Vanderbilt Penning "Amazing Spider-Man 2"

Even though the upcoming reboot "The Amazing Spider-Man" is still filming and hasn't even showed off any official footage yet, production is already beginning on a sequel.

According to The Hollywood Reporter James Vanderbilt, who penned the script for the upcoming "The Amazing Spider-Man" at Sony Pictures, has already begun work on the sequel.

Vanderbilt had a meeting with the filmmakers and studio yesterday to talk about his take. He scored the go-ahead and will now begin writing, even though the first film is still shooting and won't wrap until mid-April.

Vanderbilt has been involved with the franchise for quite a while now, so it's not surprising that the studio would want to keep him involved. Vanderbilt first worked on "Spider-Man 4" for Columbia back when Sam Raimi and Tobey Maguire were sill involved in the series. At the time, he was chosen for his character-driven approach to the story rather than a focus on special effects and worked on an outline for a trio of films.

Alvin Sargent did a polish of Vanderbilt's newer script for the first film, but as of yet there's no word if he'll do the same for the second. Before working on "Spider-Man," Vanderbilt wrote "Zodiac," David Fincher’s serial killer tale starring Jake Gyllenhaal, Mark Ruffalo and Robert Downey Jr.

Of all the projects in Hollywood right now, I'm more excited for "The Amazing Spider-Man" than any of them. I think Andrew Garfield is the perfect choice to play Peter Parker, and Vanderbilt's character and emotional-driven script will be something director Marc Webb can handle beautifully.

Avi Arad, Laura Ziskin and Matt Tolmach are producing both "The Amazing Spider-Man" and its potential sequel.

Gladwell To Polish "Hexum" Script

Although best known for his books such as "Blink" and "The Tipping Point," celebrated author Malcolm Gladwell is finally taking a crack at the film industry.

According to Deadline Gladwell has been hired to polish David Arata's drama script "Hexum" for Disney Pictures.

The story follows a CIA threat-assessment analyst, an alternative-thinking brainiac who is relegated to a distant corner of the CIA where he assembles theories nobody pays attention to. By connecting a series of seemingly random occurrences, he uncovers a sinister adversary planning an imminent global threat.

On top of the fact that Gladwell is an amazing writer, this project almost sounds as if it was specifically geared towards him in the first place. His books detail lots of information and analysis on random occurrences, and if there was anyone I think could put an interesting spin on this story, it's him.

Another positive for this project is the fact that Arata wrote the original script. His past work includes two of my favorite films of all time, "Spy Game" and "Children of Men" and this one sounds as if it is right up that same alley. Both those films were compelling, interesting and very well written, and there's no doubt in my mind this project fits that bill.

Gladwell is one of the smartest writers working out there today and I hope he has as much success with his first crack into film as he has had with book publishing.

Geoffrey Rush Joins "Green Lantern"

Much like Jon Favreau's "Iron Man" did a few years ago, DC Comics is hoping to bring one of its most beloved characters to the mainstream with its big-budget feature "Green Lantern." Starring Ryan Reynolds as the titular superhero and directed by Martin Campbell, the film has just added another key member, an Oscar winner who will be heard, but not seen.

According to Heat Vision Geoffrey Rush will voice the role of Tomar-Re, a key member of the Green Lantern Corps. in the upcoming "Green Lantern" movie for Warner Bros. Pictures

In the comics, Tomar-Re was a scientist before joining the intergalactic police corps where he was instrumental in training new members including newly minted Lantern Hal Jordan (Reynolds).

The film is currently working through post-production to complete its extensive visual effects. Michael Clarke Duncan was linked to the role yesterday, but clearly that was just Internet chatter.

Rush is a great choice to voice the character. He can be assertive, emotional, loud and quiet when needed and based on his work in "The King's Speech," he wont be afraid to stand up to someone in power when they need a lesson. Rush will have a busy summer ahead of him, he also is set to appear in "Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides" in May.

"Green Lantern" is set for a June 17th release.

Adam McKay & Russell Crowe Team On "Boys"?

In what could be one of the more interesting director-lead pairings in recent memory, MTV News reports that "Anchorman" helmer Adam McKay has sat down with Russell Crowe about a spot in his upcoming project.

According to the site, McKay has reportedly sat down with Russell Crowe to discuss the Oscar winner's chance of playing the lead role in his upcoming adaptation of the comic "The Boys" at Sony Pictures.

The story follows a group of CIA agents, known informally as "the boys," who are assigned to police the world's super-powered heroes and villains. The team goes to great lengths to keep heroes in their place, including using assault, blackmail, kidnapping, and murder.

Crowe's role would be as the tough-as-nails team leader Billy Butcher, while McKay has already said he'd love Simon Pegg in the role of new recruit Wee Hughie, who greatly resembles the actor.

