Good ol' Nancy Drew is back. Yep, everyone's favorite tweenie crime-solver is returning to the silver screen for the first time since ... 1939? Can that be right? According to the IMDb it is, but if you definitely have strong memories of seeing the young detective in other movies, you're probably just thinking of an old TV series.

Updated and modernized for an all-new generation of kids girls, Nancy Drew hits screens anew courtesy of first-time screenwriter Tiffany Paulsen (who, once upon a time, was skewered with a spear by Jason Voorhees), the director of The Craft and Warner Bros. Pictures. Cast as the legendarily brilliant lass is Ms. Emma Roberts, whom you might remember from Aquamarine -- and if you found yourself sitting in a movie theater that was playing Aquamarine, then I'm betting you're precisely the target audience for this new Drew to-do.

The plot sees Ms. Drew transplanting herself into the alien landscape of California, where she initially has some trouble fitting in ... but when a local mansion's murky mysteries prove too much for Nancy to resist, well, you know the drill: The chick solves crimes! (Yes, just like Veronica Mars, girls.) Cast members of legal drinking age include Rachael Leigh Cook, Tate Donovan and Laura Harring.

Anyway, a Nancy drew flick is obviously not geared for mid-30 male-types, but I think this trailer looks pretty darn solid. No over-the-top gross-out gags or stupid slapstick stuff. Heck, I think the flick (which doesn't open until June 15!) actually looks kinda cute. Ooh, and maybe if Nancy Drew is a hit, someone will make a new Hardy Boys adventure! Or hell, maybe (finally) Encyclopedia Brown!

According to Sci Fi Wire, Guillermo del Toro's next project after the completion of Hellboy 2 next year may be an adaptation of H.P. Lovecraft's At the Mountains of Madness. The story deals with an Antarctic expedition from Miskatonic University (a school that appears in much of Lovecraft's work) that discovers remains of utterly alien creatures that pre-date humanity's time on earth. When members of the expedition are slaughtered, the survivors deduce that it is the work of "shoggoths," shape-shifting servants of the creatures they have discovered. Del Toro has been working on the adaptation of the 1931 novella since 2003.

"The whole idea of Lovecraft's position towards the universe, he's very much like an Albert Camus position," says del Toro, referring to the French novelist and philosopher. "He's an existentialist. He says the cosmos is indifferent to man. At the very best is indifferent. And [it] just sees us as fleas, or ... are hostile to us."

I find the idea of del Toro doing a Lovecraft film quite exciting, and it's not like it's a huge leap for him. Remember those enormous tentacled creatures descending from space to destroy humanity in Hellboy? Pure Lovecraft. Lovecraft's fiction does not adapt easily to film, though many have tried, most notably Stuart Gordon who directed Re-animator, From Beyond and Dagon. The latter captured Lovecraft's style better than most, but was hampered by an inadequate lead actor. The other two, while highly entertaining, are very free adaptations of the source material.

The writer/director says he is unsure whether his next project will be At the Mountains of Madness, or Montecristo -- an adaptation of Alexandre Dumas's novel that moves the action from France in the 1830s to Mexico in the 1870s. His adaptation of Tarzan, which Christopher Campbell discussed here just a few days ago, would come some time later. Del Toro's latest film, Pan's Labyrinth goes into limited release on December 29, with a wider release to come in January.

Last week, I gave you a nice list of DVDs for younger kids. This week it's time to give a little love to the older kids in the family. Sure, they'll sneak a peek at the younger sibs' kiddie flicks when they think you aren't looking, but they really want to know that you know they're getting older, and they have their own taste in movies. Some of these recommendations are more current films that older kids might enjoy; others are well-loved classics you might remember from your own teen-hood. In any case, adding a couple of these selections to your shopping list for that tween or teen in your life is sure to make you tops on their list.

It's fitting that her first major film role was as a Princess, because Anne Hathaway's career since then has been somewhat of a fairytale in the making. Granted, it took a little while for her to break out of the "family film" cave she was hiding in for four years -- though, once she did, it was smooth sailing. While she missed out on any recognition for her involvement in The Devil Wears Prada (face it, her character wasn't exactly that spectacular), the success of the film helped propel her up to leading lady status. Now, she'll be playing Jane Austen in the upcoming Becoming Jane, as well as co-starring alongside Steve Carell as Agent 99 in the big-screen version of Get Smart.

