Willem Dafoe orbits 'Mars' Actor to star in Disney fantasy pic
By MICHAEL FLEMING
Willem Dafoe will star alongside Taylor Kitsch and Lynn Collins in "John Carter of Mars," the Walt Disney Pictures fantasy epic to be directed by "Wall-E" helmer Andrew Stanton.
Dafoe will play the role of Tars Tarkas, a fierce green Martian warrior, who's unusual among his savage race for his ability to love. Tars develops an alliance with John Carter in the first film, which is based on "A Princess of Mars."
He fights battles alongside Carter through the entire series of Edgar Rice Burroughs books, so he will be hanging around for sequels.
Kitsch, who's coming off "The Bang Bang Club" and the TV series "Friday Night Lights," was set in June to play the title character, a damaged Civil War vet who finds himself mysteriously transported to Mars. Collins, who acted alongside Kitsch in "Wolverine," will play the Princess of Mars.
Jim Morris and Colin Wilson are producing. Stanton wrote the script with Mark Andrews.
Ed Helms to star in 'Rapids' Payne to produce 'Cedar,' shooting begins October
By MICHAEL FLEMING
Ed Helms will follow "The Hangover" with "Cedar Rapids," an Alexander Payne-produced comedy to be directed by Miguel Arteta.
Shooting will begin in October, when Helms is on hiatus from NBC sitcom "The Office."
Helms will play a sad-sack insurance agent who goes to an industry convention to try to save the jobs of his colleagues. Script was written by Phil Johnston, who developed it with Helms.
Several distributors are vying for the film, but the deal is expected to go to Fox Searchlight, which distributed the Payne-directed "Sideways."
Payne is producing with Jim Burke and Jim Taylor through their Ad Hominem Enterprises banner. Helms is executive producer.
Arteta most recently completed comedy "Youth in Revolt."
Helms is currently writing with script partner Jake Fleisher an untitled Civil War comedy for Warner Bros. Helms intends to star, and his "The Office" co-star Steve Carell is producing through his Warner Bros.-based Carousel banner.
Scott Speedman, Bruce Greenwood and Macha Grenon are joining the cast of Richard Lewis' "Barney's Version," which begins principal photography Aug. 17 in Rome.
Based on the Mordecai Richler novel, adapted for the screen by Michael Konyves, "Barney's" stars Paul Giamatti, Dustin Hoffman, Minnie Driver, Rosamund Pike and Rachelle Lefevre in the tale of a man (Giamatti) suffering from Alzheimer's as he recounts his turbulent life.
Speedman will play Boogie, Barney's best friend who mysteriously disappears. Greenwood has been tapped to appear as Blair, Barney's rival in love. Grenon will play Solange, another close friend of Barney's.
Serendipity Point Films' Robert Lantos is producing. Co-producers are Lyse Lafontaine, Domenico Procacci and Ari Lantos. Mark Musselman is exec producer.
Morgan Freeman in talks to star in 'Red' Actor eyes Summit thriller starring Bruce Willis
By DAVE MCNARY
Morgan Freeman is in talks to star alongside Bruce Willis in Summit Entertainment's espionage thriller "Red," based on the WildStorm/DC Comic.
Lorenzo di Bonaventura and Mark Vahradian are producing with DC exec Gregory Noveck serving as exec producer. Brothers Erich Hoeber and Jon Hoeber are penning the script.
Summit acquired rights to "Red," originally written by Warren Ellis and illustrated by Cully Hamner, last year. The three-book series, published in 2003 and 2004, tells the story of a former black-ops CIA agent now living a quiet life in retirement until the day a high-tech assassin shows up intent on killing him.
Freeman's toplining Nelson Mandela biopic "Invictus," directed by Clint Eastwood for Warner Bros. with a December release date.
Negotiatiating to star opposite Julia Roberts in adaptation
By Jay A. Fernandez
Oscar nominee Viola Davis is negotiating to take a role in Columbia's "Eat, Pray, Love" opposite Julia Roberts and Richard Jenkins. Her scheduling is being worked out.
