Thursday, June 30, 2011

Cranston Up To Join Sqaud

Bryan Cranston is in negotiations to join  the cast of The Gangster Squad says Variety.



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 a member of the so-called Jewish Mob

Cranston would portray Max Kennard, a laconic Lapd officer from Texas who is tough as nails
Sean Penn, Ryan Gosling Michael Peña Josh Brolin and Anthony Mackie also star

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

Dan Lin and Kevin McCormick are producing the film

Hemsworth Sees A Shadow

Chris Hemsworth is attached to star in the black ops thriller "Shadow Runner" says Heat Vision.



The plot's all hush hush although it is known it involves elite commandos.

Hossein Amini, who wrote this Fall's "Drive" and Hemsworth's next pic "Snow White and the Huntsman", came up with the original idea.

Tripp Vinson, Beau Flynn and Will Ward are producing

Could this be a reworked version of Amini's  Moscow script for the Jack Ryan reboot? Certainly seems

Wednesday, June 29, 2011

Perfect Cameo Casting For Dark Shadows Film

-Rocker Alice Cooper may have a cameo in Tim Burton’s Dark Shadows


Johnny Depp, Michelle Pfeiffer, Helena Bonham Carter, Eva Green, Jackie Earle Haley, Bella Heathcote,Thomas McDonell Jonny Lee Miller Gulliver McGrath Chloe Moretz, 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.

The movie is set for a May 4th 2012 release

Cooper is in London and performed at the famed The 100 Club on Monday where Depp made a surprise appearance and performed with him with production underway

After "Place" Austin Plays Huck

Wizards of Waverly Place star Jake T. Austin has signed on to play Huckleberry Finn, Tom Sawyer's best pal in Tom Sawyer & Huckleberry Finn says Variety


Joel Courtney will play Sawyer in the new adaptation of Mark Twain's classic period story that follows the journey of "a white boy who runs off with an older black man".

Shooting begins in August in Bulgaria--with  Jo Kastner ready to adapt, direct and produce.

Maestro Joins Savages

Mia Maestro has signed up to the cast of Oliver Stone's Savages says THR



Based on author Don Winslow's book the story follows two best friend pot growers (Aaron Johnson, Taylor Kitsch) in Laguna who share a trippy girl named Ophelia (Blake Lively). The duo are so good at their job that an enforcer (Benicio Del Toro) demands they work for his boss, a Mexican drug cartel matriarch Salma Hayek).

Maestro will play Del Toro's wife in the pic

John Travolta and Uma Thurman Joel David Moore Demian Bichir and Emile Hirsch also star

Shane Salerno and Winslow wrote the script. Shooting kicks off July 6th.

Winslow is at work on a prequel to the story

Breaking Argo

Bryan Cranston is in talks to join the Ben Affleck-directed  Iran hostage crisis thriller "Argo" according to THR


Based on Joshuah Bearman's 2007 Wired magazine article, the wry political thriller would be centered on what happened during the occupation of the American embassy by Iranians in 1979, when a rescue effort was mounted by the CIA and the Canadian government to extract six U.S. diplomats.

The CIA used a disguise expert and concocted a scenario that involved the six being a Hollywood crew scouting a sci-fi movie titled "Argo:. Using those disguises, and with the help of artwork by legendary comics creator Jack Kirby, they were able to flee the country.

Cranston will portray Jack O'Connell, a Boston-bred CIA agent who used to be President Dwight D. Eisenhower's personal bodyguard.

Affleck Alan Arkin and John Goodman also star.

Chris Terrio wrote the screenplay

David Klawans, George Clooney and Grant Heslov will produce the pic

Steve Carell gets FBI wedding as a star vehicle


Variety reports that Universal Pictures is developing a comedic film centered on an FBI wedding specifically for Steve Carell, a film to be in the vein of My Best Friend’s Wedding.

The actor is also set to produce the currently untitled feature alongside Bob Cooper and Charles Segers.

Denzel Washington wanted for ‘The American Can’

Vulture reports that Will Smith wants Denzel Washington to star in the upcoming Hurricane Katrina film The American Can.



