Flick Snacks

Some surprising tib-bits...

*Fox wants a reboot of Predator film franchise--Robert Rodriguez would produce says BloodyD...

*Dan Mazeau has been hired to write a draft for the long gestating super hero flick The Flash says the gang at IESB

*Sylvester Stallone is ready to play Rambo again-- Extra has the deets

*Co-star Jeffrey Tambor says "The Arrested Development is going to happen this year, and Michael Cera is on board. Trust me" via NYDN

*Paul W.S. Anderson has turned in a 1st draft of his 'Resident Evil 4' and the second one is now being written says Arrow in the Head. - filmmakers are trying to nab both series star Milla Jovovich to play Alice again, and a director

*Liam Neeson told Coming Soon during a chat about Taken that he has no idea what's going on with the biopic Abraham Lincoln

*Viola Davis has joined the cast of Law Abiding Citizen...

Putting The "Fun" In Funeral

Neil LaBute is set to direct helm the remake of the 2007 British comedy " Death At A Funeral" as part of a 2 pic deal with Screen Gems reports Variety.



The American-set "Death", which was co-written by (and will star) Chris Rock and Aeysha Carr, sees a dysfunctional family gather for the patriarch's funeral. Tensions rise and old conflicts are uncovered.

The original Death, which Frank Oz directed starred Alan Tudyk, Matthew MacFadyen and Peter Dinklage

Rock and LaBute previously teamed on the black comedy "Nurse Betty".

LaBute's last film Lakeview Terrace was serviceable thriller saved from its own genre cliches by a solid cast..

The other film of the deal is a Nina Colman penned romantic comedy.

Wrecking Ball

Scott Derrickson whose The Day the Earth Stood Still stunk all the way to outer space is set to direct "Hyperion Cantos" reports Variety.

Dan Simmons two sci-fi novels - "Hyperion: and Fall of Hyperion:will be made into one film.

The future sees, as a space war threatens Hyperion, a planet known for the Time Tombs -- large artifacts that can move through time and are guarded by a gruesome monster called the Shrike.

Derrickson will also rui-I mean direct Paradise Lost

Sour Puss

Tom Wheeler is writing the Shrek film series spin off Puss in Boots says The Hollywood Reporter.



The feline assassin/swordsman Puss in Boots character, originally hired to knock off the grumpy green ogre, debuted in Shrek 2 and became part of Shrek's entourage.

Antonio Banderas voiced the character in the second, third and upcoming Shrek Goes Fourth .

Shrek the Third co-director/co-writer Chris Miller wrote an earlier draft of the "Puss" screenplay.

The spin-off sounds quite unnecessary to me. The Shrek are already stretched cute thin.

Tagging Tatum

Channing Tatum is teaming with director star in Dito Montiel for a third time in a film adaptation of "The Brotherhood of the Rose" by David Morrell reports Variety.

The story sees, two orphans raised by a CIA operative to become assassins, only to become targets themselves.

Montiel is rewriting Adam Cozad's earlier draft.

The duo have both A Guide to Recognizing Your Saints and this Spring's Fighting under their belts.

Tatum is one busy dude with Dear John, Public Enemies, G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra. and The Stanford Prison Experiment all due in '09!



Robert Mitchum starred in a two-part TV miniseries adaptation. of Rose

Blunted Growth

Jason Segel in negotiating while Emily Blunt has been offered to join the new film based on Jonathan Swift's classic tale " Gulliver's Travels" says Variety.

A modern version of the story has free-spirited travel writer Lemuel Gulliver (Jack Black), on assignment to the Bermuda Triangle, washes ashore on the hidden island of Lilliput which is home to a population of industrious yet tiny people.

Blunt would play the island's princess and the love interest of Horatio, Segel's character, a Lilliputian who befriends Gulliver.

Blunt involvement in Travel's depends upon her work on Iron Man 2

Dates are being worked out so that she can be a part of both projects, but if they can't it's likely she'll stick with 'Travels' over the "Iron Man" sequel due to a contract clause she has with the suits over at Fox.

Just yesterday though it was indicated that she could do both projects.

Rob Letterman is directing. Joe Stillman and Nicholas Stoller are scripting.

