The directorial career of Ben Affleck is officially in overdrive: The Oscar-winning screenwriter is in talks to direct and star in Line of Sight, an actioner that "centers on an elite commando squad transporting cargo while dealing with a global threat." Transporting cargo! That old cinematic treat. Affleck is about to start work on Argo, a CIA drama set during the Iran hostage crisis. Ooh, intrigue! Delicious. I'm yelling, "Gobble, gobble" already. [THR]
So much for that bit of dubious casting! A rep tells Movieline that Darren Criss is not signed on to the next Bret Easton Ellis film Downers Grove (an adaptation of Michael Hornberg's thriller), even though Ellis took back the "tasteless" HIV-related joke he made about Glee. Downers Grove concerns "a cursed high school in the Chicago suburb of Downers Grove." Once upon a time I worked at a Barnes & Noble in Downers Grove, IL. The "Christian Inspiration" section was indeed haunting!
And you thought watching Lady Gaga perform "You and I" was going to be the only reason to tune in for the MTV Video Music Awards on Sunday night. NextMovie reports that the first footage from The Hunger Games will premiere during the telecast, with a special introduction from star Jennifer Lawrence. If you needed even more proof that the adaptation of Suzanne Collins's YA series is the next Twilight, an association with MTV should do the trick. [NextMovie]
Pioneering silent film comedian Roscoe "Fatty" Arbuckle -- whose career was ruined following charges that he raped and murdered actress Virginia Rappe in 1921 (he was acquitted) -- is getting a proper biopic treatment in the HBO movie The Day the Laughter Stopped, with Modern Family star Eric Stonestreet set to star. The tragic story will be spun by John Adams scribe Kirk Ellis, with Barry Levinson attached as director. Seems like a perfect storm of talents; I just wish HBO titled it something a little more Arbucklian, like Fatty's Big Murder or Mabel's Confounding Demise. [Vulture]
Keeping with the trend of bringing movies to the stage, London's musical adaptation of Ghost -- the embarrassingly awesome '80s classic featuring Patrick Swayze, Demi Moore, Whoopi Goldberg and the most erotic pottery wheel scene in the history of cinema -- will hit Broadway this spring. Matthew Warchus, who is directing the Piccadilly Theatre production of Ghost will shepherd this one overseas, though no word yet if stars Richard Fleeshman and Caissie Levy will come along. Ghost, Dirty Dancing, the Red Dawn remake -- what Patrick Swayze property will get re-done next? Road House? [NYT]
Translated from a French-language publication by The New Yorker's Richard Brody, Sean Penn apparently has issues with Terrence Malick's recent film: "I didn't at all find on the screen the emotion of the script, which is the most magnificent one that I've ever read. A clearer and more conventional narrative would have helped the film without, in my opinion, lessening its beauty and its impact. Frankly, I'm still trying to figure out what I'm doing there and what I was supposed to add in that context! What's more, Terry himself never managed to explain it to me clearly." Join the club, pal. [Le Figaro via The New Yorker]
Marijuana empress Nancy Botwin has turned herself over to the fuzz: Weeds star Mary-Louise Parker is in negotiations to join the cast of R.I.P.D., a film based on Peter Lenkov's graphic novel that chronicles "a cop killed in the line of duty (Ryan Reynolds) who is recruited by a team of undead police officers working for the Rest in Peace Department." She'll a play woman who oversees the division. Kevin Bacon, Stephanie Szostak, and Jeff Bridges -- a dude who single-handedly doubles this movie's marijuana cred -- co-star. What other pot icons will director Robert Schwentke (Schwentke!) cast next? I vote for Cheech Marin as the voice of a talking K9. [Variety]
"You know, after I had just done A Nightmare on Elm Street 4, one of the first people to call me was Steven Spielberg, and he asked me, 'So is there a movie of your dreams you want to make?' 'Seriously?' I said, 'Tintin.' So I gave him a pile of those books, and his company went after the rights. At that point, the creator was still alive, and he said absolutely not. So it didn't work out, and Spielberg and I went our separate ways. Then, years later, the creator died, and Spielberg went after the rights again, and he got them. So now there's a movie." You crazy for this one, Renny Harlin. [Vulture]
Since Hugh ain't got no car, it appears director Shawn Levy has the next best actor in mind to lead his remake of the silly 1966 sci-fi film Fantastic Voyage: Will Smith. THR reports that Levy will only make the film if an A-list talent is attached, and he's set up a meeting with Smith to gauge interest. If Smith isn't a fit, Levy will possibly bail on Voyage altogether. Fingers crossed this happens, if only for the inevitable Smith remake of Coolio's "Fantastic Voyage" for the soundtrack. If you can't take the heat, get yo' ass out the kitchen. [THR]
If Steven Soderbergh is attempting to make his male stripper movie Magic Mike into the dude version of Sucker Punch, mission accomplished! EW reports that comically handsome True Blood star (and once-possible Superman) Joe Manganiello is final talks to play "Big Dick Richie" in the film, opposite comically handsome stars Channing Tatum, Alex Pettyfer, Matthew McConaughey and Matt Bomer. Who's next? Jon Hamm? Ryan Gosling? [EW]
Add another twig to the pile of kindling known as the probably-never-happening list of Ridley Scott projects. Deadline reports that Scott has signed on to produce and direct a new version of his beloved sci-fi classic Blade Runner for production company Alcon Entertainment. Little else is known about the film (there isn't even a script yet), but expect it to be a prequel or a sequel. Sean Young, call your agent! [Deadline]
Robert Rodriguez pulled out all the stops for Spy Kids: All the Time in the World in 4D: Jeremy Piven in a dual role, Ricky Gervais as a talking dog, the spectre of 3-D and even Aromascope. That latter bell and whistle includes scratch-and-sniff cards that patrons will get upon entering the theater, and corresponding onscreen numbers that alert them when to take a whiff. "Originally, we didn't have any really rancid smells, but kids wanted something really stinky in there," Rodriguez said about one of the smells, a dirty baby diaper. "It really doesn't smell that bad. No one's going to get sick in the theater." From the smells, at least. [Huffington Post]
Did you need another circus movie? Good. Because Michael Gracey -- a commercial/VFX veteran who just signed on to helm the Snow White picture The Order of the Seven -- will direct Hugh Jackman in The Greatest Showman on Earth, a musical biopic of 19th century circus master P.T. Barnum written by Sex and the City scribe Jenny Bicks. Hopefully it will redeem the recent misfire Water for Elephants and 1952's The Greatest Show on Earth, which remains the most dubious Best Picture winner of all time. Jackman's Boy from Oz zest is perfect for the role, so I suspect he'll keep the movie from becoming another third-ring sideshow. (Ding!) [Variety]
Should have been you, Hayley Atwell. Deadline reports that Rosamund Pike is in negotiations to star opposite Tom Cruise in One Shot, the Christopher McQuarrie-directed adaptation of Lee Child's 2005 novel. Pike -- who apparently beat out Atwell and Alexa Davalos for the role -- will play the daughter of a district attorney embroiled in a mystery involving six-foot-five ex-cop-turned-drifter Jack Reacher (Cruise) and a sniper. She next stars in The Big Year, and will appear in Clash of the Titans 2 in 2012; One Shot is set to begin shooting early next year. [Deadline]
Looks like the Terminator has taken his dogged search for the mother of the future savior of mankind to the Twitterverse, where he's going through every Sarah on Twitter, one by one. (That is, when he's not telling the T-1000 to suck it in binary.) There's just one problem: The social media-savvy T-800 is looking for "Sarah Conner," not Sarah Connor. Oops! Proof he'll become obsolete soon enough? [@111001001101010]
