Did Steven Spielberg settle on his leading man for 'War Horse'?

According to Collider, yes he did:

Steven Spielberg finally decided on his next project last month, an adaptation of the Michael Morpungo children’s novel War Horse. In a sign of forward motion, Eddie Redmayne (The Yellow Handkerchief) is reportedly “locked” for the lead role of Albert. The book tells the story of a boy, Albert, and his horse, Joey; the pair are separated when Joey is sold to the army, though not even World War I can keep them apart.

Redmayne has been acting steadily since 2006, though this should thrust him onto a much more public stage. The Playlist compares it to Spielberg trusting a young Christian Bale to anchor 1988’s Empire in the Sun — a good omen, indeed. 2011 will be a big year for Spielberg: he just wrapped production on The Adventures of Tintin: The Secret of the Unicorn, which is set for release on December 23, 2011, while War Horse will hit theaters a few months earlier on August 10, 2011. Check out the book synopsis after the jump.

-Spielberg has had an eye for young talent in the past, so this sounds good to me...thoughts?

'Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows' gets a Trailer!

Proving the MTV Movie Awards aren't completely useless:

-Thoughts?

John Carpenter to direct another vampire flick, this time one with Hilary Swank?

Yes, via Variety:

John Carpenter has signed on to direct "Fangland," an updated version of Bram Stoker's Dracula set up with DAS Films and Blumhouse Prods.

Sriram Das and Jason Blum are producing. Tracy Underwood is also involved in a producing capacity.

"Fangland" is based on the 2007 novel by former "60 Minutes" producer John Marks. It's centered on a New York-based producer who travels to Romania for an interview with a notorious European arms dealer, who turns out to be a modern-day Dracula.

Mark Wheaton ("Friday the 13th") penned the adaptation.

Carpenter is in post-production on ghost story "The Ward" for indie Echo Lake, with Amber Heard starring as a haunted woman in a mental institution. Danielle Panabaker, Mamie Gummer and Lyndsy Fonseca also star.

"The Ward" is Carpenter's first directing gig since 2001's "Ghosts of Mars." Other credits include "Escape From New York," "Escape from L.A.," "Christine" and "Starman."

-Coming Soon adds the Swank casting news here, and I think it sounds very interesting, if slightly lowbrow for her...thoughts?

Daniel Craig to star in the remake of 'The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo'?

The Wrap sure seems to think so:

One of the biggest roles in Hollywood is about to be taken off the table.

Daniel Craig is nearing a deal to take the lead role in a U.S. adaptation of the Swedish blockbuster trilogy, "The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo," TheWrap has learned.

David Fincher will direct the crime thriller, based on a trilogy by the late Swedish novelist and journalist Stieg Larsson.

Actresses including Oscar-nominated Carey Mulligan have expressed interest in playing Lisbeth Salander, a computer hacker recruited by a journalist to find a woman who has been missing for 40 years. That part has not yet been cast, and other actresses including Keira Knightley and Natalie Portman have also expressed interest.

Craig would play journalist Mikael Blomkvist who is looking for the missing woman, Harriet Banger.

A Sony spokesman said, "We have not offered any roles to anyone nor are we negotiating with anyone."

While Brad Pitt has been reportedly considering the lead role, an individual close to the negotiations said that Craig was close to a deal. The James Bond star will fly out to Los Angeles on Friday to have dinner with Fincher, who's slated to direct the three-picture franchise for Sony.

The movie will shoot in October, and is slated for release in December 2011.

Larsson's "Millennium Trilogy," which includes "The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo," "The Girl Who Played With Fire," and "The Girl Who Kicked The Hornets' Nest," has sold over 25 million copies around the world.

A Danish film adaptation of "Girl With The Dragon Tattoo" was released last year and has been playing internationally.

Negotiations between Craig and Sony aren't entirely finished, but TheWrap was told he's extremely close to signing. Brad Pitt was also reportedly considering the role.

Craig begins shooting on Jon Favreau's "Cowboys & Aliens" next week. "Girl With The Dragon Tattoo" would be his next movie.

