Plus: Kristen Stewart's Rileys unwelcome.

"At some point," notes one top manager, "you have to prove you can open a movie, because with franchise people, the question is always, 'Outside of your franchise, can you pull your audience?'"

Bella would be scandalized.

But not if James Gandolfini and Melissa Leo have anything to say about it.

De Niro signs on for another mobster drama, Yogi Bear gets his close-up, and Philip Seymour Hoffman goes for claymation.