However, there's still one genre left for her to explore -- the supernatural thriller. According to The Hollywood Reporter, Hathaway is set to star in Passengers, to be directed by Rodrigo Garcia, produced/financed by Mandate Pictures and distributed domestically by Columbia Pictures. In the pic, Hathaway will play a grief counselor who is sent to assist six plane crash survivors, and then develops a "special connection" with one of them. Sounds sweet enough, right? Ah, but here comes the (supernatural?) element -- apparently, the survivors all begin to disappear one by one, forcing our cute counselor to begin investigating this bizarre occurrence herself. Written by Ronnie Christensen, the film is set to begin production early next year.

But can she handle a thriller? Not for nothing, but Hathaway is so cute and delicate -- the kind of girl you just wanna hug ... carefully -- and so I'm curious to see what she brings to a more dramatic, edgier, supernatural film. Although I still can't figure out where the supernatural part fits in (is a ghost killing everyone?), but I'm sure it will all make sense on screen. We hope.

While the premise is certainly intriguing, I'm getting kind of tired of that whole "guy wakes up in a strange place and doesn't remember anything" storyline. The most recent film to apply this premise was Unknown, and that flick was a prime example of why this is a risky set-up. Basically, it all comes down to the script. Anyone can come up with some bizarre situation to throw their main character in, but if the script gets lazy (and the writer gets afraid), then the film just won't work. Memento worked because the Nolan brothers were sticklers for details, and made sure every piece of that film serviced the plot and moved things forward. Unfortunately, Unknown was so focused on the surprise twists that it botched the details, as well as the characters, leaving us a fantastic set-up with nowhere to go but downhill.

Now, Nala Films is apparently confident that writers Eddie and Chris Borey got things right, and have launched development of their script, Open Grave, with plans to begin shooting next year. Here we go again -- the plot revolves around some dude who wakes up in the middle of the woods in a pit full of dead bodies with no idea who these people are, how they were killed and whether or not he was the one who caused their death. Sure, it sounds like a great set-up -- but what about the rest of the script? I have no idea who the Borey brothers are and there's a good chance this is their first produced script. That's unsettling, however Nolan was fairly new to the game when he wrote Memento -- so you never can tell. No word yet on a cast or director; we'll let you know if any more details pop up.

I can't say I was terribly worried about whether Halle Berry, having never been one of my favourite actresses, would find a way out of "The Curse of Catwoman." Still, I have to admit, it's too bad that her latest release doesn't look like it is going to be the one to break that slump.

Moviefone now has the first look at the trailer for the upcoming thriller Perfect Stranger starring Berry, Giovanni Ribisi, and Bruce Willis. The story follows a woman with the unfortunate name of Ro, who gets caught up with a powerful and obsessive man (Willis) while trying to solve the murder of her friend. Beyond having a title that immediately brings Balki to mind, the movie seems like a pretty run of the mill "erotic" thriller. And on a side note, I think we all hope Willis doesn't venture into Color of Night territory in the love scene. If you are the type of person that doesn't like to be told too much about a movie, you might want to hold off on the trailer for now.

So, is it just me, or does a long trailer always look a little desperate? Especially when the trailer gives most of the movie away. I doubt Perfect Stranger will be the film that restores Berry to her Oscar glory, so here's hoping she has better luck with her next project Things We Lost in the Fire.

[via JoBlo.com]

Dozens of paparazzi were crouched like lions outside the entrances and exits of a Manhattan hotel last Friday, and not because they're big fans of Oscar-winning screenwriter Eric Roth and really wanted to take a snap of him. The more attractive half of 'Brangelina' is in town, on break from filming A Mighty Heart in India, and she made a late agreement to show up at the junket for her latest project, The Good Shepherd. The film, which is best described as 'The WASP Godfather,' originated with Francis Ford Coppola some years ago and tumbled through many levels of development hell before finally landing at the feet of Robert De Niro. It tells the story of the birth of the CIA through a tight-knit group of ambitious boys, including Matt Damon, who first meet at Yale and then continue their secret-handshake games throughout World War II and into the Cold War. Among other things, the film marks the return of Joe Pesci to the screen after an absence of eight years.

