Harvey in Danger: Steven Spielberg is pulling out of Harvey, DreamWorks’s adaptation of Mary Chase’s 1944 play about a man who makes friends with an invisible, six-foot-tall rabbit. The film was to be Spielberg’s first for the relaunched DreamWorks. It’s unclear what caused Spielberg to bolt, but it may have something to do with the trouble he had casting the title role. His first choice, Tom Hanks, wanted no part of it and his second choice, Robert Downey Jr., showed interest but would not commit. Clearly, none of this would have been a problem if Spielberg had done what comes naturally and cast Shia LaBeouf. [Variety]
Leo Nipping at Your Toes: Leonardo Dicaprio will voice an animated character for the first time in his career in DreamWorks’s The Guardians. Leo will voice Jack Frost in this story that brings together Santa, the Easter Bunny, the Tooth Fairy, the Sandman, and Mr. Frost as members of an evil-fighting superhero squad. The films will be based on an upcoming series of books by William Joyce called The Guardians of Childhood. DreamWorks has released pictures of what an animated Leo looks like, and he’s almost as dreamy as the real one. Almost! [Variety]
Sci-Noir: Gabe and Alan Polsky, the producers behind Bad Lieutenant: Post of Call New Orleans, have optioned Jonathan Lethem’s Gun, With Occasional Music. The sci-fi detective novel was published in 1994 and has passed through the hands of other directors since. It’s about a Bay Area private eye investigating the death of a prominent urologist. During the investigation he encounters super-smart children, evolved animals, and debit cards that hold one’s karma. We can’t wait to see who gets cast as the mobster kangaroo. Yes, there’s a mobster kangaroo. [HR]
Howl at the Moon: Fox is boarding the werewolf train with Howl, written by Joshua Miller and M.A. Fortin. The show is about two werewolf families warring in a small Alaska town. Though Allen Ginsberg is not involved (he’s dead), characters should have some awesome Allen Ginsberg-y beards. [Variety]
Trading Up: Trace Adkins and Joey Lauren Adams have joined the cast of Tough Trade, a drama about three generations of a Nashville music dynasty. Adkins will play Sacred, a friend and bodyguard to the family’s patriarch (Sam Shepard) and Adams will play Shwanelle, the fifth wife of that same hard-edged patriarch. They will all play the guitar. [HR]