December 24, 2010
Cronenberg Delves into Cosmopolis - Director David Cronenberg (The Fly, A History of Violence) is set to adapt author Don DeLillo's novel Cosmopolis to the big screen, with Paul Giamatti, Colin Farrell and Marion Cotillard set to star. The story takes place almost entirely within a limousine caught in a traffic jam, where a billionaire finds himself the target of a complex swindle that sees him slowly lose his fortune.

December 3, 2010
Zemeckis Remakes Oz - Director Robert Zemeckis (Beowulf, Forrest Gump) is in talks to direct a live-action remake of the 1939 classic The Wizard of Oz for Warners, based on the original film script rather than the book from L. Frank Baum. This will be in direct competition with Disney's projected sequel Oz: The Great and Powerful that director Sam Raime (Spider-Man) is attached to direct. 

November 19, 2010
Spielberg Brings Forth the Robocalypse - Director Steven Spielberg s up for the sci-fi tale Robocalypse as his next film, once Tintin and War Horse are out of the way. Based on the as-yet-to-be-published novel by Daniel H. Wilson, the story revolves around mankind's struggle to survive an android uprising. Production is still far off, with a release date of 2013.

November 5, 2010
Cameron Jumps on Avatar Sequels - Despite rumors to being attached to a remake of Cleopatra with Angelina Jolie, uber- director James Cameron (Terminator 2, Titanic) has signed up for Avatar 2 and Avatar 3 to be his next movies. Each is meant to be self-contained while fulfilling a greater story arc in the world of Avatar. Don't hold your breath, though - the movies are expected to be released in Dec 2014 and Dec 2015, respectively.

October 22, 2010
Cameron on Cleopatra? - Rumors abound that "it" director James Cameron (Titanic, Avatar) is in discussions to helm a new bio-epic on Cleopatra, with none other than Angelina Jolie heading the cast. Currently, Oscar-winning writer Brian Helgeland (L.A. Confidential, Green Zone) is adapting Stacy Schiff’s book Cleopatra: A Life upon which the film will be based.

October 8, 2010
Snyder Flies to Superman - Director Snyder of 300 and Watchmen fame has been selected to take the reigns of the second Superman relaunch (after the lukewarm reception of Superman Returns), with Christopher Nolan (The Dark Knight) producing. The story, by scribe David Goyer (Batman Begins), will involve 1980's villain General Zod.

September 24, 2010
Pitt Soldiers Up for World War Z - Brad Pitt is attached to star in the film adaptation of Max Brooks' novel World War Z for director Mark Foster (Quantum of Solace). The story follows a journalist as he interviews subjects from around the world 10 years after a virus has turned much of Earth's population into zombies, as he explores how various nations and people faced the threat.

September 10, 2010
Johansson Weighing Cuaron's Gravity - Scarlett Johansson in in talks to star alongside Robert Downey Jr. in the sci-fi epic Gravity for director Alfonso Cuaron (Children of Men, Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban). The story is set during an orbital space mission where two astronauts are outside of their spaceship during an accident that threatens the rest of the crew.

Aug 27, 2010
Avengers Assembled! - The movie adaptation of the hero team-up comic The Avengers, insinuated in films like Iron Man and The Incredible Hulk, has finally reached critical mass. Writer / director Joss Whedon (Serenity) has taken the reigns of the film, accompanied by an incredible star cast including Robert Downey Jr. (Iron Man), Scarlett Johannson (Black Widow), Chris Evans (Captain America), Mark Ruffalo (Hulk), Samuel L. Jackson (Nick Fury) and Jeremy Renner (Hawkeye).  Now we just have to wait until Summer 2012...

Aug 13, 2010
Strong Cast Board Malick's Untitled Project - Ben Affleck, Rachel Weisz, Javier Bardem and Rachel McAdams are all set to star in maverick writer / director Terrence Malick's (The New World, The Thin Red Line) untitled next project, described only as a "powerful love story".

July 30, 2010
Craig in Fincher's Dragon Tattoo - Daniel Craig is set for the lead male role in the Hollywood remake of the Swedish adaptation of the international best-selling The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo, being helmed by acclaimed director David Fincher (Se7en, Fight Club). The film revolves around a journalist and a brilliant but anti-social young woman teaming up to solve the mystery behind the disappearance of a rich baron's niece some 30 years before. The role of the heroine is still under fierce competition. 

July 16, 2010
Strong Cast Make a Margin Call - First-time director J.C. Chandor hit the casting jackpot for his finance drama Margin Call, a film that follows the plight of eight people working at a New York investment bank over the course of one day as they try to hang on to their careers when the financial crisis hits the U.S. Kevin Spacey, Demi Moore, Stanley Tucci, Zachary Quinto, Paul Bettany, Carla Gugino and Jeremy Irons are all on-board to star.

July 2, 2010
Von Trier Attracting Talent with Melancholia - Kirsten Dunst, Kiefer Sutherland, Stellan Skarsgård, John Hurt, Charlotte Gainsbourg, Charlotte Rampling and Udo Kier are all set to star in controversial director Lars Von Trier's (Antichrist, Dogville) relatively low-budget sci-fi flick Melancholia. Dubbed a psychological disaster film, the story revolves around the world-wide panic that ensues when another planet enters the Earth's orbit, threatening to destroy civilization.

June 18, 2010
Raimi Takes on Oz - Director Sam Raimi (Evil Dead, Spider-Man) is rumored to have agreed to direct Disney's 3-D Oz: The Great and Powerful, a prequel to the classic The Wizard of Oz, with none other than Robert Downey Jr. being pursued to star as the Wizard. The story will not be based on any of Frank L. Baum's original novels and instead will give a "dark and complex" origin tale in which a circus-wrangler is is whisked to the land of Oz to eventually become the Wizard.

June 4, 2010
R.I.P. Dennis Hopper - Legendary veteran actor Dennis Hopper has died at the age of 74 following a battle with cancer. The actor first came to notice with a small role in Rebel Without a Cause and went on to memorable roles in such films as Easy Rider, Apocalypse Now, Blue Velvet and Speed.

May 21, 2010
McGregor Joins Gilliam's Don Quixote - Ewan McGregor and Robert Duvall are set to replace Johnny Depp and Jean Rochefort in director Terry Gilliam's (Brazil, 12 Monkeys) revival of his aborted passion project The Man Who Killed Don Quixote, a production that infamously fell apart during early shooting. The story revolves around an advertising executive who travels back to 17th century Spain and becomes caught up in the adventures of Don Quixote.

May 7, 2010
Anderson Shoots for Buck Rogers Remake - Director Paul W.S. Anderson (Resident Evil, Predator vs. Alien) is set to helm direct a new 3D adaptation of sci-fi hero Buck Rogers. Created in the 1920's and more recently made popular in a 1970's TV show, the story involves a present-day pilot who is whisked to the 25th century. Art Marcum and Matt Holloway (who made Iron Man into a hit) will pen the script.

April 30, 2010
Green Lantern Cast Takes Shape - Ryan Reynolds, Peter Sarsgaard, Tim Robbins and Angela Bassett are all signed up for the comic-book adaptation of DC Comic's Green Lantern for director Martin Campbell (The Mask of Zorro, Casino Royale). The story revolves around a fearless test pilot who is given a ring with incredible powers by a dying alien to protect Earth.

April 23, 2010
Smith and Jones Back in 3D Black - Will Smith and Tommy Lee Jones are set to return to their roles of chasing illegal, extra-terrestrial aliens in Men In Black 3 for director Barry Sonnenfeld. Though little is known of the story for this installment, the film is set to bow in theaters in May 2011 and will be given the full 3D treatment.

April 16, 2010
Bardem, Statham Looking Over Potzdamer - Javier Bardem, Jason Statham, Mickey Rourke and Gene Hackman are in talks to star in the action thriller Potzdamer Platz for director Tony Scott (Spy Game, Man on Fire). The story involves two soldiers from a New Jersey-based crime family who try to expand their sphere of influence to the international stage, in this case Puerto Rico.

April 9, 2010
Butler, Farrell and Fox Fighting for Consent - Gerard Butler, Colin Farrell and Matthew Fox are said to be the top candidates to take the leading role in Consent to Kill, based on the novel by Vince Flynn, one of a series which follows the adventures of an undercover CIA counter-terrorism agent. In the story, our hero must protect his family from assassins hired to seek revenge for the death of a Saudi billionaire's son. Director Antoine Fuqua (Training Day) is set to direct what the producers hope is another Bourne-type franchise.

Mar 26, 2010
A-list Cast Seeks Salvation - Pierce Brosnan, Ed Harris, Jennifer Connelly, Greg Kinnear and Marisa Tomei have all been rounded up for director George Ratliff's comedy thriller Salvation Boulevard. Based on the novel by Larry Beinhart, the story follows a born-again Christian who finds himself on the run from fundamentalist members of his mega-church who will do anything to protect their larger-than-life pastor.

Mar 5, 2010
Jackman Fights For Selma - Hugh Jackman is on board to star in the civil rights movement feature Selma for director Lee Daniels (Precious). The true story is based on the historic 1965 march in the Alabama town that marked the political and emotional peak of the civil rights movement.

Feb 5, 2010
Jackman Gets a Feel for Real Steel - Hugh Jackman has joined director Shawn Levy for the sci-fi sports drama Real Steel, based on a story by Richard Matheson (I Am Legend). Jackman portrays an ex-fighter who becomes a winning promoter for giant robot fights after uncovering an apparently unbeatable discarded robot, just as he bonds to his newly-discovered 13-year old son.

Jan 29, 2010
Gibson and DiCaprio Take on Vikings - Director Mel Gibson and star Leonardo DiCaprio are teaming-up to make a Viking movie in the same vein as Gibson's own Apocalypto and Braveheart, from a script by William Monahan (Kingdom of Heaven, The Departed). Though details are still unknown, with such a pedigree it's bound to be interesting...

Jan 15, 2010
Pearce and Cage After a Hungry Rabbit - Nicolas Cage and Guy Pearce have joined the cast of the action thriller The Hungry Rabbit Jumps for director Roger Donaldson (The Bank Job, The Recruit). Cage portrays a man who becomes involved with an underground vigilante organization after his wife becomes the victim of a brutal crime.

Jan 1, 2010
Gibson Takes a Vacation - Mel Gibson will star in How I Spent My Summer Vacation, based on his own screenplay. The story revolves around a career criminal who gets thrown into a hard-knock Mexican jail where he learns to survive thanks to the help of a 9-year-old boy. The film will be directed by Adrian Grunberg - Gibson's Assistant Director on Apocalypto.

Dec 18, 2009
Director Frears Takes The Dog - Director Stephen Frears (The Queen) is set to helm Lay the Favorite, Take the Dog, based on Beth Raymer's memoir. High Fidelity scribe D.V. DeVincentis is adapting The story centers on a group of fiftysomething math wizards who manage to break the sports book system in Las Vegas and the younger woman who becomes involved in their dealings. 

Nov 27, 2009
Grindhouse's Machete Gets Full Treatment - Writer / director Robert Rodriguez is now filming a full-feature spin-off of the "fake" trailer Machete he created for the homage to exploitation flicks, Grindhouse. Danny Trejo returns as a former Mexican police officer who turns the tables on the crooks who double-crossed him. A star cast including Robert De Niro, Jessica Alba, Cheech Marin, Michelle Rodriguez and Rose McGowan have also joined.

Nov 13, 2009
Fincher's Network Attracts Talent - Director David Fincher (Se7en, Panic Room) is set to helm The Social Network, with Jesse Eisenberg, Justin Timberlake and Andrew Garfield already cast. From a script by Aaron Sorkin (creator / writer of The West Wing), the story revolves around the founding of the web phenomenon Facebook and the falling out of its directors.

Oct 30, 2009
Proyas Takes on Tripods - Director Alex Proyas (Dark City, I, Robot) is in talks to produce and direct a new adaptation of the first chapter in John Christopher's classic British sci-fi novel trilogy The Tripods. The War of the Worlds - type story follows three teens fleeing from alien invaders bent on enslaving mankind. Two of the three novels were previously adapted in the 1980's BBC cult series.

Oct 16, 2009
Ridley Scott Takes on Red Riding - Director Ridley Scott (Gladiator, Blade Runner) is in talks to direct a US-based remake of the three-part U.K. miniseries Red Riding. Based on a four novel series by David Peace, itself based on the real life Yorkshire Ripper killings, it's a study of power and police corruption framed around the investigation of the disappearance of several young girls. Steve Zaillian, who also worked with Scott on American Gangster and Hannibal, is in talks to write the script.

Sept 25, 2009
Brody and Whitaker Join The Experiment - Adrien Brody, Forest Whitaker, Elijah Wood and Cam Gigandet are set to star in the remake of Oliver Hirschbiegel's German psychological thriller Das Experiment. Prison Break creator Paul Scheuring is directing from his screenplay. The story centers on a group of ordinary men recruited to take on the roles of guards and prisoners as part of a research study examining how the effects of assigned roles and power affect the participants, with some deadly consequences.

Sept 11, 2009
Smith and Theron Set for Hancock 2 - Will Smith, Charlize Theron and director Peter Berg are all said to return for the sequel to the superhero action / comedy Hancock. Despite poor critical reception, the movie made over $600M worldwide, so it was inevitable... The story involves a third immortal entering their lives, though the actor who may take the part is being kept a secret. No release date has been set.

Aug 14, 2009
Kidman Takes on Little Bee - Nicole Kidman has agreed to star and produce Little Bee, based on the Chris Cleave novel. The story revolves around a fateful encounter on an African beach in which a 16-year-old Nigerian orphan meets a British couple who have wandered into an area outside the safety of their vacation resort.

July 31, 2009
Le Carré's Soldier, Spy Back in Action - Following the international success of Let The Right One In, Swedish director Tomas Alfredson will be doing a new adaptation of John Le Carre's classic Cold War spy novel Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy from a script by Peter Morgan (Frost/Nixon, The Queen). The story involves a retired British intelligence officer who is asked to return to uncover a Russian mole in the agency. The novel was originally adapted to acclaim in the 1979 mini-series starring Alec Guinness.

July 24, 2009
Eastwood Ready With Mandela Film - Morgan Freeman plays Nelson Mandela in director Clint Eastwood's (Million Dollar Baby, Unforgiven) film Invictus. Based on John Carlin's novel Playing the Enemy, the film chronicles the end of Apartheid in South Africa and how Mandela used the 1995 Rugby World Cup to help heal the wounds of his nation. Matt Damon also stars a the captain of the country's rugby team. Release is set for Dec 11, 2009.

July 10, 2009
Washington Climbs Scott's Unstoppable - Denzel Washington is set to star in yet another film with director Tony Scott (The Taking of Pelham 1 2 3, Man on Fire), this time on the action-thriller Unstoppable. The story revolves around an experienced train engineer and a newbie conductor who find themselves in a race against time to stop an unmanned freight train carrying enough combustible liquids to wipe out a city.

June 19, 2009
Firth, Spacey Enter Orwell's Catalonia - Colin Firth and Kevin Spacey are attached to star in the adaptation of George Orwell's memoir Catalonia for director Hugh Hudson (Chariots of Fire). The book revolves around Orwell's travels to Barcelona with his wife to fight in the Spanish Civil War alongside the brigade's charismatic commander Georges Kopp.

June 5, 2009
Clooney Turns Gentleman Hitman - George Clooney is set to star in A Very Private Gentleman for director Anton Corbijn from a script by Rowan Joffe.  Based on the Martin Booth novel, the story revolves around an assassin hiding out in an idyllic Italian town whose friendships and romantic entanglements complicate his carrying out a final assignment.

May 29, 2009
Michael Moore's Next - Following Fahrenheit 9/11 and Sicko, Oscar-winner Michael Moore's new documentary feature will explore the root causes of the present global economic meltdown and take a comical look at the corporate and political shenanigans involved. The film is set for the one-year anniversary of the present crisis.

May 22, 2009
Ghostbusters 3 is Calling - Dan Aykroyd, Bill Murray, Harold Ramis, Ernie Hudson and Sigourney Weaver are all set to reprise their roles in the third installment of the '80's comedy Ghostbusters 3. Long in the making, the script involves a new generation of ghostbusters taking over the duties of the aging team. A new director is being pursued to replace original helmer Ivan Reitman.

April 24, 2009
Verbinski Goes Into Bioshock - After helming the first three chapters of the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise, director Gore Verbinski has decided to let someone else take the reigns for the upcoming fourth installment in the popular series starring Johnny Depp. Instead, he has his eye on an adaptation of the bestselling video game Bioshock, an atmospheric first person-shooter involving the exploration of the ruins of a retro-futuristic underwater city.

April 17, 2009
Neeson, Fiennes Join Titans Remake - Liam Neeson and Ralph Fiennes are in talks to play warring gods in director Louis Leterrier's (Transporter 2, The Incredible Hulk) remake of the 1980's Greek mythology stop-motion adventure flick Clash of the Titans. Neeson would play Zeus, the king of the gods while Fiennes would play a new addition to the film: Hades, ruler of the underworld who aims to overtake Zeus and rule over all.

March 20, 2009
Johansson and Rourke Join Iron Man 2 - The sequel to last summer's blockbuster hit Iron Man starring Robert Downey Jr. is already set for Summer 2010, and Scarlett Johansson and Mickey Rourke are on board to join as the film's villains as The Black Widow and The Crimson Dynamo, respectively. 

February 13, 2009
Watts Feeds The Birds - Actress Naomi Watts is set to star in the remake of Alfred Hitchcock's The Birds for director Marin Campbell (Casino Royale, The Mask of Zorro). The latest adaptation of Daphne du Maurier's short story would only bear a faint resemblance to the Hitchcock film, where a small village found itself attacked by thousands of vicious birds.

February 6, 2009
Jordan Enters Graveyard - Director Neil Jordan (The Crying Game, Interview with the Vampire) is set to helm the live-action film adaptation of best-selling fantasy author Neil Gaiman's award-winning The Graveyard Book. The story revolves around a young boy who is raised in a cemetery by ghosts.

January 30, 2009
Boorman Takes the Road to Oz - Director John Boorman (Deliverance, Excalibur) is attached to helm a computer animated adaptation of L. Frank Baum's tale The Wonderful Wizard of Oz. Written by Boorman and the team behind Robots, the story will retain the main characters and settings, but will not follow the musical approach of the live-action classic The Wizard of Oz.

January 23, 2009
McG Goes 20,000 Leagues - Director McG (Charlie's Angels) is set to helm 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea: Captain Nemo as his next project. Set up as a family film produced by Walt Disney Pictures, the story will take place before the events of the classic Jules Verne novel (and Disney live-action adaptation) to focus on the early days of the titular figure. Will Smith is rumored to be the director's choice for the lead role.

January 16, 2009
Oldman and Washington Read Eli - Gary Oldman and Denzel Washington have been signed for the post-apocalyptic action film Book of Eli, for directors Allen and Albert Hughes (Menace II Society, From Hell). The story revolves around a lone warrior (played by Washington) who fights his way across a devastated America in order to protect a book that may save mankind.

December 19, 2008
Branagh Tackles Thor - Writer / actor / director Kenneth Branagh (Hamlet, Dead Again) is set to helm the adaptation of the Marvel comic super-hero Thor, the immortal thunder god of Norse mythology who appears in our modern world. To quote Branagh: "It’s a chance to tell a big story on a big scale. It’s a human story right in the center of a big epic scenario.”

November 21, 2008
Stallone, Statham and Li Are Expendables - Action stars Jason Statham and Jet Li will team up again for The Expendables, only this time they'll be joined by none other than Sylvester Stallone (Rambo, Rocky Balboa) who will also direct from his own screenplay. The three play mercenaries, hired to do jobs than no one else will do, sent to overthrow a ruthless South American dictator.

November 14, 2008
Straczynski on Forbidden Remake - J. Michael Straczynski (the creator of the TV series Babylon 5 and writer of Changeling) will provide the script for a long gestating remake of the 1956 SF classic Forbidden Planet. A sci-fi spin on Shakespeare's The Tempest, the original story revolves around an expedition sent to check on a scientific colony only to find two surviving members who have found alien technology and have been battling an invisible monster.

October 31, 2008
Weir Goes Way Back - Director Peter Weir (The Truman Show, Master and Commander) is set to produce The Way Back, an adaptation of the true-life tale of soldiers captured by the Red Army in 1939 through their escape and journey across the harsh terrains of Siberia, the Gobi desert and even the Himalayas to find freedom.

October 24, 2008
Pitt Goes On Odyssey - Brad Pitt is in talks to star in an adaptation of Homer's epic poem The Odyssey for director George Miller (of Mad Max series fame). The twist would be that the tale would be presented as a science-fiction tale instead of the original's basis on ancient Greek mythology, where the hero Odysseus faces various challenges and creatures to return home following the Trojan War.

October 3, 2008
RIP Paul Newman - Legendary actor Paul Newman passed away after a long battle with cancer.  Famous for both his philanthropy off screen as much as his classic movie performances, he will forever live in such varied genres in films like The Sting, Slap-Shot, Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid and The Road to Perdition. 

September 19, 2008
Dafoe Agrees to be von Trier's Antichrist - Willem Dafoe and Charlotte Gainsbourg have joined writer / director Lars von Trier's  psychological thriller Antichrist. The two play a couple who retreat to an isolated cabin in the woods following the untimely death of their only child, with the film evolving from a thriller to a horror film through the course of the story.

September 12, 2008
Downey and Crowe Join for Holmes - Robert Downey Jr. and Russell Crowe are now reportedly attached to director Guy Ritchie's (Snatch, Revolver) take on the classic English detective, Sherlock Holmes. Downey would play Holmes while Crowe would play his long-standing assistant Dr. Watson.

