· Oh, no. Legendary Entertainment is in talks with Mattel to buy the film rights for Hot Wheels with eyes on turning the famous toy line into a motion picture. And not just any motion picture! Take it away, Variety: "No director or writers have yet been hired, but the potential pic is not targeted at the kids who buy Hot Wheels. Instead, the plan is to produce an edgier pic along the lines of Universal's box office success Fast Five." Obviously. What hath Vin Diesel wrought? [Variety]
· In much happier Friday news: the hilarious Charlie Day is in talks for... an action film? That's right: Day may star in the Guillermo Del Toro-directed Pacific Rim, about aliens invading earth. The Horrible Bosses co-star would play a professor. [Variety]
· Before Darren Aronofsky gets his Noah's Ark movie off the ground he'll direct the awesome-sounding pilot for the potential HBO series Hobgoblin. Written by Michael Chabon and his wife Ayelet Waldman, Hobgoblin is about a group of magicians and con men who use their powers to fight Hitler in the 1940s. It's like Harry Potter mixed with X-Men! Sold. [Variety]
· Benedict Cumberbatch has joined the increasingly packed cast of The Hobbit. The buzz-y actor (who has a role in Steven Spielberg's War Horse) will voice the dragon Smaug in the film, and provide a performance for the beast via motion capture. [Deadline]
· Speaking of fantasy novels: Fox 2000 has picked up the option on Logan Lerman to star in a sequel to Percy Jackson and the Olympians: The Lightning Thief. The studio has also hired a director: Thor Freudenthal, who helmed The Diary of a Wimpy Kid. Despite only $89 million in domestic ticket sales last year, the film earned nearly $140 internationally, and the idea is to push a sequel into production soon, for release next year. [LAT/24 Frames]
· Movieline heroine Alison Brie talked to AdWeek about how she consumes media. "I like to have my breakfast in bed, and I use that time to watch the recorded shows on my TiVo. I seldom watch shows in real time -- I'm always at work." For that image, you're welcome. [AdWeek]