Summit Entertainment has tapped Ric Roman Waugh to direct a feature film based on the Gulf of Mexico oil rig disaster that occurred in April of 2010.  Per Deadline, the film is titled Deepwater Horizon and is based on The New York Times article Deepwater Horizon’s Final Hour by David Barstow, David Rohde and Stephanie Saul.  Scripted by Matthew Sand (Ninja Assassin), the film will focus on the oil rig workers that were on site during the explosion that killed 11 people and injured 16 others.  We’ll apparently see the minutes leading up to the explosion and the survivors’ attempt to stay alive.

Waugh has a long career as a stuntman on his resume, and previously directed 2008’s Felon.  He’s currently filming his follow-up feature, Snitch, with Dwayne Johnson and Susan Sarandon.  No word on how soon Summit is hoping to get Deepwater Horizon into production, but Waugh will presumably be busy for quite some time with Snitch.

Director Robert Schwentke (Red) is currently at work adapting the comic book R.I.P.D. (starring Ryan Reynolds and Jeff Bridges) but he’s already lined up his next film.  Variety reports that Schwentke will direct The Poison Kitchen, which tracks the rise of the Nazi Party.  The script, written by Matthew Sand (Ninja Assassin) takes the point of view of the Muenchener Post, the Munich newspaper that fought against the Nazi Party for more than a decade until it was raided by Nazi stormtroopers in 1933 and its editors imprisoned.  Having recently read Erik Larson’s In the Garden of Beasts, which looks at the rise of Hitler from the perspective of the American ambassador to Germany, it will be interesting to see a film that examines the rise of the Nazis through German eyes.

While Schwentke is German, the movie will be likely be an English-language production and instead of a historical-political drama, it will be a historical-political thriller.  Filming is set to begin next year.

Comics are a hot property these days, and while Universal may be weary of jumping into bed with unknown commodities and developing them into large-scale projects, Warner Bros. seems to have no such qualms. Proof of this dynamic can be found in the fact that Warner’s is currently eyeing an alternate reality comic book series titled The Red Star: a project currently in turnaround at Universal. Created by Christian Gossett in 1999, the comic series takes place in a world where the USSR still exists with elements of magic and futuristic technology intertwined.

For more on The Red Star, including those previously involved, hit the jump.

Summit Entertainment and Participant Media have acquired the film rights to the New York Times article Deepwater Horizon’s Final Hour. Published on December 25, 2010, the article by David Barstow, David Rohde, and Stephanie Saul, tells of the April 20, 2010 oil rig tragedy in the Gulf of Mexico which became one of the largest environmental blunders in the history of the United States. Per the press release, the film adaptation will be penned by Matthew Sand (Ninja Assassin) with an emphasis being placed on depicting “the courage of those who worked on the oil rig and the final minutes leading up to the disaster.”

For more info on the project, hit the jump for the full press release. You can also click here to read the original New York Times article.

At this weekend’s press junket for Ninja Assassin, I participated in a roundtable interview with screenwriters J. Michael Straczynski  and Matthew Sand.  While some screenwriters are lucky to have one project in developement, these two have tons.  In fact, the list of projects they’re working on or have been on is rather impressive.  Here’s some of them: Brothers in Arms, Red Star, Forbidden Planet, Lensmen, Silver Surfer, WWZ, and Shattered Union.

While we didn’t get to spend a lot of time on any one project, what we did get was updates on all of them.  So if you’re curious what’s up with any of these movies, hit the jump to read what they had to say.

Opening on November 25^th is director James McTeigue’s Ninja Assassin.  The film stars Asian superstar Rain in the title role and as you can easily put together from the title, it’s about Ninja’s.  And assassin’s.  Also, the film is loaded with action and blood so if you’re into either of those things, this is pretty much a must see movie.  Finally, it’s produced by the Wachowski Brothers and Joel Silver (The Matrix Trilogy, V for Vendetta), and they’ve done a few things you might have liked….

Anyway, if you’d like a taste of the movie, after the jump you can watch six clips.  In the coming weeks check back for interviews with the cast and filmmakers.  Until then….

Everything is 100% more awesome when you do it with Lego. So if you’re like me and believe that statement, you’re going to need to see the video after the jump. That’s because Keshen8 on YouTube has posted his version of the “Ninja Assassin” trailer…except his version is made with Lego! It’s kind of great so take a look: