Michael Caine Joins 'Journey To The Center Of The Earth 2,' Will Get Chased By Giant Bees

Michael Caine is in final negotiations to join "Journey To The Center Of The Earth 2" with Dwayne Johnson and Josh Hutcherson. Maybe he will perform an inception that will make us want to see this movie.

In the film, Hutcherson will reprise his role from the first installment, "partnering with Johnson, playing his mom's boyfriend, on a trip to a mythical island to find his missing grandfather. Caine is the grandfather, but the part is no cameo. The role will see the actor in action mode, engaging in several chase sequences, including one involving giant bees." That's right, Michael Caine + giant bees. We guess we do have a reason to be interested in this now.

The film will be directed by Brad Peyton ("Cats and Dogs: The Revenge of Kitty Galore") and will shoot in Hawaii and North Carolina.

Andrew Adamson, Rupert Sanders & Susanna White Join Candidate List For 'Hunger Games'; Francis Lawrence Also In The Hunt?

Andrew Adamson ("The Chronicles Of Narnia: The Lion, The Witch & The Wardrobe"), Rupert Sanders (Brit commercial director) and Susanna White ("Nanny McPhee Returns," "Generation Kill") have joined the previously announced trio of Sam Mendes, David Slade and Gary Ross ("Pleasantville," "Seabiscuit") as contenders to direct the first installment of the gestating Lionsgate trilogy, "Hunger Games."

Based on the novels by Suzanne Collins with a fresh re-write done by Billy Ray ("Shattered Glass," "Breach"), the story follows "Katniss Everdeen, an enterprising 16-year old from a poor territory that was once Appalachia, who becomes a teen gladiator in a reality show event that is a battle to the death against other teens from the 12 districts that make up what is left of the USA, which is run by a cruel totalitarian government."

According to Deadline, "they could expand the field--Francis Lawrence seems a late candidate" though it's unclear if he's also in the running or not. Our guess as to why these three lesser-known directors are being considered? They probably will be a helluva lot cheaper than either Mendes, Slade or Ross. A decision is expected to come soon.

Clint Eastwood Turned Down 'Superman' & James Bond, Should've Been Offered Sub-Mariner Instead

Chalk this one up to as one of the great "What if?" entries of all time. In an interview with Hero Complex, legendary badass Clint Eastwood has revealed he turned down lead roles in some of the biggest franchises of all time, saying "no thanks" to James Bond and "Superman."

“I can remember – and this was many years ago – when [Warner Bros. President] Frank Wells came to me about doing Superman. So it could have happened. This was when they first started to think about making it. I was like, ‘Superman? Nah, nah, that’s not for me.’ Not that there’s anything wrong with it. It’s for somebody, but not me.

“I was also offered pretty good money to do James Bond if I would take on the role. This was after Sean Connery left. My lawyer represented the Broccolis,” who produce the Bond franchise, “and he came and said, ‘They would love to have you.’ But to me, well, that was somebody else’s gig. That’s Sean’s deal. It didn’t feel right for me to be doing it.”

Clint is a smart guy, and as much as we love 'em, he's right that he would've been totally wrong for both roles. He goes on to explain he didn't have much enthusiasm for comic characters saying, “I always liked characters that were more grounded in reality. Maybe they do super things or more-than-human things — like Dirty Harry, he has a knack for doing crazy things, or the western guys — but, still, they’re not caped crusaders.”

But the one comic film that might've piqued Eastwood's interest is a bit of surprise. The actor/director reveals “....the Sub-Mariner, that’s the one I always liked. I had all of those comics when I was a kid.”

We can't reconcile the image of Clint Eastwood reading comics but it does make one wonder. His latest film "Hereafter" hits TIFF this weekend and will open in theaters on October 22nd.

TIFF Scores! Brian Reitzell Adds Musical Assist To Mike Mills' 'Beginners'; David Holmes Scores 'The Edge'; & More

As we just said, if you're paying attention, the Toronto International Film Festival site is loaded with interesting music/film collaborations. We could probably write an individual piece about all of these, but then we'd be here all day. So to keep it all brief and digestible, here we go.

Director Mike Mills has exceptional taste and always has. He started out as a designer and music video director (various hip '90s/'00s collaborations for Sonic Youth, Elliott Smith, Air, Beastie Boys, Beck, Jon Spencer Blues Explosion, Cibo Matto, Blonde Redhead) and then moved on to feature filmmaking. His earnest and non-ironic feature film debut "Thumbsucker" included an optimistic score by the Polyphonic Spree, plus contained one of the last songs Elliott Smith ever recorded (a cover of "Trouble" by Cat Stevens). So it's no surprise to hear his new film, "Beginners," starring Ewan McGregor, Christopher Plummer and Melanie Laurent, has some interesting musical collaborators as well. The music in the film is credited to Roger Neill, Dave Palmer, and Brian Reitzell. All three of them have worked with Air in some capacity and sometimes as touring musicians. Palmer is an LA producer who has worked with Fiona Apple and toured with Air and Zooey Deschanel among many others. Reitzell is known for always being the music supervisor on Sofia Coppola's films, and one of his biggest coups ever was convincing My Bloody Valentine recluse Kevin Shields to come out of hiding to record a few score pieces for the film (you can also thank Reitzell for the comeback tour as every bit of coaxing back into the spotlight helped). A talented arranger, Neill and Reitzell also worked with Spoon's Britt Daniels to compose the score to the 2006 film, "Stranger Than Fiction." Another feather in Reitzell's cap, getting Explosions In The Sky featured throughout Peter Berg's "Friday Night Lights." Suffice it to say he is a good taste magnet and is always dreaming up excellent cinematic music ideas for various talented directors (Reitzell and Palmer most recently worked on "The Brothers Bloom"). Reitzell also wrote the score for "30 Days of Night," Cillian Murphy's "Peacock," and is attached to help out the unmade picture, "Goats." Here's more info about Mills' "Beginners." [TIFF]

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A New Low For Uwe Boll? NSFW Trailer Arrives For Director's Holocaust Film 'Auschwitz'

Coming up right on the heels of two major Jewish holidays, including the all-important Yom Kippur (Day of Atonement), the trailer for Uwe Boll's next film, "Auschwitz," has dropped. And it is a doozy; brief, but incredibly explicit and starring Mr. Boll himself as an unsympathetic Nazi officer. We know he's unsympathetic because he stands idly by with a forlorn expression outside of a room full of Jews being gassed with Zyklon B. Given the director's reputation, the nicest way to put it would be to say he's ill-suited to tackle a subject of such gravity. Then again, he's not really fit to be making films at all, but that's a whole other issue as well.

