* Too many people passed up on Scott Frank's directorial debut, The Lookout
, which featured a powerful lead performance by Joseph Gordon-Levitt and a darker turn for Isla Fisher. Long established as a one of Hollywood's best writers, Frank has penned scripts ranging from Out of Sight 
to Minority Report
. His next scripting gig will take him to the hocus pocus world as writer of Houdini for director Francis Lawrence(Water for Elephants
). This version of the famous escape artist/magician's story appears to be totally fictional, focusing on his attempts to prove a troubled spiritualist as a fraud. For a bit more on this story, check out THR's exclusive.* When Universal started getting cold feet at Ron Howard's mammoth adaptation of Stephen King's The Dark Tower
, all appeared to be lost. Just ask Guillermo Del Toro how these things tend to work out. But the production, which includes three films and two TV series, is being reworked for lighter costs, and Ron Howard recently told EW that it is definitely "moving forward". He also stated that the start date has been pushed back from September all the way to Spring 2012, and mysteriously suggests that supposedly confirmed star Javier Bardem now only has "a great deal of interest". What the French??* A couple of months ago, Vin Diesel and his Pitch Black
/The Chronicles of Riddick 
helmer David Twohy took to the bald brute's Facebook page to update fans on the status of Riddick, the third film which somebody must be clamoring for. Last we heard they were planning two sequels to the once hot, now ice cold series, with plans to finance the next one independently. Now we've learned that the film is a definite "Go!", with plans to shoot later this summer for a 2012 release. On a much funnier note, Diesel whines a little bit on the page about having to work for scale rather than his usual hefty salary. I feel your pain, Vinny. You might have to shave that dome of yours with a steel razor rather than your usual gold one.
