Word on director Michael Bay’s relatively low-budget passion project Pain and Gain is that Scott Rosenberg (Con-Air) has been brought on to punch-up the screenplay originally written by Stephen Markus and Christopher McFeely (both of Captain America: The First Avenger). Based on a true story, Pain and Gain follows the saga of a group of bodybuilders in Miami that engaged in an extortion scheme which wound up spiraling out of control to include kidnapping and torture. The writers compared the tone of their darkly-humored film as based on that of the Coen brothers’ film, Fargo. Dwayne Johnson and Mark Wahlberg are attached to star in the pic alongside Ed Harris, Rob Corddry, Anthony Mackie, Tony Shaloub and Bar Paly. The film will shoot on location in Miami later this month. Hit the jump for more on Rosenberg and Pain and Gain.

In May of last year, we brought you word that Paramount Pictures was vying for a spec script by Scott Rosenberg (Gone in Sixty Seconds) called The Hauntrepreneur with Michael Bay’s Platinum Dunes lined up to produce. It now looks like Russell Brand (Get Him to the Greek) will be attached to star in the family friendly film about a peculiar man hired to help a family adjust to their new town by creating a haunted house full of oddball characters. The studio had no comment on the casting and is now looking to place a director. The project has previously been described as similar in tone to Charlie and the Chocolate Factory with a bit of Beetlejuice thrown in. I could definitely see Brand as an off-center combination of Johnny Depp’s Willy Wonka and Michael Keaton’s Beetlejuice. Hit the jump for more.

Paramount Pictures is looking to pick up The Hauntrepreneur, an original spec script by Scott Rosenberg (Gone in Sixty Seconds) with Michael Bay’s Platinum Dunes to produce. The Hauntrepreneur centers on a family that moves to a new town and has difficulty fitting in. They hire a strange man known as the Hauntrepreneur, who creates a haunted house full of oddball residents to help patch up their difficulties. How exactly this is supposed to help, I have no idea.

Hit the jump for more on The Hauntrepreneur, as well as upcoming Platinum Dunes projects.