Brett Ratner Commits to Conan

The Hollywood Reporter says that Brett Ratner has weighed two high-profile projects the past few weeks: Paramount's fourth installment of the "Beverly Hills Cop" franchise and a 21st century take on "Conan" co-produced by Nu Image/Millennium and Lionsgate. 

Ratner has now made his choice and is in final negotiations to direct Conan, which is aiming for a release in early 2010. 

The trade says that Ratner jived to the Conan script by Joshua Oppenheimer and Thomas Dean Donnelly, who looked to Robert E. Howard's original pulp stories of the 1930s to create their take on the character. The writers are doing a quick polish to incorporate some of Ratner's ideas. 

Joe Gatta and Avi Lerner of Millennium Films are producing, along with Paradox Entertainment president and CEO Fredrik Malmberg. 

Millennium and Lionsgate are eyeing a potential franchise and envision a very R-rated approach in the $85 million budget range. Preproduction is under way for a shoot at Nu Image's Nu Boyana Studio in Bulgaria. 

"The story opens on the battlefield where Conan is born and tells the origin story that sets the stage for what will be the first of multiple films," Lerner said.

Monsters vs. Aliens (2009) Movie Trailer

When a meteorite from outer space hits a young California girl named Susan Murphy and turns her into a giant monster, she is taken to a secret government compound where she meets a ragtag group of monsters also rounded up over the years. As a last resort, under the guidance of General W.R. Monger, on a desperate order from The President, the motley crew of Monsters is called into action to combat the aliens and save the world from imminent destruction! 

The cast of "Monsters vs. Aliens" includes: Oscar® winner Reese Witherspoon ("Walk the Line," "Rendition") as Susan Murphy, a.k.a. Ginormica; Golden Globe winner Hugh Laurie (TV's "House," "Stuart Little") as Dr. Cockroach, Ph.D.; Will Arnett (TV's "Arrested Development," "Blades of Glory") as The Missing Link; Seth Rogen ("Knocked Up," "Superbad") as B.O.B.; Rainn Wilson ("Juno," TV's "The Office") as Gallaxhar; Emmy winner Stephen Colbert (TV's "The Colbert Report," "Bewitched") as The President of the United States; Golden Globe winner Kiefer Sutherland (TV's "24," "Phone Booth") as General W.R. Monger; and Paul Rudd ("Knocked Up," "Night at the Museum") as Susan's boyfriend, Derek. 

Release Date: March 27, 2009

Rock to Star and Co-Write Death at a Funeral

Chris Rock is set to star and co-write Death at a Funeral, a re-imagining of the 2007 comedy for Screen Gems and Sidney Kimmel Entertainment, reports Variety. 

Aeysha Carr will write the script with Rock for a comedy inspired by the SKE-produced original, which was written by Dean Craig and directed by Frank Oz. 

The plan is to make an ensemble comedy about a funeral ceremony that leads to the digging up of shocking family secrets, as well as misplaced cadavers and indecent exposure. While the original was set in Britain, the new film will take place in an urban American setting. 

Screen Gems and SKE are out to directors, and will begin production next spring.

Lost Finds Itself Back on Wednesdays for Season 5

Cue our favorite creepy whooshing sound, because ABC has confirmed the premiere date for the fifth season of Lost, and it's Jan. 21. 

Yep, that's a Wednesday, and it's where Lost — which last season aired Thursdays at 10 pm/ET, following Grey's Anatomy — will stay. 

More specifically, Lost's regular time slot will be Wednesdays at 9 pm, though the new cycle will kick off with a three-hour event — a clip show followed by the first two episodes. 

Last season, Lost saw its best-laid plans to air all of its episodes uninterrupted, à la 24, waylaid by the WGA strike. At this time, sources are unable to confirm if the 17-episode Season 5 will in fact pull off the straight-through feat.

Jamie Foxx Taps Into 'Intuition'

Jamie Foxx will take a break from Hollywood next month to release his third album, "Intuition." 

Due Dec. 16 from J Records, the set is preceded by the single "Just Like Me" featuring T.I., which is the top debut this week at No. 48 on Billboard's Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart. 

The track, which was co-written and produced by the hitmaking team of the-Dream and Christopher "Tricky" Stewart, goes to digital retailers on Tuesday. 

"Intuition" will also feature contributions from Timbaland, Ne-Yo, Sean Garrett, Salaam Remi and Carlos McKinney, among others. It's the follow-up to 2005's "Unpredictable," which has sold 1.98 million copies in the United States, according to Nielsen SoundScan. 

Foxx next appears alongside Robert Downey Jr. in "The Soloist," which opens March 13 in U.S. theaters.

The Strokes Getting Back To Work In '09

The Strokes plan to regroup in February, ending a hiatus that began after touring to promote 2006's "First Impressions of Earth," according to drummer Fabrizio Moretti. 

Moretti -- who's about to tour in support of the just-released debut album of his new band Little Joy -- tells Billboard.com that the quintet has "plans of meeting up all of us together in February (to) kind of start noodling around and stuff." A new album and, presumably, more touring, is expected to follow. 

