the industry

Spike Lee Tunes Up His Flux Capacitor

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Lee Goes Back in Time: Spike Lee will direct and co-write Time Traveler, the memoirs of Ronald Mallett, one of the first black theoretical physicists, who just happened to be obsessed with building a time machine. Could this project be part of Lee’s elaborate plan to get back at Clint Eastwood by going back in time and killing his great-grandfather? [Variety]

Abrams Goes House Hunting: J.J. Abrams will reteam with Paramount to adapt Penelope Green’s New York Times article about a Fifth Avenue home whose owners discover secret panels and clues that lead the family on a scavenger hunt. Maya Forbes and Wally Wolodarsky (Monsters vs. Aliens) will pen the script, basically a Manhattan version of National Treasure except the treasure is realizing your dad runs a private-equity firm. [Variety]

Last Call for Josephson: Oni Press continues its Hollywood blitzkrieg as Universal options The Last Call for Barry Josephson to produce. Graphic novel, written and illustrated by Vasilis Lolos, follows two teens who get hit by a train — an “interdimensional soul carrier†— and must solve a mystery to return home. After watching this video, though, we don’t think getting hit by a soul train would be all that bad. [Variety]

Sopranos in Mourning: Lorraine Bracco and Jamie-Lynn Sigler will appear together in Son of Mourning, a mistaken-identity indie comedy with Heather Graham. The announcement marks what The Hollywood Reporter calls another “Sopranos mini-reunion,†because apparently there’s nothing else worth mentioning about these two. For the record, Ms. Bracco, we loved you in Riding in Cars with Boys. [HR]

Karem Debates the Merits of Hollywood: Stephen Karem’s Off Broadway play, Speech & Debate, will get the big-screen treatment from Overture and Jason Blum’s Blumhouse. Karem’s hilarious and smart play focuses on a high-school drama queen who rounds up misfits to join the newfound speech and debate club. Could we have at last found a starring vehicle for Christopher Mintz-Plasse? [HR]