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Michael Bay indicates he might be interested in taking on directing duties on "Bad Boys III".

BEIJING, Feb. 16 -- Hong Kong director John Woo has given up his plan to remake French director Jean-Pierre Melville's classic movie "Le Cercle Rouge." Instead, another Hong Kong director, Johnny To, is taking over the job.

   French distributor Studio Canal recently announced at the Berlin Film Festival the studio would cooperate with To on his first English-language movie.

   The lead actor of the 1970 version of "Le Cercle Rouge," veteran French actor Alain Delon, revealed at a talk show that he intended to star in the Hong Kong director's remake of the movie.

   Though Delon has not been confirmed yet, the producer said if he really joined the cast, he would have a major role.

   The remake of "Le Cercle Rouge" will begin shooting this summer.

   The producer of the remake, Arthur Sarkissian, who also produced the Hollywood blockbuster "Rush Hour," revealed they will choose actors for the movie next month.


(Source: Shenzhen Daily/Agencies)

J. Michael Straczynski, the man who created what remains one of TV most complex serial dramas "Babylon 5", is set to write the adaptation of "World War Z" by Max Brooks for Paramount Pictures reports IGN.

The novel, a clever collection of retrospective interview anecdotes, covers the accounts of nearly four dozen people from all walks of life who played different parts in a virus pandemic that turned most of the world's population into zombies and threatened to overwhelm the globe until we fought back.

Various chapters have some strong political bents - an ex-Apartheid official develops an inhumane but effective solution to the zombie plagues, Israel undergoes a controversial self-quarantine, North America becomes a wasteland whilst Cuba prospers, and China is essentially responsible for the outbreak thanks to the ecological disruption caused by the Three Gorges Dam.

"I'm adapting that for Paramount. For Brad Pitt potentially -- we'll see what happens. He might be the star in it. It's very political, very smart, very cagey" says Straczynski.

The main problem of course is structure - each chapter deals with a different character in a different situation so he is constructing the film around the interviewer who will travel from place to place visiting people.

He adds "I'm being very faithful to the book, letter by letter when I can, and I'm on about page 70 right now and I'm really happy with it".

Quote from: "crippled_avenger"Michael Bay indicates he might be interested in taking on directing duties on "Bad Boys III".

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Trainspotting", "The Beach", "28 Days Later" and "Sunshine" director Danny Boyle is set to make thriller "Ponte Tower" with lottery funding from the UK Film Council's Development Fund reports Teletext.

The film is loosely developed from the book by German novelist Norman Ohler and shot entirely in Johannesburg's 54-storey Ponte Tower, one of Africa's tallest skyscrapers. Michael Thomas ("Scandal," "Backbeat") is writing the script.

The skyscraper symbolised white affluence when it was built in 1975, but was known by the end of apartheid as one of the most dangerous addresses in the world as gangs infected the wind-ravaged hellhole it became.

The film's story follows a girl from Soweto who moves to the tower at the end of Apartheid and comes under the control of a charming drug lord.

French directors Michel Gondry and Leos Carax and South Korean helmer Bong Joon-ho are turning Japanese. Each filmmaker is in negotiations to write and direct a segment of the tentatively titled "Tokyo," a triptych feature telling three separate tales of the city.

The project will be produced by Paris-based Comme des Cinemas, company founder Anne Sawada said Wednesday.

"It will be just like 'New York Stories' but set in Tokyo," said Bong, who just finished the script for his segment on a 26-hour plane ride from Australia to New York to promote his new Magnolia Pictures monster movie "The Host." As with the other story lines, Bong's plot is under wraps but involves the relationship between a Japanese man and woman.

Bong is tentatively set to begin filming his segment in July or August, with the other shoots expected to happen at about the same time. According to a source close to the project, the filmmakers will be given liberal access to city locations in return for the Tokyo-centric subject matter.

Gondry, who won a screenplay Oscar for "Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind," is in postproduction on "Be Kind Rewind," produced by Georges Bermann's Partizan for New Line Cinema, with Focus Features handling international sales. Carax's credits include "Pola X," "Sans titre" and "The Lovers on the Bridge." Bong's credits include "Memories of Murder."
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Gondry is represented by CAA. Carax is repped by Artmedia.

Thanks to the success of the "American Pie" low-budget direct to video sequels amongst others, the studios have been setting up divisions to do the same with long thought dead franchises.

Now Paramount has joined the fray, starting up a new division to develop and produce sequels, prequels and remakes of popular titles from the libraries of Paramount Pictures, Paramount Vantage, DreamWorks, MTV Films and Nickelodeon Movies reports Slash Film.

Amongst the titles that could be on the list: Beverly Hills Cop, Crocodile Dundee, Clueless, Collateral, Coming to America, Days of Thunder, Deep Impact, Event Horizon, Face/Off, Forrest Gump, Ghost, Grease, Indecent Proposal, Tomb Raider, Mean Girls, Mission: Impossible, School for Scoundrels, Star Trek, The Addams Family, The Brady Bunch Movie, The Italian Job, The Longest Yard, The School of Rock, and Top Gun.

