***New Posters for THE WHISTLEBLOWER and COWBOYS & ALIENS ***New Image of Gina Carano With a Machine Gun in Steven Soderberg’s HAYWIRE ***Chris Rock and Anna Kendrick Join WHAT TO EXPECT WHEN YOU’RE EXPECTING ***D.J. Caruso in Negotiations to Helm A WALK AMONG THE TOMBSTONES ***Adam McKay in Talks to Direct Will Ferrell and Mark Wahlberg in THREE MISSISSIPPI

New Posters for THE WHISTLEBLOWER and COWBOYS & ALIENS

by Brendan Bettinger    Posted: June 30th, 2011

Tonight brings new posters for The Whistleblower and Cowboys & Aliens.  Rachel Weisz stars as “an American police officer who takes a job working as a peacekeeper in post-war Bosnia” in The Whistleblower, inspired by a true story.  Vanessa Redgrave, Monica Bellucci, and David Strathairn also star in the directorial debut of Larysa Kondracki.  The Whistleblower opens on August 5.
The new Cowboys & Aliens banner poster continues to highlight the anachronistic technology shackled to Daniel Craig’s wrist.  Director Jon Favreau credits that image to producer Steven Spielberg, which explains pretty much all you need to know about its raw cinematic appeal. Harrison Ford, Olivia Wilde, Paul Dano, Clancy Brown, and Walton Goggins also star. Cowboys & Aliens opens on July 29.
Hit the jump to see both posters. http://collider.com/cowboys-and-aliens-poster-the-whistleblower/99949/

New Image of Gina Carano With a Machine Gun in Steven Soderberg’s HAYWIRE

by Brendan Bettinger    Posted: June 30th, 2011

Relativity has released a new image from Haywire, the second of the five remaining Steven Soderbergh movies before he retires.  MMA fighter Gino Carano stars as a double-crossed covert agent looking to a) protect her family and b) exact revenge on those who betrayed her.  As evidenced in the new image, the machine gun is an integral tool for her revenge.
I imagine part of Soderbergh’s financing pitch was to surround Carano, a novice, with an all star cast: Ewan McGregor, Michael Douglas, Channing Tatum, Michael Fassbender, Antonio Banderas, and Bill Paxton.  Haywire opens on January 20.  See the full image in high resolution after the jump. http://collider.com/haywire-movie-image/99927/

Chris Rock and Anna Kendrick Join WHAT TO EXPECT WHEN YOU’RE EXPECTING

by Adam Chitwood   Posted: June 30th, 2011

The cast of director Kirk Jones’ (Everybody’s Fine) baby book adaptation What to Expect When You’re Expecting keeps growing, as Chris Rock and Anna Kendrick have just signed on. The Love Actually-esque movie will follow six expectant couples through the ups and downs of pregnancy. Lionsgate announced that Kendrick will play a woman who reunites with an old flame following a turf war between their food trucks.
Per Deadline, Rock will play the leader of a group of expectant fathers who “lectures them on what it’s really like to have a baby and become a father.” Rock and Kendrick join a cast that includes Cameron Diaz, Jennifer Lopez, Isla Fischer and Brooklyn Decker. Filming begins this summer, with What to Expect When You’re Expecting slated for a May 11^th, 2012 release. http://collider.com/chris-rock-anna-kendrick-what-to-expect-when-youre-expecting/99919/

D.J. Caruso in Negotiations to Helm A WALK AMONG THE TOMBSTONES

by Jason Barr   Posted: June 30th, 2011

Director D.J. Caruso (I Am Number Four) is in talks to direct an adaptation of the Lawrence Frank book A Walk Among the Tombstones for Cross Creek Pictures. Centering on the character Matthew Scudder, A Walk Among the Tombstones sees the alcoholic ex-cop investigating the kidnapping of a heroin drug lord’s wife. If Caruso’s negotiations go through, it isn’t clear whether Tombstones or the John August-penned adaptation of Garth Ennis and Steve Dillon's Preacher will be his next project.