Shooting begins in March. IM 2 begins production this Spring.

Cheese Finds Its Rat

Jeffrey Dean Morgan and Hilary Swank who shared the screen in romacer P.S. I Love You are re-teaming for the thriller "The Resident" for Hammer says The Hollywood Reporter.



The story centers on a young doctor (Swank) who moves into a loft in Brooklyn where mysterious occurrences lead her to suspect that she is not alone in her home. She discovers that her seemingly charming landlord (Morgan) has developed a dangerous obsession with her, resulting in a terrifying game of cat and mouse.

Antti J. Jokinen is calling action and co-wrote the first draft of the script with Robert Orr while Erin Cressida Wilson. re-wrote it.

Never saw PS but obvious chemistry exists and even though it sounds derivative. Morgan can do creepy...

A Universe Is Reborn

The delayed Masters of the Universe reboot flick is moving ahead...

THR says that John Stevenson will call action on a new live-action version of the toy and toon franchise.



Mattel will co-produce the film with Joel Silver

Justin Marks has penned the first draft script, entitled Grayskull skewed with a more gritty fantasy turn--rather than magic.

In the new version, Adam is a soldier who sets off to find his destiny, happening upon magical world called Eternia. There, a being called Skeletor has raised a technological army and is bent on eradicating all traces of magic.

A Kung Fu Panda co-director isn't the obvious choice...but can it be good enough to forget that Dolph Lundgren starred in the 1987 campy financial flop...?

Production would start off in late 2009/early 2010. No word on a potential release date.

Harness Havoc

Daniel Radcliffe's stunt double was seriously injured during a flying stunt for the final films of franchise - "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows:"-two-parter.

The 25-year-old stuntman was in rehearsals at Leavesden Film Studios on Wednesday while filming a scene when he was flying in a harness.

A planned explosion went off during the aerial stunt which sent him falling from the harness, causing him to crash to the ground.

The man sustained back injuries, on-set sources saying the man stated he couldn't feel his legs. Out of respect for the family, further details are being kept private and Warner Bros. is not commenting on the issue.

A back injury is never good--My thoughts are with the man and his family.

Game Changer

As the nation preps for Sunday's Super Bowl 43 between the Pittsburgh Steelers and the Arizona Cardinals--3 new films are hoping to do a lot of business on Friday and Saturday...

Liam Neeson puts his action hat on for Taken (reviews); Usually playing the good gal Elizabeth Banks gets nasty in The Uninvited (reviews pictured); And finally Renée Zellweger is New In Town (reviews)



Dave McNary and Pamela McClintock of Variety:

Breaking a longstanding taboo, Fox is releasing male-driven pic "Taken" on Super Bowl weekend...

Super Bowl weekend is usually the exclusive domain of female-driven titles. To that end, Paramount opens horror pic "The Uninvited," from DreamWorks, and Lionsgate unspools Renee Zellweger-Harry Connick Jr. romantic comedy "New in Town."

Among Oscar hopefuls, Fox Searchlight’s best pic nominee "Slumdog Millionaire" is expected to turn in another strong performance in its second week in wide release. Domestic gross through Wednesday was a boffo $58.7 million. Pic ups its theater count to 1,633 from 1,415 last weekend.

Focus Features’ "Milk" and the Weinstein Co.’s "The Reader," also best picture contenders, expand nationwide for the first time in their limited runs. "Milk," with a cume of $21.9 million, ups its theater count from 250 to 882. "Reader," earning $10.1 million through Wednesday, expands to 1,002.

Expansions will prove a key test for both films, which have different challenges in terms of appealing to smaller markets.

Last weekend, Universal took "Frost/Nixon" nationwide after receiving the top Oscar nom, grossing $3 million for a domestic total of $12.7 million. Best pic contender "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button," from Paramount, is well into its run, cuming roughly $112.5 million to date.

The January box office ends on a high note, running more than 7% ahead of last year. "Taken," toplining Liam Neeson as a former government operative whose daughter is kidnapped, is tracking best among males, but older women are interested as well. Pic, also starring Katie Cassidy and Maggie Grace, was produced and co-written by Luc Besson.

Pic is going out in 3,183 runs.

