Star Power: Studios are currently bidding on two big-name spec packages: The Adjustment Bureau, a sci-fi love story loosely based on a short story by Philip K. Dick featuring Matt Damon and to be directed by Bourne screenwriter George Nolfi, who also wrote the screenplay; and Plan B, an Adam McKay–directed action-comedy starring Will Ferrell and Mark Wahlberg as cops, and, thankfully, not about the contraceptive. [Variety]
Mr. Verbinski, in the Director’s Chair, With a Camera: Gore Verbinksi will direct the Clue remake for Universal. Everyone loves the campy original, which is why the new version of the classic Hasbro board game will be a humorless-sounding “global thriller and transmedia event,†according to producer Jonathan Krauss. This is of course just the latest Hasbro game to be optioned, after Monopoly, Candyland, Ouija, and even Stretch Armstrong. Which means our pitch about a movie set in Bangkok’s seedy underground Pictionary clubs is looking good. [Variety]
Agent LL: The previously announced LL Cool J–starring NCIS spinoff is now official, but apparently does not yet have a name. L still plays a “tough but charming former NAVY Seal,†only now he’s also an expert on Middle East affairs. No news on Chris O’Donnell’s involvement : Is the “ultimate chameleon†out? [Variety]
Agent LL: The previously announced LL Cool J–starring NCIS spinoff is now official, but apparently does not yet have a name. L still plays a “tough but charming former NAVY Seal,†only now he’s also an expert on Middle East affairs. No news on Chris O’Donnell’s involvement : Is the “ultimate chameleon†out? [Variety]
Yogi’s Back: Veteran visual-effects-supervisor-turned-director Eric Brevig (Journey to the Center of the Earth) will next take on Warner Bros.’$2 3-D Yogi Bear project; That 70’s Show’s Joshua Sternin and Jeffrey Ventimilia will write the screenplay. We know that Boo Boo is onboard and that it’ll all go down in Jellystone Park, but otherwise details are scant. So we’re going to go ahead and assume that this will be the dark reimagining the Yogi franchise has for so long called for. [HR]
Astro Not Broke Anymore: Production on Astro Boy is back on, thanks to a $25 million financing plan completed by producer Imagi Entertainment. The animated movie — which revolves around a young robot with superpowers, and is based on a Japanese cartoon from the sixties — had to stop production last month. Almost all of the movie’s original staff has returned to the project — and, more important, so have the vocal talents of one Nicolas Cage. [Variety]