the industry

Vin Diesel Is Getting ‘Riddick’-ulous

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Double Trouble: Ah, how we love the last week in August, a magical time of year when we publish the hopeful ramblings of actors, musicians, and homeless crazy people in lieu of actual news. So timing couldn’t be better for Vin Diesel to tell MTV that “he now thinks there will be two” additional sequels to The Somewhat Moronic Chronicles of Riddick (full title). Why, Vin, why!? Because apparently all these sequels will comment on Pitch Black “in the same way that Lord of the Rings answered The Hobbit,” says Diesel, deftly equivocating Tolkien’s fantasy classic with a movie whose IMDb keywords include “One Man Army, Box Office Flop, Action Hero, No Ending.” [MTV]

Cher’s Meow Mix: Oscar winner Cher may trace the paw prints of Catwoman in Christopher Nolan’s third Batman movie, The Caped Crusader, joining Johnny Depp (The Riddler) and Christian Bale (Raspy-Voice Batman). According to a WB studio exec, Nolan wants to “portray her like a vamp in her twilight years,” which, please Lord, means Catwoman will say she’s getting too old for this catshit. Or they may have made all this up. [Telegraph]

Harrelson’s Goin’ to Zombieland: Peer pressure’s finally gotten the best of our friend Woody Harrelson, as he joins one of like twenty zombie movies coming out next year, Columbia’s Zombieland. Story, by Rhett Reese and Paul Wernick (The Joe Schmo Show), revolves around a “mismatched pair of survivors who find friendship and redemption in a world overrun by zombies.” Unless it’s actually set at Disneyland with zombie Disney characters, this one might have trouble finding an audience in 2009’s overcrowded zombie-movie marketplace. [HR]

Rothwell Scales Mountain: Jayson Rothwell will write The Mountain for Legendary Pictures, a thriller about a new sheriff from the inner city who assembles a search and rescue to look for missing hikers, only to find “the menacing side of the remote wilderness.” It’s good to see someone’s finally cracked the “Reverse Judgment Night” movie. [Variety]

Grease Gets Idol: American Idol’s Ace Young (season five) will take over the role of Kenickie in Grease at the Brooks Atkinson Theater, starting September 9. The poor kid must be nervous since, after all, the last time he slicked back his hair and sang, he got voted off American Idol. [Playbill]

Vin Diesel Is Getting ‘Riddick’-ulous