DeNiro, Pfeiffer, Swank Ring In Garry Marshall's "New Year's Eve"

Admit it, somewhere inside you is a soft spot for ensemble romantic comedies. While no one will argue that they ever are Oscar-worthy, they can be fresh and fun, and just pure movie entertainment. In them are usually a nice group of stars we all know and enjoy, mucking it up together in some sort of situation we all wish we could get into.

Following "Valentine's Day," director Garry Marshall is working on a follow-up entitled "New Year's Eve" and is attempting to pull in some big names to take part.

According to The Hollywood Reporter, Robert De Niro and Michelle Pfeiffer are in negotiations, while Hilary Swank and Ashton Kutcher are circling key roles in the ensemble project.

The movie tells intertwining stories of a group of New Yorkers as they navigate their way through romance over the course of New Year's Eve.

De Niro will play a bitter dying man in a hospital, while Pfeiffer will be a frustrated secretary who decides to take on her unfulfilled resolutions. Swank would play a producer of the famed Times Square New Year's Eve show, while Kutcher would play a guy who hates New Year's Eve. Obviously.

Lea Michele and Abigail Breslin are already set to star in the project, while "Army Wives" creator Katherine Fugate, writer of the "Valentine's Day" script, has written the film.

Marshall has shown over his career that he is one of the most skilled comedic directors, and after assembling the cast he did for "Valentine's Day," I'm sure he won't have a problem handling all the stars on this film. With De Niro joining, this certainly he has kept himself busy, having appeared in "Machete" and in the upcoming "Little Fockers."

The project is set to kick of filming in mid-December in New York.

Pacino, Pesci, DeNiro & Scorsese Re-Team

Talk about some talent working together.

Al Pacino and Joe Pesci are said to be circling the mob drama "I Heard You Paint Houses," which Martin Scorsese and Robert De Niro have been working on together for Paramount Pictures according to Deadline.

Scorsese is attached to direct and De Niro will play Frank "the Irishman" Sheeran, a mob assassin reputed to have carried out more than 25 murders. The title refers to mob slang for contract killings.

Steve Zaillian will adapt author Charles Brandt's 2004 novel. The author befriended Sheeran shortly before the latter's death in 2003 and among the crimes Sheeran confessed to Brandt was the killing and dismemberment of Jimmy Hoffa on the orders of mob boss Russell Bufalino.

Pacino has worked with De Niro in the Michael Mann-directed classic "Heat," as well as "Righteous Kill." Pesci and De Niro teamed with Scorsese on "Goodfellas," "Casino" and "Raging Bull."

Anytime these names are mentioned in regards to a project, its hard not to keep an eye on it. Scorsese recently worked on the pilot for "Boardwalk Empire," which looks to be absolutely superb, and this feels just right for him. But there's no telling if this will be Scorsese's next project though. He's in the middle of filming "Hugo Cabret" for next Christmas and he's attached to plenty of other things as well.

But while nothing is totally set in stone, if the project develops as it should, this could be one that can't be missed.

Robert De Niro Up For A "Midnight Run" Sequel

Universal Pictures is looking into developing a sequel to 1988 action-comedy road movie "Midnight Run."

According to The Hollywood Reporter: Universal and Robert De Niro are getting ready for another run. The studio is developing a sequel to "Midnight Run," the 1988 action comedy that starred De Niro as a bounty hunter.

In the profanity-laced original, Robert De Niro starred as a bounty hunter on a cross-country journey attempting to bring back his latest catch, an embezzler (Charles Grodin).

Timothy Dowling ("Role Models") will pen the script for the follow-up which will team De Niro's character with a young comedic foil. De Niro and Jane Rosenthal will produce.

Though not a major hit, the film was critically well-received and has scored a strong following in the two subsequent decades since it's release.

“Midnight Run” is a hilarious film and if you haven’t seen it, it’s worth watching. Although De Niro may have lost a step or two over the years, I think this could end up being a great sequel.