Ryan Murphy has written the adaptation of Elizabeth Gilbert's memoir and will direct the film about a woman (Roberts) who sets out on an international journey of self-discovery after enduring a terrible divorce. Plan B and Red Om Films are producing.
Davis, who was nominated this year for best supporting actress for her role in "Doubt," would play the woman's best friend, Delia.
The actress, who is represented by APA and Principal Entertainment, had recent roles in "Madea Goes to Jail" and "State of Play." She will next appear on the big screen in the Overture/Film Department thriller "Law Abiding Citizen," which hits theaters in March.
Nic Cage in talks for 'Green Hornet' Cameron Diaz negotiating for love interest role
By MICHAEL FLEMING
Columbia Pictures is in early talks with Nicolas Cage to play the gangster villain in "The Green Hornet."
Cameron Diaz is negotiating to play a reporter and love interest in the Michel Gondry-directed pic that stars Seth Rogen as the masked crime fighter.
The picture is moving full steam ahead for a fall start date, even as the studio looks to replace Stephen Chow, who was going to play sidekick Kato. Rogen and Evan Goldberg wrote the script and Neal Moritz is producing through his Original Films banner.
The picture is set for release next summer.
Cage just completed "The Sorcerer's Apprentice" and remake "The Bad Lieutenant." Diaz is booked to star with Tom Cruise in the untitled James Mangold-directed action comedy that had formerly been titled "Wichita," for 20th Century Fox.
Uma Thurman is a 'Girl Soldier' Actress to star in drama about Uganda schoolgirls
By DAVE MCNARY
Uma Thurman will topline indie drama "Girl Soldier" for Caspian Pictures, portraying a cleric who helped rescue 140 schoolgirls abducted in Uganda.
Producing are Diane Nabatoff ("Narc"), Allan Mindel ("My Own Private Idaho") and Will Raee, with Raee to direct from a script by Stephanie Pinola and Karen Croner. Producers are eyeing a first-quarter shoot.
Story's based on Kathy Cook's book "Stolen Angels," which follows the 1996 raid at a boarding school, where a band of armed rebels abducted young girls to turn them into soldiers and sex slaves.
A teacher at the school, Sister Caroline, tracked the rebels back to their camp to demand the girls' release; 110 were returned to the nun, who then began a crusade over the next few years as she rallied parents, the government, the United Nations and the pope to aid in rescuing not only her own girls but other children in rebel captivity.
"This is a film that had to get made," Thurman said. "It's beyond me that in this day and age the exploitation of child soldiers goes virtually unnoticed and unchecked by Western media.""Girl Soldier" marks Pinola's screenwriting debut. Croner's credits include "One True Thing," "Dexterity," "Daughter of the Queen of Sheba" and "Tulia."
Caspian Pictures was founded by Raee and Brian Bullock last year with the goal of making socially conscious and commercially viable films with mass audience appeal.
Screen Gems and Jennifer Aniston are teaming up to tell a tale of lingering racial tensions in the Deep South.
The company has acquired "Holler" (aka "Mutt"), written by Dana Adam Shapiro. The film will be produced by Aniston's partner at Echo Films, Kristin Hahn, along with Tracey Durning. Aniston will executive produce with Jeff Mandel.
Inspired by true events, the script centers on a biracial high school student who returns with his white mother to her hometown in Mississippi, where he falls for a white girl. When prom season arrives at the high school, he is shocked to discover that she cannot be his date at the segregated prom. He soon finds himself the catalyst for change for not only the prom but for the school and entire town.
Screen Gems, which picked the script out of turnaround from Participant Pictures, is tapping into the zeitgeist with the story. HBO on Monday aired a documentary on the subject titled "Prom Night in Mississippi."
Screen Gems president Clint Culpepper and senior vp production Shannon Gaulding will oversee the project for the studio.
Shapiro is best known for co-directing the Oscar-nominated documentary "Murderball." He also wrote "The Every Boy," which is set up at Paramount with Plan B producing, and his animated short "My Biodegradable Heart" premiered at the 2007 Tribeca Film Festival. He is repped by RWSH Agency and Untitled Management.
Josh Gad joins Jake Gyllenhaal, Anne Hathaway in cast
By Borys Kit
Actor/comedian Josh Gad has joined Jake Gyllenhaal and Anne Hathaway in the business-world drama "Love and Other Drugs" at Fox 2000/New Regency.