Moretti says the five Strokes are "all pals" and relationships are good, but he did some have concerns about whether the group would indeed come back together. "I never had anything to base that anxiety on, but it crossed my mind," he confesses. "We all kinda knew we were just taking a bit of a break." 

Moretti made the most of his time away with Little Joy, a group he formed with girlfriend Binki Shapiro and Rodrigo Amarante of Brazil's Los Hermanos, who Moretti met when both of their bands played at a festival in Portugal. The trio recorded its 11-track debut in Los Angeles -- where Moretti and Shapiro reside -- with producer Noah Georgeson. 

The Strokes' Nick Valensi, Devandra Banhart (Moretti guested on the new album by Banhart's Megapuss) and the Moldy Peaches' Adam Green make guest appearances. Another two musicians will accompany the trio on its tour, and Moretti says shows will include covers and some unreleased and even brand new Little Joy songs. 

"I think this is not a side project," says Moretti, who in addition to drums plays guitar, bass and piano and sings backing vocals on "Little Joy." "This would've been a side project had it been solely my songs and I was singing and I hired these guys. But it's really a band that evolved into an honest kind of three-part beast, I guess you can say. And I would like to continue with it, even when I go back to the Strokes."

Spielberg and Smith Eyeing Oldboy Remake

Steven Spielberg and Will Smith are in early discussions to collaborate on a remake of Chan Wook-park's Oldboy, says Variety. DreamWorks is in the process of securing the remake rights, and the new film will be distributed by Universal. 

In the 2003 Korean original, a man gets kidnapped and held in a shabby cell for 15 years without explanation. Suddenly, he's released and given money, a cell phone and clothes and is set on a path to discover who destroyed his life so he can take revenge.

Smith who would play the kidnapped man if all the pieces fall into place. Spielberg is looking for a writer to begin the development process. 

Spielberg is next expected to direct Tintin.

Steve Carell to Make Beaver Speak?

The Hollywood Reporter says Anonymous Content recently picked up The Beaver, a script from first-time writer Kyle Killen about a man who walks around with a beaver puppet on his hand, treating it as something close to a human creature with human feelings.

The trade says that Steve Carell (Get Smart, "The Office") is attached to play the lead. 

The fable, which occupies the fantastical territory somewhere between Being John Malkovich and Lars and the Real Girl, has a lot of studios interested. Anonymous is seeking a director. 

Killen is one of those spec-writer rags-to-riches stories -- a 30ish USC grad whose writing career until now has consisted of writing for small literary magazines. He follows a tradition that this year alone includes such previous unknowns as Michael Martin and Brad Ingelsby.

CG-Animated Santa Claus Movie Coming

Ashok Amritraj's Hyde Park Entertainment has joined forces with Singapore-based Toonz Entertainment and Gang of 7 Animation to mount The Life and Adventures of Santa Claus, a CG-animated feature based on the book by L. Frank Baum. 

Variety says the film is expected to be ready for a holiday 2010 theatrical release. 

"Santa Claus" will be the first animated film for Hyde Park. Gang of 7 Animation head Tom Tataranowicz will direct with Rich Arons and Dick Sebast. Tataranowicz wrote the script with Mark Edward Edens. 

Production begins in November at the Toonz Animation Studio in India. The story follows Santa's formative years, including a battle against the heart of evil that establishes the Santa mythology.

Chris Morgan Writing Screenplay For ‘Wanted 2,’ Hints At Sequel Going ‘Global’

When “Wanted” screenwriter Chris Morgan first helped bring to life the ultra-violent story about a world where supervillains had kicked out the good guys, he had some pretty impressive source material in Mark Millar and J.G. Jones’ critically praised graphic novel. While there won’t be the same ready-made reference for “Wanted 2,” the writer told MTV that shouldn’t be cause for concern among fans. And he should know, since he’s the one writing it. 

“Yes, I will be writing it,” confirmed Morgan. “I’m actually leaving this conversation with you to go to a meeting with the director, Timur [Bekmambetov], and we’re talking about the story.” 

According to Morgan, Universal Pictures is in the final stages of negotiating a deal with Millar for a sequel to the June 2008 film, which was a box-office success despite diverging significantly from the story in the graphic novel. Millar hasn’t given any indication that he’ll be penning a print follow-up to “Wanted,” but as with other projects adapted from his work, the comic book writer is expected to take an active role in shaping the over-arching story. 

“As far as I know, the studio is finishing their deal with Mark [Millar], and then we’re all going to get together and collaborate,” said Morgan, a longtime comics fan. “And that’s something I’m very excited about.” 

As for the plot of the second film, Morgan acknowledged the difficulty of scripting the sequel to a film in which most of the supporting cast is, well… dead. While Terence Stamp has teased that his character, Pekwarsky, will be making a return in “Wanted 2,” one of the only other characters to survive the first film was the film’s lead, Wesley Gibson (played by James McCavoy). 

“That is the challenge here,” laughed Morgan, “but the point is to continue the journey that Wes started in the first film. Wherever he ended up at the end of the film, now it’s time to move him forward.” 

“There’s a natural journey that Wes needs to take,” continued Morgan, adding that the sequel “is going to be opened up to be more global.” 

However, Morgan was quick to add that the film is very much in the early stages of story development at this point, “so anything I tell you about is likely to change.”