September 5, 2008
Bloom Rush-es To Sarajevo - Orlando Bloom is confirmed to star in Fools Rush In for Brazilian director Andrucha Waddington. Based on the book by writer and filmmaker Bill Carter, it deals with Carter's experience as an aid worker in Sarajevo during the 1992-1995 siege by the Bosnian Serb forces.

August 22, 2008
Tarantino Adds More Bastards - Simon Pegg, David Krumholtz and Nastassja Kinski are in talks to join leading man Brad Pitt in maverick writer/director Quentin Tarantino's (Kill Bill, Pulp Fiction) WWII drama Inglorious Bastards. The story revolves around a rebel who leads a small band of Jewish American soldiers against Nazis in German-occupied France.

August 15, 2008
Jolie Gets Passed the Salt - Angelina Jolie is set to replace Tom Cruise as the lea in the espionage thriller Edwin A. Salt from writer Kurt Wimmer (Equilibrium) and director Philip Noyce (Clear and Present Danger, The Quiet American). The story follows a CIA officer who's accused by a defector of being a Russian sleeper spy and must elude capture long enough to establish her innocence.

August 1, 2008
Aronofsky Takes On Robocop - Director Darren Aronofsky (Requiem for a Dream, The Fountain) has been hired to helm a new chapter in the Robocop franchise, from a script by David Self (13 Days, Road to Perdition). Apart from the surprise pick of director, and a possible release date of 2010, nothing is known of the production.

July 18, 2008
A-List Cast Bows to New King Lear - Anthony Hopkins will star in director Joshua Michael Stern's big-budget adaptation of Shakespeare's King Lear, set for 2009. He is joined by Naomi Watts, Gwyneth Paltrow and Keira Knightley who will play his daughters, all of whom vie or control of the kingdom.

July 11, 2008
Leterrier Helms Titans Remake - Fresh off the success of The Incredible Hulk, French director Louis Leterrier is set to direct a remake of the 80's classic Clash of the Titans, with Lawrence Kasdan penning the script for the new adaptation of the tale of Perseus from Greek mythology.

June 27, 2008
Brosnan & Cage Haunt Ghost - Pierce Brosnan and Nicolas Cage have signed on to star in director Roman Polanski's (The Pianist, Chinatown) political thriller The Ghost, based on the Robert Harris novel. The story revolves around a ghostwriter, hired to complete the memoirs of a former British Prime Minister, who uncovers details about a scandal which threatens to put them both in jeopardy.

June 20, 2008
Burton and Depp Peek at Dark Shadows - Director Tim Burton (Batman, Sleepy Hollow) is rumored to be planning a feature adaptation of the popular 1960's British vampire series Dark Shadows, with none other than Johnny Depp to star. Even if true, production may be pushed out until 2010 at the earliest.

June 13, 2008
Gyllenhaal Becomes Prince of Persia - Jake Gyllenhaal is signed on to play the part of the titular sword-wielding hero in Disney's live-action adaptation of the videogame Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time, to be directed by Mike Newell (Four Weddings and a Funeral, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire). Alfred Molina and Ben Kingsley are also slated to star.

June 6, 2008
Jan DeBont Set for Point Break Sequel - Director Jan DeBont (Speed, Twister) is set to helm a sequel to Kathryn Bigelow's 1991 action thriller Point Break which starred Keanu Reeves and Patrick Swayze. The story picks up 20 years after as a new character, a military special ops and star surfer, gets recruited by a security force trying to stop a gang of criminals in Bali who are operating in similar fashion to the bank robbers that worked in Malibu years before. W. Peter Iliff, who wrote the first installment, will return to pen the sequel.

May 30, 2008
Tommy Lee Jones Takes on Stream - Tommy Lee Jones (The Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada) is set to co-write, direct and star in an adaptation of Ernest Hemingway's posthumously published Islands in the Stream. The story centers on the various life stages of a reclusive male painter who endures a series of family tragedies before, during and after World War II. Part of the novel was turned into the classic The Old Man and the Sea. Morgan Freeman and John Goodman are negotiating to join the cast.

May 16, 2008
Nicolas Cage is a Bad Lieutenant - Nicolas Cage is set to star in the remake of the 1992 cult classic The Bad Lieutenant for acclaimed German director Werner Herzog (Aguirre, Wrath of God, Rescue Dawn). The original followed a depraved, gambling and drug-addicted cop played by Harvey Keitel whose investigation of the rape of a nun forces him to confront his inner demons. Abel Ferrara directed the first film that garnered an NC-17 rating. The new version will play out on a backdrop of post-9/11 New York.

May 9, 2008
Johnnie To Eyeing Bloom to Enter His Circle - Acclaimed Hong Kong director Johnnie To (PTU) is eyeing Orlando Bloom and Chow Yun-Fat to star in his remake of the 1970 Alain Delon crime thriller Red Circle. The story revolves around an aristocratic thief who enlists the help of an escaped murderer and an ex-police sharpshooter in a jewel heist, while being pursued by the local police superintendent.

May 2, 2008
Shyamalan Sets up His Avatar - Filmmaker M. Night Shyamalan (Signs, The Sixth Sense) will helm the live-action adaptation of his own animated TV series Avatar: The Last Airbender. The story follows a young hero who, using his ability to manipulate the elements, fights to stop a ruthless nation from destroying its neighbors.

April 25, 2008
Pitt and Chastain Make Up Malick's Tree - Brad Pitt (replacing the late Heath Ledger) and Jessica Chastain have been cast in Terrence Malick's (The Thin Red Line, The New World) latest drama Tree of Life. The story revolves around the loss of innocence as seen through the eyes of the son of the characters portrayed by Pitt and Chastain. Sean Penn has also been cast in a supporting role.

April 18, 2008
Denzel Enters Ludlum's Matarese Circle - Following the success of The Bourne Identity series, another thriller from novelist Robert Ludlum - The Matarese Circle - is being pitched to studios, with Denzel Washington already attached to star. The story revolves around an American and a Russian secret agent who must work together to stop a cabal of mysterious killers.

April 11, 2008
R.I.P. Charlton Heston - Legendary actor Charlton Heston has passed away at the age of 84. His larger-than-life portrayals of the likes of Moses, El Cid, Michelangelo and Ben- Hur (for which he won an Oscar in 1959) made him a Hollywood icon of the 50's and 60's. Heston was later famous for leading the Screen Actors Guild, the American Film Institute and (infamously) the National Rifle Association

March 28, 2008
Mann Makes Public Enemies - Director Michael Mann (Heat, The Insider) is set to helm Public Enemies, an adaptation of Brian Burrough's book centering on the FBI's attempt to stop John Dillinger and his gang. The interesting cast is led by Christian Bale and Johnny Depp, with supporting roles from Giovanni Ribisi and Stephen Dorff, among others.

March 14, 2008
John Hurt Tests Jarmusch's Limits - John Hurt joins a star cast including Isaach De Bankole, Bill Murray, Tilda Swinton and Gael Garcia Bernal for Jim Jarmusch's latest film, tentatively titled Limits of Control. The story revolves around a loner whose activities remain meticulously outside the law, completing a job in Spain.

March 7, 2008
Branagh and Hoffman Hop On A Boat - Kenneth Branagh, Philip Seymour Hoffman and Bill Nighy are set to star in the romantic comedy The Boat That Rocked for writer / director Richard Curtis. The film recounts the true story of a British pirate radio station that operated from a boat in the North Sea when the BBC was only broadcasting two hours of pop music each week in the '60s.

February 29, 2008
The Return of Well's Lost Wind? - Director Peter Bogdanovich (The Last Picture Show) intends to complete legendary filmmaker Orson Welles' unfinished, supposedly most daring and experimental film, The Other Side of Wind. The film starred aging actor / director John Huston as (what else?) a director trying to get a film off the ground.

February 22, 2008
Carry and McGregor in Love - Ewan McGregor is set to play the romantic lead opposite Jim Carrey in the dark comedy I Love You Phillip Morris for writer / directors Glenn Ficarra and John Requa. The true-life story revolves around a married conman who falls in love with his cellmate, motivating him to escape from prison four times.

February 15, 2008
Owen and Roberts Share Duplicity - Clive Owen and Julia Roberts are set to play corporate spies who team up to pull off an elaborate con in Duplicity, the new film from writer / director Tony Gilroy (Michael Clayton). Tom Wilkinson and Billy Bob Thornton are in negotiations to play rival CEOs.

February 8, 2008
Toy Story to Return in 3D - With the expected release of the CGI-animated Toy Story 3 in state-of-the-art 3D during the summer of 2010, production studio Pixar will also be re-releasing the original Toy Story and Toy Story 2 using the same 3D process in Fall 2009 and Spring 2010, respectively.

January 25, 2008
Raimi Gets Dragged To Hell - After successfully helming the Spider-Man trilogy Genre director Sam Raimi is getting back to the horror genre with Drag Me to Hell, about an unwilling recipient of a supernatural curse. Let's hope it keeps things in the spirit of his cult classic Evil Dead films...

January 18, 2008
Burton Falls Into Alice - Director Tim Burton (Batman, Sleepy Hollow) is in talks to direct and produce a "faithful" adaptation of Lewis Carroll's original Alice in Wonderland stories. Featuring both live action and performance-capture animation, the film will stay true to the surreal imagery and bizarre adventures that has made it such a classic.

January 11, 2008
Jackson Takes on The Hobbit - After a long legal battle, filmmaker Peter Jackson (The Lord of the Rings, King Kong) will finally be able to adapt J.R.R. Tolkien's The Hobbit, acting as executive producer. The real news, however, is that the plan is to have a sequel filmed simultaneously, with both films to be released in 2010 and 2011, respectively.

January 4, 2008
Cage and Proyas are All-Knowing - Nicolas Cage is set to star in the thriller Knowing for director Alex Proyas (I, Robot, Dark City), The story revolves around a teacher who unearths a time capsule at his son's elementary school whose contents reveal a startling prediction that they are somehow involved in the world's destruction.

December 28, 2007
Singleton Joins A-Team - Director John Singleton (Boyz n the Hood, Shaft) is on board to helm the movie adaptation of the hit 80s TV show The A-Team, about a rogue team of ex-Vietnam veterans who helped the innocent while on the run for a crime they did not commit. The film is said to be more in the vein of Lethal Weapon than the show's more jocular tone.

December 21, 2007
Stallone Has Death Wish - Sylvester Stallone is up for directing and starring in a remake of the Charles Bronson 1974 movie vigilante classic Death Wish. The script, by the writers behind Terminator 3, follow the original story about an ordinary man who goes vigilante after his wife and daughter are attacked.

December 14, 2007
Willis Joins Mostow's Surrogates - Bruce Willis is set to star in the sci-fi thriller The Surrogates for director Jonathan Mostow (U-571, Terminator 3). The story is set in future where isolated humans live vicariously through surrogate robots, as a cop tries to solve a series of murders involving these same surrogates.

December 7, 2007
Watts and Hanks Take on Angels & Demons - Naomi Watts is set to star opposite Tom Hanks in the prequel to The Da Vinci Code, Angels & Demons, for director Ron Howard (A Beautiful Mind, Apollo 13). Story revolves around a desperate search around the Vatican for clues to stop a plot by an ancient group, the Illuminati, to blow up the Vatican during a papal conclave. The film is set for a May 2009 release.

November 30, 2007
Bale Enters Terminator 4 - Actor Christian Bale (Batman Begins) is rumored to have signed on to play the part of an older John Connor in Terminator 4: The Future Begins. Director McG (Charlie's Angels) is set to helm what is hoped to be a trilogy of features revolving around the war between human rebels and machines run by Skynet.

November 23, 2007
Portman Takes on Brothers - Natalie Portman, Tobey Maguire and Jake Gyllenhaal have all signed on to star in director Jim Sheridan's love-triangle drama Brothers. Based on a 2004 Danish-language film, the story centers on a man sent to fight in Afghanistan while his black-sheep brother cares for his wife and child.

November 16, 2007
Langella and Cameron Open The Box - Cameron Diaz and Frank Langella are set to star in the horror film The Box for writer / director Richard Kelly (Donnie Darko, Southland Tales). Based on Richard Matheson short story Button, Button, it's the tale of a stranger who presents a mysterious box to a woman.

November 9, 2007
Eastwood Coming Up Human - Director Clint Eastwood (Unforgiven, Letters from Iwo Jima) is in talks to helm The Human Factor. Based on a book by John Carlin, it's a drama about the 1995 Rugby World Cup and how it helped heal post-apartheid race relations in South Africa. Morgan Freeman has signed on to portray Nelson Mandela while Matt Damon could play the team captain.

November 2, 2007
Mann & DeNiro Are A Machine - Director Michael Mann (Heat) is developing Frankie Machine as a star vehicle for Robert De Niro. An adaptation of Don Winslow's novel, it tells the story of a mob hitman who has retired but gets involved in a Mafia dispute and is forced into old habits when he realizes he's been set up.

October 26, 2007
Willis & Stone Enter Pinkville - Bruce Willis and Woody Harrelson are joining director Oliver Stone (Platoon, Wall Street) for the Vietnam War drama Pinkville, a mystery drama based on the infamous 1968 My Lai Massacre, in which upward of 500 people, for the most part women and children, were killed by U.S. soldiers.

October 19, 2007
Frank Miller Captures The Spirit - Eva Mendes, Scarlett Johansson and Samuel L. Jackson are all on board the adaptation of the classic 1940's Will Eisner comic The Spirit to be adapted and directed by Frank Miller (best known for the graphic novels Sin City and 300).

October 12, 2007
Sommers Leading G.I. Joe - Director Stephen Sommers (The Mummy, Van Helsing) is set to helm a live-action G.I. Joe movie based on the successful line of Hasbro toys. An extension of the animated series and comics, the film involves a high-tech military force doing battle with the evil organization Cobra.

October 5, 2007
Reeves Comes to Earth - Keanu Reeves has signed on to star in the remake of the 1950's classic The Day the Earth Stood Still for director Scott Derrickson (The Exorcism of Emily Rose). Reeves will play the humanoid alien who arrives on Earth accompanied by an indestructible robot guard with a warning to the world's leaders to stop their continued aggression or be annihilated.

September 28, 2007
Cruz, Bardem Stepping in Nine - Penélope Cruz, Javier Bardem and Catherine Zeta-Jones are in talks to star in a movie version of the musical Nine for director Rob Marshall (Chicago). The story revolves around director Guido Contini who finds himself juggling the different women in his life, including his mistress and his wife.

September 21, 2007
Miller Takes on Justice League - Director George Miller (The Road Warrior, Happy Feet) is in talks for the live-action adaptation of the DC Comics superhero team adventures of The Justice League of America. The heroes would include the likes of Superman, Wonder Woman, Batman, Aquaman, the Flash and Green Lantern, though all roles will be recast with lesser-known actors. A Summer 2009 release is planned.

September 7, 2007
Emmerich Goes On Voyage - Director Roland Emmerich (Independence Day, The Day After Tomorrow) is preparing a remake of the 1966 SF flick Fantastic Voyage. Based on a story by Isaac Asimov, it recounts the adventures of five scientists miniaturized and injected into the bloodstream of a dying colleague.

August 31, 2007
Berg Takes on Lone Survivor - Writer / director Peter Berg (Friday Night Lights, Kingdom) is set to adapt the true life account of US soldier Marcus Lettrel based on the book Lone Survivor. The story revolves around a SEAL operation to hunt an Al-Qaeda leader in Afghanistan that goes horribly wrong. 

August 24, 2007
Kidman and Fiennes On The Reader - Nicole Kidman and Ralph Fiennes are set to star in the romantic drama The Reader from the international best-selling novel by Bernhard Schlink. Story revolves around a 15 year-old who has a long-standing affair with an older woman until she disappears one day, only to be revealed as a defendant in a Nazi war crimes trial.

August 17, 2007
Watts and Owen Going International - Naomi Watts and Clive Owen have signed on to star in the action thriller The International for German director Tom Tykwer (Run, Lola, Run, The Princess and the Warrior). Story revolves around an Interpol agent and a Manhattan attorney trying to bring down a powerful banking institution with ties to arms dealing whose methods go to corruption and murder.

August 10, 2007
Hood To Direct Wolverine - In a surprise announcement, non-genre director Gavin Hood (Tsotsi, Rendition) is reportedly set to direct Hugh Jackman in the X-Men spin-off Wolverine. The story will flesh-out the origins of the popular mutant hero, an origin that was glimpsed only in flashback previously. Production is set for Fall 2007.

August 3, 2007
Director Bergman Passes Away - Swedish film director Ingmar Bergman has passed away. He was 89. Best known for such award-winning films as The Seventh Seal, Wild Strawberries and Fanny and Alexander, Bergman made more than 50 films during his esteemed career and was widely hailed a master of modern cinema.

July 27, 2007
Pearce and Cheadle Go After Traitor - Guy Pearce and Don Cheadle are in talks to star in the espionage thriller Traitor for writer / director Jeffrey Nachmanoff. Based on a story by Steve Martin, it pits an FBI agent investigating a terrorist group and a CIA operative working undercover in that terrorist cell who might just have turned to the other side.

July 20, 2007
Eastwood and Jolie Ready for Changeling - Director Clint Eastwood is set to direct Angelina Jolie in Changeling, from a script by Babylon 5 creator J. Michael Straczynski. The story, based on true events that occurred in 1920s Los Angeles, revolves around a woman who suspects the child the LAPD returns after an abduction is not her own.

July 13, 2007
Carrey Goes Scrooge - Jim Carrey is in line to star as Scrooge as well as the ghosts of Christmas Past, Present and Future in writer /  director Robert Zemeckis' (Cast Away, Contact) adaptation of Dicken's A Christmas Carol. The film's style is expected to be a mix of live action and computer animation.

July 6, 2007
Miller and Owen Do Business - Frank Miller, the comic-book creator of such hits films as Sin City and 300, is set to adapt  the Raymond Chandler novella Trouble Is My Business as a star vehicle for Clive Owen. Owen would play hard-drinking private eye Philip Marlowe as he tries to crack the case in 1940s Los Angeles.

June 29, 2007
Ritchie Doing RocknRolla - Gerard Butler, Tom Wilkinson, Thandie Newton are starring in writer / director Guy Ritchie's (Snatch) latest crime caper RocknRolla. The story involves a crooked land deal set up by a Russian mobster that captures the attention of London's underworld, with a varied set of criminals trying to grab a piece of the pie.

June 22, 2007
Van Sant Drink's Wolfe's Kool-Aid - Acclaimed author Tom Wolfe and filmmaker Gus Van Sant (Good Will Hunting, Gerry) are teaming up for an adaptation of Wolfe's 1967 hallucinogenic novel The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test. The story follows author Ken Kesey's 1964 cross-country bus trip with friends during which they took vast amounts of LSD.

June 15, 2007
Craig and Zeick set for Defiance - Daniel Craig is set to star in director Ed Zwick's (Glory, The Last Samurai) World War II drama Defiance. The true story relates the tale of four brothers who escape Nazi occupied Poland to join forces with the Russian Resistance.

June 8, 2007
Incredible Follow-Up to The Hulk - A revamping of Ang Lee's The Hulk entitled The Incredible Hulk is set to be directed by Louis Leterrier (The Transporter 2) starring Ed Norton as the monster's mild-mannered alter-ego Bruce Banner on the run from authorities and Liv Tyler as his paramour Betty Ross who gets swept back into his life.

June 1, 2007
Mamet Earns Redbelt - David Mamet (Spanish Prisoner, Spartan) will direct the actioner Redbelt from his own screenplay. The film is set in a martial arts fight underworld, when a Jiu-Jitsu master (Chiwetel Ejiofor) is who has forsaken prizefighting is forced to enter the ring again to regain his honor.

May 25, 2007
Jordan Opens King's Box - Director Neil Jordan (Crying Game, Interview with the Vampire) is set to helm an adaptation of Joe Hill's (son of Stephen King) horror novel Heart-Shaped Box. The story centers on a occult-obsessed rock star who comes in possession of a suit haunted by its former owner forcing him to face the demons of his own past.

May 18, 2007
Wachowskis Set for Invasion - Word has it that famed co-directors the Wachowski brothers (The Matrix) have taken over the re-shooting of the latest remake of Invasion of the Body Snatchers from Downfall helmer Oliver Hirschbiegel. Seems his version didn't make the cut for the "mainstream". The Invasion stars Nicole Kidman and Daniel Craig.

May 11, 2007
Spielberg Goes Interstellar - Director Steven Spielberg is attached to the space adventure Interstellar, a drama following two astronauts who travel through a worm hole into another universe. Jonah Nolan (who co-wrote The Prestige) will do the script.

May 4, 2007
Singer and Cruise On the Trail of Hitler - Director Bryan Singer (The Usual Suspects, X-Men) is set to helm an as-yet untitled World War II thriller about an attempt to assassinate Adolf Hitler at the height of the war. Tom Cruise will help produce and is in talks to star.

April 27, 2007
Winslet & DiCaprio On Road Trip - Titanic co-stars Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet are re-teaming on Revolutionary Road for director Sam Mendes (Jarhead, Road to Perdition). Based on the novel by Richard Yates, the film relates the post-war disillusionment of a seemingly happy suburban couple in the mid-1950s and the terrible consequences that follows.

April 20, 2007
Star Cast Joins for Treasure Sequel - Helen Mirren and Ed Harris have joined Nicolas Cage, Jon Voght and Harvey Keitel on the sequel to National Treasure entitled The Book of Secrets. The globe-spanning story revolves Cage's historical-treasure hunter who must clear the name of his ancestor implicated in the assassination of Abraham Lincoln by finding missing pages from the diary of assassin John Wilkes Booth.

