The long-in-development feature film adaptation of Lois Lowry’s lauded children’s book The Giver is taking a big step forward.  Variety reports that director Philip Noyce (Salt, Patriot Games) is now in early talks to helm the adaptation for The Weinstein Company, Walden Media, and star Jeff Bridges.  The book concerns a utopian society where all memories of the past reside with a sage figure known as “The Giver”.  When a 12-year-old boy is selected to be the new Giver, he learns of the hypocrisies and hidden truths of his world.  Bridges nabbed the rights to the book 20 years ago with the intention of developing it as a starring vehicle for his father, Lloyd, but now he intends to produce and star.  Hit the jump for more.

The long-in-the-works feature film based on the life of animal conservationist Dame Daphne Sheldrick is finally coming together. We reported back in May that Nicole Kidman was eyeing the starring role in My Wild Life for Salt director Phillip Noyce, and now THR reports that both Kidman and Noyce are officially attached to the project. Sheldrick is a Kenyan wildlife conservationist who is best known for her work with elephants, as she hand-reared more than 70 of the creatures and perfected a milk formula used for baby elephants and rhinos. According to producers, National Geographic photographers Dereck and Beverly Joubert will be on-hand to photograph the elaborate nature sequences for the film.

The project has been in the works for quite some time, attracting actresses like Julia Roberts and Kate Winslet. It looks like it’s finally a go with Kidman, as production is scheduled to begin in the first quarter of 2012 in Africa with an eye towards a holiday 2012 release. Mandalay Pictures is currently in negotiations with Universal to handle domestic distribution. Noyce is also attached to direct the thriller The Arrangement and the sci-fi drama Timeless, while Kidman recently acquired the novel The Family Fang which she will produce and star in.

Phillip Noyce is set to direct the thriller The Arrangement. THR reports that Noyce has inked a deal to helm the pic for Mandate Pictures, with a script written by Brian Tucker. The story centers on an interracial married couple—the husband is white while the wife is half-black half-white—“whose unity is tested when another man, who happens to be black, takes a liking to the wife and begins to create problems.” There are no other details on the plot at this time, but Tucker is said to “write post-Obama stories that force audiences to question themselves,” so it certainly sounds like Noyce will be tackling some racial themes.

The Clear and Present Danger director was previously attached to the submarine action-thriller Hunter Killer but he recently dropped out. Noyce is poised to direct the romantic sci-fi drama Timeless with Liam Hemsworth in the lead role, but it’s unknown if plans on helming The Arrangement before that pic. Tucker also scripted Allen Hughes’ upcoming Broken City with Mark Wahlberg and Russell Crowe.

Liam Hemsworth’s fame is likely to explode next March when he co-stars in the adaptation of the popular young adult novel The Hunger Games.  So it’s a smart choice for a production to get him on board before his quote becomes more expensive.  According to Moviehole, Phillip Noyce’s romantic sci-fi drama Timeless has made that smart choice.  Hemsworth is in talks to star in the film, and if he takes the role he would play a recently married man who loses his wife and then discovers she left him a fortune. Haunted by an unresolved issue between himself and his beloved, the man invests the money to build a time travel device, just to see her one last time.  I suppose it’s worth disrupting the space-time continuum if it’s for love.  While the concept sounds a little corny, it comes from Enchanted screenwriter Bill Kelly so I have some hope.

I’m interested to see if Hemsworth is the real deal or just another pretty face.  I’ll find out when The Hunger Games opens on March 23, 2012.  Hemsworth is also signed on to co-star in The Expendables 2, which opens August 17, 2012.

We have a few director-related stories for you this morning.  First up, Moviehole is reporting that Phillip Noyce (Salt) has left the submarine action-thriller Hunter Killer.  Noyce had been officially on board since February, but apparently just realized that the story—which is about an American sub commander and a Navy SEAL team that must rescue the Russian president and defeat a renegade admiral who’s attempting a coup—was too similar to his previous films (Patriot Games, Clear and Present Danger).  He’ll now turn his focus to the time-travel romance Timeless and newly-announced project, Above Suspicion, a thriller written by Chris Gerolmo (Mississippi Burning).  We previously reported that Noyce was also attached to a remake of Bloodsport, an adaptation of Tim Winton’s Dirt Music, and the drama Our Wild Life.

Hit the jump for more intrigue revolving around The Lone Ranger.

You know what I was thinking the other day?  A lot of things, but not among them: “The world needs a remake of the 1988 Jean Claude Van Damme action flick Bloodsport.”  But we’re getting it anyway as ScreenDaily reports that director Phillip Noyce (Salt) will helm the remake (or as it’s being called, a “reinvention”, which is a fancier way of saying remake) for producers Ed Pressman and Alberto Lensi.  The original film was about a soldier who goes AWOL to fight in a tournament so he can uphold his master’s honor. Robert Mark Kamen (Taken) wrote the script for the remake, which will follow “an American who goes to Brazil to recover from the violence he has experienced in Afghanistan who gets involved in a martial arts contest.”  Yes, that logic makes no sense.

Noyce is also attached to direct an adaptation of Tim Winton’s Dirt Music, the time-travel flick Timeless, the submarine action-thriller Hunter Killer, and the drama Our Wild Life.  It’s not surprising that he would be attached to such a diversity of projects although he usually traffics in the thriller genre with an edge towards espionage.

Nicole Kidman is apparently eyeing the lead role in Our Wild Life. The drama tells the real life story of Dame Daphne Sheldrick, a Kenyan wildlife conservationist best known for her work with elephants. In fact, Sheldrick hand-reared more than 70 elephants and perfected a milk formula used for baby elephants and rhinos. The Wrap reports that though Kidman isn’t officially attached, she’s taken a liking to the script by Jeff Stockwell (Bridge to Terabithia).