Ed Zwick ("Defiance") is directing the project, formerly titled "Pharma," which Charles Randolph ("The Interpreter") adapted from Jamie Reidy's nonfiction book "Hard Sell: The Evolution of a Viagra Salesman."
The story follows a salesman (Gyllenhaal) who competes in the cutthroat world of pharmaceuticals to hawk a male performance enhancement drug and enters into a relationship with a woman (Hathaway) with Parkinson's disease. Gad has been cast as Gyllenhaal's brother, a vulgar but successful dot-com entrepreneur who moves in with Gyllenhaal.
Zwick and his Bedford Falls partner Marshall Herskovitz are producing along with Scott Stuber, who originated the project. Randolph is also producing.
Repped by ICM and Urge Artists, Gad appears regularly as a news correspondent on Comedy Central's "The Daily Show." His film credits include "21," directed by Robert Luketic, as well as "The Rocker," Fox Atomic's comedy starring Rainn Wilson.
WB, DiCaprio in 'Zone' with Ravich Duo hire writer to adapt classic TV series
By DAVE MCNARY
Warner Bros. and Leonardo DiCaprio's Appian Way are moving ahead on a "Twilight Zone" movie, hiring Rand Ravich to pen a script based on the iconic TV series, which melded fantasy, science-fiction and horror elements.
Studio first set up the project with the Warner-based shingle a year ago.
Ravich's feature credits include directing "The Astronaut's Wife" and exec producing "Confessions of a Dangerous Mind." He also created NBC's detective series "Life."
The original "Twilight Zone" series ran for five seasons starting in 1959 on CBS, with Rod Serling creating the skein and writing more than half of the 156 episodes.
Warners released the previous bigscreen incarnation of the property, 1983's "Twilight Zone: The Movie," with Steven Spielberg and John Landis producing and directing segments.
Downey down for WB 'Date' Actor to star with Galifianakis in Phillips comedy
By MICHAEL FLEMING
Warner Bros. has set Robert Downey Jr. to star with Zach Galifianakis in "Due Date," the Todd Phillips-directed comedy that begins production this fall.
Downey will play an expectant father on a road trip with a mismatched partner, racing to get to the birth of his first child.
Phillips will produce through his Green Hat banner with Daniel Goldberg. Scott Budnick will be executive producer.
Galifianakis, who delivered a breakout performance this summer in the Phillips-directed comedy "The Hangover," will play Downey's road trip mate in a comedy that Phillips calls "a buddy comedy without the buddies."
Script was written by Alan R. Cohen and Alan Freedland and revised by Adam Sztykiel. Shooting will begin Sept. 21 and take place in Atlanta, New Mexico and Los Angeles.
Deal comes just after the $34 million budgeted "The Hangover" crossed the $240 million domestic B.O. mark to pass "Beverly Hills Cop" and become the highest grossing R-rated comedy of all time.
Downey firmed his deal as he appeared at Comic-Con to promote Warner Bros.' Christmas release of Guy Ritchie's "Sherlock Holmes" and Paramount and Marvel's May 7 release of Jon Favreau's "Iron Man 2."
Starring opposite Natalie Portman in Aronofsky's drama
By Steven Zeitchik
SAN DIEGO -- Mila Kunis will be Natalie Portman's nemesis.
The actress is in discussions to star opposite Portman in Darren Aronofsky's supernatural drama "Black Swan." The pic centers on a talented ballerina (Portman) in the New York City Ballet who is tormented by a rival who might or might not be a figment of the dancer's imagination.
Kunis will play the rival, Lilly, with strange occurrences between the two increasing as they prepare for a big performance.
Kunis, who broke out with her role as Jason Segel's love interest in last year's "Forgetting Sarah Marshall," was among the standouts at Comic-Con during the weekend. The actress, repped by CAA and Curtis Management, turned out to promote turns in Denzel Washington starrer "The Book of Eli," the Ben Affleck-toplined comedy "Extract" and her voice role in the animated Fox series "Family Guy."
