Even if you are not a fan of the Grindhouse tradition, you have to admire a movie that is going all out to re-create a movie going experience that most of us have probably never had. There has been no shortage of headlines about Quentin Tarantino and Robert Rodriguez's Grindhouse. The latest is the announcement that Shaun of The Dead director Edgar Wright is on board to direct another "faux trailer" for the film.

It was only a little over a week ago that Matt had news that Rob Zombie was directing a trailer titled Werewolf Women of the SS for the film. Along with Zombie, Eli Roth is joining in on the fun with his trailer for the film titled Thanksgiving. Fangoria reports that Wright is the newest addition to the expanding list of director "cameos." There are no details as to what Wright's trailer will be about, but I would expect there to be more that a smidgen of Zombie action to the proceedings. Grindhouse is set for release this April, which is going to busy month for Wright since his upcoming cop film, Hot Fuzz with Shaun of The Dead's writer and star Simon Pegg, will also hit theaters.

[via ComingSoon.net]

Honestly, at this point I'm running out of clever intros to poke fun at the ever-increasing number of comic books/graphic novels which are being licensed for movies these days. Don't get me wrong -- I'm very glad such a trend exists, it is just amusing to see every writer, director, actor, and studio scramble to get in on a piece of the action with what often seems to be entirely uninformed, reckless abandon. Today's update comes to you from producers Jason Koornick and Lawrence Blume, who have struck up a deal with the creators of the short graphic novel series Bluesman, which encompasses three books. One wonders if Koornick and Blume are fans of the novels (I sincerely hope this to be the case), or if they just cast about in a comic book shop looking for something with cool cover art.

Your faithful geek beat writer fails you at this point, however, as I know next to nothing about Bluesman, and can therefore offer you no insight, opinion, or humorous attack on this deal. And so I put the burden of insight on you. Many of you readers are just as into the scene as I am -- some of you out there have to be familiar with Bluesman, right? Step up to the comment section and help the rest of us out. Should we be excited or scared?

If Judd Apatow thinks Seth Rogen is the next big comic star, apparently some other people are trying to shove Rainn Wilson into those shoes. The lovable doof from The Office is slowly lining up a number of big-screen roles for himself, working with everyone from Jason Reitman (in Bonzai Shadowhands) to Bob Odenkirk. Someone might want to tell Apatow that his boy Rogen has some serious competition.

MTV has just picked up the comedy Kanan Rhodes: Unkillable Servant of Justice, in which Wilson will star while Odenkirk directs. (Hmm, borrowing a bit from the Mckay/Ferrell duo with that title, are we?) Odenkirk calls the pic a "souped-up Pink Panther-slash-Ace Ventura," in which Wilson will play a guy who serves subpoenas ... but in a very James Bond-esque sort of way. So basically, he'll be playing Dwight from The Office if for some reason Dwight was fired and took a job serving subpoenas.

As far as Odenkirk goes, he's desperately looking for a hit -- Let's Go to Prison was a horrific waste of space and his upcoming The Brothers Solomon looks to be another big swing and a miss. And you'd think after Mr. Show, the dude would produce some quality entertainment -- perhaps he and David Cross need to reunite for something real soon. Odenkirk claims Kanan Rhodes (which was written seven years ago) will feature a "superpowered" comedic cast, so here's hoping he hits this one out of the park ... and doesn't strike out swinging.

Remember back when Indecent Proposal first came out, and the topic of almost every conversation amongst friends was whether or not they would let their significant other spend one night with a man for a boatload of money? And, if your friends were like my friends, most of them immediately replied, "A whole night without the woman breathing down my neck? Heck, I'd do it for a hundred bucks and a Red Lobster gift certificate for sure."

Well, it's been awhile since that topic was on the tips of everyone's tongues and, now, writer-producer Les Firestein (The Drew Carey Show) is looking to bring it back ... but with a twist. New Line has just snatched up an untitled comic pitch from Firestein, which Jimmy Miller will produce, with a story that approaches the Indecent Proposal situation from a, well, fairly scary angle. Basically, what happens when a very wealthy man approaches a couple and offers them a ton of money for one sexy night with ... the guy. Not the girl. Would a straight man switch teams for one night if it means he will acquire a small fortune? No other information was released at this time -- Firestein still has to write the script -- and then we'll get to see whether this thing has the legs to attract some top-notch talent. Will Ferrell, anyone?

So, guys, what would you do?