-He certainly works for me...thoughts?

Fox Searchlight tries to go the 'Slumdog' route again...

...according to Collider:

In what some may see as an attempt to recapture the Oscar/box office magic of Slumdog Millionaire, Fox Searchlight will adapt the Deborah Moggach novel These Foolish Things for the screen. With the new title The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel, the film will follow “a movie about a group of British senior citizens who travel to India to live out their dotage — an outsourcing, after a fashion— and find a new lease on life.”

24 Frames reports that Fox Searchlight is reaching out to Julie Christie, Judi Dench, Tom Wilkinson, and Peter O’Toole to star. (For those keeping track, there are twenty Oscar nominations in that group.) Meanwhile, Slumdog star Dev Patelis in talks to co-star, and John Madden (Shakespeare in Love) is on the top of the studio’s director wishlist. Hit the jump for the synopsis for These Foolish Things.

-I wonder if they can catch lightning in a bottle twice...thoughts?

Chloe Moretz adds another project to her growing slate...

...and this seems like her most mature work yet, according to Cinematical:

Hit-Girl's career continues to barrel forward, this time with her first big, starring dramatic gig. Variety reports that Chloe Moretz will star in Andrea Portes' adaptation of her 2007 novel, Hick, and Derick Martini, one half of the Martini Brothers behind Lymelife, will direct.

Portes' debut book focuses on a Nebraska girl named Luli who runs away to Las Vegas. Her mother -- an "aging Brigitte Bardot" -- and father have run off, leaving Luli alone at home with a Smith and Wesson .45. She grabs the gun and starts hitching rides to Vegas, where she faces a number of unsafe and unsavory types from a drug addict to a rapist. In other words, it basically takes the cinematically adventurous kid-on-his-own story of Moretz's Hugo Cabret and gives it a heavy and unsafe dose of reality.

Something tells me that Moretz is done with the 100 Acre Wood. After a decent stint lending her voice to My Friends Tigger & Pooh, she quickly jumped up to the typical wise-for-her-years Rachel in (500) Days of Summer before becoming the "It" Girl Hit-Girl and snagging a number of lead roles in the likes of The Fields, The Invention of Hugo Cabret, and this fall's vampire romance Let Me In. Think she's ready for something a little heavier, or does this sort of drama just reek of Dakota Fanning territory?

-Thoughts?

Dustin Lance Black to tackle a graphic novel for his next project as a writer/director?

Apparently so, according to The Hollywood Reporter:

Warner Bros. has picked up movie rights to "3 Story: The Secret History of the Giant Man," a Dark Horse Comics graphic novel by Matt Kindt.

Dustin Lance Black, the Oscar-winning writer of "Milk," will pen and direct the adaptation, which will be produced by Mike Richardson via Dark Horse Entertainment.

The graphic novel is a modern fable, exploring the life of a giant man, Craig Pressgang, whose strange medical condition causes continuous growth. The tale is told from the point of view of three women -- his mother, wife and daughter -- and follows Craig's journey from birth to his eventual three-story height. It also serves as an exploration of loneliness and love's changing nature.

The acquisition by Warners is an eyebrow-raising move because the material is on the arty side and downbeat, too. But the studio responded to Black's take, which would focus on the father-daughter relationship and soften the melancholic ending.

Dark Horse's Keith Goldberg will executive produce.

Lynn Harris and Matthew Milam are overseeing for Warners.

Dark Horse is developing "R.I.P.D." at Universal, with Ryan Reynolds attached to star, as well as "The Umbrella Academy," also at Universal, and "Damn Nation" at Paramount.

"3 Story" represents a move into the studio world for the CAA-repped Black, who won an Oscar for original screenwriting fo "Milk," the Gus Van Sant-directed biopic of Harvey Milk.

Black made his directorial debut with the indie drama "What's Wrong With Virginia," which stars Emma Roberts and Jennifer Connelly. He also wrote the screenplay for the pic, which does not have a release date.

