Michael Douglas to play Liberace for Steven Soderbergh

Steven Soderbergh is in the early stages of developing a biopic about Liberace for Warner Bros., which he will direct.

The filmmaker said he has drafted his “Traffic” star Michael Douglas to play the flamboyant pianist.

Richard LaGravanese is writing the script, and Jerry Weintraub will produce.

Soderbergh is in discussions with Matt Damon to play Scott Thorson, who sued Liberace in 1982 for $113 million in palimony, claiming he was the entertainer’s companion for five years. Even though Liberace never wavered from career-long denials that he was gay, Thorson reportedly settled for $95,000 in 1986.

Liberace died in 1987 of complications from AIDS at age 67.

- from Variety

Arnold is in Terminator 4 Salvation!?

I’ve got a sneak peak for you which will make your day. Please find attached an Image of the Governator and John Connor meeting for the first time, yes it was on the set of T4.

I should make it clear, i have varous contacts in WB and from what i’ve been told the fans are in for a treat. The premise of Arnie’s involvement is to have a fully rendered digital face of Arnie replacing the recently cast Roland Kickinger (The Younger version of Arnie). It seems the Director Mc G will in no doubt try all he can to ensure the Governator has some sort of involvement and as a result Arnold was on set providing key ADR (Voice over) for the visual effects guys to reference during post production. You have to remember, Arnold’s commitments are preventing his return to the movie business and this seems the best logical way to ensure his involvement.

- from Latino

Fat Val Kilmer among cast in ‘Experiment’

Things are heating up for Val Kilmer, Armand Assante, Eric Roberts, Megan Brown and Patrick Muldoon in the indie suspense thriller “The Steam Experiment.”

The feature, revolving around six people trapped and terrorized in an urban Turkish bathhouse, marks a return to directing for its Cinepro Pictures producer Philippe Martinez.

Kilmer plays a former university professor who overheats his hostages to prove that humans will devolve into chaos under the pressures of global warming. He tells a detective (Assante) that their location will be revealed if his hypothesis is printed as the local paper’s front-page headline.

The six potential victims are a former pro football player (Roberts), a former actress (Brown), a nurse (Muldoon), a waitress (Eve Mauro), a restaurateur (Quinn Duffy) and a writer (Cordelia Reynolds). As temperatures rise, the desperate detainees fight for survival.

- from THR

Johnny Depp to voice Rango for Gore Verbinski

Johnny Depp will reunite with “Pirates of the Caribbean” director Gore Verbinski on “Rango,” an animated pic that Paramount will finance and distribute.
The studio has slotted the film for a March 2011 release.

Depp will voice the lead character, a household pet that goes on an adventure to discover its true self.

John Logan (”The Aviator”) has penned the script from an idea hatched by Verbinski. Verbinski will work with Industrial Light & Magic on the animation.

- from Variety

Julie Andrews joins ‘Tooth Fairy’

Julie Andrews has earned her wings.

The actress will join Dwayne Johnson and Ashley Judd in Fox’s family comedy “Tooth Fairy.”

Also on board are “Extras” star Stephen Merchant, who also co-created “The Office,” and pro skateboarder Ryan Sheckler (MTV’s “Life of Ryan”).

The film centers on Derek Thompson (Johnson), a minor-league hockey player whose nickname is the Tooth Fairy because of his ability to knock out opposing players’ teeth. Judd plays his girlfriend.

- from THR

Awww Hell Yeah! Will Smith Is Not Captain America!

Hey folks, Harry here to restore your faith in the world - Multiple sources from MARVEL have confirmed that Derek Luke, of Spike Lee’s MIRACLE AT ST. ANNA, doesn’t know what he’s talking about when it comes to Will Smith and CAPTAIN AMERICA. Marvel never offered the part, nor did they approach or entertain a conversation about Will Smith for CAPTAIN AMERICA. That said - I’m sure they have a few parts that they’d like him for, just not Captain America.
So there ya go. They haven’t gone insane and we don’t need to be confused, angry and scared about it anymore. — harry from AICN

Amanda Seyfried joins Lasse Hallstrom ‘Dear John’

Amanda Seyfried will follow “Mamma Mia!” with a starring gig in “Dear John,” the Lasse Hallstrom-directed adaptation of the Nicholas Sparks bestseller.
Seyfried joins Channing Tatum in the pic and will play a young woman who meets and falls in love with a soldier while he’s on leave.

