Hysterical: Maggie Gyllenhaal and Hugh Dancy will star in an indie rom com called Hysteria about the invention of the vibrator in Victorian-era England. Jonathan Pryce and Rupert Everett will co-star in the film, written by Stephen Dyer and Jonah Lisa Dyer and directed by Tanya Wexler. Dancy and Pryce will play doctors treating cases of hysteria, a condition that at the time was characterized by “a woman’s irritability, anger or unexplained tears.†Dancy and his BFF (Everett) “experiment with a new electrical device for treatment for the ailment.†Gyllenhaal will play Pryce’s daughter. It’s cute they’re bothering to give this a title like Hysteria when it’s clearly just going to be known as “The Vibrator Movie.†[Variety]
Cowabunga: Iron Man scribes Art Marcum and Matt Holloway have signed on to write the new feature film version of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. If Paramount is pleased with the script, the studio will likely add a director immediately and move the film into production next year. Paramount and Nickelodeon acquired the rights to the comic book characters last year for about $60 million, roughly equivalent to six million pizzas. [Heat Vision/HR]
Know Your Enemies: Married screenwriting team Joe Syracuse and Lisa Addario are writing Imaginary Enemies, a film for DreamWorks Animation. Shrek Forever After director Mike Mitchell is working on the project with the writers, though he isn’t currently on board to direct. The movie revolves around a group of imaginary friends who have “long been used as scapegoats by unscrupulous children looking for someone else to blame for their misdeeds.†Seeking payback, the group comes to find the kids when they are all grown up. What a fun, kids-friendly concept! [Risky Business/HR]
Idol Worship: America, the moment you’ve all been waiting for is less than three months away. American Idol season nine winner Lee DeWyze’s untitled debut album has been given a release date: November 16. Try and keep it together. [Billboard]
Vampire Victim: Emily Montague has joined the cast of the Fright Night remake, in which she’ll play the “fetching victim†of the vampire played by Colin Farrell. The part had no lines in the original but has purportedly been fleshed out in this new version. [Heat Vision/HR]
Trio Get Infected: Christy Carlson Romano (Princess Diaries 2), Tom DeNucci (Brotherhood) and William Forsythe are joining Michael Madsen in the cast of zombie film Infected. The zombies in the film infect their human friends and family and “though they understand the atrociousness of the unnatural acts they commit,†they are not able to stop. [Variety]