James Franco to star in 'Shadows' Anania film begins production June 15
By MICHAEL FLEMING
James Franco is set to star in "In Praise of Shadows," an indie drama written and directed by Jay Anania. Pic will start production June 15 in New York City.
Anania is head of the directing program at the graduate film school at NYU, where Franco just completed his first year, while simultaneously completing his master's degree in English at Columbia U.
The drama tells the story of William Vincent (Franco), and recounts his eccentric and curious journey that brought him back to New York City after four years in exile to rescue the woman he loves from a crime syndicate.
Pic will be produced through Franco's Rabbit Bandini Prods. banner by Vince Jolivette, Miles Levy and Piers Richardson.
The film has a budget of less than $10 million, and is being produced in association with the Final Cut Collective, Black Acre Entertainment and Limerick Films, all of which are financing.
Franco liked the script and was able to work it into his schedule before heading off to Ireland to star opposite his "Pineapple Express" cohort Danny McBride and Natalie Portman in "Your Highness," the David Gordon Green-directed Universal comedy. Then it's back to fall classes for Franco.
Anania, who most recently wrote and directed the 2006 pic "Day on Fire," gave high marks to Franco.
"I was immediately struck by his inventiveness and talent," he said.
Diane Lane takes reins of 'Secretariat' Randall Wallace set to direct Disney film
By MICHAEL FLEMING
Diane Lane is set to star in "Secretariat," the Disney film about the relationship between the 1973 Triple Crown-winning racehorse and his owner, Penny Chenery.
Randall Wallace is directing the film this fall from a script by Mike Rich.
Mayhem partners Mark Ciardi and Gordon Gray are producing.
While Secretariat showed potential before the horse became the first Triple Crown winner in 25 years, Chenery's rise to become "first lady of racing" was the real underdog story.
Lane will play Chenery, a mother and housewife who knew little about horse racing when she took over her ailing father's farm in Virginia.
Around the time that Secretariat established himself as a horse with serious potential, she was pressured to sell him and everything else after her father died and she was hit with a large inheritance tax.
Matt Prokop has joined the cast of Summit Entertainment and Participant Media's family comedy "Furry Vengeance."
He will star opposite Brendan Fraser as a sarcastic city kid transplanted to the country after his father moves them there to build a housing subdivision. The two do battle with local wildlife fed up with intrusions into their Oregon wilderness.
Roger Kumble ("Just Friends") is directing the screenplay written by Michael Carnes and Josh Gilbert ("Mr. Wood****"). Robert Simonds and Keith Goldberg are producing.
Filming is scheduled to begin July 6 for a potential July 2010 release.
Prokop, repped by APA and Management 360, most recently appeared in "High School Musical 3: Senior Year." He also has appeared on "The Office" and "Hannah Montana."
To star in adaptation of graphic novel series for Universal
By Borys Kit and Jay A. Fernandez
Universal has picked up "Lunch Lady," a children's graphic novel series written and illustrated by Jarrett Krosoczka, with Amy Poehler attached to star. Poehler will executive produce along with the Gotham Group's Ellen Goldsmith-Vein set to produce.
Sarah Haskins and Emily Halpern are penning the adaptation.
The "Lady" series, the first of which will be unveiled at the end of July by Knopf Books for Young Readers, centers on a mild-mannered school cafeteria server who secretly dishes out helpings of justice as she and her assistant investigate wrongdoings. The books also feature three kids who try to figure out her double life.
The titles include "Lunch Lady and the League of Librarians" and "Lunch Lady and the Cyborg Substitute," both of which are due this summer. "Lunch Lady and the Author Visit Vendetta" is scheduled to be released in December and "Lunch Lady and the Summer Camp Shakedown" is set for summer 2010.
Krosoczka, repped by Writers House and Gotham, is the author-illustrator of books "Punk Farm" and "Max for President."
Universal vp production Kristen Lowe will oversee the project for the studio. Gotham's Lee Stollman and Eddie Gamarra are exec producing.
UTA-repped Haskins, a writer and correspondent for Current TV's "InfoMania," and WME-repped Halpern, who was a writer on CBS' "The Unit," wrote the spec "Booksmart," which recently sold to Fox.
Poehler, repped by WME and 3 Arts Entertainment, stars in NBC's "Parks and Recreation." She starred in "Baby Mama" opposite Tina Fey.
Chris O'Dowd has been cast in the Fox comedy "Gulliver's Travels."
The actor joins Jack Black, Jason Segel, Amanda Peet and Emily Blunt in the big-budget adaptation of the classic Jonathan Swift story.