The comic truly is amazing for anyone who hasn’t checked it out and the passion McKay has shown for the project only gets my hopes higher. While selling and ultra-violent anti-superhero film might be tough when it comes to finances, this is a project tat could turn out to be something spectacular.

McKay is still working on the script, while Neal H. Moritz will produce the project.

Alan Rickman Joins "Gambit"

It's always interesting to see how an Oscar winner follows up their award winning performance. Some actors go on to some stinkers, like Halle Berry with "Catwoman," but most go on to other great projects, like Colin Firth, the recent winner for Best Actor for his work in "The King's Speech."

The actor is set to star as a thief in the Coen Brothers-scripted remake of "Gambit," and it looks like he finally has found his mark. According to The Hollywood Reporter Alan Rickman is in negotiations to join Firth and Cameron Diaz in the remake of the classic 60's caper movie "Gambit."

The story follows a British thief (Firth) who plans to steal an expensive statue from one of the richest men in the world and needs the help of a woman (Diaz) who closely resembles the rich man's late wife. Rickman will play the rich man. English actor Sir Tom Courtenay, who appeared in "Doctor Zhivago," has also been cast in the movie.

The script was written by Joel and Ethan Coen, while Michael Hoffman ("The Last Station") directs the film.

Rickman is one of the more underrated actors in Hollywood and brings great range to the role. Having Firth and Diaz was already an excellent combination, and adding a great actor like Rickman to the mix is never a bad thing. The original film, which starred Michael Caine and Shirley MacLaine was great but I cannot wait to see what type of spin the Coen's put on it.

Shooting begins in May in London.

"Eclipse" Helmer Doing "Daredevil" Reboot

With superhero films being all the rage in Hollywood these days, it's no surprise that many studios are looking to reboot and remake past films that didn't work all that well. In a sense it all really started with "Batman Begins," which totally revamped the "Batman" franchise for the better and now 20th Century Fox is looking to do the same with everyone' favorite blind hero.

According to Deadline "30 Days of Night" and "The Twilight Saga: Eclipse" director David Slade is in talks to develop and helm a reboot of the "Daredevil" film franchise for 20th Century Fox.

While the project doesn't have a writer attached yet, the film will be a continuation of the story started with the 2003 film starring Ben Affleck as the blind superhero. That film grossed $179M worldwide and was a critical failure, especially compared to films like "Iron Man" and "The Dark Knight."

While Affleck will not be involved in the project, some rumors have surfaced that the project will actually be more a reboot than a sequel as the storyline is said to be an adaptation of the critically acclaimed Frank Miller-written and David Mazzucchelli-illustrated "Born Again" run of the comic series.

In that series, blind hero Matt Murdock begins to systematically destroy his life when his ex sells his identity off for heroin to the Kingpin.

While the project will obviously take some time to come together, if the film follows the Miller storyline things might actually go pretty well for this adaptation. The first "Daredevil" was just a mess, and while I honestly like Ben Affleck and Jennifer Garner, the first "Daredevil" film just did not do the character justice. Miller's story is one of the best to grace the character's pages and if the project casts the right man, this one could help "Daredevil" break out to the mainstream much like "Iron Man" did a few years back.

Slade's next film is the period horror "The Last Voyage of the Demeter" with Ben Kingsley and Noomi Rapace.

Sam Worthington Set To "Drift"

Although he has been acting for quite a while, Australian actor Sam Worthington stayed below the radar until breaking out in "Avatar" and "Terminator Salvation" in 2009. Following work on those two films, his new fame led him to star in "Clash of the Titans" and got his named linked to just about every notable developing project out there.

Worthington gave an excellent performance in the 2010 film "The Debt" and is also set to star in "The Fields" as well as the sequel to "Clash," titled "Wrath of the Titans" and the actor has just added another project to his already busy future slate.

According to The ABC Screen Australia has given the green light to "Drift," the 70's-set surfing drama starring Worthington, which will be shot in the actor's hometown of Perth.

The story follows the Fisher brothers who "escape their brutal past to start a new life in a remote Australian coastal town". The pair soon battle "suspicious locals, killer waves and ruthless bikers as they struggle to kick-start a business from their greatest passion - surfing,"

In a statement released regarding the film, Screen's acting CEO Fiona Cameron said the film will be: "the first character-driven action movie set in the surfing world since Kathryn Bigelow's Point Break."

This project has a boat load of potential, not only because Worthington is involved, but also because the plot sounds like it could be very interesting and exciting. Worthington obviously will be inspired, considering it will film in his home town, and on top of that not too many films showcase surfing as this one looks to do. The comparisons to "Point Break" is a great jumping off point as well, because I don’t think there is another action movie out there that incorporates surfing so well.