It's no surprise Nicole Kidman is drawn to roles in which she plays one half of a messed up married couple. As we all know, the woman has gone through her fair share of marital troubles throughout the years -- first with Tom Cruise and now with rehab man Keith Urban. Perhaps these mega Hollywood stars are so used to the intense conflict in their films, they're automatically drawn to it in their real lives. Perhaps they're addicted to the drama. Hmm, I know a few people like that.

Nevertheless, Kidman has been keeping herself busy as of late -- we'll be able to see her in three films this year alone (The Invasion, The Golden Compass and the Untitled Noah Baumbach Project -- which I believe is called Margot at the Wedding). Now, Variety tells us Kidman has signed on to produce and star in an adaptation of David Lindsay-Abaire's hit Broadway play, Rabbit Hole, for Fox Searchlight. And guess what? She plays one half of a happily married couple who must find a way to pick up the shattered pieces of their life following a devastating tragedy.

Play, which opened in 2006 to rave reviews, stars Sex and the City's Cynthia Nixon in the role Kidman will take on. Though I have not seen the play myself, based on what I've read, this sucker is one helluva tear-jerker ... so you might want to start stockpiling tissue boxes now. No word yet on who will star opposite Kidman (John Slattery stars in the staged version), but I suspect they'll be searching for the perfect leading man. Hey, how about Tom Cruise?

Rare is the time when I can say I wish I lived in the "People's Republic" of China. In fact, I don't believe I've ever said it. And honestly ... I'm not going to start now. But if there were ever something to make me think about saying it (you know, besides an end to communism and all that), it would likely be Jackie Chan creating a brand new production company based in China, with the intent to create a truckload of fun action movies for the people of China. And as it just so happens, Chan is planning to do exactly that. Yours truly will not be moving to China to partake, but if I stumble across one or two via the magic of global markets and such, I'm sure I will thoroughly enjoy it. After all, I already own a number of his filmed-for-China flicks from his early career and thoroughly enjoy each of them.

How about I stop rambling and give you some details? Chan plans to get to work with his newly-founded company as soon as he finishes Rush Hour 3, with a major thrust on talent scouting. He hopes to put together an initial slate of ten films, by hunting down the best screenplays, writers, and directors he can get his absurdly fast hands on. No word yet on whether he plans to appear in any of the films, but one would expect he'd show up somewhere. The guy is a legend in Chinese cinema, after all.

Although he often gets work in front of the screen, Hank Azaria is best known in the entertainment industry for voicing multiple characters on The Simpsons. Now, he's going to continue his behind-the-scenes status by directing his first feature, a comedy called Outsourced (not to be confused with the Outsourced that played at TIFF).

The movie, written by Timothy Dowling, is about two guys who are laid off when the factory they work for relocates to Mexico. The plot follows the pair as they travel south of the border to get their jobs back. It kinda sounds like an inverse of Ron Howard's Gung Ho, but with presumably more racist road tripping and less cultural commentary (I think that was Howard's intention, anyway).

A few years ago a comedy about outsourced labor might have been more timely, but I guess the issue still exists, and a film about outsourcing will still be topical. Besides, a modern comedy, especially one sold originally as a vehicle for Vince Vaughn and Owen Wilson, isn't likely to be about the issues. Right? Comedies these days are either dumbed down satire or dumbered down satire (don't get me wrong, both examples are still funny), but rarely are they really about anything of social importance. But I guess it is too hard to mix the funny and the serious.

Sometimes damage control can be as much as buying the distribution rights to a film. This almost seems the case with The Weinstein Co.'s picking up of Todd Haynes' arty Bob Dylan biopic, I'm Not There. But could it actually make Bob Dylan more upset?

The singer-songwriter is already portrayed in one upcoming movie distributed by the Weinsteins -- whether or not anybody involved with Factory Girl admits that Hayden Christensen plays Dylan, the consensus is that it is obviously him. Now, he's going to be portrayed by six more people, including Cate Blanchett and Heath Ledger. This second film, which has Dylan's approval, will be released by The Weinstein Co. sometime later this year.

Dylan is currently unhappy with the Weinsteins because of Factory Girl, which he has only heard may be defamatory to his character. It doesn't seem likely that he could reverse his feelings now that I'm Not There is in the enemy's clutches. Do Bob and Harvey think the deal will please Dylan, or do they mean to use it as leeway in any legal issue brought on by Dylan? Or could this be totally unrelated to the Factory Girl controversy?