Boll has attempted to tackle 9/11 satire with "Postal" and the Darfur genocide with "Darfur," but to our knowledge, his more recent films, including suburban serial murder drama "Rampage," have not seen stateside release. The Internet will no doubt be up-in-arms about this film and Boll must know this after the publicity he's pulled in with other controversial projects he's taken on. Frankly speaking, he is a legitimate director of questionable quality and this film will likely bear the low-quality trademarks of prior Boll films -- the difference is it will gather significantly more attention due to the nature of the subject. And that's a shame. But it's not like ignoring him is making the director go away either.

'Battleship' Gets Some Respectability, Liam Neeson Joins Cast

With shooting already underway in Hawaii, Peter Berg has added a respectable name to join his motley crew cast that currently includes Taylor Kitsch, Alexander Skarsgard, pop star Rihanna, Tom Arnold, Hamish Linklater and model Brooklyn Decker.

Deadline reports that Liam Neeson, who is no stranger to terrible blockbusters (hello, "Clash Of The Titans," "The A-Team"), has joined the film. The actor will play "Admiral Shane, the Naval officer whose daughter (Decker) is engaged to a young naval officer played by Taylor Kitsch." And how much do you want to bet that Neeson will think Kitsch isn't good enough for his daughter blah blah blah aliens battle saving lives blah blah blah.

In case you missed it, you can check out some recent photos of Rihanna pretending to pretend that she's in the Navy. The future cult camp classic (with aliens to boot) will hit theaters on May 18, 2012. It's a musical, right?

Hilary Duff Circling Love Interest Role In 'Spider-Man'?

Ok, this has to be one of the strangest sources for movie news we've had in a while, but buried in a recent profile by The Globe And Mail of hockey player Mike Comrie, and thanks to the eagle eyes of Latino Review, it was revealed that among the contents of his kitchen table of late was a script with the title "Spider-Man."

Of course, speculation is high, but facts are minimal at this point except that lines were highlighted in yellow for a character simply called "girl." Is Comrie's wife, Hilary Duff, eyeing a leading lady role in Marc Webb's film? Or is it another, smaller part? If the former, she's joining a long list of actresses vying for the part who last we heard include Imogen Poots ("Cracks," Cary Fukunaga's "Jane Eyre"), Ophelia Lovibond ("Nowhere Boy," William Monahan's upcoming "London Boulevard"), Teresa Palmer ("The Sorcerer's Apprentice," the upcoming "I Am Number Four") and Emma Roberts ("It's Kind Of A Funny Story," "What's Wrong With Virginia").

We'll leave the guesswork to others only to say that after landing someone like Andrew Garfield to play Peter Parker, sending a script to Hilary Duff seems to take casting in the totally opposite direction. It seems she's simply one of many taking auditions for the film, so Spidey fans needn't get too upset. Yet.

'Judge Dredd' Is Now Just Plain 'Dredd,' Vague Synopsis Revealed

ComingSoon has dug up a couple more tidbits on the latest attempt to bring the comic Judge Dredd to the big screen. Now simply titled "Dredd," the film will star Karl Urban as the titular crime fighter with Olivia Thirlby recently joining as Cassandra Anderson, “a telepathic rookie who shadows Dredd.”

Film production company IM Global has posted a vague synopsis of sorts of the film which you can read below:

DREDD takes us to the wild streets of Mega City One, the lone oasis of quasi-civilization on Cursed Earth. Judge Dredd (Karl Urban) is the most feared of elite Street Judges, with the power to enforce the law, sentence offenders and execute them on the spot - if necessary. The endlessly inventive mind of writer Alex Garland and the frenetic vision of director Peter Travis bring DREDD to life as a futuristic neo-noir action film that returns the celebrated character to the dark, visceral incarnation from John Wagner and Carlos Ezquerra's revered comic strip.

Doesn't say much, does it? If you want to find out more about the film you can check out a script review we ran, which revealed that the screenplay was very dark and gritty with comparisons being drawn to "Die Hard" and "Blade Runner." Evidently, the producers are going for a Hard-R rating and the film shoots in South Africa later this year with a modest $45 million dollar budget.

James Franco's SNL Documentary 'Saturday Night' Picked Up By Oscilloscope, February 2011 Release Planned

Actor, artist, student and filmmaker James Franco wears many hats but 2010 might be the busiest year ever for the actor. He's already appeared in "Eat Pray Love" as Julia Roberts' love interest and in "Date Night" where he spouted one of the best one liners we've heard all year: "Why don't you zip your vagina, Raymond Burr?." He's also starring as Allen Ginsberg in the forthcoming "Howl" and if that weren't enough, Oscar buzz is building around his performance as Aron Ralston in Danny Boyle's harrowing "127 Hours."

But that's not all the busy man has on his plate. He recently completed work on "Saturday Night," a behind the scenes look at SNL and what it takes to get a single episode on the air. The film made festival rounds earlier this year where it received good notices and has now been picked up by Oscilloscope who are prepping the film for a February 2011 release. It should prove to be a fascinating insight in the daily rigors of the long running show.

No trailer just yet, but for now, you can check out a sample of the actor/director's recent work on "General Hospital" where he plays Franco, a tortured artist. Kind of amazing. But we're also sort of impressed he finds time to masturbate four to five times per day.

Broken Social Scores: Brendan Canning Does Music For McDonald's 'Trigger'; Ohad Benchetrit Scores 'Daydream Nation'

As more details on the TIFF site emerge we have more music/film possibilities to look forward to. The first exciting find is the fact that Ohad Benchetrit of Broken Social Scene & Do Make Say Think composed the music cues to Canadian film, "Daydream Nation" which stars, Kat Dennings and Josh Lucas. If you don't know the instrumental post-rock band of Do Make Say Think, you need to rectify that stat and their more experimental tendencies were a big influences on the nascent Broken Social Scene founded by Kevin Drew and Brendan Canning and their sound has always been cinematic and soundtracky (DMST founder Charles Spearin was an early key member of BSS' sprawling membership).

