Director Robert Luketic (21) has finally found his female lead for the thriller Paranoia.  Liam Hemsworth stars as a blue collar guy whose costly and legal mistake at his entry-level job at Wyatt Telecom leads to a deal between him and his ruthless boss.  The CEO promises not to turn Hemsworth’s character in as long as he agrees to infiltrate the competition as a corporate spy.  Things escalate and the young man soon discovers that his boss will stop at nothing to demolish the competition.

Variety reports that Amber Heard (The Rum Diary) has been set as the female lead, an intended one night stand who becomes an asset to Hemsworth when he learns that she works at the rival company.  The impressive cast also includes Gary Oldman, Harrison Ford, and Lucas Till.  Production on Paranoia begins next month ahead of a September 2013 release date.  Heard recently landed a role as an assassin in the sequel Machete Kills.

Relativity Media announced today that it has acquired US distribution rights for the thriller Paranoia, and they’ve slated the film for a September 27th, 2013 release date.  Robert Luketic (21) is onboard to direct, with Liam Hemsworth starring as a blue collar guy whose costly and legal mistake at his entry-level job at Wyatt Telecom leads to a deal between him and ruthless CEO Nicholas Wyatt.  The CEO promises not to turn Hemsworth’s character in as long as he agrees to infiltrate the competition as a corporate spy.  Things escalate and the young man soon discovers that his boss will stop at nothing to demolish the competition.

The impressive cast includes Gary Oldman, Harrison Ford, and Lucas Till.  Though it’s not specified in the press release, I’m assuming Oldman plays the ruthless CEO since he’s listed second among the cast.  Production is set to begin this summer, and currently the only other film slated for release during the month of September in 2013 is the 3D re-release of The Little Mermaid.  Hit the jump to read the press release, which also includes a full synopsis.

In what’s shaping up to be a superb cast out of the gates, Harrison Ford and Gary Oldman are in late-stage negotiations to join the corporate espionage thriller, Paranoia.  Headlined by Liam Hemsworth (The Hunger Games), Paranoia takes place in the business world (obviously) and involves a duel between telecom giants.  Plot and casting details are under wraps at the moment, but with production scheduled to begin this summer, that should change shortly.  Directed by Robert Luketic (21) – whose diamond heist picture, Brilliant,  has experienced delays – Paranoia will shoot on location in New York and Mumbai.  Deadline reports that Luketic will direct the IM Global picture from a recent script draft by Jason Hall (Spread).

A bit of a casting switcheroo is taking place on Robert Luketic’s (21) diamond heist-thriller Brilliant. Variety reports that Gerard Butler is replacing Eric Bana as the star of the film, as Bana apparently bowed out after previously entering negotiations last fall. The story involves a small-time criminal who joins up with polished thieves in order to attempt a diamond heist. The logline isn’t exactly thrilling and Luketic’s filmography includes Legally Blonde and The Ugly Truth, so Bana may have been on to something when he vacated the project. The film may have a more intriguing hook that they’re keeping close to the vest, but its success will probably hinge on who they cast to team up with Butler. Producers are currently looking for a female lead and I sincerely hope Luketic doesn’t feel compelled to pair Butler with Katherine Heigl once again.

The 300 actor has quite a few films on the horizon. He’s already completed the surfing pic Of Men and Mavericks and the romantic sports comedy Playing the Field, and he’s poised to star in Antoine Fuqua’s Hunter Killer, the 3D motion-capture war movie Thunder Run, and a fact-based mercenary pic for director Ridley Scott.

Robert Luketic (Killers) has signed on to direct Brilliant, which tells the story of “a small-time criminal who joins accomplished thieves in a diamond heist.”  Variety reports that the script is by newbie screenwriters Elizabeth Shorten and Gillian Gorfil (produer on Blood Diamond), so it’s got that going for it; new female voices are always welcome in the trade.  But based on past performance, the chances are slim to none that Luketic directs Brilliant brilliantly.  Here’s hoping Luketic finds grace with Brilliant, because there’s nothing sweeter than a solid heist flick.

Gorfil will produce alongside Sidney Kimmel (Adventureland), Gary Lucchesi and Tom Rosenberg (Gamer).  Casting is underway, but no start date has been set for the Lakeshore Entertainment film.

Opening on June 4 is director Robert Luketic’s (21, The Ugly Truth) action-comedy Killers starring Ashton Kutcher and Katherine Heigl.  The basics: Heigl plays Jen, a computer tech vacationing with her parents in Europe when she meets the mysterious Spencer (Kutcher).  As romance ensues, Jen gets caught up in the dangerous world of Spencer who is, naturally, a super assassin.  The film also stars Tom Selleck, Catherine O’Hara, Rob Riggle and Martin Mull.