The modern version is about the adventures of travel writer Lemuel Gulliver, who while on a Bermuda Triangle assignment gets sidetracked to the secret island of Lilliput. O'Dowd will play Edward, Black's Lilliputian nemesis.
Rob Letterman ("Monsters vs. Aliens") is directing from a screenplay originally penned by Joe Stillman ("Shrek 2"), with additional work done by Nicholas Stoller ("Yes Man") and Thomas Lennon & Robert Ben Garant ("Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian").
Black, John Davis and Ben Cooley are producing.
O'Dowd, who is repped by UTA, Gordon & French in the U.K. and 3 Arts Entertainment, had roles in the feature "The Boat That Rocked" and in the British series "The IT Crowd."
Kitsch, Collins to star in 'John Carter' Andrew Stanton helming Disney's fantasy epic
By MICHAEL FLEMING
Walt Disney Pictures has set "Wolverine" stars Taylor Kitsch and Lynn Collins to star in "John Carter of Mars," a fantasy epic that marks the live action directorial debut of "Wall-E" helmer Andrew Stanton.
Kitsch, a member of the "Friday Night Lights" ensemble who made his screen breakthrough as Gambit in "X-Men Origins: Wolverine," will play the title character, a damaged Civil War veteran who finds himself mysteriously transported to Mars where his involvements with warring raced of the dying planet force him to rediscover his humanity.
Collins will play Dejah Thoris, the Princess of Mars. Collins worked with Kitsch in "Wolverine," playing Hugh Jackman's character's love interest Kayla Silverfox. She also co-stars in the HBO vampire drama "True Blood."
Pic will begin filming early next year. Jim Morris and Colin Wilson are producing. Stanton wrote the script with Mark Andrews.
Young newcomer Skyler Samuels has joined the cast of Summit Entertainment and Participant Media's family comedy "Furry Vengeance."
Samuels will play Amber, the romantic interest of a sarcastic city kid (Matt Prokop) whose father (Brendan Fraser) moves them to rural Oregon. There, they are forced to scrap with local wildlife irked by the intrusion.
Roger Kumble is directing the screenplay written by Michael Carnes and Josh Gilbert. Robert Simonds and Keith Goldberg are producing.
Filming is scheduled to begin July 6 for a potential July 2010 release.
Samuels, who is repped by Mosaic and the Osbrink Talent Agency, makes her feature debut in "The Stepfather," which Screen Gems will release in October. She also had a recurring role on the Disney Channel series "Wizards of Waverly Place."
Darren Aronofsky's "Black Swan" could soon be taking flight.
After being set up in early 2007 at Universal, the project -- a supernatural thriller set in the world of New York City ballet -- has been reconstituted after being put into turnaround by the studio. It has been making the rounds to studios and specialty divisions, several of which are keenly interested.
Among the elements giving it a boost: Natalie Portman is attached to play the lead.
Several other changes have occurred since the Aronofsky-helmed project was first developed by Universal.
Mark Heyman, a development exec at Aronofsky's Protozoa Pictures, has done a rewrite of John McLaughlin's original script for the pic, which Mike Medavoy's Phoenix Pictures and Protozoa are producing.
Aronofsky, meanwhile, has gone on to helm the critical and commercial favorite "The Wrestler," putting him in high demand.
CAA packaged and is selling "Swan"; it also reps Portman and Aronofsky.
"Swan" centers on a veteran ballerina (Portman) who finds herself locked in a competitive situation with a rival dancer, with the stakes and twists increasing as the dancers approach a big performance. But it's unclear whether the rival is a supernatural apparition or if the protagonist is simply having delusions.
Those who've read the script say it's a spine-tingler with elements of "The Others," the Nicole Kidman breakout in which viewers are left to discern what's real and what's imagined.
If a sale happens imminently, "Swan" could begin shooting as early as this year. Aronofsky has not committed to a movie that's ready to go, though he has been developing the "Robocop" reboot at MGM.
Jamie Lee Curtis, Kristin Chenoweth among actors in cast
By Jay A. Fernandez and Borys Kit
The Disney comedy "You Again" has taken on some female power.
Jamie Lee Curtis, Kristin Chenoweth, Odette Yustman and Betty White have joined the cast, as has Victor Garber. They join Kristen Bell and Sigourney Weaver in the film, to be directed by Andy Fickman.
The story line centers on a woman (Bell) who finds out that her brother is planning to marry the girl who made her high school years a living hell and tries to convince him that his fiancee is not the nice girl she pretends to be.
Curtis and Garber will play Bell's parents, and White will play her grandmother. (Weaver is her rich Aunt Ramona.) Chenoweth plays "a wedding extraordinator." Yustman plays Bell's nemesis.
