adaptation of TV’s The Fall Guy.  The original show saw Lee Majors playing Colt Seavers, a Hollywood stuntman who moonlit as a bounty hunter.  So now we just need Ryan Gosling to play the part as he seems to have a habit of playing stuntmen who dabble in crime with Drive and upcoming The Place Beyond The Pines. Probably unlikely then.  The script for The Fall Guy is currently being put together by X-Men First Class writers Ashley Miller and Zack Stentz.  Source – Deadline Hollywood

Arnold Schwarzenegger, currently blazing the comeback trail with The Last Stand followed by The Expendables 2, has now signed onto star in Black Sands.  The Governator will play a loner who wages war on a weapons manufacturer and it’s private army in the Southwest.  Scott Waugh and Mike McCoy are in the director’s chairs with a script by The A-Team writer Skip Woods.  Source – Deadline Hollywood

Bill Paxton, who hasn’t directed a film since 2005’s The Greatest Game Ever Played, is currently circling the possibility of directing the film adaptation of Kung Fu.  The original TV show saw David Carradine as a Shaolin Monk travelling across America’s Old West in search of his half brother.  There is no word on casting which will probably follow suit once a director is confirmed.  Source – Deadline Hollywood

Joss Whedon, not content with directing superhero mash-up The Avengers and his quick-shoot of Much Ado About Nothing, is now gearing up to executive produce, after writing the script, for supernatural romance In Your Eyes.  Plot details are being kept under wraps but the film is said to be about two polar opposite people who are connected in strange ways.  Brin Hill will take the helm on the film.  Source – Deadline Hollywood

 

Monday, 31^st October

Robert De Niro, last week committing to The Comedian opposite Kristen Wiig, has now attached himself to The Killing Season.  The film, based on Evan Daughterty’s 2008 Black Listed script, will see De Niro as a retired military man living in the Appalachian Mountains.  When an unlikely European visitor, to be played by John Travolta, arrives on his doorsteps, the pair become friends.  However, Travolta is in fact a Serbian soldier looking for revenge.  The Killing Season was at one point to be directed by Die Hard’s John McTiernan but is now in Daredevil’s Mark Steven Johnson. Source – Deadline Hollywood

Justin Timberlake, seen this week in sci-fi film In Time, has been offered one of the lead roles in the Coen Brother’s next film Inside Llewyn Davis.  Based on the time Dave Van Ronk’s time in Greenwich Village in the 1960s Folk Music popularity the film already boasts Drive’s Carey Mulligan and Oscar Isaac.  Timberlake, if he accepts the role would play Mulligan’s husband and Isaac’s mentor figure.  With the given subject matter it is expected that Timberlake will use his natural singing skills to boost the role.  Source – Variety

Albert Finney, having taken something of a movie hiatus since 2007’s Before The Devil Knows You’re Dead, is set to make a welcome comeback by starring in Bond 23.  Sam Mendes has put together quite a cast for the lasted 007 film and has hinted that he would like to see the Bond franchise move into Oscar nominated territory.  Finney is set to play a Foreign Office man who no doubt has dealings with England’s super spy.  Daniel Craig is returning with the likes of Javier Bardem and Ralph Fiennes on board in potentially villainous roles. Source – The Daily Mail

Fraggle Rock, the hit puppet show from 1983, looks as though it might be getting a film reinvention/adaptation.  The original HBO show saw puppets from the underground world of Fraggle Rock interacting with people but the rumour is the update will see more CGI created critters in the vein of Alvin And The Chipmunks. Source – Deadline Hollywood

Bill Murray, still firmly on the fence in regards to Ghostbusters 3, has joined the cast of Roman Coppola’s Inside The Mind Of Charles Swan III.  Murray was convinced to join the already impressive cast by Roman’s sister Sofia, who directed Murray in Lost In Translation.  The film will see Charlie Sheen play Swan whose life is thrown into a life of doubt and fantasie when his girlfriend breaks up with him.  Also on board are Jason Schwartzman, Patricia Arquette and Mary Elizabeth Winstead.  Source – Variety

Kristen Dunst, recently given a new lease of life with Lars Von Trier’s Melancholia, has joined the cast of Cities.  The film, to be directed by Roger Donaldson, sees three intertwining stories about finance.  In New York Clive Owen leads a rich sex-fuelled life but always wants more.  In Mumbai Anil Kapoor is a cop battling crime and property fraud.  And finally in London where Dunst will play the wife of Orlando Bloom as the pair try to find enough cash to put a deposit down on their first house.  The pair have played a couple before in the more than forgettable Elizabethtown.  Source – Deadline Hollywood

Puss In Boots took top billing at the US box-office this week out purring the likes of Johnny Depp starring The Rum Diaries and Justin Timberlake’s In Time.  Paranormal Activity 3 took second spot but couldn’t get close to the impressive $34 Million opening of the cat in boots.  Source – Box Office

 

Friday, 28^th October

Gerard Butler, Sam Worthington and Matthew McConaughey, calm down ladies, will all star in new action film Thunder Run.  There is a down side to all those swooning over the abs on offer as this will be an all motion-capture, 3D and CGI film.  Using the same techniques on Avatar the film will be directed by Con Air’s Simon West and sees American armed forces capturing Baghdad in 2003. Source – Deadline Hollywood

Robert De Niro, soon to be seen as part of a ensemble cast in New Year’s Eve (less said about that the better), will star in a new film from Sean Penn.  De Niro will star as The Comedian, about a funny man trying to reclaim his former fame.  However, after he hits an audience member in a fit of rage he is sentenced to community service where he meets a woman who changes his life.  Said woman will be played by toast of the town funny lady Kristen Wiig.  The project has been in the pipeline for a while and has only come together with the inclusion of Penn as director. Source – The Hollywood Reporter

Reese Witherspoon and soon to be Muppet star Jason Segal are being courted for the lead roles in Sony’s project Sex Tape.  The script, which was written by Kate Angelo, was sold on spec for a seven figure sum sees a couple take a night off from the kids, get a little naughty, and make a sex tape.  Problem is by the following morning the tape is gone so they must go on a hunt to find said tape.  So kind of like a Hangover for married couples?  Forgetting Sarah Marshall director Nick Stoller is being lined up to direct the comedy. Source – The Hollywood Reporter

Nicole Kidman, soon to be seen alongside Nic Cage in Trespass, is looking to star and produce the film adaptation of The Family Fang.  She’s re-teaming with her Rabbit Hole producers to bring the book to life.  Based on the Kevin Wilson penned book it sees a married couple who are performance artists who often drag their kids into perform with them.  Years later the kids blame their parents for how their lives have not turned out how they would have wanted.  Source – Deadline Hollywood

Sylvester Stallone, currently working on muscle-men action sequel The Expendables 2, has already lined up his next project after that in the shape of The Tomb.  Sly will play a prison architect who finds himself trapped in one of this own structures and having to escape.  Ironically Sly’s Expendables 2 co-stars Bruce Willis and Arnold Schwarzenegger both circled the part at one point.  Antoine Fuqua as set to direct the film but has since departed to make Eminem boxing movie Southpaw so the film is looking for a leader. Source – Variety

 

Thursday, 27^th October

Tom Cruise is obviously a man the ladies want to work with.  He’s currently filming One Shot, in which he plays the popular character Jack Reacher, which at the time held a much talked about casting process for the lead female role.  Eventually Rosamund Pike won out the battle. Well it now seems that his next movie, sci-fi opus Oblivion, is causing just as much of a stir.  The film already boasts Jessica Chastain as Cruise’s character’s suspicious wife.  However, the likes of Hayley Atwell, Diane Kruger and Kate Beckinsale are all vying for the role of the mysterious girl that Cruise finds on the long abounded Earth.  Tron Legacy director Joseph Kosinski is calling the shots on the project.  Source – Deadline Hollywood

Martin Scorsese, currently putting the finishing touches to his fist family film Hugo, has his sights set on his next project The Snowman.  Fear not, there’ll be no walking in the air here as the film is based on Jo Nesbo’s gritty serial killer novel rather than the Christmas TV favourite.  The title to refers to the snowman that is found with a missing girl’s scarf wrapped around its neck sending detective Harry Hole on his investigation. Michael Carnahan is currently adapting the novel into script format. Source – Variety

Anne Hathaway, currently slinking around Gotham as Catwoman before singing her way through Les Miserables, is set to produce and star in Puzzler.  Not much is known about the project other than it’s in the vein of a paranoid thriller.  Karl Gajdusek, who recently wrote Cage/Kidman movie Trespass, is beavering away on the script. Source – The Hollywood Reporter

Kerry Washington has bagged the much converted role in Quentin Tarantino’s Django Unchained.  She’ll play Broomhilda, the long-suffering wife of slave Django, to be played by Jamie Foxx.  The film is Tarantino’s first venture into the Western genre and boasts Leonardo DiCaprio in the villain role.  Source – Deadline Hollywood

Brad Bird, currently taking some time off from animation to direct live-action in the shape of the latest Mission Impossible film, has said he would like to tackle the sequel to his popular Pixar film The Incredibles.  Bird has said that he has a number of good ideas but won’t commit to the film until he is absolutely happy with the script. Source – Movies.com

Eddie Murphy, about to be seen in Tower Heist and then onto Oscar hosting duties, has been trying to get another instalment of the Beverly Hills Cop franchise up and running but to no avail.  It now seems that project is dead in the water but Murphy is not giving up, instead turning his attention to a TV show based around his character Axel Foley’s son.  Murphy would appear as Foley, the new chief of police, in the pilot episode and have occasional guest spots on the show.  Source – Rolling Stone

Wednesday 26^th October

Brad Pitt, about to be seen in Moneyball and currently filming World War Z, is in talks to star in Twelve Years A Slave for director Steve McQueen.  Pitt was already involved as a producer but with the success of Shame, also starring Twelve Years Michael Fassbender, Pitt has now jumped onboard to star in the film about a free black man in 1850s New York, to be played by Chiwetel Ejiofor, who is tricked into slavery on the promise of a job offer.  Source – Screen Daily

Karl Urban, about to be slightly seen under the helmet of Judge Dredd, is set to star in Overdrive with Ben Barnes.  The film, being directed by Antonio Negret, sees two car steeling brothers who get into trouble in the South of France.  Cue fast cars round the streets of Monaco and slinky ladies strutting their stuff no doubt.  Speaking of slinky ladies Game Of Thrones Emilia Clarke is currently in talks to co-star. Source – Heat Vision

Tintin hits cinemas today and the unsurprising word is that if, as expected, it is a box-office hit then Peter Jackson, who produced the first film for Steven Spielberg, will direct the follow-up.  It was always rumoured to be the plan that the two bearded fellows would take turns directing the boy reporter but that now seems official.  The film will likely have the subtitle Prisoners Of The Sun and see Tintin and Captain Haddcock investigating an illness that effects explorers who disturb an ancient Incan tomb. Source - The Hollywood Reporter

The Dark Tower, Stephen King’s epic running series of books, looked doomed when Universal pulled the plug on Ron Howard and teams plans to make three movies and TV shows to bring the material to life.  Now it seems that the TV show is going ahead at HBO and that the budget for the film has been slashed buy $45 Millions, according to producer Brian Grazer.  All this means we should get to see The Gunslinger in some guise in the not to distant future. Source – MTV

David Slade, the man behind the brilliant Hard Candy and currently shooting the next Daredevil film, is planning another comic book adaptation based on the graphic novel Coward.  The story, being adapted by the graphic novelist himself Ed Brubaker, sees a guy named Leo planning heists in a nourish world. Source – Variety

 

Tuesday 25^th October

Ben Affleck And Matt Damon, the Oscar winning writers and stars of Good Will Hunting are looking to team up again after some time apart.  Damon has hinted that the pair are looking to work together on a project based on recently arrested Boston mob boss Whitey Bulger.  To help with the gangster talk and tone Damon and Affleck have recruited Sopranos and Broadwalk Empire producer Terence Winter.  There is also word that Damon and Affleck have another script as a possible option, seeing as theirs is not the only potential Bulgar project in the works, called The Trade about real-life baseball wife swapping. Either way it seems the dynamic duo are together again. Source – GQ via Empire

Joss Whedon, clearly not content with helming of 2012’s biggest film in the shape of The Avengers, has somehow snuck under the radar to direct a film based on Shakespeare’s Much Ado About Nothing.  Filming on the project is already complete and stars such Whedon alumnus as Amy Acker, Nathan Fillion and Alexis Denisof. Source – Bellwether Pictures

John Cusack, soon to be seen as Edgar Allan Poe in The Raven, has joined the cast of The Numbers Station opposite Malin Akerman. He’s replacing the departed Ethan Hawke as a Black Ops who, thanks for past mistakes, is now based in a CIA code station in the Nevada Desert.  Akerman will play a code breaker who is stationed there when the place comes under attack. Source – Variety

Eric Bana is set to play Elivis alongside Danny Huston as Richard Nixon in the film Elvis & Nixon.  The project is being directed by former actor Cary Elwes and is based on a conversation between The King and The President about Elvis wanting to be a Federal Agent at Large in the war on drugs. Source – Deadline Hollywood

Will Ferrell and Zack Galifianakis, two of Hollywood’s funniest men, are teaming up with just cast other funny man, and Horrible Bosses star, Jason Sudeikis for the comedy Dog Fight.  The film is about two rival politicians played by Ferrell and Galifianakis, in a small congressional district in South Carolina. Austin Powers director Jay Roach is calling the shots.  Source – Risky Business

Michelle Monaghan, last seen on the same train over and over again in Source Code, is now signed on to star in Fort Bliss. The film will see Monaghan as a solider on leave home from Afghanistan trying to reconnect with her five-year-old son who she barely knows.  Claudia Meyers is directing. Source – Variety

Monday 24^th October

Ben Affleck, currently editing his latest film Argo, is top of Warner Brother’s wish list to take the helm for the film adaptation of The Stand.  Based on Stephen King’s stunning novel, which has been previously made into a TV min-series, sees the last remnants of humanity, after a virus has wiped out most of us, in the ultimate battle between good and evil.  Affleck is not a guaranteed at this point but after The Town and Gone Baby Gone is fast becoming a hugely reliable director. Source – Deadline Hollywood

Joseph Gordon Levitt, not content with being cool in Inception and currently filming on The Dark Knight Rises, is now in talks to star in Quentin Tarantino’s Django Unchained.  Tarantino’s first foray into the Western genre already boasts the likes of Jamie Foxx, Leonardo DiCaprio, Samuel Jackson, Christoph Waltz and Kurt Russell. Source – Variety

The Fast & The Furious franchise, hot off the heels of the hit fifth instalment this year, is looking to shoot parts 6 and 7 back to back.  Justin Lin, who is currently in high demand thanks to his work in the latest Fast film, is already onboard to direct the sixth film but will now put some of his other plans on hold to make room for shooting two films at once.  Studio Universal are anxious to bring all the cast back for both films. Source – LA Times

Sherlock Holmes is about to hit screens again with the Game Of Shadows but it seems the powers that be are so happy with the Robert Downey Jnr/Guy Ritchie follow up that they are already planning a third film in the series. Drew Pearce, who is currently writing other Downey Jnr flick Iron Man 3, has been hired to pen the script for the next film. Source – Deadline Hollywood

Harry Potter alumni Gary Oldman and Helena Bohnam Carter are rumoured to be in talks for another big Warner Brothers movie this time in the shape of manga adaptation Akira.  The film has recently got the green-light with Unknown director Jame Collet-Serra calling the shots. Source – Twitch

Paranormal Activity 3 scared it’s way to the top of the US Box-Office over the weekend taking an impressive $54 Million dollars.  Considering the film only had an initial budget of $5 Million dollars the film is already well into profit which is a huge coup for the franchise.  Real Steel held onto second place while Footloose took third meaning The Three Musketeers could only place fourth with a low $8.8 Million opening weekend. Source – Box-Office Mojo

 

Friday 21^st October

Bradley Cooper, currently filming Paradise Lost, is first choice to play Napoleon Solo in Steven Soderbergh’s film adaptation of The Man From U.N.C.L.E. Robert Vaughn played the part in the original TV show about as an agent of United Network Command for Law Enforcement battling the forces of T.H.R.U.S.H (Technological Hierarchy for the Removal of Undesirables and the Subjugation of Humanity). It’s a big mouthful for writer Scott Z Burns who is busy putting the film together. Source – Variety  

Catherine Zeta-Jones has joined the cast of Albert Hughes thriller Broken City. The film sees Mark Wahlberg hired by the city’s mayor, being played by Russell Crowe, to find out how his wife, Zeta-Jones, is sleeping with. As the detective begins to unravel the affair he finds a much darker secret involving corruption in the mayor’s office. Zeta-Jones will soon be seen in Soccer Mums and musical Rock Of Ages. Source – Deadline Hollywood

Will Ferrell, currently in more serious mode in Everything Must Go, is looking to produce new spec comedy He’s F*****G Perfect. Lauren Kahn who has worked as Ferrell producer Adam McKay’s assistant for a number of years wrote the script that sees a girl using Facebook status updates to warn men off her friends they are dating writes the script. That is until she finds one that would be perfect for her and tries to break up the relationship for her own good. No director is yet attached to the project. Source – The Hollywood Reporter

Carey Mulligan, about to wow audiences with her turn in Shame, is in talks to star in the next Coen Brothers’ film Inside Llewyn Davis. The film is based on the life of Folk Singer Dave van Ronk and his rise to fame in Greenwich Village in the late 60s. Mulligan’s role is not specified other than being the female lead. She is also in talks to star in Spike Jonze’s next film that will reunite him with Charlie Kaufman. Source - Variety

Battlestar Galatica took a fracking huge leap to becoming a movie as Universal has now hired a writer to accompany director Bryan Singer on a voyage across the galaxy looking for the mythical Earth. John Orloff, who was a writer on Band of Brothers, will pen the screenplay based on the 1978 and 2004 TV shows. Source – Deadline Hollywood

Assassin’s Creed, the hugely successful franchise of video games, is being brought to the big screen thanks to Sony. Creators Ubisoft recently announced they would be starting a production company to bring some of their bigger titles to the screen including Creed, Splinter Cell and Ghost Recon. It now seems they’ve jumped into bed with Sony on the former of these potential projects. The games see a man kidnapped and attached to a device that allows him to re-live the life of his assassin ancestor to collect artefacts that can control mankind. As yet there is no word on writers of directors for the project. Source – Variety

The Wachowskis, now known as Andy and Lana, are planning on dipping their toes in the Sci-fi pool for the first time since The Matrix franchise finished. The film is being kept tightly under wraps other than the title which is Jupiter Ascending. The pair are currently shooting Cloud Atlas with director Tom Tykwer and have failed to get their other project Cobalt Neautral 9, about a US Solidier’s homosexual affar with an Iraqi, off the ground so it looks like Jupiter could be up next. Source – Deadline Hollywood

Thursday 20^th October

Akira, the hugely popular manga series that then became a hugely successful anime, looks to be finally dragging itself towards its live action feature. It’s been on again off again for many years but now Warner Brothers have attached Jaume Collet-Serra, who directed Unknown, to direct with potentially Tron Legacy Star Garrett Hedlund in the lead role. The film will be set in a dystopian future moving the action from New-Tokyo to New York. Source – Variety

The Lost Symbol, the third book in the franchise about Professor Robert Langdon by Dan Brown, looks to have found a new director. Having helmed the first two films Ron Howard is only on producing duty for this instalment and instead it looks like Mark Romanek is set to take the reigns. Source – Deadline Hollywood

Matt Damon, this week seen in Steven Soderbergh’s Contagion, is set to make his directorial debut.  Following in the footsteps of his old mucker Ben Affleck, Damon will co-write, star and direct in the yet untitled film.  He’s working closely with co-star and co-writer John Krasinski on the story of a salesman who finds a new lease of life in a small town. Damon would play the salesman with Warner Brothers stumping up the money for the film. Source – Variety

 

Wednesday 19^th October

Anne Hathaway, currently slinking her way round Gotham City as Catwoman in The Dark Knight Rises, has joined the cast of The King’s Speech director Tom Hooper’s adaptation of Les Miserables. She’ll play Fantine opposite Russell Crowe’s inspector Javert while Hugh Jackman will play the role of Jean Valjean. Source – Universal Pictures via Coming Soon

Mickey Rourke is having a good news/bad news day for his fans. The good news is he’s in talks to star in Seven Psychopaths alongside Sam Rockwell, Collin Farrell and Christopher Walken. The film is from In Bruges writer director Martin McDonagh and will see Farrell as a screenwriter in LA who finds inspiration from a dognapping involving his friends Rockwell and Walken from a gangster, to presumably be played by Rourke, although there is no word if he’ll get to you one of his beloved Chihuahuas. All this means the bad news is Rourke won’t be able to return to The Expendables 2. The rumour is he was never going to having failed to agree a fee for the action extravaganza. Source – Deadline Hollywood

Charlize Theron, is currently battling Xenomorphs in Ridley Scott’s Alien Prequel Prometheus but has now signed on to star in the English language remake of Zwart Water aka Two Eyes Starring. The film sees a young girl realise that her friend is in fact her mother’s dead twin very dangerous to boot. Theron will play the mother who happens to be a little on the nuts side herself. She’ll also produce the film with The Exorcism Of Emily Rose writer director Scott Derrickson calling the shots. Source – Heat Vision