Just as Foxy Brown led the blaxploitation charge in 1970's US, the Japanese had their own ass-kicking chick counterpart - Female Prisoner Scorpion.

The collection of four ultra-violent women in prison films detailed the lover of a bad cop who is falsely accused of a crime and sent to prison.

Meiko Kaji, who later went on to star in the 1973 cult hit "Lady Snowblood" which inspired "Kill Bill", played the role in all the films which were released twice a year in 1972 and 1973.

Now, Ryuganji is reporting that Mizuno Miki has signed on to take over Meiko's role in an adaptation that "merges Hong Kong kung-fu with wire-assisted action sequences".

The project is currently shooting in Hong Kong under the direction of Joe Ma ("Love Undercover" series), and co-stars Dylan Kuo as Miki's double-crossing copy boyfriend, as well as Ishibashi Ryo ("The Grudge 2") and Natsume Nana.

Since the cast is a collection of Hong Kong and Taiwanese actors, the dialogue will be tri-lingual -- shot in Cantonese, Japanese and English. A late 2008 release is planned.

Darren Lynn Bousman, the director of both "Saw" sequels, just closed a deal to remake David Cronenberg's famed 1981 horror pic "Scanners".

The story revolves around a scientist who infiltrates an underground movement of "scanners," whose telepathic abilities make them lethal weapons - including the ability to explode heads.

David Goyer will pen the script which will include the paranoia and genetic engineering themes prevalent in the original that are more credible these days.

An early 2008 production start is scheduled for release later that year.

Robert Downey Jr. and Jay Baruchel have signed on to star in the Ben Stiller-helmed comedy "Tropic Thunder" for DreamWorks Pictures and Red Hour Films says The Hollywood Reporter.

In the film, everything goes wrong during the making of a big-budget war movie, and the actors end up becoming the commandos they are playing. Downey will play Kirk Lazarus, the greatest actor of his generation and a four-time Oscar winner.

Baruchel will play Kevin Sandusky, an unknown actor on the set. Stiller, Justin Theroux and Etan Cohen penned the screenplay.

Shooting is set to start in July.

Hairspray is a film adaptation of the Broadway musical of the same name. The Broadway musical was made after the 1988 film; thus the 2007 film is not technically a direct remake of the 1988 film but rather is an adaptation of the Broadway musical, which, in turn, was an adaptation of the 1988 film. The cast includes John Travolta, Michelle Pfeiffer, Nicole Blonsky, Queen Latifah, Amanda Bynes, Christopher Walken, Allison Janney, Zac Efron, and James Marsden. The 2007 film is produced by Zadan/Meron Productions in the United States and will be distributed by New Line Cinema.

Set in Baltimore, Maryland, in the 1960s, a "pleasantly plump" high school overweight adolescent, Tracy Turnblad (Nicole Blonsky) goes from being an outsider to celebrity trendsetter. It is the story of a girl, Tracy, whose dream is to dance on the Corny Collins Show, a local TV dance program based on the real-life Buddy Deane Show in Baltimore. She gets a chance on the show and becomes a celebrity overnight, and launches a campaign to racially integrate the Corny Collins Show. Gladly, she has the help from her mother Edna (John Travolta), father Wilbur (Christopher Walken), local African-American DJ Motormouth Maybelle (Queen Latifah), and Motormouth's kids Seaweed (Elijah Kelley) and Lil' Inez (Taylor Parks), but she also has to deal with the constant "raggings-on" of rival dancer Amber Von Tussle (Brittany Snow) and her mother Velma (Michelle Pfeiffer) who will stop at nothing to see that Tracy fails in her efforts. However, after referring to Tracy, in front of Corny Collins (James Marsden) as a "Trash-Can," Amber is given demerit points and loses her on-air crush, Link Larkin (Zac Efron), to Tracy.

TMZ reports that the creative team and stars from the original 1997 "L.A. Confidential" are in discussions with Fox-based Regency Enterprises about reteaming for a sequel to the Oscar-winning noir thriller based on James Ellroy's novel.

That novel was the third in a series of four Los Angeles-set stories by Ellroy, the first of those books was last year's poorly received Brian DePalma effort "The Black Dahlia".

What makes the story doubly interesting is that this planned sequel has no relation to "White Jazz", the fourth book in the series which uses some of the characters from 'Confidential'. Joe Carnahan ("Narc," "Smokin' Aces") has been planning to direct that project for some time with George Clooney onboard.

There was hope Guy Pearce would reprise his role of Ed Exley from 'Confidential' in "White Jazz", but the actor downplayed the possibility last month.

This direct sequel would be an original story from the sounds of it, and the likes of Pearce, Russell Crowe, writerBrian Helgeland and director Curtis Hanson may be involved.

Carnahan has spoken out about the project on his blog and said that as far as he knows "they are pushing ahead and have asked us to change the Exley character's name in WHITE JAZZ as New Regency apparently has the right".

He also talks about another character exclusion: "Those familiar with the book also know that 'The Dud' Dudley Smith is also featured prominently in it. We took the original LA CONFIDENTIAL into account when writing WHITE JAZZ so opted to remove him from the story. Now that Exley looks like he's out, it will really eliminate any incidental characters from WHITE JAZZ and allow it to be a stand alone and not dependant on the prior characters".

