As part of Canon’s Project Imagin8ion campaign, two-time Academy Award winner Ron Howard and daughter Bryce Dallas Howard made a film inspired by eight user-generated photos, called when you find me, that will be screened later this week at the Sundance Film Festival. Alternating between the past and present, the short is an emotional fable of two people coping with loss in very different ways, and what it takes to find peace within yourself and reconciliation with the ones you love.

While we will run what he had to say about the short later, we wanted to share what Howard had to say about the film he’s currently working on, as well as a highly anticipated upcoming project that he has in the works. During this recent exclusive phone interview with Collider, the filmmaker talked about his approach on Rush, which focuses on the 1970′s rivalry between Austrian Formula 1 driver Niki Lauda (Daniel Brühl) and British driver James Hunt (Chris Hemsworth), and how he’s hoping to bring the speed and danger of the Formula One racing world to the big screen. He also talked about the status of Arrested Development and how, even though there’s no specific start date or release date, show creator Mitch Hurwitz is hard at work on some hilarious and outrageous ideas for 10 episodes that will lead up to a feature film. Check out what he had to say after the jump:

Ron Howard is currently at work on the Formula One racing drama Rush.  The movie is based on the true story of the 1970s rivalry between Austrian driver Niki Lauda (played by Daniel Brühl) and British driver James Hunt (Chris Hemsworth).  Howard recently spoke about how he’s going to try to sell Formula One to an American audience, which prefers NASCAR.  My pitch would be, “Hey!  Do you want to see what happens when the cars don’t have to go in a circle for ten hours?  Do you want to see racing that’s far more dangerous?  Then come see Rush!”  Howard has a slightly more sophisticated approach and it’s one that I find slightly encouraging.

Hit the jump for what Howard had to say about Rush as well as an update on his epic adaptation of Stephen King‘s The Dark Tower.

Shortly before George Clooney’s The Ides of March hit theaters, I sat down with Brian Oliver, President and CEO of Cross Creek Pictures, for an exclusive interview.  While you may not be familiar with Cross Creek Pictures or even Brian Oliver, that’s about to change.  I say this because last year they produced Darren Aronofsky ‘s Black Swan, Ides of March, Ron Howard’s Rush and the Gothic horror film The Woman in Black starring Daniel Radcliffe.  In addition, they’re developing a Steve McQueen biopic that will star Jeremy Renner, two Eli Roth projects that will shoot next year, the real life story of mobster Whitey Bulger (Black Mass), and the Colin Firth/Emily Blunt film Arthur Newman, Golf Pro. So, like I said, Cross Creek is about to hit your radar.

During my extended conversation with Oliver we talked about Cross Creek’s plans for the future, what they have in development and the status of each project, how he ended up running the company, how the success of Black Swan has impacted their future plans, and so much more.  I’ve also put together a list of “15 Things to Know” in case you just want the highlights. Hit the jump for more.

Olivia Wilde has landed a key role in Ron Howard’s Formula One racing drama Rush. The film centers on the 1970s rivalry between Austrian driver Niki Lauda and British driver James Hunt. Daniel Brühl is set to play Lauda with Chris Hemsworth taking on the role of Hunt, and now Deadline reports that Wilde will play supermodel Suzy Miller. The model fell in love with and married Hunt, but soon thereafter she fell in love with Hunt’s close friend Richard Burton (yes, that Richard Burton). In a strange Three’s Company deal, Hunt and Burton came to an agreement wherein Burton would pay the $1 million divorce settlement for Hunt if Hunt let Miller go. The deal went through, and Burton and Miller eventually married.

Howard is apparently hoping to get Russell Crowe to take on the small role of Burton. No deal has been made, but Crowe may be able to fit a couple of days in for his A Beautiful Mind director in between filming Man of Steel and Les Miserables. If you missed what producer Brian Oliver told Steve about the racing drama, be sure to check out what he had to say here. He talked about the unusual filming schedule and revealed that Slumdog Millionaire director of photography Anthony Dod Mantle is handling the cinematography.

