Brad Pitt's Plan B Hires Writer For 'The Big Short,' Sean Connery Unretires, Lake Bell Bails On 'Scream 4'

We reported this earlier this year as a "maybe," but now it is confirmed- Brad Pitt and his company Plan-B are moving ahead with Michael Lewis' "The Big Short," a book on about the 2008 financial meltdown. Pitt has hired Charles Randolph ("The Interpreter") and paid him handsomely to adapt the book by the "Moneyball" author. Hollywood really seems to think films about our shitty economy will make big box office dough. Hmm, sounds like a genius move that will have audiences flocking to the box-office.

Elias Koteas, featured in "Shutter Island" as the creepy guy with the very painful scar on his face, has been cast in Darrel Roodt's Winnie Mandela biopic "Winnie." Koteas's character De Vries plays a police officer who will stop at nothing to restrain the growing power of the black anti-apartheid activists, lead by Winnie. Maybe this will finally be the performance we've been waiting for, the one to top Koteas's much revered take on Casey Jones in "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles."

Sean Connery has pulled a Jay-Z and unretired, or at least sorta, lending his voice to the awful looking CG-animation "Sir Billi." The Glasgow-based production sent Connery a DVD of the film, which was then stolen by his grandchildren and held hostage until Connery agreed to provide his voice for the movie. So little children are making career decisions for this experienced actor? At least he's honest. When will Eddie Murphy come clean? Don't expect the actor to return to the big screen as himself though.

Lake Bell tweeted that she had to leave "Scream 4" due to scheduling conflicts with other projects. All this means is another news update on who took her place for this completely unenticing film. Bell also precedes the tweet with "Sucks," she was talking about the movie, right?

Jason Biggs returns from the shadows, teaming up with "Avatar" actor Joel David Moore in Stephen"Papa to Maggie and Jake" Gyllenhaal's indie political comedy "Grassroots." Biggs will play an out-of-work journalist who decides to spearhead the political campaign of a friend (played by Moore), a former pedicab driver. If it sounds funny now, just wait until you see it on DVD in three years.

The life of indie songwriter Vladimir Vysotsky, often labeled as the "Russian Bob Dylan," will be made into a film by Pyotr Buslov, director of popular Russian film "Burner." The influential singer, also an actor and a director, was an influence to the Soviet youth during the regime of Leonid Brezhnev. The film takes place during a time when Vyotsky suffered a heart attack and was determined to be clinically dead, though managed to recover afterwards. Though he's likened to Bob Dylan, chances are the film will be a tad more conventional than the usual fare about our favorite Robert Zimmerman.

'The Last Airbender' Costs An Arm, A Leg & A Bald Kid (Or $280 Million)

The numbers have been revealed. We knew M. Night Shyamalan's "The Last Airbender" must've taken a lot out of Paramount's wallet, but we had no idea it would have taken $280 million. The film's budget has been estimated at $150 million with the remaining $130 million spent on advertising the new film. To put that in perspective, that's close to the budget of the original "Iron Man," only in this film the most famous actor in is Dev Patel. Buh?

There are already talks of a trilogy, but this is assuming that the film takes the box office hard (and the studio better hope it does.) The animated show it's based off has attracted millions of viewers, which certainly is a good base to sprout a film from. It also looks much darker than its counterpart, with Shyamalan noting "The movie is less slapsticky and more epic and darker." And seeing as this summer is relatively dry of big CGI-heavy tentpoles, the film's eye candy could really pull in adult audiences looking to be wowed (in 3D) while stuffing their face with popcorn.

But can the film do more than just make its budget back? $280 million is a large number to hit, and the film has to really surpass that to even realistically start thinking about a sequel, especially seeing as each subsequent entry is likely to cost more than its predecessor. It also should be noted that Shyamalan isn't really in critical favor - his past two films, "Lady in the Water" and "The Happening" were largely panned, with the former taking the brunt of all the negative press, with the film barely breaking even worldwide; "The Happening" is a different story, it actually made $100 million over its budget worldwide. However, a tentpole is a tentpole, and audiences are likely to go see any film with a little bald child conjuring up fire no matter what the reviews say.

"The Last Airbender" is going to have to work hard to make the nearly insane money it will need (and it probably won't help that "Twilight: Eclipse" opens the day before this film), but its not impossible. The film is definitely unlike anything else Shyamalan has done, so any predispositions against the filmmaker will likely not effect this film's chance at the box-office. If it succeeds in bringing in audiences with ages across the board, Paramount can have a big bread winner on their hands. And honestly, we have to admit, the trailer does look kind of cool.

'Eat Pray Love' Soundtrack Features Neil Young, Eddie Vedder, Marvin Gaye, Bebel Gilberto & More

Even though it's not something in our typical wheelhouse, we're sort of rooting for Ryan Murphy's "Eat Pray Love." Based on the best selling memoir by Elizabeth Gilbert, the film stars Julia Roberts, James Franco, Richard Jenkins, Viola Davis, Billy Crudup, and Javier Bardem in the story of a woman who travels to Rome, Mumbai and Bali when she finds herself at a crossroads in her life. Yeah, it sounds like it could by treacly, but we're hoping the solid cast and director Ryan Murphy ("Running With Scissors") can deliver on the material, and take it to some interesting places. There's not enough female driven dramas of quality, so we hope this is one of them.

Anyway, at the very least, the soundtrack should be worth hunting down as the tracklisting boasts a pretty nice mix of classic rock, soul and bossa nova. We'll skip over Josh Rouse and get to the good stuff like the two great Neil Young tracks "Harvest Moon" and "Heart Of Gold." Marvin Gaye and Sly & The Family Stone will inject some rhythm with "Got To Give It Up (Part 1") and "Thank You (Falettinme Be Mice Elf Agin)" respectively, while Bebel and Joao Gilberto will keep things breezy and light with their contributions. And if that Eddie Vedder & Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan song seems familiar, well, it is. It originally appeared on the "Dead Man Walking" soundtrack.