Director Marcus Nispel ("The Texas Chainsaw Massacre," "Pathfinder") is planning a film about the Charles Manson story reports Fangoria.

Nispel has various projects in the works, but the seriousness and inherent pressure of this project seems to intrigue him, not to mention it would re-team him with "Chainsaw" scribe Scott Kosar.

"This is different for both of us, because we don't see it as a great reason to do some damage and splash blood. It's a responsible movie. I love those ones that have a detailed account of reality, like BLACK HAWK DOWN, and you have to really pay attention to that--you can't go out and make a fantasy where anything can happen. But to do it takes discipline" says Nispel.

He adds it'll bear no relation to previous Manson-esque biopics like "Helter Skelter" - "Almost all of those films are told from a legal point of view, or what you'd hear in a trial. So the thing you have to do is look at it from an emotional angle... Scott found a very interesting point of view from an insider".

Nispel is still working on "Alice", the R-rated adaptation of the dark and twisted video game that subverts the classic Lewis Carroll "Alice in Wonderland" tale. He's also planning "Sublevel" about something unearthed seven levels below the Manhattan streets.

L.A. Confidental 2 !!!!

Ne mogu da verujem! Bez Ellroya to deluje skoro umobolno.

Mada Curtis i Helgeland ponovo zajedno zvuci primamljivo, nije mi bas najjasnija logika koja stoji iza ovoga.
Hollywoodland i Black D su ozbiljno propali, ako Zodiac i dobro prodje on se desava 70ih. Ovakva vrsta filmova usmerena je ka starijoj publici, iznad trideset, a nastavci kod njih ne prolaze mnogo dobro. Da li zato shto je Departed dobio oskara sledi ciklus policijskih trilera?

Director Zack Snyder ("300," "Dawn of the Dead") has set up the action fantasy "Sucker Punch" at Warner Bros. Pictures and his own Cruel and Unusual Films company says The Hollywood Reporter.

Set in the 1950's, "Punch" follows a girl who is confined to a mental institution by her evil stepfather, who intends to have her lobotomized in five days.

While there, she imagines an alternative reality to hide her from the pain, and in that world, she begins planning her escape, needing to steal five objects to help get her out before she is deflowered by a vile man.

Music will play a key role in the fantasy world, one populated with dragons, B-52 bombers and brothels.

Snyder, who is eyeing the project as a directing vehicle, will produce with partner and wife Deborah Snyder. He will co-write the script with Steve Shibuya, adapting it from his own original short story.

The IESB reports that at the press junket this weekend for the Mark Wahlberg drama "Shooter", producer Lorenzo di Bonaventura confirmed that as soon as "Transformers" wraps he will "immediately" jump onto a "G.I. Joe" film.

di Bonaventura hopes Wahlberg will play Conrad "Duke" Hauser in the story, field commander and second-in-command of the G.I. Joe Team. Hawk and Snake Eyes are slated to stand in for the good guys, whilst Destro and Stormshadow will be the evil Commander's sidekicks.

The general storyline will be set before the rise of COBRA, and focuses on how the future COBRA Commander started his terrorist group.

Ovo za L.A.C. 2 je sasvim suludo, prosto ne znam da li da poverujem da li se tako nešto uopšte razmatra kao moguće. Svojevremeno je bilo planirano da se snimi svojevrsni rimejk - tj. mini serija od 13 epizoda bazirana na romanu (i obogaćena novim zapletima). Urađen je samo pilot, i tu se stalo. Planiranje nastavka koji će se nasloniti na Hansonov film mi ne paše, ne vidim gde to može da vodi. Priča u originalnom filmu je zaokružena, Dudley Smith je zbačen iz igre, Ellroy is out, tako da bi morao da se nađe neki đavolski dobar scenarista da oživi čitavu stvar.

Summer Glau and Owain Yeoman are set to play the two models of Terminator (named Cameron and Cromartie respectively) that'll be hunting the heroes of Fox's upcoming TV series for next Fall - "The Sarah Connor Chronicles".

Lean Headey, who plays the titular heroinne, was out doing press for "300" recently (she plays the film's one major female role) and confirmed the casting to Sci-Fi Wire.



She added that one model would be good and one bad, but didn't point out which one is which. She confirmed they had just finished shooting the pilot in New Mexico which follows Sarah and her son John (Thomas Dekker) having made it to Los Angeles after the events of the second film "Terminator 2: Judgement Day".

Glau is best known for her work on the defunct but acclaimed Joss Whedon sci-fi series "Firefly" and its film spin-off "Serenity". She's also guest starred on "CSI," "Cold Case," "Angel," and "The 4400".

6'3 Welsh actor Yeoman has been a regular in several now defunct television series in recent years including 2004's "Commando Nanny", 2005's "Kitchen Confidential" and 2006's "The Nine" . He's also appeared in small roles in the films "Troy" and "Beerfest"

Kad je reč o LAC 2 ne znam šta oni misle, ali znam da je jednom na AICN chatovao Curtis Hanson i da ga nastavak priče zanima, mimo Ellroya. To je bilo pre par godina.