Jamie Linden wrote the script.

Relativity is fully financing the film, which begins shooting Oct. 13 in South Carolina. Screen Gems will distribute domestically.

- from Variety

James Franco stars in the Allen Ginsberg biopic

David Strathairn, Alan Alda, Jeff Daniels, Mary-Louise Parker and Paul Rudd are attached to join James Franco as Allen Ginsberg in the beatnik biopic “Howl.”

Telling Pictures documentarians Rob Epstein and Jeffrey Friedman will make their narrative writing, producing and directing debut with the 1950s-era tale, focusing on the obscenity trial launched to censor Ginsberg’s groundbreaking book-length poem. The pair were approached by the Allen Ginsberg Trust to make a film commemorating the 50th anniversary of “Howl.”

Among the real-life characters featured in the film are prosecuting attorney Ralph McIntosh (Strathairn), Judge Clayton Horn (Alda), prosecution witness Professor David Kirk (Daniels), radio personality and prosecution witness Gail Potter (Parker) and literary critic and defense witness Luther Nichols (Rudd).

Gus Van Sant is executive producing the project. WMA and Cinetic Media are onboard to assemble financing and handle sales.

- from THR

Michael Caine Says Johnny Depp Is The Riddler, Philip Seymour Hoffman Is The Penguin?!

It’s one of the biggest — and most hotly debated — questions in fandom…which actors (and characters) will director Christopher Nolan enlist as a villain for his third “Batman” film? Rumors have abounded since the release of “The Dark Knight,” and Nolan has remained fiercely tight-lipped. But now, has one of his main players let slip some of the biggest casting news of the decade?

In an interview with MTV News, Michael Caine seemed to confirm rumors that the next installment of the “Batman” film franchise will feature two very well-known names playing the roles of The Riddler and the Bumbershoot Bandit, The Penguin. “They’ve already got them in mind,” said Caine, when asked who he’d like to see take up arms against the Caped Crusader. “It’s Johnny Depp as The Riddler. And The Penguin is Philip Seymour Hoffman. I read it in the paper.”

So Caine is like the rest of us, reading gossip in the tabloids, right? Except for one thing…according to the actor, he confirmed the news through the studio itself.

“When Christopher [Nolan] said we were going to do ‘The Dark Knight’ next, I didn’t what that meant in Batman terms,” related Caine, who plays Bruce Wayne’s loyal butler, Alfred Pennyworth. “I said, ‘What’s the story?’ and he said The Joker. I said, ‘Oh, s–t! How are you going to top Jack [Nicholson]?’ He said, ‘Well, I’ve cast Heath Ledger. And I went ‘Ha! I couldn’t top Jack, but if anyone could, maybe Heath could.’ And he did.

“I was with [a Warner Bros.] executive and I said, ‘Are we going to make another one?’ They said yeah. I said, ‘How the hell are we going to top Heath? And he says ‘I’ll tell you how you top Heath — Johnny Depp as The Riddler and Philip Seymour Hoffman as The Penguin.’ I said, ‘S–t, they’ve done it again!’” [Laughs]

- from MTV

Is Will Smith The New Captain America?

When Marvel announced that “Captain America” was making its way to the big-screen, fans everywhere began speculating who would be donning the famous red-white-and-blue tights. Nothing has been heard since, but during an MTV News interview regarding his role in “Miracle at St. Anna,” actor Derek Luke let slip that a very prominent - and surprising - face could be the star of Marvel Studios’ next blockbuster film.

“I heard they offered Will Smith ‘Captain America,’” said Luke, adding that the intriguing casting rumor “just shows you how times have changed.”

While this word through the Hollywood grapevine is nothing more than a rumor at this point, it should be noted that Marvel hasn’t shied away from changing up the race - and gender - of established characters in recent years. Upon kicking off his celebrated take on “The Ultimates” (Marvel’s re-imagining of their classic superteam The Avengers), Mark Millar changed S.H.I.E.L.D. head honcho Nick Fury from a crew-cut, cigar-chomping, middle-aged white man to, well… Sam Jackson.

- from MTV