April 13, 2007
Aronofsky to Take on Fighter - Director Darren Aronofsky (Requiem for a Dream, The Fountain) is in talks to helm the boxing drama The Fighter, with Mark Wahlberg and Matt Damon set to star. The story follows the true life story of boxer "Irish" Mickey Ward and his trainer brother, chronicling their early days on the rough streets of Lowell, Massachusetts.

April 6, 2007
Koepp Follows his Ghost - Ricky Gervais and Greg Kinnear set to star in the romantic comedy Ghost Town from writer / director David Koepp (scribe on Spider-Man and War of the Worlds). The story follows a dentist who, after returning from a breif period where he had died, gains the ability to see the dead who ask him for help in contacting the living. 

March 30, 2007
Butler Lands in Escape Remake - New leading man Gerard Butler (300) is set to take over the role of Snake Plissken from Kurt Russell in the remake of John Carpenter's '80s cult classic Escape From New York with scribe Ken Nolan (Black Hawk Down) attached. Story revolves around a convict who's sent into a future New York-turned-penitentiary to rescue the president.

March 23, 2007
Alba, Posey Look Into The Eye - Jessica Alba and Parker Posey have been cast in the American remake of the Asian thriller The Eye to be directed by French helmers David Moreau and Xavier Palud. The story revolves around a woman who sees disturbing images after receiving a cornea transplant and goes on a quest to find the donor's origin.

March 16, 2007
Murphy Directs Hitchcock - Ryan Murphy (TV's Nip/Tuck, Running with Scissors) is set to direct Alfred Hitchcock Presents, a film about the difficulties the legendary director went through to make his classic suspense-thriller Psycho. Anthony Hopkins is rumored to be starring as Hitchcock with Helen Mirren co-starring.

March 9, 2007
Hanks and Moore In For a Lick - Director Barry Levinson (Rain Man) is negotiating to direct Boone's Lick, an adaptation of Larry McMurtry's 19th century American West novel about a family's difficult journey from Missouri to Wyoming so that the matriarch can tell her elusive husband she's leaving him. Tom Hanks and Julianne Moore are attached to star.

March 2, 2007
Oscars 2006 - The Oscars for 2006 have come and gone, with The Departed being the big winner, taking the awards for Best Picture and Best Director for Martin Scorcese. Helen Mirren was a shoo-in for Best Actress in The Queen, and Forrest Whitacker took the Best Actor prize for The Last King of Scotland. Best Animated Feature went to Happy Feet, while The Lives Of Others won Best Foreign Film. 

February 23, 2007
Carnahan Swims In Bunny Lake - Director Joe Carnahan (Narc) is in talks to direct a remake of the 1965 Otto Preminger thriller Bunny Lake is Missing, in which a woman reports that her daughter is missing yet police can find no evidence that she ever existed. Reese Witherspoon is being eyed to star. 

February 16, 2007
Polanski Takes Over Pompeii - Director Roman Polanski (Rosemary's Baby, The Pianist) is set to helm the $130 million historic thriller Pompeii, based on the bestseller by novelist Robert Harris. Set against the days preceding the eruption of Mt. Vesuvius which swallowed the ancient Roman city, the story follows an engineer who has to repair an enormous aqueduct whose destruction threatens the Roman Empire.

February 9, 2007
Willis & Jackson Reach Transit - Bruce Willis and Samuel L. Jackson are re-teaming for the film version of Carsten Stroud novel Black Water Transit, about the lives of criminals, cops and lawyers that collide over a shipment of illegal firearms and a double homicide. The film will mark the feature debut of director Samuel Bayer.

February 2, 2007
Kaufman Takes on Synecdoche - Screenwriter Charlie Kaufman (Adaptation, Being John Malkovich is set to direct his own script Synecdoche, New York about a theater director who decides to put on a play in a gigantic warehouse complete with a recreation of the city for its stage. Philip Seymour Hoffman is in talks for the lead, with Catherine Keener, Samantha Morton and Tilda Swinton set to join.

January 26, 2007
Jackman Turns Amateur - Hugh Jackman will star in and produce a modern action adaptation of Robert Littell's Cold War spy novel The Amateur, with 24 producer Evan Katz writing the script. The story will revolve around a CIA cryptographer who forces his bosses to train him to exact revenge on the terrorists that killed his fiancée. The novel was previously brought to the screen in 1981 with John Savage and Christopher Plummer.

January 19, 2007
Law and Caine take on Sleuth - Jude Law and Michael Caine are on board for the remake of the 1972 cat-and-mouse drama Sleuth directed by Kenneth Branagh (Dead Again, Hamlet). Based on a play by Anthony Shaffer, the story centers on an older writer and a younger actor who spend a weekend trying to outwit each other at a manor after the writer learns the actor has been having an affair with his wife.

January 12, 2007
Clooney Joins DeNiro On 36 - George Clooney is in talks to star with Robert De Niro in director Marc Forster's (Monster's Ball) thriller 36. A remake of the French film 36 Quai des Orfevres, it tells the story of two detectives trying to solve a series of armored car robberies, with a promotion going to the one who breaks the case.

January 5, 2007
Don Cheadle is Miles Davis - Actor Don Cheadle is set to star in and direct a biopic of jazz trumpet legend Miles Davis. Suitably titled Miles Davis, the film follows his life, his failings (he was a frequent drug user) and how he shaped the world's idea of jazz.

December 29, 2006
Kentis Takes on Indianapolis - Chris Kentis (Open Water) is set to adapt and direct the film Indianapolis based on Douglas Stanton's book In Harm's Way. The true WW2 tale surrounds the survivors of the U.S.S. Indianapolis who, after being sunk by the Japanese, floated for five days in shark-infested waters leaving only a third of them alive.

December 22, 2006
Anderson Rides the Trans-Siberian - Woody Harrelson, Samantha Morton and Ben Kingsley are set to star in the crime-thriller Trans-Siberian for director Brad Anderson (The Machinist). The film revolves around the deceptions and murder that happen when two American couples meet during a train trip from China to Russia.

December 15, 2006
Scorsese Enters The Last Duel - Director Martin Scorsese (The Aviator, Taxi Driver) is eyeing adapting Eric Jager's book The Last Duel: A True Story of Crime, Scandal and Trial by Combat in Medieval France, about the last government-sanctioned duel that occurred in 14th century France under a young Charles IV.

December 8, 2006
McAdams & Frears Travel In Time - Rachel McAdams is attached to star for director Stephen Frears (The Queen) in the adaptation of Audrey Niffenegger's book The Time Traveler's Wife. Loosely based on The Odyssey, the story centers on a man with the ability to time-travel that allows him to appear to his true love at different points in her life.

December 1, 2006
Weir Splashes with Shadow Divers - Director Peter Weir (The Truman Show, Master and Commander) and scripter Bill Broyes (Apollo 13) are attached to the true-life story Shadow Divers. The film is based on the non-fiction book of the same title about two deep sea divers who found a sunken U-boat 60 miles off the New Jersey coast.

November 24, 2006
Carpenter's The Thing Remade - Director John Carpenter's 1981 masterpiece The Thing is being revamped by writer Ronald D. Moore (of the new Battlestar Galactica TV series fame) for a new generation of movie-goers. The original story (itself a remake of a 1950's film) told the tale of an Antarctic research team that stumbles upon the remains of a shape-shifting alien.

November 17, 2006
Actor Jack Palance Dies at 87 - Jack Palance, the character actor who rose to popularity for his villainous roles in dozens of films like Sudden Fear and Shane, and won a supporting actor Oscar for his comedy role in City Slickers, has passed away at the age of 87.

November 10, 2006
Del Toro's Madness For Mountains - Director Guillermo Del Toro (Hellboy, Pan's Labyrinth) is considering adapting HP Lovecraft's classic horror tale At the Mountains of Madness, a story that follows an expedition to the Antarctic that comes upon evidence that a strange alien race created life on Earth and were destroyed by their own slaves.

November 3, 2006
Zombie Prepares Halloween Remake - Writer / director Rob Zombie (House of 1000 Corpses, The Devil's Rejects) has been chosen to revamp the long-running Halloween franchise. Zombie aims to return to the roots of John Carpenter's 1978 cult classic, focusing on a remake of the story and origin of killer Myers who massacred his parents and relentlessly pursues his sister.

October 27, 2006
Fincher Takes on a Curious Case - Brad Pitt, Cate Blanchett and Julia Ormond have agreed to star in The Curious Case Of Benjamin Button for director David Fincher (Seven, Panic Room). The story revolves around a woman's tale of her love affair with Button, a man who ages backwards.

October 20, 2006
Jolie and Wallace Tackle Atlas - Writer-director Randall Wallace (We Were Soldiers) will adapt Ayn Rand's classic novel Atlas Shrugged as a starring vehicle for Angelina Jolie. The story follows a railroad executive's attempt to keep her company alive despite the disappearance of some of the great minds of the world and the ensuing decline of civilization.

October 13, 2006
Zombie Prepares Halloween Remake - Writer / director Rob Zombie (House of 1000 Corpses, The Devil's Rejects) has been chosen to revamp the long-running Halloween franchise. Zombie aims to return to the roots of John Carpenter's 1978 cult classic, focusing on a remake of the story and origin of killer Myers who massacred his parents and relentlessly pursues his sister.

October 6, 2006
28 Days Turns to 28 Weeks - 28 Weeks Later, a sequel to director Danny Boyle's zombie flick 28 Days Later, returns to the future England plagued by a deadly virus. This time around, a carrier threatens to reignite the spread of the infection after order has returned to London. Jeremy Renner will star, and director Juan Carlos Fresnadillo (Intacto) is set to direct.

September 29, 2006
Anderson Brews Darjeeling Limited - Qirky writer / director Anderson (The Life Aquatic, The Royal Tanenbaums) is set for The Darjeeling Limited. The film stars Owen Wilson, Adrien Brody and Jason Schwartzman as three brothers on a spiritual journey through India after the death of their father.

September 22, 2006
Ratner Adopts Boys From Brazil - Director Brett Ratner (Red Dragon, Rush Hour) will direct a modern-day remake of the 1978 thriller The Boys From Brazil, based on the novel by Ira Levin. The original story saw a Nazi hunter uncovering a plot in South America to revive the Third Reich by cloning copies of Adolf Hitler.

September 15, 2006
McGregor and Jackman are Tourists - Ewan McGregor and Hugh Jackman are set to star in Swiss director Marcel Langenegger's The Tourist. The story revolves around an accountant who befriends a charismatic lawyer who introduces him to a mysterious sex club and soon becomes the suspect in a possible murder and a massive theft.

September 8, 2006
Carrey and Cameron Join Without Consequence - After The Mask, Jim Carrey and Cameron Diaz will team up again in the dramedy A Little Game Without Consequence for director Gabriele Muccino. Based on a play, the story revolves around a happily married couple who, as a joke on family and friends, pretend to separate but soon get feedback they didn't expect.

September 1, 2006
Nolan Releases The Prisoner - Christopher Nolan (Batman Begins, Memento) is in talks to direct a contemporary feature version of the cult classic 60's TV series The Prisoner. The original story followed a government agent who is kidnapped and placed on an isolated island known as the Village in the hopes he will crack and reveal his motives for resigning his post.

August 25, 2006
Hartnett Set for 30 Days of Night - Josh Hartnett is set to star in the film adaptation of the horror comic-book 30 Days of Night for director David Slade (Hard Candy). Set in Alaska where the sun can stay hidden up to 30 days, it follows the sheriff of a small town who must help his constituents survive an evil force until daylight.

August 18, 2006
Nicholson and Freeman Kick The Bucket - Jack Nicholson and Morgan Freeman are committed to star in The Bucket List for director Rob Reiner (When Harry Met Sally, A Few Good Men). Story revolves around a wish list that two terminally ill men try to fulfill before each kicks the bucket, ending up in an adventure when they decide to break out of a cancer ward.

August 11, 2006
Ang Lee Feels Lust, Caution - Actors Tony Leung and Tang Wei will be in director Ang Lee (Brokeback Mountain) WW2 espionnage thriller Lust, Caution based on a short story by the late Chinese author Eileen Chang. The tale follows a protagonist who tries to seduce and assassinate a Chinese spy working for the Japanese government.

August 4, 2006
Jolie Joins Kung Fu Panda - Angelina Jolie has signed on to voice a role in the computer-animated comedy Kung Fu Panda, joining Jack Black, Dustin Hoffman, Jackie Chan and Lucy Liu. The tale revolves around a lowly waiter who, prophesied to stop powerful enemies, is trained by five martial-arts masters to become the title character.

July 28, 2006
Parker & Charlize On the Bottom - Charlize Theron has persuaded director Alan Parker (The Commitments, Evita) to helm The Ice at the Bottom of the World. Theron will star in and produce the ensemble family drama about a grizzled Navy captain who retires to his home in Chesapeake Bay only to find his daughter has become a heroin addict and a single mother.

July 21, 2006
Depp Tackles Legend - Johnny Depp will join headliner Will Smith on the latest adaptation of Richard Matheson's classic post-apocalyptic tale I Am Legend for director Francis Lawrence (Constantine). Set in LA after a biological war, story revolves around a lone survivor who must battle against nocturnal mutants.

July 14, 2006
Ledger and Weisz Get in the Dirt - Director Phillip Noyce (Clear and Present Danger, The Quiet American) is set to adapt Tim Winton's best-selling Australian novel Dirt Music with Heath Ledger and Rachel Weisz attached to star. The story follows an illegal fisherman who, after losing his family in a freak accident, meets a woman who inspires him to grass-roots music.

July 7, 2006
Crowe Looks for Tenderness - Russell Crowe and Laura Dern are set to star in the adaptation of Robert Cormier's novel Tenderness for Aussie director John Polson (Swimfan, Hide and Seek). The story revolves around a cop who tries to unravel the past of a violent teen who may have killed his own family.

June 30, 2006
Star Cast in a Vantage Point - Sigourney Weaver is joining Dennis Quaid, Matthew Fox, William Hurt and Forest Whitaker for the thriller Vantage Point for TV-director Pete Travis. The film will chronicle an assassination attempt on the U.S. president as seen from five different points of view, each unfolding in 15-minute increments. 

June 23, 2006
Sean Bean Is The Hitcher - Actor Sean Bean is set to play the title role in the remake of the 1986 horror film The Hitcher for music video director Dave Meyers. The story follows a young couple driving across the country who become prey for a serial killer who blames all of his murders on the young man.

June 16, 2006
Wiseman Set For Die Hard 4.0 - Director Len Wiseman (Underworld) is tentatively set to take on the fourth Die Hard, which will once again feature star Bruce Willis. This time around, reluctant cop John McClane is forced out of retirement to battle an Internet terrorist organization bent on bringing America to its knees.

June 9, 2006
Ridley Takes to The Killing Sea - Director Ridley Scott (Gladiator, Blade Runner) is looking to adapt The Killing Sea, based on Richard Lewis' upcoming novel. The story revolves around an Indonesian boy and an American girl brought together in the aftermath of the 2004 tsunami.

June 2, 2006
Wong Kar Wai Goes for Blueberry - Director Wong Kar-Wai (In the Mood For Love, 2046) has chosen the romantic comedy My Blueberry Nights as his first English-language film. The impressive cast includes Jude Law, Natalie Portman and Rachel Weisz, with singer Norah Jones as a young woman traveling across America searching for the true meaning of Love.

May 26, 2006
Pixar Brews Ratatouille - Director Brad Bird (The Iron Giant, The Incredibles) will next take on the computer-animated mouse tale Ratatouille for Pixar's Studios for a Summer 2007 release. The story involves a skinny rodent who fancies himself a gourmand and lives in a Parisian restaurant.

May 19, 2006
Haggis Tackles All Enemies - Director Paul Haggis (Crash) is set to direct and produce the political drama Against All Enemies, based on Richard A. Clarke's best-selling inside account into how the Bush administration handled the al-Qaeda threat before and after 9/11.

May 12, 2006
Dallas Casting Heats Up - Director Robert Luketic adaptation of the popular '80s prime-time soap Dallas, a series centered on a Texas oil millionaire's dysfunctional family, is seeing lots of attention in the casting department, with Jennifer Lopez, Luke Wilson, and Shirley MacLaine set for roles as members of the Ewings clan, while the role of J.R. has been offered to John Travolta.

May 5, 2006
Ludlum's Protocol is Next - Venezuelan director Jonathan Jakubowicz (Secuestro Express) has been hired to write and helm an adaptation one of Robert Ludlum's last thrillers, The Sigma Protocol. Story centers on an economist, on the run from assassins, who joins an intelligence agent to uncover a conspiracy manipulating the global economy and world events.

April 28, 2006
Starbucks Saves Tom Hanks' Life - Director Gus Van Sant (Good Will Hunting) is in talks to direct Tom Hanks in a film entitled How Starbucks Saved My Life. The story revolves around an aging ad executive who, after being laid off, learns about life and love from a young manager while serving coffee at Starbucks to help pay his bills.

April 14, 2006
Jordan Tackles The Brave One - Jodie Foster and Terrence Howard are set to star in director Neil Jordan's (The Crying Game, Interview with the Vampire) revenge thriller The Brave One. Foster will play a woman out for justice and revenge after recovering from a brutal attack.

April 7, 2006
Roth Thrown Into Cell - Young horror director Eli Roth (Hostel) is set to adapt best-selling horror writer Stephen King's novel Cell to the screen. The story revolves around a pulse sent out through cell phones around the world that turns every phone user into a crazed, murderous zombie.

March 31, 2006
Diesel to take on Babylon A.D. - Vin Diesel is set to star in the futuristic thriller Babylon A.D. for French director Mathieu Kassovitz (Crimson Rivers, Gothika). Based on the French SF novel Babylon Babies, an ex- Special Forces veteran and his team hired by the Siberian mafia to transport a genetically altered woman from Kazakhstan to Montreal.

March 24, 2006
Blanchett in Golden Age - Actress Cate Blanchett and director Shekar Kapur are set to reteam for The Golden Age, a follow-up to their successful period piece Elizabeth. The new film will focus on the relationship between Queen Elizabeth I and Sir Walter Raleigh.

March 17, 2006
Cronenberg Makes Promises - Director David Cronenberg (Scanners, A History of Violence) is now attached to direct Eastern Promises a thriller that digs into the seamy underside of London life. Story focuses on a young midwife drawn into investigating the identity of a mysterious Russian girl who dies in childbirth on Christmas Eve.

March 10, 2006
Oscars 2005 - In a surprising upset, the ensemble movie Crash beat up favorite Brokeback Mountain to win Best Picture, though Ang Lee did win for Best Director. Philip Seymour Hoffman won Best Actor for Capote, and Reese Whiterspoon won Best Actress for Walk the Line. Best Supporting winners were George Clooney (Syriana) and Rachel Weisz (The Constant Gardener).

March 3, 2006
Bardem Gets Cholera - Oscar-nominated actor Javier Bardem will star in an adaptation of Nobel Prize-winning author Gabriel Garcia Marquez' novel Love in the Time of Cholera, to be directed by Mike Newell (Four Weddings and a Funeral, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire). The story revolves around a love triangle in South America in the early 1900's that spans over five decades.

February 24, 2006
The Dark Crystal Shines Again - Acclaimed TV cartoon director Genndy Tartakovsky (Samurai Jack, Star Wars: Clone Wars) is directing The Power of the Dark Crystal, a sequel to the puppet cult classic The Dark Crystal. The story revolves around a girl who wants to use the Crystal's power to re-ignite the dying sun. This time around, new and improved puppets will interact with computer- generated backgrounds.

February 17, 2006
Coen's to Take on Old Men - The Coen Brothers (Fargo, O Brother Where Art Thou) are set to adapt Cormac McCarthy's novel No Country for Old Men starring Javier Bardem and Tommy Lee Jones. The story is set in 1980's Texas, following a Vietnam vet who wanders into the aftermath of a drug deal and ends up with a pair of killers on his tail.

February 10, 2006
Statham and Li Go Rogue - Action stars Jason Statham and Jet Li will co-star in Rogue, a film being helmed by first-timer Pilip Atwell with Hong Kong expert Corey Yuen directing the action sequences. The story revolves a cop who becomes obsessed in tracking down the vicious killer who murdered his partner and his family.

February 3, 2006
Anderson Drowns in Blood - Paul Thomas Anderson (Boogie Nights, Magnolia) will direct the epic period piece There Will Be Blood based on his own script on the underbelly of the oil business in the American West of the early 20th-century. Daniel Day-Lewis is set to play the oil baron who hits it big, realizes the American dream, and ends up being consumed by greed.

January 27, 2006
Hanks and Roberts Enter Wilson's War - Mike Nichols (Closer, Primary Colors ) is in talks to direct Tom Hanks and Julia Roberts in Charlie Wilson's War, from a book adaptation by "The West Wing" creator Aaron Sorkin. The story revolves around two covert operatives who manipulated the government to assist in arming the Afghanistan rebels against the Soviets in the 1980s.

January 20, 2006
Li is Fearless in Last Martial Flick - Going back to their Hong Kong roots, director Ronny Yu (Bride with White Hair and Freddy vs Jason) has teamed with martial star Jet Li and Michelle Yeoh for the film Fearless which recounts the story of the founder of the Jin Wu Sports Federation. Yuen Woo Ping (The Matrix) is set to do the extensive tournament fight choreography. Li is saying this is his last martial arts flick.

January 13, 2006
Raimi to Go Wee Free - Director Sam Raimi (Evil Dead 2, Spider-Man) is set to adaptat Terry Pratchett's book The Wee Free Men, about a 9 year old girl who embarks - with the help of a race of rowdy 6-inch tall, blue-faced people - on a rescue mission to find her brother kidnapped into the land of faerie. The studio is hoping to develop further Disc World novels into live-action films.