Was anyone else a little weirded out watching George Lucas at the beginning of yesterday's Rose Bowl? My little sister's boyfriend turned to me and said, "Wait, is that George Lucas? What the hell is he doing there?" Something tells me a lot of people said the same exact thing during the coin toss (although most probably did not know he was this year's Grand Marshal). All that aside, the trade's officially confirmed today that what we've been hearing about Indiana Jones 4 is indeed true -- yes, the project is a go and production will kick off this June.

After much consideration and fine-tuning of the script, Steven Spielberg has chosen Indy 4 as his next directorial assignment, and a 64 year-old Harrison Ford will reprise the role of Indiana Jones for a fourth (and final?) time. Says Spielberg, "George, Harrison and I are all very excited. We feel that the script was well worth the wait. We hope it delivers everything you'd expect from our history with Indiana Jones." Okay, I'll tell you what we expect Steve -- we expect you to not let Lucas ruin this thing with tons of fancy, digital special effects. We expect you to give us a fourth installment that remains true to the look and feel of the other three, regardless of when they were shot and what was available at the time.

Currently there's no title, casting or plot information, but based on what's been said before, there's a good chance Sean Connery will make an appearance and the story will have some sort of supernatural theme. Spielberg, Lucas and friends will be working off David Koepp's version of the script and shooting will take place within the U.S. as well as around the world. Though an official release date was not announced, all signs point toward May 2008, which means Indy 4 will be going up against Iron Man, Prince Caspian and the Wachowski Brothers' Speed Racer. Sweet!

So, you stoked or what?

With another example of blogs making their way toward the big screen, writer-producer-director Marshall Herskovitz has signed on to helm the indie flick Quarterlife, so says Production Weekly. The title is pulled from the fictional blog the main character writes in which she talks about her life, her friends and the apparent "quarter-life crisis" she's suffering through.

However, when her friends discover that she's writing the blog and talking about them ... they all band together and come up with 97 different ways to kill her. (Okay, we don't know if that's actually how the whole thing will go down, but it sounded a lot better than, "they all start their own blogs and nothing interesting happens after that.") Herskovitz (who is also President of the Producers Guild of America) penned the script, and will begin production on the film sometime next month. From there, it appears Quarterlife will not be released in theaters, but instead in serial form online -- an interesting move and one we should definitely keep an eye on. (I imagine they will also try to market the film by creating a fictional blog that mirrors the actual blog in the pic -- at least that's what I would do.)

This material should be familiar to Herskovitz, as the man spent a whole bunch of time writing, producing and directing episodes of the show thirtysomething back in the day. In fact, Quarterlife was originally pitched as a TV show two years ago, but apparently it wasn't picked up. If you want my opinion, expect the cast to be full of unknowns and, if they're smart, they'll use the blogging world to their advantage.

Only a couple days after his death, the wheels in Hollywood were turning and Spike Lee has been brought on to direct a biopic based on the life of James Brown. Now, it's important to keep in mind that this project has been in development for quite some time -- Jezz and John Henry Butterworth recently turned in a rewrite of Steve Baigelman's original draft, and all three have either met with Brown before he passed away or spent time with his "people." I do feel, however, that they could have waited -- I don't know -- a bit longer than 48 hours to announce the decision. Ya know, that would have been the "normal" thing to do, I suppose.

Nevertheless, Lee will once again team up with Paramount and Imagine Entertainment (who have already tapped the man to direct a feature based on the L.A. Riots, as well as a sequel to Inside Man) and are looking to swing into production sometime during the latter part of 2007. Seeing as the L.A. Riots pic is the main priority, that will come first and will either be followed by Inside Man 2 (I really hope they don't call it that) or the Brown biopic. Since I assume Paramount will want to deliver the Brown biopic will a little bow around it that reads 'Oscar Potential," it's pretty safe to say it will debut in the fall or late summer of 2008.

Spike Lee directing a biopic based on a legendary performer? What do you think about that? Oh, and who do they get to play James Brown?

Roman mayor Walter Veltroni doesn't seem to be your run of the mill public servant. He lunches with celebrities, writes best-selling books and has even done some cartoon voice work.

Variety announced that Veltroni has made deals for film versions of four of his books; three features and one documentary about Africa have been planned for 2007. The first will be the doc God Isn't Feeling Well and is based on Veltroni's own diaries during a trip to Africa. Veltroni's collection of short stories Senza patricio, which is set in Argentina, was also optioned and will be directed by Gianni Amelio. Other projects include a biography of Italian Jazz great Luca Flores (who played with Chet Baker) with Kim Rossi Stewart in the lead and a thriller about international terrorism based on the best-seller La scoperta dell'alba. There have been some grumblings that Veltroni uses a ghostwriter for his books, but Veltroni (a former editor of the lefty Italian daily L'Unita) claims the books are entirely his own creation.