Nicolas Cage, soon to be seen in Justice and Trespass, has joined the thriller Black Butterfly. Based on the French TV show of the same name Cage will play Paul, an author who befriends a drifter with deadly consequences. Brian Goodman will call the shots before Cage moves onto Frozen Ground with John Cusack and then, rumoured only, to be featuring in The Expendables 2. Source – The Hollywood Reporter

James Cameron is a busy man but he recently told Nightline about the sequel to the most financially successful movie of all time Avatar. It seems Cameron is writing parts 2 and 3 in the series of films and revealed that we will see other planets around Pandora as well as the oceans that make up most of the blue planet. He’s particularly excited to create the eco-system of the oceans stating that they will be “unsurvivable for a lot of species”. Paint us blue and excited for this one. Source – Nightline via Coming Soon

Channing Tatum, currently running, jumping and generally muscling his way around GI Joe 2, is in talks to star in Foxcatcher. The film is being directed by Moneyball’s Bennett Miller and tells the true story of John du Pont, to be played by Steve Carell. Du Pont was the heir to a chemical dynasty but suffered from paranoid schizophrenia and in one particular episode shot and killed Olympic wrestler Dave Schultz, the part Tatum will play if he signs. Source – The LA Times

Tuesday 18^th October

Attack The Block, one of the sleeper hits of the year, is currently wowing American audiences and, despite talk of an American remake, it is now being rumoured that it might get a sequel. Director Joe Cornish has been telling people that lead actor John Boyega has a number of great ideas for a larger London invasion. Source – IFC

Transformers apparently didn’t die a death at this summer’s box-office as creators Hasrbo are in talks with producer Steven Spieldberg and director Michael Bay about a fourth instalment in the franchise. There is no word on any plot but it seems that Shia LaBeouf is unlikely to return to the franchise. Instead the producers want Jason Statham to take over the reigns with Michael Bay keen to return the plan is to shoot films four and five back to back. Source – Deadline Hollywood

Shia LaBeouf meanwhile is in talks to star in a modern day fairy tale presently titled A Giant. The film will see LaBeouf play a twenty foot giant who falls in love with the rebellious girl next door. Gil Kenan wrote the script with the title regarded as a ‘working’ one rather than locked in. Source – Variety

Arnold Schwarzenegger has officially jumped back in the saddle of acting as his latest film The Last Stand started shooting yesterday. The film sees Schwarzenegger play a disgraced LAPD cop who is now a small town sheriff in Summerton. However, when a drug cartel leader plans to flee through the town to Mexico only the sheriff and his inexperienced team can stop him and the heavily armed gang helping him. Forest Whitaker, Johnny Knoxville, Luis Guzman, Harry Dean Stanton and Jamie Alexander are also starring with Kim Jee-Woon directing. Source – The Hollywood Reporter

James Mangold, the man behind Walk The Line and currently prepping The Wolverine, has attached himself to Icelandic thriller remake City State. The film examines various lives as they are effected by a crime syndicates drug dealings in Iceland. No other talent is attached but a writer will shortly start work on putting an American spin on the film. Source – Deadline Hollywood

Aaron Eckhart, recently attached to I, Frankenstein, is now taking up music to play The Beach Boys drummer Dennis Wilson in, drum role, The Drummer. Ironically Wilson was the only Beach Boy who actually surfed and drowned in 1983 shortly after finishing his solo album Pacific Blue Ocean. Eckhart is currently in training to learn the drums and piano as well as brushing up on his vocal talents for the film. Source – Deadline Hollywood

Melissa McCarthy, the break-out star of Bridesmaids, has just sold her script Tammy. Although it’s not clear if McCarthy will also star in the film it seems like something which she would be good for. The film sees Tammy lose her job and return to find her husband having an affair. To escape it all she goes on a road trip with her foul-mouthed grandmother. Before that can happen though McCarthy must finish working alongside Jason Bateman in The Identity Thief. Source – The Hollywood Reporter

 

Monday 17^th October

The Twilight Zone, the classic sci-fi tv show and later popular film, is getting another shot at the big screen thanks to Warner Brothers and director Matt Reeves. Warner’s have selected Reeves among a host of other big names to take the helm. The director certainly has form in the supernatural with Let Me In and Cloverfield already under his belt. He’s currently working on his Frankenstein story This Dark Endeavour before moving onto vampire book adaptation by Justin Cronin The Passage. Source- Warner Brothers  

Shawn Levy, currently pummelling the box-office into submission with Real Steel, is set to direct The Three Misfortunes Of Geppeto. The film will be a pseudo prequel to the classic fairy tale Pinnochio although Levy is playing coy on the project stating that he is attached to many projects he is not involved with. Source – Deadline Hollywood

The Crow seems to be struggling to take flight as yet another director jumps ship from the project. Juan Carlos Fresnadillo has now left the project, supposedly to focus on his remake of Highlander, which leaves The Crow in more turmoil. Various actors and director including Bradley Cooper and Steven Norrington not mention writers like Nick Cave have come and gone in the story of rock star Eric Draven’s reincarnation as an avenging angle. Source – Twitch

Top Gun remake continues to kick the tyres and light the fires as it heads towards its inevitable remake. X-Men First Class writers Ashley Miller and Zack Stentz are writing the script from a story by The Usual Suspect’s scribe Christopher McQuarrie. Tony Scott is also in place as a potential director having launched his feature career with the original. Source - Variety

Real Steel remained the reigning champion at the US Box Office over the weekend. The robot boxing movie beat out two remakes in the form of Footloose and The Thing taking an estimated $16m to take it to roughly $575 Million to date. Source – Deadline Hollywood 

 

Friday 14^th October

Robert Downey Jnr, never one to let the grass grow under his feet with The Avengers and Sherlock Holmes 2 in the pipeline, has now joined The Accidental Genius for Warner Brothers. The film will see Downey Jnr as a man who awakes from a coma only to see his intelligence increasingly exponentially before setting out with another man to solve a global mystery. In other news it is rumoured that Downey Jnr is also considering the role of Perry Mason in a new film adaptation. Source – Deadline Hollywood

Tupac Shakur, the legendary rap star, looks to be getting the biopic treatment with Boyz n The Hood director John Singleton looking to take the reigns. The project has moved fast since Antoine Fuqua vacated the directing chair apparently less than happy with the mooted casting of Anthony Mackie as Tupac. In many ways Singleton is a better fit having worked with Tupac, on film Poetic Justice, before the rappers shooting and death in 1996. The film will focus on Tupac’s time with Suge Knight’s Death Row Records. Source – Vulture.

Gerard Butler, soon to be seen in Machine Gun Preacher, has signed on to star in Antoine Fuqua’s Hunter Killer. The film sees a rogue Russian general who kidnaps his country’s President and looks to start World War III. The only thing standing in his way is a submarine captain and a Navy SEAL Unit. Butler will play the sub captain while Fuqua wants Sam Worthington to play the SEAL team leader. Source- Variety

Taken 2, the sequel to the much loved Liam Neeson actioner, is going ahead and can now boast a villain to add to it’s ranks of clichéd bad guy stereotypes. Rade Sherbedgia, last seen in X-Men First Class, will play the father of the first film’s villain looking to tae revenge on the pesky special forces father played by Neeson. This time it will be Neeson and ex-wife Famke Jansen who are taken leaving Maggie Grace’s daughter to find them. We’re hoping Neeson’s unique set of skills still play a key role. Source – Heat Vision

Oscar Isaac, recently seen in the stunning Drive, has been cast as the lead role in The Coen Brother’s next film Inside Llewyn Davis. The film is based on the life of musician David van Ronk and the folk music scene that hit Greenwich Village in the late 1960s. Source – Deadline Hollywood.

 

Thursday 13^th October

Die Hard fans rejoice as the next instalment in the franchise not only has a name but also a release date. A Good Day To Die Hard will be released February 14^th 2013 and will see John McClane teaming with his estranged son Jack and fighting a rogue Russian leader who has just escaped from prison. John Moore, who directed Max Payne, is calling the shots while currently only Bruce Willis is confirmed cast wise. Source – 20^th Century Fox

Ben Stiller, soon to be seen in Tower Heist and currently filming Neighbourhood Watch, is set to star and produce a film version of hit BBC kids show Rentaghost. The show saw an agency that provided ghosts for special hauntings. The film will se the company floundering and Stiller playing an American who comes in to help the business. Stiller is re-teaming with his Night At The Museum writers Tom Lennon and Robert Ben Garant for the project. Source – Deadline Hollywood  

The Beatles are no strangers to film in various forms and now look to be getting another outing. Michael Winterbottom is looking to direct the story of how John, Paul, George and Ringo set up their record label Apple Records and the eventual collapse of the band. With the help of usual producing partner, Andrew Eaton, and Oasis front man Liam Gallagher, Winterbottom is planning on adapting Richard DiLello’s book The Longest Cocktail Party. Getting rights to the band’s songs is another hurdle altogether. Source – The Playlist

The Lone Ranger looks like he is finally set to ride again. After much stop starting on the Gore Verbinski directed film, mainly due to budgetary concerns, the film has now had a re-write to make it more financially viable. Johnny Depp is still onboard as Tonto as is Armie Hammer as the Ranger himself. Source – Deadline Hollywood

 

Wednesday 12^th October

James Bond might be good at keeping secrets but it seems his producer friends aren’t as the long rumoured inclusion of Javier Bardem as the next Bond villain has now been confirmed. Bardem was rumoured to be on board as long as six months ago but finally the man himself confirmed that he is raring to go. Daniel Craig will return as 007 while Sam Mendes will call the shots. Source – Coming Soon

Michael Fassbender, soon to be seen having his way with Keira Knightley in A Dangerous Method, is never one to turn down a role and has now signed on to star alongside Chiwetel Ejiorfor in 12 Years A Slave. This project seems appropriate for Fassbender as it is being directed by his Hunger, and soon to be Shame, helmer Steve McQueen. Source – Coming Soon

Clint Eastwood, currently putting his remake of A Star Is Born due to Beyonce’s pregnancy, is looking to step in front of the camera for the first time in years in a film he won’t be directing. Instead he’ll star for regular producing partner Robert Lorenz in Curve. The film will see Clint play a near to retiring Baseball scout who discovers he is going blind. On one of his final scouting trips to Atlanta he decides to take his daughter along for the ride. Presently Lorenz and Eastwood are trying to snare Oscar winner Sandra Bullock for the role. Source – Twitch

Jim Carrey, aka old Rubber Face himself, is set to star in Wonderstone. The film will see Steve Carrel as the titular character who is a Vegas illusionist. However, he finds himself being upstaged by a street performer, to be played by Carrey, who is stealing crowds from him. Carrey and Carrel have gone up against each other before, albeit briefly, in Bruce Almighty. Source – Deadline Hollywood

Leonardo DiCaprio is in line to play famous mathematician Alan Turing. One of the men responsible for breaking the Enigma Code, Turing has been the subject of a script by first time screenwriter Graham Moore. The script is said to be so good it sparked a bidding war with the major studios with Warner Brothers winning out. No word yet on directors for the film but DiCaprio is apparently ear-marked to play the prominent English genius. Source – Deadling Hollywood

The Avengers, Marvel’s mammoth superhero movie, had its first trailer land yesterday to hugely positive internet response. The film, directed by Buffy’s Joss Whedon, will see the likes of Iron Man, Captain America, Thor and The Incredible Hulk face off against an planet threatening evil. You can see the trailer HERE.

Tuesday 11^th October

Robert Zemeckis continues his recent move away from motion-capture animation by attaching himself as a producer on Charles Fort. The film tells the story of real-life paranormal expert Fort who wrote the first books regarding teleportation, alien abduction and levitation. The hope is this will end up being something of a period Ghostbusters. Zemeckis also produced this month’s Real Steel and is about to direct Flight with Denzel Washington. Source – Heat Vision

Robert Redford is certainly pulling in some star quality for his next film The Company You Keep by hiring Brendan Gleeson, Terrence Howard and Anna Kendrick to join his already impressive cast. Redford will direct and take the lead about a former protestor/terrorist who is unearthed by journalist Shia LaBeouf and finds the FBI hot on his trail again.  With the film also boasting the likes of Susan Sarandon, Richard Jenkins, Stanly Tucci and Chris Cooper it is safe to say this is shaping up to be one of the most character driven films since Robert Altman passed away. Source – Variety

Mickey Rourke, about to be seen in Immortals, has signed onto to star in Java Heat. The film will see an American, played by Twilight’s Kellan Lutz, put aside he anti-Islamic beliefs to team up with a Muslim cop to bring down a team of jewel thieves in Southeast Asia. Rourke will play the man who thinks up the team’s heists. Connor Allyn will call the shots as director. Source – Variety

Summit Entertainment have bought the English language rights to Jo Nesbo’s Headunters. The book follows a high-flying cooperate headhunter who steals artwork from his clients to fund his extravagant life-style. However, when one of his heists goes wrong he realises he is embroiled in a murderous game. Nesbo has written eight books to date featuring detective Harry Hole so this could be the first in a franchise. Cue the scramble to cast a leading man to carry potential franchise. Source – Deadline Hollywood

Lost In Austen, the popular ITV series is about to get a movie make-over thanks to her behind Sleepless In Seattle Nora Ephron. The show saw a girl called Amanda Price, played by the always brilliant Jemima Rooper, trading place with Elizabeth Bennet, played by a young Gemma Arterton, in the world of Pride And Prejudice via a magic door in her flat. Ephron will transfer the story from London to New York with Sam Mendes producing. Source – Variety

Monday 10^th October

Johnny Depp, always one to play his literary idols with the likes of JM Barry and Hunter S Thompson, is set to play Dr. Seuss. Seuss, whose real name was Theodor Geisel, is no stranger to the film with his stories Cat In The Hat, Horton Hears A Who and How The Grinch Stole Christmas all having been made into successful movies. This film will follow Seuss as he gets his starts drawing comic strips and adverts before moving into political cartoons during World War II and finally starting out on his famous children’s books. Source – Risky Business

Tom Cruise, currently playing Jack Reacher in One Shot, is rumoured to be in talks to star in Doug Liman’s adaptation of Manga All You Need Is Kill. Brad Pitt had been touted to star in the film, which is now being called We Are Mortals, but it seems that Cruise may have jumped ahead of his Interview With The Vampire Co-star. Source – The Hollywood Reporter

Steve Jobs, the legendary technology pioneer who sadly passed away last week, is all set to get a movie of his life. The film was actually being looked at before his untimely death and will be adapted from the book Steve Jobs by Walter Isaacson. The book was written with the help of over 100 interviews with Jobs and 40 interviews with friends and family. Jobs had given his full cooperation to the book but had not read it as of August. But Jobs specifically chose Isaacson for the job who has also written about Henry Kissinger, Albert Einstein and Benjamin Franklin so Jobs is in good company. The film is being produced by Sony who have form in this area with The Social Network and recently Money Ball. Source – Deadline Hollywood

Dominic Purcell, still best known as the hulking brother from TV’s Prison Break, is set to join Alex Proyas adaptation of Paradise Lost. The film sees the epic war between heaven and hell with Bradley Cooper playing Lucifer. Purcelll will play Moloch who sides with Lucifer in the war. Source – The Hollywood Reporter

Aaron Eckhart clearly likes a bit of CGI monster trickery after his turn as Two Face in The Dark Knight as he is now set to join I, Frankenstein. The film sees Adam (Eckhart), Dr. Frankenstein’s monster, who escapes the angry mob of the story and survives to live in present day and become embroiled in a war between two immortal clans. The film is being written and directed by Stuart Beattie and is one of FIVE Frankenstein movies currently in development.

Tim Roth, normally seen in US hit TV show Lie To Me, has joined the cast of Broken. The film sees a young North London girl witness a violent attack and sends her life into a spiral. Based on the book by Daniel Clay the film is being adapted by Rufus Norris and already boasts the likes of Cillian Murphy, Robert Emms and Bill Milner in its cast as well as newcomer Eloise Laurence in the lead role. Source – The Hollywood Reporter

Blake Lively recently rumoured to be attached to Pride and Prejudice and Zombies has turned down the lead role in the film. Having lost the likes of Natalie Portman the film continues to look for its heroin. Source - Twitch

Friday 30^th September

Ronney Mara, last seen as the ex-girlfriend in The Social Network, is in line to star opposite Josh Brolin in Spike Lee’s re-make of Old Boy. Clearly Mara is a glutton for punishment as she is about to go stellar with her turn as The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo in David Fincher’s remake. In other words Mara is fast becoming the go to girl for American remakes of foreign films. Old Boy will see Brolin imprisoned, without reason, for two decades before being released and told he has four days to find out why he was held for so long. At this point only a rumour it is expected that Mara would play the young girl who finds herself helping Brolin and becomes more ingrained into the story than she would otherwise hope. Source- Twitch

Mortal Kombat, the 90s video game which still sells strong today, is getting punched back in for another film adaptation. The film is being written by Oren Uziel and directed by Kevin Tacharoen. Neither, based on the resume, seem like the ideal fit with films like Fame and Glee: The Documentary, but for anyone who has seen their eight minute short of Mortal Kombat: Rebirth online will know that they have the ability to breath new life into a franchise always erring on the side of camp. Indeed Rebirth implies an altogether more adult take on the genre. Source – Deadline Hollywood

 Red Station, the first book of a spy franchise by Adrian Magson, is being made into a film. The story sees MI5 agent Harry Tate take the fall for a drugs bust gone wrong and sent to the titular Red Station in Georgia, a place for washed up operatives. However, when two agents go missing Tate finds himself embroiled in a plot that sees a planned invasion of England by the Russians and conspiracy at the highest levels of government. No stars or director are yet attached but given the success of Tinker Tailor Solider Spy this could fit in nicely with the new wave of tension filled thrillers. Source – Heat Vision

Ellen Page, who was recently seen going all Hit Girl like in Super, is set to join the cast of The East. The film sees an agent, Another Earth’s Brit Marling, infiltrate the eco-terrorist group known as The East. Alexander Skarsgard leads the group and Page would play the part of his former girl-friend who is high up within the group. Since Juno Page has been more at home in comedies but her routes in Hard Candy prove that he is able to go very very dark when the part requires it. Source - Variety

Woody Harrelson is in talks to join the already impressive cast of Louis Leterrier’s Now You See Me. The films follows a group of magicians who rob banks using their skills and find Mark Ruffalo’s cop hot on their heels. Jesse Eisenberg leads the group with Melanie Laurent, Morgan Freeman and Isla Fisher also starring. Harrelson would play a mentalist who joins the team. Source – Variety

 

Thursday 29^th September

The Bible, something of a source of endless movie adaptations, is getting another outing this time in the form of Gods and Kings which will tell the story of Moses. The film is not a remake of Cecil B DeMille’s 1956 film but a new take on the Book Of Exodus and other Old Testament stories. Warner Brothers are currently trying to convince Steven Spielberg to take the reigns on this one having sent him the script by Michael Green and Stuart Hazeldine. The film will see Moses’ struggle with the Pharaoh of Egypt, the burning bush, the Ten Plagues and of course receiving the Ten Commandments. Epic doesn’t quite cover it. Source – Deadline Hollywood

Damon Lindelof, one of the creators of Lost and now screenwriter of Prometheus, has been dropping some hints as to what will see in the Alien prequel from Ridley Scott. He told MTV that Charlize Theron plays a cooperate entity but not in the way you would expect, he also confirmed that, as expected, Michael Fassbender will play a robot. The film is released in June 2012 which can’t come soon enough for us. Source – MTV

Dominic Cooper, recently seen in the dual role of The Devil’s Double, will next head to Motor City. The film is being directed by Albert Hughes, one half of The Hughes Brothers, and is a revenge thriller about a man tracking down the men that framed him and saw him in prison. Source – Variety

Antoine Fuqua, the man behind Training Day and King Arthur, is in talks to take over from Philip Noyce on the film Hunter Killer. The film is an adaptation of the yet to be published book Firing Point by Don Keith and George Wallace which sees a team of Navy Seals on a submarine heading to Russia to prevent an admiral starting war with America. All sounds very Hunt For Red October without the Scottish accent. Source – Variety

Phantom, while we’re talking about Russians and submarines, has just added David Duchovny to its cast list. The film sees Ed Harris as the captain of a Russian submarine trying to stave off a KGB unit and a supernatural force from taking over his boat. William Fichtner is also on board while Duchovny is replacing the previously cast Andy Garcia. Source - Variety

Stephen King has announced that his next book will be a follow-up to his seminal work The Shinning. Although this is not technically movie related Stanley Kubrick’s film of the original novel is so seeped in movie history that it is surely only a matter of time before someone buys up the rights to the follow up for a film adaptation. Source – Stephenking.com

Wednesday 28^th September

BFG fans rejoice as it seems a new version of Roald Dahl’s classic giant story is making its way to the big screen. There has been a much loved 1989 animated version of the tale about a giant who befriends a young girl but it seems that Dreamworks, the people behind the new film, are looking to make this version live-action. No word yet on a director but ET writer Melisa Matheson is on writing duties. Source – The Wrap