January 6, 2006
Moore Prescribing Sicko - Following his boffo documentary Fahrenheit 9/11, documentary guerilla-filmmaker Michael Moore now has his sights on the pharmaceutical industry with Sicko, a critical look at the American healthcare industry. Rumor has it that the film uses footage gathered using hidden cameras in doctors' offices and clinics to expose corruption within the industry.

December 30, 2005
Believe It or Not!, Burton and Carrey Team up - Director Tim Burton (Batman, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory) and Jim Carrey are in early negotiations to team for Believe It or Not! The story will be loosely based on the exploits of Robert Ripley, a larger-than-life personality in the '30s and '40s, well-known for going around the world looking for oddities and getting into adventures while doing so.

December 23, 2005
Jackson Gets Halo - Director Peter Jackson and Fran Walsh (the Oscar-winning team behind The Lord of the Rings) have been named executive producers of the big-screen adaptation of the popular sci-fi video game Halo. Guillermo Del Toro (Hellboy) is in talks to direct. The story is set in a far future where well-armed human soldiers battle an alien race.

December 16, 2005
Soderbergh Takes On Che's Guerilla - Director Steven Soderbergh (Traffic, Ocean's Eleven) is set to shoot Guerilla, a biopic about Cuban revolutionary Che Guevara starring Benjamin Bratt. Guevara, Cuban dictator Fidel Castro's chief lieutenant, was executed in Bolivia in 1967 but became a world-wide symbol of revolution.

December 9, 2005
Depp and Weir take on Shantaram - Director Peter Weir (Master and Commander, Witness) has tagged Johnny Depp to star in an adaptation of Gregory David Roberts' novel Shantaram, from a script by Eric Roth (The Insider). The story revolves around a heroin addict who flees to India to becomes a doctor in the slums of Bombay, leading him into a world of smuggling and gunrunning.

December 2, 2005
Return to the Black Lagoon - Breck Eisner (Sahara) is on board to direct the remake of the classic Universal monster movie The Creature from the Black Lagoon from a script by Gary Ross, the son of the original 1954 version's writer. The tale follows a yacht-full of people who are terrified by an underwater humanoid creature.

November 25, 2005
Kidman a Headhunter - Nicole Kidman has signed up for the comedy Headhunters, an adaptation of the Jules Bass book by Jez Butterworth who also wrote Birthday Girl for Kidman. The story revolves around four Jersey women pretending to be rich heiresses in order to find wealthy suitors who run into a four guys in Monte Carlo pulling a similar scam.

November 11, 2005
Branagh Plays The Flute - Kenneth Branagh (Dead Again, Hamlet) is ready to direct an adaptation of Mozart's opera The Magic Flute, to be shot in English instead of the original's German. Updating the setting to World War I, the story surrounds a young soldier who is transported to a world of dreams to rescue the daughter of the Queen of the Night.

November 4, 2005
Jeunet Tackles the Life of Pi - Jean-Pierre Jeunet (Amélie, Alien Resurrection) is set to take over directorial duties from M. Night Shyamalan (The Sixth Sense, Signs) to adapt the award-winning Yann Martel novel Life of Pi. The story revolves around a young teen who finds himself the sole human survivor of a shipwreck, drifting at sea, sharing a lifeboat with a hungry Bengal tiger. 

October 28, 2005
Renee and Ewan Do Potter - Chris Noonan (Babe) is set to direct Renee Zellweger and Ewan McGregor in the biopic Miss Potter. The film explores the life of author Beatrix Potter, the creator of the classic The Tale of Peter Rabbit series, and her struggle for independence in Victorian England. The film is said to mix live-action with some animated sequences.

October 21, 2005
New James Bond Actor Chosen - After months of speculation, British actor Daniel Craig has been officially unveiled as the next 007 incarnation. The actor of such films as Road to Perdition and Layer Cake will take on the role for the adaptation of Ian Fleming's first Bond adventure Casino Royale to be directed by Martin Campbell (Goldeneye).

October 14, 2005
Jackman and Bale Are After The Prestige - Hugh Jackman and Christian Bale are in negotiations to star in director Christopher Nolan's (Memento, Batman Begins) thriller The Prestige. Set in 1878, the film follows the rivalry between two stage magicians whose battle against each other for trade secrets leads them to murder.

October 7, 2005
Norton and Farrell Fall to Pride - Ed Norton, Colin Farrell and Noah Emmerich are all in negotiations to star in the police drama Pride and Glory for director Gavin O'Connor (Miracle). The story revolves around a detective assigned to investigate the precinct run by his brother, which might include a dirty cop. The script was written by O'Connor and Joe Carnahan (Narc).

September 30, 2005
Coppola Takes on Youth - Acclaimed director Francis Ford Coppola (The Godfather, Apocalypse Now) is set to return to the chair with the low-budget adaptation of Youth Without Youth, based on a Romanian novella. The story revolves around a fugitive professor pursued through many countries during the dark years before WW2. Tim Roth and Bruno Ganz are set to star.

September 23, 2005
Director Robert Wise, R.I.P. - Legendary director Robert Wise passed away last week, leaving behind one of the most popular and well-loved films from Hollywood from the SF classic The Day the Earth Stood Still, to the musicals The Sound of Music and the Oscar winner West Side Story.

September 9, 2005
Clooney and Coens Hail, Caesar! - George Clooney has confirmed his re-teaming with the directorial team of the Brothers Coen (Fargo) on the film Hail, Caesar!. Set in the 1920's, this final entry in their "idiots trilogy" started with O Brother, Where Art Thou? sees a group of amateurs trying to stage the titular play.

September 2, 2005
Diesel Becomes Hitman - Trying to regain some of his action star status, Vin Diesel is set to star in (and produce) a film adaptation of the video game series Hitman centering on an international assassin known only as Agent 47 who works for a mysterious organization called the Agency.

August 26, 2005
Greengrass to Pilot Flight 93 - Director Paul Greengrass (The Bourne Supremacy) is set to helm the true story of Flight 93, the hijacked plane that on 9/11 crashed in an empty field thanks to the heroics of the passengers. The political-minded filmmaker is set to use improv and some experimental techniques to give the film a gritty, realistic feel.

August 19, 2005
Snyder on Miller's 300 - Following the success of Sin City, it's up to Frank Miller's Greek epic 300 to be given the comic-to-screen treatment, with director Zach Snyder (Dawn of the Dead) and actor Gerard Butler already signed on. The story relates the true tale of 300 Spartan soldiers who fought against the massive Persian Army in the 5th century BC.

August 12, 2005
Stiller Looks into the Mirror - Comic Ben Stiller is set to star in a comedy called Mirror, starring as - himself. The script follows Stiller who finds out that his mirror image is passing itself as the real star, and that everyone prefers his alter-ego to him. Angelina Jolie is set to co-star.

August 5, 2005
Kidman Takes on Invasion - Nicole Kidman has signed on to star in the film Invasion for German director Oliver Hirschbiegel (Das Experiment, Downfall), the third direct remake of the 1950's classic Invasion of the Body Snatchers. The story centers on Kidman who uncovers a conspiracy in a small town where the inhabitants' personalities seem to be changing.

July 29, 2005
Mel Gibson Goes Apocalypto - Following his directorial successes Braveheart and The Passion of the Christ, Mel Gibson is taking the reigns of Apocalypto from his own script. Set in an ancient South American civilization and filmed completely in the Mayan dialect, the story is expected to depict abundant action and violence. The film has started production for a release in Summer 2006.

July 22, 2005
Mostow Adopts Swiss Family - Director Jonathan Mostow (U-571, Terminator 3) is set to take a stab at a new adaptation of the classic tale of the Swiss Family Robinson. The story revolves around a 19th-century family's attempts at survival on an uncharted island after being shipwrecked in the South Pacific. The film is set to shoot in Australia in 2006.

July 15, 2005
De Palma Set for The Untouchables Sequel - Director Brian De Palma (Carrie, Scarface) is set to return to the set of his biggest hit, the 1987 film The Untouchables with a prequel entitled The Untouchables: Capone Rising. The new film focuses on a young Al Capone's rise to Chicago crime boss and his clash with a Irish cop Johnny Malone, a character seen in the original film.

July 8, 2005
Return to The Poseidon Adventure - Director Wolfgang Peterson (Das Boot, The Perfect Storm) is set to remake the cult-classic 1972 disaster film The Poseidon Adventure. The original story followed the trapped survivors of a capsized cruise ship trying to make their way out. Kurt Russell, Richard Dreyfuss and Mike Vogel are already on board as part of the ensemble cast.

July 1, 2005
Moore Tackles Cuaron's Children - Julianne Moore is in negotiations to star opposite Clive Owen in adaptation of P.D. James' sci fi adventure novel The Children of Men for director Alfonso Cuaron (Harry Potter & The Prisoner of Azkaban). The story is set in a future where mankind can no longer procreate, and a protector is assigned to the last remaining pregnant woman.

June 24, 2005
Boyle Turns Towards Sunshine - Director Danny Boyle is re-teaming with screenwriter Alex Garland (following The Beach and 28 Days Later) on Sunshine, a sci-fi thriller set to star Michelle Yeoh, Cillian Murphy and Chris Evans. The story revolves around a team of astronauts sent to retrieve a previous space mission that has disappeared close to the Sun.

June 17, 2005
Ratner Takes on X-Men 3 - With the postponement of Rush Hour 3, director Brett Ratner (Rush Hour, Red Dragon) has been chosen to replace departing director Matthew Vaughn on X-Men 3, set to start shooting this summer. The original cast is on board for another go, to be joined by Kelsey Grammer, Vinnie Jones and Maggie Grace as new mutant characters.

June 10, 2005
Nicole Kidman in Washington - Nicole Kidman will return in the third and final act of writer / director Lars Von Trier's American trilogy, Washington, following her original turn in the first chapter of the series, Dogville. Kidman will share the role in this third installment with Bryce Dallas Howard who took over the role in the second part, Manderlay.

June 3, 2005
The Italian Job Turns Brazilian - Director Twohy (Pitch Black) is going back to his writing roots with the script for The Brazilian Job, a sequel to the popular 2003 remake The Italian Job. F. Gary Gray, who directed the original, is set to return at the helm, as are most of the cast members.

May 27, 2005
Depp Takes on Rum Diary - Bruce Robinson (Whitnail & I, The Killing Fields) will adapt and direct gonzo journalist Hunter S. Thompson's first novel, The Rum Diary, an account of his journalism, drinking and carousing in Puerto Rico in the late 1950s. Johnny Depp will reprise the role of Thompson which he portrayed in Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas.

May 20, 2005
Lynch Take on Inland Empire - Director David Lynch (Blue Velvet, Mulholland Drive) is keeping his latest film, Inland Empire, a secret. All that has come out is that it's "about a woman in trouble, and it's a mystery". Stars Laura Dern, Justin Theroux, Harry Dean Stanton and Jeremy Irons have now been filming on and off for the past two years.

May 13, 2005
Damon Takes on Polo - Scribe William Monahan (Kingdom of Heaven) is set to write the historical epic Marco Polo as a starring vehicle for Matt Damon. Based on Polo's autobiography Travels, the story revolves around the legendary 13th century explorer who journeyed the Far East for 24 years, venturing farther than any Westerner and creating a bridge between two cultures. 

May 6, 2005
Lee's Next Joint is Inside - Denzel Washington's next film will be Inside Man with Spike Lee, their fourth teaming after Mo' Better Blues, Malcolm X and He Got Game. He will be joined by Jodie Foster and Clive Owen. The story centers on a tough cop trying to stop a bank robbery by a cunning thief.

April 29, 2005
Fincher Charts Zodiac - After his masterful serial killer thriller Se7en, director David Fincher (Fight Club, Panic Room) is set to return to the genre with Zodiac. Based on the book by Robert Graysmith, the story centers on the men who hunted an infamous serial killer who terrorized San Francisco for 25 years. Robert Downey Jr and Mark Ruffalo are set to star.

April 22, 2005
Strangers Remake - First-time director Noam Murro has signed on to Strangers, a remake of Alfred Hitchcock's 1951 classic suspense Strangers on a Train. The new story revolves around a psychiatrist who jokes about having his wife killed to a fellow traveller in exchange for murdering the man's sister, only to find his wife murdered a few days later.

April 15, 2005
Reeves and Bullock Find Il Mare - Speed co-stars Keanu Reeves and Sandra Bullock are set to reunite in the peculiar love story Il Mare for director Alejandro Agresti. The story, based on the Korean film of the same name, is the story of two people who fall in love through letters they deposit in a mysterious mailbox.

April 8, 2005
Shyamalan Meets Lady - Director M. Night Shyamalan (The Sixth Sense, Signs) is getting set for his next fantasy thriller, Lady in the Water. Another "personal movie with a big idea", it tells the story of an apartment building superintendent who finds a rare type of sea nymph swimming in the apartment pool. Shooting is set for August for release Summer 2006.

April 1, 2005
Willis Walks for 16 Blocks - Bruce Willis is set to star in 16 Blocks for director Richard Donner (Lethal Weapon, Superman). The story revolves around an aging cop who escorts a witness to a nearby courthouse and the adventure that takes place during their walk.

March 25, 2005
Whedon Tackles Wonder Woman - Writer / director Joss Whedon (best known for the hit TV series Buffy the Vampire Killer) has signed on to take the reigns of the long-in-development comic-book adaptation of Wonder Woman. Stars from Sandra Bullock to Hillary Swank have been rumored for years to be attached to the production.

March 18, 2005
Reeves Sails for Sinbad - Keanu Reeves will play the latest incarnation of the classic Arabian Night hero in The 8th Voyage of Sinbad for director Rob Cohen (XXX, The Fast and the Furious). Set in 8th-century China, Sinbad and his shipmates embark on a quest to find the Lamp of Aladdin, battling fantastic creatures and facing a general with supernatural powers.

March 11, 2005
Kiefer Is The Sentinel - Kiefer Sutherland is set to lead The Sentinel, an adaptation of the novel by former Secret Service agent Gerald Petievich being helmed by Clark Johnson (S.W.A.T.). The story revolves around a Secret Service agent enmeshed in an furtive affair with the first lady who becomes a suspect when another agent is murdered.

March 4, 2005
Jolie Joins Good Shepherd - Angelina Jolie will star opposite Matt Damon in The Good Shepherd for director Robert De Niro from a screenplay by Eric Roth. The story follows the CIA's history as seen through the eyes of a career agent whose marriage is destroyed by the stress and difficulties of the job.

February 25, 2005
Zemeckis Tackles Beowulf - Director Robert Zemeckis (Forrest Gump, Contact) is attached to a feature adaptation of the heroic tale Beowulf, perhaps the oldest written English language myth. The screenplay will be written by Roger Avary (The Rules of Attraction) and popular graphic novelist Neil Gaiman ("Sandman").

February 18, 2005
Minghella Set for Breaking & Entering - Anthony Minghella (The English Patient, The Talented Mr. Ripley) is set to helm Breaking and Entering based on his own script. Based in London, with a theme of criminal and emotional theft, the ensemble drama follows denizens from a variety of ethnic and class backgrounds whose lives intersect in King's Cross.

February 11, 2005
Campbell Returns to Bond - Director Martin Campbell (Legend of Zorro) is set to have another go with the James Bond franchise following Goldeneye which introduced Pierce Brosnan as 007. The next entry, entitled Casino Royale, will introduce a new actor in the secret agent role. Though rumors are flying, no one has been officially named yet.

February 4, 2005
Altman Walks in the Prairie - Stars Meryl Streep, Lily Tomlin, Michelle Pfeiffer and Kevin Kline have all agreed to participate in director Robert Altman's (The Player, Gosford Park ) film A Prairie Home Companion, based on the broadcast stories by popular radio personality and novelist Garrison Keillor who also wrote the screenplay.

January 29, 2005
Cameron Takes On Battle Angel - Writer / director James Cameron (Titanic, Terminator 2) is set for the big screen adaptation of Yukito Kishiro's manga Battle Angel Alita. The film, set in the far future about a young female cyborg who has lost her memory, will be a combination of live action and CG. The hitch: the movie needs theatres to convert to full digital projection.

January 22, 2005
Condon Tackles Dreamgirls - Following his script adaptation for Chicago, Bill Condon (Kinsey) is set to write and direct the movie version of the Broadway musical Dreamgirls. Based on the rise of Diana Ross and the Supremes, the story revolves around a trio of young black female singers who strive who strive for success in the early '60s.

January 15, 2005
Stone Goes on Instinct Again - Despite everyone's better judgment, Sharon Stone is set to reprise her role as a seductive sociopath in Basic Instinct 2: Risk Addiction for director Michael Caton-Jones. The sequel sees a criminal psychiatrist entangled in her web during her stay in London.

January 8, 2005
Portman Set for Vendetta - Natalie Portman is almost set to star in the feature adaptation of the Alan Moore graphic novel V for Vendetta being produced by the Wachowski brothers (The Matrix trilogy). Set in an alternate history where Britain has become a fascist state, the story follows a mysterious freedom fighter and his young recruit.

January 1, 2005
Besson Gets Animated - Writer / director Luc Besson (La Femme Nikita, The Fifth Element) is adapting his own series of children's books for a big-screen adaptation mixing 3D animation with live actors. The voice cast already tagged includes music thespians Madonna, David Bowie and Snoop Dog.

December 25, 2004
Darabont Finally Captures Mist - Writer / director Frank Darabont (The Shawshank Redemption) is set to adapt the Stephen King short story The Mist as his next project. The story revolves around a group of strangers trapped inside a supermarket as a monstrous fog envelops the town. Darabont has stated he wants to give the film a "gritty, low-budget indie approach".

December 18, 2004
De Palma Helms The Black Dahlia - Brian De Palma (The Untouchables) is set to direct the film noir adaptation The Black Dahlia based on the best-selling novel by crime novelist James Ellroy about two hard-nosed cops investigating a true crime that shocked 1940's LA. Hilary Swank will play the femme fatale, joining Josh Hartnett and Scarlett Johansson.

December 11, 2004
Philip K. Dick's Next Adaptation - Director Lee Tamahori (Once Were Warriors, Die Another Day) is on board for Next, a sci-fi thriller starring Julianne Moore and Nicolas Cage. Based on a story by Philip K. Dick, Moore would play a federal agent who's in pursuit of a Cage, a man who has the ability to see his own future.

December 4, 2004
Stars Attached to King's Men Remake - Anthony Hopkins and James Gandolfini are joining the remake of the social drama All the King's Men, based on the life of the late, popular Louisiana Governor Huey Long. Sean Penn is set in the role of the Gov with Jude Law, Kate Winslet and Mark Ruffalo also starring. Steven Zaillian (A Civil Action ) is set to direct from his own adaptation of the original novel.

November 27, 2004
New Harry Potter Director for No. 5 - Award-winning UK TV director David Yates has been chosen to lead the adaptation of the fifth Harry Potter book, The Order of the Phoenix for a Summer 2007 release. Yates follows in the footsteps of Mike Newell (Four Weddings and a Funeral) who will be directing the next chapter in the franchise, Goblet of Fire.

November 20, 2004
Evil Dead to Rise Again - Following a slew of popular horror movie remakes, news is in that the low-budget cult classic Evil Dead is set for the same territory. Original director Sam Raimi (Darkman, Spider-Man) will be producing with actor Bruce Campbell set to reprise his career-making role as Ash.

November 13, 2004
Egoyan Finds Where The Truth Lies - Director Atom Egoyan (Exotica, Ararat) is set adapt the Rupert Holmes novel Where the Truth Lies about a journalist who tries to uncover the secret behind a murder that broke up a famed comedy duo. Colin Firth, Kevin Bacon and Alison Lohman are set to star.

October 30, 2004
Paltrow Plays Dietrich - Gwyneth Paltrow is set to produce and star in the film about German screen siren Marlene Dietrich, adapted from the memoir by Dietrich's daughter, Maria Riva. Dietrich, who came to Hollywood in the 1930's, made such classic films such as The Blue Angel and became the highest-paid actress in the pre-war era.

October 23, 2004
Kidman and Wong on Lady - Actress Nicole Kidman is set to work on The Lady From Shanghai for writer / director (and auteur) Wong Kar Wai (Chungking Express, In the Mood for Love). Rumors have it that fan-favorite Takeshi Kitano might have a role as the villain of the piece. The story details are unknown, but it will be set in 1930's Shanghai.

October 16, 2004
Christopher Reeves R.I.P. - Actor Christopher Reeves died this past weekend at the age of 52. Though he played many roles over his career in movies ranging from Deathtrap to Somewhere in Time, he'll always be remembered for his portrayal of Superman in the 70's and 80's. Reeves also became known as a spokesman for spinal chord injury when he became paralyzed after a horse riding accident in 1995.

October 9, 2004
The Passing of Janet Leigh - Actress Janet Leigh has passed away this weekend at the age of 77. Though she is most remembered for the terrifying shower scene in Alfred Hitchcock's Psycho, she had an impressive career with roles in such films as Touch of Evil and The Manchurian Candidate, among others.

October 2, 2004
Bana and Hanson Set for Lucky You - Eric Bana is joining director Curtis Hanson (L.A. Confidential, 8 Mile) for the drama Lucky You about the world of high-stakes poker. Scripter Eric Roth (who won an Oscar for Forrest Gump) is penning the screenplay.

Sep 18, 2004
Singer on New Superman - In a surprising and welcome turn, X-Men and X-Men United director Bryan Singer is teaming up with his writers from X2 to do the long-in-development return of Superman to the big screen. Despite years worth of work on the project, the trio will be starting from scratch and will find a new actor to play the role.

