* After years of trying to get it off the ground and mostly going nowhere, Columbia Pictures finally seems to be moving forward their adaptation/remake of the Masters of the Universe toyline and terrible 1987 film. Earlier this year Jon Chu(G.I. Joe: Retaliation) was hired to direct it, and now Richard Wenk(16 Blocks) has been hired to rewrite the script. Wenk is on fire right now, having also written the upcoming adaptation of The Equalizer starring Denzel Washington. [Variety]
* There are a number of films in the works based on the great magician and escape artist Harry Houdini, but the one that has the most attention right now is the one scripted by Noah Oppenheim and based on the book, The Secret Life of Houdini. Earlier this year it looked like Gary Ross(Pleasantville) was going to direct it, but he left to help Peter and the Starcatchers. Now Joe Wright, whose adaptation of Anna Karenina opens in a few weeks, has entered early talks to take over. The book is far from a straight biopic, insinuating that Houdini was a spy for both Britain and the U.S. pre-WWI. Houdini is also depicted as a debunker of mystics and other spiritual con artists. It also claims he was asked to advise Czar Nicholas II's court in pre-revolutionary Russia. So expect something along the lines of Sherlock Holmes meets National Treasure. [LA Times]
* We see late night talk show host Conan O'Brien plenty of times on other TV shows, but I don't think he's been in a film since that terrible Bewitched remake from 2005. Personally, I dug him(mostly as a cardboard cut out) as Melissa George's obsession in Sugar & Spice. But he's back and in a Batman film, no less. He'll stretch himself voicing late night talk show host Dave Endochrine in The Dark Knight Returns pt. 2, the final chapter of the awesome animated adaptation of Frank Miller's classic comic book. He'll join Peter Weller as Batman, Mark Valley as Superman, Ariel Winter as Robin, and Michael Emerson as The Joker. The film hits DVD/Blu-Ray early next year.
