Jimmy Can Check That One Off Now: Late Night with Jimmy Fallon has scooped up That Guy A.D. Miles as its head writer. You might recognize Miles from Wainy Days or as the dude who plays guitar during the camp scenes in Role Models, but he was apparently the writer for a bunch of stuff (Dog Bites Man, Porn and Chicken, Speed Freaks). More importantly, though: should we be concerned that, with less than a month to go, Fallon just hired a head writer? [Variety]
Death to Austen: Elton John’s Rocket Pictures is producing Pride and Predator, a, yes, Jane Austen dreadlocked-homicidal-alien crossover project. Producer David Furnish explains the (post-bong?) concept: “It felt like a fresh and funny way to blow apart the done-to-death Jane Austen genre by literally dropping this alien into the middle of a costume drama, where he stalks and slashes to horrific effect.†But most notable is that, as far as we can tell, this has nothing to do with the previously announced Austen-Zombie crossover. Which means a challenge is upon you, world: One more Austen monster movie and we have a legitimate trend. [Variety]
Monahan Takeover: Highly active Departed screenwriter William Monahan will adapt The Associate, the just-released John Grisham novel, for Paramount; Shia LaBeouf is already set to star as the law-school student blackmailed into working on a multibillion-dollar lawsuit. The project has generated some controversy, as officials from Duquesne University have protested the book’s use of the school as the site of a rape scene. Monahan is reportedly hard at work on an alternative setting, but all he can come up with so far is Shmooquesne University. [Variety]
Berfield’s Back: Halle Barry will star as an international jewel thief in Who Is Doris Payne?, from producers Jason Felts and Justin “Reese from Malcolm in the Middle†Berfield. Somehow, this is only the second most ridiculous casting related to a project from the duo, collectively known as J2: Jessica Alba just starred in their film An Invisible Sign of My Own as, of course, a reclusive math whiz. [Variety]
These Two Lanes Will Takes Us to CBS: McG is set to preemptively squander any potential Terminator: Salvation–related film cred on CBS’s reality competition Thunder Road, where contestants will race cars through a (deadly sounding) obstacle course. No news on CBS’ long-languishing reality competition Tenth Avenue Freeze-Out, a veritable survival-of-the-hobos. [HR]
Scammed: Marc-Andre Grondin, Ellen Barkin and Famke Janssen will star in The Chameleon, French director Jean-Paul Salome’s English-language debut. The film is about a missing teen who returns to his family under suspicious circumstances, and is based on this unbelievable New Yorker story from last summer which, seriously, just read it now. [HR]