Deadline reports that Scott Frank (Minority Report) will pen the adaptation which has been rolling around Hollywood for some time now and is expected to take on an “R-rated tone.” A nearly two-decades younger Harrison Ford was once interested in making a turn as the protagonist Matthew Scudder when the pic was set up at Universal. There is no word on who might be interested in starring in the project’s most recent development attempt, but given that Scudder’s character is retired, I’m going to go ahead and say that the 69-year-old Ford should still give it a shot. For more, hit the jump to check out a synopsis for Frank’s book. http://collider.com/dj-caruso-a-walk-among-the-tombstones/99851/

Adam McKay in Talks to Direct Will Ferrell and Mark Wahlberg in THREE MISSISSIPPI

by Jason Barr    Posted: June 30th, 2011

Director Adam McKay is in talks to reunite with The Other Guys co-stars Will Ferrell and Mark Wahlberg for the football comedy Three Mississippi. Already on the project as a producer, Vulture reports that McKay is now in negotiations to helm the pic for Warner Bros. Written by Robert Carlock (30 Rock) and Scott Silveri (Friends), Three Mississippi tells the story of two Philadelphia neighbors whose annual Thanksgiving game of tackle football has become extraordinarily heated. In addition to Ferrell and Wahlberg, Three Mississippi also stars Alec Baldwin as Wahlberg’s father and is courting Jeremy Renner for a potential role as well.

Three Mississippi becomes the next in a long line of McKay/Ferrell projects. Yesterday, we reported that Warner Bros. had picked up the duo’s buddy comedy Swear to God from Due Date screenwriters Alan Cohen and Alan Freedland. Of the two, however, it is believed that Three Mississippi will become McKay’s next directorial effort with Warner Bros. hoping to have the pic to moviegoers by Thanksgiving of 2012. http://collider.com/adam-mckay-three-mississippi/99820/

***Two More Images from THE HOBBIT ***Roland Emmerich’s SINGULARITY Winds up at Sony; Will Be Released May 2013 ***Warner Bros. Wants to Send David O. Russell and Brad Pitt on THE MISSION ***Will Ferrell and Adam McKay SWEAR TO GOD

Roland Emmerich’s SINGULARITY Winds up at Sony; Will Be Released May 2013 [Updated]

by Matt Goldberg    Posted: June 29th, 2011

Sony Pictures previously distributed Roland Emmerich’s 2012, they’re planning to release his new film Anonymous this fall, and now it’s looking like they’ll be working with him again.  Details on the film’s story are scant (as if there will be much story to begin with) but THR reports that Emmerich will be writing the script.  THR also says that the movie is untitled, but Deadline reports that the picture is called Singularity, a title that implies a sci-fi bent (a “singularity” is a term used in astrophysics to describe “A point in space-time at which gravitational forces cause matter to have infinite density and infinitesimal volume, and space and time to become infinitely distorted.”)
However, Singularity may not be Emmerich’s next film.  He’s also attached to direct an adaptation of Isaac Asimov’s Foundation trilogy as well as a movie based off the classic arcade game Asteroids.  Anonymous, which is a historical thriller that presumes Shakespeare didn’t write his plays, is set to open on October 28th. [Update: Deadline confirms that Sony has picked up Singularity.  The studio plans to release it on May 17, 2013, which implies that this will be Emmerich's next flick.  The only other film currently set for that date is Ron Howard's adaptation of Steven King's The Dark Tower]  http://collider.com/roland-emmerichs-singularity-sony-pictures/99526/

Roger Avary to Pen Adaptation of William Faulkner’s Crime Novel SANCTUARY

by Matt Goldberg    Posted: June 29th, 2011

Cops producer John Langley has tapped Pulp Fiction co-writer Roger Avary to pen an adaptation of William Faulkner’s 1931 crime novel Sanctuary.  Deadline reports that Ali exec producer Lee Caplin will co-produce with Langley.  The book was adapted back in 1933 as The Story of Temple Drake, but the plot had to be readjusted to adhere to the Production Code, and there’s a lot to readjust.  The story involves rape, murder, abduction, and other brutal acts set against the backdrop of the American South during Prohibition.
Avary’s last produced screenplay was 2007′s Beowulf and his career was slightly way-laid when he pled guilty to a vehicular manslaughter charge in 2009 and while he was at first given a work furlough and five years probation, he was dumb enough to complain about it on Twitter and as a result was sent to jail to serve out the remainder of his sentence.  He was released last July.  Personal problems aside, Avary is an interesting screenwriter who has no trouble tapping into the ugliness of characters and their situations and he sounds like a perfect fit for this adaptation.  Hit the jump for a synopsis of the novel. http://collider.com/roger-avary-william-faulkner-sanctuary/99506/