Moe Jelline wrote the screenplay. Fickman is producing with Eric Tannenbaum and John Strauss.
LouAnne Brickhouse and Todd Murata are overseeing for the studio, which hopes to start shooting in late summer in Los Angeles.
CAA-repped Curtis is a Disney favorite, having starred in 2003's "Freaky Friday" and appeared in "Beverly Hills Chihuahua."
Chenoweth, repped by CAA and Untitled Entertainment, most recently starred in the ABC series "Pushing Daisies." Her most recent film was "Four Christmases."
One of the stars of "Cloverfield" and TV's "October Road," Yustman most recently starred in David Goyer's "The Unborn." She is repped by ICM and Evolution.
The APA-repped White next stars in Disney's "The Proposal," which opens Friday, and Gersh-repped Garber most recently appeared as San Francisco Mayor George Moscone in "Milk."
Paramount has picked up an untitled pitch from Brian Koppelman and David Levien that takes place in the world of Costa Rica-based online casinos.
Leonardo DiCaprio is attached to star, and his Appian Way cohort Jennifer Davisson Killoran is producing.
Koppelman and Levien, who wrote "Ocean's Thirteen," covered similar ground with their debut script for "Rounders," which starred Edward Norton and Matt Damon as high-stakes players in the underground poker scene. The writers, Davisson Killoran and DiCaprio are also teaming on "Beat the Reaper," an adaptation of the Josh Bazell novel that is set up at New Regency.
Koppelman and Levien, who are repped by CAA and 3 Arts Entertainment, most recently penned Steven Soderbergh's "The Girlfriend Experience." They are in production on "Solitary Man," which they co-directed and which Koppelman wrote, for Millennium Films. They also are repped by attorney Karl Austen.
DiCaprio, who most recently starred in "Revolutionary Road," is repped by Rick Yorn and attorney Steve Warren, who also rep Appian. The actor next stars in the Martin Scorsese-directed thriller "Shutter Island," which Paramount will release in October.
Sean Penn pulls out of projects Actor will not star in 'Cartel,' 'Three Stooges'
By MICHAEL FLEMING
Sean Penn's busy shooting schedule has suddenly gone dark.
In an announcement that has caught two studios by surprise, Penn has pulled out of two films, citing personal reasons.
Penn has informed Universal and Imagine that he will be unable to star in the Asger Leth-directed drama "Cartel," which was to be his next movie. His role will be recast. Studio is putting together a list of actors now and hopes to stick with an early fall start date.
Scripted by Peter Craig, the movie follows a man who journeys to protect his son after his wife is murdered by Mexican cartels.
Penn will also be unable to make the start date of MGM comedy "The Three Stooges." He was to star as Larry in the pic, directed by Peter and Bobby Farrelly. "Stooges" also stars Jim Carrey as Curly and Benicio Del Toro as Moe. It's unclear if the studio will recast or wait for Penn to return to work.
Penn has completed two films for River Road, both earmarked for release next year. "Fair Game," the Doug Liman-directed drama about outed CIA agent Valerie Plame, co-stars Naomi Watts. The Terrence Malick-directed "The Tree of Life" also stars Brad Pitt.
During the Cannes Film Festival, Penn was revealed to be in talks to star in "This Must Be the Place," which will mark the English-language feature debut of Italian filmmaker Paolo Sorrentino, with a script co-written by Sorrentino and Umberto Contarello (Daily Variety, May 17). Pic was to be produced by Nicola Giuliano of Indigo Film and Andrea Occhipinti of Lucky Red. Financing and scheduling were not yet complete on that film, but Penn still intends to make the film at some point.
Penn is taking an undetermined sabbatical -- possibly as much as a year -- to focus on his family.
Kinnear, Preston join Cyrus in 'Song' Duo added to cast of Disney pic
By MARC GRASER
Greg Kinnear and Kelly Preston have joined the cast of Disney's "The Last Song," the adaptation of the Nicholas Sparks novel that stars Miley Cyrus.
Kinnear and Preston will play the parents of Cyrus' character, a rebellious teen sent to spend the summer with her estranged father. He tries to reconnect with her through the one thing they have in common: music.
Julie Anne Robinson is currently shooting the pic, which bows Jan. 8 under the Touchstone Pictures label.
Sparks is penning the script based on his own book, which he wrote specifically to turn into a star vehicle for the "Hannah Montana" star. Book will be published this fall.
Disney-based partners Adam Shankman and Jennifer Gibgot are producing the drama through their Offspring Entertainment banner. Tish Cyrus exec produces.
