Colin Farrell keen on Daredevil role

Work is moving swiftly ahead on 20th Century Fox's Marvel Comic adaptation Daredevil, with shooting scheduled to begin this spring. Ben Affleck has already been cast in the lead role as superhero Daredevil, and now - according to trade magazine Variety - Irish actor Colin Farrell has been cast as the villain, an evil assassin named Bullseye. Farrell has starred in a number of other films, including Tigerland and Spielberg's upcoming futuristic action film Minority Report, also starring Tom Cruise. Daredevil will be directed by Mark Steven Johnson, from a screenplay penned by L.A. Confidential scribe Brian Hegeland.

Fiennes joins cast of Red Dragon

Actor Ralph Fiennes has reportedly signed on for the role as the serial killer in Brett Ratner's Red Dragon, based on the 1981 novel by Thomas Harris. The film is a remake of Manhunter, and is the first of the popular novels to feature Hannibal Lecter. Anthony Hopkins will reprise his role as Lecter in this prequel to The Silence of the Lambs, in which retired FBI agent Will Graham (Ed Norton) is brought out of retirement in order to pursue the elusive killer, Red Dragon. The film will also feature other such stars as Harvey Keitel and Philip Seymour Hoffman.

Lonergan to adapt Once and Future King

Independent director Kenneth Lonergan (You Can Count On Me (2000)) has been given the colossal task of adapting T.H. White's famous King Arthur tale The Once and Future King for the big screen. Lonergan, screenwriter of such films as Scorcese's Gangs of New York (2002) and the Robert De Niro comedy Analyze This (1999), is already well into the task and is due to turn in his script to Warner Brothers' executives within the next few weeks. If his script moves forward, it will be one of two King Arthur films currently in the works - the other being a Jerry Bruckheimer/Michael Bay summer blockbuster waiting in the wings.

Lane will take on Jackie Gleason role

Veteran actor of stage and screen Nathan Lane will have some very big shoes to fill as he takes on the role of legendary television actor Jackie Gleason in a project entitled To The Moon. The script is currently being written by screenwriter Rob Festinger (In the Bedroom (2001)), although a director has yet to sign on for the project. The film will follow the life of Gleason from his discovery in a nightclub to his rise as one of the biggest television stars of all time, thanks to the ground breaking classic comedy series The Honeymooners.

X-Men sequel gets new title and release date

20th Century Fox is quickly revealing more and more information about the follow up to last summer's highly successful comic book adaptation of X-Men. It seems production is set to begin this spring (which may conflict with mutant 'Storm' actress Halle Barry's rumored role in the next James Bond flick, set to begin shooting around the same time), and the studio has announced the release date for the film as May 2, 2003. Most of the actors from the first film, including Hugh Jackman (pictured here) will return, along with some new faces from the mutant universe of the comic books that fans will be familiar with. Rather than simply calling the film X-Men 2, the studio is going with the title of X², and they're promising more action and a tighter storyline than even the first film gave us. Time will tell on this one - but unfortunately we have a year and a half wait in order to find out!

Nemesis commences shooting in Southern Cal

Paramount Pictures has made it official - principal photography began on November 26th for the next and likely final feature film with the Star Trek: The Next Generation crew. Star Trek: Nemesis will bring together the popular television series cast for the last time in a story about a Romulan dissident named Shinzon (rumored at this time to be played by British thesp Tom Hardy) who leads a revolt on his world and threatens the Federation home planet of Earth - that is, unless he can be stopped by Captain Picard and company. The script was written by John Logan (The Time Machine (2002)) and the film is being directed by Stuart Baird (U.S. Marshals (1998)) for release sometime late next year, with luck.

Monsters, Inc. director will tackle Curious George

Curious George, the series of popular children's books from creators Margret and H.A. Rey, will finally get the big screen treatment after languishing in development for the past five years. With the success of this fall's Monsters, Inc. (2001), director David Silverman is in talks with Universal to lead the project, and if greenlighted, would become the studio's first completely computer generated film. The project had previously been under the control of Imagine Entertainment's Brian Grazer, who had fiddled with the idea in several incarnations as live action or a combination of animation and live action for several years.

The Creature Returns!

With the success of the recent return of vintage horror classics like The Mummy (1999) and its sequel, Universal Studios has announced its intention to remake their 1954 film, The Creature from the Black Lagoon. Gary Ross (Pleasantville (1998)) is rumored to be part of the project, with his production company Larger Than Life producing the film. At this time, he is only co-producing the film - whether or not he will also be in charge of writing it is yet to be seen. Universal has yet to set a projected release date for the movie.

Warner Bros. snaps up distribution rights for Rise of the Machines

In some of the biggest news circulating around Hollywood this week, co-producers Mario Kassar and Andrew Vajna have finally found a studio to pick up the distribution rights for the long-anticipated Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines. Warner Brothers will get all domestic distribution rights for the film, which is expected to be released in July of 2003. Arnold Schwarzenegger will be reprising his role as the ruthless machine, netting a hefty $30 million for the part. The story revolves around another attempt by the machines of the future to send a terminator back in time to assassinate the leader of the human rebellion, John Connor (Edward Furlong). The production is aiming for a whopping $160 million budget, and will roll before cameras some time next year.