If you don't know the talents of Benchetrit, you should also change that asap. He's a multi-instrumentalist (saxophone and flute on top of the usual suspect instruments) and has also contributed to albums by fellow Canucks Feist, The Hidden Cameras and Charles Spearin's solo works. Benchetrit is also a capable producer and produced several Broken Social Scene tracks (including a record that was scrapped circa 2004/05 recorded around the time of the self-titled record), including most recently, many moments on the more ambient and soundscapey record, Lo-Fi For The Dividing Nights. He previously scored the 2005 Canadian film, "A Simple Curve."

It's hard not to notice that that Broken Social Scene's Brendan Canning has a strong relationship with fellow Canadian director Bruce McDonald (he essentially acted as the music supervisor/selector for the upcoming, "Hard Core Logo 2") so it's probably no surprise to hear he also wrote the score to McDonald's "Trigger." McDonald's latest (watch some clips here) is the story of two rock n' roll women who once shared a friendship, a band and a whole lot of chaos. He's described it as "My Dinner With Andre"-esque as its mostly about two estranged women and bandmates who reconnect at dinner after years animosity. It stars Molly Parker and late Canadian character actress Tracy Wright, the wife of director/writer Don McKellar (who also has a part in the film, as does Sarah Polley). Both pictures will appear at the Toronto International Film Festival. If we're lucky we'll get to see them both.

The Bro Soc/Canning/McDonald relationship doesn't end there and likely won't any time soon. The Canning-lead version of BSS scored McDonald's, "Tracey Fragments" in 2007 and the filmmaker recently released, "This Movie Is Broken," a chaotic, but immersive concert doc of the collective tethered to a loose relationship narrative (read our review). If it's not evident already, Broken Social Scene and its various tentacles have fully moved in film scoring business and that's not going to stop any time soon. Canning and Drew recently contributed to the "Scott Pilgrim Vs. The World" score and soundtrack (the full band helped out on the latter) and they will actually have three films in attendance at the Toronto Film Festival this year. Their last musical-film moment for 2010 (probably) are the instrumental tunes penned for Ryan Fleck and Anna Boden's "It's A Kind of Funny Story." There will be more, count on it. [TIFF/TIFF]

Watch: NSFW Trailer For Full Length 'Hobo With A Shotgun' Starring Rutger Hauer

Are you ready for more grindhouse?

If "Machete" didn't leave you quite satisfied, the wait to get another serving of pulp won't be too far off. The official trailer for the feature length version of "Hobo With A Shotgun" was been unveiled and well, even if we're not quite sold, it looks like the film version is going to go all out.

Directed by Jason Eisener, who won a SXSW contest with his original fake trailer for "Hobo With A Shotgun" back in '07 as part of a promotional push for "Grindhouse," and saw it get attached to Canadian prints of the film, his feature stars Rutger Hauer in the titular role. Is it just us or did anyone else drift off during Hauer's overly long and not particularly funny monologue? Things pick up in the last bit of the trailer where we see unhinged decapitations and violence but is this whole thing already played out? Guess we'll find out soon enough.

No release dates yet, but for now take a sneak peek at what's to come. [AICN]

HBO Picks Up Martin Scorsese's Fran Leibowitz Documentary 'Public Speaking', PBS Lands 'A Letter To Elia'

HBO has acquired the U.S. TV rights to Martin Scorsese's "Public Speaking," a documentary about writer/social commentator Fran Leibowitz.

The cable station, which will premiere the Scorsese produced Atlantic City gangster series "Boardwalk Empire" this fall, will broadcast the doc in November. Details are scarce on the feature length film but it is apparently in the vein of "Italianamerican" and "American Boy."

In related news, PBS in conjunction with 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment has acquired Scorsese's "A Letter To Elia" as part of their American Masters series. The film explores the life and work of director Elia Kazan and was met with positive reviews after making its World Premiere at the Venice Film Festival and its North American premiere at Telluride this past weekend. The film will be broadcast on PBS on October 4th.

These are just a couple of the documentaries that the director has been working on including a history of British film with longtime editor Thelma Schoonmaker, a documentary on George Harrison and possibly a follow-up to "My Voyage To Italy." If that weren't enough, Scorsese is currently hard at work shooting his first 3D film, "Hugo Cabret." [Deadline]

Nick Urata Of Devotchka Scored Dustin Lance Black's 'What's Wrong With Virginia?'

All one needs to do is a little digging and all the info is there. According to the TIFF website, Nick Urata of indie rockers Devotchka has composed the score to Dustin Lance Black's "What's Wrong With Virginia?"

The band's first major soundtrack assignment was the winning score to "Little Miss Sunshine," in 2006 and Urata wrote the score this time on his own. Devotchka also appeared on the soundtrack to John Dahl's underrated hitman comedy, "You Kill Me," plus an episode of "Weeds," but as a band haven't written any full scores since.

That's because since 2006, Urata has quietly been racking up score credits on his own including, "I Love You Phillip Morris," (the gay prison dramedy starring Ewan McGregor and Jim Carrey) "The Joneses," with David Duchovny, Amber Heard and Demi Moore, the upcoming, "Waiting for Forever" (Rachel Bilson, Nikki Blonsky) and "Father Of Invention" (Kevin Spacey, Camilla Belle) plus the 2008 indie, "Fling" starring Brandon Routh.

Dustin Lance Black won an Oscar for writing Gus Van Sant's "Milk" and as we just noted, 'Virginia' centers on a charming but psychologically disturbed mother (Jennifer Connelly) who holds a secret 20-year affair with a sheriff (Ed Harris) now running for state senate. Their relationship is then tested when the mother's 16-year-old son begins a relationship with the sheriff's daughter (Emma Roberts). Lucas Grabeel, Carrie Preston, Amy Madigan and Toby Jones also evidently co-star. The film will premiere at the Toronto Film Festival next week.