There were once plans for Smith to lead the film, but now he’s exclusively behind the scenes on the film.

The story focuses on ex-Marine John Keller, who braved the forces of nature to save the lives of others.

John Lee Hancock, perhaps most famous for writing and directing Best Picture nominee The Blind Side, is set to write and direct the film.

Attempting to bring ‘The Giver’ to the silver screen… again

Variety reports that Lois Lowry’s utopian classic The Giver is getting another attempt at film life thanks to Nikki Silver and Jeff Bridges, who wants to play the titular role.

Warner Bros. purchased the film rights to the book for $1 million after Bridges and Silver had been planning the film for quite some time; they snagged the rights once again after they became available.

The Giver focuses on a preteen’s emotional troubles when having to take up the role of the Giver in his community. 

Jeremy Irons to star in ‘Night Train to Lisbon’


Variety reports that Jeremy Irons will star in the upcoming film adaptation of the Pascal Mercier novel Night Train to Lisbon.

The film focuses on a Swiss professor who goes to Lisbon to discover the whereabouts of a poet and doctor who went against Antonio de Oliveira Salazar.

‘Metamorphosis’ snags ‘Jutified’ star

Variety repots that Nick Searcy from FX’s hit series Justified will star in Meatmorphosis. The indie thriller is to be based on the classic from Frank Kaftka, which focuses on a teen who becomes a giant cockroach.

The film’s director David Yohe states this about the film:

"We are making a film with a very direct social message. It's a metaphor for being different, change, and most importantly how fear can make us do harmful things to others and to ourselves."

Breaking Cross

Giancarlo Esposito has joined "I, Alex Cross", a reboot of the franchise based on James Patterson's Alex Cross novel series says THR




In the novels Alex Cross is a forensic psychologist who hunts down killers. Morgan Freeman played the role twice in 1997's Kiss the Girls and 2001's "Along Came a Spider".

Tyler Perry, best known for writing and directing his own films, stars as Cross in the pic.Matthew Fox plays the role of Michael Sullivan, a killer known as the Butcher of Sligo. When Cross thwarts one of his killing attempts, Sullivan makes his retribution personal, by gruesomely killing the detective’s wife. Ed Burns has also signed on to play Tommy Kane, Cross's partner. Jean Reno co-stars.

Esposito will play a crime boss.

Rob Cohen (The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor) will direct the film. Patterson and Kerry Williamson wrote a draft of the script that will be polished by Marc Moss which includes several twists that are different from the book

Production is scheduled to start in August.

I, Alex Cross comes to theaters in 2012

RJ Culter snags ‘Maynard and Jennica’

Deadline Hollywood reports that RJ Cutler, director of the acclaimed documentary The September Issue, has snagged the filming rights to the romantic comedy novel Maynard and Jennica.


The novel tells the story of a filmmaker and transplant who fall in love but from the perspective of over thirty different characters in the story. 

The Scent Of Musk

The second trailer for latest remake of The Three Musketeers The film is directed by Paul W.S. Anderson.and stars  Logan Lerman, Christoph Waltz, Orlando Bloom, Ray Stevenson, Luke Evans, Matthew Macfadyen, Mads Mikkelsen and Milla Jovovich.

The Three Musketeers comes to theaters in 2-D and 3-D on October 14th, 2011

Other than the 3-D gimmick Have to say this looks pretty dang good


"What's The Plan?"

Tom Cruise is back as IMF man Ethan Hunt in Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol and the teaser trailer has arrived

Ving Rhames, Jeremy Renner, Josh Holloway, Paula Patton, Simon Pegg, Vladimir Mashkov and Michael Nyqvist co-star

Andre Nemec and Josh Appelbaum wrote the script with ideas fron J.J. Abrams

The pic directed by Brad Bird is due in theaters on Dec. 16, 2011.



Looks pretty coll

Tuesday, June 28, 2011

Roles Are Born Not Made


Clint Eastwood wants Leo DiCaprio for the upcoming remake of A Star is Born says Deadline.

Leo would appear opposite Beyoncé on the musical about a veteran star whose fame is on the wane as he serves as mentor to a younger rising singer.

