Capital Gains

Mathieu Kassovitz and Gabriel Byrne have joined the cast; While model Naomi Campbell has been offered a role in Costa-Gavras financial industry drama "Le Capital" says Variety

The film takes a critical look at the global banking system and is set in Paris, London, New York, Davos and Tokyo. Kassovitz will play the role of president of one of Europe’s largest investment banks Marc Tourneuil, He becomes the target of the U.S.’ largest hedge funds. Byrne will play one of the "main shareholders.”

Vincent Cassel also stars

Shooting begins in September.

Is Leo The Bad Guy In Django Unchained?

L.A podcast host Jeff Goldsmith tweets that  Leonardo DiCaprio may play villian Calvin Candie in Quentin Tarantino's Django Unchained.

The spaghetti western style film follows a slave named Django who teams with German bounty hunter Dr. King Schultz on a mission to rescue his wife from a sadistic plantation owner.

Will Smith is the frontrunner for the lead.

Quentin originally wanted Leo to play Hans Landa in "Inglourious Basterds" before ultimately casting Christoph Waltz in the role. Waltz is eyed to play Schultz who trains Django and helps him on his quest. Samuel L. Jackson is being sought to play Stephen, the expert manipulator and house slave of the plantation owner.

No confirmation yet, and Goldsmith carefully labels the news a "Casting Rumor"

Tough Class

Allison Janney has joined the cast of the indie love story "Liberal Arts" says THR

In the film How I Met Your Mother star Josh Radnor plays Jesse Fisher, a 35-year-old admissions worker at a Gotham college who visits his liberal arts alma mater in Ohio where a 19-year-old student named Zibby (Elizabeth Olsen) tries to romance him.

Janney will play a cold English professor in the film

Radnor also wrote the script amd will direct Richard Jenkins, John Magaro, Michael Weston and Elizabeth Reaser co star

Jesse Hara is producing the pic when filming kicks off in June-- the scenes on campus will be filmed at Janey's alma mater, Kenyon College which Radnor attended as well.

Bower Joins Collins For The Mortal Instruments Film

Jamie Campbell Bower has won the lead role in the film adaptation of Cassandra Clare's supernatural novel series The Mortal Instruments says Deadline.

The tale follows Fray (Lily Collins) who has "The Sight" and can see both demons and Shadowhunters. When Clary's mother is abducted, she is forced to learn about her bloodline and abilities in order to get her mother back.

Bower plays Jace Wayland, one of the best Shadowhunters--A role that Alex Pettyfer was in talks for at one point

Scott Charles Stewart will direct

Donald Sutherland Slithers Into "Hunger Games"

Donald Sutherland has been cast as President Snow in the film adaptation of "The Hunger Games" 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.

In the story Snow has been the autocratic ruler of Panem and its contained districts for some 25 years at the outset of the story. With a snake-like appearance, he is cruel and ruthless in his intimidation and control tactics

Jennifer Lawrence plays heroine Katniss Josh Hutcherson plays Katniss' love interest Peeta; Liam Hemsworth also stars as the other male lead Gale Hawthorne; Elizabeth Banks will play Effie Trinket; Wes Bentley is Head Gamemaker Seneca Crane; Woody Harrelson is drunk, yet endearing mentor Haymitch: Stanley Tucci will play the ebullient and relentlessly upbeat Flickerman, host of the Games 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; Ian Nelson and Kalia Prescott are playng Tributes from District 3. Ashton Moio and Kara Petersen are playing tributes from District 6. While Samuel Tan and Makenzie Lintz occupy District 8; Sam Ly and Leigha Hancock appear as District 7 Tributes; Imanol Vepez-Frias and Annie Thurman inhabit District 9; Jeremy Marinas and Dakota Hood are playing the District 10 Tributes.; Latarsha Rose and Brooke Bundy will play Portia and Octavia; Lenny Kravitz will play the role of Cinna and Toby Jones is legendary arenas announcer Claudius Templesmith. Amber Chaney will play the Avox girl, Kimiko Gelman and Nelson Ascencio are Venia and Flavius respectively,

Collins adapted her own book into script form which Billy Ray has re-written. Gary Ross will call action. Location scouting is underway in Shelby, North Carolina where the rundown District 12 set i going to be Shooting begins late next month.