Theater traffic on Super Bowl Sunday can fall off by as much as 75%, with the drop particularly steep among male moviegoers.

Since plenty of femmes still turn out, however, the forecast is solid for horror film "The Uninvited," an English-language remake of Korean film "Changhwa Hongryon" that toplines David Strathairn, Elizabeth Banks and Emily Browning.

Story revolves around a girl and her sister who suspect the motives of their future stepmother. Par opens the horror pic in 2,344 theaters.

Lionsgate takes "New in Town" out in 1,941 with modest expectations. Movie revolves around a high-powered executive who goes to a small town for work, only to have her life upended.

Last Super Bowl weekend, Disney opened "Hannah Montana/Miley Cyrus: Best of Both Worlds Concert Tour" to a boffo $31.1 million. Other Super Bowl openers include "When a Stranger Calls" ($21.6 million) and "The Wedding Planner ($13.5 million)...

Joshua Rich of EW sees the Liam Neeson thriller outscoring two other rookies and two previous champs to finish as Super Bowl weekend's No. 1 movie

Next Up: The star packed He's Just Not That Into You tries to untangle the relationships puzzle between men an and women; The Pink Panther 2 provides Steve Martin with another shot at playing . Jacques Clouseau; While Push-with Chris Evans seems like a cross between Jumper and TV's Heroes...

Writing Ian

John Orloff has landed scripting duties for the biopic Fleming about James Bond author Ian Fleming says The Hollywood Reporter.

The film will follow Fleming when served as an intelligence officer in the British Navy and later created the Bond character -crafting fourteen Bond novels between "Casino Royale" in 1953 and his death in 1964.



Leonardo DiCaprio and Andrew Lazar will co-produce.

As a fan of Sir Sean Connery's take on 007 or old school Bond I'm really looking forward to this...

A Slummer Takes A Leap

Slumdog Millionaire writer Simon Beaufoy has been tagged for a rewrite of the romantic comedy Leap Year.reports Reuters.

Amy Adams stars as an uptight woman who travels to Dublin to propose to her boyfriend on leap day, February 29th, following an Irish tradition in which women propose to men on that day and the man must say yes. When weather derails her trip, she enlists the help of a surly Irish innkeeper to make an unexpected cross-country trek to pull off the perfect proposal in time.

Slumdig has put Beaufoy back in Oscar's glare following his win for The Full Monty....

Harry Elfont and Deborah Kaplan who wrote the earlier draft are solid writers makes ya wonder why they were replaced. Anand Tucker will call action.

Burn Gets Hot

Writer Matt Johnson will adapt Red 5 Comics popular sci-fi series "Afterburn" according to The Hollywood Reporter.

The story visits a post apocalyptic Earth where Eastern Hemisphere was destroyed by a massive solar flare, leaving what life remains mutated from radiation . And follows a group of treasure hunters who go for such objects as the Mona Lisa, the Rosetta Stone and the Crown Jewels while facing rival hunters, mutants and pirates.



Neal Moritz' Original Films and Tobey Maguire's Maguire Entertainment will produce.

If done correctly this could one kick ass flick. I have already started casting this in my head based just on that cover photo...Burn Notice star Jeffrey Donovan...and Mary-Louise Parker.

Inn-Keeper

Actor-and director Charles Dance has scored his next film an adaptation of Alice Thomas Ellis: novel "The Inn at the Edge of the World" says The Hollywood Reporter.

The story follows a group of unrelated people who share a common desire to escape the enforced jollity of Christmas and venture to a remote Scottish island.

Michael Gambon, Stephen Fry and Penelope Wilton have been cast

Dance adapted the script and won't appear on screen in the film.

Shooting will take place on location in Scotland starting in May.



Dance can do it all of course bur as the villian in Last Action Hero--his performance is the only reason to watch that dud.

Roman Warriors

Michael Fassbender (pictured), Dominic West and Olga Kurylenko have joined the cast of Neil Marshall's Roman battle epic Centurion. says The Hollywood Reporter.

Set during the Roman invasion of Britain in AD 117 it tells the story of Quintus Dias, sole survivor of a Pictish raid on a Roman frontier fort, who marches north with General Virilus' legendary Ninth Legion, under orders to wipe the Picts from the face of the earth and destroy their leader Gorlacon..