The soundtrack is currently scheduled to hit iTunes on July 20th, but no word on a physical release date at this time, but we'll keep you posted. "Eat Pray Love" will hit theaters on August 13th.

"Eat Pray Love" Soundtrack Tracklisting

1. Flight Attendant - Josh Rouse
2. Last Tango In Paris (Suite Pt. 2) - Gato Barbieri
3. Thank You (Falettinme Be Mice Elf Agin) - Sly & The Family Stone
4. Der Holle Rache Kocht In Meinem Herzen from "Die Zauberflote" (The Magic Flute) [Performed by Wiener Philmarmoniker, George Solti, Conductor]
5. Heart Of Gold - Neil Young
6. Kaliyugavaradana - U. Srinivas
7. The Long Road - Eddie Vedder with Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan
8. Harvest Moon - Neil Young
9. Samba De Bencao - Bebel Gilberto
10. Wave - Joao Gilberto
11. Got To Give It Up (Part 1) - Marvin Gaye
12. 'S Wonderful - Joao Gilberto
13. Better Days - Eddie Vedder
14. Attraversiamo - Dario Marianelli
15. Augusteum - Dario Marianelli [Pre-orders only]


Neil Young "Heart Of Gold"


Marvin Gaye "Got To Give It Up"

Teaser Trailer For David Fincher's 'The Social Network'

Damn, released this late on a Friday? Don't get your hopes up too high. The teaser trailer for David Fincher's "The Social Network" doesn't show any footage, but it sure does give you a lot of dialogue and pretty much tells you the plot -- not that it was much of a secret.

The film, penned by Aaron Sorkin and based on "The Accidental Billionaires," is about the founders of the social-networking website, Facebook. And while that sounds boring, remember the book's tagline was "A Tale of Sex, Money, Genius and Betrayal."

Jesse Eisenberg plays Mark Zuckerberg, the actual creator of Facebook (wonder how much he got paid for signing over the rights), Andrew Garfield plays his co-founder Eduardo Saverin, Justin Timberlake plays Sean Parker the co-founder of Napster and Plaxo, and the cast is rounded out by Rashida Jones, Max Minghella, Rooney Mara, Dakota Johnson and Joseph Mazzello.

Those who are expecting a boring computer movie should think again. And even though the court-room drama parts of the film in the screenplay bored us, it's David Fincher, so we're more than willing to give this the benefit of the doubt (almost perversely because it annoys Fincher fans who would rather him make serial killer films over and over again for the rest of his career).

One thing that's clear, and really should be known from the outset if you know anything about this story is that Zuckerberg is not portrayed well in the book and you can tell by Jesse Eisenberg's devious sounding voice that this will finally be a departure from the neurotic teen character he usually embodies. Thank god for that. One of our favorite lines in the trailer is from Timberlake saying, "A million dollars isn't cool. You know what's cool? A billion dollars." Also kudos to the ominous musical touch that sounds like something straight out of a Stanley Kubrick film.

Under the aegis of Sony, Fincher's new home, "The Social Network" is due in theaters October 1st. From what we hear, the picture has been finished for some time now which is why Fincher's already in Europe doing location scouting for his next project, "The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo" starring Daniel Craig (yes, his contract is basically done).

Jessica Chastain Joins 'The Help' With Emma Stone & Viola Davis

Here's a female-driven story that should hopefully not embarrass audiences of either sex.

The Hollywood Reporter says that Jessica Chastain has joined the cast of the Southern integration drama, "The Help" which already stars Emma Stone, Viola Davis, Octavia Spencer and Bryce Dallas Howard. That's a lot of ginger locks too.

Based on the beloved New York Times bestselling novel by Kathryn Stockett, the film centers on three ordinary women in 1962, Mississippi: Aibileen Clark the black maid (Davis); twenty-two-year-old Skeeter (Stone) who has a a degree, but her mother will not be happy til she's engaged; and Minny Jackson, Aibileen's best friend and the sassiest woman in Mississippi (Spencer). Howard plays an antagonistic woman who dislikes the maids. Chris Lowell from "Veronica Mars" and "Life As We Know It" is also said to be part of the cast.

According to THR, Chastain is playing "Celia Foote, an insecure Southern lady constantly trying to fit in with the high society women who reject her." Mainstream Audiences don't really know Chastain well and she's about to make her big debut in Terrence Malick's "The Tree of Life"with Brad Pitt later this year, but she was good on her four episode arc of "Law & Order: Trial by Jury" (yes, we watched it).

Tate Taylor's ("Pretty Ugly People") is directing this Civil Rights-era tale and it shoots next month.

Teresa Palmer Out Of 'Mad Max 4: Fury Road'

We barely know who the beautiful Teresa Palmer is, but apparently we now know that the Australian actress will not be appearing in "Mad Max 4" aka "Mad Max: Fury Road." Or sort of.

According to a very unclear report out of ComingSoon — whose members modestly suggest without them there would be no film news — at the junket for "The Sorcerer's Apprentice" Palmer was asked if she was going to appear in the film, but she scoffed and said those reports were "Internet rumors." But asked about the film by Hitfix earlier in the year, Palmer seemed reticent to talk about project, but strongly suggested that she had been cast (or was negotiating) by saying, "I'm not really allowed to talk about it. I wish I could say more, but my lips are sealed."

Palmer also said playfully without admitting much, "there's rumors that I'm in it, there's rumors that I'm not in it," so it's possible ComingSoon mistook her "internet rumors" comments (that's our hunch).

