Good news, everyone!  Following his decade-long foray into motion-capture and animated features, it looks like director Robert Zemeckis is coming back to live-action for the foreseeable future.  The Back to the Future director’s first live-action film since 2000 opens this fall (the drama Flight starring Denzel Washington), and now he’s coming on to develop the feature film about the “Barefoot Bandit” as a potential directing vehicle.

18-year-old Colton Harris-Moore became a bit of a cult hero following his string of Robin Hood-like crimes, and 20th Century Fox has been working on a feature film iteration of his story for the past year.  He stole and piloted planes and boats and taunted authorities who were on his trail, at one point leaving 39 chalk footprints and the word “c’ya!” at the scene of a crime.  This cheeky attitude will undoubtedly make for one hell of a movie, and Zemeckis might just be the guy to bring it to the big screen.  Hit the jump for more.

Oscar-winning screenwriter Dustin Lance Black (Milk) has been tapped to pen Earthquake, a disaster pic produced by J.J. Abrams and Bryan Burk for Universal.   The picture is a fresh take on natural disaster fare and only shares a title and a subject with Universal’s previous effort in 1974 starring Charlton Heston.   Earthquake may now set itself up to compete with New Line’s own earth shaking project, San Andreas 3D.  Deadline reports that the Universal project first had David Seltzer (The Omen) attached to write in 2008 and now gains momentum with Black in the mix.  The writer’s most recent projects include J. Edgar, an adaptation of Jon Krakauer’s book Under the Banner of Heaven  for Warner Bros. and a script for Fox’s Barefoot Bandit. 

The first trailer and poster for Oscar-winning screenwriter Dustin Lance Black’s (Milk) directorial debut, Virginia, have gone online.  The film was originally titled What’s Wrong with Virginia? and screened at TIFF 2010 to scathing reviews.  Black went back into the editing room and retooled (and retitled) the film, and now the new cut is set to open next month.  The film stars Jennifer Connelly as a single mother who runs into a bit of trouble following a string of events: her longtime affair with the married Mormon Sheriff (Ed Harris) comes to an end as he decides to run for office, then her son (Harrison Gilbertson) starts having an affair with the Sheriff’s daughter (Emma Roberts).  Tonally and plot-wise, this trailer is kind of all over the place.  There are some good ideas throughout, but I’m unsure as to how Black coalesces everything into a cohesive story.  It’s no wonder that this was a tough one to put together, but hopefully Black’s new edit is superior to the previous cut.

Hit the jump to check out the trailer and poster.  The film opens on May 18th and also stars Amy Madigan, Yeardley Smith, and Toby Jones.

Fans of Clint Eastwood’s J. Edgar will want to go ahead and skip to the jump, as will admirers of the work of three-time Oscar-nominee Leonardo DiCaprio, Oscar-winning writer Dustin Lance Black and Armie Hammer. Oh, and history buffs of the Hoover-era of American government will likely want to hit the jump to, as there you’ll find almost eight minutes worth of behind-the-scenes footage, a Q&A with the above-mentioned gentlemen and further insight into the man that was J. Edgar Hoover. With a little more than a month to go until the 84^th annual Oscar nominations are announced, it’s a safe bet that J. Edgar’s cast and crew will be in the running for some hardware on February 26^th at the Kodak Theatre. Hit the jump to check out the video.

With director Clint Eastwood’s J. Edgar now playing in limited release, I recently got to speak with screenwriter Dustin Lance Black (Milk).  Starring Leonardo DiCaprio as J. Edgar Hoover, the controversial founding director of the FBI, the film boasts a great supporting cast including Armie Hammer, Naomi Watts, Judi Dench, Josh Lucas and Ken Howard.  You can watch the trailer here.

During my exclusive interview, Lance Black talks about how he prepared to write the screenplay, why he wanted to tell the story, his reaction to Eastwood directing his screenplay, how they cut out a lot of the first act in the editing room, and how he wanted the script to be faithful to the truth.  In addition, he talked about The Barefoot Bandit, which is based on the true story of Colton Harris-Moore, and after he finishes he’ll move on to Under the Banner of Heaven, which is based on Jon Krakauer’s nonfiction book about Mormon fundamentalists.  Hit the jump for more.

