Photos: Getty Images (DiCaprio, Phillippe, Toga), iStockphoto (Helmet)
Leonardo DiCaprio Goes Roman; Ryan Phillippe Goes Viking
DiCaprio to Stutter for Rudin: Scott Rudin acquires the feature film rights to Robert Graves’s novel I, Claudius, famously adapted into the Emmy-winning 1976 miniseries, with Leonardo DiCaprio expected to star. This seems like a great idea, given that the last BBC miniseries-to-Hollywood feature adaptation resulted in the 2003 Robert Downey Jr. film The Singing Detective, a worldwide smash and now one of the most beloved films of all time. [Variety]
Another Day, Another Viking Epic: Ryan Phillippe, Abbie Cornish, and Sean Bean sign on to star in the Viking epic Last Battle Dreamer. Director Menno Meyjes describes pic as “a love story written in fire and blood,†which would make us giggle if we weren’t already giggling at the image of Ryan Phillippe in a helmet with horns on it. [HR]
Street Fighter to Be Remade for Some Reason: Action director Andrzej Bartkowiak takes time out from awful DMX movies to helm a second adaptation of the video game Street Fighter. In a separate press release, the star of the 1994 version, Jean-Claude Van Damme, indicated that he was “free†to return. [Variety]
Faith Hill to Remake Hits: Country star Faith Hill announces a forthcoming greatest-hits compilation titled The Hits, featuring “newer, different versions†of many of her most famous songs. While Hill did not elaborate on specific changes planned, we’re pretty sure this means Lil’ Romeo guest appearances on every track. [Billboard]
London, New York to Switch Valjeans: The New York and London productions of Les Miserables will swap Jean Valjeans, with West End lead John Owens-Jones taking over the Broadway role and Yank Drew Sarich heading up the London cast. Hopefully they will also switch luggage and have wacky cross-cultural adventures! More as this story develops! [Playbill]
Bernal Takes On Mammoth Role: Gael Garcià Bernal will star in the drama Mammoth for acclaimed helmer Lukas Moodysson (Lilya 4-Ever). Why, this seems like … this seems like … a potentially good movie. [Variety]