E sad, helgeland svakako nije čovek koji može da iznedri dostojan produžetak, ali recimo mislim da Andrew Kevin Walker jeste. On bi meni bio prvi pick za to.

Zatim ima ovih već pomalo zaboravljenih Scorseseovih pacijenata poput Nicholas Pileggija ili Richard Pricea?

A u krajnjoj liniji i Shane Black.

Last year's exquisite action surprise CRANK was so outrageously over-the-top that it nearly broke atmosphere and went hurtling into the cosmos. How could filmmakers Mark Neveldine and Brian Taylor possibly exceed their debut's lunatic fusion of overkill?

Apparently they're gonna try anyway, as Variety says they "are in the early stages of a sequel" to the crazy Statham flick. That's literally the only information given about this potential follow-up (also at Lakeshore, who handled the original), so feel free to speculate about how another film could be approached. Will Statham's hyped-up hitman somehow return, despite the gratuitous abuse inflicted upon his person the first time? Or will the writing-directing duo present a brand new character forced to endure a series of adrenaline-fueled survival tactics?

John Milius adapting Task Force Faith

2929 Entertainment co-owner and CEO Todd Wagner announced that the company has optioned the story "Task Force Faith" by Julie Precious and hired John Milius ("Apocalypse Now," "Clear and Present Danger") to adapt it into a full length feature film. The film, which will be titled THE CHOSIN FEW, is a passion project for Wagner, who will produce.
   
THE CHOSIN FEW will tell of the Chosin Reservoir Battle early in the Korean War where a group of undertrained and ill-equipped U.S. Army soldiers fought back against the surprise attack of over 100,000 Chinese troops. The Chinese troops had surrounded a mere 15,000 U.S. Marines and 2,500 U.S. Army soldiers on different sides of the Chosin reservoir. After several furious days of fighting in sub-zero temperatures, the heroic actions of the U.S. soldiers allowed the Marines to battle their way out.
   
"For many years, these U.S. Army troops were thought to have 'cut and run' and were shunned for cowardice while the Marine troops received a Presidential Unit Citation but, over the years, a group of survivors and historians fought to shed a light on what really happened during this battle," says Wagner. "This is an extraordinary and powerful story about a 'forgotten war' and a piece of our nation's history, and I am proud to be a part of the team bringing this to life."
   
Milius is a writer and director who worked on such legendary films as "Jeremiah Johnson" (writer), "The Wind and The Lion" (writer/director), "Jaws" (writer), "Big Wednesday" (writer/director), "Apocalypse Now" (writer), "Conan the Barbarian" (writer/director), "Red Dawn" (writer/director), "Farewell to the King" (writer/director) and "Clear and Present Danger" (writer).
   
Precious, who is an Army veteran and former Korea analyst, is currently an employee with the Department of Defense in Washington D.C. She participates in creative projects on a freelance basis in an unofficial capacity. She is also completing a documentary on the 31st Regimental Combat Team battle.
   
Wagner will produce THE CHOSIN FEW with Marc Butan, president of 2929 Productions, and with Kent Kubena, who is overseeing the development of the project for 2929. Precious will serve as associate producer.

Quote from: "Zika Kisobranac"Precious, who is an Army veteran and former Korea analyst, is currently an employee with the Department of Defense in Washington D.C. She participates in creative projects on a freelance basis in an unofficial capacity. She is also completing a documentary on the 31st Regimental Combat Team battle.

odlično!
svetu je potrebna još jedna desničarska tirada u kojoj ćemo da navijamo za grupu odvažnih američkih soldata okruženih 'neprijateljem' a da se niko ne zapita ŠTA KOG KURCA ONI UOPŠTE TRAŽE NA TLU TOG 'NEPRIJATELJA'.
involvement zvaničnih organa i ratnih veterana, kao i džona-nisam-snimio-dobar-film-20-godina-milijusa, obećava još jedan izbalansirani prikaz američke spoljne politike i bacanje novog, kontroverznog svetla na slabo poznate stranice američke istorije.

ups!
sad će kunac da kaže:
'eto, opet Gul kritikuje film koji nije gledao i koji još nije ni počeo da se snima! pošto film potpisuje džon-crvena-zora-milijus, ovo svakako treba pogledati!'

iskreno da ti kazem, ne verujem da ce ista biti od tog filma, jer mi prica zvuci kao miks izmedju dalovog the great raid, koji je na salteru puko ko vokmen, milijusovih danas vec izandjalih pricha iz Ajkule, i prisljamcenog surfovanja na valovima ratnih filmova i americkog samoispitivanja u poslednjih nekoliko godina (marinac i ove istvudove ivo dzime). ovo je optioned knjiga, za sad...
samo je zanimljivo procitati koliko milijus, taman bio i moj omiljeni scenarista/reditelj, lagano postaje jos jedna nostalgicna relikvija. ne znam kako ostalima zvuci ovaj "jornada del muerte" vestern sa rvacima, ali meni sasvim mesecarski...

