Spielberg, Abrams collaborated on Trek

TrekMovie.com dishes the latest details on J.J. Abrams’ Star Trek. Interestingly, screenwriter Roberto Orci has revealed that Steven Spielberg had a part in convincing J.J. Abrams to direct the pic. Likewise, Spielberg visited the set of Trek during shooting scenes on the Enterprise and helped Abrams develop an action sequence. It has also been confirmed that Trek will carry a PG-13 rating, with Screen Rant adding that the picture’s budget will be considerably less than $200 million.

UPDATE! Singer talks Superman; Orci, Kurtzman to pen sequel?

According to IESB, Superman Returns writers Michael Dougherty and Dan Harris will not be writing the Returns sequel, supposedly titled Man of Steel. Rumor has it that Transformers and Star Trek scribes Roberto Orci and Alex Kurtzman may pen the project. Meanwhile, Returns director Bryan Singer confirms to Empire that he is still involved with the sequel and hopes to helm it.

UPDATE: CHUD has learned from an inside source that Roberto Orci and Alex Kurtzman will not be penning the Superman Returns sequel. Instead, the pair are currently shaping up Transformers 2.

Big Screen Roundup: 1/30/08 Edition

Ain’t It Cool News has an update on the news that Mark Romanek is no longer directing The Wolf Man. According to the site, Breck Eisner and Matt Reeves are now being considered to helm the picture. However, Reeves may not be able to take the job, due to his involvement with a Cloverfield sequel and The Invisible Woman.

Christopher Plummer tells People Magazine that, for The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus, director Terry Gilliam is “trying to work out at this moment how to continue on. Fortunately, because the film deals with magic, there is a way, perhaps, of turning Heath into other people and then, using stills and I think they call it CGI.”

Coming Soon has acquired the poster for Leatherheads. The one-sheet features the humorous tagline, “In the beginning, the rules were simple. There weren’t any.”

Phillip Noyce confirms to Moviehole that he is no longer directing a film about American aviator Amelia Earhart, still set to star Hilary Swank in the lead role.

The Hollywood Reporter shows that Kevin Nealon will play Stuart Pearson, the dad of Ashley Tisdale’s character in They Came From Upstairs.

Coming Soon has learned 11-year-old actor Jimmy Bennett will play a young James Kirk in J.J. Abrams’ Star Trek.

Gerard Butler will star opposite Katherine Heigl in The Ugly Truth, reports Variety. In the “battle of the sexes” comedy, Butler will play Mike Alexander, who hosts a TV segment titled “The Ugly Truth.”

The official website for Jumper is hosting a contest in which folks can submit a video inspired by Jumper comic pages. The winner will receive a trip for two to Los Angeles to meet director Doug Liman, as well as a MacBook Pro with Final Cut 2 editing software.

IFC.com presents an interesting list titled “Forgotten, But Not Gone: 10 Directors Overshadowed By Their Collaborators.” From Cloverfield to Superbad, the article spotlights films that audiences seem to mistake who directed them.

DVDActive has the specs and artwork for the home entertainment release of Lions for Lambs. The disc will contain an audio commentary by director Robert Redford, a “The Making Of Lions For Lambs” featurette, a “Script To Screen” featurette, a “United Artists Legacy” featurette, and the theatrical teaser and trailer.

Big Screen Roundup: 1/28/08 Edition

Guillermo del Toro is in talks to direct back-to-back installments of J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Hobbit, informs The Hollywood Reporter. Both del Toro and Lord of the Rings director Peter Jackson will oversee writing for the films. Co-financed by New Line and MGM, the Hobbit series will have a production budget estimated at $150 million for each feature. At this time, it appears the release date for the first film will be in 2010, with the second one following in 2011.

Director Christopher Nolan has written a touching tribute titled “Charisma as Natural as Gravity” to the late actor Heath Ledger. Available to read at Newsweek, the essay focuses on Ledger’s enthusiasm and work ethic during the filming of Nolan’s The Dark Knight. Meanwhile, Superhero Hype! has collected three new images from the upcoming Batman feature.

Variety records that Universal Pictures and Working Title Films have agreed to a two-picture deal with Atonement director Joe Wright.

Julia Roberts will produce and star in the film adaptation of Margot Berwin’s upcoming novel Hothouse Flowers for Sony’s Columbia Pictures, writes The Hollywood Reporter. The actress will portray “a recently divorced woman who is dissatisfied with her job at a Manhattan ad agency and goes off on an adventure that takes her to places she never expected to go.”

IGN has learned John Cleese is in negotiations to join the cast of the remake for the 1951 sci-fi classic The Day The Earth Stood Still. Cleese’s role would be that of “physicist Dr. Barnhardt, a Nobel Prize laureate who plays a key part in figuring out the mission and meaning of the arrival of the alien Klaatu.”

Coming Soon rounds up sources showing Channing Tatum to have the lead role of Duke in director Stephen Sommers’ G.I. Joe live-action adaptation.The Canadian Press reports that the next project for Robert Redford to produce and star in will be A Walk in the Woods, an adaptation of the bestselling 1998 Bill Bryson book about hiking the Appalachian Trail. Barry Levinson is expected to direct the film.

According to Deadline Hollywood Daily, Harvey Weinstein of The Weinstein Co. is already considering another installment in the Rambo franchise. An early idea from Weinstein involves “bringing the character back to the United States.”

ShockTillYouDrop.com speaks with Funny Games stars Michael Pitt and Brady Corbet about Michael Haneke’s remake of his own psychological thriller.

Variety indicates that Marlene Forte will be seen s “Chief Transporter” in J.J. Abrams’ Star Trek. The magazine also reveals Marion Cotillard, Channing Tatum, Giovanni Ribisi, Stephen Dorff and Jason Clarkeas as joining Johnny Depp and Christian Bale in the Michael Mann feature Public Enemies.

Dark Horizons updates readers on release date changes for the following movies: Choke (8/1), Hellraiser (2009), Trailer Trash (no longer scheduled), Youth in Revolt (12/12), The Patriots (11/14) and Towelhead (8/15).

Coming Soon brings readers such exclusives as a clip from the King of Kong: A Fistful of Quarters DVD, as well as an interview with Strange Wilderness star Kevin Heffernan.