Jon Peters, Basil Iwanyk and Bill Gerber are producing the latest version of the tale with Clint...told on screen in 1937, 1954--with Judy Garland and 1976 with Barbra Streisand and Kris Kristofferson. Like the '76 pic this version will be set in the music industry rather than movies like the first two films..

Clint is directing the remake  Will Fetters wrote the most recent draft. The team of Stephen J. Rivele and Christopher Wilkinson--Reggie Rock Bythewood wrote previous drafts..

Eastwood is currently working with DiCaprio on the biopic called J. Edgar The Oscar-nominated actor plays the title role there

Ben Directs Himself In Argo


Ben Affleck has cast himself in his Iran hostage crisis thriller "Argo" according to Variety.

Based on Joshuah Bearman's 2007 Wired magazine article, the wry political thriller would be centered on what happened during the occupation of the American embassy by Iranians in 1979, when a rescue effort was mounted by the CIA and the Canadian government to extract six U.S. diplomats.

The CIA used a disguise expert and concocted a scenario that involved the six being a Hollywood crew scouting a sci-fi movie titled "Argo:. Using those disguises, and with the help of artwork by legendary comics creator Jack Kirby, they were able to flee the country.

Affleck will play Tony Mendez the CIA  officer charged with the ops of the mission.

Alan Arkin and John Goodman also star.

Chris Terrio wrote the screenplay

David Klawans, George Clooney and Grant Heslov will produce the pic

Roswell That Ends Well

Actor Brendan Fehr will play the lead in indie romantic comedy "Roswell FM" reports Variety.


Fehr plays a young man deciding between the financial needs of his family and his dream job of hosting a quirky, UFO-themed talk show in Roswell.

Mirelly Taylor also stars

Alan Trever is producing the pic that starts shooting on July 25th in New Mexico

Fehr starred in the teen alien TV show "Roswell"

Osment Will Wake The Dead

The now grown-up Haley Joel Osment is set to star in the Steve Niles' comic book film adaptation of Wake the Dead says Variety


Osment will play Victor Franklin, a college student experimenting with reversing death in this contemporary take on Mary Shelley's Frankenstein tale

Jay Russell will direct from a screenplay he co-wrote with James V. Hart. Guns N' Roses guitarist Slash will produce the pic along with Michael Williams and Rob Eric.

Here's what Eric had to say about Osment's casting.

"This role allows him to break out of his shell and he will have no problem handling it."

Chung Goes To Eden

Jamie Chung and Scoot McNairy are in negotiations to join the gritty indie Eden says THR


The film is based  on true evrnts and from a spec by Rick Phillips Jr.and Chong Kim, It centers on a young Korean-American girl who is abducted and forced into prostitution by domestic human traffickers. Throughout the two years she is held, she ensures her own survival by carving out power and influence within the very organization that has imprisoned her.

The action will be directed by Megan Griffiths (“The Off Hours)

Jacob Mosler and Colin Harper Plank will produce the film

Production will take place in Seattle and eastern Washington in August.»

Strathairn Accepts Cabinet Position In Lincoln

Character actor David Strathairn will play the role of former U.S. Secretary of State William H. Seward in the biopic Lincoln says THR



Daniel Day-Lewis will play Abraham Lincoln, in the Steven Spielberg directed pic. While Academy Award winner Sally Field will star as Mary Todd Lincoln, wife to the 16th President of the United States

The great cast for this epic biopic also includes Tommy Lee Jones, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Hal Holbrook, James Spader, John Hawkes, Tim Blake Nelson Bruce McGill Joseph Cross David Costabile, Byron Jennings, Dakin Matthews, Boris McGiver, Gloria Reuben, Jeremy Strong, and David Warshofsky

Based on the best-selling book, Team of Rivals: by Pulitzer Prize-winning historian Doris Kearns Goodwin, the screenplay was penned by award winning writer Tony Kushner,

The long gestating film that once had Liam Neeson playing Lincoln will be produced by Kathleen Kennedy and Spielberg.

Shooting will begin this fall in Virginia with a fall 2012 release date in mind.