Wanted 2 the much-touted sequel to 2008’s action romp starring Angelina Jolie and James McAvoy looks to finally be in the pipe line. Original writers Michael Brandt and Derek Haas are both on board to pen the follow-up saying that the story will pick up after events of the last film and continue Wesley Gibson’s story. The implication being that McAvoy could return to play Wesley again, although there are no reports to confirm this. There were rumours at one point that Jolie’s character would also make a return although that is less likely given her character’s untimely demise in the first film. Indeed Jolie has distanced herself from a return saying that when a character dies they should stay dead. Source – The Wrap

Dead Island, the hit video-game of this year, is getting the movie treatment thanks to Lionsgate. The game became an overnight hit thanks to a clever trailer depicting a family fighting off zombies all in slow-motion and in reverse. Producer Sean Daniel, who was one of the producers on The Mummy, is behind the project. Source – Deadline Hollywood

Area 52, the comic book series, is getting the film treatment thanks to Transformers producer Lorenzo di Bonaventura. The story sees a military based in the middle of Antarctica that is used as a dumping ground for all manner of alien technology. Manned by a group of misfits who have essentially been exiled they must band together when a nasty alien hatches in the base. Source – Deadline Hollywood

Susan Sarandon, last seen playing Shia La Beouf’s mum in Wall Street 2, is set to take a role in Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson’s new film Snitch. The film sees a father devastated by his son’s 30-year sentence for drug smuggling. In an attempt to lower the sentence he goes undercover in the hope of serving up the head drug dealer. Sarandon will play an ambitious US Attorney who believes the bust could help her political career. Out Of Time director Carl Franklin will call the shots. Source – Heat Vision

 

Tuesday 27^th September

Justin Timberlake, fresh off the hit of Friends With Benefits and soon to be seen all sci-fi with In Time, is now looking to join Spinning Gold. The film tells the true life rise of Casablanca Records by co-founder Neil Bogart. A rags-to-riches story Bogart would discover the some of the sound which defined the 70s like Kiss and The Village People. Timberlake will look to play Bogart and is also producing the film. Source – Deadline Hollywood

Eric Bana, recently seen training young killers in Hanna, is set to star in Brilliant. The film sees a small time crook get mixed up in a heist with big time gangsters, putting him firmly out of his depth. There are rumours that Cameron Diaz will also look to join the cast although it is unclear what part either thesp will take. What is perhaps apparent is that in director Robert Luketic’s, the man behind Monster In Law and 21, hands there might be a slight hint of comedy on offer. Source - Variety

Jessica Chastain, currently riding a high with Tree Of Life, The Debt and The Help, has been cast as Tom Cruise’s wife in upcoming sci-fi extravaganza formally known as Oblivion and Horizons. The film, which now has no title, will be directed by Tron Legacy’s Joseph Kosinski and will see a world in which humans live above the clouds as Earth is no longer inhabitable. When Cruise’s earthbound repairman stumbles across a woman on Earth it begins to shake the status-quo. Chastain will play Cruise’s wife who is none to happy about him falling for another woman. Source – Heat Vision

Jeff Nichols, soon to see his hotly anticipated film Take Shelter released, has added more cast members to his next project Mud. Take Shelter star Michael Shannon as well as Sam Shepard and Sarah Paulson will join the cast that already boasts Matthew McConaughey, Reese Witherspoon and Tye Sheridan. The film is a coming of age drama that sees two boys discover a fugitive hiding on an island in the Mississippi. They decide to help him find the love of his life. Source – Coming Soon

 

Monday 26^th September

Blake Lively, normally seen gallivanting round New York in Gossip Girl, is rumoured to have been offered the part of Elizabeth Bennet in Pride & Prejudice & Zombies. At one point Natalie Portman was set to star with David O Russell at the helm but he departed the project and Portman turned her attention to child rearing, although is still producing. The film is based on Seth Grahame-Smith’s expansion of Jane Austen’s novel that sees a young girl trying to find love while a Zombie virus sweeps across the nation. Fright Night 3D director Craig Gillespie is now calling the shots. Source- Twitch

Michael Fassbender, recently seen in X-Men: First Class and Jane Eyre, is no slouch when it comes to taking parts. He is one of those never stops working kind of actors. Well it now seems that he is wanted for another role namely that of Robocop. Director Jose Padilha, who was talking over the weekend on Brazilian TV about his latest films Elite Squad 2, said that he would love to work with Fassbender in the lead role of his upcoming remake of Robocop. He is yet to actually talk to the Hunger star but with Fassbender’s never ending list of films to do it might be hard to squeeze this one in. Source – Bleeding Cool

Shawn Levy, about to hit cinemas in a big way with Reel Steel, talked of his upcoming projects at a recent press junket. It seems that shooting Max Landis’ script of Frankenstein is still very much at the front of the cue followed by his remake of Fantastic Voyage. He has been working on the later with James Cameron for seven months and is excited by the world they have created which will utilise the same 3D of Avatar. There were recent rumours that Levy would walk from the film if he could not get Will Smith to star but with the actor unlikely to do the film it seems Levy is still on board. Source – Coming Soon.

Brad Pitt, soon to be seen in baseball movie Moneyball, is being courted for the lead in Doug Liman’s next film All You Need Is Kill. The film is an adaptation of the Manga comic by Hiroshi Sakurazaka which sees a solider fighting alien invaders who is killed everyday, only to wake up alive the previous day and have to go through the ordeal again. That is until one day he sees something new and out of place in the form of female solider The Bitch Of War who could be is salvation. Pitt is not signed on yet and is mulling over this or potential David O Russell project The Mission that sees a US Navy Seal’s six-year effort to rescue US Hostages. Both films are at Warner Brothers so there is a chance Pitt could make both. Source – The Vulture

Karl Urban, soon to be partially seen beneath the helmet of Judge Dread, is returning to the Riddick films. Reprising his role of Vaako from The Chronicles of Riddick it is unclear just how big a role Urban will play but suffice to say he was something of a highlight in the previous film. Source- Bloody Disgusting

Christopher Columbus, whose last film Percy Jackson and The Lightening Thief is gearing up for a sequel but with Columbus as a producer only, is set to be in talks for The Secret Lives of Road Crews. The Sci-Fi action comedy sees a group of road workers battling an underground alien invasion. The film has been written Kevin Lund and TJ Scott and was at one point at DreamWorks but now finds its home with Paramount. Source – Deadline Hollywood

 

Friday 23^rd September

Casey Affleck, soon to be seen alongside Ben Stiller in Tower Heist, is in talks to star as the Angel Gabriel in Alex Proyas’ film version of Paradise Lost. The film sees Bradley Cooper as Lucifer who falls out of favour with God leading to an war between angels and demons. Furthermore Camilla Belle, of 10,000 BC fame, is in talks to star as Eve, the human in the Garden of Eden who sparks the disagreement between Lucifer and God. Proyas has form in dealing with avenging angles having directed the original The Crow movie. Source – Deadline Hollywood and Heat Vision

Thor, having done impressive business this summer and soon to be seen as part of The Avengers, looks to be moving ahead with a sequel. Although Kenneth Brannagh will not return to the directing chair but looks set to be replaced by Monster director Patty Jenkins. Furthermore recent plot revelations about the film suggest that Thor will travel to some of the other Nine Relms with Jane Foster, played by Natalie Portman, while dealing with the new relationship with his father Odin, played by Anthony Hopkins. This plot suggests that both Portman and Hopkins will return to the franchise although at present only Thor himself, Chris Hemsworth, is confirmed for the film. Source – EW via Coming Soon

Captain America, in other superhero/The Avengers news, looks set to take a bit of a breather after his appearance in The Avengers film. Chris Evans, Captain America in the flesh, is currently promoting What’s Your Number and spoke of how he suspects Old Cap will not be seen till 2014 due to the amount of films that Marvel is currently dealing with. He is contracted to appear as Captain America for six films so thinks that will be split between three Captain movies and three Avenger films meaning that unlike Robert Downey Jnr he is unlikely to have cameos in Thor 2 or other Marvel movies. Source – The Playlist

Richard Jenkins, something of a Filmjuice favourite, has joined the cast of Tom Cruise starring One Shot. The film, based on the Jack Reacher novel by Lee Childs, sees Cruise, as Reacher, travel to a town to solve a snipping of five people. Jenkins will play a District Attorney who is prosecuting the accused sniper. The Usual Suspects writer Christopher McQuarrie has written and will direct the film. Source – The Hollywood Reporter

The Caves Of Steel, the 1954 book by Isaac Asmiov, is set to be adapted for screen. The book sees a cop and a robot team up 3,000 years on the future to investigate the murder of a ‘Spacer’ someone who has chosen to live off world causing friction with Earth dwellers. The book was believed to have inspired I, Robot with its cop and robot investigation team. Henry Hobson will direct from a script by John Scott III. The writing directing duo are currently working on their first theatrical release Maggie, about a girl who gradually turns into a zombie. Source – Deadline Hollywood.

 

Thursday 22^nd September

Scarface looks to be set for the remake machine after Universal started looking for writers to make tell the story in a contemporary setting. Before people cry “But Al Pacino is Iconic” remember that so was Paul Muni before the concept was remade by Brian De Palma. The new film will not be a remake but a reimagining of the same idea of an immigrant coming to American and finding a warped ideal of the American Dream. Source – Deadline Hollywood

Charlize Theron, having just wrapped on Ridley Scott’s Alien prequel Prometheus, is looking to star and produce Cities Of Refuge. The film will see a female detective, potentially played by Theron, brought into a murder and kidnap investigation where things are not quite what they seem. Before that though she has to wrap on Snow White And The Huntsman, which sees her as the Evil Queen. Source – Deadline Hollywood.

Elton John, never one to shy from the limelight and having dabbled in movies before, is set to produce Rocketman a film about his career in music. He and producing partner David Furnish have recruited Billy Elliot scribe and playwright Lee Hall to pen the script which is being touted as a biography musical fantasy. Naturally Elton’s iconic songs will feature in music numbers but there is no word yet on who will play the man himself, although it is possible that there will be multiple Johns being played at different stages of his life. Source – Deadline Hollywood

Don Cheadle, the man that Steven Soderbergh says you should always cast in a film, is joining the cast of Robert Zemeckis’ Flight. The film sees Denzel Washington as a pilot who saves a plane from crashing and is hailed a hero. But when an investigation into the event takes place it seems he may have been under the influence of drugs. Kelly Reilly and Bruce Greenwood are also onboard. Source – Moviehole

Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg, the team and stars behind Superbad, are gearing up for their next project and bringing a rather tasty cast with them. The film, originally called Seth And Jay Vs The Apocalypse but now shortened to The Apocalypse, will see Seth Rogen and Jay Baruchel playing themselves as the end of the world occurs. Joining them are James Franco, Danny McBride and Craig Robinson who will also all play themselves. However, it looks likely that the once touted Daniel Radcliffe will not be involved. Source - MTV

Wednesday 21^st September

Jeremy Renner, currently swooping and shooting arrows as Hawkeye in The Avengers, will turn his attention to a more dapper character in King Of Heists. The film is about true-life bank robber George Leslie who in 1860s New York pulled of a robbery so well that he was never suspected until after his death. Renner will take the lead and produce with Call Of Duty scribe Will Staples penning the script. Source – Deadline Hollywood

Jason Bateman continues to be the busiest working man in comedy as he signs on to two new projects, both of the indie rather than studio variety. In The Longest Weekend Bateman will play a man who lives in his parents’ prestigious Manhattan Hotel only to be evicted and falling in love at the same time. The film will co-star his Change Up companion Olivia Wilde and be directed by Peter Glanz. Meanwhile, Disconnect will see him is an ensemble film which already stars Alexander Skarsgard, Frank Grillo, Michael Nyqvist and Colin Ford about a group of people whose lives are all effected by the internet. He’ll shoot both of these before moving onto other projects such as The ID Thief and The Insane Laws, not to mention the potential Arrested Development film. Busy Bateman. Source – Variety

Gerard Butler, normally at home with his shirt off after 300, is set to star in Curtis ‘LA Confidential’ Hanson’s surfing movie Mavericks. Butler will play true-life surfer instructor Rick ‘Frosty’ Hesson who tutored Jay Moriarty, to be played by Johnny Weston, as he rose to the top of the big wave surfing ranks. The Hunger Games Leven Rambin is also on board to play Moriarty’s love interest. Source - Variety

Robert Knepper, best known for his role as T-Bag in TV’s Prison Break, has joined the cast of Ryan Reynold’s movie RIPD. He’ll play a spirit, known as a ‘Deado’ who is part of the world that killed cop Reynolds must police with the help of veteran Jeff Bridges. Robert Schwentke is directing. Source – Heat Vision

John Turteltaub, the man behind the Nation Treasure films, is direct Last Vegas. The film will follow a group of estranged friends travelling to Vegas to marry off the last remaining bachelor of the group. However, once there he and the widower begin to vie for the attentions of the same lounge singer. At present there is no word on casting. Source – Coming Soon

The UK Centre For Tobacco Control is weighing in on the whole film certificates march by claiming that all films featuring a smoking character should be rated 18 certificate. The theory is that if youths see characters smoke on screen it inevitably leads them to want to smoke as well. Unsurprisingly UK Film Censor David Cooke has pointed out there is no public support for such a move. For example Avatar would have been given the 18 certificate thanks to Signourney Weaver’s character smoking, something that could have severely dented the film’s UK box-office takings. Source – Deadline Hollywood

 

Tuesday 20^th September

The Expendables 2, already boasting some of the greatest action names in the business including Sly Stallone, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Bruce Willis, Jean-Claude Van Damme, Chuck Norris and Jason Statham, is now adding some youth to its ranks. The latest addition is none other than Thor’s real life brother Liam Hemsworth who is a star in the making himself having just wrapped on The Hunger Games. Simon ‘Con Air’ West is directing the opus. Source – Deadline Hollywood

Bonnie & Clyde are always running into trouble but it seems the latest film adaptation of the story is finding obstacles of its own. It now seems that the biggest name in the cast, Hilary Duff, has left the film due to being, well, up the duff. It’s not all doom and gloom though as other cast member Lindsay Pulsipher has now been cast as Bonnie Parker replacing the departed Duff. Pulsipher was already set to play cousin Mary in the film seems a good fit for the role but the question is can they now find someone to fill Mary’s boots? Source – The Hollywood Reporter

Navy SEAL Team 6 might have scuppered other attempts to have their name in a movie but it now seems that one way or another it’s going to happen. Ryan Craig is currently adapting Brad Thor’s novel Takedown for the screen which sees a former member of said team becoming a counterterrorist agent. This story will see the hero, Scot Harvath having to track down a terrorist who has unleashed chaos in New York over the Fourth Of July weekend. The producers are hoping that this could spark another Jason Bourne like franchise. Source – Heat Vision

Monday 19^th September 

Signourney Weaver, soon to be seen opposite Taylor Lautner in Abduction, has been speaking about Avatar 2 & 3 as well as Ghostbusters 3. The actresses says that she will return to James Cameron’s sci-fi opus, despite her death in the first film, as ‘no-one ever dies in sci-fi’ apparently. The Avatar sequels will shoot back to back and Weaver insists the stories are amazing. Meanwhile despite Dan Aykroyd’s talk recently Weaver says it has been a long time since she heard any news or read a recent draft of the third film in the Ghostbusters franchise. Of course it could be that her character simply does not feature in the new incarnation of the film. Source – Coming Soon 

Postman Pat, black and white cat and all, is set to be made into a film. The film will be a 3D adventure, which will see Pat enter a national talent competition similar to The X Factor. The question is will Pat turn his back on his reliable postman job and all that need and love him for fame and money? If this was the real world then yes, but it’s for kids so probably not. The project has already attracted the likes of Rupert Grint, Jim Broadbent and David Tennant to lend their vocal talents. Source – The Hollywood Reporter

James Franco, still hot to trot after this summer’s Rise Of The Planet Of The Apes, is looking to another project to direct after his adaptation of Cormac McCarthy’s Blood Meridian unravelled. Never one to be deterred, unless its by the Oscar script-writers, Franco has turned his attention to Child Of God which was also written by McCarthy. If Blood Meridian was a hard sale, with its gruesome portrail of the Wild West, then Child Of God is near impossible. The book sees a man choosing to live outside of society in a cave in the Tennessee Hills. While there is partakes in a bit of necrophilia as well as other worrying activities. Source – We Got This Covered via Empire

Silk, the Taiwanese supernatural thriller, is getting an American Remake. Gold Circle Films have hired writers Marko King, Mary King and Jonathan Watters, who previously wrote Frankie & Alice, to pen the new incarnation. The original film saw a scientist create a machine that allowed him to capture the essence of a vengeful child spirit. Through communicating with the spirit he begins to learn what happened to him in life. Source – Heat Vision 

It’s 1994 Again, as it’s the only thing to explain why The Lion King is riding high atop the US Box Office. Alas our time machine still doesn’t work but the 3D release of The Lion King clearly has as it’s beaten out the likes of Drive and Contagion to take a healthy $29.3 Million. Expect Aladdin and The Little Mermaid to almost certainly follow suit if these kind of figures become a trend in re-issuing Disney classics. Source – Box Office Mojo

Friday 16^th September

The Secrets In Their Eyes, the Oscar-winning Argentine thriller, is set for an American remake and is currently courting none-other than Oscar-winning actor Denzel Washington to play the lead. Washington would play the part of a former lawyer, no retired, who is writing a novel on a murder case that was never solved. In the process he must talk to old witnesses as well as re-connecting with his former female boss who he has never fallen out of love with. Breach writer Billy Ray is drafting the script while no director is attached as yet. Source- Twitch

Stephen Moyer, usually found sucking necks in True Blood, is set to star in creature feature The Barrens. The film will see a man take his family on a camping trip to a New Jersey forest called Pine Barrens. However, once there they will encounter the legendary Jersey Devil, a creature not dissimilar to Bigfoot. The film is being written and directed by Mother’s Day director Lynn Bousman. Source – Variety

Kevin Costner, soon to be seen as Superman’s Earthly father Jonathan Kent in The Man Of Steel, has had to drop out of Quentin Tarantino’s western thriller Django Unchained due to scheduling conflicts. It’s a sad departure as the part Costner would have played, Ace Woody, would have seen him return to a genre that has served him well but also allow us to see him as an out an out villain as Leonardo DiCaprio’s right hand man. As yet there is no word on who will fill his stirrups but Christopher Waltz, Samuel L Jackson, Jamie Foxx and DiCaprio are still on board. Source – Coming Soon  

In Time, the Justin Timberlake starring sci-fi thriller, may have to delay its release date due to a potential copyright infringement. Famed author Harlan Ellison claims the story of the film is remarkably close to his 1965 short story ‘Repent, Harlequin! Said The Ticktockman’. The book, and the film, see a society where time, on a person’s life line, is traded as currency. The producers of the film will not have been aided by some critics making the comparison and even sighting the film as an adaptation of Ellison’s story. The plot thickens further when it is known that Ellison had recently tried to have the story optioned for a film adaptation. It’s not the first time Ellison has had such a cause for concern as he gained an acknowledgment credit on James Cameron’s The Terminator due to its similarity to a Outer Limits episode he had written. Source – Deadline Hollywood

Now You See Me, the magician heist thriller from director Louis Leterrier, has lost one leading lady, in the form of Amanda Seyfried, but gained another in the shape of Isla Fisher. The film will see Mark Ruffalo as an FBI agent tracking down a gang known as The Four Horsemen who happen to be some of the world’s best magicians. The gang is lead by Jesse Eisenberg and Fisher will now come one board as an illusionist who helps the gang. Source – Variety

Thursday 15^th September

JJ Abrams, hot of the heels of summer sleeper hit Super 8, has finally confirmed he will direct Star Trek 2. Having re-launched the franchise to such high accolades Abrams had been coy about revealing his position on the next film. Many assumed that, like with the Mission Impossible films, he would revert to a producer only role. He has now assured people he is directing due to the quality of the script being written by Alex Kurtzman and Roberto Orci. All the original cast are expected to return and shooting could also start this year. Source – Vulture

David Oyelowo, having played a crucial role in this summer’s Rise Of The Planet Of The Apes, is in talks to star alongside Tom Cruise in One Shot. The film, based on Lee Child’s Jack Reacher novels, is being written and directed by Way Of The Gun’s Christopher McQuarrie. The film will see Reacher hired to investigate a shooting in a small Indiana town. Rosumund Pike will play a defence lawyer while Oyelowo will play a homicide cop also investigating the shooting. Fans of the books are still up in arms about the casting of Cruise as Reacher, who is described as something of a giant man. Source – The Hollywood Reporter

The Inbetweeners creators Iain Morris and Damon Beesley, with the huge success of the film at the UK box-office, are gearing up for their next project. They are working on a script about two brothers and their friends who travel to Scotland to scatter their father’s ashes. It sounds like a departure from the foul-mouthed shenanigans of the Inbetweeners but the group of lads here will surely get up to some misbehaviour. Their Inbetweeners producer Christopher Young is also on board. Source - Variety