Luckily Veltroni says he is an insomniac -- which is a good thing -- because between his new career in the movie business and his political ambitions, it looks like he is going to be a busy man in the new year.

Not content with its growing reputation as a genre distributor with films like Saw, The Descent and Hostel, Lionsgate has decided to stretch a little and include some other kinds of movies in its roster besides horror -- perhaps with less blood, gore and a smaller body count too. With the upcoming 3:10 to Yuma, they were off to a good start -- not necessarily in the blood, gore or body count department, but at least its not a horror film. And now, according to an article over at IGN, they've added another film to help them expand their slate and re-define their image -- the Russell Crowe thriller Tenderness.

The film (which our own Martha Fischer reported on way back in April), based on the novel by Robert Comier and adapted by Emil Stern, tells the story of a cop (Crowe) who attempts to unravel the mystery surrounding a teenage serial killer who murdered his family and the young female runaway he's taken under his wing. Teenage serial killer? Ok, so its not a completely different genre, but still -- I bet nobody gets locked in a room, explosives strapped to their head and tormented by a sadistic killer who has a penchant for dolls.

Lionsgate took North American, U.K., Australian and South African rights to the film, which was directed by John Paulson and also features Jon Foster, Sophie Traub and Laura Dern. About the film, Lionsgate Execs. Tom Ortenberg and Peter Block gushed: "Tenderness delivers an unbeatable combination of story, filmmakers and actors. Polson, Crowe, Foster, Traub and Dern have given it their all -- which means that audiences can count on an incredibly gripping experience." Sure, its hardly unusual for execs to say those kinds of things about films they just paid good money for, so I'll take their enthusiasm with a grain of salt. Still, I can't think of a Russell Crowe movie I didn't like ... so that definitely helps. Who knows, maybe its as good as they say it is? I guess we'll see when the film gets released next year.

I have to admit, my appreciation of Richard Dreyfuss is mainly tied into two movies, Close Encounters of The Third Kind and Jaws. Other than that, it's the so-so movies like Down and Out In Beverly Hills, the corny feel-good pictures like Mr. Holland's Opus, and the downright awful like Krippendorf's Tribe that come to mind. Back in 2004, Dreyfuss announced that he was quitting films to concentrate on a theater career. It turns out that the theater wasn't the place for him either after he quit (or was fired depending on who you believe) the London production of The Producers. Since his so-called retirement, Dreyfuss has popped up in Silver City and Poseidon (2006).

So, in-between studying civics and democracy at the University Of Oxford in England, Dreyfuss has decided to give the movies yet another chance. Variety announced that Dreyfuss would star in the Hungarian production Flower of the Fence. The film will be the story of Herman Rosenblat; a man who meets a woman through the fences of a concentration camp and eventually falls in love -- also starring is Maia Morgenstern and Thomas Sangster. The film is set to go into production in 2007, and is being financed through a joint effort between the Hungarian government and private investors from Hollywood. This is hardly the big budget flick that Dreyfuss used to rail against, so maybe he has managed to find a film that is more his cup of tea.

I haven't read Peter Pan in Scarlet, the recently published book that was an officially-commissioned sequel to J.M. Barrie's classic children's novel Peter Pan. The Peter Pan sequel was written not by Barrie, but by author Geraldine McCaughrean. Apparently Peter Pan in Scarlet takes place when Wendy and the Lost Boys are all grown up and learn that Neverland has been damaged by WWI. To save it, they have to find a way to become children again, since adults are generally disallowed in Neverland. I can't tell from the summaries whether the book is meant to appeal more to adults or to children.

I admit I have a built-in distrust of sequels that are not written by the original author -- I won't go anywhere near the "sequels" to Rebecca, Gone with the Wind, or The Secret Garden. It's a trend I would very much like to see fade away. However, Peter Pan in Scarlet has obviously gathered some popularity, as the film and television rights have just been sold ... and no, not to Disney, either, or any American studio for that matter. The rights to film the book were bought by a group that includes the U.K. Film Council, a government organization that encourages filmmaking in Britain, BBC Films, and the Headline Pictures production company. There's no word on whether the final result will be a theatrical release or a made-for-British-TV movie, although I would guess that the potential box office on a family film about Peter Pan would indicate the former. I would also guess that the feature will be live-action rather than animated, considering the groups involved. If you've read Peter Pan in Scarlet, do you think it would make a good movie, and why (or why not)?