George Clooney is set to reunite with his O Brother, Where Art Thou? pals, the Coen brothers for Burn After Reading, a script the brothers wrote which is loosely based on the novel “Burn Before Reading: Presidents, CIA Directors, and Secret Intelligence,” by Admiral Stansfield Turner. Turner served as director of the CIA from 1977 to 1981. The contemporary East Coast caper, is about a C.I.A. guy who’s writing a book and he loses the disc. Clooney’s character is not the C.I.A. guy, but a guy that goes around killing people. Production is scheduled to begin in August. [Production Weekly]
Val Kilmer has joined the cast of the ’60s indie drama A West Texas Children’s Story for writer/director Brad Isaacs. The film stars Matthew Modine, Lara Flynn Boyle, AnnaSophia Robb and Cayden Boyd and revolves around two precocious youngsters who embark on a cross-country trip in search of adventure and a better life. Filming is underway in Albuquerque, NM. [Variety]
Vince Gilligan (who?) has been tapped to rewrite Fly on the Wall, a new comedy Will Ferrell is attached to for Universal Pictures. The pic centers on an anti-social man who gets his life on track, discovering how to have a successful relationship and learning to truly believe in himself with the help of his best friend, a talking fly. Neil Tolkin was the original writer. [The Hollywood Reporter]
Matthew Broderick is set to star in Finding Amanda for Peter Tolan. The pic was written by Tolan and will feature Broderick as a TV producer currently trying to reconstruct his dismal career. A recovering alcoholic and drug addict, he’s famous for throwing up at the Emmys and losing $150,000 at the track in one day. He sent by his wife on a mission to Las Vegas to convince their young niece Amanda, who is now making her living as a stripper and hooker, to enter rehab. But once in Vegas, Broderick’s uncontrollable old compulsions reassert themselves with a vengeance. The film is currently set for an early January 2007 start in Los Angeles and Las Vegas. [Production Weekly]
Finally, MTV VJ Vanessa Minnillo has found herself a role in Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer as the love interest of Chris Evans’ character, the Human Torch. [Variety]