Black also wrote the screenplay for Clint Eastwood's latest project, "Hoover," about the legendary head of the FBI, and recently penned and produced episodes of HBO's "Big Love."

-He's a talented writer, and I'm interested to see how he does as a director...thoughts?

Today's Posters: Gulliver's Travels, Resident Evil: Afterlife, and Joan Rivers

Thoughts?

Guillermo del Toro pulls out of 'The Hobbit'...

...according to The Hollywood Reporter:

After spending the last two years developing "The Hobbit" as his latest directing project, Guillermo del Toro has announced he is leaving the helm of the J. R. R. Tolkien adaptation.

“In light of ongoing delays in the setting of a start date for filming “The Hobbit,” I am faced with the hardest decision of my life,” Guillermo wrote in his announcement on "Lord of the Rings" fansite TheOneRing.net. “After nearly two years of living, breathing and designing a world as rich as Tolkien’s Middle Earth, I must, with great regret, take leave from helming these wonderful pictures."

He said he would continue to co-write the screenplays with Peter Jackson, Fran Walsh and Phillippa Boyens.

The walls started to crumble for del Toro in recent weeks as the uncertain future of MGM put the project, which was to have been two movies, in a limbo state. The producers had been hoping to be in production this summer but no greenlight was forthcoming.

That put pressure del Toro, who has a laundry list of development projects outlined for the next 10 years, in a position of cutting bait or staying on for more uncertainty. The director moved his wife and children to New Zealand for the shoot, and the first movie was aiming for a December 2012 release.

"The blessings have been plenty, but the mounting pressures of conflicting schedules have overwhelmed the time slot originally allocated for the project," said del Toro in his statement. "Both as a co-writer and as a director, I wish the production nothing but the very best of luck and I will be first in line to see the finished product. I remain an ally to it and its makers, present and future, and fully support a smooth transition to a new director."

Jackson stated he understood del Toro's position: "We understand how the protracted development time on these two films, due to reasons beyond anyone’s control – has compromised his commitment to other long term projects. The bottom line is that Guillermo just didn’t feel he could commit six years to living in New Zealand, exclusively making these films, when his original commitment was for three years."

Jackson said development on "Hobbit" would continue apace, although his statement did not specifically address any possible postponement of the release date.

"New Line and Warner Bros. will sit down with us this week, to ensure a smooth and uneventful transition, as we secure a new director for the Hobbit. We do not anticipate any delay or disruption to ongoing pre-production work," he said.

-I wonder who they will get to replace him...thoughts?

Will John Hillcoat's next film star Christian Bale?

Quite possibly, according to Cinematical:

Director John Hillcoat hasn't had a lot of luck, lately. The Road was given one of The Weinstein Company's half-dead releases. His follow-up, an adaptation of the novel The Wettest Land, has fallen through due to financing. But a man of Hillcoat's reputation doesn't lack for work, even if he can't always get financing, and Bloody Disgusting is reporting he's attached to direct The Revenant. Christian Bale is in talks to star, and Mark L. Smith penned the script.

The Revenant is based on Michael Punke's novel, which is itself based on the true story of Hugh Glass. A man of many adventures, Glass goes West in 1822 in the employ of Captain Andrew Henry to do some profitable fur trapping. Glass is attacked by a bear, and badly injured. Miraculously, he survives, but the terrain makes it impossible to carry him back. Henry tries, but eventually hires two mercenaries to simply stand watch and bury him. They abandon Glass, alone and defenseless, but unfortunately for them, he recovers. He resolves to hunt down the men who abandoned him. The story has actually been done before as Man in the Wilderness, with Richard Harris as the mauled man out for revenge, but I wouldn't go so far as to call this a remake. It's history!

CHUD notes that The Revenant was once set up to be directed by Chan Wook Park, and set to star Samuel L. Jackson. Jackson continued to be attached after Park's departure, but apparently the revival of the project has left him behind. (Probably due to that massive Marvel contract.) That would have been a fascinating pair to tackle this story. If there's one downside to the Hillcoat and Bale version, it's that we know what kind of grim, bloody adventure we're going to get.

