When last we reported on Running Scared-director Wayne Kramer’s Pawn Shop Chronicles, the picture had attached Paul Walker to star with Limp Bizkit’s Fred Durst set to direct.  That’s old news.  What’s current is the casting of Elijah Wood, Matt Dillon, Brendan Fraser and Vincent D’Onofrio in the dark comedy.  The plot seems pretty much the same, which involves a local pawn shop in a small Southern town that is a link between a man searching for his kidnapped wife, two white-supremacist meth addicts and a down-on-his-luck Elvis impersonator.  Production on the Adam Minarovich screenplay is underway in Baton Rouge, Louisiana.  Hit the jump for more casting news on Pawn Shop Chronicles.

I’ve been keeping director Wayne Kramer on my radar ever since he landed a successful one-two punch with The Cooler and Running Scared.  Kramer was briefly attached to helm the Sylvester Stallone action-revenge flick Headshot, but left the project and was replaced by veteran Walter Hill (48 Hrs.).  Deadline reports that Kramer is now set to direct Ecstasia for Relativity Media.  The film takes place in an alternate universe where love no longer exists and has to be artificially created through use of an emotional Viagra called Ecstasia.  The story centers on a couple who turn to desperate measure when they no longer afford the implanted computer chip that provides the emotional high.  So by “desperate measure”, does that mean they decided to have a kid?  Hey-o!  Ah, loveless families.  Comedy gold.

Sylvester Stallone has signed on to star in the action-thriller Headshot.  Working from a script by Alessandro Camon (The Messenger) and directed by Wayne Kramer (The Cooler), Stallone would play a New Orleans hitman who “teams with a young NYPD detective in a high-stakes investigation that leads from the dingy back alleys of New Orleans all the way to the power corridors of Washington, D.C.  The unlikely duo, brought together by two vicious murders, take on all who stand in their way, and are willing to sacrifice everything to exact revenge.”  Please, please, please let Stallone attempt a Cajun accent.  That alone would be worth the price of admission.

In all seriousness, this actually sounds like it could be a decent project.  I’m a fan of Kramer (although I passed on Crossing Over), The Messenger was terrific, and if Stallone wants to play a New Orleans hitman, I can go with that.  Hopefully, whoever plays the cop will have more chemistry with Stallone than Stallone had with Jason Statham in The Expendables.  According to THR, shooting is set to begin in May in Louisiana and New York.

Nu Image/Millennium and Lionsgate are having a rough time finding someone to direct their adaptation of the Eidos video game Kane & Lynch.  Stunt coordinator Simon Crane was set to make his directing debut on the flick, but dropped off in May.  He was replaced by Patrick Alessandrin (District 13: Ultimatum), but 24 Frames reports that he has also left the project.  This puts previous mentioned names Wayne Kramer (Running Scared) and F. Gary Gray (Law Abiding Citizen) back into the mix along with Antonie Fuqua (Training Day).  Production was set to begin next month but has been pushed back indefinitely.

The film is set to star Bruce Willis and Jamie Foxx as escaped convicts Adam “Kane” Marcus and James Seth Lynch.  Kane is forced to team-up with the schizophrenic killer Lynch in order to break out of prison and find a stolen microchip.

Director Wayne Kramer (The Cooler, Running Scared) has signed on to helm the crime thriller Pretty Boy Floyd.  Based on the notorious depression-era criminal Charles Arthur “Pretty Boy” Floyd, Risky Business said “he obtained the populist nickname ‘The Robin Hood of the Cookson Hills’” during his criminal exploits across the Midwest. Said Kramer:

“My approach is to bring 21st century style and energy to [screenwriter] Kevin Bernhardt’s meticulously researched screenplay without sacrificing the verisimilitude of the period or over-sensationalizing the characters themselves. At the heart of ‘Pretty Boy Floyd’ is a great love story about an outlaw on the run who can’t stay away from the woman he loves, no matter how destructive the relationship is for both of them — which ultimately leads to his demise.”

Floyd most recently appeared in cinemas in last summer’s Public Enemies.  He was played by Channing Tatum.

Director F. Gary Gray (Law Abiding Citizen) is reportedly at the top of the short list to helm the adaptation of the video game Kane & Lynch with Bruce Willis and Jamie Foxx attached to star.  We reported a couple weeks ago that Wayne Kramer (The Cooler) was in talks to direct after stunt effects coordinator Simon Crane dropped off the project.  In that same article, we noted that Gray had been offered the project, but turned it down.  It looks like the studio, Millennium Films, has been able to bring Gray back to the table.  According to Heat Vision, director Roger Donaldson (The Bank Job) is also on the short list.

The video game follows death-row inmate Kane (Willis) who, along with a schizophrenic killer named Lynch (Foxx), is sprung by Kane’s former team so that they can retrieve a stolen microchip that’s worth a fortune.  Lynch acts as the team’s watchdog in order to save his wife and daughter.  I’m sure the mother and daughter will be overjoyed to see their schizophrenic killer husband and father again.  Production is set to begin this August.

Director Wayne Kramer (Running Scared) is reportedly in talks to helm the upcoming adaptation of the video game Kane & Lynch.  Stunt Coordinator Simon Crane was set to make his directing debut on the film, but according to Latino Review, “it wasn’t working out” with the studio.  An offer then went out to F. Gary Gray (Law Abiding Citizen) but he turned down the project.  Now they’re talking to Kramer and production is scheduled to begin in August.

Based off the Eidos game and written by Kyle Ward, the film stars Bruce Willis as Kane, a mercenary who’s forced to team up with Lynch, a schizophrenic killer played by Jamie Foxx, in order to escape prison and find a stolen microchip.  Anyone who has seen Running Scared knows that Kramer would be a fantastic choice for this project.

You can click here to check out a high-resolution poster for Kane & Lynch that premiered at the Cannes Film Festival.  Also, click here for Steve’s interview with producers Adrian Askarieh and Daniel Alter.