· Scouring the Hollywood news desert this morning for signs of life, this little critter wriggled out of the Disney region: Ian McShane is in talks to play the legendary Blackbeard in the forthcoming Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides. He'd sail the Queen Anne's Revenge up in this bitch alongside Johnny Depp and the recently cast Penelope Cruz, with Rob Marshall apparently still directing. The kids will love this. [THR]
Kevin James buddies up with Vince Vaughn, another Nicholas Sparks sudser rolls down the production line, and more Hollywood Ink after the jump.
· Kevin James will join Vince Vaughn in Ron Howard's as-yet-untitled infidelity comedy, which features Vaughn as a man who struggles with whether to tell his business partner (James) that he witnessed his wife cheating. It was all Brian Grazer's idea, evidently, so please direct complaints/suggestions to him. [Deadline]
· The robust box-office take for Dear John has made a high priority of adapting The Lucky One, the next Iraq-survivor-comes-to-Carolina-in-search-of-love novel by Nicholas Sparks. And Aussie director Scott Hicks is reportedly the man for the job. [Variety]
· Columbia went rummaging through Harry Cohn's old couch and found what it hopes is a franchise: Doc Savage, a hit pseudo-hero series of the '30s and '40s that Shane Black is in talks to adapt and direct for the present day. [Variety]
· Bad news for Jackie Collins's idealized Lucky Santangelo movie: Her dream star, Angelina Jolie, really is sticking with playing Patricia Cornwall's detective Kay Scarpetta. Please suggest your plan B's below... [LAT]