Earlier this year, some reports had assumed that Palmer had replaced Charlize Theron in the film because the younger actress was said to be the lead, but while she didn't say much Theron recently confirmed her participation in the film to MTV.

The film also stars Tom Hardy ("Bronson"), Theron, Nicolas Hoult ("A Single Man"), Zoe Kravitz and Adelaide Clemens. While no one seems to know the plot and some have speculated, it seems that both Hardy and Theron are likely co-leads and Hardy is not playing a younger Mad Max and instead an entirely different character within that post-apocalyptic milieu.

In fact, Theron has been reported as being the lead in the film which doesn't surprise us one bit because Hardy, while we love him a ton, is not a bonafide star yet and he cannot green light a picture of this magnitude. Theron on the other hand can. So Palmer out of the picture? We're not so sure...

Meh. So much for that posit. She really is outtie on this project. There's a conflict with another film, but apparently Palmer was supposed to be in Miller's Justice League, perhaps this writer was sleeping when that was announced (I quit).

Last we heard the George Miller-directed "Mad Max: Fury Road" would undergo 3D conversion (naturally) and would shoot this August down under, but no word yet if that date is still a go.

Mike Nichols In Talks To Direct 'Great Hope Springs' With Meryl Streep & Jeff Bridges

Yesterday we reported that Meryl Streep and Jeff Bridges were set to star in the marriage crisis drama "Great Hope Springs," and we tagged the film as an easy awards season contender. The only stumbling block seemed to be the director Jessie Peretz ("I Am Sam," "Corrina Corrina") who, while not terrible, is a bit workmanlike and manipulative for material that deserves to be explored with some depth. However, that may change.

The Wrap reports that Mike Nichols is in talks to take over directing duties, attracted to the project by the talent involved. Of course, this will be territory Nichols will be more than familiar with having directed the classic marriage meltdown film "Who's Afraid Of Virginia Woolf?" and exploring similar themes more recently in "Closer." Nichols has also worked with Streep before, directing her in 1983's "Silkwood" which earned five Academy Award nominations including Best Director and Best Actress. We think he's a great choice for the director's chair, and really, the potential line up of Nichols/Streep/Bridges definitely has us excited.

As we mentioned yesterday, Philip Seymour Hoffman was also attached at one point, but with the film presumably shooting in the fall, he will run into scheduling conflicts that will prevent him taking the role of Dr. Fields. More on this one is sure to come soon.

Sylvester Stallone Is In Talks To Play Notorious Mobster John Gotti Sr.

Recently it was revealed that John Gotti Jr. was planning to develop a tell-all about his father John Gotti Sr., boss of the uber-powerful Gambino crime family, in triplicate: a documentary, a feature film, and a book. And while every Mafioso in the tri-state area is giving him the horns, the documentary is already planned for a spring 2011 release and the feature seems to have some major juice behind it.

TMZ reports that the role of John Gotti Sr. may go to none other than recently exhumed former action star Sylvester Stallone. Stallone is "in serious talks" to play the notorious mobster who was convicted in 1992 for committing 13 murders. Stallone, who has spent the last few years revisiting his action hero glory days ("Rambo," "Rocky Balboa") is the mastermind of the upcoming action (comedy?) "The Expendables," starring every major tough guy action star you’ve ever heard of, so this turn might indicate a nice gear change for the actor.

The film will focus on Gotti Jr.'s "recollections of his tumultuous relationship with his dad." As previously reported, Gotti Jr. will be involved both in the writing and producing of the film. Stallone as an aging mobster? Sure, we could buy it but whether or not the film is something special or just another run-of-the-mill crime story remains to be seen.

Fred Ward Joins Ruben Fleischer's '30 Minutes Or Less'

If you know and love the script for "30 Minutes Or Less" like we do than you know this is pretty brilliant casting.

Fred Ward has joined the cast of the Ruben Fleischer-directed project and he'll be playing a tough, asshole military dad.

Written by Michael Diliberti and Matthew Sullivan — a hot screenwriting duo that had two screenplays in last years Blacklist, including one still unproduced called "Comic Con;" they also wrote "L.A.P.I." — the picture stars Jessie Eisenberg, Aziz Ansari, Danny McBride, Nick Swanson and Michael Peña.

The film centers on two white trash fledgling criminals (McBride and his lapdog lieutenant Swanson) who kidnap a slacker pizza delivery driver (Eisenberg) and force him — by ticking bomb — to rob a bank within 30 minutes. Ansari plays Chet, the history teacher best friend of Eisenberg's character who has his shit together, but gets roped into the kidnapping (and note Aziz has been listed as the lead, but it's really Eisenberg's character who has the crux of the story in front of him). Peña plays a gangster character who becomes a significant problem in the second act of the screenplay.

In the script, McBride's character has a verbally abusive and strict retired military father named "The Major," and this is the brilliant casting choice of Ward (he's been an excellent character actor for years, but shame on you if you don't love, "Remo Williams: The Adventure Begins"). There's one major character left in the comedy and that would be Chet's sister — who Eisenberg's character is not-so-secretly in love with.

Any good brown suggestions? We mean that lovingly of course and to note that this shouldn't just be any old Caucasian actresses (unless the script has been tweaked).

Fleischer — who had the breakout hit "Zombieland" last year — is directing the picture this July in Grand Rapids, Michigan, and is a hot property on his own and has already found his next project in the Mike White-penned film, "Babe In The Woods," and their sensibilities seem to be evenly matched (thank god, Fleischer didn't go the "Mission Impossible IV" route; a project he had been offered).

Guillermo Del Toro Talks 'Mountains Of Madness,' 'Frankenstein' & Confirms 'Cronos' For A December Criterion Release

At last night's Saturn Awards, fanboy favorite Guillermo Del Toro stopped by, and being the gracious person he is, spent nearly half an hour fielding questions from fans, bloggers and journalists and spoke openly about a number of topics and projects. We're tried to condense it down to the bare essentials, but you can watch the full interview below.

