* Isn't a little weird that a film we first saw footage of more than a year ago, and recently put out a new trailer, is just now announcing its lead voice actor? That's the case with Disney's Planes, which now has the woefully unfunny Dane Cook voicing Dusty, the crop duster who dreams of flying in an epic around-the-world race. Originally planned as a straight-to-DVD release, Planes will now hit theaters in 3D on August 9th.
* Mikael Håfström (1408, The Rite) has taken over for Vincenzo Natali (Splice) as director of Tunnels, the adaptation of the international best-selling novels by Roderick Gordon and Brian Williams. The script by Andrew Nobel is based on the first book in the six-novel series about a pair of teenagers who discover a hidden world and secret civilization beneath London. They set out to find one's father, presumed lost somewhere in the deep, while also saving the people from an evil threat. Hafstrom's next film is The Tomb, an action film starring Arnold Schwarzenegger and Sylvester Stallone.
* Jena Malone has long been one of my favorite actresses, which is why I'm happy to see here breaking out from the indie scene for awhile and taking on films people will actually see. She has a key role in The Hunger Games: Catching Fire, and now has signed on to star in Angelica, a supernatural thriller based on Arthur Phillips' best-selling book. Set in 1880's England, the Victorian ghost story follows a woman whose marriage becomes strained after the birth of their daughter, Angelica. The difficult birth has forced them into celibacy, and the emotional distance between only worsens as a sexual spectre enters the home. Mitchell Lichenstein (Teeth) is directing, and he'll likely bring the book's shifting perspectives which cast the family's tragedy in different lights. [Deadline]
