· Owen Wilson will team with the Farrelly Brothers for the R-rated comedy Hall Pass, featuring the actor as a man whose wife attempts to enliven their flagging marriage by allowing him extramarital dalliances. Jason Sudeikis is set to co-star as Wilson's pal, who also gets a "pass"; shooting begins Feb. 23. New Line will finance, distribute and presumably recycle its Wedding Crashers campaign for maximum recession-era efficiency. [THR]
Anna Kendrick hits the cancer ward, a new Anthony Hopkins film hits the States, and more Hollywood Ink after the jump.
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· Bear Grylls's whole shtick revolves around the fact that he's an extremely attractive man who will go to great lengths to seem as unattractive as possible, and yet he miraculously remains very attractive. Drink fresh poo-juice out of an elephant patty? Still attractive. Slit open a camel belly and crawl inside to escape a sand storm? Still attractive. Self-administer an enema on a lifeboat? Oddly ... more attractive. [Discovery]
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Now that you're comfortable with Lifetime's ownership of Project Runway, Lifetime is too: They've painted the set in their horrifying signature pink. Should we be on the lookout for other dictatorial touches to the proceedings? Perhaps a challenge where the prompt is dressing Fred Savage as an abusive teenage boyfriend using only two yards of flannel? Guest-judge Candace Cameron? At any rate, Tim Gunn says he's worried about the new contestants, but I'm mostly worried for our retinas. And, of course, the actual guest judges. [People]
Ron Howard is in negotiations to direct Vince Vaughn in a spring comedy that Variety is describing as "an exploration of the comedic fallout surrounding infidelity between lovers and friends." So...basically it's the deleted cheating scenes from Couples Retreat? No word yet on which iteration of Guitar Hero might sponsor the picture. [Variety]
Look, I liked Sandra Bullock in The Blind Side as much as the next guy, but let's take this Sandy Phenomenon one step at a time. Today both Variety and The Wrap cited Blind Side as "the first film driven solely by a top female star to cross $200 million at the domestic box office." Wow. That's not very nice. Let's go back to 2002 for a minute, preferably with our guide, the real first $200 million woman Nia Vardalos.
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Sharon Stone will follow up her arc on Huff and Emmy-winning turn on The Practice with a four-episode gig on Law & Order: SVU in April. The actress will channel her former Basic Instinct interrogator as a hardened cop-turned-prosecutor who challenges Benson and Stabler. Believing that the Casino star could be the first guest star capable of the big four SVU crimes (rape, child rape, rape/murder, child rape/murder), creator Dick Wolf raved "It is obviously a thrill and a delight to have a star of Sharon's wattage and importance joining SVU." [EW]
As recently as this morning, it was looking as if the 23rd Bond installment would be delayed indefinitely, the famed spy served a fatal dose of development poison in the form of MGM's well-publicized financial troubles. But as if resuscitated in the nick of time by a glove-compartment defibrillator, it seems Agent 007 will live on -- even if it means making do with less in these gadget-budget-slashing times. THR reports Sam Mendes is in negotiations to direct the script, by Neal Purvis, Robert Wade and Peter Morgan, with the production being fast-tracked for a June start, and a possible 2011 release.
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James Franco's maniacal arc on General Hospital is winding down this week with a conclusion grifted straight from The Dark Knight and today, the actor has stepped forward to further discuss the end-goal that his artistic collaborator Carter suggested last month in Movieline's exclusive interview. So join us, in a James Franco-produced mind game of gallery shows, soap opera directorial debuts and cross-dressing collaborators, to piece together how Franco's stay in Port Charles will actually end.
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Things have been stormy in the Spider-Man 4 camp even before Movieline exclusively broke the news that director Sam Raimi was eyeing John Malkovich for the Vulture and Anne Hathaway for the brand-new villain Vulturess. Online reaction to the casting and choice of villains was wildly varied, and internal reception wasn't any easier, as clashes between Raimi, producers, and studio executives over the script forced a temporary break in pre-production. Now, Nikki Finke is reporting that the start date has been yanked. What exactly is going on?
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· How much does Avatar resemble Pocahontas? Just click on the handy-dandy revised outline to your right.
· Meanwhile, the Papyrus font is super excited that it has a friend in James Cameron.
· Sean Penn is back on The Three Stooges. Nyuk nyuk, etc.
· Perhaps sensing that cancellation draws near, Ugly Betty mastermind Silvio Horta is laying groundwork for a Betty/Daniel endgame.
· Katy Perry and Russell Brand have gotten engaged, while Vince Vaughn and girlfriend Kyla Weber have married. Congratulations, you crazy kids!
A couple weeks back, we invited you to sit down for an hour or so and watch a video review made by a man going by the name of Mike of Milwaukee, in which he patiently laid out the case for why Star Wars: The Phantom Menace well and truly sucks Tauntaun balls. Despite the occasional glimpse of a sex-slave abductee tied up in his basement, he seemed like a likable enough guy, and we wanted to know more. Now we do, thanks to Heeb Magazine, who unmasked the phantom critic as being one Mike Stoklasa, indeed a native of Milwaukee, WI. That's him to the left -- totally not what we pictured! [Heeb]
As Roman Polanski chills at his Gstaad party palace under house arrest, Superior Court spokesman Allan Parachini told ET that a hearing will be held tomorrow in Los Angeles, the case's first time in court since Polanski's request for dismissal was denied. It's possible that the case could conclude there if Polanski's lawyer agrees to a sentence or extradition...care to lay some long odds? [ET]
As recently as last month, the James Bond installment known as Bond 23 was reportedly ensnared in delays created by MGM's financial crisis. The series' co-producer, Michael G. Wilson, confirmed the indefinite hold-up in a recent interview: "Well, our timeline's a little up in the air what with the situation at MGM, so we have to be flexible. We just don't know enough about the situation to comment, but we know it's uncertain." So I'll ask it again: Anybody wanna buy a 50-year-old spy franchise? $1.5 billion O/B/O. [MI6 via TOH]
The screenwriter of The Road today recalled the raw nerves that came along with screening the film for Cormac McCarthy, the Pulitzer Prize-winning source novelist who'd seen his books made into both modern classics (No Country For Old Men) and prestigious follies (All the Pretty Horses). So which would The Road represent to the no-nonsense 76-year old? He'll get back to you right after this break.
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· Not only Taken, but also John Travolta's forthcoming dip into bazooka-wielding leather-daddy action heroism, From Paris With Love. That's right: Pierre Morel, France's hottest B-thriller helmer, has been chosen to direct Paramount's new big-budget adaptation of the sci-fi classic Dune. The studio was forced to replace Peter Berg, whose next two projects at Universal threw speed bumps on Dune's fast track. Along with a new screenwriter to piggyback off Josh Zetumer's first draft, Morel has promised a faithful adaptation of Frank Herbert's original novel, which one at this point can only take to mean his leading man will be under 50. [Variety]
Kate Hudson gets a new friend for Earthbound, Redbox nears a milestone, and nd more Hollywood Ink after the jump.
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