We don't need to remind you that Del Toro left the continually delayed "The Hobbit" last month, and the question on everybody's mind is: what will he do next? The director certainly doesn't have any shortage of potential projects on his plate, and while he didn't confirm anything this time around, he did talk about the status of a couple of projects on his slate.

A longtime dream project for Del Toro has been an adaptation of H.P. Lovecraft's "At The Mountains Of Madness," and while it remains at the top of his wishlist of projects, it remains a tough sell for studios. "I would love to be doing 'Mountains Of Madness,' but still, even now, it's very difficult for the studios to take the step of an R-rated, tentpole movie, with a tough ending, no love story....," Del Toro says. So scratch that one for now.

However, his gestating adaptation of "Frankenstein" seems to be on somewhat firmer ground. While the script isn't finished, Del Toro says, "I'm presenting the storylines to Universal." Moreover, sculpture work is already done and screen-testing with potential lead Doug Jones should be underway soon. Del Toro plans to stick very closely to Mary Shelley's novel, but acknowledges he's having a hard time finding his way through the material saying, "The screenplay is not ready, that's the problem. It's not an easy screenplay to crack. There's been so many versions and I really would love to bring something new." He does have an idea in mind, but he's keeping mum on it saying, "If I say what it is, I spoil it completely."

So what is he doing next? Del Toro says he has one project in mind that he thinks will come together which "started 15 years ago" and has now come back full circle into his hands. Of course, he's keeping cagey and don't expect any official announcements until Comic Con or possibly after.

Finally, for those of you have been waiting for the long ago announced Criterion edition of Del Toro's "Cronos," off camera Del Toro revealed it will be coming this December. And for all you nerds out there, one of the features will be a fifteen minute segment on his Man Cave where he keeps all his collectibles. Seriously.

Ridley Scott Adding 'Stoker' To The Long List Of Directorial Gigs? Carey Mulligan & Jodie Foster Attached To Star

File under rumor if it makes you feel a little better, but we just received a good tip in the mail from very good sources (and there's corroborating evidence everywhere).

The email contains the script to "Stoker" a screenplay by Ted Foulke and it's already a Scott Free production (Ridley & Tony Scott) that's set up at Fox Searchlight. Apparently the screenplay has a lot of buzz at the moment in Tinseltown which is making it a hot property.

We've been told that Ridley himself is eyeing to direct the piece and that Jodie Foster and Carey Mulligan are attached to star.

Quickly thumbing through a few recent issues of Production Weekly, indeed Foster and Mulligan are mentioned as possible leads. And on top of that, Pajiba actually quietly reported the two actresses involvement yesterday (Update: The LATimes have chimed in and reconfirmed Mulligan too. Interestingly enough, we had difficult time finding a CV for Foulke and this might be why — apparently he's the pen name of "Prison Break" star Wentworth Miller).

As they write, "Stoker" focuses on a moody teenager (named Indiana Stoker) who — after the death of her father — has to deal with a mysterious uncle who returns to spend time with the family. We assume that role will be Mulligan's? More when we read the script this weekend.

So will Scott direct? He's definitely interested so far, but as we know, Scott is attached to direct 10-plus (give or take) projects and who knows when those will go into production (last we heard the "Alien" prequels are coming next). As Movieline loves to quip, this might be another Ridley Scott picture that he signs on to officially (eventually never) direct.

Peter Jackson In Talks To Direct 'The Hobbit'

Given the silence surrounding "The Hobbit" after Guillermo Del Toro vacated the director's chair, the likelihood of Peter Jackson returning to the franchise, despite initial denials from his camp, seemed more and more likely the longer this dragged on. And it looks like fans of Middle Earth have much rejoicing to do as Deadline reports that Jackson is in negotiations with MGM, WB and New Line to return and direct both installments of "The Hobbit."

It appears that Jackson and co. have been spending the past little while removing themselves from the obligations they've attached themselves to which we would presume are the unknown directorial project and the second installment of "Tintin" which he was largely believed to have in the pipeline. We previously speculated it might be difficult for Jackson to get out of the latter gig as its a major franchise for rival studios Paramount and Sony. So perhaps co-director and producer Steven Spielberg, who directed the first installment will do Jackson a solid, and helm part two as well? It remains to be seen, but if "The Hobbit" does get underway for the now targeted December shoot, the second installment of "Tintin" will have to be helmed by someone else if it shoots next year.

The question that remains to be answered is where the money to finance the film is going to come from. In short, MGM is bankrupt and debt ridden. While Jackson officially signing on to direct will keep fans happy, it doesn't change the situation MGM is in; the studio can't even afford to release completed films on their slate like "Red Dawn" and "Cabin In The Woods." Jackson signing on won't magically make the hundreds of millions required to finance this thing suddenly appear, though it may give shareholders a bit more confidence and the project a bit more of a leg to stand on. Also, Warner Bros. and New Line may been more inclined to shoulder more of the financial burden than they would have before.

But really, we can't imagine any other of the rumored directors that included David Yates, Sam Raimi, Neill Blomkamp, David Dobkin and Brett Ratner being able to move the mountains that will be required to get money flowing out of MGM. And as much as fans will be happy if Jackson returns, we sort of feel for the guy. He was clearly done with being in the "Lord Of The Rings" world, and was more than happy to hand off the reins to someone else. With Jackson's return, it now pretty much ties him up again for next few years to a project he was glad to oversee from a distance. You get the feeling he is really stepping in to save the film that seemed in danger of not being made at all.