Šta je ovo?

Serbian scars (2007)
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0892392/

imali smo vec topik, i ja sam se pitao, ali niko nista ne zna, u prekidu je veza...

http://www.znaksagite.com/diskusije/viewtopic.php?t=3961

Uh, izvinjavam se.  

With only around a month to go before production was scheduled to begin, Reese Witherspoon has abruptly dropped out of Spyglass Entertainment's remake of "Bunny Lake Is Missing", much to the chagrin of director Joe Carnahan.

Witherspoon was set to star and produce the film which has been in the works for three years over at Sony Pictures who will distribute reports Variety.

Scripted by Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Doug Wright, it is based on the 1965 Otto Preminger film about a woman who reports that her daughter Bunny Lake is missing - only to be confronted by charges that she never existed

Witherspoon's exit is having major ramifications - a rush is on to find a replacement actress, but even then it means the film will likely be pushed back.

That's a problem as Carnahan remains scheduled to shoot "White Jazz" immediately after. Evelyn O'Neill, manager of both Carnahan and Witherspoon, is rumoured to have lost the former as a client due to the mess.

Evelyn O'Neill je definitivno imao konflikt interesa.
Jel ima price zasto se Reese povukla ?

sutra 300, i very excite©

jao trista mu bubnjeva!

Disney Returning To Classic Animation In 2009


John Lasseter, who currently holds the title of chief creative officer of the Walt Disney Co., selected a stockholders annual meeting in New Orleans Thursday to announce that Disney will return to hand-drawn animation in 2009 with a feature set in New Orleans. The feature, The Frog Princess, will be directed by John Musker and Ron Clements, who oversaw The Little Mermaid and Aladdin, and who were forced out by the studio's previous management when it decided to abandon hand-drawn animation in 2004. The movie will also feature the first African-American princess to appear in a Disney animated film. "We're going back to hand-drawn animation," Lasseter announced at the meeting. "This movie is going to be classic Disney and yet you have never seen this before." The studio said that it plans to rehire many of the animators it let go during the bloodletting following the failure of 2004's Home on the Range, Disney's last "2D" animated film.

Pa i bilo je već vrijeme!

Palm Pictures glams up with satire 'Hanai'By Gregg Goldstein

March 12, 2007

NEW YORK -- Palm Pictures has acquired North American rights to Meike Mitsuru's political and sexual satire "The Glamorous Life of Sachiko Hanai," centering on a Japanese call girl who gets caught up in international intrigue.

The project began as a Japanese softcore "Pink" film with the title "Horny Home Tutor: Teacher's Love Juice" but was expanded in length after gaining a Japanese cult following.

In the film, the title character gets shot in the head after a fight breaks out at her sexual role-playing club, allowing her to "understand foreign languages and solve complex mathematic formulas," according to the official plot line. She discovers a finger cut from the American president in her pocket and is soon using her newfound powers to stop evil forces from "pushing the button" to start worldwide nuclear war.

The Japanese-language production will be released in theaters in early April and on Palm's DVD label shortly thereafter. It had its North American premiere at the Film Society of Lincoln Center's New York Video Festival in July 2005 and will be eligible for Oscar consideration.

Palm Pictures head of theatrical sales Ed Arentz negotiated the acquisition with Hisami Kuroiwa of international sales agent Media Space.

A "Hell Ride" With QT & The Bishop
Posted:   Sunday March 11th 2007 8:27am
Source:   Production Weekly
Author:   Garth Franklin


 
Biker movie veteran Larry Bishop ("Kill Bill: Vol. 2," "The Big Fix") is set to begin filming next month on "Hell Ride", a new Quentin Tarantino-produced horror flick reports Production Weekly.

Bishop will play bad-ass biker Pistolero, who along with his brother The Gent and Comanche, hit the road to avenge the death of Pistolero's old lady Cherokee Kisum, by the 666ers a rival motorcycle gang.

Bishop not only serves as star, but is writing, directing and producing the project as well. Shooting will take place in Los Angeles.

Speaking with Ottowa Citizen, Director Joel Schumacher talked a little about his next project - the Nazi-horror film "Town Creek".

Despite the Romanian filming location, this is "not really a vampire movie". In fact it's about something far more controversial - spooky reincarnations of the Third Reich's key members.

"It's about Hitler and Himmler and Goebbels' association with the occult -- this is what they based the Master Race on... the one thing about the Nazis is that they so loved themselves that they documented everything, and there are these great documentaries on Hitler's obsession with the occult. So it's a 'horror' movie based on that by a very intelligent young writer" says Schumacher.

The first half is set in 1936 at the height of Hitler's power, whilst the second half will be set during the present day and will deal with "ghosts of the past rising up to confront today's world".

Dave Kajganich ("The Invasion") penned the script, Ian Wingrove is doing the visual effects, and Dominic Purcell, Jesse Metcalfe and Joy McBrinn are so far the only confirmed cast members.

With "Assault on Precinct 13", "The Fog" and "Halloween" having gotten the remake treatment, and often talked about plans for a sequel/remake of "The Thing", it was only a matter of time before the last of director John Carpeneter's great late 70's/early 80's high concept thrillers got slated for the same treatment.

