3.19.07: Heigl fits into 27 Dresses

Heigl zips up Dresses, 300 takes box office crown for second straight week, Bay tries to stop the apocalypse, and more

Heigl tries on 27 Dresses for size

Grey’s Anatomy star Katherine Heigl, who will soon be appearing in the Judd Apatow comedy Knocked Up, has signed on to star in the romantic comedy 27 Dresses for Step Up director Anne Fletcher from a script by Aline Brosh McKenna (The Devil Wears Prada). Heigl will play a 27 time bridesmaid who finally falls in love with someone, only her sister is getting married to him. Filming will start during Heigl’s hiatus from Grey’s and the film will shoot in New York and Rhode Island. More at Variety.

300 still in first with $31.2 million weekend, Wild Hogs rides on in second place

This week’s top two box office earners look the same as last week with the Grecian epic 300 topping the chart once again with $31.2 million ($127.5 million overall) and the John Travolta comedy Wild Hogs coming in second place with $18.8 million ($104 million overall). However, Sandra Bullock registered her best solo opening ever for the thriller Premonition, which took in $18 million, good enough for third place, and while the Saw team of director James Wan and writer Leigh Whannell reunited for the horror film Dead Silence, the film only made $7.8 million, which was good enough for fourth. The Chris Rock comedy I Think I Love My Wife rounded out the top five, debuting with $5.7 million. More at Yahoo.

Bay trio transforms 2012 adaptation for WB

After teaming up on The Island and this summer’s Transformers, director Michael Bay is once again working with writer/producers Roberto Orci and Alex Kurtzman to adapt the Whiley Strieber sci-fi epic 2012: The War for Souls for Warner Bros. The book, which will be released in the fall, deals with a researcher who learns that he can prevent the apocalypse predicted in 2012 by the Mayans if he can transfer dimensions. More at The Hollywood Reporter.

Gong Li going for Indy 4 too?

Hollywood Elsewhere’s Jeffrey Wells connects the dots which leads to the interesting conclusion that Gong Li may star in Indiana Jones 4 after the Chinese star declined a chance to serve as president for a Taiwan film festival in order to film a “big-budget Hollywood film in June.” More at Hollywood Elsewhere.

Haley hailed for Semi Pro, Winged Creatures and Bolden!

Jackie Earle Haley, the former child star who was nominated for an Academy Award for his role in Little Children, has been tapped for supporting roles in three new projects including the Will Ferrell comedy Semi-Pro, the Forest Whitaker-led ensemble drama Winged Creatures, and the jazz drama Bolden! More at The Hollywood Reporter.

Bunim-Murray gets real about documentary division

The Real World TV producer Jonathan Murray is about to get into the movie business with BMP Films, a documentary label that will be run by Sasha Alpert, a veteran employee of the reality TV production company. The first film from the studio is Tricia Regan’s 2007 Tribeca Film Festival selection Autism: The Musical. More at Variety.

Dolemite busts through redo

Dolemite, the 1975 film that starred Rudy Ray Moore as a rapping kung fu fighting ex-con, will be remade by producer Warren Zide and director Bill Fishman. Moore will likely play a role in the film and produce. More at The Hollywood Reporter.

Studios try their best to save the date

The Los Angeles Times’ Josh Friedman examines the major studios’ recent obsession with finding the perfect release date for their films – sometimes even three years in advance. For example, Sony exec Jeff Blake says of the next James Bond installment which has yet to be written, “two things are definite: Daniel Craig is returning, and we're going Nov. 7. After that it gets complicated.” More at The Los Angeles Times.

Talent agencies endeavor to bring worldwide profits to their clients

The New York Times’ Michael Cieply details the complicated financial arrangements that talent agencies such as Endeavor are making to create profit through financing smaller films around their own clients, who in turn benefit financially while they’re making a kind of film they actually want to make. More at The New York Times.

Screenwriters flip the script with Wells’ Co-op deal

ER producer John Wells has created the Writers Co-Op, which will allow screenwriters to get such perks as consultations about revisions, backend profit participation and producing credits in exchange for reducing their upfront fee for writing a script. The deal is set up at Warners. Some of the screenwriting industry’s biggest names including Scott Frank (Minority Report), Richard LaGravanese (Erin Brockovich), and Callie Khouri (Thelma and Louise) have all signed on to the deal, which was the idea of Wells, Reversal of Fortune scribe Nicholas Kazan, and Tom Schulman. While Warner Bros. will get scripts at a fraction of what they would’ve cost initially, screenwriters will have more influence over the films that get made from their scripts. More at Variety.

-Stephen Saito