After flubs like “Vanilla Sky” and “Elizabethtown,” is Cameron Crowe trying to return to the bread and butter of “Jerry Maguire”? Ben Stiller and Reese Witherspoon have signed on for a as-yet untitled romantic comedy adventure that Columbia won bragging rights to after an intense bidding war. Shooting is supposed to shoot in January and plot details are being kept under wraps, but we assume since the “Garden State”-like navel gazing of “Elizabethtown,” went nowhere with audiences, that this one will attempt to be a bit broader and welcoming like ‘Maguire.” The film is being produced by Scott Rudin, the Academy Award-winning producer of “No Country For Old Men.” [Variety]
Remember that untiled “trip to the moon” project Doug Liman (“Jumper,” “Mr. & Mrs. Smith”) was working on? Well apparently now Jake Gyllenhaal is set to star in the film and some new up-and-coming writer is doing a final polish on the script. [Hollywood Reporter]
The first trailer for “Valkyrie,” the Tom Cruise-starring Bryan Singer-directed WWII epic based on a true story about a group of high-ranking German officials that hatch a plot to assasinate Hitler is online at Variety. Wait, weren’t Variety the first publication to recently come out in favor of this film after the film got bumped out of this year’s Oscar season to Feb 2009 and had to live down some bad buzz? Hmmm… (trailer below)
The Jack Black voiced “Kung Fu Panda” topped the box-office this weekend with an estimated $60 million in take. Adam Sandler’s “You Don’t Mess With Zohan,” took in $40 million and both films topped their studio expectations. It was probably that damn fucking heat.[Reuters]
Canadian pop star Avril Lavigne, who has already made dreadful appearances in “Fast Food Nation” and “The Flock,” has a new role on the horizon. But she won’t reveal details other than “[It’s] something you wouldn’t expect from me, something deep and dark.” [Cinematical]
Leonard DiCaprio has signed on to star in the biopic, “Atari.” A sure to be exciting project about Nolan Bushnell, one of the founding fathers of the videogame industry and the guy who invented Pong. The scenes where he makes his first video game consul with soldering iron and circuit board is said to be utterly thrilling. [Entertainment Weekly]