The film is due out March 23rd, 2012

Pure Shodows

Tim Burton tells The Wrap that his upcoming film adaptation of "Dark Shadows" will not be shot or converted into 3-D.

Well Whoop Dee Doo!!! Yes!

“I have no plans for [3-D]. I loved doing “Alice” in 3D. Frankenweenie, gonna do that in 3-D. There’s people like, ‘Everything’s gonna be in 3D,’ or ‘I hate 3D!’ I think people should have a choice. I don’t think it should be forced on anybody. At the same time, it’s great, some of it”

Burton also talked about the tone of the pic- “We’re not starting with the simple stuff; we’re sort of getting right in there. You like to kind of sneak up on it a little bit, but this one we just kind of slammed right into it… I’m early into it because it’s a funny tone, and that’s part of what the vibe of the show is, and there’s something about it that we want to get. But when you look at it, it’s pretty bad. I’m hoping that it will be — it’s early days, let’s put it — I’m very intrigued by the tone. It’s a real ethereal tone we’re trying to go for and I don’t know yet.”

Johnny Depp, Michelle Pfeiffer, Helena Bonham Carter, Eva Green, Jackie Earle Haley, Bella Heathcote,Thomas McDonell Chloe Moretz, Jonny Lee Miller and newcomer Gulliver McGrath star in the pic based on the cult TV Series a spooky soap-opera that featured gothic horror staples

Seth Grahame-Smith has penned the script while Depp, Graham King, Richard Zanuck, Christi Dembrowski and David Kennedy are producing the pic.

Shooting is currently underway in London .The movie is set for a May 4th 2012 release

Bryan Singer Talks "Giant Killer"

Chatting about Friday's X-Men First Class with IGN they also asked  Bryan Singer about about his next flick Jack the Giant Killer.

This re-telling of the Jack and the Beanstalk fairy tale follows a farm boy (Nicholas Hoult) who unwittingly breaks a long-standing peace between the humans and giants when he goes after a princess who the giants kidnapped.

Eleanor Tomlinson, Stanley Tucci, Ian McShane, Bill Nighy and Ewan McGregor also star

Why Make Jack the Giant Killer?

"I don't know - I grew up reading the story of Jack and the Beanstalk I'm also familiar with the Jack the Giant Killer myth from the 1700s. There was a script that existed a couple of years ago that I changed quite a bit. The idea of that Wizard of Oz-style journey - you've got a beanstalk - what's up there?"

The Script

"[Christopher McQuarrie] did a significant re-write for me. He brought a different structure. It was very much a page-one situation; a different storyline. It involved the same characters, but some we juggled around and switched around. He just brought a very different perspective."

The Process

"It's my first time working in the performance capture space. It's a live-action movie, but the giants are fully rendered CG characters driven by actors, and that intrigued me because I hadn't done that before and I wanted to work in that space. And 3D came along and here we are with that."

Performance Capture

"It's fascinating. I've just started my rehearsals with the principal cast on the performance capture stage and I wish you were here so I could show you some photos on my iPhone because they are so comical. It takes you back to play-acting as a kid in your living room because you are running around and having to imagine that you are in Gantua and imagine that there are these weapons and all these giant things. But there's nothing when you are there other than Styrofoam and blocks. It forces the actors to regress to when they would play-act as kids or do minimalist theatre. But in that way it's fascinating - I can see why Robert Zemeckis and James Cameron have started to shoot pictures this way."

Casting Nicholas Hoult as Jack

"I met with a lot of people - a lot of people came in - and ultimately decided that he was right for the role. I've liked him since Skins and I was very supportive of his casting in X-Men: First Class. He did a great job on that film, and I just really like him as an actor. He is a very charming, sweet guy. And he's just tall [laughs]. That's the one thing, he's just tall, and when you're making a movie about giants, you tend to want to cast shorter guys, but he's a terrific actor."