GI Joe 2 Enlists 2 More

Rapper/actor RZA AKA Robert Diggs amd D.J. Cotrona are in talks to join the sequel G.I. Joe 2: Cobra Strikes says THR



RZA will play "a martial arts master named the Blind Master who in the past trained Joe commandoes" Cotrona would play Flint, "a Joe soldier best known in the toyline and 1980s comics for his shotgun and beret."

Channing Tatum will reprise his role as Duke in the sequel, and both Ray Park and Byung-hun Lee are scheduled to return as well. Dwayne Johnson is poised to play Blockhhead  French actress Elodie Yung will play a ninja member of the Joe squad named Jinx

Jon Chu calls the shots on the film from a Rhett Reese and Paul Wernick script .The film is being produced by Lorenzo di Bonaventura and has an August 10th 2012 release date.

Monday, June 27, 2011

Love Sydney Style

First there was Paris, Je T'Aime and  then came New York, I Love You now comes news of similar plans for the anthology "Sydney, I Love You" says The Hollywood Reporter.



Australian producers John Polson and Gary Hamilton will spearhead the modestly-budgeted project which will consist of twelve short films of 8-10 minutes in length. Each one is set in Sydney during a different month of the year.

It will also make use of places and neighbourhoods in this city of five million people that have rarely been seen on film. One other common thread in the film will be the music --done by one composer.

The goal is to use both top Australian actors and directors as well as newbies

Pre-production starts in early 2012.

Wahlberg And Hughes Are Broken

Mark Wahlberg is in early talks to star in the noir drama "Broken City" says Deadline.



The story follows an ex-cop turned private detective who is hired by the mayor to see if his wife is cheating on him. When the mayor's wife's cheating partner ends up dead, the private eye immerses himself in the mayor's business and uncovers a real estate scandal that involves dealing himself choice city-owned properties.

Allen Hughes is attached to helm Brian Tucker's Black Listted script.

Wahlberg, Stephen Levinson, Randall Emmett, George Furla and Hughes will all produce the great sounding pic

New Paper Girl

Nicole Kidman looks set to replace Sofia Vergara in Lee Daniels' drama "The Paperboy"  says The Hollywood Reporter


The story centers on a reporter and his brother who investigate the events surrounding a murder in order to exonerate a man on death row.

 Kidman would play a woman with a dark side who writes letters to men on death row. She brings the case to the attention of the reporter, developing a relationship with him.

Tobey Maguire dropped out, causing a production delay which led to Vergara's departure due to her TV show commitments to Modern Family

Matthew McConaughey and Zac Efron are still attached to star

Production hopes to begin later this year.

The late Graham Chapman (sort of) returns for Monty Python reunion

A hearty welcome back and CONGRATS to Julian Stark who's also doing articles for BIG Time Site GordonandtheWhale.com as well. Please Stop By And Look 'Em Up!!-T

The troupe of comedians Monty Python forever changed the face of sketch comedy. Unfortunately, member Graham Chapman died in 1989 due to a bout with cancer. A full reunion with the group is completely impossible now… or is it?


While it won’t be a complete reunion, The New York Times reports that A Liar’s Autobiography: Volume VI, Chapman’s “absurdist memoir,” will be made as an animated 3D film. What’s more, a taped reading from Chapman will be edited to fit in with the rest of Monty Python’s voice performances to make for a cohesive feature. Well, as cohesive as Monty Python could be, I guess.

Fifteen different animation companies are completing work on the film, a collection of “chapters” that boast different styles and run between three and twelve minutes each; the total film is expected for an 85-minute running time.

The film looks to have a theatrical bow in the U.K., while U.S. fans will have to settle for a television debut.

BIGFOOT Sighting @ The Cineplex Soon

Eduardo Sanchez - the co-director of The Blair Witch Project -will helm the the monster thriller "Exists" reports Variety.


Jamie Nash and Sanchez wrote the script that has a group of twentysomethings who take a trip to a cabin deep in the wooded wilderness and are methodically hunted by the Bigfoot beast.

Sanchez tells the trade that the film is the first in a trilogy exploring and reinventing the Bigfoot myth.

Robin Cowie, Gregg Hale, Andy Jenkins, Jane Fleming and Mark Ordesky are producing.