Nathan Lane, the perennial funny man of films like The Birdcage and The Producers remake, has joined the impressive cast of indie comedy The English Teacher. The film will see Julian Moore as the titular teacher whose ex-star pupil returns to the town having failed to make it as a playwright in New York. Determined to help him succeed Moore helps him with the writing and enlists the school drama teacher to add the, well, drama. Lane will play the thespian while Gregg Kinnear is also on board. Source – Variety

Marisa Tomei, star of The Wrestler and Cyrus, has joined the cast of Billy Crystal family comedy Us And Them. She’ll play Crystal’s estranged daughter in the film as Crystal and separated wife Better Milder come to stay and help look after their grandchildren. Obvious hi-jinx will ensue while trying to bond the fractured relationships. Source – Variety

Arrested Development, one of the greatest TV comedies of all time, has been crying out for a big screen adaptation ever since the show ended. Talking to Empire this month, about his film The Change-Up, star Jason Batman said that the script was coming along well and that there is hope to shoot it in the middle of next year. Here’s keeping our prosthetic fingers crossed. Source – Empire

 

Wednesday 14^th September

The Expendables 2 continues to add more iconic action names to its roster. With Bruce Willis and Arnold Schwarzenegger both signed up to join Sly Stallone the news now comes that both Jean-Claude Van Damme and Chuck Norris have both signed onto to appear in the film. What’s even more pant-wettingly exciting is that Stallone has confirmed that he and Van Damme will have a smack down against each other. And as if that news wasn’t smile inducing enough the Face/Off pair of Nic Cage and John Travolta are also in talks to appear in the movie. Action Nirvana be praised. Source – EW

Hugh Grant, not seen on screen since 2009’s Did You Hear About The Morgans, has joined the cast of Tom Tywker’s adaptation of Cloud Atlas. Based on David Mitchell’s book the film sees a number of characters scattered throughout history all on an individual, and group, voyage of discovery. The book is structured in a way that at film adaptation will be interesting but the cast includes Tom Hanks, Halle Berry, Jim Sturgess, Susan Sarandon, Hugo Weaving and Jim Broadbent amongst others. If the film is half as good as the cast roster we’re in for a treat. Source – Screen Daily 

Ashley Greene, one of the many break-out stars of The Twilight Saga, is set to star in Olivia Twist. In case you hadn’t guessed the film will be a re-imagining of the classic Charles Dickens story which will find Greene as a girl running a group of street urchins who become embroiled in a turf war between two rival gangs when a kidnapping goes wrong. The idea is to ‘combine classic Dickens elements with a unique gothic back-drop’. No director is attached yet but the script has been written by Michael Roberts. Source – Variety 

Richard Ayoade, the star of The IT Crowd and director of Submarine, has joined the cast of Ben Stiller vehicle Neighbourhood Watch. Last week it was reported that Chris Tucker had landed the role but it now seems that Ayoade is set to star in his place. The film sees Stiller playing a man who joins the Neighbourhood Watch to have time away from his wife only to unearth an alien plot to take over the world. Vince Vaughn, Jonah Hill and Rosemarie DeWitt are also starring. Source – Variety

Stanley Tucci, one of the most dependable actors in the business, has joined the cast of Robert Redford’s The Company You Keep. Redford will direct and star in the film about a former terrorist who is tracked down by a reporter, to be played by Shia LaBeouf. Tucci will play his boss while also joining the cast will be another great actor in the shape of Chris Cooper who will play Redford’s brother. The script was adapted from Neil Gordon’s novel by The Limey writer Len Dobbs. Source – Screen Daily

Julian Gilbey, director of this month’s A Lonely Place To Die is already gearing up for his next project which will be sci-fi movie Offworld. The film will be safari movie on an alien planet according to producer Lloyd Levin. Source – Empire

Tuesday 13^th September

Point Break, the iconic action movie starring Keanu Reeves and Patrick Swayze, is gearing up for a re-make. No director is attached as yet but it has been revealed that the film will follow an FBI agent infiltrating a crime ring in the world of International extreme sports. Frankly after The Fast & The Furious lifted the plot of Point Break do we really need another version? Source – Variety

Highlander, the cult classic 80s fantasy movie, is, yes, you guessed it, gearing up for a remake. It’s been in and out of development for some time but is now back on the slate with The Intruders director Juan Carlos Fresnadillo calling the shots. The film will once again follow Scottish immortal Connor MacLeod as he fights to be the only immortal left with his head on his shoulders. Christopher Lambert is sitting by the phone right now, if only for a cameo appearance. Source – Deadline Hollywood

Jessica Chastain, something of a break-out star this year with Tree of Life, is set to star in Guillermo Del Toro produced horror Mama. She’ll be joined by Game Of Thrones’ Nicolaj Coster-Waldau as her husband. The couple take in a pair of twins that have lived in the forest for five years, the problem is they seem to have brought something out of the woods with them. Andres Muschietti will make this his feature film debut but adapting the feature from a short film he previously made.

Vanessa Hudgens, still best known for High School Musical, has joined the cast of The Frozen Ground. The film is based on the true story of killer Robert Hansen, to be played by John Cusack, who is tracked down by cop Nicholas Cage with the help of one of Hansen’s escaped victims, Hudgens’ role. Hansen was a well regarded member of the community, it is always the quiet ones though. It is believed that Hansen would catch women only to release them into the wilds of Alaska and hunt them for sport. Shooting begins in October. Source – Deadline Hollywood

Whitney Houston, best known cinematically for The Bodyguard, has joined the cast of the remake of 1976 musical Sparkle. Jordan Sparks and Mike Epps have already signed on to the project which was inspired by the true story of The Supremes. Salim Akil will call the shots as director. Source – The Hollywood Reporter

Kelly Reilly, soon to return as Watson’s long suffering fiancé in Sherlock Holmes, has signed on to star in Denzel Washington thriller Flight. Reilly will play Nicole, a young woman battling drug addiction who meets Washington’s pilot. He’s being proclaimed a hero for averting a plane crash but no one knows that he was under the influence of drugs at the time. Reilly beet out the likes of Olivia Wilde to land the part and the film will be directed by Robert Zemeckis. Source – Deadline Hollywood

 

Monday 12^th September

Arnold Schwarzenegger continues to blaze the come-back trail by looking to sign on for action film Captive. The film will see a wealthy man, Schwarzenegger if he signs, taken hostage in Brazil and held to ransom. The film will follow him and the story of the detective trying to find him. This is the third film that the former Governator is looking to sign onto with a bigger role in The Expendables 2 and western The Last Stand also in the pipeline. Source – Deadline Hollywood

Kate Winslet and Josh Brolin have both signed to star in Jason ‘Juno’ Reitman’s next film Labor Day. Based on the book by Joyce Maynard the film will see Brolin as an escaped convict who takes shelter with Winslet and her son over the Labor Day weekend. Reitman is in the final stages of his latest film Young Adult, starring Charlize Theron, before he moves onto this project. Source – Coming Soon

Colin Firth, soon to be seen in Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, has signed onto to star in War Drama The Railway Man. The film is a true account of former POW Eric Lomax who was one of the soldiers captured and forced to build the ‘death railway’ between Thailand and Burma. After the war he set out to exact revenge on his former tormentors. The film will be directed by Jonathan Teplitzky. Source – The Hollywood Reporter

Jeffrey Wright, Felix Leiter of the past two Bond films, has said that he is unlikely to return for Sam Mendes Bond 23. Wright, at the Toronto International Film Festival said that he had not heard from the production. With shooting set to start in November it seems as if Leiter will either not appear at all or that the producers and Mendes have found someone new to fill his boots. Source – Coming Soon

Jay Baruchel, better known as star of such films as She’s Out Of My League and The Sorcerer’s Apprentice, is busily moonlighting as a successful writer. His latest effort Goon is getting solid reviews at the Toronto Film Festival and it now emerges that he will pen new script Baseballismo with regular writing partner Jesse Chabot. The film is based on David Bidini’s book which saw him travel to Nettuno, known as the baseball capital of America. It seems that the game was introduced there by American GIs in 1944 and has become an obsession ever since. Source – Variety

Contagion, Steven Soderbergh’s film about a global virus outbreak, infected the US Box Office this weekend taking in a healthy $23.1 Million to go Number One, knocking The Help off the top spot for the first time, although it stayed in second and took $8 Million. All this means that Tom Hardy starring Warrior opened in third place to a disappointing $5.6 Million. Source – Box Office Mojo.  

 

Friday 9^th September

Steven Spielberg, currently putting the finishing touches to Tin Tin and War Horse, has announced the release date of his next blockbuster Robopocalypse for July 3^rd 2013. Although it’s some way off the thought of The Beard himself tackling a story about robots rising up against their human counterparts is exciting enough to have us do a jig. Spielberg is teaming up with Fox for the project, which makes sense as it was there that he had such success with Minority Report. Source - Empire

Anna Karenina, the story based on Tolstoy’s novel, is set to come to the big screen thanks to the visionary maestro of Atonement and this year’s Hanna Joe Wright. He’ll once again team up with Pride & Prejudice star Keira Knightley as Anna as well as other cast members Jude Law, Kick Ass’s Aaron Johnson and Kelly McDonald. The story follows Anna making her way in 19^th century Russian society which makes it ripe for Wright who has made a name for himself in period dramas, with the exception of Hanna. The script will be written by Shakespeare In Love’s Oscar winning scribe Tom Stoppard. Source – Deadline Hollywood

Ness/Capone, the iconic feud that featured so heavily in The Untouchables, is being brought to the big screen once again. V For Vendetta director James McTeigue is calling the shots which will see a young arrogant Ness taking great glee in confiscating moonshine and then parading it past Capone’s hotel to rub his face in it. Things could get medieval, or in this case early 20^th Century. Baseball bats and Robert De Niro are welcome. Source – Deadline Hollywood

Russell Crow, currently fathering Superman in The Man Of Steel, has signed onto join the cast of Les Miserables. He will play Inspector Javert opposite Hugh Jackman’s Jean Valjean. It’s quite a coup director Tom Hooper has pulled off landing the Oscar winning actor but considering his own Oscar winning exploits on The King’s Speech perhaps it’s to be expected. Source – Deadline Hollywood

Ron Howard, currently filming Formula One movie Rush, is set to direct 364 by Safe House writer David Guggenheim. The film sees a man who is given super powers for one day of the year so must spend the rest of said year figuring out how best to use them. Safe House is the action film that stars Denzel Washington and Ryan Reynolds and has proved something of a name maker for the previously unheard of Guggenheim. Source – Deadline Hollywood

David Twohy, busy at work with the next Chronicles of Riddick film, will also write and direct The Leonardo Job. Not about a certain Mr. DiCaprio the film instead sees two rival thieves looking for a Da Vinci painting in Florence. Twohy has a reputation for making solid thrill rides having written The Fugitive and directed films like Pitch Black and A Perfect Getaway. Source – Heat Vision

Mel Gibson, still blazing the come-back trail after the success of The Beaver, is looking to produce and potentially direct a film about Jewish warrior Judah Maccabee. There’s no irony lost here considering Gibson’s comments and exploits of a few years ago but maybe this is his shot at redemption. The story tells of Maccabee who teamed with his father and four brothers to rise up against the Greek-Syrian that had conquered Judea. Of course this subject matter of people rising up against their oppressors is not new to Gibson, what with Braveheart and all, so it might be the perfect way for Gibson to get back on track. He’ll team with Basic Instinct writer Joe Eszterhas who is penning the project. Source – Deadline Hollywood

James Mangold, the man behind films such as Walk The Line and 3:10 To Yuma, is set to direct and produce a screen version of Anne Fortier’s novel Juliet. The story sees a girl travel to Italy and discover she is a descendant of the feuding families of Shakespeare Romeo & Juliet. Before that though Mangold has the small task of bringing The Wolverine to the screen. Source – Deadline Hollywood.

 

Thursday 8^th September 7

Gwyneth Paltrow, recently seen prancing around in Glee and soon to be seen in Steven Soderbergh’s Contagion, is said to be joining the cast of Thanks For Sharing. The film is about a 12-step programme for sex addicts in New York and already boasts the impressive talents of Tim Robbins, Mark Ruffalo and Joely Richardson. The Kids Are All Right writer Stuart Blumberg will make this is directorial debut having written the script with Matt Winston. Source – Variety

Brendan Fraser, star of The Mummy franchise, is teaming with his Journey To The Centre Of The Earth helemer, Eric Brevig, to bring the legendary story of William Tell to life. The film, which was originally to be directed by Nick Hurran, is geared towards a family audience and will be shot in 3D. Fraser will now have to practice shooting apples of heads with a cross-bow. Source – Deadline Hollywood 

John Malkovich, last seen as a superfluous character in Transformers Dark Of The Moon, is set to play a villain in upcoming zombie movie Warm Bodies. The film sees a zombie, R, who falls in love with a human girl and begins to spark his human emotions again which will affect all zombies. Jonathan Levine, who has dramadey 50/50 coming out soon, will call the shots for the film, which is said to be a cross of Twilight meets Sean Of The Dead. Source – Heat Vision

Marion Cottilard, the Oscar winning actress of La Vie en Rose, is set to star in French drama Rust And Bone. The film will see a mixture of characters from the seedy worlds of dog fighting, prizefighters, gamblers and sex addicts (again, it’s contagious) based on the short stories of Craig Davidson. The film will be directed by A Prophet’s Thomas Bidegain. Cottilard meanwhile will be seen in Contagion and then next summer in The Dark Knight Rises. Source – Variety

Sharlto Copley, the break-out star of District 9, is set to star in sci-fi Europa. The film, which is hoping to find funding at the upcoming Toronto Film Festival, will see a team of six international astronauts travel to the titular moon of Jupiter. Plot details are hazy but it’s fair to assume that when they arrive on the moon it won’t be all smelling of pretty flowers and merriment. The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo’s Michael Nyqvist is also set to star in the film which will be directed by Sebastian Cordero. Source – Deadline Hollywood

 

Wednesday 7^th September

Action Junkies Rejoice, after the success of The Expendables news now arrives that The Expendables 2 has locked in Arnold Schwarzenegger and Bruce Willis for ‘substantial’ roles. Sly Stallone is obviously returning to the franchise that he directed, although he won’t call the shots on this one, instead Con Air helmer Simon West will take over. In the first film Schwarzenegger and Willis gave fleeting cameo appearances but 80s action fans will be delighted to hear that the word is they will both be prominent in the sequel. The cast of the original, including Jet Li, Dolph Lundgren and Mickey Rourke will also return with rumours that Jean-Claude Van Damme and Chuck Norris may also appear. All we need now is a Rubik’s cube and leg-warmers are we’re set. Source – Deadline Hollywood

Eddie Murphy, who only last week was said to be in talks to host the Oscars, has now agreed to the gig and the producers of the show have told The Academy it’s official. Murphy will work with the show’s director, his Tower Heist helmer Bret Ratner, on setting the tone of the show which, traditionally, was always hosted by a stand-up comedian, something Murphy is more than an expert in. Source – Deadline Hollywood

Beetlejuice, the hit film that Tim Burton made with Michael Keaton while prepping their Batman movie, is set to get a sequel. David Katzenberg and Seth Grahame-Smith have just signed a two year production deal with Warner Bros and will look to make Beetlejuice one of their first projects. Smith is the man behind the books Pride & Prejudice & Zombies as well as Abraham Lincoln; Vampire Hunter so knows a thing or two about funny. Source – Deadline Hollywood

Monopoly, the board game that you rarely finished as a child, has been in development with Ridley Scott set to direct for some time now. However, the latest news is that writers Scott Alexander and Larry Karaszewski, the writers behind The People Vs Larry Flynt and Ed Wood, have been hired to bring the game to life. The project was one of the films recently dropped by Universal, which was among a host of other board games including Clue. However Hasbro and Scott are still enthusiastic about the idea. Source – Heat Vision

Anthony Hopkins, Hannibal Lecter himself, is in final talks to star in Solace. The film will see Hopkins as a clairvoyant doctor who is hired to help police catch a serial killer. The script has recently gone through a re-write by Frost/Nixon writer Peter Morgan. Source – Variety

Chris Tucker, star of the Rush Hour franchise, has bagged a role in David O Russell’s The Silver Linings Play Book. The film stars Bradley Cooper as a former high school teacher who, having recovered from depression, tries to put his life back on track. Tucker will play Danny a friend to Cooper who tries to offer him guidance. The fast talking high-pitched Tucker is also in talks to take a part in Ben Stiller and Vince Vaughn comedy Neighbourhood Watch. Source – Variety

Abigail Breslin, the break-out star of Little Miss Sunshine, is clearly looking to break into more teen roles than kids and is now set to star in A Virgin Mary. The film will see Breslin as a teenager who swears a pack with her best friend that if they are both virgins by their 18^th birthday they will have sex. The film is written and directed by Beth Schacter. Source – Variety  

 

Tuesday 6^th September

Ed Speleers, in this weeks A Lonely Place To Die and most famous for his role in box-office flop Eragon, will star in Love Bite. The comedy horror will see a small town suddenly terrorised by a werewolf. However, it seems the wolf is targeting the town’s virgins so four friends agree to lose their virginity. Andy de Emmony, who last directed West Is West, will call the shots as production kicks off in Scotland next month. Here’s hoping it’s more American Werewolf than Cursed. Source – The Hollywood Reporter

The Help, the film starring Emma Stone, once again topped the US box-office over the Labour Day Weekend. It managed to once again see off strong competition from the likes of Shark Night 3D and Apollo 18. Source – Box Office Mojo

Jennifer Lynch, daughter of legendary David Lynch and director of Boxing Helena, is currently filming her next project. After the disappointment that was her last film Hiss Lynch is sticking with the horror thriller angle and making Chained. The film tells the story of Tim, a young boy who witnesses a deranged taxi driver kill his mother. Taken captive by the killer when Tim grows up he is told he will have some freedom if he too becomes a killer. Vincent D’Onofrio and Julia Ormond will star in the film. Source – Twitch

Studio Ghibli, the iconic animation studio, has announced that it has two projects in the works from two of its most revered directors. Co-founder and animation legend Hayao Miyazaki is working on an autobiography, although it is not clear if the film will be his autobiography or someone else’s. Meanwhile his colleague and co-founder Isao Takahata will make a film about the Japanese legend of a princess who was found in a bamboo plant as a baby. Suffice to say that animation fans should be dancing around with delight. Source – Twitch

Steven Soderbergh, the Oscar winning director of Traffic, had implied that he was on the verge of retiring from films after upcoming projects Contagion, Haywire and Magic Mike. However, it now seems that Soderbergh is simply taking a sabbatical from the business in order to focus on his passion for painting. The implication being that, like The Terminator, he will be back. Source – The Observer

 

Monday 5^th September

Eddie Murphy, soon to be seen in Brett Ratner’s Tower Heist, is in early talks to host the 84^th Annual Academy Awards. Murphy, whose career has been slow recently but about to pick up again, is director of the awards, yes that’s right Brett Ratner again, only choice to host the ceremony. Murphy is said to worship the Oscars and is, apparently, a bigger cinephile than the likes of Quentin Tarantino and Ratner himself. Source – Deadline Hollywood

Shark Night 3D director David R. Ellis, is in talks to helm the live-action version of Japanese anime Kite. Set in a near future where the economy has collapsed and crime rules the streets (so London a couple of weeks ago basically) the film sees a young girl set out to track down her cop father’s killer. Recruiting his ex-partner they set out to solve the crime. Meanwhile a corrupt security force is trafficking girls into the city.  Ellis is not the first person to try to bring the world to life with Mexican directors Jorge and Javier Aguilera attached at one point. Source – Variety

Riddick, the sci-fi franchise that faltered after the bigger second film The Chronicles of Riddick, is set to return to our screens. Universal is backing the film, which star Vin Diesel has confirmed will be an R rating in the States. For this reason Diesel will work for scale up front, meaning he will earn the minimum wage for actors, that is until the film turns a profit. It’s a brave move for the action star but clearly Riddick is close to his heart having helped establish him as a star in Pitch Black. This outing will see Riddick left for dead by his kind on an alien planet as he must fight off monsters and use bounty hunters to exact his revenge. Here at Filmjuice we always liked the Riddick films to date and look forward to where they can take the character, David Twohy will once again write and direct. Source – Vin Diesel via Facebook

Bette Midler and Don’t Be Afraid of the Dark star Bailee Madison have joined the cast of Billy Crystal starrer Us & Them. The film will see Crystal, and his recently separated wife Midler, babysit his three grandchildren for a week. Madison will play one of the sprogs in the comedy directed by The Game Plan helmer Andy Fickman. Source – Variety

 

Friday 2^nd September

The Wolverine, the latest instalment in the Hugh Jackman starring X-Men spin-off, has been in and out of development hell for some time. Now it seems that once again production is on the back burner thanks to the problems in Japan, where the film is set, and Jackman’s commitment to Les Miserables. With this in mind director James Mangold is taking the opportunity to perfect the script by handing it over to Unstoppable writer Mark Bomback. He’ll give the once over to Christopher McQuarrie’s script, as he is busy writing One Shot for Tom Cruise. The film will see Wolverine travel to Japan in the hope of answering his amnesiac problem and facing off against Silver Samurai and Viper in the criminal underworld. Source – Variety

Anna Kendrick, the fast talking break-out star of Up In The Air, is set to star in Pitch Perfect. The film will see Kendrick as a rebellious goth attending a college where her father is a professor. However, when the college a cappella group hear her sing they recruit her and start to change her dark out-look on life. Avenue Q’s Jason Moore is set to direct the film which will see a change of type for the normally perky Kendrick. Source- The Hollywood Reporter

Stoker, the first English language film from Korean maestro Park Chan-wook, has started shooting in Nashville. Starring Nicole Kidman, Matthew Goode, Jacki Weever and Mia Wasikowska the film will see Wasikowska as a young girl whose father dies in an accident. Goode will play her mysterious uncle that comes to live with her and her mother, Kidman, and begins to display unusual habits. The film was written by Prison Break star Wentworth Miller. Source – Fox Searchlight Pictures

Ed Helms, normally messing about in Vegas and Thailand with his Hangover buddies, is set to star in a remake of French comedy Le Mac. The film will see Helms playing a banker who has to impersonate a gangster and a pimp. He’s got a number of projects on the go with the likes of Jeff Who Lives At Home and True North in the pipeline. Source – Variety

Evidence, the latest film in the long lines of ‘Found Footage’ mocumentaries has found its cast. Starring the likes of Dale Dickey, Torrey DeVitto, Albert Kuo and Harry Lennix the film is about a massacre just outside LA. The only evidence at the crime scene are the people involved electric devices consisting of phones and lip cams. It’s up to the detectives investigating to piece the footage back together to discover the identity of the killer. Sourece – Shock Till You Drop.  