Phillip Noyce (Salt) is attached to direct, with Mandalay Pictures producing the film which has a budget north of $50 million. The sure way to acquire financing of that sort would be to lock in an actress of Kidman’s caliber. Production is expected to get underway in September.

Earlier this week, we reported that director Phillip Noyce (Salt) was in talks with Relativity Media to helm the international action-thriller/submarine flick (yep, it’s a real genre) Hunter Killer. Today, we have confirmation on that report as Noyce has officially signed on to the project. Per THR, Noyce is looking to begin shooting the picture later this year.

In case you missed it last time, Hunter Killer is based on the upcoming novel Firing Point by George Wallace and Don Keith. The film, penned by Jamie Moss (X-Men: First Class), Arne Schmidt (Chain Reaction), and John Kolvenbach (Coney Island), conjoins an American submarine commander and a Navy SEAL in an attempt to rescue the Russian president from a renegade admiral. Neal Moritz and Toby Jaffe of Original Films will team-up with Relativity’s Ryan Kavanaugh and Tucker Tooley to produce Hunter Killer.

Salt director Phillip Noyce is in talks to direct the action-thriller Hunter Killer.  According to Moviehole, the Black Hawk Dawn-style script is based on the novel Firing Point by Don Keith and George Wallace.  The story centers on “an American sub commander and a Navy SEAL team that must rescue the Russian president and defeat a renegade admiral who’s attempting a coup.”  If this film had come out during the cold war, it would’ve be a huge slap in the face to the USSR.  “Yeah, that’s right!  How awesome is America?  We’ll rescue your leaders for you.  You’re welcome, commies.”

Noyce, who previously directed Clear and Present Danger and Patriot Games, and recently turned down the director’s chair for Salt 2, is also attached to the sci-fi flick Timeless and an adaptation of Tim Winton’s Dirt Music starring Russell Crowe.  Hopefully, someone will get Hunter Killer into production (and with a better title) because I love me some submarine flicks.

“Who is Salt?” The ads for Salt both asked and answered. Salt was obviously the title character of the film Salt, here played by Angelina Jolie, but I guess on an existential level who she is, is still up for grabs. Evelyn Salt is a secret agent, but it turns out that she might be a mole for the Russian government, and that leads her superiors (including Liev Schrieber and Chiwetel Ejiofor) to freaking out, and trying to catch her. But the problem with catching spies is that they are trained to avoid such situations. Phillip Noyce directs this Bourne-riff like the craftsman of action he became in the 90’s. That’s both the film’s greatest strength and weakness. My review of the Blu-ray of Salt follows after the jump.

Director Phillip Noyce (Salt) is currently in negotiations to direct a time-travel film called Timeless. The flick comes from a spec script written by Bill Kelly, who also wrote the surprisingly great Disney film Enchanted.  Deadline reports that the premise involves, “a recently wed man [who] loses his wife and discovers after the fact that she left him a fortune. Haunted by an unresolved issue between himself and his wife, the man invests the money to build a time travel device, just to see her one last time.”

It’s unknown how soon the project will go into production, as Noyce has a rather full schedule at the moment. He recently signed on to direct another spy thriller, Wenceslas Square, and has been preparing an adaptation of Tim Winton’s Dirt Music for some time now with Russell Crowe eyeing the lead. He also has the sequel to this summer’s hit film Salt in the works. Hit the jump for a bit more on the flick.

It appears (though far from definitively) that we could see sequels for both the Angelina Jolie spy thriller Salt and the blaxploitation spoof Black Dynamite in the near future.  According to 24 Frames, all the creatives behind Salt are all up for round two.  Writer Kurt Wimmer has a few ideas for the continued adventures of Evelyn Salt.  Director Phillip Noyce is on board, though Salt 2 may need to contend with the love story Dirt Music (starring Russell Crowe) and fellow spy thriller Wenceslas Square for a spot on his schedule.  Perhaps most importantly, Jolie reportedly said she was “keen” on the idea.  (Jolie, of course, has her own scheduling issues with Tim Burton’s Maleficent and the Kay Scarpetta franchise on the docket.)  The word on the street is that Sony is waiting to see how Salt performs internationally before it moves forward with a sequel — the film crossed $100 million domestic after four weeks in release.

While promoting the UK release of Black Dynamite, writer/star Michael Jai White revealed that he has started work on a sequel.  Read what he had to say after the jump.

Director Phillip Noyce has been developing an adaptation of Tim Winton’s Dirt Music for some time now.  To give you some sense of the timeline, Heath Ledger was once attached to star, prior to his passing in January 2008.  There were rumors that Crowe might step in, but the talk never advanced beyond that.

Noyce is currently working the promotional circuit for his new film, the Angelina Jolie spy thriller Salt, and provided an update on the development process.  According to the director, not only is Crowe attached, he’s been preparing music for the film for years.  Hit the jump for Noyce’s precise comments and details on the story.

With Columbia Pictures junketing director Phillip Noyce’s  action thriller Salt in Washington D.C. this weekend, the studio has released four clips from the movie and you can check them out after the jump.  As you might imagine, the clips focus on the action and put Angelina Jolie front and center.  The film also stars Liev Schreiber, Chiwetel Ejiofor,  and Andre Braugher.  Salt gets released July 23rd.  Synopsis also after the jump:

Sony has released a bunch of new high resolution images from some of their big summer movies.  Included in the bunch are Salt (starring Angelina Jolie, Liev Schreiber, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Andre Braugher), The Karate Kid (starring Jaden Smith, Jackie Chan and Taraji P. Henson) and Eat Pray Love – which stars Julia Roberts, James Franco, Richard Jenkins, Viola Davis, Billy Crudup and Javier Bardem.  Hit the jump for detailed synopses and tons of high resolution images.