It appears that Bourne Identity director Doug Liman has settled on his next project. Paramount has finally greenlit the long-in-the-works sci-fi flick Luna as Liman’s follow up to last year’s Fair Game. The director has been trying to get Luna off the ground for awhile, most recently with Jake Gyllenhaal in 2007. While that iteration never took off, Liman started meeting with a number of actors for the film in March. Now, Variety reports that Paramount is putting the finishing touches on a deal that will fast-track the project.

The story centers on a group of renegade scientists who build a spaceship from scratch using spare parts in order to steal an energy source located on the moon, cause apparently that’s where we keep valuable things in the future. It’s like our lock box. Liman and John Hamburg (I Love You Man) co-wrote the script, which has gone through several rewrites. In addition to the previously mentioned Andrew Garfield, Liman has also met with Bradley Cooper and Chris Evans to talk about roles in the film. No offers have been made yet, but expect casting news shortly as the project moves towards production.

Since the 1970′s, Robert De Niro has made countless films.  While some have clearly missed the mark, a few of them are considered classics in every sense of the word.  Some of my favorites are Goodfellas, Heat, Raging Bull, Taxi Driver, The Godfather Part 2, and Righteous Kill.  Kidding with that last one.

However, while he’s made some amazing films, not all of them have been box office hits.  In fact, you might be surprised to learn that his two biggest hits were not made with Martin Scorsese, but with Ben Stiller.  While some might dismiss Meet the Parents and Meet the Fockers, Parents made $166 million (worldwide) and Fockers made $280 million (worldwide).  With this kind of money, it’s no surprise Universal made a third entry (called Little Fockers) and it gets released December 22.

Anyway, Universal has released 6 clips and a number of new images from the film.  Check them out after the jump – along with the official synospis:

DreamWorks Studios and co-chair/CEO Stacey Snider have a long working relationship with writer-director John Hamburg (I Love You, Man), but now they want to get intimate. Hamburg just signed a two-year, first-look deal with DreamWorks, and the pact obligates him to share his deepest, darkest secrets before he tells anyone else… or something like that. Hamburg co-wrote screenplays for Meet the Parents, Meet the Fockers, and Little Fockers, which are all produced by DreamWorks with Universal releasing. Hit the jump for more details on their past, quotes from the deal, and who else DreamWorks has whispering in their ear.

After negotiations earlier this month, Universal has managed to bring Dustin Hoffman back on board for Little Fockers and will insert him into the movie via pick-up shoots.  According to Deadline, Fockers is scheduled for a week’s worth of shooting in September and will be filming six entirely new scenes, four of which will include Hoffman’s character, Bernie Focker.  Hoffman originally didn’t return for the new film because he couldn’t reach a deal with Universal.  However, producers and John Hamburg and Jay Roach were able to convince the actor to return and reportedly at the cost of what they were originally going to pay him.

The pickups with Hoffman are for “some pivotal scenes opposite Barbra Streisand, and then in a big scene at the end of the movie involving all the major characters. Other pickup scenes focus on Ben Stiller and the kids.”  Despite this major fix of re-introducing Hoffman into the film, I doubt audiences will mind (if they even know about it).  Meet the Fockers scored $279 million domestic in 2004 and judging by the trailer, the sequel doesn’t look like it’s changed anything that made the first two films so popular.  Little Fockers opens on December 22nd.

About a year ago we first covered a project called The Defenders.  The project was set up by Masi Oka (Heroes) at DreamWorks where he landed Alex Kurtzman and Roberto Orci (Star Trek, Transformers) as producers with D.J. Caruso possibly directing.  The story (from our original article):

“Centers on a group of mostly teenagers from around the world who are involved in a multiplayer video game, each unaware of who they really are behind the cover of their consoles and avatars. They are forced to come together for a real adventure, becoming inadvertent heroes in the process.”

Since posting the story, we haven’t had any updates. Until today.  That’s because an hour ago I got to speak with screenwriter Marti Noxon (I Am Number Four, Fright Night) and towards the end of the interview she revealed she’s writing the script.  The interesting news is she mentioned John Hamburg (writer/director of I Love You, Man) is also involved and she called it a sci-fi comedy.  More after the jump:

How can you not be down with Paul Rudd? His career renaissance is one of the best parts about comedies in the 21^st century, and since The 40-Year-Old Virgin he’s been an actor you can count on to just take it home. A lot of this rebirth has to do with his great turn in Wet Hot American Summer (a film that helped launch a number of talents, like Bradley Cooper and Elizabeth Banks), but audiences seem to have fallen in love with him all over again. As well they should. And with I Love You, Man and Role Models he even gets to headline films, though paired with another comic actor. My review of I Love You, Man after the jump.