Weird, Right?: Sarah Jessica Parker and Hugh Grant are finally teaming up in a romantic comedy! The untitled project has been written by Marc Lawrence, the brilliant mind most recently behind Music and Lyrics and Miss Congeniality 2: Armed & Fabulous. In the pic, Parker and Grant will play an estranged high-power New York couple placed in a witness protection program in Wyoming. If we were betting men, we’d go ahead and lay some money on this one having some silly moments, some sweet moments, and a damn touching ending. Any takers? [Variety]
Jackson, Cheung are Basterds: According to the Playlist, two more have joined the cast of Quentin Tarantino’s Inglourious Basterds: Maggie Cheung has been cast as the French, theater-owning Madame Mimieux and Samuel L. Jackson, who previously was shocked to learn that Tarantino had not written him a real part, will provide voice-over narration, presumably after much begging and calling the director “a motherfucker.” [Playlist]
From Tony to Tobey: David Lindsay-Abaire, the playwright who won the Pulitzer Prize in 2007 for his play Rabbit Hole, is onboard to write Spider Man 4. Sam Raimi and Tobey Maguire will join him in Spidey’s fourth installment, the plot of which is locked somewhere in a secret closet. Lindsay-Abaire is expected to bring not only his deft writing skills to the project, but also his special-effects knowledge of pulleys, levers, and curtains that go both up and down. [HR]
Another day, another remake: J. Michael Straczynski, the nerd who created Babylon 5, will write an updated version of sci-fi classic Forbidden Planet. The original story centered on an expedition sent away from earth to check on scientists on a distant planet. Once there, the earthlings find a strange man and his strange daughter and mysterious invisible monsters. Straczynski, who most recently wrote the script for Clint Eastwood’s period piece Changeling, will likely try to update the now-goofy kitsch of the original. But as long as the he doesn’t screw with the Oscar-nominated special effects, all should be well. [HR]
Mmmm, Donuts: Bradley Whitford has been tapped to star alongside Romany Malco in single-camera NBC comedy pilot Off Duty. Written by Upright Citizens Brigade comedian Jason Mantzoukas, the show will follow a veteran cop on the downside of his career (Whitford) and his up-and-coming partner (Malco), neither of whom can keep his job at the station. Someone is so accidentally shooting himself in the toe in this one. [HR]
