Mackie May Go To War, Join Squad

Anthony Mackie has gotten an offer to star with Brad Pitt in “World War Z" and is under consideration to join The Gangster Squad reports Variety.

Marc Forster's  “Z” is based on the Max Brooks' created comic book Matthew Michael Carnahan, brother of director Joe Carnahan, performed a rewrite on the script.

Set a decade after a virus has turned much of the planet's population into zombies, the story follows a journalist interviewing subjects from around the world about their experiences during the 'zombie war'.

The book fuses elements of political satire, war and survival horror as it explores how various nations, governments and individuals respond to the crisis.

Mireille Enos is in talks to play Pitts' wife

Ruben Fleischer ("Zombieland") helms 'Squad'. Sean Penn, Ryan Gosling and Josh Brolin also star.

Based on a series of LA Times articles, the true story tale follows a secret "off the record" police task force in the 1940 who pursued high-profile gangster Mickey Cohen (Penn), a member of the so-called Jewish Mob.

Will Beall, a former LAPD officer who patrolled South Central and wrote the novel L.A. Rex penned the script.

Mackie is currently filming “Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter” and there is no confirmation on either role yet.

Gone And Away

Sebastian Stan and Australian actor Socratis Otto ("Home and Away") have joined the cast of the thriller "Gone" reports Variety.

The story centres on a kidnap survivor named Jill (Amanda Seyfried) who attempts to find the same killer whom she believes has abducted her sister.

Jennifer Carpenter, Wes Bentley, Erin Carufel and Emily Wickersham also star

Heitor Dhalia directs from Allison Burnett's screenplay

Tom Rosenberg, Gary Lucchesi, Sidney Kimmel, Chris Salvaterra and Dan Abrams produce

Production will kick off next month in Portland, Oregon

Zemeckis Has Travel Plans

Robert Zemeckis is in talks to direct the time travel thriller Replay says Vulture.

Based on the bestselling 1987 novel by Ken Grimwood, the story follows a forty-something radio journalist who dies of a heart attack in 1988, but re-awakens back in 1963 in his eighteen-year-old body with all his memories intact.He soon finds himself living the same cycle over and over, each time he has the ability to make a new set of choices, resulting in different spouses, progeny, and jobs.While he can't prevent his own death, he sets about trying to prevent the death of his daughter.

Jason Smilovic adapted the script

Zemeckis knows something about doing time travel pics as the director of Back to the Future trilogy; He is expected to make this film before moving on to the Denzel Washington-led thriller "Flight" .

Think Fast

As moviegoers race to see Fast Five this weekend Deadline reports that Universal Pictures wants to take the franchise in a new direction, calling "Fast Five" a "transitional movie"

Regarding Fast Six

From this point on the series will be less about street racing  so that "car driving ability [is] just a part of the movie, like those great chases in The French Connection, The Bourne Identity, The Italian Job" says studio chairman Adam Fogelson.

Fogelson adds that part of the appeal of this franchise is that "the business has gone so far towards CG action every weekend, that we really believe creating a movie with real action and real cars will be amazing stuff to people excited by seeing something real."

Bravo! Judging by the Friday Box Office numbers Universal has every reason to smile...Deadline also adds that Dwayne Johnson wants in on the action of "Fast Six".

One thing "Fast Five" is missing is 3-D....

The Los Angeles Times reports that the suits actually was considering doing the conversion process on the film. Before they ponied up the cash though, they decided to test the process on a scene from the last film, 2009's Fast & Furious

"The test was not great. It was discombobulating and we discovered that the things that we find exciting about 3-D just didn't apply to a 'Fast' film. The way we shot the movie and, more importantly, the way we cut it does not lend itself to 3-D" says Universal co-chairman Donna Langley

Langley refers to one of the issues with 3-D - fast editing. The hyperkinetic, quick cut editing techniques and shaky cam aesthetic that modern filmmakers use is anathema to both the technology and audience comfort. Long takes with limited movement of the frame tend to work much better and reduce eyestrain.