 

Thursday 1^st September

Die Hard 5 looks to have whittled down all of the contenders to fill the directors chair to leave just one man standing. That man is John Moore who directed such action films as Behind Enemy Lines and Max Payne all for studio Fox. With his relationship solid with them it was Willis who needed convincing and apparently Moore’s love of the Die Hard franchise shone through. The film will shoot and be set in Russia before Willis moves onto the sequel to last year’s hit RED. Source – Deadline Hollywood.

The Coen Brothers have announced what their next project will be and it looks like they’re going back to some of the musical fair that served them so well on O Brother, Where Art Thou. Inside Llewyn Davis will be loosely based on the life of actual folk musician David Van Ronk. The real man was a friend and huge influence on the likes of Bob Dylan and Joni Mitchell and was once described as “a walking museum of Blues”. No word yet on casting but knowing the Coens like to work with their regulars keep an eye out for any names that might crop up. Source – Variety

Magic Mike, the film based on Channing Tatum’s time as a male stripper, has finally acquired some much needed oestrogen in the form of Olivia Munn. She’s in talks to play Tatum’s love interest Amber. The film will follow Tatum as an experienced male stripper who mentors young up and coming Alex Pettyfer. Steven Soderbergh is directing the film which also stars Matthew McConaughey. Source – Deadline Hollywood

Attack The Block’s John Boyega, tipped for big things after his star making performance in Joe Cornish’s monster movie, has been cast in Spike Lee’s upcoming HBO drama Da Brick. Boyega will play the lead, Donnie, who after his release from juvenile detention on his 18^th Birthday begins to explore what it is to be a man in contemporary society. The film will draw large inspiration from Executive Producer Mike Tyson’s early life. Although it’s not film news we hear at Filmjuice are huge fans of Boyega and can’t wait to see his next project. Source – The Hollywood Reporter

Romancing The Stone, the hit 80s adventure film looks to be getting a TV show version of itself. It is a project that spawned a sequel and was always looking to be re-made for the past few years. At one point Katherine Heigel was attached to the Kathleen Turner role. Now it seems that it could be heading to TV, like other such original movies The Blues Brothers and The Firm. No word yet on castings but do we really need to re-hash some of these classic films to the smaller screen? Source – Deadline Hollywood.

Wednesday 31^st August

Johnny Depp, suddenly with some spare time on his hands while Gore Verbinski tries to lower the budget on their planned The Lone Ranger film, is looking to attach himself to The Thin Man remake. Based on Dashiell Hammett’s novels, that would spawn sex sequels originally, The Thin Man sees Nick a former detective who marries a young socialite and starts to drink too much while occasionally solving a case. Depp would take the lead and also produce while David Koepp will write the script with Depp’s latest Pirates 4 director Rob Marshall calling the shots and looking to throw a few musical numbers for good measure. Source – Deadline Hollywood

Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson, currently taking names and kicking ass in GI Joe 2, is top of the list to play Goliath in the new version of the legendary story of David & Goliath. At present Johnson is only in talks to play the part whereas as Twlight’s Taylor Lautner is very much top of the wish list to play his smaller adversary David. It seems that with this and Darren Aronofsky’s take on Noah in the works that Biblical films could be forming a resurgence. Source – Twitch

James Bond, who recently found his licence to kill after the financial troubles at MGM, looks like he is heading to India. The production, directed by American Beauty’s Sam Mendes, has been given permission to shoot in Delhi and Goa and the rumour is that this will involve a substantial set-piece on board a train. Plot details on the film are being kept secret, no doubt in a MI5 vault, but it is known that Daniel Craig will return to pouting duties as Bond with Ralph Fiennes, Javier Bardem and Naomi Harris, as Moneypenny, all involved. Source – The Hollywood Reporter

Paul Dano, the There Will Be Blood and Little Miss Sunshine star, is all set to play the filmic version of loved/hated political figure Karl Rove. The man that worked closely with Richard Nixon, George HW Bush and helped get elected George W Bush was always going to ripe for film adaptation. Now, thanks to director Richard Linklater, we will get to see the college years of Rove when he first encountered Lee Atwater. Dano was up against Shia LaBeouf for the role but was deemed a better fit for the part that was on 2010 Hollywood Blacklist of best unproduced scripts.

Scott Burns, one of Steven Soderbergh’s regular writers, has been shedding some light on The Man From UNCLE. At the time George Clooney was still attached to the project but it seems that Burs is adamant that the comedy of the TV show remains in the script. He also shed some light on his next film which will see him team with Se7en director David Fincher for 20,000 Leagues Under The Sea which the pair are working on for Disney. He wants Leagues to be as big as possible believing that Fincher is the kind of director who can make anything on the page come to life on the screen. Source – Coming Soon.

Alan Dale, famous for roles in 24 and Lost but still out favourite as Jim Robinson in Neighbours, has joined the cast of David Fincher’s The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo. The film is close to wrapping principle photography but Dale has come on board at the last minute to play a career policeman. He joins the cast which already boasts Daniel Craig, Rooney Mara, Robin Wright, Stellan Skarsgard and Joely Richardson. Source – Variety

 

Tuesday, 30th August

George Clooney is set to be pulling out of his business partner and Ocean’s Eleven’s director Steven Soderbergh’s cinematic outing of The Man From UNCLE. At present no reason has been given for Clooney leaving the project but it is expected to be due to scheduling conflicts. Warner Brothers and Soderbergh are still hoping to start shooting in February 2012. Source – Deadline Hollywood

Josh Brolin, the former Goonie and star of No Country For Old Men, has now officially signed onto star in Spike Lee’s remake of Korean revenge thriller Oldboy. At one point Steven Spielberg was slated to direct Will Smith in the film but times they are a changing and Brolin is now all set to eat live octopus and stop at nothing to find out why he was imprisoned for fifteen years without any reason. Source – Deadline Hollywood.

Nick Nolte is joining the cast of Gangster Squad as new chief of police Bill Parker. The film will see the likes of Josh Brolin (told you these film types never do things by halves), Anthony Mackie, Ryan Gosling and Emma Stone. The film sees a group of cops assembled in LA to bring down organised crime. Source – Coming Soon.

Anne Hathaway, currently donning a much-disputed cat suit as Catwoman in The Dark Knight Rises, is in talks to star in the new adaptation of Les Miserables. The film is being directed by Oscar winner Tom Hooper, for The King’s Speech, already boasts Hugh Jackman in the lead role. Jackman has been anxious to get Hathaway on board having sung with her at the 2009 Oscars. Hathaway would likely take on the role of Fantine, the mother of heroine character Cosette. Source – Broadway World via The Playlist.

Ben Affleck’s next directorial film Agro has added a few names to its ever growing cast list. Tate Donovan, Nelson Franklin and Taylor Schilling have all signed onto the film that sees a true life group of CIA agents in 1979 rescue American hostages by setting up a fake film production. Affleck and John Goodman are also set to star. Source – Variety.

Monday 29^th August

Clint Eastwoods remake of A Star Is Born is being pushed back due to Beyonce’s pregnancy. The singer announced at the MTV VMAs that she was expecting which will effect the projects schedule. On the plus side it gives Eastwood time to find his male lead. Both Will Smith and Christian Bale have been mentioned. Source – Deadline Hollywood

Leonardo DiCaprio, soon to be seen as J. Edgar Hoover in Clint Eastwood’s (He’s popular today) biopic, is considering taking the lead in Martin Scorsese’s planned remake of The Gambler. The 1974 original starred James Caan as an academic who had a destructive gambling addiction. The Departed’s William Monahan is working on the new script. Source – Deadline Hollywood.

Flatliners, the 1994 Joel Schumacher directed supernatural thriller, is in line for a re-make / re-imagining. Ben Ripley who recently penned the brilliant Source Code has been tasked with writing the script about a group of young doctors who kill themselves to then be resuscitated. The problem is that while briefly dead they glimpse the afterlife and all is not quite what they would expect. The original starred Julia Roberts, Kiefer Sutherland and Kevin Bacon. No word yet on who may appear in this new version. Source – Deadline Hollywood.

Sin City 2, the sequel to Robert Rodriguez and Frank Miller’s uber-slick comic book adaptation, has been in development hell since the success of the first film. In order to change that the producers have hired none other that The Departed writer William Monahan (he’s popular as well today) to have a pass at the script. There is no word on which characters will return from the first film at this point. Source – Heat Vision

The MTV Music Video Awards happened over the weekend in the US and with it came a glimpse of the future. Well to be more accurate a glimpse of the hotly anticipated film adaption of The Hunger Games. It’s fleeting but will certainly excite fans of the book and hopefully whet the appetite of none believers. You can see the clip HERE.

The US Box-Office was slightly hit but the devastation caused by Hurricane Irene but it didn’t stop The Help toping the list for another week. It means the film is closing in on the $100 Million mark at the US box-office alone.

Friday 26^th August

Dan Aykroyd, the legendary actor writer, hopes to have Ghostbusters 3 up and running by early next year. The film has been in development hell for years. The biggest problem seems to be getting Bill Murray to commit, or even read the latest script, to the film. However, Aykroyd has made it clear that the franchise is bigger than any one person involved and made it clear that the film will see the old team training a new team. Anna Faris and Eilza Dushku are rumoured to be part of that new team but it is still unclear whether Murray, and indeed studio Sony, will back the project. Source – Deadline Hollywood

Olivia Wilde, the star of Tron Legacy and Cowboys & Aliens, is eyeing the lead role in Better Living Through Chemistry. The film previously had Jennifer Garner attached to the role who has departed because she’s got a bun in the oven. Jeremy Renner was originally playing the lead but that has now gone to Sam Rockwell. Michelle Monaghan will play his wife. The film will see Rockwell as a pharmacist in a loveless marriage who starts an affair with Wilde. Together they start taking drugs and plotting murder. Judi Dench is all set to narrate the film that made the Black List of best unproduced scripts in Hollywood. Source – Variety

Tom Cruise, currently filming One Shot, seems to have a pretty good life. Having spent all manner of time helping decide who his leading lady in One Shot would be, it eventually went to Rosamund Pike, is now doing the same with next project Horizons. The film was previously called Oblivion and is being directed by Tron Legacy (it’s popular today apparently) director Joseph Konsinski. The luckily ladies currently being considered are: Tree Of Life’s Jessica Chastain, Quantum Of Solace’s Olga Kurylenko, Girl With The Dragon Tattoo’s Noomi Rapace, Another Earth’s Brit Marling and Olivia Wilde (again she’s popular today). The good news is that there are two female roles to fill. One will be Cruise’s characters assistant the other his former fiancé. The film will see Cruise play a man who descends to a destroyed Earth to repair droids that keep aliens away from the cloud city’s humans now live in. That is until he makes a worrying discovery. Source – Variety.

Paul Greengrass, the man behind the second two Bourne films and The Green Zone, is now officially on board to direct Fear Index. Based on a Robert Harris novel, to be published next month, the story sees a man come up with an algorithm that predicts the world’s financial markets based on conflicts around the globe. All is going well until he is taken hostage in his own home. Harris’ films have a good hit rate on screen as the man behind the Hannibal Lecter stories. Source – Deadline Hollywood

Robert Zemeckis, Mr. Back To The Future, is turning his back on not only his Mo-Cap film’s, after the failure of Mars Needs Mums, but also the film Replay. The reason being that he has now signed onto Denzel Washington thriller Flight. The film will see Washington as a pilot whose plane is about to crash but thanks to some clever piloting he manages to save it and the passengers. The problem is while labelled as a hero it becomes clear he was under the influence of drugs on the flight. Source – Deadline Hollywood

Universal seem to be dropping projects faster than they can green light them. Yesterday saw them drop Ouija and today they are backing out of ‘teen’ novel Wicked Lovely. It was hoped that Lovely would spawn a new Twilight franchise based on the books by Melissa Marr. The book sees a girl become involved in the world of Faeries. American Psycho director Mary Harron was slated to direct the film which will now be offered around to other studios. Source – Heat Vision

 

Thursday 25^th August

Christian Bale, currently swooping around Gotham City as Batman in The Dark Knight Rises, is in talks to play the villain in the remake of Korean revenge thriller Oldboy. Spike Lee is set to direct the film about a man who is imprisoned for 15 years for no reason only to discover upon his release that it was all in the name of spiteful revenge. Will Smith was at one point set to play the lead in the film but a glance at the IMDb indicates that Josh Brolin is now attached. Bale is also being courted by Clint Eastwood for his remake of A Star Is Born as well as Darren Aronofsky’s Biblical film about Noah. Source – Variety

Taken, the break-out action thriller starring Liam Neeson as a father, with special forces background, who sets out to avenge the people who kidnapped his daughter, is all set for a sequel. Olivier Megaton, who directed this month’s Colombiana, has been scouting locations in LA with producer Luc Besson. Besson said, while doing publicity work for Colombiana, that all the cast from the first film would return for the sequel. Source – Coming Soon

Shawn Levy, the man behind this month’s Real Steal, is on the verge of walking away from his planned Fantastic Voyage remake, possibly due to not being able to land lead actor Will Smith, and turn his attentions to Frankenstein. There are a number of Frankenstein projects in development right now but Levy and studio Fox will hope to beat the likes of The Case Book Of Victor Frankenstein and I, Frankenstein out of the gate first. Source – Deadline Hollywood

Warm Bodies, the film adaptation of Isaac Marion’s novel, has found another cast member to join leads Nicholas Hoult and Teresa Palmer in the form of Cedar Rapids star Rob Corddry. He’ll play a zombie opposite Hoult’s zombie R who falls in love with Palmer’s character and sets off a chain reaction that will change his kind forever. Jonathan Levine who previously directed All The Boys Love Mandy Lane and upcoming comedy 50/50 will direct the film. Source – Variety

Lucy Punch, the wacky British actress and star of films like Bad Teacher and Dinner For Schmucks, will join the cast of Wedding Video. The film, from Calendar Girls creators Nigel Cole and Tim Firth, will see a traditional English wedding filmed mocumentary style. Also on board for the film are Rufus Hound and Robert Webb. Source – The Hollywood Reporter

Ouija, the horror film based on the board game, looks to be haunting its way out of Universal. The film was being produced by Michael Bay and his Platinum Dunes company and was supposed to have McG on as director. However a spiralling budget has caused Universal to pull the plug on the project. Platinum will now take it to Paramount, where they already have a their production deal, to see if they can raise the film from the grave. Source – Heat Vision

Alexander Skarsgard, still famous for his roles in True Blood and Generation Kill, has signed onto Disconnected. The film, from Murderball director Henry-Alex Rubin, will see various characters using the perilous internet for varying different reasons. Skarsgard will play a Marine who is having marital problems and starts looking on the internet for someone to have an affair with. Also on board is Michael Nyqvist of Swedish Girl With The Dragoon Tattoo fame. Source – Variety

Wednesday 24^th August

Ben Affleck, having risen phoenix like thanks to his directing turns in Gone Baby Gone and The Town, is sniffing around a new project at Warner Bros. He’s currently shooting his next project Argo but is now in talks to jump straight onto Line Of Sight once that it wrapped. Written by F. Scott Frazer, Sight will see a team of elite soldiers transporting something during a global crisis. The real kicker is that the film is told mostly from a first person perspective meaning the action will seem, shall we say, computer game orientated. If Affleck signs he will star and direct the film. Source – The Hollywood Reporter

Jonah Hill, currently putting the finishing touches to his re-imagining of 21 Jump Street, has now signed onto to star with Ben Stiller and Vince Vaughn in Neighbourhood Watch. These days Hill is almost unrecognisable from his Superbad days having lost a lot of weight. He will be seen in upcoming Brad Pitt film Moneyball and then later this year The Sitter. At one point it seemed like Hill was going to be too expensive for Neighbourhood Watch but all financial issues have now been resolved. Source – Deadline Hollywood

Action Men are clearly still high on Hollywood’s to do list and in particular with Nu Image and Millennium productions companies. The folks behind The Expendables and Conan are close to agreeing a deal with Paul Sloan for his spec script. Although the script has no title the film will follow a group of mercenaries into the Cambodian jungle looking for a missing person. However, once there they will have to make a stand against a vampire. So Predator basically, but with a bloodsucker rather than an “Ugly Mother…” you get the idea. Source – Heat Vision

Ed Zwick, the man who recently gave us Love and Other Drugs, is normally known for his sprawling epics like The Last Samurai and Legends of The Fall. It seems like he is returning to that ideal with The Great Wall. Teaming with newly created company Legendary East, a branch of Legendary Entertainment, Zwick will co-write with Marshall Herskovitz while also directing. The film will tell the story of how and why The Great Wall of China came to be. Source – Deadline Hollywood

Alex Winter, formerly known as Bill S Preston from Bill & Ted, is set to make a documentary about the rise of Napster. He originally intended to make it as a drama but saw much of his storyline used in a similar vein in The Social Network, which included Napster inventor Shawn Parker playing a prominent part. Not one to give up, that’s how Bill passed his history exam after all, he’s going back to all the sources that helped him find inspiration for his script and interviewing them for a feature length documentary on the birth of Peer to Peer file sharing. – Source – Deadline Hollywood.

Clifton Collins Jnr, one of those supporting actors in films like Sunshine Cleaning and Babel that always delivers, has joined Guillermo Del Toro’s Pacific Rim. The monster movie that sees humans piloting giant robots to prevent monsters from destroying the planet. Source – Coming Soon.

 

Tuesday 23^rd August

Paradise Lost, the epic poem about the war between Heaven and Hell, has added another cast member to its ranks in the form of Gladiator’s Djimon Hounsou. Alex Proyas, the man who gave us Dark City and I Robot, will direct with Bradley Cooper set to play Lucifer with Ben Walker as the Angel Michael. Hounsou is onboard as The Angel Of Death, or Abdiel to his friends. Source – Variety

Alexander Skarsgard, hands down the best thing about True Blood, is in talks to join The East. Written and directed by Brit Marling, who wrote and starred in the upcoming thriller Another Earth, the film will focus on a female agent infiltrating an eco-terrorist group. If he signs Skarsgard would play the leader of the group. Source – Heat Vision

Caleb Landry Jones, last seen screaming bloody murder as Banshee in X-Men: First Class, will join the cast of Neil Jordon’s Byzantium. The film sees Gemma Arterton and Saoirse Ronan as two vampires that go to live in a sleepy seaside town. On her first day in school Ronan’s character announces she is a vampire much to the amusement of her classmates. Before long they soon realise she was telling the truth. Jones will play a teenager that Ronan bonds with. The film is adapted by Moria Buffini from her own play. Source – Variety

The Last Exorcism, the break out hit of 2010, which was a ‘found footage’ documentary about an Evangelistic Priest who allowed a film crew to follow him on his final exorcism to show that he was a fraud is set for a sequel. Damien Chazelle has been hired to pen the script. Given the first film’s $1.6 Million budget that went onto take $62.5 Million at the global box-office a sequel was always on the cards. Source – Heat Vision

Justin Lin, the man behind this year’s hit Fast Five, has signed a two year deal with Universal getting first look at any of his production company Barnstorm Pictures’ films. Lin is all slated to re-unite the cast of Fast Five for, you guessed it, Fast Six and is also attached to Terminator Five although as yet that has no studio attached. Source – Variety

Johnny Knoxville, the star and creator of Jackass, is set to star alongside Patton Oswalt in a new comedy. Currently the film does not have a title but will see two feuding brothers, played by Knoxville and Oswalt, who, to honour their ailing mother, take a group of kids on an ill-advised camping trip. Emerging talent Todd Rohal wrote and will direct the film. Source – Coming Soon. 