Sep 11, 2004
Scott On Domino - Director Tony Scott (Man on Fire, Spy Game) is set to adapt Richard Kelly's novel Domino about the real-life exploits of a woman who leaves a career as a model to become a bounty hunter. Keira Knightley is set to star.

Sep 4, 2004
Cast Set for Capote Biopic - Writer / director Doug McGrath (Emma, Nicholas Nickelby) has an interesting roster for his biopic of writer Truman Capote, Every Word is True. The cast includes Gwyneth Paltrow, Mark Wahlberg, Sandra Bullock and Sigourney Weaver. The film is set for production in 2005.

Aug 28, 2004
Cast for Geisha Announced - Director Rob Marshall (Chicago) is taking over the reigns from Steven Spielberg on the adaptation the the best-seller Memoirs of a Geisha featuring a who's who of Asian stars: Ken Watanabe, Zhang Ziyi, Koji Yakusho, Gong Li and Michelle Yeoh. The story centers on a young Japanese girl's trials and tribulations to attain her dream of becoming a sought-after Geisha.

Aug 21, 2004
Lee Looking for Watchman - Director Spike Lee (Do the Right Thing, Malcolm X) is looking to direct the crime thriller The Night Watchman, based on an original screenplay by popular novelist James Ellroy (who scripted L.A. Confidential). The story, set in LA in the 90's, revolves around a cop who must redeem himself after uncovering corruption in the force.

Aug 14, 2004
Reiner Updating The Graduate - Director Rob Reiner (When Harry Met Sally, A Few Good Men) has taken the reigns of the re-imagining of the comedy classic The Graduate with Kevin Costner and Shirley MacLaine starring. The story revolves around a young woman who returns home to uncover that her family might have been the inspiration for the original film.

Aug 7, 2004
Del Toro and Washington see Blu - Benicio Del Toro and Denzel Washington are set to star in the Tru Blu for director Antoine Fuqua (Training Day). Based on a true story, the film details how a cop brought down the biggest drug kingpin in Harlem in the 1970s. Shooting starts this fall.

July 31, 2004
Foster Has Flight Plan - Peter Sarsgaard is in talks to star opposite Jodie Foster in director Robert Schwentke's film Flight Plan. The story follows the in-air plight of a woman whose daughter mysteriously disappears while on board a passenger jet. Described as a Hitchcockian thriller, production is scheduled for the Fall. 

July 24, 2004
Carter Takes on Investigation - Writer / creator Chris Carter (of the TV show X-Files) is set to direct the thriller A Philosophical Investigation based on the novel by Philip Kerr. The story is set in a future where genetic testing allows the government to tag potentially violent individuals. But when a sociopath gets hold of the secret list and decides to kill those on it, a f emale inspector sets out to stop him.

July 17, 2004
Eastwood and Spielberg Raise Flags - Actor / director Clint Eastwood (Mystic River) is working on a tale of World War II, Flags of Our Fathers with Steven Spielberg producing. The story revolves around the heroism of a Navy corpsman, whose experiences and heroism in the Battle of Iwo Jima were only discovered by his family after his death.

July 10, 2004
R.I.P. Marlon Brando - Marlon Brando, a true legend of Hollywood stars, has passed away at the age of 80. He will be remembered for such classic roles in movies like On the Waterfront, A Streetcar Named Desire, and Apocalypse Now as well as his most popular Oscar-winning turn as Don Corleone in The Godfather.

July 3, 2004
Connolly on Brideshead Revisisted - Director David Yates is set to helm an adaptation of Evelyn Waugh's romantic novel Brideshead Revisited starring Paul Bettany and Jennifer Connolly. The story is set in the 1920s and '30s, and revolves around an aspiring painter who gets mixed up with the brother and sister of a doomed, aristocratic family.

June 26, 2004
Mortensen Plays A History of Violence - Viggo Mortensen is set to star in A History of Violence directed by director David Cronenberg (Dead Ringers, Spider). The story revolves around a small town businessman who thwarts a robbery and comes to the attention of criminals who take him to be a former traitorous colleague.

June 19, 2004
Singer Updates Logan's Run - Writer / director Bryan Singer (The Usual Suspects, X-Men) is ready to shoot a modern remake of the novel Logan's Run, a first adaptation which was made into a 1976 cult classic. The story involves a future society where people are killed once they reach the age of 21, but one of these enforcers decides to run for his life as his own day approaches.

June 12, 2004
Malick Takes on The New World - Writer / director Terrence Malick (The Thin Red Line) is preparing his own version of the historical-romance tale Pocahontas entitled The New World. Actors Colin Farrell and Christopher Plummer already signed on.

June 5, 2004
Wenders Set to Go Knocking - Wim Wenders (Paris, Texas) will next direct Don't Come Knocking based on a script by actor Sam Shepard. Shepard will also star as an aging cowboy star who rides off the set in mid-shoot on a voyage of self-discovery. Co-stars are said to include Jean Reno, Jessica Lange and Gabriel Mann.

May 29, 2004
Cannes 2004 Winners Announced - The Cannes Film Festival has ended, and the Palme d'Or surprise winner is Michael Moore's documentary Fahrenheit 9/11. The Grand Prix went to Park Chan-wook's thriller Old Boy, while Maggie Cheung won for Best Actress in Olivier Assayas' Clean.

May 22, 2004
Gilliam Takes on Tideland - Director Terry Gilliam (12 Monkeys, Brazil) will start shooting Tideland in Canada later this year. Adapted from a novel by Mitch Cullin, it's about a girl in rural Texas who escapes from the grim reality of her life into a world of fantasy accompanied by four disembodied dolls' heads. Said heads are said to be voiced by well-known actors.

May 15, 2004
Linklater Animates Darkly - Writer / director Richard Linklater (Tape) is adapting Philip K. Dick's dark comedy A Scanner Darkly about a future world where drugs are rampant and an addicted cop with a split personality must arrest himself. Much as he did in Waking Life, the live footage shot with Winona Ryder, Robert Downey Jr. and Woody Harrelson will be turned into animation.

May 8, 2004
Hanks Enters The Risk Pool - Tom Hanks joins writer / director Lawrence Kasdan's (Silverado, Grand Canyon) adaptation of the Richard Russo novel The Risk Pool. Hanks will play a charming petty thief and gambler who one day is suddenly charged with raising his son after his estranged wife collapses from a nervous breakdown, and introduces the boy to his shady world.

May 1, 2004
Kingsley Joins Polanski's Oliver Twist - Ben Kingsley has joined Roman Polanski's (The Pianist, Chinatown) adaptation of Oliver Twist based on the classic 1838 novel by Charles Dickens. Kingsley is set to play the role of Fagin, the old leader of a London pick-pocket ring of children who takes in the orphaned young Oliver. The elaborate production is being shot in Prague for a Christmas 2005 release.

April 24, 2004
Rodriguez Eyes A Princess of Mars - Now that computer effects have come of age, director and jack-of-all-trades Robert Rodriguez (Spy Kids, Desperado) is planning to realize the fantasy / SF story A Princess of Mars, based on the classic Edgard Rice Burroughs (Tarzan) series about the adventures of an Earthman who wakes up one day on a strange planet filled with exotic locales and creatures.

April 17, 2004
Stars Galore on Sin City - The noir comic thriller adaptation Sin City's cast seems to be a main attraction on its own: stars already attached include Johnny Depp, Bruce Willis, Leonardo DiCaprio, Josh Hartnett, Benecio Del Toro, Kate Bosworth, Michael Douglas, Steve Buscemi, Brittany Murphy, Mickey Rourke, Christopher Walken and Elijah Wood. Wow!

April 10, 2004
Rodriguez Takes on Sin City - Jack-of-all-trades Robert Rodriguez (Spy Kids, Desperado) is set to direct an adaptation of Frank Miller's gritty comic series universe Sin City, a noir graphic novel about a tough-as-nails enforcer who gets in over his head in a city where crime is a way of life. Miller is said to co-direct as well.

April 3, 2004
Spielberg Aims for War of the Worlds - Director Steven Spielberg and Tom Cruise are set to reprise SF together with an adaptation of the classic H.G. Wells' 1898 alien-invasion novel The War of the Worlds. David Koepp (Jurassic Park) will do the script involving giant war machines from Mars devastating Earth's armed forces. The novel had already been brought to the screen in 1953.

March 27, 2004
Bowman To Take On Elektra - Director Rob Bowman (X-Files: Fight the Future, Reign of Fire) is in negotiation to bring the Daredevil spin-off Elektra starring Jennifer Garner to the screen. The story will follow some of the venerable comic stories, as the female ninja battles the evil cult of assassins that trained her. Though a script is done, casting is still in progress.

March 20, 2004
Scorsese Eyeing Infernal Affairs - Famed director Martin Scorsese is looking to do an American remake of the Hong Kong blockbuster Infernal Affairs. The original story focused on an undercover cop who climbs up the criminal ladder while a member of the Triad infiltrates the police with equal success as a battle for the city comes to full force. Co-producer Brad Pitt is considering a starring role.

March 13, 2004
Cameron Looks for Ghost of Vesuvius - Among his many comeback projects, director James Cameron (Terminator 2, Titanic) is optioning the book Ghosts of Vesuvius, a look at the volcanic eruption that destroyed the city of Pompeii almost 2,000 years ago. Cameron will likely fictionalize the account and tie in a story of politics in the declining Roman Empire.

March 6, 2004
Smith to Revamp The Green Hornet - Writer / director Kevin Smith (Chasing Amy, Clerks) is set to give a modern take on the 1930's millionaire / masked hero The Green Hornet, to start production this summer. The character was made popular in a 1960's TV series which introduced Bruce Lee in the role of sidekick Kato. In a previous incarnation, George Clooney and Jet Li had been set to star.

February 28, 2004
Malick and Del Toro on Che - Writer / director Terrence Malick (The Thin Red Line) is set to do the biopic Che next, with Benicio Del Toro starring as the Cuban revolutionary hero "Che" Guevara and Javier Bardem in a supporting role. The film will focus on the last part of Che's life, before he was murdered by the Bolivian army at the age of 39 in 1967.

February 21, 2004
Cage is Lord of War - Writer-director Andrew Niccol (The Truman Show, Gattaca) is set to film Lord of War. Nicholas Cage will star as a ruthless weapon's dealer being pursued by a relentless Interpol agent across the globe. Monica Bellucci is in talks to play Cage's conflicted wife.

February 14, 2004
Strong Cast on Anymore - Director John Curran made a splash at Sundance with We Don't Live Here Anymore, based on two short stories by Andre Dubus II (In the Bedroom). Made up of a strong cast including Mark Ruffalo, Naomi Watts, and Laura Dern the film examines the conflicts in the relationship between two married couples arising due to infedility.

February 7, 2004
Lee on Brokeback - Ang Lee (Sense and Sensibility, Hulk) is set to direct Bokeback Mountain, a sweeping period epic with Heath Ledger and Jake Gyllenhaal leading the cast. The story is about the tragic romance between a Wyoming rodeo cowboy and a ranch hand who meet in the 60's and forge a lifelong connection.

January 31, 2004
Burton Doing The Corpse Bride - Director Tim Burton (Batman, Sleepy Hollow) is working on The Corpse Bride, another film using the stop motion animation made popular in his The Nightmare Before Christmas. Based on an Eastern European folk tale about a man who mistakenly weds a dead body, expect to see much of Burton's trademark dark humor.

January 24, 2004
Crowe on Elizabethtown - Director Cameron Crowe (Almost Famous) has chosen Orlando Bloom to play opposite Kirsten Dunst in Elizabethtown. The film centers around a suicidal man that must return to his hometown following the death of his father. Jane Fonda is also rumoured to be part of the casting.

January 17, 2004
Maguire Eyes Electroboy - With an eye on the staring role, Tobey Maguire is trying to bring Andy Behrman's memoir Electroboy to the bigscreen. Behrman's book is a turbulent spin through the life of a 28-year-old manic-depressive art forger and con man, chronicling his sexual escapades, drug binges and treatment with electroshock therapy.

January 10, 2004
Connery Seeks Revenge - Sean Connery is attached to star in The Picaresque Revenge, a con movie said to be in the spirit of The Sting. The story centers on a former FBI agent who, released after spending time in prison for a crime he didn't commit, targets those he believes put him behind bars by pulling off a series of audacious crimes.

January 3, 2004
Superman Star Biopic - A biopic of the late B&W Superman TV-star George Reeves, starring either Keanu Reeves and Viggo Mortensen, is aiming to begin filming this Spring. Benicio Del Toro is in talks to play a private eye hired to investigate the actor's strange death. Sharon Stone, Annette Benning and Naomi Watts are up for parts in the film.

December 27, 2003
Jackman in Wolverine Spin-Off - X-Men 2 just came off great success and already there's talk of two new sequels. Though X-3 may have some trouble getting all the original cast members back together (especially new star Halle Berry), Fox is opting for a tasty deal with Hugh Jackman to reprise his role as Wolverine in a spin-off film which would bring back some of the characters from X2.

December 13, 2003
Clooney Eyes Syriana - George Clooney is gearing up to star in the thriller Syriana, written and directed by Stephen Gaghan (who scripted Traffic). Based on the book "See No Evil" by Robert Baer, the movie will intersect different storylines, à la Traffic, following various agents in the CIA.

December 6, 2003
Jonze Set for Wild Things - Spike Jonze (director of such quirky films as Being John Malkovich and Adaptation) is set to direct an adaptation of the classic children's book Where The Wild Things Are by Maurice Sendak. The story revolves around a young boy who, locked in his room, imagines he's the ruler of a forest populated by strange creatures and other wild things.

November 29, 2003
Steve Martin In the Pink - Steve Martin has agreed to take on the classic character Inspector Clouseau most famously played by the late Peter Sellers, for a new series of Pink Panther films. Jackie Chan in talks to play his assistant Cato. Shawn Levy is set to direct, taking over the series which had previously been helmed by Blake Edwards.

November 22, 2003
Scott and Bloom do Heaven - Director Ridley Scott (Blade Runner, Gladiator) has set Orlando Bloom to star in Kingdom of Heaven to be shot in Morocco early 2004. Taking place during the time of the Crusades, the film is to be an epic love story about a peasant who becomes a knight, saves a kingdom and falls in love with the princess of Jerusalem.

November 15, 2003
Cameron and Hayek Go Deep - Rumor has it that Salma Hayek is in talks to play the French diver Audrey Mestre in a movie to be produced and directed by none other than director James Cameron (Titanic, Terminator 2), for a release sometime in 2005. The film will be based on the true story - and tragedy - of champion freedivers Mestre and husband Francisco "Pipin" Ferreras.

November 8, 2003
Shyamalan Adapts Life of Pi - Writer / director M. Night Shyamalan (The Sixth Sense, Signs) has signed on to do an adaptation of the award-winning novel The Life of Pi, a story revolving around an Indian boy stranded in a lifeboat with a Bengal tiger when a cargo ship trasnporting his family's zoo animals sinks in the middle of the ocean. This project will be next on his slate after The Village.

October 25, 2003
Kapur to Adapt Asimov's Foundation - It seems that director Shekhar Kapur (Elizabeth) is set to direct a movie two-parter based on the classic science-fiction trilogy by Isaac Asimov, namely Foundation and Second Foundation. The films are intended as a faithful adaptation about the coming of a super-being which puts a new, predicted galactic human empire in jeopardy.

October 18, 2003
Cast and Crew Back for More Zorro - Director Martin Campbell (GoldenEye, Vertical Limit) is returning to the Zorro franchise which he helped re-invent in 1998 with The Mask of Zorro 2, set to start production in 2004. Antonia Banderas is set to reprise his role as the legendary swordsman, and Anthony Hopkins and Catherine Zeta Jones are in talks to also re-appear.

October 11, 2003
Owen is New Bond? - It seems Clive Owen (who starred in Croupier and Gosford Park) is the front-runner for the role of James Bond which will be announced sometime in early 2004. Sources say Pierce Brosnan has recommended Owen replace him in the role after Brosnan's last outing as 007 in the next installment coming in 2005.

October 4, 2003
Scott Readying Gladiator 2 - Director Ridley Scott (Gladiator, Blade Runner) has completed the draft for Gladiator 2, with an aim for 2005. It will take up where the last one left off and tell the story of Lucilla's son Lucius. While showing off more of Rome's rich history, it will focus more on the political aspects and stay away from the gladiatorial side of things.

September 27, 2003
Bale is New Batman - Years after the dreaded Batman & Robin, Christopher Nolan (Memento, Insomnia) is set to direct the latest Batman movie revival suing a plot by Blade writer David S.Goyer. Actor Christian Bale has been chosen as the latest incarnation of the Dark Crusader. Shooting begins Spring 2004.

September 13, 2003
Apted to Make Scheherazade - Michael Apted is set to direct Juliette Binoche, Laurence Fishburne, Gary Sinise and Samuel Ball in the film Scheherazade, about an unfaithful wife who must talk her way to freedom after being kidnapped by her husband's gangster partners. The narrative style is supposed to be based on the tale of the 1001 Arabian Nights.

August 30, 2003
Smith Wins Fletch Won - Writer-director Kevin Smith has finally committed to direct Fletch Won which follows the adventures of a mystery solving journalist, and is looking to cast either Ben Affleck, Brad Pitt, Will Smith, or Adam Sandler in the role. Smith promises to adhere to the wit and dialogue of the novels by John McDonald, something the Chevy Chase installments didn't do.

August 23, 2003
Weisz and Reeves Spook Constantine - Rachel Weisz is in negotiations to star opposite Keanu Reeves in the adaptation to the "Hellblazer" comic-book Constantine to be directed by newcomer Francis Lawrence. The story revolves around a man involved in the world of the occult who joins forces with a police officer to stop evil.

August 16, 2003
Turner is The Goddess - Director James Ivory (Howards End, The Remains of the Day) is set to do a Bollywood-style musical titled The Goddess with singer Tina Turner signed to play the multi-armed Hindu goddess Kali. In the traditional Bollywood manner, Turner will sing & dance in the film, set to shoot early 2004 in India.

August 9, 2003
Kidman To Play The Interpreter - Director Sydney Pollack is trying to get Nicole Kidman to play the title role in his latest film The Interpreter. The story revolves around a U.N. interpreter who overhears an assassination plot involving an African leader, and teams up with a federal agent try to stop the murder.

August 2, 2003
Jude Law in Alfie Remake - Susan Sarandon and Marisa Tomei are in negotiations to join Jude Law in the remake of the 1966 romantic comedy Alfie for director Charles Shyer. The story revolves around a womanizer, caught between a bored suburban housewife and a single mom, who is forced to rethink his shallow life.

July 19, 2003
R.I.P. Gregory Peck - Gregory Peck, an actor who's screen presence always displayed a definite charm and stalwart decency, died last June at the age of 87. He is best known for such roles in films like Spellbound, The Guns of Navarone, and The Omen, and won an Oscar for his performance in the classic To Kill a Mockingbird. He will be missed.

July 12, 2003
Update to the King Arthur Legend - The medieval epic King Arthur, which will be partly based on Sir Thomas Malory's 15th-century book Le Morte d'Arthur is currently shooting. The film will be aiming for a more realistic slant than past incarnations of the Arthurian legend, with some large (and bloody) battles.

June 20, 2003
Hanks in A Cold Case - Director Mark Romanek (One Hour Photo) and Eric Roth are set to adapt A Cold Case, the fact-based drama revolving around a District Attorney's chief investigator (played by Tom Hanks) who vows to solve the 27-year-old murder of his best friend before he retires.

June 7, 2003
LaBute on Wicker Man Remake - Director Neil LaBute (Passion, Nurse Betty) is preparing to shoot a remake of the classic 1973 gothic horror flick The Wicker Man, about a detective who makes his way to an island run by pagans. The new version promises more sex and death, and features Nicholas Cage, Angelina Jolie and Winona Ryder.

May 31, 2003
Shyamalan Goes to The Woods - Writer / director M. Night Shyamalan (The Sixth Sense, Signs) is ready for his next supernatural thriller, The Woods. The film is set in 1897 and tells the story of a small community surrounded by a forest that happens to inhabit by mythical creatures. The film, which stars Ashton Kutcher, Joaquin Phoenix and Kirsten Dunst, has an expected release in 2004.

May 24, 2003
Hannibal Prequel In the Works - Novelist Thomas Harris (The Silence of the Lambs) has teamed up with producer Dino De Laurentiis (Red Dragon) once again to produce The Lecter Variation, a prequel of sorts to the famous Hannibal trilogy. The upcoming film and book will recount the early, formative years of the cannibal serial killer.

May 10, 2003
Starsky and Hutch Remake - Comedy vets Ben Stiller and Owen Wilson are starring in a big-screen remake of the popular 1970's buddy cop show Starsky and Hutch. Juliette Lewis and Vince Vaughn are co-starring in the film being directed by Todd Philips (Road Trip) which has started production.

May 3, 2003
Burton Finds The Corpse Bride - Tim Burton is preparing another stop-motion animated film like The Nightmare Before Christmas with The Corpse Bride which starts shooting in November in London. The story, based on a 19th century Eastern European folk tale, is about a young man who inadvertently becomes betrothed to a corpse.

April 12, 2003
Egoyan on Foolproof - Independent director Atom Egoyan (Exotica, Arararat) is turning his hand toward more commercial filmmaking for his next project with the mainstream studio comedy Foolproof. The film, starring Ryan Reynolds, follows a group of friends who are blackmailed into pulling off a heist instead of just talking about them.