Clint Eastwood paints a broad, meticulous, and shallow portrait of controversial FBI director J. Edgar Hoover in the new biopic J. Edgar.  As seen by Eastwood’s past output from at least the past several years (and arguably even further), the Hollywood veteran seems content to glide along the surface of his subject rather than probe deeper and ask tough questions.  The result for J. Edgar is a movie where at the end of two hours and nineteen minutes you shrug and go, “Yep.  That’s a Napoleon Complex.”  Despite Leonardo DiCaprio acting his heart out as Hoover, and a fine supporting performance from Armie Hammer, J. Edgar is fascinated with its title character but the fascination runs skin-deep.

The fall movie season is about to begin, and character-driven dramas should be just the thing to remedy me from a bad case of blockbuster fatigue. We’ve had our share of popcorn movies this summer, some great (Rise of the Planet of the Apes) and some painful (Green Lantern), but I’m very much ready for the promising flicks slated for the second half of this year, including Clint Eastwood’s biopic J. Edgar.

Just yesterday we got our first official look at Leonardo DiCaprio as the titular character in the film, and now a few more images have been released, giving us our first look at Armie Hammer as Hoover’s confidant/purported lover Clyde Tolson. Additionally, Eastwood revealed that the film leaves much of Edgar’s sexuality up for debate. Hit the jump for the images and quotes from Eastwood.

Who says crime doesn’t pay?  Answer: someone who didn’t sell the movie rights to his crimes.  THR reports that Colton Harris-Moore, the “Barefoot Bandit”, has signed a deal worth $1.3 million with 20th Century Fox. However, the money won’t go into Harris-Moore’s pocket but towards the $1.4 million he owes as restitution to his victims.  Harris-Moore will write the script with Oscar-winning screenwriter Dustin Lance Black (Milk).

I’m wondering if the two will do a Catch Me If You Can take on the material or go in a different direction.  It certainly lends itself to that angle as Harris-Moore had a two-year crime spree that ended in February 2007 when he crashed an airplane he taught himself to fly.  Harris-Moore’s entertainment Lance Rosen says, “It’s very unusual for this kind of money to be paid for anyone’s life story rights.”  It’s unusual but not impossible!  Hit the jump for my fake tips on how to turn your crimes into moving pictures!

The great thing about being Ron Howard (aside from that sweet beard pictured above) is that when one of your projects gets shot down, you don’t have to worry about whether or not you’ll land on your feet. Case in point: only one day removed from Universal passing on his ambitious adaptation of Stephen King’s The Dark Tower, the Oscar-winning director has already landed another gig. Per Deadline, Howard will join forces with Oscar-winning screenwriter Dustin Lance Black (Milk) on Warner Bros. adaptation of the Jon Krakauer novel Under the Banner of Heaven: A Story of Violent Faith. Briefly, Heaven tells the story of a pair of brothers who murder their younger brother’s wife and infant daughter only to claim they were acting on orders from God.

Howard will also co-produce the pic alongside his Imagine cohort Brian Grazer. Jason Bateman, Stephanie Davis, and Shannon Costello will co-produce as well. In addition to Heaven, you may remember that Howard also has Rush starring Chris Hemsworth and a Spy vs. Spy adaptation waiting in the wings. As for Black, he penned the script for director Clint Eastwood’s J. Edgar starring Leonardo DiCaprio, Naomi Watts, Armie Hammer, and Josh Lucas. Warner Bros. releases that pic on October 21st. For more on Heaven, hit the jump for a synopsis of Krakauer’s novel.

Last March, Playtone partners Tom Hanks and Gary Goetzman optioned the screen rights to American Idiot, the Broadway rock opera based on the music of Green Day.  Playtone has a first-look deal with Universal Pictures — now the studio is in negotiations to acquire the project.  Deadline reports Dustin Lance Black (Milk) is in talks to write the script.  Michael Mayer, the man behind the stage musical, will direct the movie as well.