Actor turned filmmaker Morgan O'Neill directs the project while Ben Nott ("Tomorrow When the War Began") will serve as the director of photography. Tim Duffy and Myles Pollard will produce, with filming to begin later this year.

Sony Goes "Moonwalking With Einstein"

A few years back when writer Joshua Foer set out to cover the U.S. Memory Championship, there's no way he could have predicted how things turned out. Foer participated in the competition for research, trained and actually ended up winning the Us title, facing off against competitors from around the world.

Foer, the brother of writer Jonathan Safran Foer, wrote a book detailing his experiences, which will now be a major motion picture. According to The Hollywood Reporter Sony Pictures has acquired the screen rights to Foer’s bestseller "Moonwalking With Einstein."

The instructional book focuses on how to improve memory as Foer relates his real-life experience as a science journalist covering the U.S. Memory Championship, which he entered as a participant.

After announcing the deal, Columbia president Doug Belgrad said: “This is a very special book which transcends the already fascinating subject of memory. By explaining in personal and entertaining fashion a great deal about how our brains work, Joshua has written a book that sheds light on how memory is connected to humanity."

Foer's story is extremely interesting, especially if you aren’t that familiar with the memory competitions. These "memory athletes" spend hours training and studying and it's so amazing to see how skilled they become when it comes to remembering numbers, patterns and more. While it may not seem like the most obvious choice to be a motion picture, the way the book is written allows for a very open interpretation, as well as an amazing story of someone who adapts to a new world and environment.

The book is currently on the NY Times and Amazon.com best seller lists.

Doug Liman Seeks Cast For Moon Project

Sometimes when a film project falls into development hell, it's impossible to get it out, but when they do, sometimes the results can be amazing. For example the "Batman" franchise was stuck in development hell for years until Christopher Nolan totally kicked ass with "Batman Begins," and now it seems another director is trying to work his magic on a project stuck in the depths.

According to The Hollywood Reporter "The Bourne Identity" director Doug Liman's long-in-development sci-fi feature at Paramount Pictures may have escaped development hell.

The story centers on a renegade group of former space employees, led by an Eastern European woman, who travel the world, stealing space equipment in an attempt to go back to the moon to acquire an energy source. The last item to steal is an ever valuable ex-NASA employee.

A few years ago the project had a chance at some life at Dreamworks with Jake Gyllenhaal attached to star, but interest in the project cooled over time. Liman pursued other films while the script received rewrites from Ken Nolan, Mark Bowden and Simon Kinberg. The site reports that interest is swelling, and that the project could start shooting by as early as the end of the summer.

The biggest piece of the puzzle comes with casting. Liman has met with a crop of talented young actors for the project, including Andrew Garfield, Emile Hirsch and Chris Pine for the male lead, while Rosario Dawson, Megan Fox, Rachel McAdams, Eva Mendes, Zoe Saldana and Olivia Wilde have all had meetings about the female lead.

Once any casting becomes official, this film could get the go ahead and move along quickly. I really hope it does, because when I first heard about the project I thought it was infinitely interesting, and with that crop of actors meeting with Liman, this could be a huge project down the line.

Science fiction and space exploration films have become very trendy these days, with projects like "Skyline," "Battle: Los Angeles," "District 9" and "Super 8" all gracing theaters.

While development hell has consumed many of a project, lets hope this one that makes it out alive.

Logan Marshall-Green Joins "Prometheus"

Ridley Scott's new film "Prometheus" has been through some fluid transitions since it was announced last year. First it was supposed to be a direct "Alien" prequel, but now it seems that it will be more of a stand-alone story, with some connections to the original. Either way, for science fiction fans, it's a project that offers a ton of excitement, one reason being the awesome cast, which looks as if it just filled another starring role.

According to Variety, actor Logan Marshall-Green ("Devil," "24," "The O.C.") has signed on to play one of the lead male roles in the movie for 20th Century Fox.

Marshall-Green will play the role of Holloway, the love interest for Noomi Rapace's character. Michael Fassbender and Charlize Theron also star in the film.

The Internet has been buzzing since last year about what the film will show and when it will take place. Some sites have reported that the story will take place thousands of years in the future, while others say it will show the origin of the "Space Jockey" from the original film.

Whether the project actually connects to the original "Alien" almost seems moot at this point. The film has Ridley Scott, Michael Fassbender Noomi Rapace and Charlize Theron involved. So, no matter what the plot is, it should be an awesome science-fiction adventure because of them.

The addition of Marshall-Green is a small but a very solid one. While he hasn't starred in all that many films, Green has put on solid performances throughout his entire career, including on TV shows "24" and "The O.C.," in which he played Ryan Atwood's brother.

Shooting kicks off in the spring.