It will be interesting to see how this plays out over the next few days, and if the deal gets locked into place, we wouldn't be surprised if things stay quiet for a big Comic Con announcement. Jackson, Fran Walsh and Philippa Boyens will be headed to Los Angeles next week to look over audition tapes for roles in the film which suggests the film is moving full steam ahead. But for those of you concerned about Del Toro's work on the film, rest assured he is still collaborating on the screenplay and his pre-production work and designs will still be utilized.

Additional details are trickling in. HeatVision says a significant delay will be a "dealbreaker" for Jackson and there are obstacles to the deal. If they can't decide on a fast-tracked schedule, Jackson could bail, but insiders are apparently, "cautiously optimistic." The next few days of the negotiations are expected to be crucial ones, stay tuned.

The Most Tolerable Works of Tom Cruise: A Retrospective

While this weekend's "Knight & Day" is on the early track towards being a bomb (or at least to be totally fair, it's underwhelmed so far) and is surely not Tom Cruise's finest work by a long shot (though it does have its charms), the picture does remind us that the while an international star, the consistently maligned actor (perhaps for his personal Xenu beliefs and pitbull-like handlers) is a) a much better, harder working actor then he is generally given credit for and b) generally a much more compelling one when he's taking roles that subvert his all-American, good-looking hero mien (now if only James Mangold's action comedy would have stuck to its guns and let Cruise stick to his insane character for the entire film instead of copping out midway through).

While his box-office clout does seem to be in doubt — there's been rumbling that a "Knight & Day" poor showing may affect the outcome of "Mission Impossible 4" — we're more concerned with what ends up on the screen.

While different aspects of his body of work appeal to different audiences (indie kids naturally swoon over "Magnolia" cause of the PTA association), The Playlist decided to check in on the films in a feature we cheekily decided to call "His Most Tolerable Films" (he does do solid work in the right roles with the right directors). So without further ado, what you could also call our favorite, errr, more interesting Tom Cruise performances (give or take a few moments). Don't get it twisted, we're not necessarily huge fans, but as always, we give credit where credit is due.

"Magnolia" (1999)
Before his second divorce, TomKat-foolery and jumping on Oprah's couch incident, Tom Cruise was a star. Best known for action packed dramas and pithy rom-coms, Cruise proved himself as an actor with his performance in Paul Thomas Anderson's ambitious third feature-film where he played misogynistic self-help author Frank T.J. Mackey. Cruise scored a Golden Globe and an Oscar nomination for his rich multi-layered portrayal of Mackey, whose catchphrase "tame the cunt" was haunting when uttered. Frighteningly authentic, Cruise was able to balance the dichotomy of an intolerant sexist, and at the same time a wounded boy thanks to his unloving father who ditched him and his mother years ago. As his character comes to terms with his ailing father, which would be Jason Robards' last role, we watch Cruise show the true depth of his range, and it's gripping. Later, thanks to the many media scuffles Cruise has gone through, you might wonder if "Magnolia" was actually an acting performance or the first time Cruise ever let his true self shine through. We'll never know and this is probably why it's so damn successful.

"Tropic Thunder" (2008)
Ok, while the idea of an entire Les Grossman film is a little much (this idea works because like the dynamics of a middle eight in a song, more is less), but the otherwise underwhelming "Tropic Thunder" was greatly bolstered by the actor's image-demolishing turn as a tumescent, bald, hirsute f-bomb dropping dbag film producer (modeled after Joel Silver). Sure the amazing dialogue (or amazing litany of creative vulgarities) helped, but Cruise definitely sold the character, swung for the fences and connected with his greasy, slimebag portrayal (surely he's been around enough of these power-hungry, megalomanical characters before). The fact that Cruise out-funnied and out-acted Robert Downey Jr. playing an Australian thespian playing an African American character in skin-modified method-acting dedication (what a missed opportunity that was) was not lost on discerning viewers either.

"Collateral" (2004)
While Cruise's career has always been marked mostly by smart and subtle shifts in his persona — playing a misogynistic womanizer in Paul Thomas Anderson's "indie" "Magnolia" or throwing his hand in the comedy game with his Les Grossman character — none have been as satisfying as his turn as the assassin for hire in Michael Mann's minimal, sleek thriller "Collateral." Co-starring a subdued, pre-"Ray" Jamie Foxx (one of his best turns so far), the film's story is very simple. Cruise plays Vincent, a killer who hires a cab to drive him around Los Angeles for the night. Unlike other A-list actors who often overact and flail about in "bad guy" roles (ie. Denzel Washington in "Training Day"), Cruise goes in the opposite direction. Vincent is both compelling and creepy, and Cruise is so good that when Vincent tries to rationalize his behavior he practically brings the audience over to his point of view. This is a side we don't see often enough from Cruise; a role that finds hims out on the ledge without relying on the fallback of his Cruise persona to catch him, and it's one we always hope to see more of.

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Sam Raimi Not Directing 'Oz The Great And Powerful'?

Yesterday was the annual Saturn Awards, presented by the Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy & Horror films. Two time winner Sam Raimi made an appearance and Collider caught up with him for an interview. The site managed to squeeze some information out of him, in particular about upcoming films "World of Warcraft" and "Oz The Great and Powerful."

In somewhat surprising news, Raimi claims that he is not confirmed to take the director's chair for the Robert Downey Jr. led Oz film. Earlier this month we reported that Deadline confirmed he had taken the job, but in this interview, Raimi seems to be singing a different tune. "I'm not really committed to 'Oz'. We're gonna wait and see how that goes. I've read the script, it's a great project... It's something i'd like to work on." Looks like Nikki Finke jumped the gun on this one. It seems like the project is still finding its footing, but it sounds like should all the pieces fall into place to Raimi's liking, he would be on board.

