* Dean Devilin, a frequent collaborator of Roland Emmerich who helped pen the Stargate screenplay, is set to make his directorial debut with Geostorm. Gerard Butler will topline the sci-fi flick as a stubborn but charming satellite designer who, when the world’s climate-controlling satellites malfunction, has to work together with his estranged brother to save the world from a man-made storm of epic proportions. A trip into space follows, while on Earth a plot to assassinate the president begins to unfold." Filming is to begin this fall, which will give Butler plenty of time to finish up starring in the Point Break remake. [THR]
* Remember Taylor Lautner? Yeah, he was pretty big once. Now the former Twilight hunk is going the indie route, entering talks to star in Run the Tide. Directed by Soham Mehta with a Rajiv Shah script, the story centers on "a man who kidnaps his younger brother and flees for the California coast when their drug-abusing mother is released from prison determined to rebuild their family. With nothing but the open road ahead of them, the brothers race away from a past they never wanted towards a future that could have been as their mother and her ex-husband follow in close pursuit." Well, it sounds better than Abduction, anyway. [TheWrap]
* Gus van Sant has tapped his protege Justin Kelly to direct Michael, a gay-themed film that will star James Franco as the title figure. But don't expect this to be another gay rights story. Instead, the story is based on the New York Times article, My Ex-Gay Friend, about Michael Glatze, a gay rights activist who suddenly renounced his homosexuality and became an anti-gay crusader. Sounds right up Franco and van Sant's alley. Filming begins this summer. [Deadline]