The Fairytale Renaissance

"I was involved with this over two-and-a-half years ago, or even longer - I was flirting with it almost three years ago. But [these fairytale features] are all just a function of Alice in Wonderland. And that's cool - it's a rensaissance of those kind of movies, and it's cool - I'm happy to be a part of two renaissances; the comic book renaissance, and now this one. But it wasn't intentional. In fact, I probably would have been shy about jumping into a fairytale movie with all of the projects out there now - I might have actually backed away from it. But now it's just serendipitous I guess"

Jack the Giant Killer began production last week and will be released worldwide in the summer of 2012.

Insinuating Insidious 2

The horror flick Insidious is 2011's most profitable film thus far--it's box office cume nearing seventy times its budget. No wonder then that STYD asked producer Jason Blum about a potential sequel "I wouldn't say we're not considering it..."

The "We" Blum refers to includes director James Wan and writer Leigh Whannell

The ending of the first film certainly leaves things open for more. But as I have said before the horror, genre works better to leave things more ambiguous sometimes rather than spelling it all out.

Blum adds. "There's no plan, no release date, nothing like that," says Blum. "I think James feels the same as as Oren Peli, who was very sceptical about doing a sequel to Paranormal Activity until Michael R. Perry pitched an idea and it made sense. If Leigh comes up with a story that's inventive and that James feels is worth making - as opposed to 'let's make another movie and make money' - we would do it. And if Leigh doesn't, we won't."

It's nice to see that, despite the lure of dollar signs that no one on the creative side is rushing in to get a sequel done--Will the studio suits undermine the take it slow approach?

Probably...

Six Degrees Of Hugo Weaving

Hugo Weaving talked to The Herald Sun about Andy Lana Wachowski and Tom Tykwer's adaptation of  "Cloud Atlas".

"That’s a project that’s really exciting because all the actors will be playing more than one role. I actually have six characters in the same film and they are all different people in six different stories".

Based on the book by David Mitchell the story follows six storylines which range from a unwilling voyager crossing the Pacific in 1850; a bisexual composer blagging a precarious livelihood in between-the-wars Belgium; a high-minded female journalist in Governor Reagan’s California; a vanity publisher fleeing his criminal world creditors; a genetically modified “dinery server” on death-row in a futuristic cacotopia (often featured by cyberpunk) ; and Zachry, a young Pacific Islander witnessing the dusk of science and civilization.

Tom Hanks, Halle Berry, Jim Broadbent and Susan Sarandon co star.

Alice Braga Joins Elysium

Brazilian actress Alice Braga has been cast in District 9  director Neill Blomkamp's super secret sci-fi epic "Elysium"  says Deadline.

Set a century into the future and on another planet, Matt Damon stars an ex-con in this social class and violent tale.

Details of her role are being kept under wraps

Jodie Foster Wagner Moura William Fichtner and Sharlto Copley also star.

Shooting kicks off this summer for a March 1, 2013 bow

De Nadia

Shannon Elizabeth will indeed reprise her role of Czech exchange student Nadia in the upcoming  comedy sequel “American Reunion" says  Deadline.

The story centers upon everyone coming together for the Great Falls high school reunion, which will feature most of the original cast members. In the film Michelle (Alyson Hannigan) is still married to Jim (Jason Biggs) and the pair have a kid.

The actress joins feature film regulars Chris Klein Thomas Ian Nicholas, Seann William Scott, Tara Reid, Mena Suvari, Eddie Kaye Thomas Jennifer Coolidge and Eugene Levy as well as franchise newbie 30 Rock star Katrina Bowden

Harold & Kumar creators Jon Hurwitz and Hayden Schlossberg will both write and direct

Chris Moore and Craig Perry will produce the sequel with production underway to make its April 6th, 2012 debut.

Elizabeth will start filming her scenes next week in Atlanta

Hobbit Titles & Release Dates

Peter Jackson's The Hobbit: Part 1/The Hobbit: Part 2 have official titles and release dates according to a Press Release via THR

The first film will be called "The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey" and will bow on December 14th 2012.

The second will be "The Hobbit: There and Back Again" and reaches cinemas on December 13th 2013.

Both films are set in Middle Earth sixty years before events depicted in The Lord of the Rings films

Martin Freeman Stephen Fry, Ryan Gage Conan Stevens Cate Blanchett, Hugo Weaving Dean O'Gorman, Elijah Wood, Ian Holm, David Tennant, Lee Pace Bret McKenzie Orlando Bloom Ian McKellen, and Christopher Lee star in the Hobbit 2-fer. While Benedict Cumberbatch is said to have a role as well. Jackson nor the studio has confirmed that casting. His role is unspecified.