Dark Knight Goes To India!

We recently found out that part of Christopher Nolan's The Dark Knight Rises will be shot. in Jodhpur, India. The Times of India has now revealed the details.

According to the newspaper, only a small overseas crew of around fifteen will be on hand and will start arriving this Sunday while star Christian Bale will arrive on Wednesday or Thursday. Bale will be the only major actor from the film there, while the actual filming will only take two days - May 6th and 7th.

Shooting will take place in and around the huge and ornate Mehrangarh Fort.

According to a source no Bollywood actors are being cast in the movie but local actors and crew members might work for Nolan. It's not yet known whether Jodhpur will be featured as an Indian city in the sequel.

TDKR has a six month shoot through November

Yahoooo! Cameras Rolling!

Cabin No Longer Empty

Joss Whedon's The Cabin in the Woods was shot over 2 years ago...Thanks to an unnecessary 3-D conversion in post and financial woes at MGM it's release delayed and doubted.

Lionsgate is poised to ink a deal with MGM to distribute the film which Whedon and Drew Goddard co-wrote says Deadline. Goddard also directed

In the horror/comedy Richard Jenkins and Bradley Whitford play white-collar co-workers who terrorise a group of young people (Chris Hemsworth, Anna Hutchinson, Kristen Connolly, Fran Kranz) who are stranded in a forest.

Lionsgate suits have not set a release date but Deadline suggests that around Halloween is the most likely choice.

RIP William Campbell (1926-2011)

One of Star Trek's most beloved Guest Stars has passed away William Campbell died Thursday at the age of 84.

Tralane, Koloth TOS And DS9

A NJ native Mr Campbell  played the all-powerful Trelane in the episode "The Squire of Gothos" and Koloth, a Klingon, in the classic ep "The Trouble with Tribbles," both of which aired in 1967. He reprised the role of Trelane for the  video game Star Trek: Judgment Rites in 1993, returned for a 1994 episode of  Star Trek: Deep Space Nine called  Blood Oath and was a regular at Star Trek conventions and on cruises.

Beyond Trek Campbell sang with Elvis in Love Me Tender and co-starred in the violent Dementia 13:  produced by Roger Corman and directed by then newbie Francis Ford Coppola

Other film credits include Operation Pacific Battle Circus The High and the Mighty Hush...Hush, Sweet Charlotte Portrait in Terror and Pretty Maids All in a Row written by Trek creator Gene Roddenberry

He made appearances countless other TV shows among them in O'Hara, U.S. Treasury opposite Trek's original Sulu George Takei

Trelane and Koloth were memorable thanks to Campbell's talents....and hold up all of these years later....

Helter Shelter

Vanessa Hudgens will star alongside Brendan Fraser in the indie drama Gimme Shelter says THR.

Hudgens will play a pregnant homeless teen that runs away from her abusive mother in order to find her biological father. Fraser plays the girl's father who takes her in but also wants her to abort the pregnancy.

Ron Krauss wrote and will call action on the film.

Dama Claire Jeff Rice and Krauss will co-produce the picture.

Production starts at the end of May.

Unlike former Boyfriend Zac Efron Hudgens has not had much success post the High School Musical film series Bandslam, Beastly, and Sucker Punch all bombed. It will be interesting to see if Shelter and the upcoming sequel Journey 2: The Mysterious Island can break the streak.

Foxface & District 5′s Tribute Boy Found

Chris Mark and Jacqueline Emerson are the latest actors to join "The Hunger Games" film adaptation says THR

The project is based on the Suzanne Collins novel series which have developed a major following across all age groups and is said to potentially be the 'next Twilight'.

The story involves a young love triangle playing out against a dystopian future where North America has been divided into twelve oppressed districts, each of which is forced to send tribute in the form of a boy and a girl to compete in a televised battle to the death once a year.
Emerson will play Foxface, a character who becomes a significant and worthy adversary for Katniss (Jennifer Lawrence) and Peeta (Josh Hutcherson) while Mark's character is known only as District 5′s Tribute Boy. Mark has worked as a stunt actor in several films, including "Kick-Ass," "Jumper"-- He was also Michael Cera's stunt double in "Scott Pilgrim vs. the World."