April 5, 2003
Jackson on King Kong - After years of rumor, it's finally been officially confirmed: director Peter Jackson (Lord of the Rings) will indeed be helming a remake of the classic King Kong immediately after finishing work on the LOTR trilogy. Jackson will help write and will produce the flick to be shot in New Zealand with a 2005 release being targeted.

March 29, 2003
Oscars Awarded 2003 - Well, another Academy Awards ceremony has come and gone, with the big winner this year being Chicago (Best Picture) with the major awards going to Roman Polanski (Best Director for The Pianist), Nicole Kidman (Best Actress for The Hours) and Adrien Lyne (Best Actor for The Pianist).

March 15, 2003
Kilmer in Mamet's Spartan - Val Kilmer is set to star alongside Derek Luke and William H. Macy in David Mamet's (Heist, The Spanish Prisoner) political thriller Spartan. The story revolves around Kilmer' character who is asked to investigate the kidnapping of the president's daughter. Production is set for April.

March 8, 2003
Kidman as Catwoman - Nicole Kidman has been offered the title role in the upcoming Batman movie spin-off Catwoman with French director Pitoff (Vidocq) rumored to direct. Ashley Judd had previously been attached to star in the project. Kidman is said to be waiting for script changes before deciding.

March 1, 2003
Spielberg and Hanks in Terminal - Steven Spielberg is almost set to direct Tom Hanks in the airport comedy Terminal from a script from Frank Darabont (The Shawshank Redemption). The story involves an Eastern European immigrant who becomes a resident of a New York airport terminal when a war breaks out and erases his country from the map.

February 22, 2003
Mann in Storage - Director Michael Mann (Heat, The Insider) will direct the drama Worcester Cold Storage. Based on a book by Sean Flynn, the story follows the events at a devastating warehouse blaze that killed six firefighters in Worcester, Massachusetts in 1999. The families of the victims, however, are not very supportive of the idea.

February 15, 2003
Star Cast on Big Fish - Danny DeVito, Helena Bonham Carter and Steve Buscemi will join Ewan McGregor, Albert Finney, Billy Crudup and Jessica Lange on the Tim Burton flick Big Fish. The story involves a man's son who tries to decipher the truth behind his dying father and his tall tales. Production started last month.

February 8, 2003
Fincher on Dogtown - Foregoing Mission Impossible 3 (for now) director David Fincher (Seven, Fight Club) has decided to jump on the coming-of-age drama The Lords of Dogtown about the surf and skateboard culture in the 1970s. Production is set for later this year.

February 1, 2003
Demme Prepares Candidate - Director Jonathan Demme (The Silence of the Lambs) is said to be set to remake the 1962 John Frankenheimer thriller The Manchurian Candidate with Denzel Washington in the lead. The story revolves around a group of soldiers who are brainwashed by Communists to assassinate an American head of state.

January 24, 2003
Golden Globe 2002 - The 2002 Golden Globe awards have been handed out: Chicago won best Musical / Comedy with Gere and Zellweger winning for performances, while The Hours, along with star Kidman, won for best Drama. Nicholson won best actor for About Schmidt, and Scorsese best director for The Gangs of New York.

January 17, 2003
Barrymore in Oz sequel - Surrender Dorothy is the name of The Wizard of Oz sequel now in development which would see the Wicked Witch return to get her hands on the ruby slippers from Dorothy. Drew Barrymore would take the role of Dorothy, who would find herself with her loyal dog Toto in a strange place indeed: New York City.

January 10, 2003
Woo gets Paycheck - John Woo (Face/Off, Hard Boiled) will direct the thriller Paycheck based on the Philip K. Dick story about a man trying to find out why a two-year span of his life has been erased from his memory. Woo got the opportunity after director Brett Ratner (Rush Hour, Red Dragon) decided to pass for a shot at Superman. Ben Affleck is in talks for the lead.

December 31, 2002
Gibson Rolls On with Mad Max 4 - Mel Gibson will be re-teaming with George Miller, who has directed and co-written the first three Mad Max films to breathe new life into the cult franchise with the fourth installment, Mad Max: Fury Road. The $100 million-budgeted flick is set begin production in the Australian outback in late Spring. 

December 17, 2002
Smith in I, Robot - Will Smith is set to star in I, Robot, an adaptation of the 1940's Isaac Asimov stories that set the groundwork for many modern-day robot films, as a detective investigating a crime that might have been perpetrated by a robot. Alex Proyas (Dark City, The Crow) is at the helm with a script from Akiva Goldsman (A Beautiful Mind).

December 6, 2002
Reese and Wolfgang on Whiteout - Reese Witherspoon has signed on to star in and produce the crime thriller Whiteout, adapted from a series of graphic novels and directed by Wolfgang Petersen (Air Force One, The Perfect Storm). The story is about a female US Marshal living in exile in Antarctica, who's called upon to solve the continent's first murder.

November 29, 2002
A Confederacy of Dunces - After lingering for 20 years, the adaptation of the Pulitzer Prize-winning A Confederacy of Dunces is finally set to start next spring with David Gordon Green (George Washington) to direct from a script co-written by Steven Soderbergh. Drew Barrymore is set to star in the story of "a colorful would-be academic who suffers through a series of lousy jobs, stilted romances and misadventures while living at home with his mother in 1960s-era New Orleans."

November 22, 2002
R.I.P. James Coburn - Actor James Coburn died this week at the age of 74. The perennial tough guy in such films as The Magnificent Seven and The Great Escape, he also enjoyed comedy in Our Man Flint and The President's Analyst, finally winning on Oscar in 1998 for his dramatic portrayal as an abusive father in Affliction.

November 15, 2002
Soderbergh on Eros - Director Steven Soderbergh (Traffic) has agreed to direct one segment of a three-part film titled Eros comprising tales of love and sexuality by Italian maestro Michelangelo Antonioni and Hong Kong-based auteur Wong Kar-wai (Chungking Express). He would replace Spain's Pedro Almodovar (All About My Mother) who will now contribute by creating the narrative framework between the stories.

November 8, 2002
Gilliam Takes on the Brothers Grimm - Terry Gilliam (12 Monkeys, Brazil) has found his next project, a fantasy / adventure tale about the real life folklore collectors Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm. In the story, the brothers travel from village to village pretending to protect townsfolk from enchanted creatures only to encounter a real sorceress with terrifying powers. A spring start of production date has been set.

November 1, 2002
Richard Harris Dies at 72 - Classically trained actor and notorious hellraiser Richard Harris died from Hodgkin's disease this past weekend. The Golden Globe-winning and Oscar-nominated actor, whose most recent role was that of Headmaster Dumbledore in the Harry Potter movies, leaves a legacy of memorable roles from such films as This Sporting Life, A Man Called Horse and Gladiator.

October 25, 2002
Kidman Joins The Stepford Wives - Nicole Kidman is set to star in a remake of the 1975 suspense / thriller The Stepford Wives about a suburban housewife who gets suspicious about her neighbors' strange behavior. The new version, however, is going to be produced as a special-effects laden black comedy with Frank Oz (The Score) directing.

October 18, 2002
Willis Set For Die Hard 4 - Bruce Willis has finally agreed to come back to the action series that first made him a star with Die Hard 4. Fox managed the deal simply by giving his next film permission to use the title Man of War, a name Fox owns. No date has been set for production, however.

October 11, 2002
FCMM 2002 - The 31st Edition of the Montreal International Festival of New Cinema and New Media is now on, featuring some impressive features such as Polanski's Cannes winner The Pianist, Almodovar's Talk to Her, Moore's controversial doc Bowling for Columbine, Kaurismaki's Man Without a Past and the Mexican revelation Japon.

October 4, 2002
Scott and Cage are Matchstick Men - Production has begun on the new Ridley Scott-directed film (Blade Runner, Gladiator), Matchstick Men starring Nicholas Cage and Sam Rockwell. The story follows a phobia-addled con artist and his protégé who are on the verge of pulling off a lucrative swindle when the unexpected arrival his teenage daughter disrupts his carefully-ordered plans.

September 27, 2002
Carrey and Winslet Spotless - Kate Winslet is to star with Jim Carrey in Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind from a script by Charlie Kaufman (Being John Malkovich). The story is set partly within the human mind, about a man trying to kick the memories he has of his ex-wife and their sometimes steamy relationship. Shooting is set to start in January.

September 20, 2002
Alexander the Great Times Two - Director Baz Luhrmann (Moulin Rouge) has lined up Leonardo DiCaprio for the starring role in an epic production about Alexander the Great. The two had already worked together on Romeo & Juliet. A competing film about Alexander, with Colin Farrell in the lead, has been in the works for some time by Oliver Stone.

September 3, 2002
Montreal World Film Festival 2002 Winners - The latest edition of the WFF has ended, and the Grand Prize of the Americas was awarded to the Italian film The Best Day of My Life. Other prizes included, the Jury Prize to the Turkish film Nowhereland, best director to Sophie Marceau for Parlez-Moi d'Amour, and best screenplay to The Last Train.

August 23, 2002
08/23/02 - Montreal World Film Festival 2002 - The 26th edition of the Montreal International Film Festival (or WFF) is now in full swing. Playing from Aug. 22 to Sept. 2, 2002 in downtown Montreal, Quebec, the festival is showing over 300 films from around the world, many of which are North American or World premieres.

August 16, 2002
Burton Leads Big Fish - Tim Burton (Sleepy Hollow, Batman) is set to direct the drama Big Fish from a novel by Daniel Wallace, a film that had originally interested Steven Spielberg. It tells the story of a son trying to sort out his dying father's past, and who the man he is now, from the tales he heard as a child. Albert Finney will star as the father with Ewan McGregor playing a younger version of him in flashbacks.

August 9, 2002
Scott on Matchstick Men - Production has begun on the new film from director Ridley Scott (Blade Runner, Gladiator), Matchstick Men starring Nicholas Cage and Sam Rockwell. The story follows a phobia-addled con artist and his protégé who are on the verge of pulling off a lucrative swindle when the unexpected arrival of his teenage daughter disrupts his carefully-ordered plans.

August 2, 2002
Petersen on Batman vs. Superman - Director Wolfgang Petersen (Das Boot, Air Force One) is going full steam ahead on the ultimate superhero face-off flick, pitting the bright, stalwart Superman against the dark, brooding Batman, with a script by Andrew Kevin Walker (Se7en). Set for a Summer 2004 release, casting rumors include Jude Law and Colin Farrell.

July 26, 2002
Thunderbirds Are Go! - Jonathan Frakes (Star Trek: First Contact) is set to direct the live-action adaptation of Thunderbirds, a British TV series from the 60s about a secret hi-tech rescue team made up of a retired astronaut and his five sons. The show used string puppets and scaled models to present its big-budget ideas. Harrison Ford is in talks to play Jeff Tracy, the patriarch of the family.

July 19, 2002
R.I.P. Rod Steiger - Acclaimed actor Rod Steiger passed away at the age of 77. Steiger made his mark in the classic On the Waterfront where he was nominated for an Academy Award. He won an Oscar for his portrayal of a Southern police chief in In the Heat of the Night. Steiger also played in diverse roles in films such as Doctor Zhivago, Oklahoma!, and The Player.

July 12, 2002
R.I.P. John Frankenheimer - Famed director John Frankenheimer has passed away this week leaving behind a body of work encompassing more than 40 years from his most controversial thriller The Manchurian Candidate, to his intense other films like The Train, Seven Days in May, Seconds, and his recent spy flick Ronin. He will be missed.

July 5, 2002
Coen Bros. to Redo The Ladykillers - Joel and Ethan Coen (Fargo, O Brother Where Art Thou?) are in talks to direct Disney's remake of the British comedy The Ladykillers from their script, this time basing the story in the South. The original 1955 film starred Alec Guinness and Peter Sellers as crooks who try, but repeatedly fail, to kill their landlady.

June 28, 2002
Woo on Men of Destiny - John Woo (Face/Off, Hard Boiled) is set to direct Men of Destiny (or The Divide) with long-time associates Chow Yun-Fat and Nicholas Cage. The film tells the story of how the Chinese and Irish immigrants were instrumental in building the railroad in the US. Production is to start in Colorado later this year.

June 21, 2002
Italian Job Remake - The Yards co-stars Charlize Theron and Mark Wahlberg will reunite in a remake of the 1969 film The Italian Job alongside Edward Norton. The story revolves around a man who uses a traffic jam to steal back a safe full of gold taken from him by a double-crossing associate. Production is set to start late summer with F. Gary Gray (The Negotiator) directing.

June 14, 2002
Dunst on Craven's Pulse Remake - Kirsten Dunst is set to star in director Wes Craven's (Scream) upcoming remake, Pulse. The script, by Craven and Vince Gilligan (of X-Files fame), is based on the Japanese film of the same name by Kiyoshi Kurosawa. Another popular Japanese ghost story, Ring, has also been remade recently.

June 7, 2002
Petersen to do Ender's Game - Wolfgang Peterson (Das Boot, Air Force One) will develop and may also direct the big-screen adaptation of Orson Scott Card's Hugo-Award winning sci-fi novel Ender's Game. Set in a future where Earth is in a desperate war with an alien race, a young boy is trained in a highly competitive game to make him command-ready. No cast has yet been announced.

May 31, 2002
Cannes 2002 Awards - Director Roman Polanski's The Pianist, about a Jewish musician surviving the Holocaust, won the Palme d'Or at this year's Cannes Festival. The Finnish film The Man Without a Past won the Jury Prize. Michael Moore's documentary about guns in America, Bowling for Columbine, won a special Jury prize.

May 24, 2002
Fleder on The Runaway Jury - The film adaptation of John Grisham's The Runaway Jury is revving up with new director Gary Fleder directing while Gene Hackman and Dustin Hoffman are currently discussing roles in the film. John Cusack is already set to star as the jury foreman in a landmark case against a gun manufacturer. Originally, Joel Schumacher was set to direct Gwyneth Paltrow, Edward Norton, and Sean Connery in the film.

May 17, 2002
Schwarzenegger in Westworld - Arnold Schwarzenegger has signed on to star in and produce a remake of Westworld. The 1973 version, directed by Michael Crichton, was about an amusement park recreating the Wild West made up of androids designed to fulfill any fantasy until a malfunction drives a gun-slinging robot to hunt down and kill the human participants. Arnie would be up to the robot role originally played by Yul Brynner.

May 10, 2002
Fincher on for M:I 3? - David Fincher (The Panic Room, Se7en) is in final negotiations with Paramount Pictures to direct the third installment of the action-adventure Mission: Impossible franchise with Tom Cruise reprising his role as the agent Ethan Hunt. Robert Towne, who was involved with writing both of the previous M:I films, will likely have a hand in developing a story for the third.

May 3, 2002
Del Toro to Do Hellboy - It's been confirmed that the comic-book Hellboy is going forward with a big screen adaptation from Revolution Studios with Guillermo Del Toro (Blade 2, Cronos) directing. Character actor Ron Perlman is under discussion to star as the title character. Hellboy tells the story of a creature that was created by Nazis during Wolrd War II as a weapon of destruction but ends up siding with the Americans and investigating cases of the paranormal.

Apr. 26, 2002
Duchovny to Explore Dark Places - Actor David Duchovny (The X-Files) is set to play acclaimed author James Ellroy (L.A. Confidential) in the film adaptation of the crime novelist's memoirs My Dark Places. The story follows Ellroy's investigation into the unsolved murder of his mother back in 1958. Robert Greenwald (Steal This Movie) will be directing and producing.

Apr. 19, 2002
Seven Samurai to be Remade - Miramax Films and MGM are set to co-produce a "contemporary" retelling of Akira Kurosawa's The Seven Samurai, the classic saga of a poor village besieged by bandits that hires a handful of warriors to defend them. The film was first remade in Hollywood as the successful western The Magnificent Seven.

Apr. 12, 2002
Tarantino Ready For Kill Bill - An impressive cast is lined up for Quentin Tarantino's (Pulp Fiction) next film, Kill Bill, including Uma Thurman, Warren Beatty, Daryl Hannah, Lucy Liu, and Michael Madsen. The story follows Thurman as a woman shot down by her husband who, after spending several years in a coma, awakens and seeks revenge on her husband and his criminal associates. Shooting will take place in the U.S., China, Japan, and Mexico starting in June.

Apr. 5, 2002
RIP Billy Wilder - Billy Wilder, one of the greatest writer-directors of Hollywood's Golden Age, died last week at the age of 95. He has won numerous Oscars and international prizes for writing and directing such classic films as Double Indemnity, The Lost Weekend, Sunset Boulevard, Stalag 17, Some Like It Hot and The Apartment.

Mar. 29, 2002
Oscar 2002 Winners - As expected, the big winner of the night was A Beautiful Mind, earning awards for Best Picture and Best Director for Ron Howard. Halle Berry won for Best Actress (Monster's Ball) and Denzel Washington won for Best Actor (Training Day). The Academy honored Sidney Poitier and Robert Redford with special awards as well.

Mar. 19, 2002
Myers is The Cat in the Hat - Comedian Mike Myers best known for his Austin Powers movies will will undergo major makeup for the live-action adaptation of the Dr. Seuss classic The Cat in the Hat. The producers are promising that the feature will be more intense and won't be as kids-oriented as Jim Carrey's How the Grinch Stole Christmas was.

Mar. 8, 2002
McG Takes the Reigns of Superman - Kevin Smith, Tim Burton and Nicholas Cage were all given a chance to bring back DC Comic's most popular super-hero, without success. Now Charlie's Angels director McG has been given the job to revive the lucrative Superman franchise and will start from scratch with TV creator J.J. Abrams set to pen the script. McG will jump onto the project after wrapping up Charlie's Angels 2: Halo. 

Mar. 1, 2002
Berlin Film Fest Results - The Berlin International Film Festival has come and gone with the Golden Bear being awarded to both the Japanese animated film Spirited Away and to Bloody Sunday, a story about the clash between British and Northern Irish troops. Otar Ioseliani won for best director for Lundi Matin while the entire cast of François Ozon's 8 Femmes got a Silver Bear for individual artistic achievement.

Feb 22, 2002
Cruise and Spielberg in Ghost Soldiers - Tom Cruise and director Steven Spielberg, who have just finished shooting the sci-fi thriller Minority Report, will reunite for the World War II film Ghost Soldiers. Based on the Hampton Sides bestseller, the story is about survivors of the Bataan Death March who remained in a Japanese prison camp for three years until freed by Allied forces.

Feb 15, 2002
Oscar Nominations Announced - Nominations for Best Picture of 2001 are A Beautiful Mind, Gosford Park, Lord of the Rings, In the Bedroom and Moulin Rouge, while Nicole Kidman, Halle Berry, Sissy Spacek, Russell Crowe, Denzel Wahington and Sean Penn, among others, have been pegged for their acting and Ron Howard, David Lynch and Peter Jackson for directing.

Feb 8, 2002
Crowe in Master and Commander - Peter Weir will be directing Russell Crowe for the film adaptation of the first of Patrick O'Brian's twenty novels about seafaring adventurers during the Napoleonic era. Crowe is to play British naval officer Captain Jack Aubrey while Ralph Fiennes is also slated to star in a role that was first proposed to Heath Ledger.

Feb 1, 2002
Indiana Jones 4 Set to Go - Steven Spielberg and Harrison Ford have confirmed that they have finally accepted the script for the fourth Indiana Jones film. Spielberg has indicated that Indy 4 is his next priority after his current commitment to Catch Me If You Can. Kate Capshaw, who starred with Ford in Temple of Doom, is also set to return.

Jan. 25, 2002
Golden Globe Awards - Sunday night's Golden Globe awards saw A Beautiful Mind win for Best Drama and Best Actor (Russell Crowe), and Moulin Rouge for Best Musical / Comedy and Best Actress (Nicole Kidman). Other winners included Sissy Spacek for In the Bedroom, Gene Hackman for The Royal Tenenbaums, and director Robert Altman for Gosford Park.

Jan. 18, 2002
R.I.P. Ted Demme - Ted Demme, the acclaimed director of the recent films Blow and Beautiful Girls, died from a heart attack on Sunday night. Demme was playing basketball at a local school function when he collapsed and was rushed to the hospital where he was pronounced dead shortly afterwards. He was only 38.

Nov. 27, 2001
Pixar To Drive Down Route 66 - Route 66, which will have nothing to do with the 60's TV series, will be the seventh and potentially last computer-animated movie Disney will distribute from Pixar. The company that produced Toy Story and Monsters, Inc., among other hits, has two other tales, Finding Nemo and The Invincibles, scheduled to come out Summer 2003 and 2004 respectively. Route 66 will come out in 2005.

Nov. 16, 2001
More Harry Potter - The first film is barely out and already cast and crew are shooting the following book, Harry Potter and The Chamber of Secrets, due out holiday 2002 with Daniel Radcliffe reprising the role of Harry. Director Chris Columbus confirmed the famous flying car scene at the start of the second book is already complete. The four books in the series are set to be released at one year intervals to follow the chronology of the book.

Nov. 9, 2001
Hopkins in Human Stain - Anthony Hopkins and Nicole Kidman will star in the adaptation of Philip Roth's novel about an aging classics professor who is forced to retire when his colleagues label him a racist leading to dramatic revelations, kept hidden for 50 years. Shooting begins in March 2002 under the helm of director Robert Benton (Billy Bathgate).

Nov. 2, 2001
Scorsese May Helm Alexander - After Gangs of New York, it seems director Martin Scorsese and star Leonardo DiCaprio may be working together again, this time on the epic Alexander. Based on a script from Oscar-winning writer Christopher McQuarrie (The Usual Suspects), the film will chronicle Alexander the Great's rise to power.