Shooting kicks off just outside Austin, Texas in October

~YAWN~

Helms Travels True North

Ed Helms is attached to star and Eecutive Produce the high concept dramedy "True North" says THR

Helms would play selfish talk-show host whose plane crashes, putting him into a two-year coma. When he awakens, he finds that his appearance has been surgically altered and then tries to track down his family to reconnect with his former life.

Warner Bros  bought the film pitch from writer/director Rob Pearlstein.

Foster Joins The RIPD Force

Academy Award winner Jodie Foster is in talks to join the supernatural comedy R.I.P.D says We Got This Covered



The story sees Ryan 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

Foster would play Proctor, the boss of Reynolds and Jeff Bridges undead cops.

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

Toying Around With The Idea

Tom Hanks told Magic 105.4 that Pixar Animation Studios is planning to make Toy Story 4.


Out promoting Friday's Larry Crowne Hanks who provides the voice of cowboy Woody, said that the animation studio is currently working on a further installment in the popular series.

"I think they are trying to do another one. The spirit afoot is to make a fourth," Hanks told the radio station.

"Whatever is going on at Pixar headquarters is a mystery to me. I'll wait until they blow white smoke out of the chimney or whatever it is that says there's another Toy Story coming down the pipe."

Pixar recently announced plans to release a mystery movie in 2013, although the project is said to be a non sequel.

Meantime the Toys are back in front of Cars 2 in the short Hawaiian Vacation

Brighter Days For GL Sequel?

Despite disappointing box office numbers and generally bad reviews Warner Bros. is moving ahead with plans for a sequel to Green Lantern says THR


The Superhero film has made just $118.7 million worldwide. It cost $200 to make, not counting advertising costs.

The suits still see potential for the franchise, even though they are "somewhat disappointed" with the way things have gone thus far.

 Over the weekend, the pic fell a sharp 66% at the domestic box office, grossing $18.4 million for a cume of $89.3 million.

Studio president of domestic distribution Dan Fellman said the movie is settling in, pointing out that films in the genre see a significant drop-off in their second weekends. The article adds that rival studios are saying the marketing for the movie was one of the most expensive on record.

The film hasn't opened in many foreign markets yet meaning that it will be able to recoup some of its costs back.

This is interesting I remember back in '06 the studio waited months for Superman Returns to cross $200 million in the US  before deciding to move forward with a sequel only to abandon the idea for years---in favor of 2012's reboot Man of Steel My how times have changed.

The studio would not be this situaton of having to get back so much green here if it didn't insist that GL be in 3-D Hah!

For the record I'm looking forward to seeing what they do with GL in the next one

Sunday, June 26, 2011

Good Bad & The Sexy

Both Car2 and Bad Teacher beat expectations at the weekend box office



Pamela McClintock of THR

Moviegoers fell hard for fast cars and fast women at the weekend box office, delivering big victories for Disney/Pixar’s Cars 2 and Sony’s risqué Cameron Diaz comedy Bad Teacher.

Cars 2 easily won the domestic box office race, grossing $68 million and far outpacing expectations, not to mention beating the $60.1 million debut of the original Cars. The $200 million 3D toon scored the fourth best opening of 2011, and delivers Pixar its 12th No. 1 opening. Overseas, the Pixar sequel—set on foreign shores this time—displayed plenty of horsepower, grossing $42.9 million from 18 markets for a worldwide debut of $110.9 million.

Bad Teacher also overperformed in its domestic debut, grossing $31 million and continuing the R-rated comedy craze. The film, touting substantial star power in Diaz, Jason Segel and Justin Timberlake, bested the $26.1 million debut of Universal’s Bridesmaids.

Produced for only $20 million, Bad Teacher earned another $12.9 million internationally for a pleasing global opening of $49.3 million.

In North America, Bad Teacher beat superhero pic Green Lantern for the No. 2 spot. From Warner Bros., Green Lantern fell a steep 66% in its second weekend, grossing $18.4 million for a cume of $89.3 million.

Regardless of any weak spots, domestic box office revenues were up an estimated 10% over last year. And with Transformers: Dark of the Moon and Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2 getting ready to launch, the lingering year-over-year decline in revenues should continue to narrow.

