* Portia Doubleday, who I don't think I've seen since 2009's Youth in Revolt, has been cast as the evil Chris Hargensen in MGM's Carrie remake. Judy Greer has also been officially confirmed as the sympathetic gym teacher, now named Ms. Dejardin. Of all the girls in school, Hargensen is the most cruel. It's her prom gag that ultimately sets off Carrie's deadly telekinetic powers.They join Chloe Moretz, Julianne Moore, Gabriella Wilde, Alex Russell, and Ansel Englort in the Kimberly Peirce directed horror. [Deadline]
* Benicio Del Toro will take on the title role in AKA Jimmy Picard, the latest film from director Arnaud Desplechin(A Christmas Tale). Based on George Devereux's 1951 non-fiction book, Reality and Dream: Psychotherapy of a Plains Indian, the story follows a Native American WWII soldier using the titular alias who suffers from psychosomatic illness. Mathieu Amalric(Munich) and Gina McKee co-star. Filming begins next week in Michigan. [Deadline]
* After scoring a surprise, modern cult classic with last year's Attack the Block, we haven't seen much out of Joe Cornish. His name's been mentioned a lot, but it's mainly over jobs he's rejected or missed out on. Finally he's got something concrete lined up, taking on an adaption of Neal Stephenson's Snow Crash, widely considered one of the best sci-fi novels ever written. Cornish will write and direct the story, which...is sorta difficult to encapsulate. Basically it takes place in a future version of America dominated by corporations and the mafia(who run all pizza delivery), and the internet has become a virtual reality haven known as the Metaverse. Hollywood has been trying to get an adaptation off the ground since 1996, with directors such as Jeffrey Nachmanoff and Marco Brambilla(Demolition Man) coming and going. Cornish seems like the perfect fit for such far out material, so let's hope he's the guy to finally make it happen.
