Stiller Never Says Die: Used Guys — a futuristic comedy originally set to star Ben Stiller and Jim Carrey as obsolete pleasure clones — is getting another whirl. Originally the movie was scheduled to shoot in 2006, but Fox pulled the plug a month before production was to start, when the projected budget went over $110 million. Stiller’s back onboard for the reboot, with directing duo Valerie Faris and Jonathan Dayton (Little Miss Sunshine) and Reese Witherspoon in talks to join him. Now when is Stiller’s Heat Vision and Jack coming back from the dead? [Variety]
Hugh on Top: Hugh Jackman’s so hot right now. Along with the one announced yesterday, he’s got four potential projects lined up: Personal Security, in which he’ll play a veteran cop forced to protect a threatened teen heiress (was Sinbad unavailable?); Drive, about a dude who whips race cars and getaway cars (much better); plus an adaptation of Rodgers & Hammerstein’s Carousel, and a possible 2010 return to Broadway in Houdini (Hmmm). Oh, and yeah, Wolverine’s getting a sequel, one that will probably focus on the comic’s samurai story line. Considering that Star Trek II was green-lit in March, that’s some restraint. It was, of course, dumb obvious: Any Hollywood property grossing $87 million in its first weekend — even one where the only thing that happened was that everyone on the planet died horrifically and decidedly — would get a sequel. [Variety]
Ghost of Glitter: Christina Aguilera will make her major-motion-picture debut in the musical Burlesque. She’ll star as a small-town girl with big pipes who finds love and success at a neo-burlesque club in L.A. If it’s one of those burlesque clubs with the murder mysteries, this has an outside shot at topping Crossroads. [Variety]
Warmer: Christopher Nolan’s Inception cast just keeps on growing, which is great, because every time that happens, we seem to get more info. Anyway, Ken Watanabe will play the movie’s villain, a man blackmailing Leonardo DiCaprio’s CEO type; Tom Hardy will play someone on DiCaprio’s team, whatever the hell that means. So at this point we either wait for more casting to get more details, or wait till Nolan runs out of other actors and just has to cast us. [HR]
Born in the USA: Wilmer Valderrama and Jason Ritter have joined indie drama The Dry Land, starring previously cast Ryan O’Nan as a soldier struggling to return to normalcy in his small town, with America Ferrera as his wife and Melissa Leo as his mom. Ritter plays a hometown buddy, and Valderrama an Army pal who helps O’Nan “in his search for redemption.†First the Walter Reed debacle, now candy-ass Valderrama playing a soldier? [HR]