Ron Howard, might still be looking for funding for his adaptation of Stephen King’s The Dark Tower, but he is ploughing ahead with other projects in the meantime. He is currently in pre-production on Rush a film that looks at the rivalry between Formula One Drivers James Hunt and Niki Lauder. Thor’s Chris Hemsworth will play Hunt while Inglorious Basterd’s Daniel Bruhl will be Lauder. Bringing some much-needed oestrogen to proceedings is newly cast German actress Alexandra Maria Lara. Lara is best known for films like Downfall and The Reader. Peter Morgon who wrote Frost/Nixon is the man behind the script. Source – Variety

Monday 22^nd August

Pixar, fresh off Cars 2 and in anticipation of next year’s The Brave, have announced their next two projects for the following two years. The first, set for 2014 is set within the human mind but little more was revealed at this stage. The other will star dinosaurs in the future. Directed by Bob Peterson who was inspired when he visited New York World’s Fair in 1964 and saw the animatronics dinosaurs. Source – Deadline Hollywood.

War Games, the classic 80s teen thriller, is all set to get a reboot. Horrible Bosses Director Seth Gordon is on board for a film that given the advances in computer, and gaming technology, since the 80s will have a lot more scope and hardware to toy with. The original film saw Matthew Broderick and Ally Sheedy hack into a government computer believing they are playing a ‘game’ with an advanced computer only to discover that the computer thinks they are a real threat and prepares to launch nuclear missiles at Russia. Noah Oppenheim will write the new script. Source – Deadline Hollywood

Michael Morpurgo, who wrote the book upon which the stage play and soon to be Steven Spielberg directed war epic War Horse are based, is now looking to see his follow-up book Private Peaceful adapted for the big screen. Like War Horse it tells the story of Tommo Peaceful during his experiences of World War I. Pat O’Connor, who directed Circle Of Friends, is set to bring this adaptation to life. Source – Empire

Bruce Willis who had been rumoured to be in negotiations to staring GI Joe 2, now looks to have signed if potential co-Star Dwayne Johnson can be trusted. The former ‘Rock’ tweeted a welcome note to Willis over the weekend. No official announcement has been made but we trust The Rock, that and we wouldn’t want to call him a liar, the man’s huge! Source – Twitter

Ray Bradbury, the legendary writer of Something Wicked This Way Comes, is about to see another of his books adapted for the screen on today, his 91^st Birthday. Dandelion Wine is his most personal book about a childhood summer that he claims is based closely on his own experiences. Mike Medavoy, who recently produced Black Swan and Shutter Island, will guide the project while Rodion Nahapetov will write the screenplay. Source – Deadline Hollywood.

Vikings are looking to make a return to the big screen thanks to Working Title. The film will see the savage Norseman kidnapping Irish slaves and bringing them to Iceland. The tone is set to be in the vein of Brave Heart and Apocalypto so there should be no shortage of bloodletting and Mel Gibson may be needed for directing duties, all that’s just us speculating at this point. Karl Gajdusek, who recently wrote the Kidman/Cage film Trespass and worked on sci-fi opus Oblivion for Tron Legacy director Joe Kossinski, will write the script for Working Title. Source – Heat Vision

The Help, the sleeper hit of the summer, rose to number 1 in the US box-office over the weekend. Beating out competition from the likes of Spy Kids 4 and Conan The Barbarian it took a healthy $20 Million over the weekend giving it a very respectable $70 Million in sales so far. Meanwhile Rise Of The Planet of the Apes continued its healthy takings by sticking in second place meaning it has now taken $133.7 Million at the US box-office alone. Source – Box Office Mojo

 

Friday 19^th August

Brian de Palma, the man who would be Hitchcock and gave us such classics as Scarface and The Untouchables, is turning his hand to new film The Key Man. The story will follow a family man being chased down by government agents because his body holds key secrets. Source – Deadline Hollywood

Tony Scott, director of Top Gun and True Romance, won’t be out done by his brother Ridley in the re-visiting of classic movies. While Ridley is returning to the world of Blade Runner, Tony is in talks to re-make Sam Peckinpah’s classic Western The Wild Bunch. At the moment Tony has set his heart on Jeff Bridges to play the lead role of Sonny Barger, however so far there has been no direct contact the The Dude himself. Source – Deadeline Hollywood

Michael Fassbender, so brilliant in everything he does from X-Men; First Class to Inglorious Basterds, has been offered the lead role in Prisoners. At one point the film was set to star Leonardo DiCaprio and be directed by Training Day helmer Antoine Fuqua. Now though it seems that Incendies director Dennis Villeneuve will make the film about a man who kidnaps and tortures the only suspect in his daughter’s abduction in order to track her down. There is no word on whether Fassbender will take the role or not. Source – Coming Soon

Will Smith, these days busy producing a re-make of Annie for his daughter Willow and returning to the Men In Black franchise, is in early talks to star in the remake of Fantastic Voyage. The film, based on the original 1966 film, sees a scientist dying of a blood clot. The only way to save him is for his colleagues to shrink themselves down in order to pilot a craft through his blood stream. Shawn Levy is directing the film with James Cameron producing and utilising the same 3D technology used on Avatar. Source – The Hollywood Reporter

Warner Brothers have announced that they have now passed the $2 Billion mark at the international box-office. Thanks in no small part to good returns on franchises like Harry Potter and The Hangover Part 2. Warner Bros still has such films as Happy Feet 2, Sherlock Holmes 2 and Garry Marshall’s follow up to Valentine’s Day New Year’s Eve set to be released this year which will almost certainly see that number continue to grow. Source – Warner Bros. Pictures.

Coriolanus, the first film directed by Ralp Fiennes and starring Gerard Butler, has a trailer which you can see HERE, and now has a rather fancy looking poster which you can see below.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Thursday 18^th August

Ridley Scott, currently re-visiting one of his most success films by directing Prometheus, the prequel to Alien, clearly is looking to go back to the future by signing onto a new Blade Runner movie. With no script yet in place it is unclear if this will be a sequel, prequel or re-imagining of the original script but either way fans of the film will be less than enamored with the idea. Having said that if he convinced Harrison Ford to return as Deckard all might be forgiven. Source - Deadline Hollywood

Robert Downey Jnr, these days normally found either strutting around as Iron Man or sulking around as Sherlock Holmes, is set to produce, with wife Susan Downey a film about the ill-fated United States Ship Indianapolis. The true story, so brilliantly recounted by Robert Shaw in Jaws, saw the ship deliver the atomic bomb before being torpedoed and sinking. With the crew stranded they faced dehydration and certain death, even more so when it became apparent they were in shark-infested waters. Warner Bros has the rights to Hunter Scott’s story, who at 11 years old wrote a history report on the event and in doing so helped the captain of the Indianapolis, Charles McVay, become posthumously exonerated. Source – Heat Vision

Hugh Jackman, currently scheduled to appear once again as Wolverine, will play PT Barnum in The Greatest Show On Earth. The film will see Barnum as the man who created the three ring circus and was able to manipulate gullible audiences. Michael Gracey, a music video and commercials director, will call the shots and is also slated to direct Disney’s Order Of The Seven, another Snow White project. Source – The Wrap

Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu, the man behind Babel and Biutiful, is set to adapt the book The Revenant. Written by Michael Punke, the story sees a fur hunter mauled by a bear. His captain, not able to return him to the ship, due to difficult terrain, hires two men to watch over him and bury him when he dies. However, they instead rob him and leave him for dead. Recovering from his injuries the man sets out to take his revenge.

Abigail Breslin, the normally cute star of Little Miss Sunshine and Definitely Maybe, is set to turn her hand to killing. She’ll star in The Project which sees two sisters sick of their abusive mother and all the drunk boyfriends she brings home so decide to kill her. The film has been written by Fabrizio Filliippo and Adam Till and will be directed by Stan Brooks. Source – Variety

Seth Green, still best known for being Dr. Evil’s son, will star opposite Lou Tayor Pucci in The Story Of Luke. The film will see Pucci as a young autistic man looking for a job and a woman. Green will play his mentor firgure. Source – Deadline Hollywood

Rosamund Pike, having beaten out competition in the form of Hayley Atwell and Alexa Davalos, has landed the plum role of Tom Cruise’s lawyer in the screen adaptation of One Shot. Source - Deadline

 

Wednesday 17^th August

Ryan Phillippe, recently seen on sneering duties in The Lincoln Lawyer, is set to star in Straight A’s. The film will see Phillippe as a man who has been in and out of rehab for many years be convinced to return to his family by his dead mother’s ghost. Once back in the fold he will confront his older brother, to be played by Luke Wilson, and his sister-in-law and ex-girlfriend Anna Paquin. Shooting kicked-off in Louisiana this month with Wonderland director James Cox calling the shots. Source – Variety

Matthew McConaughey, last seen on smug duty in The Lincoln Lawyer (there’s a theme immerging here), has joined the cast of Steven Soderbergh’s Magic Mike. McConaughey will play a character who owns a strip club where Channing Tatum and Alex Pettyfer work. The film is based on Tatum’s real experiences working as a stripper when he was 19. Source – Variety

Ben Stiller looks to have found himself a new wife in his upcoming film Neighbourhood Watch. Rosemarie DeWitt, last seen in The Company Men, is in talks to join the comedy/sci-fi which also included Vince Vaughn. The film is about a group of husbands who use the watch as an excuse to have some time away from their home lives but soon uncover an alien plot to destroy the world. The film is being directed by Akiva Schaffer and was written by Superbad writers Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg. Source- Heat Vision

Dakota Fanning, no longer the child star but the ever growing up actress, is set to star in Effie. The film, written by Emma Thompson, is set in 1850s London and tells the story of the loveless marriage between John Rushkin and Euphemia Gray. Only a teenager when she married him their love was never consummated as he was disgusted by her body. This is the first original script Thompson has written having previously focused on literary adaptations. Source – Deadline Hollywood

Steve McQueen, no the other one, the director behind the brilliant Hunger, is set to direct 12 Years A Slave. The film will star Chiwetel Ejiofor as a man kidnapped from New York in 1841 and forced to work on a cotton plant for twelve years before being rescued. Mcqueen’s about to premier his Hunger follow-up Shame at The Venice Film Festival but has been secretly developing Slave for a while. Source – Variety

Dwayne 'The Rock' Johnson, the quite frankly brilliant action star, has released a picture of himself on the first day's shoot of GI Joe 2. Tweeting from the set Johnson wrote "First day of shooting, 110 Degrees. Bring It". Mr. Johnson, we salute you sir. Check out the picture below:

 

 

 

 

 

 

Tuesday 16^th August

Brad Pitt, currently filming and producing the Zombie epic World War Z, is in talks to star in The Gray Man. The film will see Pitt as a spy come assassin who has to fight his way across Europe to save the life of his former Hander and his Handler’s family. The script was on last year’s Black List, of best un-produced scripts, and was written by Adam Cozad. The film will be directed by Two Lovers director James Gray (and yes that really is his name). Source – Deadline Hollywood 

Jason Bateman, still doing stellar work in Horrible Bosses, is set to star and produce The ID Theft. The film will see Bateman’s character have his identity stolen by an unknown thief. The thief was originally set to be played by another male actor until Bateman saw Melisa McCarthy’s scene chewing performance in this year’s hit Bridesmaids. Source – Deadline Hollywood 

The Crow, the 90s comic book written by James O’Barr and previously made into the film which saw Brandon Lee’s final performance, has lost Bradley Cooper as its leading man. Cooper had committed to play the rock star who is killed and then resurrected to become an avenging angel but it seems that he has too many other projects on the go. The one that has caused the scheduling conflict is Paradise Lost in which Cooper is set to play a very angry fallen angel in the shape of Lucifer. There is a possibility that Mark Walhberg, who was previously attached to The Crow, might take the part but Channing ‘The Strongest Jaw in The World’ Tatum is also in the running. Source – Heat Vision

GI Joe 2, the action sequel to what we hear like to call Team America; The Live Action Version, has found another recruit in the shape of The Shield star Walter Goggins. Goggins will play an original character, as opposed one taken from the line of toys or cartoons that the film is based on, called Warden Nigel James. The film already boasts Dwayne Johnson, Channing Tatum, RZA and a still in negotiations Bruce Willis. Source – Variety

Chris O’Dowd, having hit the big time in this year’s Bridesmaids, will star in The Sapphires. The film is set in 1968 Australia as a girl group are plucked from obscurity by an Irish talent scout, to be played by O’Dowd. He then flies them to Vietnam to entertain the troops. It is unclear yet if O’Dowd will be singing in the film which is expected to have number of musical moments. Source – Variety

Reeve Carney, last seen in The Tempest, is set to star as legendary singer songwriter Jeff Buckley. The biopic is going head to head with other Buckley project Greetings From Tim Buckley which will see Gossip Girl’s Penn Badgley play Jeff. The two films will focus on different parts of his life so there is not a direct competition at hand.  The Reeve version, which has no concrete title at this point, will be directed by Jake Scott (son of Ridley) and has the full backing of the Buckley family. Source - Collider

Mirkwood, the Steve Hillard fictional novel about J R R Tolkien, is set to be made into a movie by EMO Films. The story, which has been disputed by the Tolkien estate and therefore has no connections with it, sees The Lord Of The Rings writer travel to New York with precious documents that could allow forces of evil to help the dark creatures of his fantasy land come through to this world. Source – Heat Vision

Monday 15^th August

The Lone Ranger film which was supposed to star Johnny Depp as Tonto and Armie Hammer as The Ranger has hit a snag in pre-production. Disney has now put a holt to the proceedings with the concern that the film’s budget was spiralling out of control. This comes in the wake of many studios believing many movies are costing too much. It seems Disney will still continue with the film, set to be directed by Pirates Of The Caribbean director Gore Verbinski, but at a re-tooled and smaller budget. Source – Deadline Hollywood and Variety.

Cheryl Cole, not a name we expected to be reporting in on this feed, is set to appear in the already vast cast of What To Expect When You’re Expecting. The film boasts the likes of Cameron Diaz, Jennifer Lopez, Elizabeth Banks, Anna Kendrick, Chris Rock and Chace Crawford. Cole will reportedly appear in a cameo role as a TV Talent Show Judge. If anyone says type-casting we’ll…. Source – Deadline Hollywood

Tom Cruise, gearing up to play Jack Reacher in One Shot, is close to sniffing out his leading lady for the film. Based on Lee Child’s novel and being adapted and directed by Christopher McQuarrie it seems there are three ladies in competition for the lead female role. Those lucky ladies are Halley Atwell, most recently seen as Captain American’s squeeze, Rosamund Pike, who shone in An Education, and Alexa Davalos who was last seen in Clash Of The Titans. So who do you think is the best fit for the new look Reacher? Source – Heat Vision

Batman and Superman are rumoured to be potentially appearing in a film together. Sources indicate that Warner Brothers wants to unite the two heroes once Superman has been re-established on the big screen with Zck Synder’s The Man Of Steel. The hope is that both Christian Bale and Henry Cavil would appear in their respective roles. Wolfgang Peterson tried to get a similar project running over a decade ago before Warner decided to re-boot both franchises. Although it is unlikely such a project would come off, especially with Bale involved to do be surprised to the The Justice League Of America start to gather steam based on this rumour and the potential success of The Avengers. Source – Think McFly Think.

Seven Psychopaths, the latest film from In Bruges writer/director Martin McDonagh, has now completed its impressive cast. The film will see a screenwriter (played by In Bruge’s Colin Farrell) trying to write a script called Seven Psychopaths. But while writing he is lured into a dog kidnapping scam by his friends, played by Sam Rockwell and Christopher Walken. The problem is that the dog in question belongs to angry mob boss Mickey Rourke (and we all know how attached to his canine friends he is). Source – Twitch

Disney have picked up the rights to The Finest Hour. The book, based on real events and written by Michael J Tougias, is set in 1952 and sees the rescues attempt by ill-equipped coast guards to rescue the crew of two oil tankers that were smashed to pieces during a storm. The script will be written by Oscar nominated writing team for The Fighter Paul Tamsay and Eric Johnson. Source – Deadline Hollywood.

Patrick Wilson, the star of Watchmen and Insidious, will apparently appear in Ridley Scott’s Alien prequel Prometheus. There is no mention of who he will play but seeing as the film has been shooting for a couple of months it was assumed that the cast was already full. The film will also star Charlize Theron, Michael Fassbender, Noomi Rapace, Guy Pearce and Idris Elba. Source – Coming Soon

US Box Office saw Rise Of The Planet Of The Apes remain at the number one spot for a second week running while break-out hit The Help came second with a respectable $35.5 Million. Source – Deadline Hollywood.  

Friday 12^th August

Eminem, absent from the big-screen since his hit debut 8 Mile, looks like he will have to delay his acting come-back for a while longer. The rapper was set to star in the Antoine Fuqua directed movie Southpaw for DreamWorks. However, the studio has now pulled out of the project. With Eminem and Fuqua still attached it shouldn’t take long for the boxing pic, in which Eminem would play the title role, to find funding from elsewhere. Source – Deadline

John Landis, the man who brought us iconic hits like American Werewolf In Paris and The Blues Brothers, is developing a monster movie set in Parls. Landis is keeping the plot under wraps but did let on that the cast will have to be bilingual in French and English. Source – Coming Soon

The Barefoot Bandit, aka Colton Harris-Moore, the young criminal who went on crime spree until finally being caught fleeing the US in a stolen boat and plane has sold his story rights to 20^th Century Fox. The fee is believed to be in the region of $1.4 Million for the rights. Who says crime doesn’t pay? Source – Coming Soon.

Scott Glen, most recently seen as the mysterious mentor in Sucker Punch, is looking to jump back into the Bourne Franchise by reprising his role of CIA Director Ezra Kramer. Tony Gilroy, who wrote all of the previous instalments in the series is also directing this one that will see Jeremy Renner’s agent as a former colleague of the now absent Jason Bourne, aka Matt Damon. The cast is already looking solid with the likes of Joan Allen and Albert Finney returning as well as being joined by Ed Norton and Rachel Weisz. Source – Coming Soon

Highlander, the 80s cult classic was in store for a remake with Fast Five director Justin Lin making sure there can be only one. However, he is so busy with the next Fast movie, and then looking to take a stab at a Terminator film, that he has had to jump ship. Summit Entertainment are hoping to make Highlander a franchise to replace the soon to be finished Twilight so expect this one to be almost as immortal as the characters of the film.  Source – Heat Vision

Stephen King is seriously hot property right now. With The Stand in the works, The Dark Tower probably still ticking over somewhere in development, news now comes that his soon to be published 11/22/63 is to be adapted into a film. The story, which will hit shelves in November, will see a High School teacher travel back in time to try and prevent JFK’s assassination. Silence of The Lambs director Jonathan Demme is looking to start production later this year. Source – Variety

Robert Redford’s latest project, The Company You Keep, is certainly attracting an impressive cast with news that Susan Sarandon, Julie Christie and Richard Jenkins are all in talks to join. They will support Redford as a former underground militant who is exposed by a plucky reporter, to be played by Shia LaBeouf. Adapted by Lem Dobbs from the Neil Gordon novel, Redford will also direct. Source – Deadline Hollywood.

Phasma Ex Machina, or Ghost From The Machine, for non-Latin-speaking scholars, was a 2010 micro-budget movie by Matt Osterman. Universal liked the film so much that they have commissioned a pseudo follow-up called Our House. Moon writer Nathan Parker will write the script with Garey Shore directing. Phasma Ex Machina saw a grieving engineer student build a machine that blurred the lines between this life and the after life. It is unclear which elements of the story will stay in place. Source – Deadline

Bridget Jones is now officially scribbling her way back onto the big screen thanks to Universal and Working Title. Author Helen Fielding has a third book in the works and that will likely form the basis of the third film. Source – Coming Soon.

Trent Reznor, the Oscar winning composer for The Social Network and front man to Nine Inch Nails, has put a seven-minute clip of music for his next project The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo. Click Here to Listen to his brilliance.