Liam Hemsworth also stars as the other male lead Gale; Elizabeth Banks will play Effie Trinket Amandla Stenberg and Dayo Okeniyi are set to play the characters of Rue and Thresh; Jack Quaid and Leven Rambin play District 1 tributes Marvel and Glimmer; Willow Shields will play Prim Everdeen; Paula Malcomson is Mama Everdeen John C. Reilly is cicling the part of Katniss and Peeta’s drunk, endearing mentor Haymitch; Ian Nelson and Kalia Prescott are playng Tributes from District 3  Woody Harrelson is up for of Seneca Crane, Head Gamemaker of the Hunger Games.

Collins adapted her own book into script form which Billy Ray has re-written. Gary Ross will call action.

The film is due out March 23rd, 2012

Universal Obtains “Amnesty”

Ron Howard will direct Amnesty for Universal according to Deadline Hollywood.

The script, penned by Max Landis (the upcoming feature Chronicle), apparently fuses the writings of J.R.R. Tolkien and Robert Ludlum.

That sounds… interesting to say the least. How do you feel about it?

Casting Update on “The Dictator”

Sacha Baron Cohen turned heads upon announcing his new mockumentary The Dictator, which focuses on the controversial Saddam Hussein. After a little bit of a lull, casting now seems to be in full swing.

Firstly, Variety reports that Sir Ben Kingsley is lined up to play a Middle Eastern individual significant to the plot.

Additionally, the leading female role is currently between Community’s Gillian Jacobs, Anna Faris, and Kristen Wiig acording to The Hollywood Reporter.

The gals are up for the role of a supermarket worker.

Filming aims to begin next month, so expect a casting announcement in the near future.

Ratner Up for “Hercules: The Thracian Wars”

Vulture.relays that Brett Ratner, perhaps most famous – or infamous – for the Rush Hour trilogy, is eying the helm of MGM’s Hercules: The Thracian Wars.

The story follows Hercules years after he carried out his twelve tasks and has turned his back on the Gods. Now he and six friends have become mercenaries who've been hired by the King of Thrace to train his men into becoming an army every bit as ruthless as they are.

Ratner once expressed interest in a Hercules-themed project for Universal, but negotiations have since fallen through.

Magical Collaboration

Despite planning to retire from filmmaking director Steven Soderbergh and actor Channing Tatum will reteam on "Magic Mike", a comedy based on Tatum's real-life experiences as a stripper when he was 19 years old in Florida says The Hollywood Reporter.

Tatum is Magic Mike, an experienced stripper who schools a young dancer in the tricks of the trade. Soderbergh said in a statement that he's using "Saturday Night Fever as our model".

Tatum adds, "This was a wild and pivotal time in my life and I couldn't be more thrilled to go down the rabbit hole with Steven."

Tatum stars in the director's upcoming film Haywire

Reid Carolin pens the screenplay

Tatum, Nick Wechsler, Gregory Jacobs  and Carolin will produce the pic.

Soderbergh can work quickly on films; He can finsh Mike, the Liberace biopic with Michael Douglas and The Man from U.N.C.L.E. with George Clooney and still pretty much call it quits after that

Fresh Staet For Ender's Game Film

Summit Entertainment is in talks to co-finance and acquire the U.S. rights to the sci-fi film adaptation of author Orson Scott Card's 1985 book Ender's Game says Variety.

The story follows a child super soldier who plays a long simulation of Earth's fight against the 'bugger' race of alien insects. As the 'game' wears on, he begins to lose his sanity and makes a final and devastating decision that has real world consequences.

The on-again, off-again project has gone through numerous iterations over many years with various scribes and directors having a shot at trying to get the project off the ground.