Both parts are being shot consecutively in digital 3-D using the latest camera and stereo technology with filming taking place at Stone Street Studios, Wellington, and on location around New Zealand.

Jackson has started answering fan questions too, among his answers confirming that both the White Council and Dol Guldur will be part of the movies.

Nothing To Fear

The teaser trailer for Don't Be Afraid of the Dark the big screen remake of the 1973 TV movie of the same name has arrived. And it is a "tease" indeed.

Co-written and produced by Guillermo del Toro the film follows  Sally (Bailee Madison), a young girl who moves to Rhode Island to live with her father (Guy Pearce) and his new girlfriend (Katie Holmes) in the 19th-century mansion they are restoring. Having stumbled upon the mansion’s hidden basement, Sally starts hearing voices calling out from the bolted ash pit, imploring her to open it. Sally obliges and unwittingly unleashes something so terrible, so unthinkable, that everyone's life – hers most of all - is placed in immediate and grave danger.

 Troy Nixey called action on the August 26th flick



The film is set to premiere at the Los Angeles Film Festival from June 16-26 2011

Jane Out Of Headshot

On Thursday--AICN reported that Thomas Jane looks to no longer be a part of Walter Hill's 80's throwback action thriller "Headshot".

24 hours later AITH confirmed that Jane was out as the sidekick to Sylvester Stallone's character,

The reason?

Producer Joel Silver  wants Sly to work off an African-American co-star, a formula that's worked in past for both Hill and Silver during the 80's

The script will be rewritten to reflect the change.

Jane had already signed on to the role therfore his departure isn't going to go all that smoothly. Stay Tuned...

Is Thanos In The Avengers Movie?

It has been generally thought that Loki (Tom Hiddleston) from Thor would serve as the main villain in Joss Whedon's The Avengers team-up flick...

Reports say Loki uses the Cosmic Cube., featured in July 22nd's "Captain America: The First Avenger", to bring forth the alien race The Skrulls to invade Earth. At the same time he would manipulate The Hulk (Mark Ruffalo Lou Ferrigno) to bring the superheroes together.

Now, Latino Review says the May 4th 2012 film has asecondary bad guy- Thanos. In the comics he's a mad cosmic tyrant bent on slaying half of all sentient beings in existence. One big part of his outfit is an 'Infinity Gauntlet', a jewelled glove.

A glove made a brief appearance in the Odin’s Vault scenes in "Thor".

Of course it is all speculation at this point--Nothing has been confirmed. The picture is currently shooting in New Mexico.

Singer's "Giant Killer" Starts Production

Bryan Singer's Jack the Giant Killer has officially begun production in London according to a Press Release.

Hoult Stars As Jack

Here’s the official synopsis:

"Jack the Giant Killer tells the story of an ancient war that is reignited when a young farmhand unwittingly opens a gateway between our world and a fearsome race of giants. Unleashed on the Earth for the first time in centuries, the giants strive to reclaim the land they once lost, forcing the young man, Jack, into the battle of his life to stop them. Fighting for a kingdom, its people, and the love of a brave princess, he comes face to face with the unstoppable warriors he thought only existed in legend—and gets the chance to become a legend himself."

Nicholas Hoult, Eleanor Tomlinson, Stanley Tucci, Ian McShane, Bill Nighy  and Ewan McGregor star in the film which boasts a screenplay by Christopher McQuarrie, Mark Bomback, and Darren Lemke.

The 3-D film hits theaters next Summer.

Box Office Goes On A Bender

Updated: ‘Hangover II’ Has Biggest Five-Day Opening Ever for an R-rated Movie

Original...

As the holiday weekend rolls along The Hangover Part II has become the "biggest comedy of all time" says Pamela McClintock of THR; Kung Fu Panda 2. is solid as expected...

Shattering numerous records, Warner Bros.’ The Hangover Part II grossed $118.1 million in its first four days to help fuel the best Memorial Day weekend in history at the domestic box office. The sequel is expected to gross another $20 million on Monday for a staggering five-day bow of $138.1 million, setting a new benchmark for comedies.

