Kids Go Crazy for Depp: Yesterday, Johnny Depp dressed up in costume and took to the stage during a Disney showcase to tout some upcoming projects, revealing he’s nothing if not busy. He’s bringing back Jack Sparrow for a fourth Pirates of the Caribbean, playing Tonto in a feature adaptation of The Lone Ranger (also produced by Jerry Bruckheimer), and starring as the Mad Hatter in Tim Burton’s Alice in Wonderland. Furthermore, Mickey Mouse will be replace by Johnny Mouse and the cities of Anaheim and Orlando will be rechristened Johnnytopia. [Variety]
International Treasure: At the same expo, Disney chairman Dick Cook revealed that National Treasure 3 is in the works, and both Jerry Bruckheimer and Nicolas Cage are back onboard. Story is expected to follow Cage and his scrappy sidekick, Hank Paulson, as they unravel clues in search of a $700 billion treasure. (Spoiler alert: The clues lead to you.) [Variety]
Del Toro Sucks: Guillermo del Toro, the only guy hustling harder than Johnny Depp, has inked a publishing deal with HarperCollins to write a trilogy of vampire novels wherein New York City is plagued by a “vampire virus.†The first book, The Strain, comes out next summer. As for the two sequels, Del Toro probably wants to wait and see if WB makes another I Am Legend movie so he can steal those ideas too. [Variety]
I’m Not a Legend Yet: No doubt pissed that Del Toro is bogarting their shit, Warner Bros. is working on a prequel to I Am Legend, setting D.B. Weiss to write a script based on a detailed outline by Will Smith, producer Akiva Goldsman, and director Francis Lawrence. The plan is for Smith to portray scientist Robert Neville in the final days of civilization as the vampire virus takes hold. Hey WB, we’d remind you to take away all the compelling aspects of the original, but it looks like you’re got that under control. [Variety]
Reeves Sucks Too: Cloverfield’s “director,†Matt Reeves, sick of hearing about everyone else’s vampire movies, wants to make one of his own, as he signs on to direct the remake of Let the Right One In for Overture Films and Hammer Films. Tomas Alfredson’s Tribeca-winning/kind of boring movie centers on a shy kid who makes friends with a little girl vampire in his neighborhood. We can’t think of a more incongruous director to helm the slow, brooding, master-shot-filled drama, but then again it’ll all depend on how good his kids are at using a handheld DV camera. [Variety]
McAdams a Sleuth: Rachel McAdams will star with Robert Downey Jr. in Guy Ritchie’s Sherlock Holmes, playing his “enigmatic love interest, Irene Adler,†a character who only appears in one story but should convince everyone that Holmes and Watson aren’t lovers who secretly make out every night. Sexy mystery: solved? [HR]
Opposites Attract Hathaway: Anne Hathaway will star in Fox’s The Opposite of Love, playing a commitment-phobic lawyer whose life falls apart when she turns down her ready-for-marriage boyfriend. Pic is based on Julie Buxbaum’s hilarious bestseller and promises lots of capsule reviews based on the word “opposite.†[Variety]