17 Most-Anticipated Films From The Upcoming 2010 Toronto International Film Festival

The Toronto International Film Festival is right around the corner and in fact, kicks off in two days on September 9th and runs until the 19th. Various Playlist members will be there at different times, so you should be getting reviews from the frontlines, an interview or two and more reports where applicable. With the festival upon us, we thought we'd deliver a quick recap and our most anticipated list. Essentially an early preview of the reviews you'll likely be reading during the festival.

"Rabbit Hole" - Director John Cameron Mitchell leads Nicole Kidman and Aaron Eckhart as a young couple trying to cope with the accidental death of their young son in what Mitchell described as an anti-Hollywood production and a personal project (Mitchell lost a brother at a similar age and felt a deep connection with the adaptation of David Lindsay-Abaire's award-winning stage play).The picture also stars Dianne Wiest and Sandra Oh and almost featured a score by Final Fantasy aka Owen Pallet, a sometime member of the Arcade Fire and violinist, and it appeared he recorded some material, but then became too busy to complete the full score. He has since been replaced by Anton Sanko. Also, Nicole Kidman gave up a chance to star in Woody Allen's "You Will Meet A Tall Dark Stranger" which she initially was cast in, but left that project in favor of "Rabbit Hole."

"Meek's Cutoff" - Things go wrong for Michelle Williams, Paul Dano, Zoe Kazan, Shirley Henderson, Neal Huff, and Will Patton, as well as Bruce Greenwood in Kelly Reichardt's tale of the ill-fated expedition from Fort Laramie to Willamette Valley in 1845. The film is Reichardt's follow-up to the devastating micro-budgeted, "Wendy & Lucy," which boasted a killer and criminally overlooked performance by Williams (she didn't receive the Oscar nomination she rightly should have scored). This Western is said to be Reichardt's biggest picture to date (relative of course), and it'll be interesting to see what the always-fascinating filmmaker delivers.

"Everything Must Go" - Will Ferrell pulls out another one of his annual indie dramas, joining a strong cast including Rebecca Hall, Laura Dern and Michael Pena, in the story about a recovering alcoholic (Ferrell) who falls off the wagon, is tossed from both his job and home, and must survive on his front lawn by selling his belongings in a yard sale. First time feature-film director and screenwriter Dan Rush (who made his name on music videos and commercials) obviously impressed everyone with his reel and his adaptation of this Raymond Carver short story “Why Don’t You Dance?"

"Never Let Me Go" - Mark Romanek tackles Kazuo Ishiguro's celebrated novel in his latest film, which made Spike Jonze cry. Will it make us weepy too? We'll soon find out. The tragic tale of love among the students at a boarding school stars was written by Alex Garland ("28 Days Later," "Sunshine") and stars Andrew Garfield, Carey Mulligan, Keira Knightley and Sally Hawkins. And while some reviews have been mixed, the positive ones tend to be positively glowing. We'll admit, we're extremely anticipating this one's textures and emotional center and we're hoping it doesn't disappoint.

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Takeshi Kitano To Make 'Outrage 2'

Though we didn't think much of it when we saw it at Cannes, Takeshi Kitano's latest, the outrageous and brutally violent "Outrage" was hailed by many as a return to form for the director. The bloodbath of a film followed the complex battle for power between two yakuza gangs. Given how things play out in the film, the notion of a sequel is kind of ridiculous, but the greenlight has been given and "Outrage 2" is on the way.

Though "story and cast have yet to be decided" the film has already been penciled in for a fall 2011 release in Japan. "Outrage" has done strong numbers in the nation, raking in a decent $9 million; certainly meatier numbers than some of the non-gangster, artier Kitano works of late.

No word on if or when "Outrage" will hit stateside, though we do imagine it will be distributed in some form sooner or later. We're a little surprised the film is skipping TIFF (seems like a no-brainer for a Midnight Madness slot) though it will be hitting Fantastic Fest later in the month in Austin. [Variety]

Jan De Bont To Direct Zhang Ziyi In Live Action 'Mulan'

Jan De Bont, remember him? He wowed Hollywood with his one-two punch of "Twister" and "Speed" and then found himself pretty much exiled after the trifecta of flops, "Speed 2: Cruise Control," "The Haunting" and "Lara Croft Tomb Raider: The Cradle Of Life."

Well he's back, and while Hollywood still won't have him, international producers are hoping his action credentials can help make a spectacular live action version of "Mulan" with Zhang Ziyi to take on the lead role.

The story, perhaps most best known to North American audiences via the Disney animated film, tells the tale of "Hua Mulan, the legendary young heroine soldier who joins an all-male army." The film is set to begin its lengthy production this month in Shanghai and will wrap in January. No word yet what the budget will be, but rumors of a $100 million pricetag have been denied. [THR]

James Cameron To Make 3D Film About Brazil's Xikrin-Kayapo Tribe; Doc On Xingu River Dam To Feature On 'Avatar' DVD

James Cameron will return to Brazil later this year with a 3D camera in tow to once again meet with the Xikrin-Kayapo tribe. Speaking with the Folha de Sao Paulo newspaper (via the Herald Sun) Cameron says, "I want to return to meet some of the leaders of the Xikrin-Kayapo tribe who invited me." Adding, "I want to take a 3D camera to film how they live, their culture."

The director has already made two visits to Brazil, meeting with the nation's indigenous peoples, in a show of support as they battle against the construction of the Belo Monte hydroelectric plant on the Xingu River. Cameron has already shot a short documentary on the subject which will be included on the forthcoming "Avatar" special edition DVD. Cameron says that when he was asked to help "the Brazilian Indians, who were desperate, I could not turn away."

Yeah, Cameron is a director we like to pick on, but we do give him a thumbs up here for using his "Avatar" clout for some good. A documentary as a special feature on the upcoming "Avatar" disc is certainly a step above and beyond and returning to the region, when he could just as easily write a check or endorse a cause while sitting at home, is a sincere pledge of commitment from the director.

