Tim Hill (Alvin and the Chipmunks) is in negotiations to direct a Short Circuit remake for Dimension Films. Hill is replacing Paul Blart: Mall Cop helmer Steve Carr. Hill will supervise a new script adapted from the 1986 film in which a robot named Johnny 5 was built by the military to be a highly sophisticated weapon. He develops a conscience and personality after being hit by lightning and befriends a lonely boy and his fractured family with the military in hot pursuit. [Deadline]
David Cronenberg will see A Dangerous Method hit the Toronto and Venice Festival circuit this month and next, he’s busy working on Cosmopolis starring Robert Pattinson and Paul Giamatti and now Media Rights Capital has made a preemptive acquisition of the Jonathan Lethem novel “As She Climbed Across The Table,” in a package that has Cronenberg directing and Bruce Wagner (A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors) writing. Lethem’s book is described as a satirical science fiction in which particle physicist Alice Coombs rooms with Philip Engstrand, an anthropologist researching conflicts between and within disciplines. Their relationship drives the romantic aspect of the story. [Deadline]
Stacy Keach has joined the cast of The Bourne Legacy for director Tony Gilroy in an undefined role. The film stars Jeremy Renner, Rachel Weisz and Edward Norton and finds Renner playing another assassin trained in the same program as Jason Bourne as played by Matt Damon in the first three films in the franchise. The film is set for an August 3, 2012 release date. [Variety]
Matthew McConaughey, Reese Witherspoon and Tye Sheridan in discussions to star in Mud based on an original screenplay by Jeff Nichols (Take Shelter), who will also direct. The film is described as a powerful, redemptive tale of a charismatic fugitive named Mud (McConaughey) and his unlikely friendship with fourteen year old Ellis (Sheridan). Ellis is determined to help his new friend escape from both the law and some very serious bounty hunters, in order to reunite Mud with his soul mate, Juniper (Witherspoon). I am one of the few critics in the world that disliked Nichols’ Take Shelter, which I saw at Cannes. You can read my review right here.
20th Century Fox has announced the complete voice cast for Ice Age: Continental Drift, the fourth film in the animated franchise. Along with the returning cast that includes Ray Romano as Manny, John Leguizamo as Sid, Denis Leary as Diego, Queen Latifah as Ellie, Chris Wedge as Scrat, are back long with Seann William Scott and Josh Peck as possums Crash and Eddie. New characters to be voiced include Jeremy Renner as ship captain Gutt, Wanda Sykes as Sid’s stowaway Granny, Aziz Ansari as the prehistoric rabbit Squint, Keke Palmer as Manny’s headstrong daughter Peaches, rapper Drake as a handsome young mammoth and love interest for Peaches, and Jennifer Lopez as sabre-toothed tigress Shira. Heather Morris, Joy Behar, Nicki Minaj, Josh Gad, Alan Tudyk, Nick Frost, Kunal Nayyar, Alain Chabat and J.B. Smoove also have roles. The film is set for a July 13, 2012 release. [Dark Horizons]
Bruce Campbell has confirmed he will play a role in Sam Raimi‘s Oz, the Great and Powerful when he posted to his Twitter account the following message, “I. Am. In. Oz. Sam Raimi refuses to tell me what character I will portray. Just know that the role is PIVOTAL.” In all likelihood this will be another small cameo role for Campbell similar to how he played small roles in all three of Raimi’s Spider-Man films including a ring announcer in the first, an usher in the second and a maitre d’ in the third. Campbell joins a cast that includes James Franco, Mila Kunis, Rachel Weisz, Michelle Williams, Joey King, Zach Braff and Abigail Spencer with Disney scheduled to release the feature on March 8, 2013. [Bruce Campbell]