Things got going again, thanks to a script rewrite of Card's most recent draft by “X-Men Origins: Wolverine” director Gavin Hood, who will also direct,

 “Star Trek” producers Alex Kurtzman and Roberto Orci. are producing together with Gigi Pritzker and Linda McDonough of Odd Lot Entertainment Card and  Lynn Hendee

“Bad Teacher” Writers Head Back to Television

Bad Teacher scribes Lee Eisenberg and Gene Stupnitsky signed a deal with ABC Studios for two years...

They also plan to write a romantic comedy for Sony; details on that are unknown at the moment.

According to Deadline Hollywood, this is simply a continuation of “showveralls”, which connects different forms of media to television.

How do you feel about this film?

Arnie's Ready To Cry; T-5 Rumor

Although he's limked to Terminator 5 as well as other projects.Vulture reports that Arnold Schwarzenegger has a film that he put at the head of the pipeline

Based on author N. Richard Nash's Cry Macho the story centers on a horse trainer, fired by his boss, who ends up agreeing to kidnap his boss' 11-year-old son from his Mexican ex-wife. Things take a twist when it's learned the ex-wife is happy to be rid of the young boy.

Brad Furman (The Lincoln Lawyer) will direct the film from an adapted screenplay.

Albert S. Ruddy and Bill Block will produce.

Arnie talked to EW.com's PopWatch about Macho

Production hopes to kick off this Summer.

Meanwhile Latino Review has picked up on a rumor from a secret scooper that claims Justin Lin's T-5 will also feature original  "Terminator"co-stars Linda Hamilton and Michael Biehn as well...Stay Tuned!

Koepp Has Jack's Back

David Koepp has been hired to rewrite the script for the reboot of the Jack Ryan Film Series reports Deadline.

Hossein Amini wrote the original draft of the script for the film, formerly titled "Moscow", while Adam Cozad was hired to re-write it in April of last year. Anthony Peckham also took a crack at it.

Steve Zaillian, who penned the third film in the franchise "Clear and Present Danger", was attached to re-write Cozad's work. A few weeks later Zaillian withdrew from the job and the studio now Koepp is next to perform further work on the screenplay. The hiring of Hollywood's most famous go-to rewriter Koepp ("Mission: Impossible," "Spider-Man," "Jurassic Park") does not come cheap, but it means that Paramount's  is determined to make the project work.

The studio also still wants to have actor Chris Pine as Ryan and pushed back the action film by at least a few months so that Pine can shoot the as yet Untitled Star Trek Sequel Lost's Jack Bender is still due to direct the action reboot Lorenzo di Bonaventura is producing.

“The Greys” Goes to Dimension

The Greys, a science-fiction film with a spec script penned by Adam Cohen, now belongs to Dimension, Variety reports.

The film will serve as director F. Javier Gutierrez’s English-language debut; Gutierrez is perhaps best known for Before the Fall.

Dancy Is Spree Falling

Hugh Dancy will star in the psychological thriller ‘Spree’ says THR.

The film follows a handsome and affable young man whose last “fling" before his wedding ceremony spirals out of control.

Tommy O'Haver (who worked with Dancy om Ella Enchanted) is directing the picture from his screenplay, which is based on a story concocted by Kevin Turen and O’Haver.

Jamie Adamic and Sandra Avila will produce the film.

Can Dancy help make the been there done that sounding premise of this film turn out better than it otherwise would?

Production is slated to begin in early fall.

Renner Keen On McQueen

Current Hollywood it guy Jeremy Renner and pal business partner Don Handfield have formed the production company The Combine, with their first project in development a Steve McQueen biopic that will serve as a starring vehicle for the actor says Risky Biz Blog.

McQueen was the movie star who epitomised 'cool' in the 1960s and 1970s. His anti-hero persona was very popular with the public and allowed him to demand large salaries, but he was also known for being quite combative with filmmakers.

Memorable roles for McQueen came in films like "Bullitt," "The Magnificent Seven," "The Great Escape," "The Thomas Crown Affair," "The Getaway," "Papillon," and "The Towering Inferno".