Scottish hottie Gerard Butler, leading the charge in current box-office champ "300", is attached to star in a remake of Carpenter's 1981 actioner "Escape From New York." Neal Moritz is attached to produce and scribe Ken Nolan ("Black Hawk Down") will pen the screenplay reports Variety.

The deal goes out this week to distributors who're already vying for the property. Butler would play Snake Plissken, the one-eyed convict who's charged with heading into the inescapable maximum security prison formerly known as Manhattan to liberate the U.S. president.

Kurt Russell originated the role and reprised it in the 1996 sequel "Escape to L.A." One is curious as to how the film's setup will be changed. In the original, terrorists hijack Air Force One and crash it into one of Manhattan's skyscrapers. In another key scene, Plissken enters Manhattan by landing a glider on top of the World Trade Center. Both elements will no doubt have to be altered to fit the post 9-11 world.

Last week saw the trades make a big deal over Reese Witherspoon's sudden eleventh hour departure from the Joe Carnahan-directed thriller "Bunny Lake is Missing".

Reports were that Carnahan was so angry about it that he fired his manager. Well that ain't the case it seems according to the man himself on his official site. Here's what he said about the issue:

"How about a situation where the press tries to stir it up. These things happen. Movies go away every day. Reese is dealing with a lot of stuff in her life. So am I. We were running up against it as far as time for prep and shooting and scripting, etc.

I had already commited to 'White Jazz' and the longer we stretched 'Bunny' the more in jeopardy the WJ schedule became. And there was just no way I could let that happen. I need a nice extended prep period for that flick, and now I've got it. That's it guys. I wish there were some truly tasty bits of gossip but there just aren't. Sorry".

Carnahan is now solely focusing on his next project "White Jazz" which begins filming in coming months.

Jack Black has signed on to star in the Ben Stiller-helmed comedy "Tropic Thunder," with Robert Downey Jr. and Jay Baruchel.

In the film, everything goes wrong during the making of a big-budget war movie, and the actors end up becoming the commandos they are playing reports Production Weekly.

Black will play Jeff "Fats" Portnoy, an overweight gross-out comedian, who's forced to kick his drug addiction while filming on location in the jungle. Downey will play Kirk Lazarus, the greatest actor of his generation and a four-time Oscar winner. Baruchel will play Kevin Sandusky, an unknown actor on the set and Stiller plays Speedman.

Stiller, Justin Theroux and Etan Cohen penned the screenplay. Shooting is set to begin in July.

Stepping away from superheroes for his next project, Bryan Singer is set to return to the thriller genre with an original, multi-character ensemble thriller set during World War Two.

The film finally re-teams Singer with his "The Usual Suspects" screenwriter Chris McQuarrie - the first collaboration since that acclaimed 1995 feature.

On top of that the film also marks the second film to be greenlit by the new United Artists and its head runners Tom Cruise and Paula Wagner reports Variety.

Singer and McQuarrie will produce the project which they came up with together in recent months and took it to UA. Production on the untitled thriller begins this Summer.

Whilst it's thought that one side effect of the deal is that the project will delay Warner Bros.' plans for mounting a sequel to "Superman Returns", Superman Homepage says the film is still on track for a March 2008 start of shooting.

It shouldn't have any effect on his plans to direct the series pilot for the US version of "Footballers' Wives".

Gerard Depardieu has joined the cast of the first film in Jean-Francois Richet's two-film project about infamous gangster Jacques Mesrine says The Hollywood Reporter.

"L'Instinct de Mort" (Death Instinct) and "L'Ennemi Public no.1" (Public Enemy No. 1), penned by Abdel Raouf Dafri and produced by Thomas Langmann's production company La Petite Reine, will highlight the murders and mysteries surrounding Mesrine, played by Vincent Cassel.

Depardieu will play Mesrine's fellow gangster and mentor in "Instinct," and familiar faces Marion Cotillard and Eva Green also are rumored to be attached to the near $50 million projects.

The confirmed cast for "Enemy" includes Samuel Le Bihan, Olivier Gourmet, Jean-Pierre Cassel and Gilles Lellouche

Charlize Theron, Colin Farrell, Ralph Fiennes and Willem Dafoe are attached to topline the Iraq-set action drama "The Hurt Locker" reports Production Weekly.

"Hurt Locker," follows the exploits of an elite bomb disposal unit. Forced to play a dangerous game of cat-and-mouse in the chaos of war, an elite Army bomb squad unit must come together in a city where everyone is a potential enemy and every object could be a deadly bomb.

Kathryn Bigelow ("K-19: the Widowmaker") is directing from a screenplay she co-wrote with war reporter Mark Boal, who recently co-wrote the story for Paul Haggis' "In The Valley Of Elah." Principal photography is scheduled for later this spring.

The Mathieu Kassovitz-directed "Babylon AD," budgeted at $60 million, has resumed shooting in the Czech Republic after a two-week hiatus reports Variety.

