Ron Howard Could Head Under the Banner of Heaven, and 5 Other Stories You'll Be Talking About Today

Also in this Wednesday edition of The Broadsheet: Ben Stiller could direct a Secret Life... Mo'Nique is acting again... Lone Ranger finds some supporting players... and more ahead.

· Stephen King may be confident that Ron Howard will still make The Dark Tower, but with the way the director's dance card is filling up in the short-term, hopefully the famed author doesn't hold his breath. In addition to Rush, Howard has become attached to an adaptation of Jon Krakauer's Under the Banner of Heaven that Oscar-winner Dustin Lance Black is writing. Heaven tells the true-life story of two fundamentalist Mormon brothers who murdered their younger brother's wife and infant daughter under orders from God. Interestingly, Warner Bros. is putting the film together with Howard and Brian Grazer's Imagine Entertainment -- the pair usually plant their flag at Universal, though they did produce the Black-written J. Edgar for WB. Totally meaningless spitball speculation, but: with Harry Potter wrapping up and Warner Bros. looking for another major franchise, might Howard try to push The Dark Tower in the studio's direction? [Deadline]

· In other directorial news, it appears Ben Stiller will direct himself in The Secret Life of Walter Mitty. That one is still happening, with a start date allegedly pegged for early 2012. [Variety via Twitch]

· But she likes it now. Mo'Nique has potentially decided on her Precious follow-up, more than two years after winning her Oscar. Per Variety, she's in talks for the indie dramedy Bumped, about five strangers stranded in a Chicago airport. Katie Cassidy, Kellan Lutz and Camilla Belle are in the cast as well. [Variety]

· Dwight Yoakam, Barry Pepper, James Badge Dale and Helena Bonham Carter are in talks to join Johnny Depp and Armie Hammer in the Gore Verbinski-directed Lone Ranger. Yoakam would play the film's villain, while Bonham-Carter would star as a "colorful madam" at the local brothel. Here's guessing she has the right outfit already in her closet. [Variety]

· 300 writer Michael B. Gordon will handle script duties on the Spartacus film GK Films is putting together. Oh, yeah: there's a Spartacus film being put together. [Variety]

· Guillermo Del Toro is just too busy. He's executive producing a comic book adaptation of the sci-fi vampire novel trilogy The Strain that he co-wrote with Chuck Hogan for Dark Horse Comics; the 24-issue run will debut in December. He's also executive producing Mama, a horror thriller that Jessica Chastain may lead. "Take a break," said everyone else in Hollywood. [Variety, Variety]