Overseas, Hangover opened to $59 million from 40 countries--thee times higher than the first Hangover and bringing the sequel's global bow to almost $200 million. Hangover grossed $16.4 million in the U.K., the best ever launch for a U.S. comedy, as well as the top opening of 2011.

DreamWorks Animation and Paramount’s Kung Fu Panda 2 also contributed to the boom, grossing $54.6 million in its first four days (like Hangover, Panda opened on Thursday). The 3D toon should end Monday with a five-day total of $68.2 million.

Kung Fu Panda impressed overseas, where it grossed a mighty $57 million from 8,023 markets in only 11 territories. In seven territories, it scored the best opening ever for an animated title and in China, scored the biggest opening of all time for a foreign film in grossing $18.5 million.

Hangover’s foreign numbers weren’t immediately available.

In the U.S., the specialty business also soared, thanks to Woody Allen’s holdover Midnight in Paris and new entry The Tree of Life, from Terrence Malick.

Tree of Life, grossing $352,320 for the weekend proper as it opened in four theaters in New York and Los Angeles, posted a per location average of $88,080—an all-time high for a Fox Searchlight title.

Midnight—which debuted last weekend to a per location average of $99,834—grossed $1.9 million as it expanded into a total of 58 theaters for a 10-day cume of $2.8 million, according to Rentrak.

The overall uptick in theater traffic at the domestic box office was a welcome respite for the film business, which has suffered one of the worst box slumps in history. Grosses for Memorial Day weekend are projected to reach $270 million, easily surpassing the $254 million earned in 2007.

From Todd Phillips, Hangover grabbed the best opening ever for a comedy, besting the $85.7 million earned by Bruce Almighty over Memorial Day weekend in 2003, as well as the biggest Saturday ever for a comedy ($29.7 million). Hangover's Friday-Sunday tally was $86.4 million.

Hangover and Universal’s Bridesmaids set new benchmarks for the playing power of R-rated comedies. Even with competition from Hangover, Bridesmaids held well over the weekend, declining only 27% to an estimated $16.4 million to place No. 4. On Monday, Bridesmaids is expected to earn another $4.4 million for a domestic cume of $89.4 million.

Hangover should grab the largest five-day opening ever for any R-rated pic, comedy or otherwise. Previous best was The Matrix Reloaded ($134.3 million) and The Passion of the Christ ($125.2 million).

Hangover is a sizeable victory for Warners and co-financing partner Legendary Pictures, and delivered the studio its best Memorial Weekend ever (Terminator Salvation was the previous crown holder at $65.3 million).

“This blows everything out of the water. It’s pretty amazing stuff,” Warner Bros. president of domestic distribution Dan Fellman said. “Moviegoers love all the characters, and they love the story.”

Hangover is the first title in months to appeal heavily to younger moviegoers, who represented 54% of the audience.

Moviegoers delivered rave reviews for both Hangover and Kung Fu Panda, which drew an A- CinemaScore and A CinemaScore, respectively.

Families turned out in force for Kung Fu Panda, which return Jack Black, Angelina Jolie, Jackie Chan, Dustin Hoffman, Seth Rogen and Lucy Liu return to lead the voice cast. About 45% of the total gross came 3D screens, although if the toon had played in Imax theaters, 3D grosses would have likely repped 55% of the total, according to DreamWorks.

Kung Fu Panda's Friday-Sunday gross was an estimated $48 million.

“We’re thrilled to have Kung Fu Panda be part of this record-breaking weekend. We came in at high end of expecations. We played very strong to families and kids, who made up 60% of our audience,” DreamWorks Animation president of marketing Anne Globe said.

The original Kung Fu Panda debuted to $60.2 million in early June 2008 at the domestic box office on its way to cuming $215.4 million.

Coming in third at the domestic box office was Disney’s Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides, which grossed a solid $39.3 million for the three-day weekend and is projected to earn $50 million through Monday. For the weekend proper, the pic fell roughly 55% from last weekend, in line with drops for the previous titles in the franchise. On Stranger Tides should end Monday with a domestic cume of $163.7 million.