-Seems like it has potential...thoughts?

'Restrepo' gets a Poster and a Trailer!

And here's the Trailer:

-Could this be one of the possible nominees for Best Documentary?

Apparently there's a prequel to 'Jackie Brown' being made...

...according to this in Cinematical:

For the most part, the masses seem perfectly fine with Quentin Tarantino's tendency to infuse his films with a neverending stream of cinematic references and homages. But what about other people tackling Tarantino's world and vision? Do the same rules apply?

According to JoBlo, there is a Jackie Brown prequel in the works, titled The Switch. The big catch, or switch as the case may be, is that QT has nothing to do with this. He merely gave his blessing on the project and moved on. Dan Schechter adapted Elmore Leonard's novel, and the author will be one of the film's executive producers. As Tarantino mentioned to the Telegraph back in February, this is the book that turned the filmmaker into a Leonard fan, even though that wasn't the film he ultimately made.

The Samuel L. Jackson and Robert De Niro characters Ordell Robbie and Louis Gara lead this tale, which finds the pair becoming fast friends in prison, and then teaming up back in the real world for a big job -- kidnapping the wife of a rich developer for ransom. But in an Overboard-type twist, the guy doesn't want his "beloved" back. With a ticked off wife now in their ranks, they have to move towards Plan B.

The film will soon head out to find a director and cast. Who could fill in Tarantino's shoes, and who could play a younger Ordell and Louis?

-There are certainly worse prequels out there...thoughts?

Today's Posters: New looks at Splice and The Twilight Saga: Eclipse

Thoughts?

Today's Posters: Eat, Pray, Love, Megamind, Homework, and Get Him to the Greek

Thoughts?

Will Brad Pitt be going directly to James Gray's 'Lost City' after some 'Moneyball'?

Well, that seems to be the plan, according to Collider:

Director James Gray (Two Lovers) may be finally shooting his adaptation of David Grann’s bestselling non-fiction book The Lost City of Z. We first reported on the project back in December 2008 and in April 2009 we reported that Brad Pitt was attached to star. Now, Screen Daily reports that Lost City may get in front of cameras once Pitt wraps filming on Bennett Miller’s adaptation of Michael Lewis’ baseball statistics drama, Moneyball. The film has been gaining major heat from buyers at Cannes due to the combination of the material and Pitt’s star power.
Via Screen Daily, The Lost City of Z “takes place in the early twentieth century and charts 30 years in the life of Colonel Percy Harrison Fawcett, a former decorated British soldier turned explorer.” The film has been gaining major heat from buyers at Cannes due to the combination of the material and Pitt’s star power.

-James Gray really got me back on his bandwagon with Two Lovers, and Brad Pitt has been doing some very strong work lately, so count me in...thoughts?

Cameron Crowe officially signs up for his next project behind the camera...

...and it's a story that we previously reported, according to The Hollywood Reporter:

Cameron Crowe is returning to movies for the first time since 2005's "Elizabethtown."The filmmaker signed on to direct "We Bought a Zoo," an adaptation of a memoir by Benjamin Mee, being produced by Julie Yorn. Crowe is notoriously picky about his projects and had been circling "Zoo" since the winter. Once he dedicated himself to the project, he began rewriting the script, originally written by Aline Brosh McKenna, to reflect is sensibilities.

The studio liked the direction enough to commit to the movie over the weekend and has dated it for December 23, 2011. "Zoo" tells the true account of how Mee and his family used their life savings to buy a dilapidated zoo, replete with 200 exotic animals facing destruction, in the English countryside.

Mee, along with his children, had to balance caring for his wife, who was dying of brain cancer, with dealing with escaped tigers, raising endangered animals, working with an eclectic skeleton crew and readying the zoo for a reopening. The author also was the subject of a BBC documentary titled "Ben's Zoo." With Crowe on board, Fox plans to move fast to cage an A-lister to play Mee.

