The couch is overflowing today, I hope I can handle all this.
Rob Corddry has just joined the Farrelly brothers’ comedy The Heartbreak Kid. Corddry will play Ben Stiller‘s best friend in the pic in which Stiller plays a man who hastily marries a young woman he thinks is his perfect mate. As he watches her turn into a nightmare on their honeymoon, he meets another woman who may be his real soulmate. The film also stars Michelle Monaghan and Malin Akerman. Lensing is under way in San Francisco. [Variety]
Frank Darabont is returning to the director’s chair for the first time since 2001 as he is set to write and direct the feature film adaptation of the Stephen King novella The Mist for Dimension Films. It will mark the third time Darabont has helmed a King adaptation which included The Green Mile and The Shawshank Redemption, both of which he wrote the screenplay. The Mist takes place in a small town where a thick mist engulfs the area, killing those caught in its darkness. Terrified survivors seek refuge in a supermarket, while a swarm of murderous critters tries to get in. Thomas Jane is in talks to be part of what promises to be an ensemble cast. Darabont was quoted in the Variety article saying, “It’s time to get down and dirty and make a nasty little character-driven gut-punch horror movie.” [Variety]
Grudge franchise scripter Stephen Susco is set to make his directorial debut with White for Focus Features. The film is an adaptation of a novella included within author Tim Lebbon’s “White and Other Tales of Ruin.” Story is described as an apocalyptic tale centering on a band of people trapped in a blizzard and systematically picked off by mysterious phantoms. [Variety]
Jeremy Piven and Molly Shannon have been added to the voice cast of Igor for The Weinstein Co. and director Anthony Leondis. The animated pic centers on Igor (Christian Slater), a mad scientist’s hunchbacked lab assistant who dreams of winning the coveted first-place award at the annual Evil Science Fair and becoming a mad scientist in his own right. Also lending their voices are Steve Buscemi, John Cleese and Jay Leno. Piven will voice the role of Dr. Schadenfreude, Igor’s nemesis, with Shannon voicing Eva, a giant, indestructible monster invented by Igor. [The Hollywood Reporter]
Mark Waters is attached to direct Me2 for Walt Disney Pictures. Larry Doyle will pen the script, but the plot is being kept under wraps, though it is understood to be a time-travel comedy. [The Hollywood Reporter]
Julia Ormond has joined the cast of The Curious Case of Benjamin Button for Paramount Pictures and director David Fincher. She’ll play the daughter to whom Cate Blanchett’s character tells the story of her love affair with Benjamin Button (Brad Pitt). [Variety]
Shawn Roberts has joined the cast of George A. Romero’s next zombie flick Diary of the Dead, which is currently filming in Toronto. [Variety]
Tori Spelling is going to try and prove she can act and will star in the rom-com Kiss the Bride for Shadow Factory and director C. Jay Cox. The story centers on a gay man who tries to stop his former sweetheart from marrying a woman (Spelling). Filming begins this month in Los Angeles. [Variety]
Roger Bart has joined the cast of Universal’s Ridley Scott-directed American Gangster, which stars Russell Crowe and Denzel Washington. Bart will play a U.S. attorney. [Variety]