Thanks to the barely controlled chaos of the day and the various gossip columnists who muscled into the event after catching wind of you-know-who's RSVP, Cinematical wasn't able to drum up much time with the attendees, but we were still on hand for most of the day to watch De Niro, Roth, Damon and Jolie sweat it out under the hot lights for the sake of their pet project. Here is a sampling of what went on:

Angelina Jolie

Cinematical: Can you give an update on Atlas Shrugged? What sparked your interest in developing it? "I think it's a wonderful book. I'm a fan of her writing. I think it's an amazing project. It's, in many ways, a controversial and complicated project and I think it needs to be done right. There's been a lot of talk as to how that can be and 'what are the important reasons for making it?' There's a lot of really great people involved. It's being written now, and we'll see as the script comes out, how close we are. Then we'll know how close we are to possibly making it. Everybody involved, the producers involved, we all sat down around a table and we all agreed that if we couldn't do it right, if we couldn't do it justice, if along the way any one piece didn't come together like the right director or the right script, then we would all just fold it and not do it. So that's where we're at right now. We're taking it step by step, and we're going to make damn sure that it's done right."

The last time we had some news about The Messengers, Scott Weinberg let us in on word of delays and re-shoots, neither of which seemed to bode well for the US debut of the Pang Brothers. Well, it looks like Sony is ready to go ahead with the horror-thriller and released the usual trinity of movie marketing, a web site, a trailer, and now the poster.

JoBlo.com has a first look at the one-sheet for the film starring Dylan McDermott, Penelope Ann Miller, and Kristen Stewart. The story takes place on a sunflower farm, (sunflower farm? Um, ok...) where a family turns on one another as the result of some "supernatural" influences. Thai directors Danny and Oxide Pang (The Eye) are helming the script for the horror written by Mark Wheaton and Todd Farmer. Wheaton, who you might know as Smilin' Jack Ruby from CHUD and Ain't It Cool News, has made the leap from writing about the movies to getting a feature film with a major studio. The bad news though, is that both the trailer and the poster only look so-so. Plus, I think they should have really thought twice about that tagline.

If all of that hasn't managed to cool your jets then you won't be waiting long, The Messengers hits theaters February, 2007.

Well the only other movie I can think of that was based on a Vanity Fair article was The Insider, and that was a fantastic film that managed to generate box office and Oscar buzz -- what more could you want? I would imagine that Lorenzo di Bonaventura and Jason Blum had similar ideas about adapting a high profile VF article,when they picked up their latest project for Paramount.

Variety reported that Blum and Di Bonaventura have bought the rights to David Wise's article The Shop for Paramount. Wise's article has yet to be published, but already a movie deal is on the table -- wow, they didn't waste any time did they? Wise, an investigative journalist, co-authored the infamous book about the CIA called The Invisible Government. Wise also is remembered for a column in the New York Times in 1981, that attacked Reagan for the pardon of Mark Felt (who's now probably better known as Woodward and Bernstein's Deep Throat).

Details about the project are being kept under lock and key, since the article hasn't even published. Plus, would you expect any less from a project about the intensely secret organization? Kelley Sane has already been hired to adapt the piece, but there is no word of a director yet, I can only assume it will be on a "need-to-know" basis. ...

[via Empire Online]

Looking to stick with his muse of the moment, Pedro Almodóvar recently suggested that La Piel que habito will be his next film and that there's a good chance Penélope Cruz would star. Cruz also starred in Almodóvar's 1999 pic All About My Mother, as well as this year's Volver. However, since the screenplay isn't finished and schedules still need to be worked out, nothing is currently set in stone.

Piel is the kind of project that's been hovering around the hush hush bin for awhile -- technically, it's based off the 1995 novel Mygale, but Variety tells us only only one scene from the book will make it into the big screen version. Also, it's very different material for Almodóvar -- a man who usually likes to work on personal projects about his life and family -- as it revolves around a plastic surgeon who seeks "hideous revenge" upon the men who raped his daughter. Hideous revenge? Plastic surgeon? Is Almodóvar directing Face Off 2? According to the director himself, the film is "immensely tough and complicated, targeted at select audiences, the kind of film that's discomfiting and doesn't tend to win many awards." Wait, is Almodóvar directing Saw IV? I don't know about you, but I'm dying to see what this one is about -- for a guy that's built a career around a slew of dramedies, this should prove to be a fascinating stretch.

