Once too big for the same autoporn franchise that made him a star, Vin Diesel eventually learned to re-embrace his inner whale-tailed Mitsubishi Eclipse, and found career viability with last year's hit, Fast and Furious. He's now taken to his Facebook fan page (ahem -- 7,645,390 and counting) to give an update on the status on the fifth film in the series: "Had a meeting with Justin Lin today regarding the Fast saga... some daring but fascinating thoughts in terms of action set pieces... and relationships, old and new. The team is on their way to Brazil this evening, to scout, and to see what selection of cars there are." Carna-Vin! [Vin Diesel via /Film]
· Ryan Gosling is reportedly set to join Warner Bros.' untitled Steve Carell comedy, featuring the Office star as a father struggling in the midst of a marital crisis. Gosling will play Carell's "suave best friend," which admittedly isn't much to go on but could mean anything from "sidekick" to "gay leg of a bisexual love triangle." Or maybe just "paycheck." We'll see. [Variety]
Oliver Stone turns savage, Benicio Del Toro goes undercover, and more Hollywood Ink after the jump.
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Headbands off to uber-producer Mark Burnett for shopping two reality series featuring alpha females this week. In addition to the untitled Sarah Palin-Alaska project, Burnett has reunited with domestic goddess Martha Stewart to produce an eight-episode series, Help Me, Martha, in which strangers encountering last minute social event disasters find Stewart and a team of eight experts at their doorsteps. The hour-long show, which does not have a network yet, will find crisis-prone contestants via nominations by friends. [Variety]
Stop! Stop! LOL, no, haha, seriously -- cut these Angus T. Jones-as-Spider-Man rumors out right now. No one knows where it started, but a brief published late Thursday suggested that once-rumored front-runner Logan Lerman is out and somehow the Two and a Half Men star slipped into consideration for Sony's franchise reboot to be directed by Marc Webb. Haha, OK, OK. Nice kid, happy for his show's success, but come on. Seriously. Stop. [MovieWeb]
Welcome back to Movieline Attractions, your regular guide to everything new, noteworthy and/or overbearing at the box office. This week, a glance at the release calendar yields some frighteningly slim pickings, Avatar achieves another milestone, and I'm still looking for a decent Underdog to recommend. At least the DVD marketplace is looking up. Read on for a quick spin through what's out there.
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· Say what you want about Tim Burton's auteur vision, but don't mess with Danny Elfman. That dude will cut a bitch.
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Box Office Mojo is reporting that Zack Snyder's action fantasy Sucker Punch and the Ryan Reynolds superhero tentpole Green Lantern will both be released in 3D, a post-production conversion for the former, and a pre-emptive strike for the latter. At this point (especially if the 3D-converted Alice in Wonderland does gangbusters this weekend), it's almost more notable if any potential blockbusters on the horizon stick stubbornly to their 2D guns. By 2011, expect three dimensions for all summer movies, and pinkeye-related headaches for all summer movie audiences. [Box Office Mojo]
· Kristen Wiig poses as Brigitte Bardot (!) in the new issue of V. Not to be outdone, Wiig's one-upper character Penelope submitted to a cutting-edge procedure to graft Bardot's face onto hers. She died on the operating table.
· Casting! Hugh Jackman will come aboard the Lee Daniels-directed Selma, while Benicio del Toro will play undercover FBI agent Jack Garcia in Making Jack Falcone.
· Michelle Rodriguez is returning to Lost. Here's hoping she's able to make stop by Michael's Shooting Gallery.
· "Basically everyone I know is knackered, me included," GOOPed Gwyneth Paltrow this week. Oh, I get it. Because your husband is British.
· Were Jeremy Renner and Jessica Simpson flirting at an Oscar party this week? If only The Hurt Locker had included a scene where he had to defuse sexual napalm.
Sure, his movies are "semi-decent," writes Melissa Lafsky, but look at the big picture: "His persona, actions, and body of work stand for the victory of a wretched set of luck and circumstances that solidify the current septic tank state of the American Dream. [...] Roth's career -- and even the success of Hostel -- has rested on the unbelievably lucky move of becoming Quentin Tarantino's shoulder monkey." Oh yes she did, and then some. If you read one ego-deflating knuckle sandwich of an essay today, make it this one. [The Awl]
Busy as we've all been with the Oscars and Olympics and film festivals and digging out of Lost and what feels a zillion other pop-culture phenomena, a tiny, nagging vacuum in America's soul has never really left the fore at Movieline HQ. Which may explain why it felt so exhilarating, even miraculous this morning to wake up to the news that an old friend is coming back -- and she hasn't changed a bit.
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While in Los Angeles to make her stand-up debut on the Tonight Show with Jay Leno, Sarah Palin is shopping a reality series around town with the help of super-producer Mark Burnett. The project, which Palin and Burnett pitched to three major networks already this week, is being described by some executives as "Planet Earth meets Alaska meets the Palins." The series would include footage of the former governor of Alaska's family. [EW]
· The forthcoming genius that is The Smurfs got even genius-er Wednesday when Neil Patrick Harris was announced as its topliner. The bad news: Harris will not voice one of the title characters, but rather play their live-action counterpart in a story that remains generally under wraps. Or maybe that's the good news? Yes, probably the good news. Anyway, director Raja Gosnell and his crew remain hard at work in pre-production; shooting begins in April. [Deadline]
Rachel McAdams does the muse thing for Woody Allen, Robert De Niro chases Bradley Cooper, and more Hollywood Ink after the jump.
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· Long before Michael Emerson landed his role on Lost, he made grim isolation scintillating in another way -- by taking part in a video about handling prisoners. Just add an introduction by Pierre Chang, and you've got your very own unsettling Dharma video! [YouTube]
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The one thing all critics agreed upon when it came to New Moon was that it possessed a certain unmistakable ... how do you say ... joie de marshmallowcore gay porn. So what took this long for an actual New Moon-inspired gay porn shoot to surface, I have no idea -- but here it is, in all its hairless, prodigiously beshlonged glory. Run naked and free, Brazilian Gay Porn Jacob Black! The rest of your pack is waiting for you just over yonder, for a rigorous evening of twinkie vampire hunting, werepoppers and hot oil massage. [VERY NSFW: ONTD]
Hey, can someone help me figure out Rob Lowe? The actor has left two shows with sprawling ensembles (Brothers & Sisters and The West Wing) because he felt he wasn't getting enough screen time, and now Michael Ausiello is reporting that Lowe will join the cast of Parks & Recreation. I mean, it's a great comedy and all, but is there going to be very much room for him? This is a show that has the fantastic Rashida Jones in its cast and in some episodes, she gets little more than three lines and a reaction shot. I'm wary! [EW]