And this isn't Cameron's first time meeting with Brazil's native tribes. He has also met with the Achuar, drawing attention to their struggle against oil drilling near their homelands, raising funds with a screening of "Avatar" with the Achuar in attendance. Even the great Cameron can be humbled, as he recalled the screening earlier this year saying, "A bunch of Achuar were bussed in to watch Avatar at an IMAX theater in 3D. These are people who had never been in a movie theater. They’re wearing feathers and paint. And they put on the glasses and watch 'Avatar,' the first movie they’ve ever seen. And when they came out, the BBC interviewed them. This one woman, a tribal elder, says, 'In this movie, they solved their problems by fighting. We are not afraid to fight, but we have decided to try to solve our problems through dialogue. So this movie needs a better message.' I felt like I’d been punk’d. But it made me think."

Rumor: Did 'The Office' Star Martin Freeman Turn Down The Lead In 'The Hobbit'?

Since Guillermo Del Toro left the project earlier in the summer, things have been relatively quiet with regards to "The Hobbit," mainly due to the continuing uncertainty over the financial status of backers MGM. Peter Jackson hinted at some positive news on the way (although there's still no word if Jackson will helm the films himself, which seems most likely, or pass it on to a new director), and former Dr. Who Sylvester McCoy revealed that he was in talks for a role in the film a few weeks back. Now, if reports from British tabloid The Sun are to be believed (and, as a general rule, they aren't...), one relatively high-profile actor was offered the lead role of hobbit Bilbo Baggins, but has turned it down.

Martin Freeman, who came to prominence in the original British version of "The Office," before going on to lead Hammer & Tongs' version of "The Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy," was offered the part of Baggins (played by Ian Holm in the original "Lord of the Rings" trilogy), but turned it down after committing to a second series of "Sherlock," the BBC's excellent contemporary reworking of Arthur Conan Doyle's detective, in which the actor plays John Watson opposite Benedict Cumberbatch ("Atonement") as Holmes.

Freeman's has been a fan favorite for the role for a few years now, partly due to auditioning for Stanley Tucci's role in Jackson's "The Lovely Bones," and partly due to a lack of imagination from all concerned (he's short? he's perfect!), which is one of a number of reasons that we're suspicious of The Sun's report (the other reasons: the paper's horrible track record, common sense, and having an IQ above Brick Tamland's). Having said that, just as a stopped clock is right twice a day, sometimes they do get it right. Either way, with MGM still in uncertain waters, we're probably a little while away from seeing who'll fill Ian Holm's hairy prosthetic shoes.

Be Bop A-Lula: Terrence Malick Working On Jerry Lee Lewis Movie With Brad Pitt and Natalie Portman?

This morning, Risky Business broke the big news that Natalie Portman has been offered the much-contested lead role in Alfonso Cuarón's "Gravity," a film that we're unashamedly excited for. But buried away in the same article is news about a project that makes our anticipation for that film pale in comparison.

The piece reports that, again after the praise for her lead role in "Black Swan," Portman has been targeted by Terrence Malick for "a Jerry Lee Lewis-related project" which the "Badlands" director has been developing with Brad Pitt. This marks something of a burst of activity for the once-reclusive helmer (who famously went nearly twenty years between "Days of Heaven" and "The Thin Red Line"); "Tree of Life" is still yet to emerge, and the director is currently gearing up for an untitled romantic drama with Ben Affleck, Rachel Weisz, Javier Bardem, Rachel McAdams and Olga Kurylenko, set to film any day now.

Initially, we thought the project was an entirely new one for Malick, but a little digging uncovered a 1995 article in Los Angeles Magazine which revealed that, during his absence, Malick worked on "his own version of 'Great Balls of Fire,'" the 1989 film biopic of the rock star that toplined Dennis Quaid and Winona Ryder. His script was described as "much darker" than the finished film by producer Adam Fields, and we imagine that elements of that script will re-emerge in the new film.

The idea of Malick working on a story about the birth of rock n roll is a leftfield one, but enormously exciting, particularly if Pitt and Portman are involved too. Having said that, knowing Malick's sense of urgency when it comes to his projects (at least two and a half years will have passed between "Tree of Life" going before cameras and its release), we imagine we're at least three or four years away from seeing this one, if it happens at all. But quite frankly, we'd marry our 13-year-old cousin if it ensured that the film got made.

One final tidbit from the article concerns the great playwright/screenwriter Tom Stoppard, who is currently writing something with Portman in mind, which, considering this writer is a full on Stoppard acolyte, is again excellent news. However, with Stoppard currently expressing desire to be killed by a falling bookcase, that may be a little while off too...

Gravity's Rainbow: Natalie Portman Offered Lead In Alfonso Cuaron's Space Epic

Even if director Alfonso Cuarón hadn't made two of the finest films of the 00s with "Y Tu Mamá También" and "Children of Men," we'd be excited about "Gravity;" a relentlessly tense script and a supporting role from the ever-reliable Robert Downey Jr, who's now arguably the biggest movie star on the planet, are in the bag, but the visionary helmer is the seal on the $80 million space drama, set for release in 2012. The only trouble is, Cuarón and backers Warner Bros. have had serious problems landing a female lead, a character who has to carry 90% of the film on their shoulders.

Angelina Jolie was originally intended to take the lead role, but passed not once but twice, and seemingly every actress who's ever carried a movie, or might one day carry a movie, from established names like Sandra Bullock, Naomi Watts and Marion Cotillard, to rising stars like Carey Mulligan, Sienna Miller, Abbie Cornish, Rebecca Hall, Olivia Wilde, Scarlett Johansson and Blake Lively, have all been approached by the studio and the filmmaker.

Rachel Weisz was loosely linked to the part a few days ago, but now, fortunately, it looks like Cuarón's quest may be at an end, as Risky Business are reporting that a firm offer has gone out to Natalie Portman, whose name was among the legions linked to the film, to take the lead role. The article suggests that the rave reviews that the actress has been picking up from Venice and Telluride for her performance in Darren Aronofsky's "Black Swan" convinced Warners to let Cuarón offer Portman the role without screen testing. She'll read the latest draft of the script in the next few days, and a decision is expected shortly.

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Jean-Luc Godard Not Attending Honorary Oscar Ceremony, Too Busy Being Awesome

Citing his advanced age, legendary filmmaker Jean-Luc Godard has decided to turn down the invitation to the annual Governor's Awards, where he was due to receive an Honorary Oscar. The message came not from the legendary filmmaker himself, but from his life (and producing) partner Anne-Marie Mieville.

