Crowe Lands in Zoo: Cameron Crowe will direct We Bought a Zoo, which will mark his first time in the director’s chair since 2005’s Elizabethtown. Crowe has rewritten the script for Zoo, an adaptation of a memoir by Benjamin Mee, which tells the true story of how Mee and his family put their life savings toward purchasing a “dilapidated zoo†in England that included 200 exotic animals “facing destruction.†As the family works to ready the zoo for a reopening, Mee’s wife fights a battle with brain cancer. Now that Crowe is onboard, Fox plans to look for “an A-lister†to play Mee. We can’t imagine it will be too hard to find a Hollywood actor eager to play a part called “Mee.†[HR]
If the Slipper Fits: In a “seven-figure deal,†Disney has acquired the pitch for a live-action reimagining of Cinderella. The script will be written by Aline Brosh McKenna, who wrote The Devil Wears Prada and 27 Dresses, which means this Cinderella promises to be a neurotic gal who works long hours and just doesn’t have time for love (though she manages to look runway-ready and perfectly coiffed at all times, of course). [Deadline]
Channing the Junkie: Channing Tatum will star in What’s Left of Us, with a script from Richie Farrell, who is adapting his own book. Tatum will play a heroin addict enduring the “seven excruciating days†in detox in the film, which is based on a true story. We wouldn’t normally be skeptical about the veracity of the tale, but James Frey really has done some serious damage to this genre. [Deadline]
Bloodthirsty: After playing the festival circuit this summer, Vampire Weekend will be heading out on tour in the fall, accompanied by Beach House and Dum Dum Girls. The tour will launch in late August and will include a three-night stand at Radio City Music Hall in New York — and, if their videos are any indication, there’s a good chance these shows’ll bring out the celebs. [Pitchfork]
Take the Oath: Lucas Foster and Warp Films have acquired the rights to Blood Oath, a “vampire action novel†written by Christopher Farnsworth, which the studio is hoping to turn into a film franchise about a “vampire secret agent.†Oath centers on Nathaniel Cade, a vampire who is captured by the U.S. Army after the Civil War and is forced to protect the presidency in the Secret Service for nearly 150 years after swearing an oath to President Andrew Johnson. For those people out there who love Twilight but just wish it had more of an “American History textbook†edge to it. [Heat Vision/HR]
Bloodthirsty: After playing the festival circuit this summer, Vampire Weekend will be heading out on tour in the fall, accompanied by Beach House and Dum Dum Girls. The tour will launch in late August and will include a three-night stand at Radio City Music Hall in New York — and, if their videos are any indication, there’s a good chance these shows’ll bring out the celebs. [Pitchfork]
The Right Place: Frances McDormand is in advanced negotiations to join Paolo Sorrentino’s This Must Be the Place, starring Sean Penn. The film follows an aging rock star who resolves to hunt down the Nazi criminal who ordered his father’s execution in a concentration camp. McDormand’s role is being kept a secret … Wait, there’s no way she’s playing the Nazi criminal, right? [Variety]
Trippin’ Out: Montecito and Paramount have acquired Field Trip, a “sci-fi-tinged†adventure-comedy pitch from Jordan Cahan. All that’s been revealed about the story at this point is that it involves time travel, a high school teacher, and his students. We blame Hot Tub Time Machine for this. [HR]