Production delays and various crew retrenchments have cost the production both time and money, as has more unpredictable events like uncooperative weather. There is also pressure on them to vacate Prague's Barrandov Studios as the "Narnia" sequel is scheduled to shoot there very soon.

Vin Diesel plays a mercenary hired to escort a young woman (Melanie Thierry) who has been genetically tampered with, containing a virus that could destroy the human race. Michelle Yeoh plays a nun accompanying the young girl, and Charlotte Rampling also stars.

The three key actors are due on Friday in the Czech city of Ostrava, where they will spend the next week shooting scenes for the futuristic action-thriller based on a cult novel by Maurice Dantec.

Other actors await word on when they're to shoot their scenes, filming that should have been shot at the end of February. Fox will release the film next Summer.

"Sherlock Holmes" Gets ReinventedBy Garth FranklinFriday March 16th 2007 12:20amWarner Bros. Pictures and producer Lionel Wigram will adapt Wigram's upcoming comicbook "Sherlock Holmes" for the bigscreen.

The aim, according to Variety, is to reinvent Arthur Conan Doyle's sleuth and Dr. Watson in the same edgy way that Batman and Bond have been in the past two years.

Michael Johnson is penning the script for the project, expected to be the next directing project of "The Descent" helmer Neil Marshall who is currently filming "Doomsday" for Rogue Pictures.

The storyline is being kept under wraps, no word on if it will use some of Doyle's mysteries but Wigram does plan to showcase some of Holmes lesser known traits including sword fighting and bare knuckle boxing.

Holmes has been portrayed on film and TV more than any other fictional character, with more than 75 actors having played the London detective in 200 films and TV shows since 1900.

Basil Rathbone and Jeremy Brett (pictured above) are often cited as the most accurate, though the role has been portrayed by other memorable names including Peter Cushing, Ian Richardson, Peter O'Toole, Roger Moore, Christopher Lee, Frank Langella, Rupert Everett, Richard Roxburgh, Edward Woodward, Christopher Plummer, Peter Cook, John Cleese and Michael Caine.

Alexandre Aja ("Haute Tension") is back in the remake business. Having helmed last year's "The Hills Have Eyes" redux, Aja has now signed on to rewrite and direct "Piranha," Dimension Films' remake of Joe Dante's 1978 cult horror comedy film.

The remake is set at Lake Havasu, Ariz., a small, scenic town that is a spring break destination. When tremors tear open a crack in the lake floor, all hell breaks loose as ravenous Piranhas surface and people begin to disappear.

Aja is rewriting the script that Josh Stolberg and Pete Goldfinger did for the project, at the time Chuck Russell was attached to direct.

Aja told The Hollywood Reporter that his goal is "not to remake 'Piranha,' but to create a completely new adventure paying homage to all the 'creatures' films that made me fall in love with the genre"

Sci-fi author Whitley Strieber's forthcoming novel, "2012: The War for Souls" will be a Michael Bay-produced (and possibly directed) film at Warner Bros. Pictures reports TMZ.com.

Scribes Alex Kurtzman and Roberto Orci ("Mission: Impossible III," "Transformers") are apparently producing the project along with Bay's Platinum Dunes company.

Strieber's book, due for release in September, deals with the assorted cataclysmic events scheduled to take place in 2012. The Mayan calendar famously ends December 2012, Nostradamus forecast a comet impact sometime before then, and alien theorists claim that's the time we get invaded.

Even some scientists predict that the fairly regular shifting of the Earth's magnetic poles will take place around that time and the resulting change will cause natural disasters of unknown proportions.

MOSCOW -- The producers of Russia's biggest-ever boxoffice success, "Day Watch," which took in $35 million here last year, are planning a sequel to one of the nation's most popular Soviet-era films, "Irony of Fate."

Beginning the buzz early, cinema booking agents, in Moscow this week for the 70th annual Russian International Film Market, were confronted with brash posters promising a new, as-yet-unnamed blockbuster from the makers of "Day Watch."

The film -- to be shot by "Watch" director Timur Bekmambetov and featuring "Watch" star Konstantin Khabensky -- will update a film that has become a cult classic since its Dec. 31, 1975 release and which holds a place in Russian affection equal to that in the U.S. for "It's a Wonderful Life."

Written and directed by Eldar Ryazanov, "Irony of Fate" tells the story of a group of friends in Moscow who get blind drunk while partying at a Turkish bath on New Year's Eve.

One of them is supposed to fly home to Leningrad to join his wife to celebrate the New Year, but by mistake they send Muscovite Zhenya instead, who is too drunk to notice.
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Arriving in Leningrad, Zhenya takes a taxi to a street bearing the same name and looking identical to his own region of Moscow. He makes his way to the fourth floor, lets himself into what he believes is his flat with a key that works without a hitch, undresses and goes to bed.

When the flat's owner, Leningrad beauty Nadya, returns to her apartment, the comedy begins.

The film, which captures the absurdity of a Soviet system in which identical apartment blocks and identical lives were elevated to ideology, has become part and parcel of every Russian family's New Year's Eve celebration, with television channels across Russia running the movie every Dec. 31.