The rest of the interview involves Raimi talking a lot about his "World of Warcraft" project, and he seems very passionate about the film. This is the most he's ever talked about it, and frankly, its been in development for so long we were beginning to doubt it would ever happen. It seems like work is being done though, as Raimi mentions he and Robert Rodat ("Saving Private Ryan" & "The Patriot") have had many sleepless nights trying to crack this one.

"We're still working on the story right now, we got a 40 page document that needs a lot more work... we're finding the characters, through the characters we're finding the story. We're just trying to create realistic characters that live in the world of Warcraft." Raimi also states that it will not take place in any other world than the Warcraft one, thankfully they're both smart enough to not even consider having a narrative that includes a person actually playing the game. When asked about particular characters, "..there's so many characters in the game, that we're really trying to pull upon the most exciting and different characters in the game. It's so overwhelming... so many different characters and professions, so we're trying to choose the ones that are interesting and that can play part in a drama that is slowly developing."

He's excited, he's into it, he's got a level 70 character of his own, but what about the studio, Legendary Pictures? "The studio is very enthusiastic... Thomas Tull is running Legendary, he's a great fan of the game himself. He's a fellow that produces really good quality pictures, he's after making a top quality movie. It's his only concern." It's good to hear the Raimi can pursue something he really seems interested in, even if we're not as enthusiastic as any of the aforementioned players are. Could this turn out to be a good film? Maybe, Raimi certainly is talented, but we're not so sure we're sold on the source material. It could very well be a generic fantasy piece, but here's hoping Raimi can inject some life and humor into it (just pray that this film doesn't take itself too seriously).

With "World of Warcraft" without a script-outline, and "Oz The Great and Powerful" no longer 100% confirmed, what is Raimi up to now? He quickly dismissed "The Hobbit" rumors, saying he "didn't hear that" and that "I don't think that's what Peter Jackson's thinking, probably.." With a shrug, he added, "You never know."

As for what's next, there's nothing set in stone and ready to go. "I really want to direct a picture, it's possible that a film that's ready to make could come in, but I haven't seen it yet," he says. It's possible that we could hear from Raimi soon, as he's actively reading scripts to find a project to join, and who knows - maybe the 'Oz' stuff is just a slight hiccup and will go on as rumored with Raimi at the helm.

In Theaters: 'Knight & Day,' 'Grown Ups,' 'Dogtooth'

No sequels or reboots this week, just two star vehicles from very reliable box-office draws: Tom Cruise and Adam Sandler. The two stars might not have a whole lot in common, but when they appear in the context of their more comfortable genres (action/comedy for Cruise and broad manchild comedy for Sandler) they usually can't fail. They are both also notable for taking major risks outside of their comfort zones (both have worked with P.T. Anderson) and while the results are sometimes exceptional, the profits usually are not. Which brings us to this weekend's very safe "Knight & Day" and "Grown Ups" both of which should do decent, if not overwhelming business. Expect "Toy Story 3" to remain the firm victor once again this week. On the art-house front we highly recommend the Greek psychological drama "Dogtooth" which finally gets its stateside premiere this week. Also opening, the Afghan War doc "Restrepo," the Oliver Stone agitprop "South of the Border" and Alain Resnais' romantic comedy "Wild Grass."

In Wide Release: Getting a head start on the weekend (it opened Wednesday) is "Knight & Day" the new Tom Cruise action vehicle from director James Mangold ("Walk the Line," "3:10 to Yuma"). Despite the similarities to the recent bomb "Killers" and even last spring's "The Bounty Hunter," Cruise and co-star Cameron Diaz's star power should help it gain some traction at the box office, particularly outside of the US. Mr. Holmes plays a semi-insane rogue CIA agent on the run from ex-colleagues hell-bent on capturing him when he meets a beautiful woman (Diaz) who gets in the way. We were just hoping for a whole bunch of silly summer fun and the talented Mangold pretty much delivers as we note in our review from earlier this week. The supporting cast is stellar with Peter Sarsgaard, Viola Davis, and Paul Dano also starring. Rotten Tomatoes: 52% Metacritic: 47.

Adam Sandler is back with his annual summer laff-fest, this time bringing a whole host of his real-life friends in director Dennis Dugan's "Grown Ups." After the relative commercial disappointment of last year's dramedy "Funny People," Sandler is back on familiar ground as he, Kevin James, Chris Rock, David Spade and Rob Schnieder play high school basketball teammates who reunite at a lakeside cabin retreat after the death of their beloved coach. We like Sandler when he works with interesting directors like Paul Thomas Anderson or Judd Apatow, stretching the limits of his emotionally-stunted manchild act instead of lowering the bar even further each time out. Sadly, "Grown Ups" is not one of Sandler's more highbrow efforts, as we noted in our review yesterday, where we pretty much recommend jumping off a bridge rather than plunking down $12 this weekend. RT: 6% Metacritic: 31.

In Limited Release: Our pick this week is Greek director Yorgos Lanthimos' feature "Dogtooth." The film, one of our favorites last year at the Toronto International Film Festival (our review here), tells the provocative story of a married couple who go to great lengths to shelter their young adult children from the outside world. The children create their own universe with an invented vocabulary, scared of what lies outside of the protected kingdom. With reference points like Michael Haneke's "Funny Games" and Catherine Breillat's "Fat Girl," you know you're not in for easy viewing but the craftsmanship is first class and Lanthimos certainly makes a splash as a filmmaker to watch in the coming years. RT: 89% Metacritic: 77.