Mieville also suggests that Godard may also be trying to stay diplomatic. "He just told me, 'It's not the Oscars,'" she says, adding, "At first he thought it was going to be part of the same ceremony, then he realized it was a separate thing in November." Godard, who's never been nominated for a single Oscar, also skipped public appearances for his latest, "Film Socialisme" at Cannes, which, like many of his later works, was met by head-scratching.

Godard, director of "Breathless," "Contempt," "Band Of Outsiders," "Alphaville" and "Weekend," probably never considered himself the type of filmmaker that won Oscars anyway: he's famously quoted as saying, in one of the few instances he's spoken positively about other filmmakers, "Cinema begins with DW Griffith and ends with Abbas Kiarostami." Of course, Griffith had to settle for an "honorary" Oscar when the voting committee missed out on his offerings the first time, and as for Kiarostami, well, we wouldn't hold our breath for that one.

Good for Godard to tell the Academy where they can shove it. The Governor's Awards will still showcase honorees Francis Ford Coppola, Eli Wallach and Kevin Brownlow, but Godard no doubt deserves better.

Sly Stallone Says Director's Cut Of 'The Expendables' On The Way

Has Sylvester Stallone stolen the throne from tweet king Kevin Smith?

The doyen of action took to his Twitter account to not only announce a director's cut of his opus "The Expendables" but also to reveal the existence of a "making of" documentary. The sincerely titled "Inferno: The Making of The Expendables" will chronicle the antics of the cast and crew, and according to Stallone, "....its hard core - everybodys on it." Highlights include a stunt misstep involving Steve Austin (described as a "brutal smackdown") and the injury of big guy Sly, for which he is told he needs to undergo spinal cord surgery.

Stallone revealed the director's cut of the film will be out in six months, with the documentary said to arrive "soon." If we were to guess, the theatrical cut and documentary will arrive on home video first, with the director's cut, bells-and-whistles special edition to arrive later. Might as well milk Stallone's fast approaching $100 million success for all it's worth.

With a doc on the way, plus a director's cut (likely to slow down the film even more) and a proposed "Expendables 2," things don't seem to be letting up for the actor/director. If only all of this was leading to something better, such as enabling him to do the possibly-interesting Robert Downey Jr. "Poe" biopic he's mentioned every so often, but we suppose we'll have to just wait it out, subscribe to his Twitter account and hope for the best. [Deadline]

Financing Collapses For Terry Gilliam's 'Don Quixote,' Won't Be Able To Try Again Until September 2011; 'Time Bandits' Going 3D?

Is it back to square one for Terry Gilliam's troubled and long-gestating, "The Man Who Killed Don Quixote" project?

Sounds very much like it and evidently the financial problems are much worse than the understated "hiccup" that Gilliam admitted to earlier this summer.

"The financing collapsed about a month and a half ago," the director told audiences on Saturday at the Deauville American Film Festival where Variety was in attendance. "I shouldn't be here. The plan was to be shooting 'Quixote' right now."

Still, despite the new setbacks -- and there was a rather gigantic one in the early aughts painfully captured in Keith Fulton and Louis Pepe's 2002 doc "Lost in La Mancha" -- Gilliam promises to keep moving forward and hopes to secure new monies. "Robert Duvall is Quixote, Ewan McGregor is also there, and we are looking for new financing right now," he said. "'Don Quixote' gives me something to look forward to, always. Maybe the most frightening thing is to actually make the film." But if he does get financing, the film still might be a long way off.

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Elizabeth Olsen & Hugh Dancy To Star In Indie Drama 'Martha Marcy May Marlene'

The cast is rounding out for the new indie film "Martha Marcy May Marlene," directed by Borderline Films member Sean Durkin.

Already settled in is Sarah Paulson, whom you may know from "Serenity," "Diggers," or from a few episodes of hit HBO show "Deadwood." You hopefully don't know her from "The Spirit." Joining her is none other than Elizabeth Olsen, who just wrapped on the Bruce Beresford (that's Mr. "Driving Miss Daisy") comedy "Peace, Love, & Misunderstanding." You might have also heard of her twin sisters.

The story, which was workshopped at the prestigious Sundance Labs, follows Olsen who is living with her sister Paulson after escaping a cult, as she is "haunted by painful memories and increasing paranoia" while trying to "reassimilate with her family." Paulson's husband will be played by Brit thespian Hugh Dancy. John Hawkes and Brady Corbet round out the cast.

The last Borderline Films production we saw was Antonio Campos's "Afterschool," which starred up-and-coming young'un Ezra Miller ("City Island," "We Need To Talk About Kevin"), and was about a disillusioned youth who witnesses (and accidentally films) a death caused by drug overdose. Described as "baby-Haneke," we didn't take to it much when we saw it at NYFF, saying it that it felt "rather cold and clinical at times." Despite its problems (such as the excruciatingly silly dialogue and ham-fisted acting direction), its influences were intriguing and the film hit some good notes every so often, showing potential for a good movie some day. It remains to be seen if "Martha Marcy May Marlene" will use the same visual aesthetic and approach, but hopefully Durkin is a little more reserved in his directing approach than his fellow producer.

Consider us interested; if handled properly the film could be an intriguing portrait of a troubled woman. Shooting is expected to start soon.

Joe Cornish Talks Alien Invasion Flick 'Attack The Block'

With the likes of "Skyline," "Battle: Los Angeles" and "Cowboys and Aliens" all on the way in the next twelve months, alien invasions seem to be reaching the kind of ubiquity previously reserved for zombie flicks and Tyler Perry movies. But the one that we're looking forward to more than any of the others is probably the smallest dog in the fight: "Attack the Block," the directorial debut of Joe Cornish.

Cornish is a British comedian and radio DJ, who's a long-time friend and collaborator of Edgar Wright, sharing credit with the "Scott Pilgrim" helmer on their scripts for "Ant-Man" and "The Adventures of Tintin: The Secret of the Unicorn." His debut as director, "Attack the Block," from Wright's usual producer Nira Park's company Big Talk, went before cameras earlier in the year, and, in the new print issue of Empire, Cornish spilled the beans on the production, which focuses on a South London council estate coming under attack from aliens.

