Vanessa Hudgens is enthused to appear in Zack Snyder’s upcoming fantastical-sounding, “Sucker Punch” film. “I’m very excited, I’m such a big fan of ‘300.’ And it’s a bunch of girls in this mental institution and actually takes place in a brothel in the ’50s. So it’s crazy.” Did Hudgens mean ‘alternatively’ or has she just dropped a major spoiler? Variety also yesterday reported that Carla Gugino’s character plays a nurse (opposed to THR who reported “female figure”) in the insane asylum who becomes a madam at a brothel in the film’s alternate reality. [JustJared]
“The Time Traveler’s Wife” director Robert Schwentke has confirmed his status as helmer of “Red,” a comic book adaptation starring Bruce Willis and Morgan Freeman. “I love the script,” Schwentke revealed. “It’s very funny, which the comic book isn’t. Further, on the comic and script differences: “The script that I’ve read is obviously different from the comic, because i don’t think the comic gives you enough for a two-hour movie,” the director added. “”I like switching gears and this is a movie that allows me to do something lighthearted in tone and is also an action movie.” [MTV]
Michael Sucsy (who lensed HBO’s “Grey Gardens”) will direct Jennifer Aniston in his feature directorial debut, “Goree Girls,” which is the true story of an all-female country band in a Texas prison in the 1940s. Sounds a bit like the little-seen 1997 German film, “Bandits,” about an all-girl rock band in a Deutschland prison. It’s kind of like a WIP (women in prison genre) film mixed with that dearly beloved female country band genre. Errr… No musicians or musical connections have been announced yet. Toby Keith, are you listening? [Variety]
Leonardo DiCaprio’s Warner Bros. mothered company is developing a gothic and seemingly more morally dark version of the children’s classic, “Little Red Riding Hood.” The company, Appian Way, has recruited scribe David Leslie Johnson (the recent “Orphan“) for the project. DiCaprio will not be appearing in the film so don’t get your hopes up too high if you’re interested simply because of him. [Variety]
James McTeigue is set to helm a period thriller titled “The Raven,” a fictional account of Edgar Allan Poe’s final five days as the joins a hunt for a serial killer inspired by his stories. “It’s like the poem, ‘The Raven,’ itself, crossed with [token thriller comparison] ‘Se7en,'” the director added. “It should be pretty cool. The script is really good and everyone responds to it really well. I’m in the middle of casting.” [/Film] – with additional contributions by Frank Rutledge.