From June 2007 to July 2008 author and Vanity Fair contributor Sebastian Junger ("The Perfect Storm") and photojournalist Tim Hetherington embedded with US soldiers in remote east Afghanistan. The filmmakers were allowed unprecedented access to the troops as they attempted to build and secure a 15 man outpost named after a fallen comrade "Restrepo." There are no talking heads interviewed here, just undiluted footage from the front lines in one of the most dangerous war zones in Afghanistan. Winner of the Grand Jury Prize at Sundance, the film attempts to present war at its purest, without political commentary, putting our eyes on the same things that the troops see day in and day out. RT: 95% Metacritic: 86. Here's our review.

In 2009, Oliver Stone made headlines when he traveled to South America to meet with Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez. While Chavez was the focus of the media's attention, Stone manage to interview five more of the continent's leaders as well as Raul Castro from Cuba for his new documentary "South of the Border." Stone attempts to tackle major misconceptions of the continent and their many social democracies, documenting this important time in South American history. As idealist and obvious as it may be, we're happy to see Stone working outside of the studio system making a film that is a bit more personal than his recent efforts. We'll be catching up with this one soon. RT: 73% Metacritic: 46.

Also out in limited release, "Wild Grass" from legendary French director Alain Resnais. The story concerns a lost wallet and the two people's lives who intersect when it is found and returned to its owner. We saw the film at NYFF last year, and noted it found the direct at his weird and wily best. RT: 76% Metacritic: 72.

Epic 'Mesrine' Films Finally Coming Out: Pt 1 August 13, Pt 2 On September 3

As you can tell by this graphic, "Mesrine," the two-part French crime epic starring Vincent Cassel ("Irreversible," "Ocean's 12") as Jacques Mesrine who became France's most notorious criminal throughout the 1970s was supposed to see a release in April of this year.

April came and went and we obviously didn't hear a peep.

Now we have official word from publicists repping the film. Part One, "Mesrine: Killer Instinct" will now open in limited release (NY/L.A.) on August 13 and then Part Two: "Mesrine: Public Enemy Number One" arriving a few weeks later on September 3 (NY/L.A. again). Music Box Films is the distributor.

The pictures also stars Gérard Depardieu, Ludivine Sagnier ("Swimming Pool"), Samuel Le Bihan, Mathieu Amalric ("A Christmas Tale," and the villain in "Quantum Of Solace" for Americans), Gilles Lellouche, Elena Anaya ("Sex & Lucia," an upcoming Almodovar film) and Cecile de France (the gorgeous star of Claude Miller's very underrated 2008 French film, "Un Secret," who also has a lead role in Clint Eastwood's upcoming spiritual drama, "Hereafter").

Delays upon delays, we hope the films are worth the wait, but "Mesrine" did score an impressive ten nominations at last year's Cesar Awards (France's Oscars) and the picture went on to take three awards including Best Director (Jean-François Richet), Best Actor (Vincent Cassel) and Best Sound.

Review: 'Restrepo' Avoids Politics, Focuses On The People, But Unfortunately Comes Up Short

Political documentaries are a dime-a-dozen these days, though it's not often that we get an apolitical doc. Most of them tend to be anti-war or left-wing, with some being conservative (and most of those are replies to left-wing docs such as "Celsius 41.11" or "Farenhype 9/11"), but rarely will you find a film about current events that is completely neutral. The Sundance Grand-Jury Prize winning "Restrepo" (by first-time film-makers Sebastian Junger and Tim Hetherington) claims to be even-handed focusing more on relationships between the soldiers in one regiment rather than being a commentary on the war or the politics involved in it. While it does go to great lengths to avoid taking a stance, it can't avoid it, and because of its insistence on following the soldiers and nothing else, the film unfortunately misses a lot of great cinematic opportunities.

"Restrepo" follows one platoon, for a year, in the Korangel Valley in Afghanistan. The Korengal Valley is only six miles long, but managed to contain 1/5th of the fighting. The danger in this area was immense (we've now pulled out), with the troops constantly getting into various battles and casualties accumulating much too quickly. Opening the film is a bittersweet camera phone video of four soldiers before they are deployed, goofing off and making faces. The camera man here, Restrepo, says that he is ready for war. Barely a half hour goes by in the film and this officer is killed, the remaining soldiers of the platoon naming their new Korangel Base after him. It is at this moment that we realize that the film isn't just your typical anti-war documentary: it most certainly is anti-war (no matter how many times the filmmakers will say its apolitical), but instead of focusing (or at least mentioning) the politicians and the bigger picture, the film is scaled down and focuses on the soldiers and their relationships with one another, which turns out to be their main driving force in this messy situation.

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New Photos & Trailer: Todd Solondz's 'Life During Wartime'

OK, this official U.S. trailer for Todd Soldonz's "Life During Wartime" is not very different from the U.K. one released earlier this year, but hey, we also found some new pictures to go along with this post (a new poster was also recently released).

Also as our review from TIFF 2009 notes; while "Life During Wartime" wasn't completely successful front to back, it is a interesting picture and one worth not only seeing, but discussing. Once titled "Forgiveness," this is the picture's main theme and since there are several immoral and vile characters, it does raise some fascinating questions about the capacity for redemption that are left to the viewer to decide.
As discussed several times, perhaps ad nauesum, the picture is a quasi sequel to "Happiness" (and to a lesser extent "Welcome To The Dollhouse" — a few characters from that film return too) and many of the same characters return, but they're played by different actors.
The picture stars several actors including Allison Janney, Paul "Pee-Wee Herman" Reubens, Ciarán Hinds, Ally Sheedy, Shirley Henderson, Charlotte Rampling, Michael Kenneth Williams, Michael Lerner and more (we made a handy cheat sheet last year so you could see who was now playing who — Michael K. Williams plays Philip Seymour Hoffman's character for example and Paul Reubens resumes John Lovitz's role).

IFC opens the picture on July 23 in New York, it expands the following weekend and then it will be OnDemand shortly after that. Also, one of our reader reminds us something that we reported on last year: Devendra Banhart and Beck sang and performed the title track featured in the trailer, written by Solondz himself.

