1.) Lionsgate has enlisted Danny Strong to write Mockingjay, the third and, in this franchise’s case, forth entries in the Hunger Games saga. Strong is best known as an actor, with recurring roles in “Buffy the Vampire Slayer,” “Gilmore Girls” and “Mad Men,” but he has more recently gained recognition as a writer with the HBO films Recount and Game Change, the latter of which just won him two Emmys. He also co-wrote The Butler with director Lee Daniels. The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 1 is due out in November 2014, with the conclusion releasing the following year. [Variety]
2.) Joseph Ruben (Sleeping With the Enemy) is attached to direct a remake of the Orson Welles classic The Stranger. The 1946 original starred Edward G. Robinson as an agent from the War Crimes Commission, hunting down an infamous Nazi hiding out in Connecticut. The new version will focus on a reformed serial killer, now working as a small-town professor, whose former partner pays him a visit and wants them to start killing together again. I can’t be the only one having a hard time finding a connection between those two plot descriptions. They sound like completely unrelated films, so why not just write an original script about a couple of serial killers? [THR]
3.) Sony is interested in turning Little House on the Prairie into a feature film with David Gordon Green attached to direct. Abi Morgan (Shame, The Iron Lady) would write the script, based on Laura Ingalls Wilder‘s semi-autobiographical book series, which also inspired a TV series that ran from 1974-1983. Green used to have a voice, but now I can’t help but wonder if the industry has just sucked the life out of him, or if he has purposely abandoned any creativity for the sole purpose of making money. It’s really a shame. [Deadline]
4.) Christine Ebersole has been cast as the mother of Leonardo DiCaprio‘s character in The Wolf of Wall Street. I didn’t immediately recognize her name, but my first reaction to seeing her picture was “hey, that’s the mom from Richie Rich!” I’m not sure what that says about me. [Variety]
5.) Elijah Wood will star in The Late Bloomer, an indie comedy helmed by Wood’s “Wilfred” director Randall Einhorn. The film is based on Ken Baker‘s 2001 book “[amazon asin=”1585420832″ text=”Man Made: A Memoir of My Body”],” which tells of the author’s experience as a 30-year-old man who had not yet gone through puberty due to a medical condition. His body then undergoes many changes over the course of several overwhelming weeks. [Variety]
