The Random - The Matarese Circle, Christopher Nolan on Inception, Malkovich in Jonah Hex, Nightmare on Elm Street, 20,000 Leagues rewrite

Tom Cruise will be joining Denzel Washington in MGM's adaptation of Robert Ludlum's The Matarese Circle that is being directed by David Cronenberg and written by Wanted scribes Derek Haas and Michael Brandt. Cruise is in final negotiations to take on the role of the Russian spy Vasili Taleniekov, mortal enemy of American CIA operative Brandon Scofield, to be played by Washington. Wonder if he'll do the accent?

Christopher Nolan will be shooting another project before working on Batman 3. He will direct a sci-fi action film called Inception at Warner Brothers which will be released in the summer of 2010. Described as a "a contemporary sci-fi actioner set within the architecture of the mind." Sounds deep and trippy, kind of like a Tron for the cerebellum! Warner Brothers is producing with Nolan's wife Emma Thomas. Have no fear on the fate of Batman as Nolan made The Prestige between Batman Begins and The Dark Knight.

John Malkovich will join Josh Brolin in the comic book western, Jonah Hex, which starts shooting in April. Malkovich will play the villain, Turnbull, a wealthy Southern plantation owner whose son is killed by Union soldiers during the Civil War. He blames Hex, a former confederate soldier-turned-hardened bounty hunter and gunslinger.

News is out that Michael Bay's Platinum Dunes and New Line have hired a director for the reboot of Nightmare on Elm Street, bringing on Samuel Bayer to direct the reimagining of the Wes Craven classic. Bayer is best-known work is in commercials and music videos; he's won best director at MTV's VMAs and is responsible many classic videos, including Nirvana's "Smells Like Teen Spirit" and Blind Melon's video for "No Rain."

Justin Marks (Street Fighter: The Legend of Chun-Li, Voltron) has been brought in to rewrite Bill Marsilii's draft script for Disney's 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea: Captain Nemo says The Hollywood Reporter. McG (Terminator: Salvation) remains attached to direct the big-budget underwater adventure which Sean Bailey is producing. I just hope the rewrite ends up better than the original script did.

Discuss in the Forum