James Gray ("We Own the Night") is attached to write the screenplay based on two books by Marshall Terrill Steve McQueen: The Life and Legend and Steve McQueen: Portrait of an American Rebel

Music video director Ivan Zacharias  is attached to make his directorial debut on the project.

In January 2009  producers Michael Cerenzie and Christine Forsyth-Peters acquired the rights to Portrait of an American Rebel for a movie adaptation. It isn't clear if this biopic superceedes Renner's pic

Where this biopic fits into Renner's schedule is also unclear...he recently finished Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol, is currently shooting Hansel and Gretel: Witch Hunters and The Avengers and is set to star in The Bourne Legacy and Better Living Through Chemistry

Renner, Handfield,  Greg Shapiro, Cross Creek Pictures’ Brian Oliver and Nick Landon are all set to produce the biopic

Comming Together For Dr. King

Kario Salem is in negotiations to pen a Martin Luther King Jr. biopic says The Hollywood Reporter.

DreamWorks Studios acquired the life rights of the civil rights leader in May 2009 including access to King's intellectual property and the cooperation of the King estate

Warner Bros. had been working on its biopic for several years and had been in deep development on a script with Salem, who had done almost four years worth of research and interviews when writing his screenplay.

Now the the two pics are coming together with Warners to co-finance and co-distribute the film with Touchstone Pictures (where Dreamworks now calls home). Salem will now write a new script with the estate’s backing,

Sam Nappi, Suzanne de Passe and Madison Jones will produce the morphed film.

Lee Daniels's "Selma" with David Oyelowo attached to play King and Paul Greengrass' recently  delayed  Memphis have had troubles including not having the approval of the MLK estate.

Pearce Boards Prometheus?!

Is Guy Pearce going to be in Ridley Scott's ssort of Alien prequel  Prometheus?

An anonymous email was sent to CHUD claiming that he has indeed joined the cast. Although there is no word on character or how he would fit into the plot

 Here’s what it said, with omissions for obvious reasons.

“Evening Nick, my mate is working on Prometheus as OMITTED and met Guy Pierce on set today. She’s previously worked on OMITTED, OMITTED and OMITTED and I’ve no reason to believe she’s lying. I’ve not read anywhere about Guy being cast so thought it might interest you.”

Noomi Rapace Michael Fassbender Charlize Theron Idris Elba Rafe Spall, Sean Harris, Logan Marshall-Green and Kate Dickie star. With Emun Elliott (Black Death) and Benedict Wong also in the cast as well

Damon Lindelof has worked with director Scott on the script, which was originally written by Jon Spaihts

If Pearce is ineed in the pic--I hope he gets to kick some Alien butt. Stay tuned to see if the rumor turns fact...

Look for ithe flick in theatres on June 8th, 2012.

Size Plus One

Jane Levy is negotiating to join the Halloween themed comedy Fun Size. says The Hollywood Reporter.

The Max Werner, script described as a cross between Superbad and Adventures in Babysitting centers on a sarcastic teenage girl (Victoria Justice of TV's Tween comedy Victorious) who is forced to take her little brother trick-or-treating on Halloween, then loses him and must find him before their mother finds out.

Levy would play best friend to the movie’s lead character Wren.

Thomas Mann co-stars as Roosevelt, the star of his school's debate team helping Wren in the search for her brother

Josh Schwartz (The O.C.) will make his feature film directorial debut here.

Schwartz and Stephanie Savage are producing

Shooting is in St. Louis, Mo. The studio hopes to get the movie made this year for a Halloween-timed release date.

Trio Catch "Disco" Fever

Daniel Cudmore Travis Fimmel and Andre Braugher have joined the cast of' Southern comedy "The Baytown Disco" says The Hollywood Reporter.

The comedy follows three farmboy brothers (Fimmel, Cudmore, Clayne Crawford) who get more than they bargained for when agreeing to help a woman (Eva Longoria) get her son back from his seemingly abusive father (Billy Bob Thornton).

Serinda Swan, Thomas Sangster and Meagan Good also star.

Director Barry Battles directs and co-wrote the script with Griffin Hood.

