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Stan Lee Creates Three New Heroes for Disney
Disney Hoping for Super: Disney and Stan Lee have nailed down the first wave of projects under a deal they made last summer. First up is Nick Ratchet, to be written and directed by Richard LaGravenese (P.S. I Love You). The second project is Blaze, to be written by Gary Goldman, who penned the totally great first draft of Next that turned into the totally bad Nicolas Cage movie. And finally, newcomer Zoe Green will write Tigress, which Lee says “is not about the Conan the Barbarian villainess.†He can’t tell you anything more because the studio’s keeping details under wraps. [Variety]
Panettiere Makes a List: Fox Atomic has picked up Naomi and Ely’s No Kiss List for Hayden Panettiere to star. Novel, by Rachel Cohn and David Levithan (the duo behind the adorable and similarly titled Nick and Norah’s Infinite Playlist), follows a Manhattan girl (Panettiere) and her gay best friend who create a list of people deemed off-limits for kissing. We better not be on that list, gay best friend. [Variety]
Stiller Crowns Himself King: Ben Stiller is attached to produce and possibly star in The Return of King Doug, the story of a man who returns to a fantasy world he abandoned 30 years earlier, based on the upcoming graphic novel from Oni Press. Kind of cool, but cooler if there’s room in the fantasy world for Black Robert Downey Jr. [HR]
Hartnett’s August July: Josh Hartnett’s Sundance drama August has been picked up by First Look Studios, who look to release the film in July. Story follows a “high-rolling web startup founder struggling to resuscitate his company and personal life on the eve of Sept. 11.†And what if we told you David Bowie plays a corporate raider? [HR]
One Small Step for Universal: Universal has bought the rights to NASA historian James Hansen’s First Man: The Life of Neil A. Armstrong. Nicole Perlman, whose Challenger script won like a million awards, will adapt Hansen’s riveting story of Neil Armstrong, his family, and the Apollo moon landing — specifically how they faked it on a soundstage in North Hollywood. LOOK AT THE SHADOWS, PEOPLE! [Variety]