Hollywood Ink: Gerard Butler, Lionsgate Commit to Machine Gun Preacher

· Maybe half of the rumors, conjecture, supposition and gossip that makes their way into Hollywood Ink every morning has any basis in accuracy outside the agencies where they're born. So it's with great pleasure that I confirm the speculation that Gerard Butler will indeed team with director Marc Forster on Machine Gun Preacher, with Lionsgate distributing the tale of an ex-con born-again Christian who heads off to save young sex slaves in Uganda. Michelle Monaghan will also star as his wife. Shooting starts this summer. [Deadline]

Anthony Hopkins may join another Hemsworth Bros. blockbuster, another Musketeers-y rumor is confirmed, and more Hollywood Ink after the jump.

· After the rollicking time he had with Chris Hemsworth on the set of Thor (seriously -- he means it!), Anthony Hopkins may join up with the family's other burgeoning star Liam Hemsworth in a new adaptation of Arabian Nights. Sir Tony would play evil sorcerer Pharotu, who killed Sinbad's (Hemsworth) lady love and reportedly wants more magic for himself. Chuck Russell will direct, 3-D, etc. etc. [THR]

· Another bit of speculation from a little over a month ago -- that Doug Liman would follow Fair Game with a 3-D reboot of The Three Musketeers -- also turned out to be on the ball. The filmmaker will shoot this fall for Warner Bros. Casting is in the works; as with every short list these days, expect Taylor Lautner's name somewhere at the top. [Deadline]

· Also true (and kind of stunning): Roland Emmerich is presently shooting his previously announced Anonymous, an Elizabethan-era intrigue investigating whether or not William Shakespeare wrote the masterpieces attributed to him. Rhys Ifans, David Thewlis, Vanessa Redgrave and Joely Richardson star. I'm sorry, but this sounds incredible. [Inquirer via Hollywood Elsewhere]

· Ken Loach is a late addition to the Cannes Film Festival, where he'll debut his Ireland-Iraq love-triangle drama Route Irish -- in competition. [Variety]