With genre specific flicks like "The Descent" and "Doomsday" under his belt this sounds like Marshall's biggest step yet....Since Fassbeender and West are both alum of 300 and Punisher: War Zone respectively--they should have no problem with the action stuff

Kurylenko will pretty this up as a former Quantum Of Solace-Bond gal.

Woman In Waiting

Mamma Mia! star Amanda Seyfried will appear in Bruce Beresford's adaptation of Oscar Wilde's play A Woman of No Importance according to THR".

Seyfried will play an American who finds herself falling in love with the womanizing Lord Illingworth (Sean Bean) in the English countryside until his mother (Annette Bening) throws a monkey wrench in his plans.

Howard Himelstein has adapted the script.

Seyfried beat out Lindsay Lohan of all people who's circled the same role since '06

Needless to say the better choice has been made.

Life From Death

2 high profile flicks on severe support are back from the brink..

The Green Hornet is still active, co-star Stephen Chow spoke with Ain’t It Cool while star Seth Rogen'told CHUD the movie is still on.

In fact, Rogen expects the movie to hit the original release date if a director is hired shortly- It's a distinct possibility.

For his part Chow says he has not dropped out of the movie as rumors suggested. He won’t be directing, but he is still very keen on playing sidekick Kato ....





And...

Disney may have passed on bringing Narnoa's next chapter The Voyage of the Dawn Treader to the big screen, but Fox has jumped into to save the day.

THR reports they’ve picked up the the flick for release during the holiday season of 2010

Best of all, most of the original elements from previous movies should remain... Prince Caspian Ben Barnes is expected to return for the next one. Important since his character is a key figure in the next chapter of the story. It’s also expected that Michael Apted, who directed the last film, will be back as well.

Getting Low-Jacked

The Fast and the Furious film series franchise is about to get a rival flick from the same studio--Universal Pictures.

Cheo Hodari Coker wrote the urban action drama called "Lowrider" according to The Hollywood Reporter.



Producer Brian Grazer came up with the idea of doing a film exploring the low-riding car culture - cars from the 50's & 60's with height-adjustable suspension that 'hugs' the road - which has set up home in California amongst primarily Latino and black teenagers.

Los Angeles-based tattoo and graffiti artist Mark Machado aka Mister Cartoon will serve as an executive producer.

With Fast & Furious due this year--and Lowriders a while off I doubt anyone will care about any similarities--it's (mostly) all about the cars anyway

Queen Is Still King

There are not one, but two biopics about tough guy actor Steve McQueen in the works...



Producer David Foster has unveiled plans for "McQueen", a film based on the memoir " My Husband My Friend" penned by the late actor first wife-Nellie M. Toffel reports Variety.

Foster got his start in Hollywood as McQueen's publicist before segueing to a successful producing career bringing such films as McQueen's "The Getaway" to theaters

Writers Roderick Taylor & Bruce A. Taylor will adapt the book and will have complete access to the McQueen estate.

The story chronicles the relationship between McQueen and Toffel, which began in 1956 when Toffel was under contract at Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer

The couple were married for more than 15 years and had two children and four grandchildren together.

The announcement comes just weeks after producers Michael Cerenzie and Christine Peters launched plans for their own film on the life and career of McQueen.

McQueen is a true movie star in every way that you define the term. Now it becomes a foot race to see which of these pics lands in theaters first--but being 1st doesn't mean that flick is better Think back to Deep Impact vs Armageddon and my point is made.

Coma Toast

The Love Guru director and Marco Schnabel and Little Fockers writer Larry Stuckey are collaborating on the high school satire "Girlfriend in a Coma" according to The Hollywood Reporter.

The unlikely romancer comedy will be produced by Michael McCullers McCullers wrote and directed the Tina Fey-Amy Poehler hit Baby Mama .

Schnabel and Stuckey worked as second-unit director and associate producer on Jay Roach's"Meet the Fockers" in 2004--whole McCullers teamed with Roach on the Austin Powers movies...

Since Guru bombed I'm a bit surprised that Schnabel wants to jump in so soon with an untested idea or vague premise....

