1.) Even though The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo came out just a little over a year ago, it seems like we’ve been waiting forever for confirmation on David Fincher‘s next film. Well, that project may have arrived as Fincher is in talks to direct Fox’s adaptation of “[amazon asin=”030758836X” text=”Gone Girl”]”, the Gillian Flynn novel that has sold 2 million copies to date. The dark, mysterious story tells of a woman who goes missing on the day of her fifth wedding anniversary. So yeah, it sounds like a Fincher movie already.
Fincher is also still attached to direct Disney’s long-gestating 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea remake, so it’s anyone’s guess which film he makes first. Fincher has recently been looking for other projects in the case 20,000 Leagues falls through or suffers further delays from the studio’s end, and it seems Gone Girl is the first to gain serious attention. And then there’s the matter of the Dragon Tattoo sequel The Girl Who Played With Fire. The script still isn’t ready as screenwriter Steve Zaillian has busy writing and directing his HBO pilot for the James Gandolfini-led Criminal Justice. So the good news, assuming all of these projects pan out, is that we could be in store for a lot of Fincher a few years from now. [Variety]
2.) This next story might have you scratching your head a bit as Marvel is reportedly looking into the availability of both Jim Carrey and Adam Sandler for Guardians of the Galaxy. No word on who either of them would play, but seeing as how no one has been officially cast in the film yet, the possibilities are virtually endless.
Latino Review also threw the names of Wes Bentley (American Beauty), Chris Lowell (The Help) and Cam Gigandet (Easy A) into the pile of names in contention to play Guardians leader Peter Quill. Joseph Gordon-Levitt, John Krasinski, Zachary Levi (“Chuck”) and Jim Sturgess (Cloud Atlas) were among the actors previously mentioned for the role. The only other role (to my knowledge) that has been discussed is Guardians bruiser Drax the Destroyer, with former WWE Superstar Dave Bautista and “Old Spice Guy” Isaiah Mustafa among the candidates. Casting should start coming fast and furious for this one because an August 1, 2014 release date has already been set for director James Gunn (Super).
3.) Disney has entered negotiations with Ron Howard to direct their adaptation of the Neil Gaiman childrens’ novel “[amazon asin=”0060530944″ text=”The Graveyard Book”]”. The project was previously developed as a stop-motion film for Henry Selick (Coraline), but Howard would rework the adaptation into a live-action movie. The book tells of a boy raised by ghosts in a cemetery after his family is murdered. When he hits his teens, his family’s killer comes back to find him. That seems like dark material for a kids’ story, but it’s the only book to ever win both the Carnegie and Newberry medals for best childrens’ book. The prolific Howard has been unusually quiet of late, but his Formula 1 racing pic Rush is set to hit theaters in September. [THR]
4.) Ray Liotta seems to be everywhere these days. He was just cast in Sin City: A Dame to Kill For, and now he has joined Disney’s The Muppets 2 in an undisclosed role. The casting is a reunion of sorts as Liotta also appeared in 1999’s Muppets From Space. He joins the previously cast Tina Fey, Ty Burrell and Ricky Gervais for returning director James Bobin in what is said to be a European-set caper. [Variety]
5.) Dwayne Johnson is looking to produce and star in a project called Teddy Bear for New Line, which would reunite him with Journey 2 producer Beau Flynn. Don’t get this one confused with Ted, as the project is family adventure inspired by nothing more than the DevianArt drawing you see below of a tiny teddy bear defending his sleeping owner from a gnarly monster. We have no idea who Johnson would play in the film, but I’m guessing it’s not the kid. So maybe he’ll provide voice work or motion capture work for the bear? [THR]