Disney president of worldwide distribution Chuck Viane said he was happy that Pirates helped contribute to the record Memorial Day weekend...

John Young of EW has his own look at the race

Final numbers will be released tomorrow into Tuesday...Meantime 'Tree of Life' Gets Box-Office Boost from Palme d'Or...And Overseas: 'Pirates' Beats 'Panda' and 'Hangover' Foreign Debuts with Another $122.8 Million

Next Up: Summer School Begins In X-Men First Class

Bekmambetov Still Keen On Doing Wanted Sequel

The folks at MTV News visited the set of Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter where director Timur Bekmambetov says that even though he has a very full plate he still intends to move along with the sequel  to his 2008 comic book adaptation Wanted .

Bekmambetov says "We still talk sometimes about Wanted 2 We want to try and continue that story because it's a very interesting one for us."

And despite the fact that Angelina Jolie's character died and the actress herself said a few months ago that she won't be returning for any sort of follow-up--Bekmambetov says "The reality is we love [Jolie] and we'd love to do it with her, but also that story has such a big idea behind it that it can also go on without her."

The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo Remake Trailer!

David Fincher's American adaptation of Swedish novel "The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo" hits theaters on December 21, 2011...however the push has begun with the debut of a  RED BAND TRAILER has for audiences in the overseas markets

The story follows a disgraced journalist (Daniel Craig) and a misunderstood rebellious female hacker (Rooney Mara) investigating the 40-year-old disappearance of retired industrialist Henrik Vanger's niece on a remote island. Their investigation uncover religious killings, Nazism, rape, child abuse and murder.

Joely Richardson, Steven Berkoff David Dencik Robin Wright, Stellan Skarsgård and Christopher Plummer co-star in the project Steven Zaillian adapted the script from Stieg Larsson's book of the same name.

Meanwhile Deadline reports that a domestic green-band trailer (a less explicit cut of this one) is set to arrive both in theatres and in high def online next Thursday.

Have a look at the bootleg version! BE WARNED EXPLICIT MATERIAL FOLLOWS....



Can't wait! It seems as though Fincher didn't tone anything down for the Amerian version.

Three Bytes

A trio Of Weekend Bits

-Joshua Sternin and Jeffrey Ventimilia have been hired to pen the script for a sequel to last year's live-action "Yogi Bear" film says Variety.

-Andrew Barrer and Gabe Ferrari ("Die in a Gunfight") to adapt Marie Lu's forthcoming young adult fantasy novel "Legend" reports Reuters. Jonathan Levine will direct. Marty Bowen and Wyck Godfrey will produce.

-Jeff Conaway, Star of 'Taxi' and 'Grease,' Dies at 60 on Friday Never waking from his coma that began a few weeks ago.

Pirates, Panda & Hangover 2 With Super Heroes

ItsJustSomeRandomGuy takes you to the movies....Marvel/DC Style!--With spoofs on the trailers for Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides, The Hangover Part II and Kung Fu Panda 2.

The parodies are (probably) better than the actual films!

Legolas Is A Late Bloom-er

Even though it was pretty much assumed...It's now all official--Orlando Bloom will return as Legolas in "Peter Jackson's The Hobbit: Part 1/The Hobbit: Part 2".

Jackson via Facebook:

"Ten years ago, Orlando Bloom created an iconic character with his portrayal of Legolas. I'm excited to announce today that we'll be revisiting Middle Earth with him once more. I’m thrilled to be working with Orlando again. Funny thing is, I look older—and he doesn’t! I guess that's why he makes such a wonderful elf."

Martin Freeman Stephen Fry, Ryan Gage Conan Stevens Cate Blanchett, Hugo Weaving Dean O'Gorman, Elijah Wood, Ian Holm, David Tennant, Lee Pace Bret McKenzie Ian McKellen, and Christopher Lee co star. While Benedict Cumberbatch is said to have a role as well. Jackson nor the studio has confirmed that casting. His role is unspecified.

The Hobbit I is now filming and comes to theaters November 2012

Stick A Fork In 'Em--They're Done!!

Three film adaptations--long in development---will remain that way for a time it seems...

