#507. Movie Buzz
1. Ghostface set to Scream again?
Plans are afoot to bring back the Scream franchise as another trilogy, Entertainment Weekly reports.Kevin Williamson, who wrote the original trilogy, has apparently been working on a new set of scripts that will bring back most of the surviving characters from the first go-around.Courtney Cox-Arquette and David Arquette have already been approached to reprise their roles as TV journalist Gale Weathers and Deputy Dewey Riley respectively.There is no word as yet on Neve Campbell's participation, or whether the new trilogy will feature the "Ghostface" character that was responsible for much of the mayhem in the previous films.
2. Javier Bardem signs up for Wall Street sequel
Is Wall Street no place for old men? Javier Bardem, Oscar winner for Best Supporting Actor in last year's multiple-honoree No Country for Old Men, has signed up for Oliver Stone's Wall Street 2.Deadline Hollywood Daily reports that Bardem will play a hedge fund manager whose wheeling and dealing led to the suicide of a man who happens to be the mentor of Gordon Gekko's son-in-law-to-be.The film will be set in late 2008 with Gekko, played once again by Michael Douglas, anticipating the coming financial meltdown but also having his hands full with his daughter's upcoming wedding.Shia LaBeouf plays the young trader who is about to marry into the Gekko family. The daughter's role has yet to be cast, with the film scheduled to begin shooting in August for a February release.
3. Amanda Bynes' two-pic pact with Screen Gems
Amanda Bynes has signed on for a two-picture deal with Screen Gems, Variety reports.
The actress will first co-star in the Will Gluck-directed comedy Easy A before she and Screen Gems president Clint Culpepper craft a star vehicle for her second project.Culpepper said that Bynes, who gained fame as star of Nickelodeon's The Amanda Show, has been on his radar for some time."She's one of the few who can make that graceful transition from kid to adult star because she has such strong comic chops," Culpepper told the trade paper.Scripted by playwright Bert V. Royal, Easy A stars Emma Stone as a high school student who is victimized by a false rumor that she lost her virginity, until she exploits the rumour mill for her own benefit and becomes wildly popular. Bynes has signed on to play a puritanical high school queen bee.
4. Totally remaking Recall
Sci Fi Wire reports that Kurt Wimmer (Equilibrium) has been hired by Columbia Pictures to write a new version of of the 1990 sci-fi action movie Total Recall which starred Arnold Schwarzenegger.Total Recall, based on the Philip K. Dick story "We Can Remember It for You Wholesale", was resurrected for remake status earlier this year by the studio and producer Neal Moritz, under his Original Films banner.