Heading into the weekend, tracking suggested an opening of $50 million to $55 million for Cars 2. Instead, the sequel—directed by Pixar CEO John Lasseter—secured the second-best June opening ever for animated film after Disney/Pixar’s Toy Story 3.

I think there is this wonderful aura that comes with Disney/Pixar movies. They play almost like fanboy pics. Everyone rushes out Friday to see them,” Disney worldwide president of distribution Chuck Viane said.

If there was a sour note, the downturn in the 3D market continued. Grosses from 3D theaters accounted for 40% of the toon’s total bow, the lowest margin to date for a big studio film. About 36% came from digital 3D screens; the other 4%, from Imax locations (Imax ponied up roughly $2.3 million).

Disney said a contributing factor is the popularity of Pixar titles—and Cars in particular—at drive-in theaters, which haven’t been converted to 3D. There are about 500 drive-ins nationwide.

Rival studios pointed out that Cars 2 dropped 10% from Friday to Saturday, suggesting that bad reviews, unusual for a Pixar title, may have had an impact. Disney said the drop had to do with the fact that most kids are out of school now, with Friday playing more like a Saturday. Opening on the same weekend last year, Toy Story 3 also dropped 10% on Saturday.

Those going to see Cars 2 seemed to have little complaint; the toon received an A- CinemaScore.

At the international box office, Cars 2 grossed $9.3 million in Russia—a boom market for 3D—to grab the best debut ever for a Pixar title. In Australia, the toon grossed $5.2 million to best Kung Fu Panda 2 in a head-to-head battle.

Considering its production budget of $200, Cars 2 will need to amass a significant worldwide gross in the weeks to come.

Sony is already on golden ground financially with Bad Teacher.

Heading into the weekend, tracking suggested the subversive comedy would opening to around $20 million. The studio credited a great marketing and publicity campaign for the film’s unexpected strength, as well as the cast’s promotional efforts.

Moviegoers gave Bad Teacher only a C+, however. The comedy skewed older, with 57% of those buying tickets over the age of 25. Females made up the majority of the audience at 63%.

Bad Teacher is the third R-rated comedy to impress after The Hangover Part II and Bridesmaids.

"Cameron really brought this home in a big way. She totally went for this role," Sony president of worldwide distribution Rory Bruer said. "To do more than $30 million is hitting it out of the park."

Coming in No. 4 at the domestic box office was Paramount's Super 8, which continued to hold in nicely, falling 43% to an estimated $12.1 million for a domestic cume of $95.2 million. Overseas, the J.J. Abrams pic has grossed $36 million, for a global total of $131.2 million.

Jim Carrey family film Mr. Popper's Penguins rounded out the top five, falling a slim 42% in its second weekend to an estimated $10.3 million for a cume of $39.4 million...


John Young of  EW

'Cars 2' cruises to first place with $68 mil

On Wednesday The Bots return in Transformers: Dark of the Moon; Friday Tom Hanks co-wrote directs and stars with Julia Roberts in Larry Crowne; Selena Gomez and her gal pals take a trip to   "Monte Carlo"

Lots Of Industry Stuff Happened Of Late

So much Stew to get to get to without further delay

-Jean Claude Van Damme has joined the Ernie Barbarash-helmed actioner "Six Bullets" says Variety

-Ron Howard is in talks to direct the true-life Formula One racing drama "Rush" for Cross Creek Pictures says EW. His Producer Pal  Brian Grazer told Deadline that the re-writes on The Dark Tower adaptation to bring down the budget "aren’t that deep or that radical". Asked about Javier Bardem's casting status, Howard says "Nobody is pay or play but he has said he wants to do it. We’ve spent a lot of time together. He’s fascinated by the character and has great instincts for Roland. I’m hoping when we go, he’s available and will join us." Howard is also tipped to direct a live-action version of classic MAD magazine cartoon strip "Spy vs. Spy" says Deadline.


-Rosario Dawson will play the female lead in the indie drama "Fire with Fire" at Emmett/Furla and Cheetah Vision reports Variety.