I'd ask if anyone read the novel, but it doesn't seem like the movie will have much to do with it except for the basic plot. Still, feel free to chime in.

The peeps over at TMZ have managed to grab the first pic of Brad Pitt from the set of his new film The Curious Case of Benjamin Button ... and he's gone bald ladies and gentlemen. Now, correct me if I'm wrong, but I believe this is the first time Brad has gone bald since Fight Club -- not that it matters much, but I'm sure all you Pitt fanatics will be interested to see what the dude looks like without any hair. Of course, Brad didn't really shave his head, he just threw on one of them bald caps and, well, he looks kind of disheveled.

Personally, I'm really looking forward to Benjamin Button -- of course, the obvious reason being that this is David Fincher's next film after Zodiac. And since early buzz on Zodiac is telling us the film doesn't feel Fincher-esque, I'm real curious to see what he does with a plot that's a little more "out there." Benjamin Button also marks the third time Fincher and Pitt have worked together, and the other two films they collaborated on (Se7en, Fight Club) were outstanding pieces of work. For those not familiar with the film, Pitt plays a guy who begins aging backwards and winds up falling in love with a woman who is 20 years younger than he originally was. Sounds groovy. As of now, it looks like bald Brad will be arriving in theaters in May 2008.

I have to admit, when I first read the names Tucker and Sarandon together, I had this amusing day dream about Chris Tucker teaming up with Susan Sarandon. The lights would dim, and then a Luhrmanesque explosion of color would soon reveal the pair surrounded by music. He would run around screeching with a strange bouffant while she would croon about her desire for dirty touching. At the end, they would share a passionate embrace, bringing the actress back to her campy roots while giving the actor a new film theme that didn't include cars. Alas, it's just a pipe dream.

Instead, Susan Sarandon and Jonathan Tucker have been added to the cast of In the Valley of Elah, the Paul Haggis-headed film also starring Tommy Lee Jones, Charlize Theron, and Jason Patric. While I was a bit off with the above love scenario, she's still getting an interesting match, playing the wife of Tommy Lee Jones. You might recognize Tucker as one of the obsessive teens watching the Lisbon girls in The Virgin Suicides.

According to The Hollywood Reporter, this won't be a biographical account, but a fictionalized one, where Haggis' screenplay is based on a story he wrote with Mark Boal, the writer of the original article, "Death and Dishonor." I don't know if that means he helped with the original piece, or if they wrote a story based on the article together before Haggis started on the screenplay. It will be interesting to see if he focuses more on the politics of the story, or on the thrilling mystery.

We all know that Woody Harrelson is a bit of an odd character. When not chaining himself to trees, or driving across the country in a hemp-powered bus, Harrelson still manages to work in the odd acting project. Luckily, he has pretty good taste in movies (well, other than The Cowboy Way), and his next project looks to be one of the good ones.

The Hollywood Reporter announced that Harrelson has signed to join the international cast for Brad Anderson's thriller, Trans-Siberian. The film follows an American couple traveling on the famous Trans-Siberian train from Vladivostok to Moscow, who meet another couple that might not be who they seem. So, I'm sure the Strangers on a Train motif of the film will make it chock-full of murders and double-crosses. The cast of the film also includes Samantha Morton as Harrelson's wife, as well as Ben Kingsley who will play a Russian police officer -- not to mention washing off what's left of the taint from Bloodrayne.

The film is being made as a co-production between Spain's Filmax and the German company Universum Film GmbH, and will begin shooting this December. The film is the follow-up to Anderson's The Machinist, which garnered a lot of attention when it hit the festival circuit back in 2004, so I won't be surprised if Trans-Siberian does the same.

Well, wow. That's pretty disappointing.