Kinnear most recently appeared in "Flash of Genius" and completed the Paul Greengrass-helmed drama "Green Zone" for Universal. Preston co-stars in Disney's "Old Dogs," alongside John Travolta and Robin Williams. Latter pic goes out in November.
Noyce to direct 'Mixed Blood' Samuel L. Jackson stars in indie cop thriller
By DAVE MCNARY
Phillip Noyce will direct the indie police thriller "Mixed Blood," with Samuel L. Jackson to co-star.
A Bigger Boat, GreeneStreet Films and Sidney Kimmel Entertainment are co-financing and producing the project. Jackson's Uppity Films will also produce.
Kelly Masterson ("Before the Devil Knows You're Dead") is adapting Roger Smith's novel of the same name, published last year by Henry Holt & Co.
Pic will center on an American fugitive being forced to make violent and terrifying choices to protect his family while drawing the attention of murderers, kidnappers, corrupt cops and a detective, portrayed by Jackson.
Principal photography is scheduled to start early next year.
FilmNation will handle worldwide sales through its partnership with A Bigger Boat and GreeneStreet Films.
Noyce is directing "Salt," starring Angelina Jolie, for Columbia. Masterson is completing "Good People" for the Film Department, with Maguire Entertainment and 360 Management producing.
"Saturday Night Live" and "30 Rock" regular Jason Sudeikis has been cast in the Columbia comedy "Bounty Hunter" opposite Jennifer Aniston and Gerard Butler.
The movie centers on Milo (Butler), a bounty hunter hired to track down his ex-wife, Casidy (Aniston), who has skipped out on bail. Sudeikis will play Stewart, a work friend of Casidy's who falsely believes he is her boyfriend and takes off after her when she goes on the run.
Andy Tennant ("Fool's Gold") is directing a script by Sarah Thorp ("Twisted"). Neal Moritz is producing through his Sony-based Original Films.
Sudeikis, repped by CAA and Brillstein Entertainment Partners, was a writer on "SNL" before becoming a cast member four years ago. He recently had roles in "The Rocker" and "What Happens in Vegas."
Josh Peck and Adrianne Palicki have been cast in MGM/UA's remake of "Red Dawn," set to begin filming in September. They join the already cast Chris Hemsworth in the story of a group of teenagers who form an impromptu insurgency when their town is invaded by Chinese and Russian soldiers.
Peck will play Matt Eckert -- the role originated by Charlie Sheen -- the hotheaded younger brother of Hemsworth's Jed Eckert and star quarterback of their Spokane high school football team. Palicki will play Toni, the role first inhabited by Jennifer Grey. She's a tough fighter the brothers encounter who develops romantic feelings for Jed, a Marine home on leave and the group's unofficial leader.
Dan Bradley, a stunt coordinator and second-unit director on "The Bourne Ultimatum" and "Quantum of Solace," will direct the revamp based on the 1984 Cold War-era film co-written and directed by John Milius. Carl Ellsworth and Jeremy Passmore penned the updated screenplay.
Contrafilm's Beau Flynn and Tripp Vinson are producing, and Vince Newman is executive producing. The film is scheduled to hit theaters Sept. 24, 2010.
Peck, who is repped by UTA and the Collective, most recently appeared in "The Wackness," "Drillbit Taylor" and "What Goes Up." He again has provided the voice of Eddie in the animated sequel "Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs," which Fox releases July 1.
Palicki, repped by UTA and Anonymous Content, co-stars on "Friday Night Lights." She next appears in the Screen Gems thriller "Legion" in January.
'Mission: Impossible IV' in the works Cruise, Abrams to co-produce Paramount sequel
By MICHAEL FLEMING
"Mission: Impossible IV," which once seemed truly impossible, is taking shape at Paramount.
Tom Cruise and J.J. Abrams have agreed to co-produce the sequel, which is aimed at a 2011 release.
The return of Cruise to Par itself is surprising in view of the circumstances surrounding his departure in August 2006. Apparently irked by the heft of Cruise’s deal, among other issues, Viacom chief Sumner Redstone abruptly terminated the 14-year relationship between the star and the studio. Cruise’s then-CAA agent, Rick Nicita, termed Redstone’s decision “shockingly offensive and graceless.”
The rift led to Cruise becoming the chief of United Artists and taking a more active role in production decisions. Redstone, meanwhile, has sought to heal the relationship. At a recent appearance, he described the star as “a great actor and a good friend.”
The “Mission” installment would augment Paramount’s formidable array of sequels, which will include “Star Trek 2” and a third “Transformers.”
Work on “Mission: Impossible IV” would inevitably be delayed by the busy schedules of the participants.