*Keanu Reeves took a pass and now director Albert Hughes (The Book of Eli) has bailed on the live-action Akira remake says Deadline.

Sources say the split comes down to "amicable creative differences" and the studio will try to put him on another film in short order.

Reeves and Hughes' departures Pre Vis stopped weeks ago...Ugh!

*Meanwhile Variety reports that David O. Russell, who was gonna do the adaptation of the best-selling video game Uncharted: Drake's Fortune has also said C-Ya.

Once it's the standard "creative differences" that took hold at first  The film was also one of several on Russell's plate and speculation was that while doing interviews about it, his answers suggested that he'd barely played the game at all

Soon after the news broke The Los Angeles Times gave us more details on the split and says part of the reason for it came down to the long and highly ambitious script that was turned into the studio suits.

Russell had taken the film in a completely different direction than the studio had wanted--- a rough, wise-cracking lone adventurer exploring remote regions of the world with one or two helpers.

Russell had created an art-heist movie involving a family of international thieves and a bunch of characters not in the game.

A new writer and director will be brought in to work from earlier non-Russell draft that sticks much closer to the game in style.  Attached star Mark Wahlberg is most likely out as well with David's split

 And you can obviously forget that 2012 release date too.

*Irrational Games executive Ken Levine was asked by Industry Gamers to discuss the status of the film version of the BioShock Series

"I think we're in the space now of building properties that are appealing to people, and there's a version of Bioshock that makes a great game and there's probably a version of Bioshock that makes a great movie. I think for us as a company, we don't have any need to get a movie made."

Dog Dave's Of Summer

Virginia Madsen and Kenan Thompson are in negotiations to join director Rob Reiner's drama "Summer at Dog Dave's" aka "The Third Act," says Variety.

The story follows a wheelchair-bound author of Western novels (Morgan Freeman) whose alcoholism is destroying his drive. The friendship of the recently arrived family next door helps him rediscover his passion for writing.

Madsen will play the matriarch of the family, a single mother going through a divorce who has three daughters. Thompson will play Freeman's helpful nephew.

Madsen takes a role that Annette Bening had been linked to but was never officially signed.

Reiner, Guy Thomas and Andrew Scheinman wrote the script.

Production is set to begin in New York this July with the film aiming for a 2012 release.

Schneider In Baby Maker Movie

Paul Schneider (Lars and the Real Girl) will star in Broken Lizard's new comedy The Baby Maker says Variety

Schneider Looks A Lot Like Zachary Quinto Does He Not?

The story follows a married couple who fail to conceive, prompting the husband to plan the heist of a Pasadena sperm bank to get an old deposit he made back.

Fellow "Lizards" Kevin Heffernan Jay Chandrasekhar  Steve Lemme, Paul Soter and Erik Stolhanske co-star

Chandrasekhar will direct from the script written by Ice Age: The Meltdown scribes Peter Gaulke and Gerry Swallow.

At Work Playing Games

Newcomer Amber Chaney Kimiko Gelman and Nelson Ascencio have won roles in the film adaptation of "The Hunger Games" says the film's Official Twitter Page

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.

Chaney will play the Avox girl while Gelman and Ascencio are Venia and Flavius respectively,

In the book, an Avox is someone who has revelled against the Capitol and had their tongue cut out in punishment. Venia and Flavius are two members of the prep team for Katniss (Jennifer Lawrence)

Josh Hutcherson plays Katniss' love interest Peeta; Liam Hemsworth also stars as the other male lead Gale Hawthorne; Elizabeth Banks will play Effie Trinket; Wes Bentley is Head Gamemaker Seneca Crane; Woody Harrelson is drunk, yet endearing mentor Haymitch: Stanley Tucci will play the ebullient and relentlessly upbeat Flickerman, host of the Games 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; Ian Nelson and Kalia Prescott are playng Tributes from District 3. Ashton Moio and Kara Petersen are playing tributes from District 6. While Samuel Tan and Makenzie Lintz occupy District 8; Sam Ly and Leigha Hancock appear as District 7 Tributes; Imanol Vepez-Frias and Annie Thurman inhabit District 9; Jeremy Marinas and Dakota Hood are playing the District 10 Tributes.; Latarsha Rose and Brooke Bundy will play Portia and Octavia; Lenny Kravitz will play the role of Cinna and Toby Jones is legendary arenas announcer Claudius Templesmith.