Production begins next week in Louisiana.

Adults Can Play Games Too

There's been lots of casting news of late for the "The Hunger Games" film adaptation

Ethan Jamieson and Tara Macken are set to play the tributes of District 4 says THR

Woody Harrelson, Lenny Kravitz and Stanley Tucci are all said to have been offered roles in the film as well reports Vulture.

Harrelson would play the Head Gamemaker, Seneca Crane,, the man who created the brutal games within the story.. The other two's roles are unspecified. But Vulture speculates that Tucci might work out well for the character Cinna or maybe even President Snow.

At the same time, Elizabeth Banks is now officially signed to play Effie Trinket

The project is based on the Suzanne Collins novel series which have developed a major following across all age groups and is said to potentially be the 'next Twilight'.

Jennifer Lawrence is set to play heroine Katniss Everdeen

The story involves a young love triangle playing out against a dystopian future where North America has been divided into twelve oppressed districts, each of which is forced to send tribute in the form of a boy and a girl to compete in a televised battle to the death once a year.

Liam Hemsworth and Josh Hutcherson also star as the male leads; Amandla Stenberg and Dayo Okeniyi are set to play the characters of Rue and Thresh; Jack Quaid and Leven Rambin play District 1 tributes Marvel and Glimmer; Willow Shields will play Prim Everdeen; Paula Malcomson is Mama Everdeen John C. Reilly is cicling the part of Katniss and Peeta’s drunk, endearing mentor Haymitch; Ian Nelson and Kalia Prescott are playng Tributes from District 3

Collins adapted her own book into script form which Billy Ray has re-written. Gary Ross will call action

The film is due out March 23rd, 2012

Fasten Your Seatbelts

The US Box Office gets reved up for the start of the Summer season next week as some blockbuster-esque fare greets the masses:

Brandon Routh and Sam Huntington try another comic book pic Dylan Dog: Dead Of Night (reviews); Paul Walker and Vin Diesel reunite as well for Fast Five (reviews); Pretty young teens go to the Prom (reviews); And Little Red, Granny and Wolf are back in Hoodwinked Too! Hood VS. Evil (reviews)

Pamela McClintock of THR:

The summer season unofficially kicks off this weekend at the domestic box office with the release of Universal's Fast Five, which drives into 3,643 theaters on Friday, including 244 Imax locations.

Fast Five, already off to an impressive start overseas, is expected to deliver the biggest opening of 2011, whether that means $60 million or $70 million (or even more). Technically, the summer campaign starts May 6 with the domestic bow of Paramount and Marvel Studios' Thor.

The previous film in the action franchise, Fast & Furious, opened to $71 million, but box office observers can't count on the same gross for Fast Five considering the downturn at the domestic box office.

Fast Five will have the advantage of appealing to an ethnically diverse audience as well as younger moviegoers.

Directed by Justin Lin, one of Hollywood's hottest young talents, Fast Five reunites franchise stars Vin Diesel, Paul Walker, Jordana Brewster and Tyrese Gibson. Joining the series is Dwayne Johnson.

Universal has a lot riding on the event pic, set this time in Rio de Janeiro. The studio says the film cost $125 million after production incentives and tax credits, but others put the price tag as high as $150 million.

If Fast Five's revved-up opening overseas is any indication, Universal looks to be on strong footing, which is sure to please its new owners at Comcast.

Fast Five opened last weekend in Australia, the U.K., New Zealand and South Korea to record numbers for the franchise. To date, it has grossed more than $35 million internationally.

Also opening domestically is Prom, the first film greenlighted by Disney Studios chairman Rich Ross to hit theaters. The teen romantic comedy, made for a modest $8 million, targets girls ages 8 to 13, since the film's PG rating might be a turn-off for older teen girls.

Disney is hoping for an opening in the $7 million to $9 million range. Prom goes out in 2,730 locations.

Directed by Joe Nussbaum, Prom's cast includes Aimee Teegarden, Nicholas Braun, Danielle Campbell, Cameron Monaghan and Christine Elise McCarthy.