Cornish reveals that the film was partly inspired by a carjacking he suffered in 2001, and partly by both M. Night Shyamalan's "Signs" and John Sayles' unmade script "Dark Skies," which Spielberg was going to direct before "E.T.." Cornish relates "I thought, 'What would happen if that [an alien invasion] happened in Stockwell or Brixton?' It occurred to me that if it did, the kids who pulled me out of my car would probably be the first people I'd turn towards to protect me."

The film mixes newcomers, most notably John Boyega and Alex Esmail, as leads Moses and Pest, with more established names like Jodie Whittaker ("Venus"), Nick Frost ("Hot Fuzz") and Luke Treadaway ("Clash of the Titans"), and the creatures they battle will be achieved with a minimum of CGI: "They're certainly not 'District 9'-y, CGI creatures. It was very important to me that they were in the room with the kids, so they have something real to react to. So we used a combination of in-camera stuff. We also hired this brilliant creature-design guy called Terry Notary. He was the movement expert for Simon Pegg and Nick Frost on 'Tintin,' he did the 'Hulk' stuff, he did all the viperwolves in 'Avatar.'"

Many, including us, have been expecting something close to "Shaun Of The Dead"-with-aliens from the picture, and, while that's not a bad starting point, Cornish is aiming for something a little more serious: "It's not ironic, it's not tongue-in-cheek. Things that happen are pretty far-fetched, but the idea is that it's grounded... We've aimed for 50 per cent kitchen-sink realism, 50 per cent escapist, '80s-style adventure movie." We managed to get our grubby hands on a draft of the script recently, and that's about bang on.

In a 'Director's Statement' at the front of the script, Cornish uses "Assault on Precinct 13," "La Haine" and "Aliens" as reference points, as well as early John Carpenter, "The Terminator" and "The Warriors," and all are certainly recognizably in there, without the film ever becoming a slave to its influences. It's a terrific read; lean, funny and exciting, with some killer set-pieces, and enough of a political undercurrent to give it real substance. The film hits the U.K. next spring, and we're counting the days.

First Look At Rooney Mara As Lisbeth Salander In 'The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo'

It's only been a few weeks since the epic search for an actress to play the already-iconic role of Lisbeth Salander in David Fincher's version of "The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo" was completed. And of course, relative unknown and "The Social Network" star Rooney Mara beat out the likes of Ellen Page, Emily Browning and Lea Seydoux to the part.

Filming kicks off in Sweden later in the month, with Mara joining Daniel Craig, Robin Wright, Stellan Skarsgard and Max Von Sydow in the thriller, the first of a mooted trilogy, but pictures of Mara as she'll appear in the film have already appeared, after Rooney Mara Network (via Oh No They Didn't) picked up a few paparazzi images of the actress.

The photos appear to come from Mara's motorcycle training for the film, and the actress looks near-unrecognizable with the character's trademark short black hair (although as yet without any piercings). She more than looks the part, perhaps even more so than Noomi Rapace, who took on the role in the Swedish version and, while giving excellent performances, always seemed a little too model-like for us. The picture is scheduled to arrive December 21st, 2011, enabling you to take the rape-and-murder loving members of your family to it just in time for Christmas.

Gemma Arterton To Star In Christopher Nolan-Penned Thriller 'The Keys To The Street,' Meeting With Ridley Scott For 'Alien' Prequels

It might come as a surprise to those of you who saw her performances as Princess Exposition in this year's "Prince Of Persia: The Sands of Time" and "Clash of the Titans," but Gemma Arterton can act; she delivered an excellent performance in the indie thriller "The Disappearance of Alice Creed," and was also good on British TV as "Tess of the D'Urbervilles." While she's committed to the upcoming "Clash" sequel, where she'll presumably continue to stand around in the background and be a bit useless, she's also lining up a couple of projects which could give her something more to sink her teeth into.

Arterton gave an interview to the Sunday Times (which is behind a paywall, thanks to Rupert Murdoch, but was in the Culture section of the print edition, p.11) in support of Stephen Frears' "Tamara Drewe," which opens in the U.K. this week, and she's dropped a couple of hints regarding what she may be moving onto next. First of all, she's just been cast in "The Keys to the Street" a long-gestating adaptation of a Ruth Rendell thriller, and one that's been penned by none other than Christopher Nolan. Nolan was hired to write the script after his debut "Following," by Fox Searchlight and Ab'strakt Pictures ("Nurse Betty"), and was originally meant to direct, although, unsurprisingly, it seems he's no longer attached.

The plot follows a bone marrow donor, Mary, who enters a relationship with the man who's life she saved, a man who may not be what he appears to be. Last year ScriptShadow carried a very negative, spoiler-filled review of a draft of this script revised by Michael Stokes, whose credits are mostly DTV horror fare, but it's possible that the producers have reverted to Nolan's version (which can only help sell the picture, we imagine...), particularly as Arterton seems to be excited; she says in the piece that when she read it, she thought "Why on earth has this film been sitting around?" There's no news where the project's now set up, or if there's any other talent attached, but we imagine more details will emerge soon.

Arterton's also attached to a "British cowboy film" named "In With The Outlaws," to be directed by Richard E. Grant (lead actor in the brilliant "Withnail And I," and "How to Get Ahead in Advertising"), and is also set to have a very early meeting for one of the most high profile projects around: Ridley Scott's "Alien" prequels. Arterton says "Ridley Scott saw 'Alice Creed' and loved it. He wants me to meet for Aliens: The Remake, or something." While it's obviously early stages, (and Arterton doesn't seem particularly keen on the project) it at least gives an idea of the kind of casting Scott's going for.

Weekend Box Office: 'The American' Prevails, 'Machete' Can't Defeat 'Takers'

Historically, Labor Day Weekend closes the more-or-less explosive summer movie season not with a bang, but a whimper, and this weekend doesn’t look like it’s going to buck that overall trend. Perhaps because filmgoers are fatigued by successive summer blockbusters clamoring for their attention (though this year, maybe not so much), or because studios have become wary of the date, it has become an uncomfortable no man’s land between the big-budget actioner period and the awards-hopeful drama season. Whether the chicken or the egg is to blame, it seems folks don’t go to the cinema much around this time of year -- possibly they’re aware that a darkened theater isn’t the best place to show off the whites they’re wearing for the last time this season.