Digging Graves

Neil Jordan is going to direct the live-action adaptation of Neil Gaiman's "The Graveyard Book ".



Making an appearance ion The Today Show to promote Coraline Gaiman said that "The Crying Game" director was locked and that UK FX house Framestore would be doing work on the film.

It's the story of a young boy Nobody Owens who is raised by ghosts in a cemetery.

Jordan's well suited for this having adapted another tale of the un-dead for the big screen--Interview with the Vampire:

Running With Rango

Isla Fisher will lend her voice for Gore Verbinski's animated adventure "Rango." reports Variety.

The story centers on a household pet (Johnny Depp) who goes on an adventure to discover his true self. Fisher will play the film's female lead.

She wasn’t the only cast member added to the roster – Alfred Molina, Ray Winstone, Harry Dean Stanton and Ned Beatty signed on.

I'm a fan of Fisher's--she is incredibly talented...

Making The Team

The feature based on the classic 80's TV series ""The A-Team" took a giant step forward today.

Ridley and Tony Scott on board as producers with show creator Stephen J. Cannell while Joe Carnahan ("Smokin' Aces") calls action reports the Variety.



The series focused on a group of US Army Special Forces on the run for a crime they didn't commit who become mercenaries that help those who need it.

John Singleton was attached to the film but ultimately left after casting issues stalled the project for over a year.

The only thing I can say right now--Carnahan makes a solid choice as director...Casting should be a fun process.

The film is set for a June 11th 2010 release.

Raider Meter

It seems that producer Dan Lin is indeed working on a Tomb Raider film reboot says The Hollywood Reporter.

Will its shape boil down to to a rights issue?

Paramount Pictures made the other two movies based on the game, the rights have since reverted to game publisher Eidos Time Warner upped the ante for 20% in Eidos in '08 and films rights to the property became part of that deal.

The new flick will ignore the previous films and will redo the setup of Lara Croft.

As the project is an open-writing assignment, a writer and director are yet to be attached the casting of Megan Fox as Croft if true would be way off down the road.



The game series, started in 1996, followed--After four increasingly panned sequels, the games were themselves rebooted .The latest-"Tomb Raider Underworld", hit stores in November.

Angelina Jolie, her estranged dad Jon Voight and Daniel Craig starred in the 2001 film . The sequel hit theaters in 2003.

The first film scored boffo $275 million in international box-office. The sequel revenue sank with only a thud of $157 million globally.

I stand by my common refrain--Video game flicks are a tough sell and despite the reset--it may not be enough....

Rapture?

Is Joaquin Phoenix trying to pull off an elaborate hoax?

EW:

Two people close to Phoenix tell [the mag] that the actor's recent attempt to reinvent himself as a rapper is not what it appears to be. Read On...

Here's visual evidence....





Whether serious or not. It's still bizarre. And why drag Casey Affleck along? Is he trying to be the next Borat?

Whatever the case I agree with the announcer at the club Phoenix should "...give it up...".

Beals Is Booked

After revving her career with TV's The L Word, actress Jennifer Beals is ready to return to the big screen in The Book Of Eli, according to The Hollywood Reporter.

The story centers on a lone hero named Eli (Denzel Washington) who must fight his way across the wasteland of a near-future America to protect a sacred book that might hold the key to saving humanity

Gary Oldman, Mila Kunis and Ray Stevenson also star

Beals is playing Oldman's female prize and Kunis' mother, a blind woman doing anything she can to protect her child.



The script, by Gary Whitta got a rewrite by Anthony Peckham with.Albert and Allen Hughes are directing.

I have had a crush on Beale ever since her star making debut in the iconic 1983 movie Flashdance,...Wahinton and Beals paired up once before in Devil in a Blue Dress...

Shooting begins next month.

The Bible In Space

Warner Bros.wants to take the classic tale of Samson and Delilah and turn it into a futuristic flick called "Samson" reports Variety.

The reinvention of classic lore posits that the biblical strongman was invincible until he was betrayed by Delilah, to whom he entrusted the secret that his strength came from his long hair.



Scott Silveri is writing the script from which Francis Lawrence ("I Am Legend") will direct.

Uh--There was a three way studio bidding war on this pitch? Really?...