The release date and the subject matter marrying cute animals and dramatic storylines are similar to Fox’s 2008 box-office smash "Marley & Me," and the studio is hoping emulate that success. Though not a very prolific filmmaker, CAA-repped Crowe has written and directed films such as "Say Anything," "Jerry Maguire" and "Almost Famous," which have tended to become part of the pop culture lexicon.

-The release date certainly inspires some confidence...thoughts?

Is David Fincher going to be helming the remake of '20,000 Leagues Under the Sea'?

Well, The Hollywood Reporter seems to think so:

Captain Nemo and his Nautilus are surfacing again.

Months after deep-sixing a McG-helmed version of "20,000 Leagues Under the Sea," Disney is in negotiations with David Fincher to direct, and hot "Bourne Ultimatum" scribe Scott Z. Burns to write, a new take on the classic Jules Verne story.

The project came together after Fincher approached Disney's new production head Sean Bailey a few weeks into his job this winter. The Oscar-nominated helmer wanted to tackle a four-quadrant tentpole movie, somewhat of a departure from the dark, R-rated dramas such as "Fight Club" and "Zodiac" (or even "Curious Case of Benjamin Button") that he's done in the past.

The project was being developed under the radar as Bailey settled into his position under new studio topper Rich Ross, then gained steam in the past few days with Fincher and Burns entering talks for deals.

First published in 1869, the classic science fiction novel is in the public domain. But ever since Disney's Kirk Douglas-starring version was released in 1954, the studio and the Verne story -- about a group of men who encounter a vengeful scientific genius and his warlike submarine -- have been linked in the public's mind. Last year, Disney was fast-tracking a $150 million "Leagues" that would have served as an origin story for Nemo. But the project was the first of several to be sunk by Ross when he took over the studio from Dick Cook in the fall (ironically, given Fincher's involvement, the dark tone of the McG version was a concern for the new regime).

It's not surprising that Disney would revisit "Leagues." Ross has said his mandate is to make wide-appeal, pre-branded entertainment. And while plotlines are being kept submerged, the Fincher/Burns take on the material is described as being in the vein of "Star Wars" or "The Empire Strikes Back." It will aim to be visually dazzling.

Burns, who penned Steven Soderbergh's latest "Contagion" as well as "The Informant!," will begin writing immediately. That should give Fincher, who is in post on "The Social Network" for Sony, time to direct another movie (possibly "The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo," also for Sony, but his name has surfaced in connection with a host of projects) before jumping into "Leagues."

-Not the first project I'd associate Fincher with, but I think he could make it very interesting...thoughts?

Today's Posters: The Chronicles of Narnia 3, Charlie St. Cloud, and The Last Exorcism

Thoughts?

Philip Seymour Hoffman and Robin Wright to join Brad Pitt for some 'Moneyball'!

Via Variety:

Philip Seymour Hoffman and Robin Wright are in early talks to join Brad Pitt and Jonah Hill in Columbia Pictures' "Moneyball."

If Hoffman's deal comes together, project would reteam the thesp with helmer Bennett Miller, who directed Hoffman to a best actor Oscar in "Capote."

After pulling the plug on the baseball-themed pic once before, the studio is readying "Moneyball" for a July start date in Los Angeles.

Based on Michael Lewis' nonfiction book, story centers on the 2002 Oakland Athletics, who were led by general manager Billy Beane (Pitt) to an excellent season despite having the lowest payroll in the Major Leagues. Hoffman would play team manager Art Howe, who frequently clashed with Beane over strategic decisions.

Wright would portray Beane's ex-wife. Hoffman's directorial debut, "Jack Goes Boating," will be released by Overture Sept. 17.

-As a huge baseball fan, I like how this is shaping up a lot...thoughts?

Today's Trailers: Charlie St. Cloud, Easy A, and Barney's Version

First up today is the decent looking Zac Efron drama 'Charlie St. Cloud':

Next we have the clever looking comedy 'Easy A':

Finally, we have the teaser for the Paul Giamatti dramedy 'Barney's Version':

-Thoughts?