Kunis also is set to co-star in the relationship comedy "Date Night" alongside Steve Carell and Tina Fey.
"Swan" is set to begin shooting in the fall in New York. Aronofksy's Protozoa Pictures is producing with Mike Medavoy's Phoenix Pictures. The project is being financed independently, with Michael London's Groundswell Prods. believed to be one of the lead financiers.
The project does not have distribution, but Fox Searchlight, which distributed Aronofsky's "The Wrestler," could come on board as it moves into production.
Cast includes Christine Lahti, Maggie Grace, Cary Elwes
By Jay A. Fernandez
Indie drama "Flying Lessons" is preparing for takeoff.
Christine Lahti, Maggie Grace, Hal Holbrook, Cary Elwes, Jonathan Tucker and Joanna Cassidy have been cast in the story of a young woman coming to terms with her father's suicide when she returns to her small town. First-timer Derek Magyar will direct from a screenplay by Thomas Kuehl.
Benjamin Statler is producing, Mark Johnson ("My Sister's Keeper") is executive producing. Filming is scheduled to begin Aug. 24 in Santa Ynez, Calif.
Magyar, an actor whose credits include "Boy Culture" and "Star Trek: Enterprise," is the son of Dezso Magyar, who ran the American Film Institute for 14 years and is now a film professor at Chapman University. The younger Magyar is repped by Fortitude.
Kuehl, a development exec at Ryan Murphy Prods., reached the semifinals of the Nicholl Fellowship with his script.
Lahti is repped by ICM and Management 360, Grace by ICM and 1 Management, Holbrook by Abrams Artists Agency, Elwes by APA and Kritzer Levine Wilkins, Tucker by WME and Booh Schut and Cassidy by Stone Manners Agency and Evolution Entertainment.
Hamm, Hall join Affleck in 'Town' Actors to star in adaptation of Hogan novel
By MICHAEL FLEMING
Jon Hamm and Rebecca Hall will star with Ben Affleck in "The Town," the Warner Bros./Legendary Pictures adaptation of the Chuck Hogan novel.
Affleck is directing, and playing a bank robber who becomes smitten with the teller of a bank he held up. She makes him want to go straight, but she is also the FBI's golden ticket to catching Boston's most wanted bank robber.
Hamm plays the FBI agent who also becomes infatuated with the bank employee, played by Hall.
Graham King is producing through his GK Films banner. Affleck rewrote the draft by Peter Craig and Hogan.
Pic will shoot next month in Boston, where Affleck filmed his directorial debut "Gone Baby Gone."
"Mad Men" star Hamm is coming off the Rob Epstein-Jeffrey Friedman-directed "Howl," the drama about the obscenity trial of Allen Ginsberg after the publication of his poem.
Hall ("Vicky Cristina Barcelona") will next be seen in the Nicole Holofcener-directed "Please Give."
Josh Radnor's 'Happy' to helm 'Mother' star makes feature directing debut
By MICHAEL FLEMING
"How I Met Your Mother" star Josh Radnor has made his feature directing debut on "HappyThankYouMorePlease."
Radnor wrote the script and starred in the comedy alongside Malin Akerman, Kate Mara, Richard Jenkins, Zoe Kazan, Pablo Schreiber and Tony Hale.
The comedy follows the lives and loves of six New Yorkers not quite ready to embrace adulthood.
The pic was produced by Tom Sawyer Entertainment's Jesse Hara and Paper Street Films' Benji Kohn, Austin Stark and Chris Papavasiliou. Glenn Williamson, Peter Sterling and Bingo Gubelmann are exec producers.
Radnor worked on the script for several years, writing during down time from the CBS sitcom. Finding the funding was the next hurdle.
"I took meetings for a long time, and everybody said they loved the script and couldn't wait to see it, but did I have anything a little bigger, because this is a little small for us," Radnor said.
The funding came together in time for Radnor to shoot in New York during his series hiatus. He just wrapped and will edit while back to work on the series.
"The script had gained fans, and we got a great cast," Radnor said. "The hardest thing was switching back and forth from director to actor, though giving direction in the middle of those scenes gave me a weird and intoxicating sense of ultimate power."
