Shirley MacLaine & Christopher Plummer Eye Elsa & Fred Remake; Sarah Jessica Parker Joins Mixtape: Biz Break

Also in Wednesday evening's round-up of news briefs: MoMA unveils its Awards-centered Contenders series; Under the Bridge heads to U.S. theaters; Ridley Scott teams with Focus on a series of low-budget thrillers; And New York may have cancelled its Halloween Parade in the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy, but the Film Society of Lincoln Center is up and running with Halloween and other events this week.

Hey New Yorkers, Halloween Going On at Lincoln Center!
The city cancelled the annual Halloween Parade, but if you're itching to get out of your apartment and leave this Sandy business behind for a few minutes, check out the Film Society of Lincoln Center's "Scary Movies" including Maniac with Elijah Wood (director Franck Khalfoun will be there for a Q&A Wed. night) and the North American premiere of Stitches, just perfect for all who are scared of clowns. The Film Society will also be hosting more events this week including a screening of Anna Karenina and a post-screening discussion with director Joe Wright. The group is also screening Brooklyn Castle and The Revisionaries in its first-runs at the Film Center.

MoMA Presents its Annual Contenders Series
NYC's Museum of Modern Art will host a series of screenings of titles from the past 12 months that will figure in the Awards Season race. The series opens October 31st with the U.S. premiere of the 3-D animated feature A Liar's Autobiography: The Untrue Story of Monty Python's Graham Chapman which will be released theatrically November 2nd. Last year's Contenders at MoMA garnered 64 Oscar nominations. The series continues through January 14. For more information, visit their website.

Under the Bed Heads to U.S. Theaters
Starring Jonny Weston (Chasing Mavericks) and Gattlin Griffith (Green Lantern the the thriller tells the story of two brothers who team up to battle the monster living under their bed. XLrator Media, which picked up U.S. rights to the film ahead of the American Film Market, which gets underway in Santa Monica, will release the film in theaters next summer. The deal was negotiated by Ehud Bleiberg and Giulia Prenna on behalf of Bleiberg Entertainment and by Gordon on behalf of XLrator Media.

Around the 'net…

Sarah Jessica Parker Joins Mixtape
The film chronicles a girl who accidentally destroys a mix tape that once belonged to her deceased mother. Tom Vaughn will direct the music-based comedy, Deadline reports.

Shirley MacLaine and Christopher Plummer to Star in Elsa & Fred Remake
MacLaine and Plummer have signed on to star in the romantic comedy, which Il Postino filmmaker Michael Radford will direct. MacLaine plays a lively retirees in New Orleans who gets an unwanted straight-laced widower as a new neighbor in her apartment, THR reports.

Ridley Scott Partners with Focus Features on Low-Budget Genre Pics
The Oscar-nominated director and producer will work with Orchard Media and Focus Features International on a slate of six genre low-budget feature films over three years, Deadline reports.