The Weinstein Co. will try to grab even younger kids with 3D toon Hoodwinked Too! Hood vs. Evil.

Like Prom, Hoodwinked is expected to gross in the $7 million to $9 million range, helped by higher-priced 3D tickets. The pic goes out in 2,505 theaters, 75% of which are 3D.

Hoodwinked faces tough competition in Fox's box office hit Rio, which should stay high up on the chart in its third weekend. Universal's family film Hop also remains a contender.

The Weinstein Co. believes there is enough room in the marketplace for all three family films, but Hoodwinked Too! will have a hard time matching the $12.4 million opening of the first Hoodwinked.

Hoodwinked Too! is a co-production with Maurice Kanbar's Kanbar Entertainment (Kanbar created SKYY Vodka). Insiders say Kanbar put up much of the financing for the $30 million film.

Also this weekend, Omni Lab/Freestyle Releasing is opening supernatural action pic Dylan Dog: Dead at Night, starring Brandon Routh, in 862 theaters...

Keith Staskiewicz of  EW:

'Fast Five' in gear and ready to drive away with the weekend

Optimal Outcome?

Explosions Anyone?

A new theatrical trailer for the July 1st sequel Transformers: Dark of the Moon has hit..Michael Bay returns to guide the latest installment...

In the film--The Autobots and Decepticons become involved in a perilous space race between the U.S. and Russia, and once again human Sam Witwicky (Shia Labeouf) has to come to the aid of his robot friends. There’s new characters too, including a new villain in the form of Shockwave, a longtime “Transformers” character who rules Cybertron while the Autobots and Decepticons battle it out on Earth. The Autobots learn of a Cybertronian spacecraft on the Moon and must race against the Decepticons to find it and learn its secrets, which could turn the tide in the Transformers’ final battle.

Franchise regulars Josh Duhamel, Tyrese Gibson, John Turturro, Kevin Dunn and Julie White welcome newbies Rosie Huntington-Whiteley Patrick Dempsey, Frances McDormand, Ken Jeong, Alan Tudyk, and John Malkovich.

RIPD And Roaring With Bridges?

Academy Award winner Jeff Bridges is in negotiations to star opposite Ryan Reynolds in the supernatural comedy R.I.P.D. says  Deadline New York

The story sees Reynolds play a young cop murdered in the line of duty who agrees to enlist in the 'Rest In Peace Department', a police force of ghosts, for the chance to catch his killer. The action follows a regular day in the life while on the beat

Bridges would play the role that Zach Galifianakis was pegged for until he dropped out a few weeks ago--that of Ryan's partner a gunslinger who himself has been dead since the 1800s. I hope he does the film...The potential chemestry between the 2  leads could be huge--Better than Ryan & Zach would have been I dare say.

Neal Moritz will produce the film that takes it's cues from comic by Peter Lenkov

Robert Schwentke ("Flightplan" Red) is still supposed to direct the film from a script by Phil Hay and Matt Manfredi.

Neal Moritz will produce the film that takes it's cues from comic by Peter Lenkov

“Good People” Head for the Silver Screen

David Lindsay-Abaire is perhaps best known for his Tony Award-winning play Rabbit Hole and his Oscar-nominated adaptation of the same play.

However, he might make an even bigger splash in the future with Good People. The play about Boston life, which stars Frances McDormand in a leading role, opened in March to critical acclaim and, according to The Los Angeles Times, will be heading for the silver screen for Focus Features. McDormand also looks to reprise her role as Ms. Walsh.

The play’s plot, courtesy of The Los Angeles Times:

“In the Manhattan Theatre Club production, Margie Walsh is a sharp-tongued South Boston single mother of a mentally disabled daughter. Walsh dropped out of high school to care for her child and has struggled to get by ever since. When she's fired from her minimum-wage job, she seeks out employment from a former classmate and rich yuppie (Tate Donovan) in an interaction that quickly becomes a tangled web of race and class.”