The musical tells “the story three lifelong friends, forced to choose between their dreams and the safety of suburbia.”  Watch a clip from the show after the break.

While the filmmakers and cast of The Social Network are making the obligatory pre-Oscar press rounds right now, it’s prime time to get some info on their upcoming projects. Armie Hammer has done just that, as he recently offered up some details on Clint Eastwood’s J. Edgar Hoover biopic J. Edgar. Leonardo DiCaprio is reportedly attached to play the title character, with Hammer taking on the role of Hoover’s lover and confidant Clyde Toulson. Apparently the film will span a number of years, with Hammer and DiCaprio donning old-age makeup. Hammer had this to say:

I’m playing Toulson up to his elderly age! Makeup stuff comes within the next couple weeks. We’re definitely doing a lot of wardrobe stuff right now, but the makeup stuff we haven’t done yet.

For more details on the Dustin Lance Black (Milk)-scripted film, including plot points and who Judi Dench is playing, hit the jump.

Australia’s own Damon Herriman (FX’s Justified) has joined Clint Eastwood’s upcoming J. Edgar Hoover biopic, cleverly entitled J. Edgar.  Herriman joins a cast that currently features Leonardo DiCaprio and Armie Hammer (The Social Network), with an offer still on the table for Charlize Theron.  Although little is currently known of its details, Oscar-winner Dustin Lance Black (Milk) is penning the script.

According to The Playlist, Herriman will make a turn as Bruno Hauptmann, the man convicted of abducting and killing Charles and Anne Lindbergh’s baby in March of 1932.  Although convicted, the Hauptmann case later became the source of questions regarding police tampering and witness intimidation.  This questioning led to J. Edgar Hoover’s FBI eventually inquiring about the handling of the case.

It seems that Joaquin Phoenix is definitely going back to acting after his “retirement” from the business was revealed to be a hoax last week. The actor is attached to star in the foot-fetish dramedy Big Shoe and might be offered a role opposite Jennifer Garner in The Odd Life of Timothy Green.  Now, Vulture is reporting that Clint Eastwood is interested in having Phoenix star as J. Edgar Hoover’s gay lover and protégé, Clyde Tolson, in his upcoming biopic, Hoover.  Leonardo DiCaprio has been attached to star as Hoover and it looks like an offer will be made to Phoenix once a deal is fully finalized with DiCaprio. Hit the jump to find out more about Clyde Tolson and Hoover’s relationship, and what we know about the film so far.

You may remember that back in late March, we reported that Leonardo DiCaprio was in early negotiations to star in Clint Eastwood’s biopic about the controversial former heard of the FBI, J. Edgar Hoover.  It looks like those negotiations have wrapped up as Deadline reports that DiCaprio is now officially on board.  The film has been on the fast track ever since producer Brian Grazer brought Dustin Lance Black’s script to Clint Eastwood in mid-February.  And only Deadline could say that it’s great DiCaprio “is getting out of his Marty Scorsese rut,” as if working with the legendary director is such an awful fate that’s really brought down the actor’s career.

Hit the jump for other projects that DiCaprio’s been circling and to learn more about Hoover.

Oscar-winning screenwriter Dustin Lance Black (Milk) has signed on to write and direct an adaptation of the graphic novel 3 Story: The Secret History of the Giant Man.  Written by Matt Kindt, 3 Story “is a modern fable, exploring the life of a giant man, Craig Pressgang, whose strange medical condition causes continuous growth. The tale is told from the point of view of three women — his mother, wife and daughter — and follows Craig’s journey from birth to his eventual three-story height. It also serves as an exploration of loneliness and love’s changing nature.”  According to Heat Vision, Black’s approach will focus on the father-daughter relationship and soften the melancholic ending.

Black recently made his directorial debut with the indie drama What’s Wrong With Virginia which stars Ed Harris, Emma Roberts, and Jennifer Connelly.  He also wrote the film’s script.  He’s also been hired to pen the screenplay for Clint Eastwood’s upcoming J. Edgar Hoover biopic, Hoover.