Jack Black: ‘Man-Witch’!

Burn Him!: Jack Black and director Todd Phillips are developing Man-Witch for Warner Brothers. Script will be written by Jay Reiss, better known as the original word-reader in The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee. Comedy follows a schoolteacher who discovers he has magical abilities and joins a coven. We presume pitch was generated by the simple idea of Black pronouncing the title in grandiose tones. [Variety]

New Line Goes Bionic: New Line purchases spoof script The $40,000 Man from writers John Francis Daley and Jonathan Goldstein, about a bionic man built on a budget. This is first script sale for Daley, better known as Sam Weir in Freaks and Geeks, the show that’s becoming the Velvet Underground of comedy writing. We guess our analogy doesn’t precisely track, but we like it anyway. [Variety]

New Regency on Sisters Grimm: New Regency Productions acquired rights to Michael Buckley’s children’s book series The Sisters Grimm. First three books in the series, about the orphaned descendants of the Brothers Grimm, are to be made into the first film. [Variety]

Second Stage Announces Albee, Others: Second Stage Theater announces slate for 2007–2008 season, including Edward Albee’s Zoo Story prequel, Peter and Jerry, starring Bill Pullman. Other shows include musical Next to Normal by Brian Yorkey (book) and High Fidelity writer Tom Kitt (music), and political drama Farragut North by Beau Willimon. [Playbill]

McTeer Plays Churchill: Janet McTeer will play the wife of Brendan Gleeson’s Winston Churchill in HBO’s Gathering Storm follow-up, Churchill at War. Apparently Churchill’s wife got a lot younger and blonder once the war came, because the same character was played in the first movie by Vanessa Redgrave. [HR]

Snyder Buys Dick Clark Productions: Washington Redskins owner Daniel Snyder to announce today purchase of Dick Clark Productions, producer of So You Think You Can Dance and the Golden Globes. After purchases of the Redskins, Six Flags, and the Johnny Rockets restaurant chain, it is quickly becoming apparent that Daniel Snyder buys properties based solely on what his 12-year-old self thought cool. [Variety]

Applegate Sitcom De-Seussed: Clearance issues with the estate of Dr. Seuss force ABC to change title of Christina Applegate’s fall sitcom from Sam I Am to the totally lousy Samantha Be Good. Considered but rejected: Screw You, Theodore Geisel. [Variety]