Twilight fans take a deep breath as some new images have been released from Breaking Dawn and they are certainly erring on the side of sexy. That is if you find chess sexy? See below. Source – Entertainment Weekly

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Thursday 11^th August

Morgan Freeman, currently shooting The Dark Knight Rises, is in talks to join the cast of Now You See Me. The film follows a group of magicians, led by Jesse Eisenberg, who use their magic for heist purposes. If he signs, Freeman will play Thaddeus a Magician who has made a career exposing the secrets behind magic and therefore despised throughout the magic community. Amanda Seyfried and Melanie Laurent are also on board for the Louis Leterrier directed film. Source – Coming Soon

Keanu Reeves, the star of The Matrix films, is looking to expand his career with the roles of writer and director. Reeves has written an action script called Man Of Tai Chi as a starring vehicle for Tiger Chen, a key stunt player from The Matrix movies. Reeves would look to direct the film as well as play the villain of the piece. Source - Twitch

The Harry Potter Team of director David Yates and writer Steven Kloves look to have set their sites on a new project in the form of another literary adaptation. They will look to make a three picture deal with Warner Brothers with Stephen King’s The Stand being the source material. The Stand is an epic battle between good and evil after most of the human population is wiped out by a deadly virus. Source - HitFix

Eddie Murphy, no stranger to animated voices with the Shrek movies under he belt, will lend his dulcet tones to the cartoon adaptation of Hong Kong Phooey. Based on the Hanna-Barbera 70s cartoon of the same name which saw a dog learn kung-fu and become a crime fighter. Alex Zamm, who directed Tooth Fairy 2, will call the shots. Source – Deadline

Mark Wahlberg is in talks to star in another comic book adaptation. 2 Guns sees a DEA officer and a Naval Investigation Officer cross paths when they realise they are investigating each other both stealing mob money. At one point the project was to be directed by Wahlberg’s The Fighter director David O Russell with Vince Vaughn in one of the lead roles. Source – Deadline Hollywood

Daniel Barber, the director of Harry Brown, is in talks to helm Substitution. The plot is similar to Hitchcock’s Strangers On A Train but will see a substitute teacher convince a student in swapping murder targets with him. Source – Coming Soon

Wednesday 10^th August

Bruce Willis, the quintessential action-man, is in talks to play the original Joe in G.I. Joe 2: Retaliation. If he signs Willis will play General Joe Colton who founded the G.I. Joe Strike Team. The film already boasts the likes of Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson, Ray Stevenson, RZA and countless more meat for the grinder. Source – Heat Vision 

The Terrorist Search Engine, is a film being adapted, from a New York Magazine Article by Wesley Yang, by Oren Moverman. The film, which was originally set up as a project for Jesse Eisenberg, will see a man called Evan Francois Kohlmann nicknamed ‘The Doogie Howser Of Terrorism’ for his methods of using internet technology to track down terrorists. Source – Coming Soon.  

John C McGinley, aka Scrubs’ Doctor Cox, has joined the cast of I, Alex Cross. The film will see Tyler Perry as the titular detective with McGinley set to play his boss. Based on James Patterson’s best selling books, and previously seen as Morgan Freeman in Kiss The Girls and Along Came A Spider, I, Alex Cross will also star Matthew Fox, Rachel Nicols, Jean Reno and Giancarlo Esposito. Source - Variety

The Killing’s Mireille Enos has beaten out strong competition in she shape of Amy Adams and Kate Winslett to play Josh Brolin’s wife in The Gangster Squad. The film sees a group of LA cops in the 40s & 50s assigned to prevent corruption entering into Mafia cases. The films cast is already awash with names such as Emma Stone, Ryan Gosling, Sean Penn, Giovanni Ribisi and Robert Patrick. Source Variety.

Vera Famriga, the always brilliant star of Up In The Air and Source Code, is set to star opposite the equally dependable Mark Strong in Closer To The Moon. Set in Communist Romania the film will see Strong as a bank robber being sentenced to death for his crimes because he is a Jew. Farmiga will play his former girlfriend and mother to his child. Nae Caranfil will call the shots on the film. Source – Deadline Hollywood

Matt Dillion, will star alongside Kristen Wiig in her pet-project Imogene. The film will also star Annette Benning who is dating Dillon believing he is a CIA agent. Wiig will take the title role of a playwright whose attempted suicide sees her forced to live with her gambling addict mother, played by Benning. Source – Deadline Hollywood

Robert Schwentke, the man behind last years surprise hit RED, will turn his attention to something a little more serious in the form of true life story The Poison Kitchen. The film is about Muenchener Post, a paper based in Munich during the rise of Hitler. It was the paper that was warning people about the man long before anyone cared to listen. So annoyed was Hitler with the paper that when he took power he had the offices and printing press destroyed by storm troopers. The script will be written by Matthew Sand, who wrote Ninja Assassin (wait, what?! OK, moving on). Source - Variety

R.I.P.D. the comic book adaptation, that sees Ryan Reynolds as a deceased police officer now being a cop in the after life, has acquired a leading lady in the form of Stephanie Szostak. Her last big-screen outing was in Dinner For Schmucks and here she will play Reynolds’ grieving wife. Robert Schwentke, yes him again, will call the shots. Source- Deadline Hollywood

The Hunger Games is still some way off its 23^rd March 2012 release but with Twilight levels of fans out there the promo material is in overdrive. Lucky for us then we have a couple of stills from the film for you to see. Below you will find the always brilliant Jennifer Lawrence as Katniss Everdeen.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Tuesday 9^th August

The Hunger Games, the films based on the popular selling novels by Suzanne Collins, is following the trend of The Amazing Spider-Man by announcing its sequel release date before the first instalment hits cinemas. Of course much of the cast of these films are locked in for multi-picture deals so it is of little surprise they expect to make more than one film. The Hunger Games follow up will be called Catching Fire. Source – Variety

Dirty Dancing looks to be spinning and pirouetting its way back to the big screen with a remake by High School Musical director Kenny Ortega. Lionsgate will make the film a priority and will see the same story from the original of an indulged girl who falls for her dancing instructor. Source – Deadline Hollywood

Disney is teaming with Ben Stiller to help them produce an adaptation of the documentary Quantum Hoops. The film will follow a basketball team that went 21 seasons without a win. Desperate for a win they hired an exiled coach to guide them to glory. At present Stiller is only attached as a producer but foes of course have form in this area having directed and stared in Dodgeball. Source – Deadline

Gerard Butler is in talks to star in the screen adaptation of The Bricklayer. The book, by Noah Boyd, sees a disgraced former FBI agent dragged back into the Bureau to help them capture a deadly criminal who is determined to humiliate the FBI. Hanna Weg is set to writer the screenplay. Source – Coming Soon

Russell Crowe, who was rumoured to be taking the role of the corrupt mayor in Broken City has now officially signed onto the project. Mark Wahlberg will take the lead role of a private eye hired by the mayor to track his wife only to discover that the mayor is deep in political intrigue. Allen Hughes will call the shots on the noir thriller which made 2008 Black List of best unproduced scripts. Source – Deadline Hollywood.

Tom Cruise appears in the latest promotional material for Mission Impossible; Ghost Protocol. He looks appropriately moody and distinctly disavowed as an MI agent. Rumour has it this will be Cruises’ last outing in the series with co-star Jeremy Renner taking over the leadership duties. See Below.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Monday 8^th August

The Amazing Spider-Man will not be in cinemas for another year but clearly what Sony have seen of the film they like as they have now green-lit and set a release date for The Amazing Spider-Man 2. Writer James Vanderbilt is currently working on a script with Andrew Garfield expected to return as your friendly neighbourhood spider. Source – Heat Vision

World War Z, the adaptation of Max Brooks’ brilliant Zombie apocalypse novel, will get some Breaking Bad magic in the form of Bryan Cranston. The film stars Brad Pitt as a journalist gathering stories of various survivors of the zombie wars. The film is currently shooting in England with Monsters Ball director Marc Foster calling the shots. Source – Coming Soon.

David Cronenberg, the director of The Fly and A History Of Violence, will direct an adaptation of As She Climbed Across The Table. The book is written by Jonathan Lethem and sees a love triangle form between an academic, his particle physicist girlfriend and the black hole she creates. She becomes so obsessed with the Black Hole, she calls Lack, that her boyfriend will stop at nothing to win her back. Source – Coming Soon

Jesse Eisenberg, the Oscar nominate star of The Social Network, is in talks to star in Submarine director Richard Ayoade’s second feature film. Submarine was a stunning debut and Ayoade has clearly made a name for himself with it. His follow up with be an adaptation of Fyodor Dostoyevsky’s The Double, which sees a man discover that his double is working in the same office as him. Source – Vulture.

Matthew McConaughey and Reese Witherspoon are in talks to star in Mud. The film is about a prisoner breaking free to return to the love of his life. Jeff Nichols will direct the film hot off the back of his Sundance hit Take Shelter starring Michael Shannon. Source - Vulture

Gareth Edwards, the break out star director of last years brilliant Monsters, was rumoured to be making Godzilla as his next project. However, it turns out he has another sci-fi film in the works before the big lizard film gets under way. There is no title but the film will follow a 5 year old boy and his robot travelling across the galaxy to try and find the origins of the all but wiped out human race. Wanted and Night Watch director Timur Bekmambetov will produce the film, which Edwards wants to see as a robot Star Wars. Source – Twitch

Rise Of The Planet Of The Apes stormed the US Box-Office over the weekend taking in a very healthy $54 Million. The film received some very postive reviews and clearly the public voted with their feet. Jason Bateman/Ryan Reynolds body-swap comedy did not fair so well only making $13 Million over the weekend. Source – Box Office Mojo.  

Catwoman has decided to make an appearence. Yesterday it was Superman that Warner Brothers decided to show off and today it's Anne Hathaway as Catwoman. We've seen Tom Hardy as Bane and are familiar with Christian Bale as The Caped Crusader, so what do you think of Catwoman, below? The implication from Warners is that this might not be the complete costume as they have labeled it Selena Kyle, Catwoman's real name. Worrying she seems to have got her hands on Batman's Batpod!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Hunger Games seems to have acquired an interesting new addition in the form of its second unit director. It is rumoured that Steven Soderbergh, Oscar winning director of Traffic, is filling that role. Soderbergh says he plans on retiring from directing soon and maybe this is his first step into a less high pressure job. Source – The Playlist

Thor looks to be close to finding himself a new director in the shape of Brian Kirk. Kirk has form with the more eccentric characters of this world having directed three episodes of the brilliant Game Of Thrones. Source – Coming Soon

Kenneth Branagh, the former Thor director, is lining up his next project called The Guernsey Literary And Potato Peel Society. The film will follow a letter relationship between a writer in London and a resident on the titular Island. In the letters the story of the society set up by the islanders during World War II to undermine the Germans. Source – Variety

Marvel are having to delve into some of the lesser known heroes of their back catalogue now that the likes of Thor and Captain America are out of the stable. With Doctor Strange in development it now looks like Guardians Of The Galaxy will also get a big screen outing. The story sees a group of aliens, all the last survivors of their race, protecting the galaxy. They are then sent through time to protect Earth. Source – Twitch

Mark Ruffalo, currently getting all green as The Hulk in The Avengers, is in talks to join Now You See Me. The film follows a group of elite magcians pulling of crime capers and the FBI task force sent to track them down. The film already boasts Jesse Eisenberg and Melanie Laurent and will be directed by The Incredible Hulk helmer Louis Lettereir. Amanda Seyfriend is also in talks to join the film. Source – Variety.

Ice Age 4, looks like it is going ahead. The franchise, which as already grossed more than $4 Billion in all its formats, is looking to add the vocal talent of Jeremy Renner, Jennifer Lopez, Alan Tudyk and Nick Frost. The original cast from the previous films will all return as well. Source – Deadline Hollywood.

Brett Ratner, the man behind films like Money Talks and the Rush Hour Franchise, is set to produce the 84^th Academy Awards, aka The Oscars. It might be a strange choice but Ratner has form in producing big films and TV shows so could be a good fit. We’re just praying he doesn’t ask Chris Tucker to host. Source – Deadline Hollywood.

Short Circuit looks to be getting a re-boot and is set to be directed by Hop director Tim Hill. The 1986 film saw a fast talking robot befriend an animal loving woman and going on the run from the military organisation he escaped from. Source – Deadline Hollywood

Johnny Depp’s production company Infinitum Nihil has picked up the rights to graphic comic The Vault. The comic follows a team of treasure hunters who find themselves trapped by a storm and must face the horrors that lurk within the Vault. Source – Heat Vision.

 

Thursday 4^th August

Superman is here! Below is the first look at Henry Cavill as Superman in Zack Synder's Man Of Steel. Source - Coming Soon

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Benjamin Walker, who is currently playing Abraham Lincoln; Vampire Slayer, looks set to play another iconic figure in the form of The Archangel Gabriel in Paradise Lost. Adaped from John Milton’s 17^th Century poem, the film will see the epic battle between Heaven and Hell and in particular Gabriel and Lucifer. Lucifer will be played by Bradley Cooper while Alex Proyas, of The Crow and I Robot fame, will call the shots. Source – Deadline Hollywood

Mark Steven Johnson, who previously made films like Ghost Rider and Daredevil, will direct Autobahn. The thriller is about an ex Formula 1 driver who wakes in a car on the famed German motorway and must deliver the bomb rigged car to its destination or his family will be killed. The film was previously called I-95 but the location has changed to bring in a more international audience. Source – Heat Vision

Cluedo fans may have to start an all new investigation of their own with news that Universal has pulled out of making the film Clue. It means that producer Gore Verbinski and rights holders Hasbro are free to look for funding elsewhere. Source – Deadline Hollywood

Disney’s take on the Snow White story is now underway. Commercials director Michael Gracey will take the reigns on The Order Of The Seven. The twist here, unlike the rival project Snow White & The Huntsman, is that this story will take place in 19^th Century China and see an English woman being protected by seven international warriors. We’re still hoping they’ll make that Seven Samurai. Tarsem Singh is also working on a project of Snow White so be prepared for a lot of apple eating, evil queens and dwarves. Kind of like a twisted Mardi Gras. Source – The Hollywood Reporter

The Darkest Hour Trailer has arrived. Starring the always-brilliant Emile Hirsch it sees a group of teenagers trapped in Russia during an Alien Invasion. You can see the trailer Here

Wednesday 3^rd August

Laurence Fishburne, the former Morpheus of The Matrix, has signed on to play Perry White in Superman; The Man Of Steel. Superman fans may have something to say about the film’s casting going against the origins of the character but the fact remains that Fishburne will certainly know how to bring White’s mentor like wisdom to the role. He joins the cast that already includes, Henry Cavill, Amy Adams, Russell Crowe, Diane Lane, Kevin Costner, Michael Shannon and Julia Ormond. Source – Entertainment Weekly

Zack Synder, currently working on the aforementioned Superman, will turn his frantic gaze to The Last Photograph. The film sees two men, potentially played by Christian Bale and Sean Penn, inspired to travel to Afghanistan based on a photo. Swedish Girl With The Dragon Tattoo director Niels Arden Oplev had been on board to direct but has since walked. Synder will fit in well to the project as he was already on producing duties and shares a co-writing credit on the script. Source – Twitch

Chris Evans, currently beating up Nazis as Captain America, has been offered the lead role in Albert Hughes’ Motor City. Hughes recently walked away from the live action version of Akira and onto Motor City that was on The Black List, of best-unproduced scripts in Hollywood, until now. The story follows a petty crook who is framed and sent to prison, however on his release he hunts down those who put him there. Evans has been offered that role and the rumour is that there is only one line of dialogue in the entire script.  Source - Twitch

Doctor Strange, the Marvel comic hero, could be making his way to the big screen. One of Marvel’s lesser known heroes, Strange is a doctor who survives a car crash only to become Earth’s Sorcerer Supreme whose job it is to protect the earth from other realms. Cowboys And Aliens writers Thomas Donnelly and Joshua Oppenheimer have already submitted a draft for the project. Source - Twitch

Ben Foster, most recently seen trading quips opposite Jason Statham in The Mechanic, will play John Gotti Jnr in the film that already boasts John Travolta as Gotti Snr as well as Al Pacino, Kelly Preston and a currently suing the production Joe Pesci. Barry Levinson is calling the shots. Source – Deadline Hollywood

Stephen King fans rejoice as it looks like Pet Sematary will get another filmic outing. Alexandre Aja, the man behind the insane Piranha 3D and Switchblade Romance, looks to be first in line to call the shots on the story of a family who learn that the sematary they live near brings the dead back to life. Source - Twitch

Paul Schrader, the writer of Taxi Driver is teaming up with Brett Easton Ellis, the author of American Psycho. Together they will write Bait about a man seeking revenge on the rich by taking a group of them on a boat trip into shark infested waters. Schrader will also direct the film. Source – Heat Vision

Anthony Mackie, one of the Hurt Locker stars, has joined Vipaka opposite Forest Whitaker. The film will see the pair as enemies squaring off against each other in the voodoo back-drop of New Orleans. Source – Coming Soon

Russell Brand, still seems to be flavour of the month for Hollywood, has been offered the co-lead in Juno writer Diablo Cody’s Lamb Of God. The film will follow a woman who loses her faith after a plane crash and goes to live a life of sin in Las Vegas. It is unclear at this point, with plot details being kept under wraps, who Brand will play. We’re hoping some kind of devilish gambler to tempt her even further. The film will mark Cody’s directorial debut. Source - Twitch

Brad Pitt can currently be found in the Cornwall region as shooting is currently taking place there on World War Z. The film sees the Zombie apocalypse from various different perspectives with Pitt playing a reporter gathering all the tales.  

 

Tuesday 2^nd August

Bradley Cooper, very much Hollywood’s man of the moment, is in talks to replace Mark Wahlberg on The Silver Lining Playbook. The Fighter director David O Russell is set to direct the film based on Matthew Quick’s novel about former high school teacher who is released from a mental institution and tries to get his life back on track. Jennifer Lawrence and Robert De Niro also look set to takes parts. Source – Deadline Hollywood.

Mark Wahlberg, speaking of the man leaving The Silver Lining Playbook, it seems likely that he left that project due to scheduling conflicts with Broken City. City is a nourish thriller about a Private Eye who becomes embroiled in a corruption case involving the city’s Mayor. Russell Crowe looks set to play the mayor and Allen Hughes, of The Hughes Brothers, will call the shots. Source – Deadline Hollywood.

Bill Murray and Laura Linney have started shooting Hyde Park And Hudson. Murray will play Franklin D Roosevelt hosting the first visit to America by the King And Queen Of England. Olivia Williams will play Eleanor Roosevelt while Linney will play Franklin’s cousin Daisy. Venus director Roger Mitchell will call the shots on production in London and New York. 

Cary Fukunaga, the director behind Sin Nombre and the upcoming Jane Eyre, is set to direct, and re-write, the sci-fi thriller Spacless. The film sees an assassin floating through space in a space suit and must piece together his memory to help him understand how he got there, all before his air runs out. However, nothing is what it seems and he begins to question his own reality. Gore Verbinski will produce the film. Source – Heat Vision

Dark Castle have bought the rites to spec script Non-Stop. The thriller, which sees a US Marshall having to deal with events on a domestic flight, was written by un-signed writers John Richardson and Chris Roach. Joel Silver will produce with Never Back Down director Jeff Wadlow calling the shots. Source – Heat Vision.

Reese Witherspoon, one of Hollywood’s most bankable leading ladies, has joined Disney’s Wish List. The film will see a young girl make ten childhood wishes that don’t come true because her coin never hit the bottom of the wishing well. 25 years later she’s all grown up and that coin finds its way to the bottom only for Miss Witherspoon to have to deal with her younger self’s wishes all coming true at once. Randi Mayem Singer who originally wrote it for a male lead is now re-working it for Witherspoon. Source - Deadline Hollywood.

Cowboys And Aliens, the little green men did manage to beat the little blue men of The Smurfs at the US Box Office after all. The eventual figures shows Cowboys making $36.4 Million to Smurfs $35.6 Million. Source – Deadline Hollywood.

Die Hard 5, it seems that yesterday’s news was pre-emptive as the franchise is heading to Russia but has not locked in a director yet. Max Payne director John Moore is in the running but so is Fast Five director Justin Lin and more surprisingly Attack The Block’s Joe Cornish. It is testament to the success of Cornish’s work on Block that can put him in the running for such a jump in potential film budgets. As an obvious movie aficionado we’re routing for Cornish on this one. Source – Deadline Hollywood.

Harry Potter And The Deathly Hallows Part 2, has now passed the $1 Billion mark at the box-office. It is the first film in the franchise to do this. Source – Deadline Hollywood.