First Channel, which produced both "Day Watch" and its predecessor "Night Watch," confirmed Thursday that Bekmambetov and Khabensky are working on a new project scheduled for a 1,000-print release at the end of the year.

Anatoly Maksimov, one of the producers of "Day Watch," declined to either confirm or deny that the film will be "Irony of Fate," saying only that "it will be interesting to see what Bekmambetov and Khabensky come up with."

Maksimov added that the promotional posters on display at the film market were deliberately designed to spike curiosity about the precise nature of the new film. More informative adverts will be released during the summer, he said.

But sources close to the project independently confirmed the film will be an updated version of the Soviet story and referred to it as "Irony of Fate 2."

Angelina Jolie is set to join the cast of Universal Pictures action film "Wanted" which Timur Bekmambetov will direct.

Based on a graphic novel, James McAvoy plays a young man who discovers his father is an assassin, only to learn shortly thereafter that his dad has been murdered.

The youth is drafted to follow in his father's footsteps. Jolie will play an assassin who teaches the ropes to the wannabe killer. Morgan Freeman also stars.

According to Variety, Jolie took the role after a rewrite by Dean Georgaris ("Lara Croft Tomb Raider: The Cradle of Life") to tailor the character for her.

Shooting is set to begin in Eastern Europe in May.

Kevin Macdonald, who directed Oscar winner "The Last King of Scotland" and acclaimed moutain climbing drama "Touching the Void", has signed on to helm "State of Play" for Universal Pictures.

"State of Play" is an adaptation of the highly acclaimed, 2003 award-winning BBC miniseries that tackles the intersection of politics and journalism. It revolves around an elected government official and his former campaign manager-turned-journalist for a high-profile national paper.

When two seemingly unrelated slayings are linked by a single phone call, the two friends find themselves on opposite sides of an investigation. Matthew Michael Carnahan wrote the adaptation, which moves the action to Washington.

No word if original series stars Bill Nighy, James McAvoy, John Simm, David Morrissey, Polly Walker, Philip Glenister, Benedict Wong or Kelly Macdonald will appear in cameos.

Paul Abbott, who created the 2003 series, is executive producing. A late 2007 start of shooting date is being planned.

An all-star cast will provide voices for the main characters in Academy Award nominee Shane Acker's animated epic "9", which is currently in production for Focus Features. Focus CEO James Schamus made the announcement today.

Elijah Wood (of The Lord of the Rings trilogy and Focus' Academy Award-winning Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind) will voice the title role of 9. Joining him are Academy Award winner Jennifer Connelly (of Focus' upcoming Reservation Road), actor/filmmaker Crispin Glover (whose films as actor include River's Edge), Academy Award winner Martin Landau (Ed Wood), two-time Tony Award winner Christopher Plummer (who returns to Broadway this spring, starring in Inherit the Wind), and John C. Reilly (Talladega Nights).

Scripted by Pamela Pettler, 9 is being produced by Tim Burton, Timur Bekmambetov, and Jim Lemley. Focus creative executive David Gerson is overseeing the project for president of production John Lyons. Focus is financing 9 and holds worldwide rights to the movie.

9 is a feature-length expansion of Mr. Acker's short film of the same name. The action-packed tale takes place in a world parallel to our own, in which the very legacy of humanity is threatened. A community of fully mobile rag dolls living a post-apocalyptic existence find one of their own, 9 (Mr. Wood), displaying leadership qualities that may help them to survive. The conflicted but resilient community includes 1 (Mr. Plummer), a domineering war veteran; 2 (Mr. Landau), an aged inventor; 5 (Mr. Reilly), a stalwart mechanic; 6 (Mr. Glover), a visionary and artist; and 7 (Ms. Connelly), a brave warrior.

Mr. Schamus said, "This exciting and thought-provoking story has already drawn a strong filmmaking team together to work with Shane in bringing his visionary fantasy world to life. These splendid actors will provide compelling characterizations to go with the visual brilliance."

Mr. Acker received dual Masters degrees from UCLA in Architecture and Animation. His 9 short won the Gold Medal at the Student Academy Awards as well as "Best in Show" honors at the 2005 SIGGRAPH Electronic Theater. At the 2005 (San Diego) Comic-Con, Mr. Acker won Best Animated Film (for the 9 short) and a Special Judges' Choice Award. He was an Academy Award nominee last year, as the 9 short was up for Best Animated Short Film.

Emile Hirsch ("Alpha dog," "The Girl Next Door") is in talks to star in "Speed Racer," the live-action version of the anime cartoon being directed by Larry and Andy Wachowski says The Hollywood Reporter.

Based on the classic 1960s series created by anime pioneer Tatsuo Yoshida that was retooled for North American audiences, "Speed Racer" follows the adventures of young race car driver Speed (Hirsch) in his quest for glory in his thundering gadget-laden vehicle, Mach 5.

The movie will feature other characters from the show, including Speed's family and his mysterious arch-rival, Racer X who has a mysterious connection to Speed.

Joel Silver is producing the film, which the Wachowskis are writing as well as directing. The plan is for the Wachowskis to shoot in Germany this summer for a May 9th 2008 release worldwide.