-Paul Haggis ("Crash," "The Next Three Days") is in talks to write a spy thriller based on Gabriel Allon, the character in author Daniel Silva's ten novels, says The Los Angeles Times.

-Marshall Allman has been cast in the family comedy/drama "Jayne Mansfield's Car" says Variety

-According to USA Today, audiences attending "Spy Kids: All the Time in the World 4D" will be handed a numbered, color-coded scent card which they must swipe (IPhone style) when prompted on screen. As a reward, they'll get a scent pertaining to the action on screen. Robert Rodriguez is calling it "Aromascope".

-Showbiz 411 says Robin Williams has joined the cast of "The Bucket List" scribe turned director Justin Zackham's wedding comedy "Gently Down The Stream

-Steve Carr ("Paul Blart: Mall Cop") is set to direct the comedy "The Boondoggle" for NALA Films reports Deadline. Rob Riggle and Thomas Lennon will star as two guys who attend a boondoggle business trip. Despite the island-paradise setting, everything possible goes awry. Christopher Halvorson penned the original draft Shooting kicks off in the late summer.

- Sofia Vergara has dropped out of the Lee Daniels-directed indie drama "The Paperboy" due to a scheduling conflict with sit com "Modern Family" says  Deadline The story follows a newspaper reporter who returns home to Florida to investigate the possible unlawful imprisonment of a death-row inmate. Matthew McConaughey, Zac Efron and Tobey Maguire are still attached to star

-HitFix  reported Liam Neeson showed up on the set of "The Dark Knight Rises" last Monday -he had apparently been spotted shooting scenes in London in his Ra's Al Ghul guise, and had returned to New York 36 hours later.

-Producers Bill Pohlad ("The Tree of Life") and John Wells ("ER") are teaming for a drama based on a personal and professional story about former Beach Boys producer-singer Brian Wilson says The Los Angeles Times.

-Warner Bros. Pictures and Imagine Entertainment have acquired the script "Blood Wars", a reinvention of vampire lore reports The Wrap. In this story, vampires have control of the world and humans are their slaves. But humans infiltrate the vampire army and plan a rebellion. Chad St. John and Blacklight Transmedia created the story and Dalan Musson is writing the script.

-"Con Air" and "The Mechanic" director Simon West will call action on the "Expendables" sequel says Variety.

-Takashi Shimizu (''The Grudge'') is set to direct the claustrophobic thriller "Flight 75" for CBS Films says Variety.Based on a pitch from Shimizu, the story is set on a transpacific airliner where the passengers encounter what seems to be a supernatural force. Shooting aims to begin late Summer/early Fall

-Entourage star Kevin Connolly is developing a biopic about Kimbo Slice, a street fighter who became a YouTube sensation and eventually ended up a UFC star says The Wrap Connolly tells 'em "I'm trying to get the Kimbo Slice story made. I have his life rights, we have a script that's great. It's out and about, and the powers that be are trying to put the money together."

-"Juno" and "Up in the Air" director Jason Reitman is set to perform rewrite work on the Steve Carrell-led comedy "Burt Wonderstone" says The Hollywood Reporter. While Kate Winslet will likely star in Reitman's "Labor Day" from The Hollywood Reporter as well

-"The Fighter" director David O. Russell is currently screen-testing a bunch of in-demand actresses in Los Angeles over the next few days says Risky Biz Blog.

-Deadline reports that Warren Beatty plans to play Howard Hughes in an all-star ensemble drama

-Deadline reports that Disney has set a release date for their next Pixar film project - November 27th 2013. There's no title or specific details of who's involved other than the fact that it's an original, non-sequel.

-Viggo Mortensen and writer Hossein Amini ("Snow White and the Huntsman," "Drive," "47 Ronin") are teaming up for indie thriller "The Two Faces of January" says The Los Angeles Times.

-Martin Scorsese Out Sean Penn In as the potential director of "The Comedian" starring Robert De Niro as an aging, bitterly funny stand-up comic which shoots in New York next year. Ugh!

That's All For Now....

Yellow Journalism

's latest effort offers an epic battle like no other...It's Green Lantern VS The Critics
 
There's some really funny stuff here...

