Subway Stories: Samuel L. Jackson and Tommy Lee Jones will star in HBO’s The Sunset Limited, an adaptation of the Cormac McCarthy play; Jones will also direct. Jackson plays a man who saves Jones’s character from throwing himself in front of a Harlem subway train, which leads to the two having a super-deep conversation as they debate the worth of their lives. Then they share a bag of peanut M&Ms they buy from a kid raising money for his basketball team. [Variety]
On the Run: Prison Break producers Matt Olmstead and Nick Santora have landed a new series at Fox called Break Out Kings. It’s a procedural featuring ex-fugitives who have been recruited as U.S. Marshals, and will follow the team around the country as they solve cases. We’re not sure exactly what the title is referencing, but we’re going to assume it’s not acne-related. [Variety]
Arthur Rides Again: Bryan Singer may direct a remake of 1981’s Excalibur, a telling of the King Arthur tale starring Nigel Terry as Arthur and Cherie Lunghi as his girl Guinevere. According to The Hollywood Reporter, Singer’s version will hit all the same notes — pulling the sword, getting mentored by Merlin, establishing Camelot, questing for the Holy Grail, blah, blah, blah — but will do so in a more epic, fantasy-driven direction than 2004’s Clive Owen–starring Arthur. Which means he’ll probably cast his Valkyrie buddy Tom Cruise. [HR]
Kids Back Together: Five members of Kids in the Hall — Bruce McCulloch, Dave Foley, Kevin McDonald, Mark McKinney, and Scott Thompson — are reuniting for a comedic murder-mystery series, Death Comes to Town, for CBC. According to McCulloch, “We have thought about reuniting on television for years but we’ve all had a lot of personal projects.†When asked incredulously, “Really?†McCulloch replied, “Oh, yeah, we’ve all been, like, very, yeah, just very busy.†[Variety]
In the Ring: Billy Bob Thornton may star in Pound for Pound, an adaptation of the novel by Million Dollar Baby writer FX Toole. Thornton plays a retired and widowed boxer battling depression after his grandson is killed in a car accident, whose life intersects with an up-and-coming Latino boxer. According to producer Leslie Greif, “Unlike Million Dollar Baby, which was fabulous but a dark movie and a tragic story, this is a dark story but with a life-affirming, hopeful ending.†So nobody pulls the plug on anyone this time. [HR]
Jones Dropping New Stuff Soon: Norah Jones’s untitled new album will be out in November on Blue Note records. It’ll be produced by Jacquire King and will feature songs penned by Jesse Harris, Okkervil River’s Will Sheff, and Ryan Adams, who’ll probably have to take a break from writing theme songs for blogs to get his contribution done. [Billboard]