Say What Now? Dermot Mulroney Directing Biopic Of Soccer Star-Turned-Politician George Weah

With America suddenly discovering the existence of soccer in the past couple of weeks, and World Cup fever sweeping the nation, it was only a matter of time before movies started turning up based around the beautiful game. But we didn't expect the first one to be quite as what-the-fuck as it's turned out to be.

Actor Dermot Mulroney, best known for the likes of "My Best Friend's Wedding" and "About Schmidt," is currently making his directorial debut with the romantic comedy "Love, Wedding, Marriage," which toplines Mandy Moore and Kellan Lutz, but he's already lining up his next directorial project. Mulroney and his producing partners have secured the life rights to George Weah, the one-time Paris St. Germain and A.C. Milan striker who was once named the FIFA World Player of the Year (the first African player to take the title).

Since retiring, Weah became involved in humanitarian efforts in his native Liberia, using his influence to help child soldiers give up their weapons, and was instrumental in ending the dictatorship of former leader Charles Taylor. He ran for president in 2005, to vicious opposition (his home was burned down), and eventually lost a disputed election. The law was changed after his defeat to state that a Liberian president had to have a college degree, but that hasn't stopped Weah; he's currently studying at a university in Miami, and hopes to run again.

It's a pretty great story, and you've got to applaud Mulroney for his passion and ambition for it; as he says, "Man can't live on romantic comedies alone. It was a good starter kit for me as a director. But if I'm actually going to have legs as a director, I need to do the same things as I've done as an actor; one of everything." We actually rather like the actor/director; after a series of bland performances in the 1990s, he's been consistently excellent recently in the likes of "Lovely & Amazing," "Zodiac" and "Undertow." While we're yet to see his talent as a director, fingers crossed he gets this one moving. [Hollywood Reporter]

Amazing Trailer For The Haunting 'Valhalla Rising' By Nicholas Winding Refn

In 1000 AD, held prisoner by a Norse chieftain, a fearless mute warrior, aided by a boy slave, kills his captors and then falls in with a group of Vikings seeking a holy land which begets a journey into the heart of darkness.

This is "Valhalla Rising," the amazing new film by Danish auteur Nicolas Winding Refn; a Viking epic starring the always-captivating Mads Mikkelsen.

How cinephiles today won't love this film is inexplicable, but the reading by this guy (who seemingly has the worst taste on the web) is brutal and completely off the mark.

Our review of the film from TIFF 2009 called the film akin to Terrence Malick making a silent horror movie or the great Russian director Andrei Tarkovsky making a lovechild descent into madness B-movie with early John Carpenter and that's gloriously on the mark as the film is savage, fierce, eerie and unsettling.

While the trailer for 'Valhalla' had plenty of visceral axe-swinging bad-assery, the film is the polar opposite of Refn's celebrated 2009 picture "Bronson" — it's a slow-moving, meditative and haunting picture (which is what that other yokel can't appreciate to save his life). It might be a hard sell for plebeian audiences, but cineastes should revel in the stunning awe this mesmerizing picture generally delivers. "Valhalla Rising" hits theaters July 16 and should be OnDemand any day now if you can't wait.

Jonah Hill & John C. Reilly Tear Up The Interwebs In Viral 'Cyrus' Mash-Up Clip

So it's Friday, and to ease you into the weekend, here's a pretty funny viral clip of Jonah Hill and John C. Reilly jamming on a Casio to promote their movie "Cyrus" (which expands this weekend to Austin, Boston, Chicago, San Diego, San Francisco, Toronto and Washington D.C.). It's one of our favorite movies of the year so far, and the chemistry that the pair display in this clip is a sign of how good they are in the movie. Check it out below. Oh yeah, and in case you were confused, this music is definitely not Miley Cyrus.

Pawel Pawlikowski To Adapt James Meek Novel 'We Are Now Beginning Our Descent'

It feels like there's too many directors we have to say this about, but it's been way too long since we've seen anything from Polish-British director Pawel Pawlikowski. After starting in documentaries, his feature debut "The Last Resort" garnered a huge amount of attention, while follow-up "My Summer of Love," which introduced the world to Emily Blunt, was one of the best British films of recent years.

He began work in 2006 on an adaptation of Magnus Mills' novel "The Restraint of Beasts," starring Ben Whishaw, Rhys Ifans and Eddie Marsan, but, tragically, the director's wife became seriously ill, and later died, and filming was suspended half-way through; it remains uncompleted, and will likely never see the light of day. Since then, he's been attached to various projects, including an adaptation of the best selling non-fiction work "Young Stalin," but he finally returned this year, having just wrapped on the Paris-set thriller "The Woman In The Fifth," starring Ethan Hawke and Kristin Scott-Thomas.

The good news is, he's already lining his next project, as Screen Daily are reporting that Pawlikowski has signed to an adaptation of the novel "We Are Now Beginning Our Descent," from journalist-turned-novelist James Meek. The script is by Toby Finlay ("Dorian Gray"), and is being developed at Coded Pictures, who are behind the currently-filming thriller "Junkhearts" with Eddie Marsan and Romola Garai.

We read the novel a few years back, and it's pretty excellent; it follows a Scottish foreign correspondent who begins an affair with an American reporter in Afghanistan in 2001, which sounds a little generic, but the novel is beautifully observed, and savage in its depiction of Western foreign policy, even if it does suffer from structural problems. Pawlikowski seems like a great fit for the material, and we hope the project makes its mooted start date next year. Now all we need is some movement on a film version of Meek's unbelievably good earlier novel "The People's Act of Love"; Johnny Depp picked up the movie rights a few years ago, and it screams out to be adapted.