“Atlas Shrugged” Getting Two Sequels

When critics trash your movie, how do you respond? Do you admit defeat? Do you come back stronger than ever? Do you agree to make another movie – or maybe more – based on the same product?

If you’re on board with the critically dismissed box office bomb Atlas Shrugged: Part 1, then you must be financier and producer John Aglialoro, and you fit that last bill. In an official statement, Aglialoro addresses the critical thrashing of the film, as well as his plans for future installments.

Yes, you read that right. Not installment, but installments. The Hollywood Reporter relays that Aglialoro plans to make two more features based on Ayn Rand’s Atlas Shrugged. He also discusses how the masses could have enjoyed it while critics hated it so much.

I won’t even touch that last one. Rather, I’ll just relay what Aglialoro said and let the laughs come naturally.

About the critics:

"It was a nihilistic craze. Not in the history of Hollywood has 16 reviewers said the same low things about a movie. They're lemmings. What's their fear of Ayn Rand? They hate this woman. They hate individualism. I'm going to get a picture of Ebert and Travers and the rest of them so I can wake up in the morning and they'll be right there. They're revitalizing me with their outrageousness."

On marketing (or the lack thereof):

"You really need to spend millions to get the message on TV screens. If I want Part 2 to open on 1,500 screens, I need to decide if I want to spend $10 million on TV commercials."

On plans for the future:

"The critics killed it so badly that agents may tell their clients they shouldn't be associated with this thing. I've got to give it to the critics. They won this battle, but they will not win the war. The message has been told in Part 1, and it will be told in Parts 2 and 3."

“Ness/Capone” Goes to Relativity

Grant Pierce Myers’s script for Ness/Capone finally has a home with Relativity. According to Deadline Hollywood, the film takes place during the 1920s (i.e. Prohibition Era) and shakes up the famous battle between Al Capone and Eliot Ness; Myers discovered that things went down much differently than in the Oscar-winning Brian DePalma film The Untouchables.

However, Warner Bros. has Cicero, yet another Capone-centric film, in the works; the studio also has Gangster Squad.

How do you feel about the sudden surge of gangster films getting the greenlight?

Richard Jobson Tackling Iraq Conflict In New Film

The Somnambulists, an upcoming film from Richard Jobson, will derive “its central theme from 15 testimonies from British servicemen and women who saw action in Basra.”

Jobson plans to pull influence from Joanna Kane, a famed photographer whose  exhibition at the Scottish National Portrait Gallery heavily stirred him; he’ll begin shooting in May, utilizing unknown acting talents according to The Hollywood Reporter.

“Ponzi’s Scheme” Shapes Up

Director Milos Forman is negotiating to direct Ponzi’s Scheme according to Variety.

The script, penned by Christopher Weekes, will derive from Ponzi’s Scheme: The True Story of a Financial Legend, a 2006 biography written by Mitchell Zuckoff.

Of course, this film will focus on Charles Ponzi and the Ponzi scheme for which he is most known.

“Instant Karma” Goes Hybrid Route for Sony Pictures Animation

According to The Hollywood Reporter’s Heat Vision blog, Instant Karma will be distributed by Sony Pictures Animation; it was initially set for New Line Cinema back in 2003 and has been set there since, but Sony just snagged the rights.

“The tale follows a misguided safecracker from New Orleans through his life lessons from a near-death experience only to find himself reincarnated as a fly. As the hero does good deeds to improve his karma, he moves up the food chain through a variety of animals, such as a frog, raccoon and dog, trying to get back to his human body and the woman he loves.”

IMAX Grosses Drop

According to The Hollywood Reporter, IMAX grosses are down by a significant amount.

 “Toronto-based Imax reported a loss $1 million for the three months to March 31, down sharply from earnings of $26.6 million in 2010, on revenue of $45.1 million, off from a year-earlier $72.7 million.

[…]

 But disappointing box office overall meant first quarter film revenue was $11.5 million, against $29.3 million in 2010.”

Sucker Punch certainly seems like the film to blame here, but also keep in mind that we didn’t have a huge film like Avatar to keep things steady.