Tobey Maguire will wear dual hats as he produces The Limit for Columbia and stars in the film as well.
The studio is in final talks to acquire the race car-themed project with Tony Peckham attached to write the screenplay.
The film is based on Michael Cannell’s upcoming book, “Limit,” which tells the story of real-life friends and rivals Phil Hill and Wolfgang von Trips. Hill and von Trips are two Grand Prix drivers on the Ferrari team, who are pitted against each other during the 1961 Drivers Championship. Maguire would play Hill.
Michel Gondry is in place to direct The Green Hornet with Columbia committed to a June 25, 2010 release date.
If you have been following the film’s development process, then you know that Seth Rogen is set to play the title character, and Stephen Chow will play his sidekick, Kato.
Gondry work includes Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, The Science of Sleep, Human Nature and soon to be released on March 6, Tokyo! A commercial film like Green Hornet is not his forte, but I am interested in seeing how he’ll pull it off.
As far as Variety reports, Gondry nailed the gig after presenting a vision that astounded the production presidents. They had been looking for a director since late last year, when Chow (Kung Fu Hustle) resigned over creative differences. Yet, Chow decided at that time to remain in the picture playing the Kato role.
Clive Owen is attached to a story centering on an undercover agent in the midst of Columbian drug cartels. The title of the film is Cartagena, a city on Columbia’s northern coast, which has one of the most vibrant histories of Columbia wars, robust economic activity and tourist trade.
Owen’s character gets caught in a multifaceted plot and must elude drug dealers and international agents if he hopes to survive, as stated in the Hollywood Reporter.
Oliver Stone is taking on a documentary about contentious President Hugo Chavez.
According to Variety, Stone has been working on the untitled doc for six months and is hoping to have it ready for next year. He told Variety that “It’s about Chavez and the South American revolution.”
Chavez helped broker the release of hostages held by the militant FARC group in neighboring Colombia, Stone was with Chavez at the time. Yet, the documentary will not focus on the hostage situation. It will focus on the opposition Chavez faced at home and abroad, particularly with the Bush administration.
Whoever worked out the casting of Jennifer Aniston and Gerard Butler for the upcoming Columbia project about a bounty hunter who is hired to retrieve his ex-wife, who skipped bail, is one smart producer.
Right now, I can’t think of any better comedic casting. If you watch the trailers for The Ugly Truth and Marley & Me, which stars Butler and Aniston, respectively, you will be inclined to agree with me that these two actors will create a laughable harmony – if such flair is possible in the script and direction.
Hitch director Andy Tennant is set to direct the comedy.
The studio is hoping for a May start date.
Anna Faris is taking on two projects as an actress while still basking in the success of House Bunny.
Paramount has committed to an untitled pitch while Columbia has committed to a romantic comedy called 20 Times a Lady.
Lady is written by Jennifer Crittenden and Gabrielle Allan wrote the script based on the book by Karyn Bosnak. The story follows a woman journeys back to the past to calculate her sexual past in an effort to find the right man for her.
The untitled Paramount pitch concerns a female buddy comedy centering on two estranged sisters. They work together to find a husband.
Aaron Eckhart decided to take the starring role in Battle: Los Angeles, a sci-fi action film that Jonathan 
Liebesman is directing for Columbia.
Although this is Eckhart’s first time to be front and center on an action movie, he did play Harvey Dent/Two-Face in The Dark Knight and held his own in Black Dahlia and Erin Brockovich. Battle: Los Angeles is being touted as Eckhart’s vehicle to go mainstream.
According to the Hollywood Reporter, Chris Bertolini wrote the story that centers on a Marine platoon’s encounter in the battle on the streets of Los Angeles against an alien invasion. Eckhart will play the platoon leader in the film, which has yet to set a start date.
Spider-Man 4 is close to gaining a Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright to pen the script. David Lindsay-Abaire,
who won a Pulitzer in 2007 for his drama “Rabbit Hole,” is in final negotiations to write for Columbia.
Plot factors are zipped shut.
Scribes have always been an important factor in Spider-Man movies. Veteran scriber, Alvin Sargent, best known for 1973’s Paper Moon and 1980’s Ordinary People, served as a writer on the second and third films. Michael Chabon, another Pulitzer winner, also worked on Spider-Man 2.
James Vanderbilt, who wrote Zodiac and X-Men: Origins of Wolverine, previously wrote a draft of Spider-Man 4.
Signing Lindsay-Abaire shows that filmmakers are intent to focus on character, something that got lost in the third installment with a rather convoluting plot. Characterization has always been the key to Spider-Man franchise success. It’s good to see it coming back.
Sam Raimi and Tobey Maguire are back with a good chance Kirsten Dunst is expected to return as well.
Columbia is taking a serious move to call the Ghostbusters back to the lens. The studio’s hired “The Office” co-exec producers, Lee Eisenberg and Gene Stupnitsky, to write the script for the original cast of Harold Ramis, Dan Aykyrod, Bill Murray and Ernie Hudson.
Both the 1984 and 1989 movies were written by Rami and Aykyrod with direction by Ivan Reitman.
Deals will be made with the original cast once the script is in place. Ramis has offered evidence that the other ghostbusters are interested in returning for another go at the franchise.
Ghostbusters was Columbia’s highest grossing film until Men In Black and then Spider-man came along to bring the gross even higher.