Tall Tales

Tween gal Hilary Duff and rising leading man Kevin Zegers will star in the indie feature "The Story of Bonnie and Clyde" reports Variety.





Rather than a full on remake of the classic 1967 film with Warren Beatty and Faye Dunaway this new film promises a fresh look of the infamous bank robbers.

Tonya S. Holly writes and directs the new film.

I know Duff wants shed her teen bop past but I think she's odd choice at best...

It's hard to imagine--but Zegers was an Air Bud child star--come into his own since then

Rance Howard and Natalie Canerday co-star. The film is scheduled to shoot in Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama.

Lee V.Stan

There's another legal war about to break out over costumed superheros..And it ain't gonna be pretty...The tale is twisted enough to have bounced right from the comics pages itself.

The Associated Press reports that shareholders of an ill-fated Stan Lee venture are seeking more than $750 million in profits from flicks based on Marvel characters such as Spider-Man, X-Men and Iron Man.



The lawsuit was filed Monday in a Manhattan federal court on behalf of four shareholders of Stan Lee Media. Defendants include Lee, his wife, New York-based Marvel Entertainment, and former Marvel CEO Avi Arad.

The lawsuit claims profits from Lee's comic creations belong to the company, which emerged from bankruptcy in 2006. The suit claims Lee and others ignored the company and shareholder's interests.

Lee could not immediately be reached for comment. Marvel said through a spokesman that the lawsuit is filled with "ridiculous claims."--and has filed a $50 million lawsuit against SLM.

His complaint is that the company has misused his name and image and has prevented him from developing his properties 'The Accuser' and 'The Drifter'.

As The Beat points out Lee had long ago relinquished any claims to the Marvel characters he created and therefore could never have transferred ownership to SLM.

The reason for this lawsuit seems simple to me--SLM had collapsed into bankruptcy some time ago and since then though has apparently emerged from bankruptcy protection and is looking to score some unearned assets from Marvel-A money grab...

BFFs

Minnie Driver will join Hilary Swank in the legal drama "Betty Anne Waters" says The Hollywood Reporter.

Based on a true story, Waters (Swank) is an unemployed single mother who saw her brother convicted for a murder-robbery in 1983 and sentenced to life in prison.

Convinced of his innocence, she spent the next decade earning a law degree and working on her brother's case, challenging the conviction with DNA evidence.

Driver plays Abra, Swank's law school friend with a wild-party past who helps her with the brother's case.

Richard Lagravenese (who worked with Swank on the romance sapper P.S. I Love You) wrote the most recent draft based on Pamela Gray's original script.

It will good to see Driver in a new high profile film role after doing the TV show The Riches...This is Swank 2nd biopic in a row having recently wrapped Amelia about famed pilot Amelia Earhart,

Tony Goldwyn is calling action when filming Betty begins next month.

Kid At Heart

Brendan Fraser will star in the live-action family comedy "Furry Vengeance" reports Variety.

Fraser will play a real estate developer whose new housing subdivision pushes far into a pristine part of the Oregon wilderness, pitting the developer against a band of angry critters.

Michael Carnes and Josh Gilbert, who previously wrote the Billy Bob Thornton and Seann William Scott comedy, Mr. Woodcock teamed on the script, while Roger Kumble ("College Road Trip") directs.

Yes, it's another kid flick for Fraser--But EW's Clark Collis makes a compelling case on why he deserves some respect just the same..

Shooting is slated to begin on Furry in the early summer.

Auto Loan

Wayne Kramer ("Running Scared") is set to direct the buddy action caper "Fully Automatic" reports Variety.

The premise follows two rookie cops out to make their mark and who team with a female former Delta Force operative to stop a mercenary who has stolen a cache of weapons.

Marc Wolff wrote it but Joel Silver as producer it sounds like Silver gets to make Lethal Weapon 5 without having to pay Mel Gibson and Danny Glover or Lethal writer Shane Black.

Shooting on Fully is to get underway later this year.

Tin Men

In an official press announcement--Production has begun on Steven Spielberg's The Adventures Of Tintin flick subtitled Secret Of The Unicorn.

"Defiance" stars Daniel Craig and Jamie Bell have joined the cast Bell the title role reporter and Craig the villainous pirate Red Rackham.

