Renner for Raven and Perhaps Battleship: Jeremy Renner will star in James McTeigue’s (V for Vendetta) next film The Raven with Ewan McGregor also in talks to join the cast. The period thriller is described as a fictionalized account of the final five “mysterious” days of Edgar Allan Poe’s life. The story will follow the famous writer as he joins the hunt for a serial killer whose murders are inspired by his stories. I expect Renner is in line to play Poe. The Hurt Locker actor is also in talks to play the lead role in Peter Berg’s Battleship as well as having “no fewer than five meetings to star in another project, which he declines to reveal.” He will need to decide between the two as both shoot this summer, whatever the mystery film may be at least that much is known. [New York Times]
Waltz Drinks Penn’s Water: Christoph Waltz (Inglourious Basterds) has been chosen as the substitute for Sean Penn and will star opposite Reese Witherspoon and Robert Pattinson in Water for Elephants with I Am Legend helmer Francis Lawrence directing. The film is described as a Depression Era romance centering on a love triangle involving a veterinary medicine student (Pattinson) who joins a second-rate traveling circus and falls for the star performer (Witherspoon). Waltz will play Witherspoon’s husband, a dangerous paranoid schizophrenic animal trainer who is as mean to his wife as he is to the circus creatures. Richard LaGravanese (P.S. I Love You) wrote the screenplay adaptation of the Sara Gruen novel for Fox 2000. [Deadline]
Jackman is Lima’s Avon Man: Kevin Lima (Enchanted) will direct Hugh Jackman in Avon Man for 20th Century Fox, a comedy scripted by Kevin Bisch (Hitch). The story follows men laid off from an auto dealership. One is reluctantly recruited into becoming an Avon salesman, and while the experience is initially emasculating, he uses his charm and good looks to become a top seller. The comedy takes on a Full Monty vibe when the car salesman sets out to save his financially strapped family and town by conscripting his buddies into the makeup business to win a regional contest. Filming is set to begin this April in Atlanta. [Production Weekly and Variety (archived story)]
Stiller Trumps Murphy: Ben Stiller is reportedly in talks to take a role once occupied by Eddie Murphy in Universal Pictures and Imagine Entertainment’s Trump Heist about a group of con-men who devise a plan to swindle the residents of New York’s upscale Trump Tower, where they also work. Along with Murphy, the film once also had Chris Rock, Dave Chappelle and Chris Tucker attached to co-star, but word is a rewrite of the script by Noah Baumbach is underway and will take the film in a “new” direction. Could that mean a white direction? Brett Ratner may be directing. [Los Angeles Times]
G.I. Joe 2 “Story” Info: Zombieland screenwriters Rhett Reese and Paul Wernick are currently writing the script for G.I. Joe 2 in an interview said the next film will remain “faithful to the first film” and will not ignore “events from the first in the second.” The duo are heading to Pawtucket, Rhode Island to the Hasbro headquarters next week to figure out who the new characters will be, “[We’ll] talk to the toy guys, take a tour of the facility, see all the old toys, the new toys and just get inspired.” [MTV]
Warner Bros. to Spread Soderbergh’s Contagion: Warner Bros. has stepped up to distribute Steven Soderbergh’s Contagion which carries a $60 million budget as well as an impressive cast made up of Matt Damon, Gwyneth Paltrow, Kate Winslet, Marion Cotillard and Jude Law. The action thriller takes place in a worst case scenario of a deadly virus taking place over four continents. [Deadline]
Super Geeks Sought for Comic-Con Doc: Morgan Spurlock (Super Size Me) and Joss Whedon (“Buffy the Vampire Slayer”) are looking for people who like to play dress up and head out to San Diego for the 2010 Comic Con to follow around for a new documentary following a group of superfans for three months leading up to and including the increasingly popular convention. Good luck getting a cmaera crew through the crowds. At least they won’t have to worry about me being there this year. [E!]
Damon and Affleck Setting Up Shop at WB: Matt Damon and Ben Affleck won an Oscar for their Good Will Hunting screenplay back in 1998 and are now negotiating to close a first-look producing deal at WB. Details are yet unknown on the new company’s name or the length of the agreement, but the pact is likely to close within days. [THR]
Gugino Goes Faster: Carla Gugino has signed on to replace Salma Hayek in joining the cast of Faster directed by George Tillman Jr. (Notorious) for CBS Films. The film follows an ex-con (Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson) bent on avenging the death of his brother, murdered 10 years earlier when the two were double-crossed during a heist. Gugino plays the detective in charge of the investigation, hot on his trail and hell-bent on connecting the killings with a decade-old case. Billy Bob Thornton, Maggie Grace, Oliver Jackson-Cohen and Moon Bloodgood co-stars. The film is currently set for a November 19, 2010 release. [Variety]
“Grey Gardens” Helmer Takes Vow: Michael Sucsy recently directed “Grey Gardens” for HBO and has now signed with Spyglass to direct The Vow, a romance based on a true story about a young woman who loses all recent memory in a car accident and struggles to rebuild her identity while her husband tries to win her heart for the second time. [Variety]
Moore Shot into Orbit: John Moore is attached to direct the action thriller Final Orbit for 20th Century Fox. The film is based on the as-yet unreleased Platinum Dunes graphic novel telling the story of a group of lottery winners vacationing on the International Space Station. The situation becomes dire when it is damaged, and traps the tourists alone in a crippled module with no astronauts to help them. Writing duo Phil De Blasi and Byron Willinger are adapting the screenplay. De Blasi and Willinger last adapted John Milton’s “Paradise Lost” for Exorcism of Emily Rose helmer Scott Derrickson. That film is still in development. [Production Weekly]
Moverman Moves to Cobain Biopic: Oren Moverman’s The Messenger enjoyed a lot of critical success in 2009 and the writer/director has now set his sights on Universal’s untitled Kurt Cobain project with plans to rewrite David Benioff’s first draft of the script and direct the feature. One form of source material will be Charles R. Cross’ 2001 biography, “Heavier Than Heaven: A Biography of Kurt Cobain.†[Risky Business]
