Dorff Is So Back: Sofia Coppola will return to our time with her follow-up to Marie Antoinette, Somewhere, a dramedy set in Hollywood’s Chateau Marmont hotel. The film stars Stephen Dorff (!) as a hard-partying actor living at the hotel and Elle Fanning as the 11-year-old daughter whose visit forces him to reexamine his life. But seriously, wow, Stephen Dorff? This is pretty much his highest-profile gig since he was in that Britney Spears video, right? [Variety]
Magazine Writers Are Crazy: Fox Searchlight has put the adaptation of Jen Sack’s 1998 novel Nice back into production, with Reese Witherspoon attached to star in the dark comedy. The adaptation was originally set up at Warner Bros. and was to star Helen Hunt as a magazine writer who accidentally kills her boyfriend and then realizes that killing off her boyfriends is easier than breaking up with them. Apparently the original WB version was going to be a lighter take on the material, although the thought of Helen Hunt killing people is much scarier than the thought of Reese Witherspoon doing so. [Variety]
Funny Girls: Leslie Mann and Elizabeth Banks will star in What Was I Thinking?, a comedy about four friends who take an indulgent ski trip after one of them gets dumped. The movie takes its title from a book by Barbara Davilman and Liz Dubelman, which means this project has eschewed the non-narrative-adaptation trend in favor of a slightly less ridiculous one: the collection-of-essays adaptation. [Variety]
Life Swap: Matthew McConaughey’s production house J.K. Livin (please, stop and reexamine that title) is developing Exchange Student, a comedy about two college freshman shipping off to new locales. While one has an awesome time, the other one does not. And, before you ask, yes, this was all Matthew McConaughey’s idea. [HR]
Right Round: Adrian Grenier is working on another documentary, this time producing Matthew Cooke’s media doc Spin. According to Cooke, the film is about “our relationship to the technology of communications.†Said Grenier, “It’s an important story to tell.†“Plus, you know, I have lots of free time thanks to all the movies I’m not being cast in,†he did not add. [HR]
Incarcerated Scarfaces: Raekwon has landed a distribution deal through EMI for his ICE H2O label, and will release his long-awaited Only Built 4 Cuban Linx 2 — a small-scale Detox at this point — through the joint venture this summer. The album features members of the Wu-Tang Clan, along with Dr. Dre, J Dilla, Bun B, and the Game, but there is no official release date yet: Hopefully, Rae will again demonstrate the skill of Shaolin, the special technique of shadowboxing, sooner rather than later. [Billboard]