While Ron Howard has had more than a tough time trying to get his ambitious adaptation of Stephen King’s The Dark Tower off the ground, the director has moved on for the time being and is currently busy working on the Formula One racing drama Rush. The pic centers on the 1970s rivalry between Austrian driver Niki Lauda and British driver James Hunt, with Inglorious Basterds star Daniel Brühl playing Lauda and Chris Hemworth taking on the role of Hunt.

Steve recently got the chance to speak with producer Brian Oliver about his upcoming political drama The Ides of March, but during the course of the conversation Oliver talked extensively about Rush. In addition to confirming that Academy Award-winning cinematographer Anthony Dod Mantle (Slumdog Millionaire) will be the director of photography on the project, he spoke about why they started production early even though Hemsworth isn’t available until January, Howard and screenwriter Peter Morgan’s development process, Mantle’s unique approach to filming the races, and whether or not the film will be in 3D. Hit the jump to see what he had to say.

It looks like the sudden stoppage on The Dark Tower hasn’t gotten Ron Howard down too much. He moved right along to pre-production on the Formula One racing drama Rush, and now he’s set to shoot some scenes for the flick this weekend at Nurburgring Race Track in Germany. The film centers on the 1970s rivalry between Austrian driver Niki Lauda and British driver James Hunt, with Inglorious Basterds star Daniel Brühl playing Lauda and Chris Hemworth taking on the role of Hunt.

Principal photography on the film doesn’t officially get underway until later this year, after Hemsworth has wrapped on The Avengers and Snow White and the Huntsman, but Howard is taking advantage of a race at Nurburgring this weekend to get some key shots. Hit the jump for more, including the significance of the track to the film.

We have a few quick casting stories for you this fine morning (or early afternoon for those on the east coast).  First up, Alexandra Maria Lara (Downfall) will star opposite Chris Hemsworth in Ron Howard’s Formula One racing drama Rush.  Working from a script by Peter Morgan (Frost/Nixon), the story focuses on the real-life rivalry between British driver James Hunt and Austrian F1 champion Niki Lauda.  Lauda will be played by Inglourious Basterds‘ Daniel Brühl.  It’s interesting that the lead role seems to be Hunt even though Lauda nearly died in a fiery crash in 1976 but returned to the track just six weeks later to race Hunt.  Variety has no details on Lara’s character other than to say that she’s the female lead.

Hit the jump for casting news on Steven Soderbergh’s Magic Mike and Baz Luhrmann’s The Great Gatsby.

It looks like Ron Howard’s next directorial project is getting some major traction. The other day we reported that Chris Hemsworth was in talks to take on the role of James Hunt in Howard’s Formula 1 racing drama Rush, and now Inglorious Basterds star Daniel Brühl is circling the role of Hunt’s rival Niki Lauda. The film follows the heated rivalry between Austrian driver Lauda and British driver Hunt in the 1970’s.

Screen Daily (via The Playlist) reports that the plan is to start filming later this year in Germany and the U.K. once Hemsworth has wrapped Snow White and the Huntsman. Howard will direct from a screenplay by Peter Morgan (The Queen). This is certainly shaping up to be an increasingly intriguing project; Brühl was fantastically sinister as Fredrick Zoller in Basterds and it’ll be nice to see Hemsworth take on a straight drama.

Thor star Chris Hemsworth is in talks to topline the Formula 1 racing biopic Rush, which Ron Howard is eyeing as his next directorial project. The script, by Peter Morgan (The Queen), focuses on the rivalry between three-time F1 champion Niki Lauda British driver James Hunt in the 1970’s. Paul Greengrass was initially interested in directing the flick, before he turned his attention to Sony’s adaptation of A Captain’s Duty.