Collins adapted her own book into script form which Billy Ray has re-written. Gary Ross will call action. Location scouting is underway in Shelby, North Carolina where the rundown District 12 set i going to be Shooting begins late next month.

The film is due out March 23rd, 2012

Vivaldi X's Two

Two biopics about Baroque composer Antonio Vivaldi are being made says The Hollywood Reporter.

Claire Foy and Max Irons (pictured) are attached to star in Boris Damast's film which is is set to begin shooting this September in Venice, Hungary, Germany and Bruges.

Neve Campbell, Jacqueline Bisset, Elle Fanning, Tom Wilkinson, Alfred Molina and Sebastian Koch are all in talks to co-star.

Meantime the Patricia Riggen-directed "Vivaldi" starring Jessica Biel, Ben Kingsley, Luke Evans and violinist David Garrett may have $3 million in production subsidies, but it does not have a production date yet.

Damast's film tells the true story of how the composer turned a group of women, who were the illegitimate daughters of courtesans, into an orchestra that eventually played for the Pope. Riggen's focuses on the composer’s struggle between his devotion to his music and the priesthood, and his love for a woman.

Sienna Turns Radical Freak

Sienna Miller has joined in on the long-in-development adaptation of  Elmore Leonard's “ Freaky Deaky" according to the official site for the film (via The Playlist).

Leonard’s classic 1970's-set book has Miller playing a former radical turned romance novelist who tracks down her old partner in crime, a movie special effects man, for one last score. Their target: a wealthy alcoholic (William H. Macy) whom she blames for sending her to prison. Trouble is, she ain't the only one after him as both a suspended cop and a former Black Panther want to join in on the gig.

Charles Matthau will call the shots

Camilla Belle Sam Rockwell and Hayden Christensen were all previously linked the film, but there is mention of the trio on the site

Cooper Is "Hyper" Active

Bradley Cooper was on Charlie Rose last night, saying that he is in fact a Sci-fi geek, and has with the help of a friend adapted Dan Simmons's Hyperion.

Influenced by Geoffrey Chaucer's The Canterbury Tales, the story follows a band of characters as they journey towards the distant planet of Hyperion in search of the demon-god known as The Shrike each of the seven characters tells their story in turn.

Cooper says " My friend and I went to [producer] Graham King, who owns the rights to Hyperion, and we wrote a treatment on spec saying, 'Look we know this is very audacious, but could you just read this spec we wrote? We think we have a way in to tell this story'. So now we're negotiating and... who knows what's going to happen? Ideally I'd love to direct it... there's no way! I shouldn't say that, you never know. This is a huge movie, this would be an epic movie. But at least we've taken the reins and said, we're going to go after it and now we're gonna write the script. At least we have a shot to write the script for Hyperion."

Hyperion has been in the pipline forever....With Cooper attached the project will likely move ahead.

Before Cho Treks Back Into Space--He Joins "Recall" Redo

Since John Cho  is still waiting around for the Untitled Star Trek Sequel to get going the new Sulu is ready to join the cast of the remake of "Total Recall" says EW

The film will be a new adaptation of the sci-fi saga based on the Philip K. Dick story "We Can Remember It for You Wholesale"--and bares little similarity with Paul Verhoeven's 1990 version.

Colin Farrell is playing Douglas Quaid who begins to think he’s a spy, but he doesn’t know whether it’s for Euromerica or New Shanghai - one of the two superpower countries in this world.

Cho will play McClane, the smooth-talking rep for the mind-messing company that tempts Quiad to implant fantastic memories into his brain.

Kate Beckinsale and Jessica Biel are now officially locked for the female leads--Quaid's real life wife Lori, and the "woman of his dreams" Melina, respectively.

Bryan Cranston Bill Nighy and Bokeem Woodbine also star; Ethan Hawke will have a small cameo in the pic

Len Wiseman is calling the shots from a script by Kurt Wimmer. Neal Moritz is producing. The film is set to open on August 3, 2012.

Shooting kicks into gear on Monday in Toronto.