Abrams will be responsible for guiding the “Star Trek” sequel, while Cruise recently committed to an untitled pic (formerly called “Wichita”) for 20th Century Fox that will be directed by James Mangold and co-star Cameron Diaz.
Cruise and Denzel Washington are also awaiting a rewrite on the David Cronenberg-directed “The Matarese Circle,” the MGM thriller based on the Robert Ludlum novel.
Universal and Reese Witherspoon are going into the pharmaceutical business.
The studio is developing "Pharm Girl," an aspirational comedy centering on one woman's odyssey through the drug industry.
"Bad Santa" scribes Glenn Ficarra and John Requa are writing the screenplay and in talks to direct. Witherspoon is producing via her Type A banner and attached to the lead role.
The project centers on a woman (Witherspoon) who gets a job at a pharma powerhouse but begins to see the underbelly of the industry as she rises through the company's ranks. Tracy Falco and Maradith Frenkel are overseeing for the studio.
The modern pharmaceutical industry has played a villainous role in Hollywood pics dating to "The Fugitive," and several years ago it was at the center of a conspiracy in the Focus Features thriller "The Constant Gardener."
The CAA- and Management 360-repped Witherspoon, who came to prominence in comedies like "Election" and "Legally Blonde," segued to a more dramatic role with her Oscar-winning turn in "Walk the Line." But she has recently kept the focus on comedies, starring opposite Vince Vaughn in "Four Christmases" and signing on to a new comedy from James Brooks at Columbia; she's also considering starring in Fox's sci-fi comedy "Used Guys."
As a producer, she has been ramping up her slate: In addition to "Christmases," which she produced, she and Type A are attached to produce thriller "Bell Witch" and romantic comedy "Around the World in 80 Dates," both at Universal.
Ficarra and Requa, repped by WME and BenderSpink, most recently helmed and wrote "I Love You Phillip Morris," the Jim Carrey-Ewan McGregor dramedy about the romance between a con artist and a man he meets in prison.
Danielle Panabaker will star opposite Amber Heard in "The Ward," a psychological horror thriller that John Carpenter is directing for Echo Lake Entertainment and A Bigger Boat.
The story follows a girl (Heard) who is admitted to a psychiatric ward, meets other girls there with distinct personalities and discovers a mysterious girl haunting the halls at night.
Panabaker plays a patient in the institution, a snobbish girl who flirts with orderlies and faces electroshock therapy.
Mamie Gummer ("Taking Woodstock") also has been cast as a patient.
Michael and Shawn Rasmussen wrote the script, with revisions by Jim Agnew and Sean Keller.
Doug Mankoff, Peter Block, Mike Marcus and Andrew Spaulding are producing. Principal photography is scheduled to begin next month in Spokane, Wash.
FilmNation is handling international sales for the film.
Panabaker, repped by UTA and Management 360, most recently starred in the hit remake "Friday the 13th." She recently wrapped production on Overture's "The Crazies" and is in production on the indie drama "Weakness."
Overture acquires 'Celeste' Rashida Jones, Will McCormack pen comedy
By DAVE MCNARY
Overture Films has acquired romantic comedy "Celeste and Jesse Forever," written by Rashida Jones and Will McCormack, and has set the project with Suzanne and Jennifer Todd of Team Todd.
Jones will also star in the project, which focuses on a young couple in the midst of a divorce who attempt to maintain their friendship while pursuing new relationships.
Team Todd is in post-production on "Alice in Wonderland," starring Johnny Depp, with Disney scheduled to release the 3-D film in March.
Jones recently appeared in "I Love You Man," stars in “Parks and Recreation” and had a recurring role on “The Office.”
Overture's next release is "Paper Heart," starring Charlyne Yi and Michael Cera, on Aug. 7.
Common, Queen Latifah just 'Wright' Thesps to co-star in Fox Searchlight comedy
By DAVE MCNARY
Fox Searchlight has tapped rapper-turned-actor Common ("Terminator Salvation") as the lead opposite Queen Latifah in sports romancer "Just Wright," with Sanaa Hamri directing.
Paula Patton has also been cast.
Latifah, Shakim Compere and Debra Martin Chase are producing. Shooting starts in mid-July in New York for a release next year.
Script, penned by Michael Elliot, revolves around a sports trainer who finds herself falling in love with a professional basketball player while rehabilitating him from a career-threatening injury.
Common began his rap career in the early 1990s, won two Grammys and moved into films several years ago with parts in "Smokin' Aces," "Wanted" and "American Gangster." He's shooting "Date Night" with Steve Carell and Tina Fey; Shawn Levy directs.
