If the past is any indication, then probably not. That said, Gore Verbinski (the Pirates franchise, the upcoming Rango) has signed with Fox to direct the remake of the 1947 Danny Kaye-led The Secret Life of Walter Mitty, about a writer who imagines himself as the hero of many different tales throughout his every-day.[The Playlist]

Ironically, this premise doesn’t sound much different from that of Rango, which concerns a chameleon with an identity crisis (very clever).

This is precious property in Hollywood. The kind of property so precious it never can get made. The title character was set to played by nearly every big comedy star from the 80s up til now, from Jim Carrey to Owen Wilson to, most recently, Sacha Baron Cohen. Cohen may still be in the mix, but one would imagine with a new director will come new casting meetings and so on.

And maybe that’s a good thing. Verbinski’s just right for this material (recall James Gandolfini’s identity-struggling gay hitman from The Mexican or the entire character arc of Jack Sparrow), but he’ll need the right actor to work with to create a Walter Mitty that’ll fit with today’s audiences. Anything worth doing takes time, after all. Walter Mitty should know that by now.

Is Verbinski the right choice for this? Is this property even worth all the hassle?

E-mail Dan Mecca and be sure to follow him on Twitter. You can also interact with him on our Facebook page!

After weeks of rumors, Michael Fassbender has officially signed on to play Erik Lehnsherr (a.k.a. Magneto) against James McAvoy‘s Charles Xavier in Matthew Vaughn‘s upcoming X-Men: First Class. [The Playlist]

The film, produced by Fox, will deal with the close friendship the two mutants had before their conflicting ideals rendered them enemies. Certainly one of the most complex, interesting relationships in the comic book canon (the two are not-so-subtly modeled after Martin Luther King Jr. and Malcolm X), it’s reassuring to see two young talents like McAvoy and Fassbender taking on the roles. The evaporation of their friendship should make for some scene-chewing dialogue.

Many will recall that the first X-Men opened with a surprisingly powerful flashback to Lehnserr as a child being separated from his parents in the concentration camps of Nazi Germany. Assuming Vaughn and co. maintain that arc, Fassbender will have a lot to work with, just as Sir Ian McKellen did in the original trilogy.

Are you excited to see Fassbender and McAvoy face off?

E-mail Dan Mecca and be sure to follow him on Twitter. You can also interact with him on our Facebook page!

Matt Damon is in talks to star in Cameron Crowe‘s We Bought A Zoo. Fox is producing, the film an adaptation of Benjamin Mee’s memoir of the same name. Aline Brosh McKenna (The Devil Wears Prada, Morning Glory) is writing for the screen.

Zoo “revolves around a widowed father who buys a dilapidated zoo in hopes of making a fresh start. He and his children, along with a small but loyal staff, work to get the zoo reopened.” [Variety]

It sounds like a Crowe project – something as funny as it is tragic.

It’s nice to see Damon trying new things/taking on new roles. He’s playing the romantic lead in the upcoming The Adjustment Bureau and now this. Bourne as a hopeless romantic? I like it.

We Bought A Zoo opens December 23, 2011.

Are you excited to see We Bought A Zoo? What do you think of Crowe as a writer? Director?

E-mail Dan Mecca and be sure to follow him on Twitter. You can also interact with him on our Facebook page!

Fox has Spanish director Daniel Benmayor in talks to direct Hitman 2, the sequel to the 2007 action flick starring Justified‘s Timothy Olyphant. The original is based on the Eidos videogame of the same name, though very few fans of the game (or of cinema) felt the adaptation was…justified (chuckle).

Production on the sequel is set to begin in the fall, despite the fact that there is no word if Olyphant will return as the unnamed hitman. Screenwriter Kyle Ward has been hired to pen the sequel, which will take story elements from the Hitman 5 video game. [Deadline Hollywood, via The Playlist]

Hitman was more-or-less a non-starter domestically, grossing $40 million on a $30 million budget. Internationally, however, it took in another $60 million, making it a success. When taking all of that into consideration, it’s not surprising Fox is dipping back into the well. But lest we not forget the abysmal RT score and general critical dumping the original film was given.

But then, what’s in a critical reception?

Did you see Hitman? Did you enjoy it?

Because, in Hollywood, where there’s one, there must be two. Tombstone and Wyatt Earp. Volcano and Dante’s Peak. Deep Impact and Armageddon. Bryan Singer’s Excalibur and Guy Richie’s Excalibur. And now, David Fincher’s 20,000 Leagues Under The Sea and Tony and Ridley Scott’s 20,000 Leagues Under The Sea, to be potentially directed by Timur Bekmambetov (Wanted).

Read the full story

As each television channel scrambles for pilots and series returns for next fall, Fox announced a mid-season series, Terra Nova, produced by Steven Spielberg, Peter Chernin, Brannon Braga and David Fury.

The show focuses on a family on a time-traveling journey to Prehistoric Earth, fending off dinosaurs and the like. They, of course, must do this in order to save the human race. [Coming Soon]

Here’s the picture again:

Read the full story

UPDATE: It looks like Vaughn passed days ago. Ah, I love the internet.

Kick-Ass director may direct X-Men: First Class. Or at least Fox has offered him the job and he’s talking to them about it.

From beginning to end, Date Night, starring Steve Carell and Tina Fey, feels like a film left over from the 50s, remade in the 80s and now brought to life in 2010. Though it be high concept formula entertainment through and through, it succeeds where its players do. Luckily they’re all more than capable.

Read the full story

The other day we reported that Leonardo DiCaprio was eyeing the title role in Clint Eastwood‘s Hoover. Today we learned that Leo will be teaming up with Oliver Stone in the upcoming film Travis McGee. [THR] Read the full story

It’s a news story so obvious it literally hurts to type up.

Because both the original and the sequel were box office draws and because it’s Fox, there’s a third one already in pre-production set to be 3-Dimensional! [Gordon and the Whale]

If you’ll notice, Fox already has a release date set: December 16th, 2011.

Read the full story