Actor James McAvoy is rumoured to be the top contender to portray James Bond author, Ian Fleming, in a $40 million biopic currently in development by Palmstar Entertainment and Animus Films.

The story will specifically focus on his younger years as a playboy growing up in the shadow of his famous family and his real-life exploits during WWII which served as inspiration for the character of 007.

Matt Brown (“Ropewalk”) wrote the screenplay which is based on Andrew Lycett’s book Ian Fleming: The Man Behind James Bond. A director is currently being sought.

Source: Empire Online

Director Breck Eisner (“Sahara”) talked with ShockTillYouDrop about Universal’s long in development remake of “Creature from the Black Lagoon”.

“We scouted the movie last year but got shut down when the writers strike happened,” Eisner said. “We had a crew in the Amazon where we’re going to shoot all of the exteriors. We’re shooting in Manaus, Brazil and on the Amazon in Peru. I want it to be authentic. I’m a big fan of Werner Herzog and Fitzcarraldo. Herzog got that authenticity. He shot in Manaus. So, we scouted for a month. There’s this place called the Forest of Mirrors, because there are so many lagoons on a thousand mile green carpet river, and we found the lagoon we’re going to shoot in.”

With the strike over, things are progressing along. “I’m waiting on the height of the Amazon river before we start shooting – it drops 50-feet in October and November. But we’ve got the boat set and everything ready to go.”

The new Creature will take place in a contemporary setting, and, will feature a mixture of CG and practical FX. “The Creature has been designed, we’ve spent six months designing him.” Eisner says Spectral Motion has built a maquette based on an appearance created by Mark “Crash” McCreery (Jurassic Park, Pirates of the Caribbean). “We went top shelf on it. It’s very faithful to the original, but updated.”

Source: Shock Till You Drop

Remaking Brian De Palma’s films seems to be the trend these days. On the heels of a Dressed to Kill remake, comes word that De Palma’s 1978 supernatural thriller “The Fury”, is set to be redone.

Variety reports that screenwriters Brian McGreevy and Lee Shipman have been tapped to pen the remake about a young man with heightened kinetic powers who is abducted by the government in order to take advantage of his special gifts.

The original film starred Kirk Douglas and John Cassavetes and was also released by Fox. The story was based on John Farris‚Äö?Ñ?¥ 1976 novel of the same name.

Source: Variety

Philip Winchester has been cast as the title character in NBC’s TV drama series “Crusoe.”

“Crusoe,” based on Daniel Defoe’s classic novel, centers on Robinson Crusoe, who leaves his wife Susannah (played by Anna Walton) in pursuit of an adventure only to end up shipwrecked on a remote tropical island for 28 years.

A native of Montana, Winchester was discovered at the age of 14 when Mel Gibson’s film “The Patriot”, was casting locally. He has since appeared in the lead role of an ex-British commando-turned-Beverly Hills nanny in the WB Network comedy pilot “Commando Nanny”, played Scott Tracy in the big-screen adaptation of “Thunderbirds” and will be starring opposite Ian McKellen in Channel 4′s upcoming adaptation of “King Lear”.

Power Entertainment is producing “Crusoe”, which is slated to air Fridays at 8pm this Fall.

Source: Hollywood Reporter

Variety reports that Nicole Kidman will play British pop superstar Dusty Springfield in a biopic currently being written by “The Hours” novelist Michael Cunningham.

Kidman will also produce the film through her Blossom Films banner which is in a race against Universal Picture’s own Dusty Springfield project, in which Kristen Chenoweth (“The West Wing”) is attached to star.

Husky-voiced Springfield, became a huge star in the 1960s before battles with drugs, alcohol, mental illness and her own lesbianism took their toll. She was diagnosed with breast cancer in 1995 and died in 1999.

Source: Variety

“The Incredible Hulk” gets a poster, more “Wolf Man” photos surface, “The X-Files” sequel has a name and Dreamworks acquires “Ghost In The Shell”…

The final theatrical poster for the upcoming “The Incredible Hulk” is out. Click above for a larger view.

The film stars Edward Norton, Liv Tyler, Tim Roth and William Hurt and opens November 26, 2007.

“Wolf Man” Attacks The Town Of Lacock

Gazette And Herald has an article on the filming of “The Wolf Man” in the town of Lacock, England, along with some new shots of Benicio Del Toro and Hugo Weaving on the set.

Filming took place inside the Tithe Barn where huge blocks of ice and models of dead bodies where strewn across the floor and hung by metal hooks. Dozens of extras dressed in Victorian clothes were also used in some of the exterior shots outside the barn with Benicio Tel Toro, who is also co-producing the film.

“X-Files” Sequel Gets A Name

The Associated Press reports the official title of the upcoming “X-Files” movie sequel will be “The X-Files: I Want to Believe”.

Show creator and film director Chris Carter confirmed the title, saying “It’s a story that involves the difficulties in mediating faith and science. `I Want to Believe.’ It really does suggest Mulder’s struggle with his faith”.

“Ghost In The Shell” Goes Live Action

Variety reports that DreamWorks has acquired rights to the Japanese manga “Ghost in the Shell” and plans to adapt the futuristic police thriller into an American 3-D live-action feature.

The original anime, created by Masamune Shirow, follows the exploits of a member of a covert ops unit of the Japanese National Public Safety Commission that specializes in fighting technology-related crime.

Avi Arad, Ari Arad and Steven Paul are attached to produce while Jamie Moss will pen the adaptation.

Shia LaBeouf, Orlando Bloom, Ethan Hawke, Julie Christie and John Hurt are set to star in the late Anthony Minghella-scripted segment of short film anthology “New York, I Love You”.

