Screenhead

Those annoying Smurfs are coming back to the big-screen as the trades are reporting that Scooby Doo and Beverly Hills Chihuahua director Raja Gosnell is set to direct a live-action/CGI film that offers a modern take on the classic ‘80s series.

The animated series made by Hanna-Barbera ran from 1981-1990 and followed the antics of blue-skinned dwarf-like villagers. It originated from a Belgian series of comic books.

In development at Sony Pictures, no story details were given, though it is expected that the human villain character Gargamel will likely be played by a major star.

Shrek 2 scribes David Stern, David Weiss and Audrey Wells have penned the screenplay. The film is expected out on December 17, 2010.

Having worked all these years at Warner Bros, George Clooney and Grant Heslov’s Smokehouse Pictures are in final negotiations to sign an exclusive two-year theatrical development and production deal with Sony Pictures Entertainment.

Clooney, in a press release, wrote about his experience at WB, noting that he has “felt like part of a family for almost 20 years,” but that it is finally time to move on.

Despite the new deal, the company still has several projects being worked on at Warner Bros. These include an adaptation of John Grisham’s non-fiction bestseller The Innocent Man and the Iowa presidential primary-set Farragut North based on Beau Willimon’s critically acclaimed play.

They are also working on adapting The Challenge by Aaron Sorkin, Our Brand is Crisis and The Tourist.

Variety reports that Sony Pictures has acquired the life rights and upcoming memoir of Captain Richard Phillips, who had his cargo ship hijacked on the high seas off the Somali coast.

The film will retell the event that grabbed headlines worldwide last month. Phillips surrendered himself to the pirates in order to protect the crew; he tried to make an unsuccessful escape attempt before an elite squad of Navy SEAL snipers shot and killed three of the four pirates. The last one surrendered and is in custody.

It is set to be produced by Michael DeLuca, Kevin Spacey, Dana Brunetti and Scott Rudin.

Capitalizing on a natural disaster and the suffering of thousands of people, Sony Pictures Entertainment and Overbrook Entertainment have obtained the motion picture rights to John Keller, an ex-Marine, who orchestrated the rescue of 244 of his New Orleans neighbors after their building, the American Can Company, was severely flooded in the wake of Hurricane Katrina.

His story will be produced by James Lassiter, Will Smith and Ken Stovitz through Overbrook, as well as by Adetoro Makinde’s Back Door Films.

It is being written by John Lee Hancock, who is also onboard to direct.

Wallace & Gromit creators Aardman Animations are teaming up with Sony Pictures for two animated films – Arthur Christmas and Pirates.

The first will be a CG animated feature that takes on the question of how Santa delivers all his presents in one night. Two directors are already onboard – Sarah Smith and Barry Cook.

Pirates, the latter, will be a stop-motion animated film based on Gideon Defoe’s book series. It follows a group of pirates who travel to London, meet Charles Darwin and a talking monkey named Mister Bobo. Peter Lord and Jeff Newitt are set to co-direct.

Ever wished you had a perfect life? Yes? Sony Pictures is going to explore just that, as they have purchased Jacob Isser and Paul Lutz’s comedy spec script Danny Graves’ Man Cave.

The film will follow a suburban husband and father going through a midlife crisis who discovers a mysterious man-cave in his basement. This fantasy world provides his version of the perfect life, which ultimately gets called into question.

Joe Roth is set to produce the project through his Roth Film.

The studio behind the James Bond franchise is extending its portfolio, as the trades are reporting that Eon Productions are teaming up with Sony Pictures for a film version of Mark Burnell’s upcoming novel Remote Control.

The novel centers on a former war correspondent, now a British corporate intelligence analyst, who gets caught up in a conspiracy by Western corporations to destabilize the Chinese economy.

Bond producers Michael G. Wilson and Barbara Broccoli are onboard to produce, as well as Mark Ordesky and Ileen Maisel of Amber Entertainment.

Burnell himself is adapting his own novel.

Awesome news heads our way courtesy of Sony, as they are moving forward with a Spider-Man spinoff movie focusing on Venom.

Writers Paul Wernick and Rhett Reese (Zombieland) are already working on the script, but are unwilling to reveal any details.

“We’re under strict orders on Venom,” they said. “We can’t talk about it. It’s just super secret.”

Variety reports that best-selling PS2 game Shadow of the Colossus is getting the big-screen treatment, courtesy of Sony Pictures.

The game told the story of a man named Wander who travels across a wasteland to defeat gigantic creatures called colossi to restore the life of a girl.

The film is being penned by Justin Marks (Masters of the Universe) and will build upon the game’s fantasy setting of a solitary world with few characters other than the colossi.

Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs seems a partly off the wall but comes from a kids’ book. The trailer has tons of silliness and warmth with a couple of belly laughs at the end.

Flint Lockwood has always dreamed of being an inventor with constant failures while growing up. Now it looks like his latest contrivance solves world hunger with food literally falling from the sky.  Yes, meatballs fall but cheeseburgers, spaghetti, a house of Jell-O and a giant pancake with butter and syrup as well. The 3D movie is forecasted to open September 18, 2009.