12.17.08: Rachel Weisz is (not) Catwoman, Harrison Ford is a morning anchor, a new Paul Rudd trailer, and more

RACHEL WEISZ A BAT-FELINE?

Over the past day or so I've been trying to ignore a rumor that's been circulating – namely that Rachel Weisz is Christopher Nolan's choice to play Catwoman in Batman Hunted*. But people just won't let it die. This strikes me as a load of bat guano; Nolan has repeatedly said recently that he's not done much prep on the sequel, so any casting ideas can be nothing but speculation.  Besides, how do you bring Catwoman into Nolan's gritty, "realistic" take on the franchise? You're not going to have a feline resurrection a la Batman Returns. So she's a high-end burglar... ?  Dull. It's a tough road to haul, no matter how much the suits may want the character to make an appearance. La dee da.

PIRATES DIRECTOR TACKLES A DIABETIC 53-YEAR OLD

Pirates of the Caribbean director Gore Verbinski is going to try his hand at a more traditional-ish drama for the first time since the commercially disappointing The Weather Man.  The untitled film is based on a Wall Street Journal article about "a married man who spends as many as 20 hours a day on a computer, existing through an avatar who is a thriving, musclebound entrepreneur. In reality, he is a diabetic, chain-smoking 53-year-old." In the meanwhile Verbinski continues to develop an adaptation of the best videogame I've played in the past 5 years, Bioshock, which actually has a Hollywood-quality story (whatever that means).  (Variety)

ODDS AND ENDS

• Kudos to godfather critic Roger Ebert and the Director's Guild of America – the latter is giving the former an Honorary Life Member award.  The closest Ebert ever came to directing is writing the screenplay for Beyond The Valley of the Dolls, but his influence on generations of moviegoers (and therefore directors) is unquestionable. Quoth DGA President Michael Apted, ""From the blockbuster to the tiny independent film, Roger Ebert has devoted his career to sharing his love of film with generations of moviegoers. In doing so, he's kept directors on their toes for more than 40 years." (Variety)

• Now this actually sound promising, in a James L. Brooks kind of way.  In Morning Glory, "Rachel McAdams would play an aspiring news producer who tries to save a failing morning show by getting control of its feuding anchors. Harrison Ford will play one of the anchors, and the female thesp playing the other anchor will be set shortly."  Wait – it actually sounds like the canceled Kelsey Grammar sitcom Back To You.  But undoubtedly producer J.J. Abrams has found a new way to beat that horse. (Variety)

• Two Tony Blair films not enough for you Anglophiles?  Shazam!  The Special Relationship will explore the sexual political love affair between Blair and Bill Clinton.

• Only "two people per theater per showing" saw last week's new record holder for worst-performing wide release film, Delgo. (Yahoo via /Film)

• Cheech and Chong's Smokin' Animated Movie.

• In a chat with MTV, Benjamin Button director David Fincher provided a status update on the long-in-development sequel to 80's adult animation curiosity Heavy Metal.  "I’m ready to bat clean-up. I’m ready to do whatever story no one else wants to do. We have like twenty-four stories and artwork for it. Zack Snyder is picking one and I think (Gore) Verbinski has one that he likes. We’re seeing where it ends up. I have time to do one or two and I have dibs on eight or nine, so somewhere in there we’ll figure it out if we can ever get the money together."

• Tracy Morgan rocks on 30 Rock, but so far theatrical audiences have not shown much of a willingness to put up with 2 straight hours of his particular brand of mania.  Will Freshman Roomates, which reads as Morgan's version of Coming to America, be a breakthrough?  (Rhetorical question, you can't know, I can't know.  So shush.)  "The premise revolv(es) around the idea that those scam emails from Nigerian princes flooding the internet might not be scams after all. So when TJ Miller... answers one in a drunken stupor, he gets the shock of his life when, soon afterwards, the son of a deposed African dictator (Morgan) turns up and moves in. Together, the two work to regain Morgan’s stolen inheritance." (Empire)

• Secret comedy weapon Paul Rudd stepped into his own as a leading actor with the success of Role Models, and now looks to continue his winning, huggable, lovable ways with I Love You, Man. The comedy is the story of my life finds your mom's ideal man trying to make a male friend and ending up with Jason Segel. Check out the trailer here.

• Eden Log.  A film about about biblical forestry? Maybe Adam dropped a deuce? Nope. Amnesia, secret underground facilities, science, monsters, gore, etc. In French. Écouter.

• Not actually the sequel's name.

Comments

[George]

"This strikes me as a load of bat guano"

Actually,Batman on film almost confirmed what was reported. That Nolan is in fact coming back and he's has outline for the movie.

A for Rachel Weisz, that right there is perfect casting.

[Janet]

I would love for this rumor to be true. Rachel would be a great choice for Catwoman.