Worthington is Allan Quatermain: Sam Worthington’s blockbuster streak continues as he’s grabbed yet another potential franchise leading role as Allan Quatermain, the hero of “King Solomon’s Mines,” a Victorian adventure novel by H. Rider Haggard, and its sequel, “Allan Quatermain.” In the first book, Quatermain leads an expedition into an unexplored region of Africa to find the brother of a friend as well as a fabled treasure of the lost mines. DreamWorks is set to distribute the feature in which humans have left Earth and sees Quatermain return to the planet from a sojourn in space, embarking on another “King Solomon’s Mines”-style adventure but on a planetwide scale. Mark Verheiden wrote the first draft of the script, but there is no word on whether or not a rewrite has been ordered. [Heat Vision]
Tudyk Joins Transformers 3: Alan Tudyk (Serenity) has joined the cast of Transformers 3 in a currently unspecified role. Transformers 3 hits theaters July 1, 2011. [The Wrap]
Charlie Kaufman Puts in Work on Kung Fu Panda 2: Charlie Kaufman (Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, Adaptation) was called upon to put in two weeks worth of work on the script for DreamWorks Animation’s Kung Fu Panda: The Kaboom of Doom. The report says his work falls in the “polish” category, which doesn’t exactly detail just how much of an influence he will have on the finished product, which is currently slated to hit theaters on June 3, 2011. [Heat Vision]
Watts as Monroe for Jesse James Helmer: Naomi Watts is set to star in Blonde for director Andrew Dominik (The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford) on a budget of only $20 million with production expected to begin in January 2011. The film will be an adaptation of Joyce Carol Oates’ imaginary Marilyn Monroe memoir (it was written from Monroe’s perspective with names changed, but is still thought to be true) with Dominik saying, “Why is Marilyn Monroe the great female icon of the 20th Century? I want to tell the story of Norma Jean as a central figure in a fairytale; an orphan child lost in the woods of Hollywood, being consumed by that great icon of the twentieth century.” [Screen Daily]