If the films take off So will Bell's career...





The duo join Andy Serkis, Simon Pegg, Nick Frost Gad Elmaleh, Toby Jones and Mackenzie Crook.

Steven Moffat, Edgar Wright and Joe Cornish adapted creator Hergé two-part graphic novel tales called "The Secret of the Unicorn " and "Red Rackham's Treasure".

The script must expand the role of Red though--As he really only has a limited presence in the overall arc.

The film is on schedule for release in 2011.

Peter Jackson is attached to direct the second feature in the series.

Inc's Ink

Writer Steven Rogers will adapt Shanna Swendson's novel Enchanted, Inc for the big screen reports Variety.

The story centers on a small-town woman who comes to New York only to find out magic is an every day norm and has existed there for centuries. But because she is one of the rare creatures without the slightest bit of magic inside her, she can see through any spell.

Given Rogers penchant for sappy material--P.S. I Love You , Kate & Leopold, Stepmom and Hope Floats he fits this one real well.

No production schedule or cast/crew have been announced.

Economy Lessons

Doing their part during this time of economic crisis...



Morning Glory stars Harrison Ford and Rachel McAdams. have both agreed to take a pay cut on the film according to The Express.

Ford plays an old-school news anchorman who, having quit a to rated evening show, is tempted back to spank a failing AM show.

Ford is said to have agreed to the reduction when the suits at Paramount insisted on a lower price tag for the flick:

"Harrison loves the story behind this film and was determined it got made. Both he and Rachel were happy to do it for less because they passionately believe in the project" says a source.

Adding: "Harrison has long been one of the movie industry's biggest earners but with the current economic climate, he's had to make sacrifices like everyone else."

Ford usually commands upwards of $13.8 million per movie...

The Silent Hornet

The gang over at HitFix are saying that there's a new set of troubles surrounding the The Green Hornet film

Ever since actor/director Stephen Chow seemed to lose interest in the project a while back, the move apparently made rhe studio suits nervous about doing it at all.

Drew McWeeny has the tale of woe:

"At Sundance, I heard several people say that the film was off completely. I spoke this afternoon with a source close to the film, and while they didn't call it completely dead, they did say it is "highly unlikely" that the film will shoot in 2009 at all."

With the flick seemingly stalled I am sure someone else will want to scoop Seth Rogen up right quick.

Wise Plan?

Len Wiseman tells Bloody Disgusting that he plans to make not one film but a trilogy of films based on the hit Xbox 360 video game franchise "Gears of War.

"The hope is that were wanting to do a three movies and really cover the bases on everything. Basically a harder edged The Lord of the Rings" says Wiseman.

He then talks tone -"It’s going to be much more [on the] science fiction side of it than the creature side of it."

Wiseman and Chris Morgan, ("Wanted") are collaborating on the script-Wiseman adds he hasn't decided if the project will utilize any 3D technology.

Yikes! As I said earlier--Vid games are tough to adapt for one flick--Let alone 3...

He also says that he's looking into a TV series spin-off of his "Underworld" franchise.

"if I could be very involved and can be a certain way, I'd be very interested in that. We had always hoped to do a trilogy, now that we completed that trilogy it's kind of open, if people can join us and go back in time - and then leap forward, I'd like to go jump all across the time line"

Uh--did he see how Underworld: Rise of the Lycans did over the weekend? Then again--it worked out well for Buffy as a TV show.

Angel Power

Out promoting next month's He's Just Not That Into You--actress Drew Barrymore tells E! Online that she's willing to make a third "Charlie's Angels" movie.



"I'm so into it. They're hard movies to make, but they're fun", she says.

Barrymore produced and starred as Dylan Sanders in the previous two films.

Producing partner Nancy Juvonen an interview with Sci-Fi Wire she likes the idea of a fourth 'Angel' and she has a 'Rihanna fixation'.

Oscar npminee Penélope Cruz?

On the subject of director...

"I don't think we could do it without McG, and I think that the Angels (Cameron Diaz and Lucy Liu) all at least need to be there."

She also likes the idea of bringing back the Thin Man (Crispin Glover).

Isn't McG too busy to think more Angels right now?