That said, this weekend’s 3-day totals look to be around the same as last year’s, with the top 12 films taking in a total of around $81m, a marked improvement on 2007 and 2008’s figures for the same period - a lot due this year to a large upswing in attendance on Saturday, making up for poor Friday night figures. It also meant we were treated to a more-difficult-to-call-than-usual fight for the number one spot, with three new releases (“The American,“ “Machete” and “Going the Distance”) targeting very different audiences, and last week’s biggies “Takers” and “The Last Exorcism” also hanging in there.

It was Anton Corbin’s George Clooney-starrer “The American” that pulled ahead of the pack after a slow enough start, its $16m 3-day seeming to prove once again, that although the buzz online and in various polls may have been louder about Robert Rodriguez’s “Machete,” when it comes right down to it, more people will shell out their hard-earneds to watch an established movie star in a thriller, albeit a low-key one, than will go see a hard-R cameo-studded B-movie. That’s in theaters at least -- no doubt the films’ relative lives internationally and on DVD/TV will tell their own stories. In any case, it’s kinda nice to be able to champion the number one film for once, while its pace may be too slow and considered for some (RT 61%, MetaCritic 62), we liked it quite a bit. And that opening, while modest in the scheme of things, may be enough to push it into being one of the top Labor Day openers of all time, an impressive-sounding feat till you realize that the current holder of that top honor is 2007's “Halloween” rehash.

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Telluride Buzz: Danny Boyle's '127 Hours' Is A Gut-Wrenching, Visceral Experience

Reviews of Danny Boyle's "127 Hours" starring James Franco have hit from the 2010 Telluride Film Festival. Boyle was last at the festival two years ago to unspool "Slumdog Millionaire" which went on to critical and box office success and of course, Oscar glory.

The film is based on the true story of mountain climber Aron's Ralston's (Franco) extraordinary survival tale after he found himself trapped under a boulder and faced with the decision to amputate his own arm. The cast also includes Amber Tamblyn, Lizzy Caplan, Kate Mara and Clémence Poésy and features work from two cinematographers, Anthony Dod Mantle and Enrique Chediak. How did it fare? Let's jump right in:

The L.A. Times says the film cuts an impressive swath. "Many tears were shed at the world premiere screening of “127 Hours” at the Telluride Film Festival on Saturday afternoon. But few in the audience of some 500 cried harder than Aron Ralston, the hiker who famously cut off his right forearm and is the subject of director Danny Boyle’s new movie."

Hitfix called the film a visceral and uplifiting experience. He also thinks Franco is awards-bound. "James Franco... gives the best performance of his career as Ralston. Having to captivate the dramatic ups and downs of Alston's ordeal over five days is no easy task and Franco channels the outdoor lover's energy and enthusiasm throughout. There is a small list of filmmaker who have achieved creative success with back-to-back films over the years, but with '127 Hours' Danny Boyle has just joined the club."

Deadline's Peter Hammond says the film is definitely an Awards hopeful, calling out Franco's performance in particular. "It’s a tour-de-force for Franco, virtually never off screen in the same way Spencer Tracy triumphed in the similarly spare The Old Man And The Sea (1958). Franco's performance could put him in contention for a best actor Oscar nod just as Tracy’s did over 50 years ago."

Cinematical makes it clear that the film definitely isn't for the squeamish calling it "gut-wrenching in a queasy, horror-movie way – a shield-your-eyes-from-the-screen, chuckle-in-relieved-astonishment sort of experience, done incredibly well."

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Telluride Buzz: Mark Romanek's 'Never Let Me Go' Met With Glowing, But Mixed Praise

Telluride 2010 is in full swing and the first major film has screened. It's Mark Romanek's highly anticipated (at least from us) third feature-length drama, "Never Let Me Go" starring Carey Mulligan, Keira Knightley and the soon-to-be new "Spider-Man" Andrew Garfield (the kid can truly act and you'll all see soon enough). The picture takes place in a boarding school and tracks the lives and friendships of three students (mentioned above) who eventually learn a dark secret about their existence. Reviews so far seem to be fairly positive with some critics waxing breathlessly about the picture's actors, tone and mood, but there are a few who seem to think it's too distant. Frankly, considering how good Mulligan and Garfield are, we're not surprised and we're glad to hear Romanek has seemed to capture such nuance and texture after the rather overt and obvious, "One Hour Photo."

The first big salvo in the Telluride reviews has come from MCN's David Poland who calls Romanek's film a "masterpiece." And adds glowingly, "[it's] a film we’ll be discussing, frame by frame, in schools, 20 years from now. I can only hope that this doesn’t mean it will be underappreciated now. This film feels like the product of Kubrick and Malick’s bastard son."

Variety is in the tank for the picture as well. "“Never Let Me Go is that rare find, a fragile little four-leaf clover of a movie that’s emotionally devastating, yet all too easily trampled by cynics. his gift for texture and tone shines through. Once again, the helmer seems drawn to the melancholy side of his material, directing the cast, especially Mulligan, to play everything as if teetering on the brink of a complete emotional breakdown."

Anne Thompson says: Romanek has "created a believably off-kilter ‘what-if’ world that is vaguely familiar but not exactly what once was,” praising the trio of actors as a “heartbreaking love triangle,” cautions audiences that she "cried buckets at this film" and adds" get out your handkerchiefs."

THR has mixed thoughts calling it, "a very engaging, if somber, story that has a surfeit of elegant elements that didn't quite add up to a great film as a whole. Mulligan, who trekked to Telluride for the first time last year with "An Education," is equally magnetic in a role that asks her to be silent and/or sad much of the time. Despite the restrained nature of her performance, she shows once again that she is a uniquely expressive and radiant film presence. Garfield, who is about to make a big shift into the mainstream "Spider-Man" universe for Sony, is also very good in playing an odd, somewhat dim but still heartbreaking character."

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