 

Monday 1^st August

Leonardo DiCaprio clearly has a thing for all things Western at the moment. Not enough to be in talks to play the villain in Quentin Taratino’s Django Unchained he is now considering a part in The Creed Of Violence. Based on the book by Boston Teran the film will see a gunslinger trying to take weapons to Mexico only to be caught and escorted by a government agent, who may share a past with him. DiCaprio could be tempted by either role with In The Bedroom director Todd Fields calling the shots. Source – The L.A. Times

Pablo Escobar, the famed Columbian drug lord, could be making his way to the big screen thanks to The Lincoln Lawyer Director Brad Furman. Fans of Entourage will know just how hard it is to make a film about Escobar who became so powerful in his native Columbia that the national army as well as the US DEA and CIA were hunting him. Source – The Hollywood Reporter

Bruce Willis could be set to once again don the vest of John McClane but this time could see him team with his son and head to Russia. Reports are that John Moore, who directed Max Payne and Behind Enemy Lines, has been offered to direct this one. Source – Twitch

The Leaf Men is a story about a group of insects that need protection from the evil spider queen so summon the legendary Leaf Men to aid them in their battle. It all sounds very Bugs Life with a twist and this will indeed be an animated film from Robots and Ice Age director Chris Wedge. The film is being adapted from William Joyce’s children’s book The Leaf Men & The Brave Good Bugs. Source – Coming Soon

The Mighty graphic novel looks to be swooping its way to the big screen. Drew Pearce is adapting the story of an enforcer who learns that a super hero, Alpha One, is connected to a his own childhood tragedy and must stop the renegade from destroying the earth. Pearce is also working on the upcoming script for Iron Man 3. Source – Variety

Cameron Crowe has set 80s hearts a flutter by saying that he may re-visit the story of Say Anything. The film, which contained the iconic moment of John Cusack holding a boom-box above his head to woo his would-be girlfriend, saw Cusack as a charming yet underachieving high schooler trying to date the smartest girl in school. If he did go back to say anything it would be the first time Crowe has ever made a sequel. Source – The Wrap

US Box Office predictions for the weekend show a strange set of results. It looks like, and final figures will clarify this, Cowboys And Aliens some how tied the opening weekend box-office with none other than Smurfs The Movie. Time will tell if it is the little green men or little blue men that win out. Source - Empire

 

Friday, 29^th July

Olivia Wilde, The Tron Legacy star and soon to be seen in Cowboys And Aliens, is toying with the idea of playing infamous porn star Linda Lovelace in a biopic. She better be quick though as Malin Akerman is already playing the role in a competing film about Lovelace having replaced Lindsey Lohan. Source - Crave

Kevin Bacon, fresh off villain duties in X-Men; First Class, is primed to play another bad-guy in comic book adaptation R.I.P.D. The film sees Ryan Reynold’s recently deceased cop policing the spirit world. Jeff Bridges will play Reynold’s mentor while RED director Robert Schwentke will call the shots. Source – Variety

Willem Dafoe, is poised to join Guillermo Del Toro’s Pacific Rim. The film sees huge alien monsters destroying cities until giant, human piloted, robots are built to fight back. Dafoe would play a man who has unique knowledge of the beastly monsters. The cast is filling out nicely with Idris Elba, Charlie Day, Rinko Kikuchi and now, former Eastenders actor Rob Kazinsky also dropping in. Kazinsky had been set to play a dwarf in Peter Jackson’s The Hobbit but had to drop out. It now seems that Jackson recommended him to Del Toro for Pacific Rim. Source - Empire

Katherine Bigelow, the Oscar Winning director of The Hurt Locker, has been given the release date of her Seal Team 6 film. The story will follow the team of Navy Seals who were sent to assassinate Osama Bin Laden. Hurt Locker scribe Mark Boal is writing the film, which will be released in October 2012. Source – Deadline Hollywood

Antione Fuqua, the Training Day director, is slated to helm Storming Las Vegas. The true-life story sees a Cuban-born, Soviet- trained commando called Jose Vigoa who set out on a crime spree robbing casinos in the early 90s. Source – Deadline Hollywood.

Rob Cohen, the man behind XXX and The Fast And The Furious, is gearing up to make Korean War epic 1950. Based on the New York Herald Tribune article by Marguerite Higgins, which would win her a Pulitzer Prize, the film will follow Higgins crossing Korea and witnessing 200,000 Koreans cross the boarder on Christmas Eve as they fled the Chinese and North Korean Army. Source – Coming Soon

 

Thursday, 28^th July

Danny Boyle, fresh off the back of 127 Hours is already at work on his new project Trance. The film already has James McAvoy starring and has now added Rosario Dawson and Vincent Cassel to its ranks. McAvoy will play a man on the inside of an art heist gone wrong while Cassel will play the man looking to make sure he takes the fall. Source – Deadline Hollywood

JJ Abrams, hot off the back of the US success of Super 8, is now looking to the future, specifically the Star Trek 2 future. He is sitting down with Trek writing team of Damon Lindelof, Alex Kurtzman and Roberto Orci to hammer out story details. Currently Abrams has not fully committed to direct the film, like he did the first, but is almost certain to produce with most of the cast expected to return. Source – Deadline Hollywood

Simon Pegg is set to star in A Fantastic Fear Of Everything. Pegg will play a children’s author whose meticulous research into Victorian serial killers has left him terrified of being murdered. Former Kula Shaker front man Crispin Hill is directing the film and will mark the first out-put of the recently formed Pinewood Films.

Jackie Weaver, the Oscar nominated actress for her turn in Animal Kingdom, has signed on to join the cast of Stoker. The film already boasts the likes of Nicole Kidman, Matthew Goode and Mia Wasikowska and will follow a young girl mourning the death of her father and having to deal with a mysterious uncle. Written by Prison Break’s Wentworth Miller, the film will mark the English language debut of Old Boy director Chan-wook Park. Source – Deadline Hollywood.

George Clooney’s latest directorial effort The Ides Of March has now got a flashy and smart looking poster featuring Clooney and co-star Ryan Gosling. The film sees Gosling as a Presidential candidate’s, played by Clooney, press spokesman. You can see the Poster and trailer below: Source – Coming Soon 

Click Below To View The Ides Of March Trailer

http://www.filmjuice.com/ides-of-march-the.html

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Wednesday 27^th July

Kristen Stewart the star of Twilight, will not appear in her mother's (Jules Stewart), directorial debut K-11. It had been rumoured that Kristen would appear as a transgendered character but that has now been dispelled. The film will however see Kristen’s brother Cameron Stewart make his acting bow. Source – Variety

All Quiet On The Western Front is getting another film adaptation. The story, based on the book by Enrique Remarque, follows a young German solider while fighting in the trenches during World War I. Deep Impact and The Peacemaker director Mimi Leder will call the shots. Source – Deadline Hollywood

Ron Howard, having already overseen two of Dan Brown’s film adaptations in the form of Angels & Demons and The Da Vinci Code, will not be directing the third film. Howard will instead produce The Lost Symbol while Sony now look for a new director. Source – Deadline Hollywood

Nicolas Cage and John Cusack will both star in The Frozen Ground. The film will tell the story of true life family man, played by Cusack, who, over the course of 12 years, flew 24 women out to Alaska to be hunted. Cage will play the State Trooper who helped track him down. The film will see Scott Walker make his directorial debut. Source – Deadline Hollywood

Jason Bateman is rumoured to be joining We’re The Millers. The film sees a drug dealer who decides to give up the game on his 30^th Birthday after one final score. The film is being directed by Dodgeball writer/director Rowan Marshall Thurber. Source – Pajiba

GI Joe 2 has recruited its Mouse, in the form of The Pacific’s Joe Mozzello. Mazzello is most famous for his role as the young Tim in Jurassic Park. He joins Channing Tatum, Dwayne Johnson and Adrianne Palicki in the Jon M. Chu directed Joe sequel. Source – Deadline Hollywood

Emma Stone, the hotly rising star of Easy A and soon to be Gwen Stacey in The Amazing Spider-Man, could join the already stellar cast of The Gangster Squad. The film follows a team of 1940 LAPD cops known as The Gangster Squad whose job it was keep corruption out of mafia investigations. The likes of Josh Brolin, Ryan Gosling, Giovanni Ribisi and Anthony Mackie are already aboard. Source – Variety

Joan Allen and Albert Finney are both returning to the Bourne Franchise in its new Jeremy Renner starring guise. Allen played the cold-hearted Angela Lansbury in the original films while Finney cropped up at the end of the series as a mysterious doctor. Source – Variety

Jeffery Katzenberg, the head of Dream Works Animation, is standing by the use of 3D but has said that given the current financial climate the studio will release their films in 2D to offer filmgoers a cheaper alternative. Katzenberg had previously been a keen supporter for distributors to up their ticket prices for 3D films. Source – Deadline Hollywood

 

Tuesday, 26^th July

Bonnie & Clyde look to be back on the Hollywood radar with Limitless Director Neil Burger set to call the shots. The film will be based on the book Go Down Together; The True, Untold Story of Bonnie And Clyde by Jeff Guinn. Guinn’s book paints a more gritty picture than the original Bonnie & Clyde. Such matters as Bonnie being a prostitute and Clyde being sexually abused in prison will make this less of a glorified telling of the infamous criminals. At present Burger’s name is only loosely attached as he is currently prepping video-game adaptation Uncharted; Drake’s Fortune. Source – Deadline Hollywood.

The Hangover director Todd Phillips has acquired the rights to a Rolling Stone Magazine article titled Arms & Dudes. Written by Guy Lawson the article tells the story of two men from Miami who found themselves as global arms dealers. Phillips will produce and may direct after his huge success on both Hangover films and Due Date. Source – Coming Soon

The Nutcracker is once again being tipped to shine on the big-screen in the second of two planned live-action versions. Universal is going toe-to-toe with New Line who have their own version in the works. Rise Of The Planet Of The Apes writers John Mann and Jon Gunn are scribing this one. The story sees a girl given a magical nutcracker for Christmas only to be thrown into a war with the Mouse King. Source – Heat Vision

Liev Schreiber has joined PJ Hogan’s Mental. He’ll likely play a seedy politician that hires a hitchhiker called Shaz, played by Toni Collette, to babysit his children after his wife is committed due to his numerous affairs. Source – Empire

Rawson Thurber (We can’t express how cool that name is), the writer of Dodgeball, will adapt the graphic novel The Umbrella Academy. The comic, written by Gerard Way (lead singer of My Chemical Romance) sees an alienated family of super heroes come together after the death of the father. Source - Deadline Hollywood.

Wolf Creek, the brilliantly scary Aussie horror film could be set for a sequel. Writer Director Greg McLean is keeping plot details under wraps but insists that it’s bigger badder and scarier than the first film. Source – Screendaily.

Spider-Man's Andrew Garfield & Emma Stone gave a rousing speech at The San Diego Comic-Con to introduce The Amazing Spider-Man Panel. See below. Source - YouTube 

 

Monday, 25^th July

Zac Effron is set to star in a comedy opposite Seth Rogen. Effron, who has been trying to establish himself as a star outside of the High School Musical franchise, will play a Frat boy opposite Rogen’s everyday man. Evan Goldberg, Rogen’s regular producing partner, is helping put the project together. Effron will next be seen in New Year’s Eve, the pseudo follow-up to Valentine’s Day starring Robert De Niro, Ashton Kutcher, Michelle Pfeiffer and Hilary Swank. Source – The Hollywood Reporter

Harrison Ford obviously enjoyed playing a cowboy in upcoming Cowboys & Aliens as he is now attached to play the most famous lawmen of the Wild West; Wyatt Earp. While at Comic-Con, promoting Cowboys & Aliens, it was revealed that Ford has signed up to star in Black Hats. The film is being adapted from the novel by Max Allan Collins and will see an aging Wyatt Earp facing an ever changing world. Source – Heat Vision 

Nicolas Cage told the panel at Comic-Con that Ghost Rider; Spirit Of Vengeance will be considerably more scary than the last film. He says he wants to explore the horror of the character rather than the mythology.  Source – Heat Vision

Captain Amercia knocked Harry Potter off his broom at the US Box Office this weekend. The Star Spangled one looks to be the biggest super hero movie opening of the year with estimated $65.8 Million. Harry Potter won’t be too sad as he still managed to conjure up a healthy $48 Million over the weekend. Source – Empire

Last Blood the graphic novel, by The Cosby Siblings, which sees Vampires protecting the last surviving humans after a zombie apocalypse, to maintain their food supply, will be directed by Mutant Chronicles director Simon Hunter. Source – Heat Vision

Francis Ford Coppola, not really one to normally be seen at Comic-Con was there this year and to huge admiration from the on looking crowd. Coppola was there promoting his latest film Twixt which sees Val Kilmer as a horror author on a book tour. He ends up in the mysterious town of Swann Valley only to find all manner of horrors including Vampire executions and a young girl, played by Elle Fanning, called V. Perhaps more importantly though he talked about the current state of cinema and how too many studios are using 3D as a plaster to solve bigger issues with their projects. Source - Empire

 

Friday, 22^nd July

Ridley Scott’s Prometheus, his long awaited follow-up/tie-in/prequel to Alien has shed some light on the project at this years Comic-Con. The film which boasts the impressive cast of; Charlize Theron, Michael Fassbender, Noomi Rapace and Idris Elba is not out for another year but Fox are anxious to start temping audiences now. It seems that there is a definite presence of Alien iconography in the film and that having shot in 3D Scott will never shoot on anything else. We wait with baited chest-burster. Source – Heat Vision

Superman has obviously had a bout of the Kryptonites as he won’t be soaring across our screens now until 2013. It seems that release schedules and the overall summer feel of the film would be better suited to a Summer 2013 release rather than the planned winter 2012. Source - Deadline Hollywood

Warner Brothers have snapped up the rights to Deborah Harkness’ novel A Discovery Of Witches. The book sees an Oxford Historian learn that she is part of a long line of witches and must protect an ancient manuscript from demons and vampires. Source - Heat Vision

Voltron the classic animation from the 1980s could be heading to the big-screen in a live action film thanks to Relativity Media. They’ve bought the rights to the property which sees five young warriors given access to robot lions that can bond to form the all powerful Voltron. With the success of the Transformers and with a distinctly Power Rangers like feel who knows how big Voltron could become. Source - Coming Soon 

Annette Bening will star alongside Bridesmaid’s Kristin Wigg in Imogene. Wigg will play the title role of a struggling playwright who fakes her own death, Bening will play her alcoholic mother. The film is something of a pet project for Wigg who has been trying to get it made for some time. American Splendor directors Shari Springer Berman and Robert Pulcini will oversee proceedings.  Source – Deadline Hollywood.

Oscar Isaac, last seen grappling with scantily girls in Sucker Punch, will take a role in the Bourne re-boot. He’ll play a brain-washed spy hot on the trail of Jeremy Renner’s hero. The film will also star Rachel Weisz and Edward Norton. – Source Deadline Hollywood.

 

Thursday, 21^st July

Escape From New York fans can either breath a sigh of relief or shed a tear of nostalgia as it looks like the planned re-make/re-boot is a step further away from happening. New Line, who were planning the new film, have allowed the rights to lapse therefore leaving it up for grabs, but also putting it further back down the production pecking order. With Kurt Russell getting on a bit to reprise the role of anti-hero Snake Pliskin names such as Gerard Butler, Jeremy Renner and Tom Hardy had all been touted as possible replacements. Source – Deadline Hollywood

Hilary Swank will star in and produce an adaptation of graphic novel Shrapnel. Swank will play the lead role of a Solar Alliance Marine who leads un uprising against the solar government on the planet Venus. Source – Variety

James McTeigue, who directed V For Vendetta, is lining up to direct Message From The King. The film will see a man called James King go to LA to investigate the disappearance of his sister.  The script has been written by Unknown scribes Oliver Butcher and Stephen Cornwall. Source – Deadline Hollywood

 Jennifer Lawrence not content with being the best thing in every film she’s been in thus far, not to mention nabbing the lead role in The Hunger Games franchise, is now rumoured to be the hot favourite to be cast in David O’Russell’s The Silver Linings Playbook. The film will centre on a former high school teacher, played by Mark Walhberg, after he is released from a mental institution. Desperate to get his life back on track he tries to win his wife back but becomes involved with his problematic neighbour. Lawrence is likely to fill that role having beaten off strong competition in the form of Blake Lively, Anne Hathaway and Rachel McAdams. Source – Deadline Hollywood.

The Cabin In The Woods has been through a fairly horrific time since it wrapped. Caught up in MGM’s financial worries the film has been gathering dust. It now seems we may finally get to see it with Lionsgate coming to the rescue. They will look to release the film in April of next year quite some time after its initial slated release date of 2009. The film was written by Buffy creator Joss Whedon and Cloverfield writer Drew Goddard, who also directed Cabin. Cabin boasts an impressive cast that includes Thor’s Chris Hemsworth, The West Wing’s Bradley Witford and the always brilliant Richard Jenkins. Source – Deadline Hollywood.

 

Wednesday, 20^th July

The Lone Ranger looks like he has found his villain in the form of Dwight Yoakam. No stranger to playing villains having played a fairly unscrupulous character in Panic Room, Yoakam will play Butch Cavendish opposite Armie Hammer’s Ranger and Johnny Depp’s Tonto. Director Gore Verbinski is also looking to add Helena Bonham Carter and Barry Pepper to the cast. Source – Coming Soon

Warner Bros have picked up the rights to a spec script called Second Son. Little is known about the script other than it is a Sci-Fi written by newcomer Justin Rhodes. Source – Heat Vision.

Ben Stiller is now rumoured to be directing as well as starring in Fox’s The Secret Life Of Walter Mitty remake. Stiller had already been onboard in an acting role but is now slated to direct as well. The film will follow Mitty (Stiller) as he tries to deal with his dominating wife by slipping into various fantasies. Source – Coming Soon

Liam Neeson action adventure The Grey has found distribution in the US by Open Road. The film, directed by Smoking Aces helmer Joe Carnahan, sees a group of oil riggers, lead by Neeson, stranded in Alaska and being hunted by a pack of wolves. Source – Deadline Hollywood 

Shia LaBeouf has signed on to star in Robert Redford’s latest The Company You Keep. Written by The Limey’s Lem Dobbs, the film will see Redford playing a former patriotic terrorist who has gone into hiding. That is until LaBeouf’s reporter tracks him down and forces him to go on the run from the FBI who have been looking for him for 30 years. Source - Empire

Spartacus looks like he’s getting another shot at the big screen thanks to producer Graham King and 300 writer Michael B Gordon. The latest film will stick closer to the history of the slave who lead an army against Rome. Source – Empire

Tuesday, 19^th July

Kevin Costner is set to join Quentin Taratino’s already impressive cast for his Spagehtti Wester homage Django Unchained. With Leonardo DiCaprio, Jamie Foxx, Christopher Waltz and Samuel L Jackson already on board Django is shaping up to be one of Taratino’s most impressive casts to date. Costner will play Ace Woody, a slave fighter and pimp to local prostitutes, gone are the days when Costner was all wholesome, although he will also be seen as Superman’s earthbound father in Zack Synder’s Man of Steel. Source – Deadline Hollywood.

The Dark Tower looks like it’s falling down. Universal Studios has pulled out of Ron Howard’s plans to adapt all 7 of Stephen King’s epic novels. Howard and producer Brian Grazer had hoped to make 3 films and 2 TV series of the books and had even gone so far as to cast Javier Bardem as Roland Deschain The Gunslinger. They will now look to shop it round other potential studios and investors. Source – Deadline Hollywood.

Emma Watson is clearly not someone who lets the grass grow under her feet. On the back of Harry Potter ending, finishing her degree and starring in two films later this year (My Week With Marylyn and The Perks Of Being A Wallflower) it now seems she attached to another film in a Beauty & The Beast re-telling. To make matters even more impressive it seems that none other than Guillermo Del Toro will direct the film. Source – Coming Soon

Dennis Quaid is the latest star to join what is fast becoming an ensemble cast to rival Love Actually or Valentines Day for What To Expect When You’re Expecting. Others involved as Cameron Diaz, Jennifer Lopez, Elizabeth Banks, Anna Kendrick, Chace Crawford, Chris Rock and Matthew Morrison. Source – Coming Soon

Uncharted The video game adaptaion may have lost David O Russell as director but it has gained Limitless director Neil Burger who insists that this will be a very cinematic adventure. As the Bourne Franchise updated the story for a modern audience, taking it out of it’s Cold War setting, so Burger hopes Uncharted can re-boot the adventure genre with something new and original. He also denied that, at the moment, there is any truth to Nathan Fillion taking the role of Drake as the film is still some way off casting.  Source – Crave Online.

Monday, 18th July

Harry Potter & The Deathly Hallows Part 2 achieves the biggest global weekend opening in cinematic history. The film grossed an estimated $475.5 Million world wide over the weekend. The previous record holder, Christopher Nolan's The Dark Knight, will have a chance to take back the crown when the final instalment of that franchise bows next summer.  Source - Deadline Hollywood. 

Bond 23 is rumoured to have added Rhys Ifans to its ever growing cast. Ifans, who has played a sort of villain opposite Daniel Craig before in Enduring Love, has been cast in an unspecified role. However, with Javier Bardem rumoured to be playing the villian of the film it is unlikely that Ifans would be Bond's nemesis. Having just rapped as The Lizard, in The Amazing Spiderman, could it be that Ifans is continuing the scientist trend and is on board Bond as the new Q? Source - The Telegraph 

Tom Cruise is now confirmed to play Jack Reacher in Paramount's adaptation of Lee Child's One Shot. Fans of the book wil be surprised by Cruise's casting as the book describes Reacher as 6"5 and weighing in at around 250 Pounds. Suffice to say Tom Cruise is neither of those things but has proved over the years is he more than capable of shouldering an action franchise. Furthermore, One Shot will be directed by The Usual Suspects writer and director of the much underrated Way Of The Gun, Christopher McQuarrie. Source - Deadline Hollywood. 

Warner Brothers have been trying to juggle a couple of thier favourite new directors Noam Murro (Smart People) and Jaum Collet-Serra (Unknown) with various projects. It now seems that Serra will helm the much anticipated live-action film of Akira while Murro will look to 300 Spin-off 300; Battle Of Artemisia. Although Murro's CV looks sparse, with only Smart People to his name so far, he is clearly highly regarded and his also attached to Die Hard 5, if it ever goes ahead. Source - Heat Vision

Glee's Matthew Morrison joins the ever growing cast of What to Expect When You're Expecting. The film is an adaptation of the best selling guide book for those expecting a little bundle of joy. The cast already boasts; Cameron Diaz, Jennifer Lopez, Elizabeth Banks, Anna Kendrick, Chace Crawford and Chris Rock.  Source - Deadline Hollywood.