Oct. 26, 2001
Crowe Up for The Cinderella Man? - Russell Crowe might take the lead role in the biopic of real-life heavyweight boxing champ Jim Braddock who rose from obscurity to win the title and take on the legendary Max Baer in 1935. Lasse Hallstrom (The Cider House Rules) is set to direct. The project previously had Ben Affleck and Billy Bob Thornton attached to star and direct.

Oct. 19, 2001
Clooney in Coen's Cruelty - After O Brother, Where Art Thou?, George Clooney and Joel and Ethan Coen are close to reteaming for the Universal black comedy Intolerable Cruelty. Clooney would play one of the world's toughest divorce lawyers, with the story centered on his relationship with a Beverly Hills gold digger. Julia Roberts is tipped to join.

Oct. 12, 2001
Affleck to Swing into Daredevil - Ben Affleck seems very much in demand these days and is now set to tackle the Marvel Comics super- hero Daredevil. The film, directed by Steven Johnson (Simon Birch) and set to film next year, is about a blind lawyer and martial artist who, disillusioned with the legal system, fights crime as a costumed hero thanks to his heightened senses.

Oct. 2, 2001
Pitt and Toro Seared - It seems Brad Pitt and Benicio Del Toro may star in Seared, a loose adaptation of the memoirs of Les Halles chef Anthony Bourdain from his book "Kitchen Confidential". Rumor is that director David Fincher (Seven, Fight Club) may helm the project.

Sept. 18, 2001
Hollywood Careful After New York Disaster - Following the terrorist attack on New York, many films whose subject matter related to terrorism or The Big Apple have had their release date pushed back (Collateral Damage, Big Trouble, Spy Game, etc.), are having scenes being re-written or re-shot (Spider-Man), or have had their production put on hold or simply cancelled.

Sept. 11, 2001
Norton and Watson in Dragon - Edward Norton and Emily Watson are almost tagged to join Anthony Hopkins in Red Dragon, the prequel to Silence of the Lambs, based on the novel by Thomas Harris about an FBI agent who is forced to enlist the help of Hannibal to stop a vicious serial killer. Brett Ratner (Rush Hour 2) is set to direct. An adaptation had already been made by Michael Mann in 1986 entitled Manhunter.

Sept. 4, 2001
Zellwegger to Sing in Chicago - Renée Zellweger is up for a film version of the hit Broadway musical Chicago being written by Bill Condon (Gods and Monsters). She will join Catherine Zeta-Jones, who is negotiating to play the other half of a murderous singing and dancing duo. Kevin Spacey and Kathy Bates are also being eyed to play in the film scheduled for an early 2002 production start.

Aug. 28, 2001
Montreal World Film Festival - The 25th edition of the Montreal World Film Festival is in full swing in downtown Montreal, Canada. The festival, with over 250 films on display during its run from August 23, 2001 to September 3, 2001, is offering special awards this year to actress Sophia Loren and international star Jackie Chan.

Aug. 21, 2001
Ruiz Takes Up Rushdie's Ground - While promoting his latest film La Comedia de la Inocencia, Chilean filmmaker Raoul Ruiz (Time Regained) confirmed that his next project is the adaptation of Rushdie's rock novel, The Ground Beneath Her Feet. Filming begins in London on January 2002 on the $15 million-budget flick with rumor of Salma Hayek starring and music by songwriter David Byrne.

Aug. 14, 2001
Jack-of-All-Trades Crowe on Shore - Russell Crowe has finally selected his next film, jumping into the new World War 2 flick The Long Green Shore as writer, director, producer and star. Based on the novel by John Hepworth, the story is set during the final days of World War II, following a group of Australian soldiers with the order to engage the retreating Japanese. Shooting begins early next year in the South Pacific.

Aug. 7, 2001
sex, lies Sequel - Director Steven Soderbergh (Traffic), will be returning to his roots by directing a sequel to his debut effort sex, lies and videotape, rumored to be titled How to Survive a Hotel Fire. The original film won the Palme d'Or at Cannes in 1989. Currently, the director is working on a remake of Ocean's Eleven with an all-star cast including George Clooney and Brad Pitt. 

July 10, 2001
Oscar Adds Animation Category - The Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences has decided to add a category for best new animated feature film. The Oscar will be awarded if eight full-length cartoons are considered eligible in any year. Due to the recent success of films such as Shrek and the potential for others coming this year such as Final Fantasy, the Academy is hopeful that the animated Oscar category will actually premiere next March.

July 3, 2001
Farewell Jack Lemmon - Another star of Hollywood's classic era has passed away with the announcement that Jack Lemmon died this week at the age of 76. Lemmon's career spanned the years and the genres garnering him multiple awards including two Best Actor Oscars. He excelled in playing the Everyman, and will best be remembered for his roles in such films as The Apartment, The Odd Couple and Grumpy Old Men.

June 19, 2001
Farewell to Anthony Quinn - Anthony Quinn, the prolific actor who appeared to international acclaim in more than 150 films, died last week at the age of 86. Some of his most memorable roles included the strongman Zampano in Federico Fellini's La Strada, a ferocious Bedouin leader in Lawrence of Arabia, and as Zorba the Greek, a role that defined both his character and his career in the minds of audiences.

June 12, 2001
Barker's Damnation Game - Sean Connery and Paul Newman are set to star in the film adaptation of horror-master Clive Barker's novel Damnation Game. John Heffernan will adapt the book into a script with Barker producing. Newman and Connery both agreed to a cut rate with a share of the profits. Ed Harris and Kim Basinger are also considering supporting roles.

June 5, 2001
Gibson in Shyamalan's Next - Mel Gibson is about to sign to star in Signs, the latest supernatural thriller by popular writer/director M. Night Shyamalan's (The Sixth Sense, Unbreakable), replacing Bruce Willis as his usual leading man. The story this time will be about the sudden appearance of crop circles at a family's farm in Bucks County, PA.

May 24, 2001
Cannes Festival Honors - The Cannes film festival has ended with the Palme d'Or going to Italian director Nanni Moretti for The Son's Room, the story of a psychologist ripped apart by the death of his child. The Grand Prize went to Michael Haneke's The Piano Teacher which also won for Best Actress and Best Actor. The Coens brothers (for The Man Who Wasn't There), and David Lynch (for Mulholland Drive) tied for the Best Director award.

Apr. 23, 2001
Brando Cameo in Scary Movie 2 - Lengendary actor Marlon Brando has set a new high in cameo paychecks with a reported $2 million for a quick role in the Scary Movie sequel (even better than the cut for his short presence in Superman). One can't help but think this is also a new low in self-exploitation for a once-respected star...

Apr. 16, 2001
Phantom Adaptation Finally Moving - Composer Andrew Lloyd Weber is said to have finally completed some new music, and accepted the latest screenplay, for the big screen adaptation of the internationally popular Phantom of the Opera musical set to shoot next year. Antonio Banderas has been attached to star for years now, and is still excited by the prospect. Shekar Kapur (Elizabeth) was once set to direct, but has since backed out.

Apr. 9, 2001
Ang Lee to Direct Next Bond? - Pierce Brosnan wants Ang Lee (Crouching Tiger..., Sense and Sensibility) to direct the next Bond film tentatively entitled Beyond the Ice. Ang Lee has said he is interested, but always insists on final cut of his films, something no Bond director has ever had. Ang Lee is currently getting ready to direct The Hulk.

Apr. 2, 2001
Li to Take Part in Assassination - Martial star Jet Li has agreed to play the bodyguard turned killer in The Qin Assassination, a story based on folktales of an attempt on China's first emperor's life. Famed director Zhang Yimou has also asked action choreographer Yuen Woo-Ping (The Matrix) to be involved in the production which starts shooting in August.

Mar. 26, 2001
Oscars Awarded for 2000 - The Academy has chosen its Oscars for the year 2000, and the winners include Gladiator for Best Picture, Russell Crowe for Best Actor (Gladiator), Julia Roberts for Best Actress (Erin Brockovich), and Steven Soderbergh for Best Director (Traffic). Especially satisfying (if predictable) is the win by Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon for Best Foreign Film.

Mar. 19, 2001
Eastwood Adapts Mystic River - Actor / director Clint Eastwood is bringing Dennis Lehane's novel Mystic River to the big screen. The story: Three childhood friends, separated after a tragedy, reunite twenty-five years later during a murder investigation. Eastwood will produce and direct the project.

Mar. 12, 2001
Actors Flock to Gosford Park - A slew of well-known British actors, including Jude Law and Emily Watson, have been cast in Robert Altman's (The Player, M*A*S*H) latest ensemble film, Gosford Park. The screenplay is based on Renoir's classic film The Rules of the Game which deals with the relations between classes during a hunting party set in the 1930s. 

Mar. 5, 2001
Pacino to Star in Insomnia - Al Pacino has agreed to headline Insomnia, a remake of a 1997 Norwegian thriller. Pacino will play a detective who, by accident, kills his partner during a murder investigation in a small Alaskan town and then gets blackmailed by his quarry. The film, under the helm of Christopher Nolan (Memento) will begin shooting in April. 

Feb. 26, 2001
The Quiet American to be Adapted - Graham Green's novel The Quiet American is hitting the silver screen in an adaptation by director Philip Noyce (Clear and Present Danger, The Saint) starring Brendan Fraser and Michael Caine. The story involves a British newspaper reporter and a naive American who both fall for the same local girl in 1952 Vietnam, a triangle that eventually leads to murder.

Feb. 12, 2001
Jodie Foster Set for Panic Room - Jodie Foster has confirmed that she is taking over the lead role in David Fincher's (Seven, Fight Club) latest feature Panic Room, replacing the departing Nicole Kidman. Due to the scheduling conflict that now results, Foster has had to pull out of presiding over this year's Cannes Festival.

Feb. 5, 2001
Oliver Stone Set to Retire - Acclaimed director Oliver Stone (Platoon, Wall Street) has announced in a recent interview that he is ready to call it quits. After finishing up his latest contractual feature, now in production, he plans on doing one last film, "a funeral oration - I want to write a movie where I don't worry about the consequences...".

Jan. 29, 2001
Rendezvous with Rama Adaptation - Morgan Freeman has long been behind the proposed live-action adaptation of Arthur C. Clarke's classic SF novel Rendezvous With Rama, the story of astronauts exploring a huge, deserted alien space-ship that is passing near Earth. The film will be an entirely photo-realistic CGI animated film with David Fincher (Se7en, Fight Club) in the director's seat. The film is tentatively set for release in 2003.

Jan. 22, 2001
Golden Globe 2000 Winners - The Golden Globe winners for the year were announced over the weekend, and Gladiator took the top prize for best drama while Almost Famous took best comedy. Other winners included Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon for best foreign language film, Tom Hanks best actor in a drama (Cast Away), Julia Roberts best actress in a drama (Erin Brockovich), and Ang Lee as best director.

Jan. 8, 2001
Brosnan in A Sound of Thunder - Pierce Brosnan and director Renny Harlin (Die Hard 2, Cliffhanger) will adapt Ray Bradbury's famous dinosaur short story "A Sound of Thunder" for the big screen. The story is about a game hunter who goes on a time-traveling safari to hunt dinosaurs but stumbles off the appointed path and inadvertently changes history. Production aims to begin the first quarter this year.

Jan. 1, 2001
Law in Road to Perdition - Jude Law is in talks to join Tom Hanks in the DreamWorks drama Road to Perdition. The film, which will be directed by Sam Mendes (American Beauty) with a script by David Self (13 Days), will tell the Depression-era story of a man (Hanks) who is a hitman for the mob known as the Angel of Death who seeks revenge after his family is killed. Law would likely play an antagonist to Hanks' character.

Dec. 18, 2000
Demme Ready for Charade Remake - Jonathan Demme is currently in Paris scouting locations for his next directorial effort The Truth About Charlie, a retitled makeover of Stanley Donen's 1963 suspense favorite Charade. Mark Wahlberg Thandie Newton have signed on for the roles originally played by Cary Grant and Audrey Hepburn.

Dec. 11, 2000
Myers in Pink Panther remake? - Mike Myers, best known as goofy spy Austin Powers, is in talks to star as the bumbling Chief Inspector Jacques Closeau in Metro's remake of The Pink Panther, a role that was made famous by the late Peter Sellers in a long series of films. Ivan Reitman (Ghostbusters) is in negotiations to direct.

Dec. 4, 2000
Red Dragon Remake - Producer Dino De Laurentiis is planning a remake of Thomas Harris' novel Red Dragon, the prequel to The Silence of the Lambs and the first appearance of Dr. Hannibal Lecter. The story was previously adapted in 1986 by director Michael Mann as Manhunter with Brian Cox in the role of Dr. Lecter. Ted Sally, the screenwriter for The Silence of the Lambs, will write the film's script.

Nov. 27, 2000
Washington in Blue Dress Sequel - Despite the box-office failure of Devil In A Blue Dress, another film in Walter Mosley's Easy Rawlins series (probably Red Death) is being prepared for actor Denzel Washington. The actor has expressed interest in reprising the role and with his new clout after the success of Remember the Titans, Sony is hoping to start a potential franchise.

Nov. 20, 2000
Roberts and Pitt to Replay - Julia Roberts is in talks to join the fantasy film Replay which may reunite her with The Mexican co-star Brad Pitt. The film will tell the story of a man who dies of a heart attack only to reawake back in his past again and again as a college student, always falling in and out of love with Julia Roberts' character. The novel was interesting, let's just hope they can bring it successfully to the screen...

Nov. 13, 2000
Ringworld Adaptation - A live-action version of Larry Niven's Ringworld is coming to the big screen with FX wizard Phil Tippett (Star Wars, Jurassic Park) helming the production. The story follows two aliens and two humans who stumble across, and explore, an ancient extra-terrestrial habited artifact which has a million mile-wide band surrounding the sun. Tippett ensures that the extensive state-of-the-art CGI effects will amaze audiences.

Nov. 2, 2000
Cronenberg on Spider - Weird, disturbing Canadian director David Cronenberg's next project will be a psychological thriller called Spider starring Ralph Fiennes and Miranda Richardson. The film, based on a novel by Patrick McGrath, will tell the story of a man who attempts to piece together his life after his release from a mental hospital. Production is set to start in London near the end of 2001.

Oct. 9, 2000
Ford to Board K-19 - After turning down future roles in the Jack Ryan series, Harrison Ford is now ready to play a Soviet captain in the submarine picture K-19. The film is about the crew of a Soviet submarine who attempt to prevent a nuclear meltdown on their ship. Though set in present times, the film hopes to play out with the dramatic tension of Petersen's classic Das Boot.

Sept. 28, 2000
Stone to Direct Modern Caesar Tale - Famed director Oliver Stone (Platoon, JFK) is set to bring a modern-day version of Shakespeare's Julius Caesar to the big screen. Scribe William Nicholson (Gladiator) has penned the story of American Caesar which will be set in the world of Washington politics. Actors Harrison Ford and Alec Baldwin are rumored to be up for the main roles.

Sept. 21, 2000
Pi Director Doing Batman - Darren Aronofsky, director of the dark Sundance indie favorite Pi and the forthcoming Requiem for a Dream, is taking over as helmer of the next Batman series installment, Batman: Year One. The early look on the career of Bruce Wayne will be co-written by Aronofsky and B:YO creator Frank Miller.

August 21, 2000
Damon in Bourne Identity - Matt Damon is set to star in The Bourne Identity, based on the Robert Ludlum thriller of the same name. Identity is the story of a man who wakes up with complete amnesia and slowly discovers he might well be the world's most feared assassin. Shooting is set to start in Prague within the next few months. A TV mini-series adaptation of the story starring Richard Chamberlain has already appeared in 1988.

August 10, 2000
In Memoriam - Sir Alec Guinness - 86 year old Sir Alec Guinness passed away over the weekend. He was one of the old-time greats of English cinema, and his career spanned some of the most famous screen roles including performances in The Bridge Over the River Kwai, Lawrence of Arabia, The Ladykillers, and, of course, the role he is most famous for: Obi-Wan Kenobi in the original Star Wars trilogy.

August 6, 2000
Affleck to Take on Sum - Ben Affleck has finally been chosen to replace the departing Harrison Ford as the main character in Sum of All Fears. Countless delays had pushed back the release of the next Jack Ryan adventure (Hunt for Red October, Clear and Present Danger) until Ford was no longer interested. Director Phil Noyce is set to start the production this fall.

August 1, 2000
Spacey in K-Pax - Kevin Spacey is set to star in the sci-fi fable K-Pax as a mysterious new patient at a mental hospital who claims to come from a distant planet called K-PAX. As his psychiatrist tries to figure out exactly how to help him, the doctor gradually begins to realize the so-called alien is having a remarkable effect on the mental health of the hospital's other patients. [ Funny, this sounds a lot like Man Facing Southeast (1986) done with the Hollywood treatment!] The project is slated to start production in November. 

July 13, 2000
Fant-Asia Year 2000 Edition - The latest edition of the Montreal favorite Asian / European fantasy / horror / action festival Fant-Asia is starting today, July 13, 2000. In its fifth year, the festival promises another great selection of films for the genre movie buff. A list of recommended titles and a quick recap of the festival is now up.

July 8, 2000
Scorsese's Gangs to Start Shooting - The latest film from Martin Scorsese (Taxi Driver, Goodfellas), the epic drama entitled Gangs of New York, seems to bring the veteran director back to his favored subjects: the Big Apple and crime. The film, set to start filming next month, features an impressive cast including Leonardo DiCaprio, Willem Dafoe, Cameron Diaz as well as a recent addition, Liam Neeson.

July 3, 2000
Tim Burton to go Ape - Tim Burton (Batman, Sleepy Hollow) is set to direct a remake of the 1968 sci-fi classic Planet of the Apes. Originally set to star Matt Damon, the film and its planned sequel will star Mark Wahlberg instead as the astronaut who crashes on a planet run by intelligent apes. The new film, titled The Visitor, will start production this fall for an expected July 4, 2001 release.

June 26, 2000
Arnold To Star in Terminator Sequel - Contrary to his saying that he would pass on the opportunity if director James Cameron would not be involved, Arnold Schwarzenegger has signed on to reprise the cyborg role for Terminator 3. T3 and T4 are expected to be filmed back to back, and should start as early as Spring 2001. The producers are still hoping to sway Cameron to come on board.

June 22, 2000
Titans to Clash Once More - On the steps of the success of Gladiator it seems, MGM has decided to remake the popular 1981 Greek fantasy epic Clash of the Titans, which starred Harry Hamlin as the hero Perseus, into an F/X studded $100 million production. MGM is now looking for a "major director" to take the reins, as well as a big-name actor we would guess to take on the hero role.

June 20, 2000
Carrey not to Star in Phone Booth - Jim Carrey has passed on starring in Joel Schumacher (8mm, Batman Forever) 's Phone Booth project, an intimate suspense thriller that takes place entirely in a phone booth after a man answers a ringing phone. The small production is set to film this summer in New York and finish in a short two weeks. The script is by auteur Larry Cohen (It's Alive) with a revision by Brian Helgeland (L.A. Confidential).

June 10, 2000
Carrey to Star in Phone Booth - Jim Carrey is almost set to star in Joel Schumacher (8mm, Batman Forever) 's Phone Booth project, an intimate suspense thriller that takes place entirely in a phone booth after a man answers a ringing phone. The small production is set to film this summer in New York and finish in a short two weeks. The script is by auteur Larry Cohen (It's Alive) with a revision by Brian Helgeland (L.A. Confidential).

June 3, 2000
McTiernan to Direct Rollerball - Action director John McTiernan (Die Hard, The Hunt for Red October) is set to start filming the big-budget remake of the 1975 Norman Jewison sci-fi cult classic Rollerball this summer in Montreal. The story centers on Chris Klein (in the role originally played by James Caan) as the captain of a team of gladiators on roller blades and motorcycles who fight to the death for their corporate sponsors.

May 28, 2000
Goodbye, Sir Gielgud - Sir John Gielgud, the legendary stage and screen performer widely considered one of the greatest Shakespearean actors of all time, passed away recently at the ripe old age of 96. His varied on-screen work included such films as Julius Caesar, Gandhi, Shine, and Prospero's Books.

May 22, 2000
Dancer wins at Cannes - Dancer in the Dark, the controversial film by director Lars von Trier (Breaking the Waves) has just won the Palme d'Or at Cannes. Star Bjork, in her first film role, walked away with Best Actress. This year's Grand Prize went to Devils on the Doorstep by Chinese director Jiang Wen, and Best Actor went to Tony Leung for the Hong Kong film In the Mood for Love by director Wong Kar-wai (Chungking Express, Ashes of Time).

May 19, 2000
Woo to Produce Monk - A live-action adaptation of the comic "Bulletproof Monk" is now on the fast track at MGM, and is being produced (but not directed) by famed director John Woo, who's latest film, Mission Impossible 2, starts next week. Chow Yun-fat will play the titular holy man. The story follows an "immortal Tibetan martial arts master who becomes a mentor to a young urban street kid".

May 16, 2000
Ryan and Costner to Star in Borders - Meg Ryan's quest for more dramatic roles has led her to Oliver Stone's Beyond Borders, a Doctor Zhivago-like romance for Mandalay Pictures. Ryan would play a wealthy socialite in an ailing marriage, starring opposite Kevin Costner, who'll play a med school student who becomes an international disaster relief worker who falls for Ryan's character (I am not making this up). Production is to begin this October. 

May 13, 2000
Mann Taps Pacino for Ali - The Muhammad Ali biopic currently in the works at Columbia, starring Will Smith and directed by Michael Mann (The Insider), may just get another credibility boost with word that Al Pacino may be attached to co-star. The troubled film has supposedly finally been given the "OK" by Ali himself and should start production soon.