Richard Linklater favors 'Liars' Director nearing deal for film
By SHARON SWART
Richard Linklater ("School of Rock") is nearing a deal to direct "Liars (A-E)" for Scott Rudin and Miramax.
Project, penned by Emma Forrest, is a romantic comedy about a woman who, on the way to President Obama's inauguration, retrieves lost items from her ex-boyfriends.
Kat Dennings is set to play the woman's pal.
Linklater's most recent directorial effort is "Me and Orson Welles," which bowed at the Toronto Film Festival last year.
'Barney's Version' completes casting Film starts to shoot Aug. 17 in Rome
By DAVE MCNARY
Mark Addy, Maury Chaykin, Saul Rubinek, Jake Hoffman, Anna Hopkins; Cle Bennett and Harvey Atkin are rounding out the cast of "Barney's Version," starring Paul Giamatti and Dustin Hoffman.
Lensing begins Aug. 17 in Rome with Richard Lewis directing from the Michael Konyves script, based on the novel by Mordecai Richler.
Story's title character has led a reckless life highlighted by three marriages, two children and status as a "person of interest" in the mysterious disappearance of his bosom buddy.
Robert Lantos is producing through his Serendipity Point banner. Co-producers are Lyse Lafontaine, Domenico Procacci and Ari Lantos with Mark Musselman exec producing.
Charlize Theron ready for 'Arabia' Actress sets Christopher Buckley book
By MICHAEL FLEMING
Charlize Theron's Denver and Delilah Films has acquired screen rights to Christopher Buckley's satirical novel "Florence of Arabia." Theron will produce and develop the film as a star vehicle.
Pic will be written by Dean Craig.
"Florence of Arabia" is about a State Dept. employee (to be played by Theron) who, after watching her friend marry the prince of a Middle East country and subsequently get executed, fights for equal rights for the women of that country.
Theron will produce through Denver and Delilah. The Johnson-Roessler Co. will be exec producer.
Craig is writing "The French Exchange" for Pathe and Forward Films, and he scripted "Fresh," a seven-episode series that airs on BBC in September. He also wrote "Death at a Funeral," the 2007 comedy that is being remade by director Neil LaBute for Screen Gems.
Theron is repped by One Talent Management and WME, Craig by UTA and Principal Entertainment.
Bryce Dallas Howard joins 'Twilight' Actress joins cast of 'Eclipse'
By MARC GRASER
Bryce Dallas Howard has joined the cast of "The Twilight Saga: Eclipse," the third installment in Summit Entertainment's vampire franchise. She replaces Rachelle Lefevre as the character of Victoria.
Lefevre originated the role in "Twilight" and appears in the upcoming sequel "New Moon," but Summit says scheduling conflicts forced her to leave the picture.
Pic starts shooting in Vancouver in August under the direction of David Slade. "Eclipse" has a release date of June 30, 2010.
"We are incredibly happy that Bryce has agreed to come into the franchise," said Erik Feig, Summit's president of worldwide production and acquisitions. "Rachelle brought Victoria to great screen life and Bryce will bring a new dimension to the character. The franchise is lucky to have such a talented actress as Bryce coming in to fill the role."
Howard most recently appeared in "Terminator Salvation." Her credits include "Spider-Man 3," "Lady in the Water" and "The Village."
Amanda Crew to star opposite Zac Efron in adaptation
By Borys Kit
Amanda Crew has signed to star opposite Zac Efron in "Charlie St. Cloud," Universal's supernatural romantic drama that's being directed by Burr Steers. Marc Platt is producing.
An adaptation of the Ben Sherwood novel, the story centers on a cemetery caretaker (Efron) who has weekly meetings with his younger brother, whose accidental death he blames on himself. He meets a young woman (Crew) believed to be missing in a sailing accident and begins a romantic relationship with her but soon wonders if she is an apparition on the way to the next life.
Steers rewrote the screenplay's most recent draft by Lewis Colick.
Universal's Donna Langley, Kristin Lowe and Anikah McLaren are overseeing the project for the studio.
Crew, repped by IFA Talent Agency and Play Management, starred in the recent comedy "Sex Drive" and appeared in the horror hit "The Haunting in Connecticut."
