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Natalie Portman to Lead Gravity

Just as Oscar buzz for Natalie Portman’s Black Swan performance is heating up, the young actress has been offered the lead in Alfonso Cuarón’s sci-fi thriller Gravity.

If Portman accepts the offer, she’ll play Ryan Stone, a technician on her first space walk who braves the emptiness to find a way back to Earth, alongside the long attached Robert Downey Jr. But, make no mistake, Stone is the lead and alone on screen for much of the challenging concept.

Angelina Jolie was originally on board for the role, but later passed. Then Scarlett Johansson and Blake Lively tested for the part before Warner Bros went back to Jolie, who declined again. Portman’s possible involvement means shooting could start this winter after a tumultuous casting process.

The script, co-written by Cuarón and his son Jonas, is extremely ambitious and requires the actors to endure simulated weightlessness. The filmmaker, whose Children of Men is a visually-arresting masterwork, may also be planning a 20-minute opening shot in 3D and a 60% CG production.

Original article: http://www.newsinfilm.com/2010/09/09/natalie-portman-offered-lead-in-alfonso-cuaron-movie-gravity/

Day The Earth Stood Still Director Ruining More Sci-Fi

I had hopes, though not very realistic ones, that after the disaster that was The Day the Earth Stood Still, director Scott Derrickson would never work again. But not only is the guy still getting high-profile jobs, he's being trusted with another beloved sci-fi property.

A Judd Apatow-Produced Horror Movie?

CHUD caught up with Bill Hader, who revealed that he and "Saturday Night Live" writer Simon Rich have written a slasher movie for Judd Apatow. Here are two clips from the interview:

What would an Apatow-produced slasher film from Rich and Hader be like? Says Bill: 'It's partially Straw Dogs meets Halloween meets Home Alone meets Monster Squad.' It's hard to argue against that.

'I don't know if it's even going to get made,' Hader told me. 'Judd met with us and said "I want to do a horror movie with you. I want to see you in a slasher movie."'

New Shadow Might be More Than One Person

MTV tells us that they spoke to producer Michael Uslan, who revealed some info about The Shadow. He said that in the new version, it might not be one person operating as the hero, but actually a group of people. Here are some excerpts:

"I think the one thing going in is we all see The Shadow as more of a force of nature than a specific person in a secret identity," Uslan told MTV in an exclusive interview. "The Shadow may actually be many people."

"We've gone back to the pulp roots, the comic book roots of The Shadow, with a dash of the radio roots," added Uslan. "But we've deeply ensconced ourselves in the world of pulps and comics."

You can read more about the project here.

Universal Pictures previously brought the character to the big screen in 1994 when Alec Baldwin played the title role in the Russell Mulcahy-directed The Shadow.

Official News About Ghostbusters 3!

Just yesterday we told you that Dan Aykroyd was talking about a possible sequel to Ghostbusters 3. He wouldn't give out the names of the writers but he did have this to say, "Well, y’know, two sharp young writers in Hollywood are purported to be writing the sequel, the third movie now. If I could interest Seth [Rogen] and Judd [Apatow] to be part of it, that would be an absolute dream."