I speak of the 2007 Sundance Film Festival "Park City at Midnight" selections. In previous year the PCM program introduced me to the wonderful horrors of The Descent, Hard Candy, High Tension, May, Saw and Three Extremes.... But next year's line-up seems alarmingly short on the scary stuff. Obviously I cannot make any judgments about the program before I see the films, but going only on the genres and the plot synopses, it seems that next January's Midnight picks are much more comedic in nature. Well, comedies and general weird stuff is what it looks like. Here's the breakdown:

Fido -- Andrew Currie's "Romero meets Sirk" farce earned a small amount of positive buzz at Toronto, which is where James and I sat together and had a really good time with the flick. (Kim liked it too!) Lionsgate is currently preparing a release date for the film, but now we know why they were taking their time on that front.

Finishing the Game -- A mockumentary about the guy called in to "replace" the legendary Bruce Lee on Game of Death after the star passed away. From Better Luck Tomorrow (and, ugh, Annapolis) director Justin Lin.

It Is Fine. Everything Is Fine! -- Director Crispin Glover returns with a follow-up to his certifiably insane What Is It?

The Signal -- "A mysterious signal is being transmitted from all media devices in the city of Terminus, provoking murder and madness within the psyches of its inhabitants." Sounds promising. And check out the trailer!

Sk8 Life -- Apparently it's a Can8ian indie about a bunch of sk8ers who band together to save their beloved hangout from dem0lition.

Smiley Face -- Anna Faris stars as a girl who eats some crazy pot brownies and has a day full of wacky Araki misadventures. And check out the cast!

The Ten -- Some of the old State members got together to do a comedy anthology based on The Ten Commandments. Again, the cast is absolutely jam-packed with colorful folks.

We Are the Strange -- Apaprently someone called it "Monsters Inc. meets The Nightmare Before Christmas inside of a retro Japanese video game." Hmm, OK. The trailer certainly promises something ... yeah, strange.

So there's one I've seen already, two promising comedies, an animated brain-twister, an indie that uses 8s instead of As, another piece of brain-rust from Crispin Glover ... and a Gregg Araki ensemble comedy? Which leaves The Signal as my one small beacon of late-night horror. Ah well, a cool-looking line-up all the same, even if it's not as blood-drenched as I'd hoped it would be. (Plus there's always a few genre titles mixed in amidst the more "highbrow" programs.)

At the risk of sounding -- I don't know -- cynical, I have to say I'm a little surprised to read this article in The Hollywood Reporter. Apparently, horror master Clive Barker is partnering with Walden Media, who are primarily known for kid-friendly fare like The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe and the upcoming Charlotte's Web, to develop an original thriller for kids centered around Edgar Allen Poe. Although, I guess I shouldn't really be surprised considering Barker has actually done some other projects for kids before, such as the books The Thief of Always and his recent fantasy series The Books of Abarat -- both of which are also currently being developed as films.

Still, most of my experiences with Barker come from watching his films, not from reading his books. Perhaps I'm in the minority but I don't exactly consider Candyman, Nightbreed or Hellraiser suitable for kids -- although I'm sure Pinhead would make an excellent babysitter. Well, I guess everyone deserves a chance to change and try different things, so I can't really fault Barker for wanting to stretch with this new project. That said, what's his reason for wanting to tell this kind of story? "I think we might have a chance with this project to bring the character of Poe alive for a new audience and weave his shadowy existence into the dark enchantments of his stories so that for our protagonist, and for our audience, it will be difficult to be sure where one finishes and the other takes flight," Barker said.

And what about my concerns regarding the blood, violence and other explicit scenes that are usually a large part of the Clive Barker "experience"? "This project is an opportunity for us to reimagine a genre that is generally associated with an older audience," Alex Schwartz, exec vp of production at Walden media said. "By focusing on mood and atmosphere rather than blood and guts, Clive Barker brings a smart, literate take on the horror genre that will expose young audiences to its great literary underpinnings." Ok, I'll buy that.

The as-yet untitled film will revolve around a group of teenagers who attempt to uncover what happened during the last weeks of Edgar Allen Poe's life. Unfortunately, their investigation inadvertently triggers a curse that unlocks Poe's nightmares from which the teenagers must escape. Barker will also produce the film through his Seraphim Films' with Anthony DiBlasi and Joseph Daley exec producing. No word yet on casting or a potential start date. What do you guys think? Can Barker make the transition from horror to kid's films, or should he stick to what he does best?