 


Saturday, June 25, 2011

Ray's Cop Out

Ray Liotta is set to join the crime drama "The Place Beyond The Pines" says Variety.


The film will see Ryan Gosling play a pro motorcycle rider who turns to bank robberies to support his newborn son when he crosses paths with Bradley Cooper’s cop.

Ray is playing "a corrupt police officer." for the umpteenth time in his career

Eva Mendes and Greta Gerwig play the wives of Gosling and Cooper

Blue Valentine writer-director Derek Cianfrance will direct from a script he co-wrote with Ben Coccio.

Sidney Kimmel, Lynette Howell, Alex Orlovsky, and Jamie Patricof will produce. the pic

Shooting kicks off July 25th in Schenectady, New York.

Last Roles For Huntsman


Lily Cole and Sam Spruell have joined the cast of Snow White and the Huntsman says Variety.

Hossein Amini rewrote original scribe Evan Daugherty's version of the classic fairy tale with Evan Spiliotopoulos taking a crack at it The story expands the role of the Huntsman (Chris Hemsworth). Ordered to take the evil Queen's (Charlize Theron) stepdaughter Snow White (Kristen Stewart) into the woods and kill her, The Huntsman instead lets her go and becomes something of a mentor who teaches her how to fight and survive.

Cole is Greta, while Spruell will play Finn, a henchman who serves the Evil Queen

Sam Claflin plays the Prince while Ian McShane is Caesar, the leader of the dwarfs. with Eddie Izzard,  --Ray Winstone Bob Hoskins Toby Jones and Steven Graham round them out

Rupert Sanders will call action for producer Joe Roth

Snow White and the Huntsman is scheduled to open June 1, 2012 and is not to be confused with the rival flick staring Julia Roberts, Lily Collins and Armie Hammer called The Brothers Grimm: Snow White with Tarsem Singh sitting in the big chair for its March 16, 2012 bow.

Six Go AWOL

Liam Hemsworth, Teresa Palmer, Aimee Teegarden, Austin Stowell Chris Lowell and Max Adler are all in negotiations to join the indie drama "AWOL" reports Variety.

Liam

Lowell

The pic is based on a true story set against the anti-war movement at the University of Michigan

Stowell plays a young soldier fighting in the Vietnam War who gets dumped by his hometown girl (Teegarden) and goes Awol with his best friend (Hemsworth). Returning to the States, he tries to win back her affections.

Danny Mooney is making his directorial debut  from Jim Burnstein and Garrett K. Schiff's script

Shooting starts in mid-July in Ann Arbor, Michigan.

Barnes Takes "Son" Role

British star Ben Barnes is in negotiations to join the fantasy "The Seventh Son" says Deadline.


Based upon Joseph Delaney's The Wardstone Chronicles book series (aka. "The Last Apprentice"), the story follows a young man named Tom in training to be the apprentice of a 'Spook' (Jeff Bridges), a fighter against evil magic, in the 1700's.Trouble begins when his friend Alice (Vikander) tricked into releasing the most sinister witch in the world (Julianne Moore).

Barnes is going to replace Snow White and the Huntsman star Sam Claflin,who had been in negotiations for the role until talks fell through.

Sergei Bodrov will helm 'Son' from a script by Max Borenstein.

Production  kicks off in September in Vancouver.

Goodman Goes To Argo


John Goodman is negotiations to join the Ben Affleck-directed Iran hostage crisis thriller "Argo" according to  Variety.

Based on Joshuah Bearman's 2007 Wired magazine article, the wry political thriller would be centered on what happened during the occupation of the American embassy by Iranians in 1979, when a rescue effort was mounted by the CIA and the Canadian government to extract six U.S. diplomats.

The CIA used a disguise expert and concocted a scenario that involved the six being a Hollywood crew scouting a sci-fi movie titled "Argo:. Using those disguises, and with the help of artwork by legendary comics creator Jack Kirby, they were able to flee the country.

Goodman will play John Chambers, the Oscar-winning "Planet of the Apes" makeup artist called in to help.

Alan Arkin also stars.

Chris Terrio wrote the screenplay

David Klawans, George Clooney and Grant Heslov will produce the pic