Warner Bros. Wants to Send David O. Russell and Brad Pitt on THE MISSION

by Matt Goldberg   Posted: June 29th, 2011

Killing Osama Bin Laden hasn’t just been great for America’s morale.  It’s also been great for Hollywood.  Columbia Pictures will distribute Kathryn Bigelow’s Kill Bin Laden next year, Relativity recently up picked up the Navy SEALs film Act of Valor and now Warner Bros. is getting in on the military-men-on-a-mission game with the appropriately titled The Mission.  Deadline reports that Warner Bros. is fast-tracking a film based on the real-life six-year mission between American and Columbian covert operatives to free 15 hostages from the Columbian jungle.  David O. Russell is reportedly circling the director’s chair and Brad Pitt is being courted to star.  The movie won’t focus on the hardships of the hostages but instead on “the numerous governments, diplomats and intelligence services and a vast network of spies, military advisers and soldiers plus high-tech surveillance measures.”
Hit the jump for more on O. Russell and Pitt’s current projects and likelihood of signing on for The Mission. http://collider.com/mission-david-o-russell-brad-pitt/99498/

Will Ferrell and Adam McKay SWEAR TO GOD

by Matt Goldberg    Posted: June 29th, 2011

Warner Bros. has picked up the buddy comedy Swear to God with Will Ferrell attached to star and Adam McKay set to produce and direct.  The script is from Due Date screenwriters Alan Cohen and Alan Freedland and Deadline reports that Ferrell will play “a narcissistic hedge fund manager who thinks he has seen God.”  If the project goes into production, it will be the fifth or sixth film directed by McKay that stars Ferrell.  However, it will be the first one McKay didn’t write (although I’d be surprised if he didn’t have input into the script).  Hit the jump to learn more about the Ferrell and McKay’s other projects. http://collider.com/will-ferrell-adam-mckay-swear-to-god/99493/

Two More Images from THE HOBBIT

by Matt Goldberg  Posted: June 29th, 2011

Last week, we showed you the first official images from Peter Jackson’s The Hobbit.  Now two more images from the film have gone online.  The images provide another look at Martin Freeman as Bilbo Baggins and Ian McKellan reprising his role as Gandalf the Grey.  Looking at all of these images, I’m curious to see if Jackson will retain the visual style he used for The Lord of the Rings trilogy or if he’ll modify it since the events of The Hobbit take place before LOTR.
Hit the jump to check out the new images.  The two-part film is currently shooting in New Zealand and also stars Cate Blanchett, Hugo Weaving, Elijah Wood, Orlando Bloom, Andy Serkis, Luke Evans, Benedict Cumberbatch, Evangeline Lilly, and Stephen Fry. The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey will be released on December 14^th, 2012, with The Hobbit: There and Back Again hitting theaters on December 13^th, 2013. http://collider.com/hobbit-movie-images/99479/

Jean-Pierre Jenuet to Adapt THE SELECTED WORKS OF T.S. SPIVET and RED LEAVES

by Matt Goldberg    Posted: June 29th, 2011

French director Jean-Pierre Jeunet hasn’t directed an English-language film since 1997′s Alien: Resurrection, but he may give it another shot by adapting Reif Larson’s debut novel The Selected Works of T.S. Spivet.  Variety reports that Jeunet plans to make Spivet his next movie and that he is currently writing the screenplay with his Amelie co-writer Guillaume Laurant.  Per Variety, Spivet “tells the story of a 12-year-old cartographer’s cross-country adventure from Montana to the Smithsonian Museum. Project fits into Jeunet’s body of work as it explores the imaginative mind of a child, mixing realism and fantasy.”
Jeunet has also picked up the screen rights to Thomas H. Cook’s novel Red Leaves, although it’s unknown if the adaptation would also be in English.  Red Leaves is a markedly darker tale than Spivet and “centers around the crumbling life of a father of a 15-year old boy accused of kidnapping an 8-year old.”  While Jeunet at times struggles with story and can get lost in quirk, his visual flair is undeniable and hopefully he’ll be able to balance it with a compelling narrative.  Hit the jump for synopses of both novels. http://collider.com/jean-pierre-jenuet-ts-spivet-red-leaves/99471/