May 6, 2000
Darabont to Direct Forbidden Planet? - New Line has acquired the rights to remake the 1956 Universal sci-fi classic Forbidden Planet, a classic 1950's sci-fi film based on Shakespeare's " The Tempest" starring Walter Pidgeon, Leslie Nielsen and Robby the Robot (the best character!). The project has been offered to director Frank Darabont (The Shawshank Redemption, The Green Mile), but no production start date has yet been set.

May 4, 2000
Dirk Pitt on the Big Screen Again? - After the disastrous adaptation of Raise the Titanic, studios and author Clive Cussler have not been keen to adapt another of the popular Dirk Pitt book series to the screen. Well, it seems that Cussler's "Sahara" novel is currently being adapted into a screenplay with George Clooney and Matthew McConaughey being considered for it in the hopes of starting a successful franchise.

May 1, 2000
Charlie's Angels Troubles - There's rumblings of major trouble on the Charlie's Angels film production. Apart from the many writers that have taken passes on the film's troubled script, with revisions left and right, Bill Murray has tried to walk off the project, there's been a reported fight between Murray and Lucy Liu that came about due to Murray's ad libs, and numerous production delays.

Apr. 29, 2000
Cusack and Nolte in White Jazz - Nick Nolte will be joining John Cusack for White Jazz, the film version of James Ellroy's (L.A. Confidential) acclaimed noir novel. The two stars will be the leads in director Robert Richardson's first feature, which was adapted by the author himself. Jazz is a hard-boiled tale, set in 1958, that once again involves LAPD officers embroiled in the City of Angels' seedier sides, packed to the gills with murder, scams, and lowlifes. Filming for Jazz will start this summer.

Apr. 27, 2000
Carter Helming Serios - The X-Files series creator/exec-producer Chris Carter has signed a deal to co-write, co-produce and direct a film called The World of Ted Serios, based on the book by Jule Eisenbud, MD. The book is based on the author's true life dealings with a Chicago bellhop in the '60s who seemed to be able to project his thoughts onto unexposed film negatives.

Apr. 25, 2000
Myers in Confessions - Comedian Mike Myers is getting ready to star in Confessions of a Dangerous Mind, a movie based on the autobiography of Gong Show host Chuck Barris who also claims to have been a CIA hitman. The script, written by Charlie Kaufman (Being John Malkovich) is being hailed as the one of the hottest in Hollywood.

Apr. 23, 2000
Gaiman to Direct 'Death' - Writer Neil Gaiman has signed on to direct Death: The High Cost of Living for Miramax films. Gaiman will be directing from his own screenplay, based on his popular DC/Vertigo comic mini-series of the same name. The film will tell the story of the female incarnation of Death, who once every century must assume the form of a mortal and spend a day as a human.

Apr. 20, 2000
Paul Newman Ready to Retire - After dozens of classic film roles and memorable films, one of the finest American actors of the past five decades, 75-year-old Paul Newman, has decided to end his acting career with one last film, what he deems will be his "swan song". Some of his best known films include Cat on a Hot Tin Roof (1958), Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (1973), and The Sting (1973). He will still continue car racing, though...

Apr. 18, 2000
Astérix et Cléopatre Set to Film - French producer Claude Berri is preparing Asterix et Cleopatre - a follow-up to last year's Astérix et Obélix contre César, based on the Rene Goscinny/Albert Uderzo French comic books (or "B.D."). Christian Clavier and Gérard Dépardieu will reprise their roles as mismatched Gallic heroes Astérix and Obélix; Cleopatra has yet to be cast. Shooting is set to begin in September in France, Malta and Morocco with Alain Chabat at the helm.

Apr. 15, 2000
Star Wars: Ep. 2 Set In Digital - Is this the beginning of the end of our favored film stock projection films? Lucasfilm has officially confirmed that Star Wars: Episode Two will be shot entirely in digital, "using a prototype digital acquisition system consisting of a Panavision modified Sony HDW-F900 integrated camera recorder". The press release also states "in comparative shoots with motion picture film, [...] George Lucas and producer, Rick McCallum [were convinced] of the benefits of shooting in digital 24P at 1920 x 1080 HD sampling." Ah, but will they still be called "flicks" if there's no flicker to them?

Apr. 11, 2000
Graham and Depp in Hell - Heather Graham and Johnny Depp are about to take a dark turn through the streets of 1880s London in the Hughes brothers' Jack the Ripper project, From Hell, an adaptation of the graphic novel series by Alan Moore and Eddie Campbell. Depp is slated to star as a Scotland Yard investigator who uncovers a vast political conspiracy that extends to the top of the British Empire, and Graham as an Irish prostitute who becomes a potential target of the notorious killer. From Hell begins filming this July in the Czech Republic.

Apr. 9, 2000
Jet Li In 'Matrix 2' & '3'? - Word has it that Jet Li may be joining The Matrix 2 & 3 projects. Though there are no negotiations going on yet, the Wachowski brothers are keen on having Li come on board. The trade reports that the only barrier in the way is how to fit the action actor into the budget, Li's popularity having increased with the recent success of Romeo Must Die.

Apr. 6, 2000
007 Only at MGM - After years of attempting to launch their own James Bond franchise, Sony and producer Kevin McClory (who co-developed the film version of Thunderball with the late Ian Fleming and remade the film as Never Say Never Again) have been officially stopped by a U.S. Distinct Court Judge. The Judge has determined that MGM has the sole movie rights to Ian Fleming's creation.

Apr. 4, 2000
Spacey In The Shipping News - Oscar winner Kevin Spacey is teaming up with Best Director nominee Lasse Hallstrom for the movie adaptation of a Pulitzer Prize-winning novel, The Shipping News, by E. Annie Proulx. First, though, Spacey will star with Helen Hunt and Haley Joel Osment in the drama Pay It Forward, directed by Mimi Leder. Hallstrom will also tackle another project prior to News - Miramax's Chocolat, with Johnny Depp, Juliette Binoche, and Judi Dench.

Apr. 2, 2000
Moore and Gibson in Earhart? - The big screen adaptation of Jane Mendlesohn's novel, I Was Amelia Earhart, a fictionalized account of what really happened that fateful day in 1937 when she and navigator Fred Noonan vanished near New Guinea. Julianne Moore is the frontrunner for the titular role and rumor has it that Mel Gibson just might fly with Moore for the role of Noonan. Fred Schepisi (Six Degrees of Separation) is set to direct.

Mar. 28, 2000
Academy Award Winners - An unsurprising line up of winners this year, with five of the most important awards (including Best Picture, Director for Sam Mendes, and Actor for Kevin Spacey) going to American Beauty. Best Actress went to newcomer Hilary Swank. How well did I predict the winners? See for yourself. Unfortunately, the real losers, once again, are the poor souls (like me) who actually stayed up and actually watched the whole blamed thing.

Mar. 24, 2000
Academy Awards on March 26, 2000 - It's the season of the Oscars once again, so remember to tape the show and fast forward to whatever juicy bits people tell you to look at the next day. For the curious, I have (just like everyone else, I suppose) put up my own Oscar 1999 list of who I think should win, and who will probably win on Oscar night.

Mar. 22, 2000
Hammer Studios Comes Back to Life - It appears as if the British Hammer Studios, makers of some of the great horror and sci-fi films of the '60s such as the Christopher Lee Dracula films and the Quatermass series among many others, will open their doors once again. A group of entrepreneurs has bought the studio with plans to bring it back to its glorious heydays with plans to return to active film and television production. Nostalgic fans can only hope to see some of their trademark well-crafted atmospheric horror films coming soon.

Mar. 14, 2000
The 18th International Festival of Films on Art, the only one of its kind in North America, is now playing in Montreal from March 14 - 19, 2000 in various locations downtown.  For more information, including schedules, film descriptions, etc. go check out the official site.  Subjects include presentations on artists, writers, Art movements, architecture, and lots more.

Feb. 8, 2000
Diva American-style - After her role playing, aptly enough, a famous pop singer in The Bodyguard, Whitney Houston is set to play the titular role in an upcoming film Diva. Diva is the story of an opera fan who gets mixed up with criminals after making an illegal recording during a concert by his favorite singer. Originally a wonderful 1981 French thriller, Will Smith has secured the rights for the inevitable American remake. Do yourself a favor and see the French version first!

Feb. 5, 2000
Shyamalan Directing Unbreakable - After last summer's surprise hit The Sixth Sense, M. Night Shyamalan's next directorial effort is Unbreakable. With a bigger budget and larger scope, Shyamalan promises that the film will touch on similar subjects as its predecessor, but will be "old style suspense movie". Bruce Willis will play the only survivor of a catastrophic accident, with Julianne Moore as his physical therapist wife and Samuel L. Jackson as a prophetic figure who thinks he knows why Willis survived.

Feb. 3, 2000
Brosnan to do 4 More Bonds? - It appears that we may have Pierce Brosnan around as James Bond for some time to come. Rumor has it that Brosnan is currently in "secret negotiations" to sign up for four more James Bond flicks. By the time it’s done, Brosnan will have made seven 007 films, equaling Roger Moore and Sean Connery's records. Rumor also has it that Brosnan has convinced producers to have the next Bond film set in his native country, Ireland.

Feb. 1, 2000
Sundance Ends With a Tie - Karyn Kusama's gritty urban drama Girlfight and Kenneth Lonergan's family drama You Can Count on Me shared the Sundance Film Festival's Grand Jury Prize. Kusama also won for best director, while Lonergan took the Waldo Salt Screenwriting Award. The biggest buzz of the festival remained the screening of American Psycho, which was at one time to star Leonardo DiCaprio.

Jan. 29, 2000
Godzilla 2000 Coming Soon - After 1998's dismal American Godzilla remake, no one on this side of the ocean would have thought that we'd hear about him again, but the monster is a mainstay of Japanese culture. The latest incarnation, the recent Toho-created Godzilla 2000 Millennium featuring the original Godzilla in battle with a morphing alien creature, has been breaking box-office records in Japan. Plans are for the film to be released in North American theaters in summer 2000. The film is said to have no effect on the still-in-development American Godzilla sequel from Dean Devlin and Roland Emmerich.

Jan. 27, 2000
Soderbergh to Direct Traffic - Stephen Soderbergh's (Out of Sight) future feature, Traffic, based on the British miniseries Traffik, takes an in-depth look at the shady business of drug trafficking, probing past the sensational surface level most prevalent in film. Catherine Zeta-Jones is in talks for a starring role. Soderbergh is also set to direct another movie, a remake of the Rat Pack heist flick Ocean's 11, slated to begin shooting late this fall with George Clooney in the role Frank Sinatra played in the 1960 original.

Jan. 25, 2000
Golden Globe Winners - American Beauty took the prize for best dramatic picture, and its rookie director, Sam Mendes, took the prize for best director. Denzel Washington was deemed best dramatic actor for his role in The Hurricane and Hilary Swank best dramatic actress for Boys Don't Cry. Toy Story 2 picked up the best comedy or musical award beating out critic fave Being John Malkovich, Jim Carrey won for best actor in a comedy for Man on the Moon, and Janet McTeer best actress in a comedy for Tumbleweeds.

Jan. 22, 2000
Hanks and Mann on Caesar - Tom Hanks and Michael Mann (The Insider) are taking on an ambitious film rendition of the showdown between Julius Caesar and Pompey in ancient Rome. Hanks, looking to finally ditch his affable image, would play the fledgling emperor as he mounts a campaign against his one-time friend Pompey to gain absolute rule over the Roman Empire. The idea is being pitched to Disney as the script is being prepared.

Jan. 20, 2000
Jurassic Park 3 Going Ahead - Based on an idea by Steven Spielberg, Jurassic Park 3 is forging ahead into production with a budget set at $83 million. Due to a large plate of projects already in front of him, Spielberg will not be directing the film, passing it on instead to his long-time collaborator Joe Johnston. JP3 promises a new cast and will feature new dinosaurs (including flying ones) causing havoc on the screen using techniques created for last summer's Star Wars: The Phantom Menace.

Jan. 18, 2000
Academy Lists Documentary Prelims - Having neglected some of the best documentaries from their lists in recent years (including Hearts of Darkness, Roger & Me, Hoop Dreams, among others), the Academy seems to have listened to critics for its latest picks. Among the 12 selected: Buena Vista Social Club, Mr. Death, Genghis Blues, American Movie, and The Source. The final five nominees will be announced next month.

Jan. 15, 2000
Fincher to Direct Passengers - David Fincher (The Game, Fight Club) may be a directing a sci-fi drama called Passengers, based on a short story by Robert Silverberg. The premise is about alien beings that invade and take control of the human body for three-day joy rides, engaging in wild and violent debauchery. As society crumbles from the onslaught, one man becomes intent on seeking out a woman he met while under the alien's influence.

Jan. 12, 2000
De Bont Helming Dust - Jan De Bont (Speed, Twister) is coming on board a production called Dust. Based on the book by Charles Pellegrino, its the ecological disaster story of clouds of dust that devour living creatures and the group of scientists gathered to stop one of Earth’s cycles of extinction apparently targeting humanity. De Bont will produce the film through his Blue Tulip production company for Warner Bros./Village Roadshow.

Jan. 9, 2000
Disney's Dinosaur - Disney is hoping to repeat Jurassic Park business with the long-in-development film Dinosaurs, reportedly the most expensive Disney film yet, already topping $200 million. Using photo-realistic computer-generated creatures, it's the story of a group of dinosaurs fighting for survival after a meteor hits the Earth. An impressive trailer has already been shown in conjunction with Toy Story 2.

Jan. 4, 2000
Raimi to Do The Gift - Director Sam Raimi (Evil Dead, A Simple Plan) is going back to his roots with a supernatural suspense-thriller called The Gift. The modestly budgeted flick (said to be around $10 million) stars Cate Blanchett as a psychic called in to solve a crime and, playing against type, Keanu Reeves as a wife-beating murder suspect. Reeves, getting ready to film the back-to-back sequels to The Matrix, is said to be taking a pay cut to be in the film.

Jan. 2, 2000
Disney's Latest is Kingdom in the Sun - Currently scheduled to open mid-2000, the comedy Kingdom in the Sun will be Walt Disney Picture's 38th feature length animated film. The typical Disney plot will be set against the backdrop of a mythical South American country, so expect some pretty Inca / Aztec / Maya - influenced scenery, characters and locales with music provided by Sting. 

Dec. 31, 1999
Foster Passes on Hannibal - After months of speculation, Jodie Foster confirmed that she will not be reprising her role for the Silence of the Lambs sequel. She is set to direct instead the movie Flora Plum, starring Claire Danes. The X-Files' Gillian Anderson has been long rumored as a possible replacement to Foster, but no official word has been given as yet. Hopkins will be back, with director Ridley Scott at the helm.

Dec. 28, 1999
Disney To Greet Y2K With Fantasia Celebration - Disney is jumping on the Y2K party band-wagon with a $2000-a-ticket black-tie gala on New Year's Eve in Pasadena where Fantasia 2000 will be screened for the first time, accompanied live by the 120-piece London Philharmonia Orchestra, conducted by Derrick Inouye. The affair will also include performances by Chicago and Big Bad Voodoo Daddy as well as an "Epicurean Feast" and fireworks. Another Y2K excess...

Dec. 25, 1999
Malkovich stars in Vampire - Shadow of the Vampire, starring John Malkovich, has been given a tentative U.S. release date of June 2000. The $8-million thriller chronicles the making of the 1922 German film classic Nosferatu, one of the earliest movie versions of the Dracula story.

Dec. 21, 1999
Golden Globes Nominations Are Out - The Hollywood Foreign Press Association has announced its nominated films for 1999. In the best dramatic film category: American Beauty (with the most nominations), The End of the Affair, The Hurricane, The Insider and The Talented Mr. Ripley. In the best comedy or musical category: Analyze This, Being John Malkovich, Man on the Moon, Notting Hill and Toy Story 2. Not quite the "best" of the year, hmm?

Dec. 19, 1999
Branagh To Play Wells - Kenneth Branagh is in negotiations to take on the role of Orson Welles in an unusual mystery thriller, Fade to Black. The film, which will be helmed by Oliver Parker from a script by John Sayles, will tell the story of a series of murders that take place at Rome’s Cinecitta Studios in post-World War II. The deaths happen on the set of Welles’ current production prompting the filmmaker to investigate.

Dec. 16, 1999
Sunshine Nominated for 14 Genies - The Robert Lantos-produced drama Sunshine received 14 Genie nominations, including best film, best director (Istvan Szabo) best actor (Ralph Fiennes) and best actress (Jennifer Ehle). Other Canadian films vying for best picture are: eXistenZ, Felicia's Journey, The Five Senses, Histoires d'hiver and Post Mortem. The awards will be handed out live on Jan. 30.

Dec. 14, 1999
Rings Debut In 2001 - Director Peter Jackson says that the first installment of his Lord of the Rings movie trilogy will hit theaters in 2001. The three films (now being shot back to back in New Zealand) will be released in six- to nine-month intervals. There will be more than 1,000 special effects created for the trilogy, which Jackson is shooting for $180 million over a 15-month span.

Dec. 11, 1999
Prisoner’ Movie Going Forward - Simon West (Con Air, The Generals’ Daughter) has signed on to develop and direct a big screen version of the cult classic TV series The Prisoner. Promising to avoid doing a "cheesy remake", West says that the film will be "as radical as that series was back then, with the theme of a man fighting the system after he’s fallen down the rabbit hole."

Dec. 9, 1999
Gilliam Helming ‘Good Omens’ - Terry Gilliam (Brazil) is set to script and direct the screen version of the book Good Omens by Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett, a hilarious Apocalyptic tale of the Devil battling angels on Earth.

Dec. 6, 1999
Sundance 2000 - The Sundance Film Festival, the leading U.S. showcase for independent pictures to be held in Park City, Utah from January 20 to 30, unveiled a lineup of 112 movies from 1,650 submissions this week for its 2000 installment. A record number of women filmmakers, and full digital productions are set to debut. You can get more info at www.sundancechannel.com/festival00/.

Dec. 3, 1999
The Body Controversy - Antonio Banderas hopes to avoid the controversy that has plagued films like Dogma and The Last Temptation of Christ for his next role in the film called The Body. Banderas is set to play a Catholic clergyman whose faith is tested when he must investigate the discovery of the body of Christ in the Holy Land. 

Dec. 1, 1999
Lindbergh by Spielberg - Apart from A.I., and Memoirs of a Geisha, Spielberg is also interested in bringing the biography of the larger-than-life aviator Charles Lindbergh to the screen, promising to show the historical figure's life "unflinchingly", that is both his heroic accomplishments and his less savory private and public life.

Nov. 29, 1999
Ridley Scott on Hannibal - Now that Ridley Scott's latest endeavor, the large-scale Gladiator, has finished principal photography, the director is putting his sights on the long-awaited sequel to Silence of the Lambs, Hannibal. Scott admitted that the book's ending will be altered for the film version.

Nov. 24, 1999
Spiritual End to End of Days - It seems that Hollywood is doing its own self-censoring these days by getting various religious groups' opinions on movies that may offend some religious sensibilities. After The Prince of Egypt, it seems that the ending of the new Schwarzenegger film End of Days was changed from a gun-blazing climax to a more spiritual one to satisfy community religious leaders. Wonder what they would have said about Dogma...

Nov. 23, 1999
Pearl Harbor set at $145M - The massive film project Pearl Harbor by director Michael Bay (The Rock, Armageddon) has just received the OK on one of the largest pre-established (not final - that's to come) budget ever, with an original budget estimated to be in the $145M range (down from the original $200M). Most of that will be taken up by Bay’s desire to accurately recreate the bombing of Pearl Harbor.

Nov. 20, 1999
Ang Lee's "Crouching Tiger" - Director Ang Lee has always been known for his light hearted comedies and beautiful dramas (Sense and Sensibility, The Ice Storm). Now Lee is currently shooting in China one of his most peculiar films to date: Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon starring Chow Yun Fat and Michelle Yeoh, which promises to be a fantasy martial arts film in the grand tradition.

Nov. 19, 1999
Michael Jackson as Poe? - Michael Jackson (yes, the singer) is being tapped to play the leading role in The Nightmare of Edgar Allan Poe, which will tell the story of Poe's last week of life. Lessee now: Poe, skinny, with an effeminate voice and manner? Talk about a post-modern take on the author... <sigh>

Nov. 17, 1999
Spielberg Eyeing ‘A.I.’ - It seems that Steven Spielberg may be directing (and even writing) one of the late Stanley Kubrick’s last projects, A.I., about intelligent robots in a post-apocalyptic, flooded world (Waterworld, anyone?). With other projects vying for his attention (including the delayed Minority Report with Tom Cruise), don't expect to see it anytime soon.

Nov. 14, 1999
Jar-Jar Binks will be back - Lucas has officially announced that the most hated animated character in history, Jar-Jar Binks from this summer's Star Wars: The Phantom Menace, will be back in Episode 2. Here's to hoping he'll get killed off by Skywalker: that would make a good starting point for Anakin's descent into the Dark Side, no?

Nov. 12, 1999
Ready for Terminator 4? - The owners of the Terminator copyright are moving forward to make T3 and T4 back to back. The films, focusing on an adult John Connor, will be set during the first major confrontation with Skynet and after the nuclear devastation. James Cameron is not involved, but there's a small hope that Schwarzenegger may decide to join. The producers are hoping for a 2001 release.

Nov. 10, 1999
Hannibal - Interesting developments concerning Hannibal, the sequel to The Silence of the Lambs: apart from tweaking the ending, screenwriter David Mamet may have to revamp the Jodie Foster character after the actress showed reluctance in following the footsteps of the novel. Anthony Hopkins is also interested in reprising his role as the title character, but is waiting to see how things turn out. Jonathan Demme, the original director, will not take over the reigns for the sequel.