Deadline reports that Hemsworth would take on the role of Hunt before reprising his role in the Thor sequel currently set for a July 26^th, 2012 release date. If the deals for Howard and Hemsworth close, filming on Rush could begin early next year. Howard is still committed to directing the massive adaptation of The Dark Tower, but Rush might push that hoped-for March start date back a bit. Hemsworth is also onboard as the lead in Universal’s Snow White and the Huntsman and recently signed on for Sony’s action flick Shadow Runner, so Thor‘s gonna be a bit busy for a little while.

Earlier today Ron Howard seemed pretty optimistic that his Dark Tower adaptation would be coming in at budget and perhaps moving forward in the near future. The director is now throwing all of that optimism into question as Variety reports that he is in early talks to direct the Formula 1 biopic Rush. Written by Frost/Nixon scribe Peter Morgan, Rush focuses on three-time F1 champion Niki Lauda who returned from a fiery crash in 1976 just in time to continue his rivalry with fellow driver James Hunt. Paul Greengrass was interested in heading Rush before taking the helm of Sony’s A Captain’s Duty adaptation.

As for what this means for Howard’s Dark Tower, it’s important to note that the director is still attached to Dark Tower and that his Rush talks are in the very early stages. Given that Dark Tower is a massive undertaking and is moving along slowly/cautiously as a result, it makes sense from a professional standpoint that Howard would dip his toe in other projects while waiting for the go-ahead from Universal. If anything, news of his interest in Rush reaffirms what we already knew: that the Dark Tower series adaptation still has a lot of work to do. That said, if Howard ends up taking on Rush, it should act as evidence that Tower is further away than his recent sentiments may have suggested.

We need more Paul Greengrass in our lives.  The kinetic energy and thoughtful subtext he brings to his movies is exhilarating and satisfying and he’s been searching for a new project since Green Zone.  He’s circled a remake of Fantastic Voyage, a Cleopatra biopic, and he almost got his MLK assassination drama Memphis off the ground before Universal pulled the plug.  Now he’s searching for new projects and Vulture reports that they’re Maersk Alabama, which is an adaptation of A Captain’s Duty, the racing drama Rush, and an untitled project.

We first reported on A Captain’s Duty in March when is was announced that Tom Hanks would play Richard Phillips, the captain of the cargo ship the Maersk Alabama, who agreed to become the hostage of Somali pirates in exchange for the safety of his crew.  His memoir recounts his three days as their hostage.  Hanks is shooting Cloud Atlas for the Wachowskis and Tom Tykwer this summer, and it’s possible that Kathryn Bigelow’s Triple Frontier could still go before cameras this fall if she manages to wrap up Kill Bin Laden.  No one likes waiting (except for Tom Hanks in The Terminal), so Greengrass is also considering other projects.  Hit the jump for more.

More I Love You, Man in any capacity can only be a good thing. That’s why this Funny or Die Sketch featuring Jason Segel and Paul Rudd reprising their roles as Sydney Fife and Peter Klaven is beyond amazing.

If you type in “nicknames in…” on Google the second suggestion will be “nicknames in I Love You, Man.” Not that that relates to the video, but it shows how great of a movie this was. Now hit the jump and watch as Jobin and Pistol Pete totes magotes slap-a-da-base with Rush.

One of the greatest regrets in music I have is not seeing Rush the last time they came in town. They’re a band that (or so I’m told) has a great live energy, and I’m pretty sure the moment they begin playing “The Trees” I’d have urinated myself due to excitement. But now it looks like I might be able to get the next best thing: a concert documentary on the classic rock band, entitled Rush: Beyond the Lighted Stage.

The new movie is currently set to be released around June, the same time as their new tour, which kicks off in Albuquerque, New Mexico on June 29^th.  The movie premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival this past weekend and managed to gain some pretty high praise, with Rolling Stone saying “It’s true that Rush doesn’t mean today what it did in ’76 or even ’96. It may mean more.” If anything, those words give me confidence that this will be more No Direction Home than Shine A Light, with Rush being more a more interesting topic than either of those artists.

To watch the trailer in its glory, hit the jump.