Yesterday Lionsgate held a press day here in Los Angeles and I got to participate in a press conference with Kutcher and Heigl.  During the 30 or so minutes the two stars talked about why they wanted to do the movie, do they think people should keep secrets in real life, what exactly did Kutcher do as a producer, the stunts, and a lot more.  If you’re a fan of Kutcher and Heigl, you’ll enjoy hearing what they had to say.  I’ve also provided the audio of the press conference after the jump.

Lionsgate has sent over 4 movie clips from their upcoming action comedy Killers starring Katherine Heigl and Ashton Kutcher that gets released June 4.  The basics: Heigl plays Jen, a computer tech vacationing in Europe where she encounters a shirtless and mysterious Spencer (Kutcher).  As romance ensues, Jen gets caught up in the dangerous world of Spencer who is, naturally, a “government-hired super assassin.”  Heigl is re-teaming with The Ugly Truth director Robert Luketic for the feature, which also co-stars Tom Selleck, Catherine O’Hara, and Martin Mull.  Hit the jump to watch the clips:

Lionsgate has debuted the trailer for Killers, an action comedy starring Ashton Kutcher and Katherine Heigl set for release this summer.  The basics: Heigl plays Jen, a computer tech vacationing in Europe where she encounters a shirtless and mysterious Spencer (Kutcher).  As romance ensues, Jen gets caught up in the dangerous world of Spencer who is, naturally, a “government-hired super assassin.”  Heigl is re-teaming with The Ugly Truth director Robert Luketic for the feature, which also co-stars Tom Selleck, Catherine O’Hara, and Martin Mull.

Check out the trailer after the break.

I understand wanting to make Barbarella again.  It’s sexy, it’s in space; what’s not to like?  And Hollywood isn’t exactly starving for hot A-list actresses to cast in the title role.  It seems like it’s one of those movies that people want to remake so badly that it can’t go anywhere at all.  There was an attempt back in 2007 with Robert Rodriguez set to direct and Rose McGowan to star but that fell apart when the studio and Rodriguez couldn’t decide where to shoot (the studio wanted him to shoot on a soundstage and I believe Rodriguez wanted to use his backyard which was made entirely out of green screen).

THR now reports that Joe Gazzam (great name) will write the script with Robert Luketic directing and producer Dino De Laurentiis pushing this project forward with all his might.  I wonder if De Laurentiis wakes up in the morning and says “I will remake ‘Barbarella’ even if it kills me!”  I really hope he says that.

Opening this Friday is director Robert Luketic’s new movie “The Ugly Truth” starring Katherine Heigl and Gerard Butler. In the film, Katherine plays a romantically challenged morning show producer (Heigl) who gets teamed up with a hardcore TV personality (Butler) that’s always saying his thoughts on what men and women really want. And his speeches aren’t PG-13.

Anyway, after the jump you can see Robert talk about making the film and he also tells us about his two next projects – one is a hardcore action/comedy that also stars Katherine Heigl, and one is a secret project that has some part of it in Brazil. I’ll let him explain it to you:

Last week we told you that Universal and producer Dino De Lauretiis seemed to be going ahead with their remake of “Barbarella” without the aid of director Robert Rodriguez.  In case you don’t remember the details let me boil it down for you:  Rodriguez had a vision and a set in Germany was not a part of it.  There was also a little matter of the “Barbarella” budget so, long story short, Rodriguez bowed out.  I’m sure that the eight other projects he has in development will distract him…

Today it seems that the sadly Rodriguez-less remake is one step closer to becoming a reality.  EW.com is reporting that Dino De Laurentiis has met with a replacement director for the revamped (emphasis on vamp) “Barbarella”.  So who could the producer find that could possibly compete with the man who made “Sin City”?  How about the man who made “Monster In-Law” and “Legally Blonde”?

A source that is “close to the project” is quoted as saying that director Robert Luketic is working with De Laurentiis (who owns the rights to the 1968 original starring Jane Fonda) and that the film may be destined for a studio other than Universal.

“It will be a big intergalactic adventure with a sexy twist,” said the source.

This description is totally different from the original “Barbarella”, which was a big, sexy adventure with an intergalactic twist.  See why the film needs to be updated?  Nope, neither do I.  At least with Rodriguez in charge we were sure to get a version of “Barbarella” that paid creative homage to the original.  Luketic, by comparison, has more of a PG approach to film making which would seem to be at odds with Barbarella’s mission of achieving as many orgasms as possible.