“Love” is being helmed by a who’s-who of directors, including Natalie Portman (in her writing and directing debut), Mira Nair, Wen Jiang, Allen Hughes, Brett Ratner and Scarlett Johansson. The film follows on the heels of “Paris, je t’aime” in what’s called the “Cities of Love” franchise.

Shia LeBeouf on the set of New York, I Love You

LaBeouf and Christie’s segment, written by the late Minghella and directed by Shekhar Kapur, centers on a woman who checks into a hotel that is in between worlds. There, she meets a young man and the two discover not only a mysterious connection but develop an understanding as to their situation.

They join Hayden Christensen, Rachel Bilson, Robin Wright Penn, Chris Cooper, Natalie Portman, Anton Yelchin, Olivia Thirlby, Justin Bartha, Bradley Cooper, Drea de Matteo and Kevin Bacon, who were already cast in other segments of the anthology.

Production is currently under way on the Upper East Side.

Source: Hollywood Reporter

Geena Davis and Rosie Perez filming something as well, on East 9th Street between 1st Avenue and Avenue A.

The story is set in 1920s Paris and follows the young son of a wealthy courtesan who is educated in the ways of love by a middle-aged friend of the man’s mother. When he is forced to give up the six-year relationship after marrying someone else, the young man can’t forget her and retreats into a fantasy world.

The movie is scheduled to start filming this April in France under the direction of Stephen Frears. Christopher Hampton wrote the script and Michelle Pfeiffer is negotiating to star, the three previously worked together on “Dangerous Liasons”.

Source: China Daily

Entertainment Weekly reports that “Seinfeld” and “Curb Your Enthusiasm” writer, Larry David, has been cast as the lead in Woody Allen’s next, as-yet-untitled feature, which is scheduled to shoot in New York City this spring.

Plot details are being kept under wraps, but David, who bares a resemblance to Allen, will star alongside Evan Rachel Wood (“Across the Universe”).

The movie marks Allen’s return home after making three films in London and one, the upcoming “Vicky Cristina Barcelona,” in Spain.

And while on the subject of “Vicky Cristina Barcelona,” a source for Page Six reports that stars Scarlett Johansson and Penelope Cruz have a steamy lesbian sex scene in Woody’s upcoming film.

“People will be blown away and even shocked,” the source says. “Penelope and Scarlett go at it in a red-tinted photography dark room, and it will leave the audience gasping.”

As if that wasn’t enough, the women later have a threesome with Javier Bardem, who plays Cruz’s husband.

Here we have the first pics of Drew Barrymore filming scenes for the “Grey Gardens” movie, currently shooting on Centre Island, Toronto, Canada.

32-year-old Barrymore plays “Little” Edie Beale in the HBO production, while Academy Award-winning actress Jessica Lange will portray “Big Edie” Bouvier Beale in this prequel, set before the events of the infamous Maysles Brothers documentary.

Sex And The City: The Movie

Above is the first picture of the “Sex and the City” movie, which began shooting this week on the streets on NYC. Sarah Jessica Parker, Kim Cattrall, Kristin Davis and Cynthia Nixon will all be reprising their popular characters for the big-screen version of the hit HBO series.

Chris Noth will also be back as Mr. Big, alongside David Eigenberg, Evan Handler and Jason Lewis as the love interests of the SATC ladies. Former “American Idol” contestant and Oscar winner Jennifer Hudson joins the cast as the assistant to Sarah Jessica’s character, Carrie Bradshaw.

The film is scheduled for a May 30th, 2008 release.

HBO Enters “Grey Gardens”

Speaking of HBO, the cable TV giant announced today that Drew Barrymore and Jessica Lange will be starring in the movie adaptation of “Grey Gardens,” for the network.

Based on the 1975 documentary about Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis’ eccentric cousin and aunt, “Grey Gardens” follows the relationship between the mother-daughter duo of “Big Edie” (Jessica Lange) and “Little Edie” Beale (Drew Barrymore), who spent most of their lives in a decaying mansion on New York’s Long Island. The movie adaptation however, is said to chronicle the lives of the Beales women prior to the events depicted in the 75′ documentary.

The project was originally announced as a feature film in early 2006, without the involvement of HBO. It’s yet to be determined if the movie will be released theatrically before it airs on the cable network.

In the spring of 2006, “Grey Gardens” opened as a musical at Playwright Horizons before moving to the Walter Kerr Theatre on Broadway in November. The show, which starred Christine Ebersole and Mary Louise Wilson, won three Tony Awards, including best actress and best supporting actress in a musical for Ebersole and Wilson’s portrayal of the mother and daughter duo. The show ended its Broadway run in July. Ebersole will reprise her role once more when the show opens in London.

Source: Reuters

The Hollywood Remake Frenzy Becomes A “Fright”

Shock Till You Drop reports that Sony’s Screen Gems is currently seeking a writer to pen a remake of the 1985 vampire classic “Fright Night”.

The original followed a teenage horror film fan who believes a vampire has moved into the house next door. This time however, producer Scott Strauss (“Breach”) wants to “re-imagine” the story by involving an amusement park.

“Re-imagine” has become Hollywood’s favorite word as of late, what it basically means is that they’ve either run out of ideas or are too lazy to try something new, so they take a not-so-old film and re-hash it by changing one element of the story-line so gullible audiences think it’s different.

Considering that “Disturbia” was a rip-off of “Fright Night” and “Rear Window,” it comes as no surprise that Hollywood would capitalize on that film’s success by going straight to the source and in the process destroy another horror classic. The amusement park angle sounds like they’re throwing in a bit of “Lost Boys” as well.

Do we need another bad remake of a classic horror film? Of course not, but that’s not going to stop the no-talent Hollywood hacks from depleting their resources. Only good aspect of all this is that they’re beginning to run out of movies to remake, so hopefully very soon heads will roll.

Source: Shock Till You Drop