03.25.08: Jackman’s A Real 'Nowhere Man', Marsden & Keener Get 'Nailed'

Hugh Jackman is teaming up with Eli Stone co-creator Marc Guggenheim and Virgin Comics to fashion an original comic-book series called Nowhere Man that will eventually become a big-screen franchise for the X-Men star. The story’s still under wraps but apparently will feature a protagonist in a futuristic world where humanity has swapped privacy for security. “I’ve had so much fun in the graphic novel world with the X-Men franchise,” says Jackman, who’s currently shooting the Wolverine prequel in Australia, “that I wanted to get even more involved.” More at Variety

Marsden & Keener Getting Nailed
James Marsden and Catherine Keener are joining Jake Gyllenhaal and Jessica Biel in David O Russell’s new comedy Nailed, about a woman (Biel) who suffers crazed sexual urges after a co-worker accidentally shoots a nail into her head. She heads to Washington to fight for the rights of the strangely injured, where an immoral congressman (Gyllenhaal) attempts to take advantage of her plight. Marsden will play Biel’s small-town boyfriend while Keener will play a self-serving congresswoman in Russell's first film since 2004's I Heart Huckabees. More at IGN

Weaver, Tripplehorn Join Tim Allen’s Directing Debut
Jeanne Tripplehorn, Sigourney Weaver and J.K. Simmons are joining Tim Allen’s directorial debut Crazy On The Outside, about an ex-con (Allen) who tries to convince his parole officer (Tripplehorn) to date him while his manipulative sister (Weaver) and her sarcastic husband (Simmons) meddle in his life. The comedy will draw on Allen’s own experiences (he served time for cocaine possession) and also stars Ray Liotta and Kelsey Grammer. More at The Hollywood Reporter

Revenge Of The Nerds
The Weinstein Company is involved in a dispute over its upcoming release of Fanboys, about four diehard Star Wars fans who break into George Lucas’ Skywalker Ranch in order to see The Phantom Menace on the eve of its release. The film wrapped two years ago but has since been locked in a tug of war between co-chief Harvey Weinstein and the filmmakers over competing versions of the movie. Harvey had a cancer subplot removed via reshoots, sparking off grass-roots protests by Star Wars fans who got wind of the change and launched a campaign in favour of the original version which included lampooning Harvey as Darth Weinstein. Now, TWC has issued a statement saying it will release both versions on DVD and perhaps theatrically as well. Head HERE for the campaign website. More at The Hollywood Reporter