Universal is aiming high for their planned Wicked adaptation based on the uber-popular stage musical. Deadline is reporting that musical producer Marc Platt, book writer Winnie Holzman, and songwriter Stephen Schwartz have begun meeting with possible directors. The list includes J.J. Abrams (Star Trek, Mission Impossible 3), James Mangold (Knight and Day, 3:10 To Yuma), Ryan Murphy (Glee, Eat Pray Love), and Rob Marshall (Chicago, Pirates 4). Read the full story

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In a brief update Deadline has reported Disney Studios Chairman Rich Ross has “just finalized the decision” to shoot Rob Marshall‘s Pirates Of The Caribbean: On Stranger Tides in Disney Digital 3D. Read the full story

Blockbuster producer Jerry Bruckheimer is being given a smaller budget for the next Pirates, only $200 million. That is nearly a third less that the last one. Due to “the deterioration of the lucrative DVD business, amid upward-spiraling production and marketing expenses” many big productions are being cut back, the LA Times reports. Read the full story

Coming Soon has brought word that Penelope Cruz will play Blackbeard’s daughter in the upcoming Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides. Blackbeard will of course be played by the recently signed Ian McShane, and the film’s producer, Jerry Bruckheimer, says that there will most definitely be “a little romance between Captain Jack and the new character that Penelope plays.”

The reports also informs us Geoffrey Rush will return as Barbossa. As far as other cast members go, Bruckheimer revealed that they are “looking for some new kids to be in it, we’re testing right now.” In addition, the producer said that “we’re going to take a whole new direction” with the new installment. As far as that “whole new direction” NY Post reports that all actresses on set must have natural breasts:

Disney is searching for real treasure chests for its upcoming shoot of the next “Pirates of the Caribbean” swashbuckler — that is, women with natural breasts.

The movie studio has banned actresses with artificial enhancements for the fourth installment, “Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides,” directed by Rob Marshall and starring Johnny Depp as the drunken buccaneer Jack Sparrow.

The filmmakers sent out a casting call last week seeking “beautiful female fit models. Must be 5ft7in-5ft8in, size 4 or 6, no bigger or smaller. Age 18-25. Must have a lean dancer body. Must have real breasts. Do not submit if you have implants.”

And they warn that there’ll be a “show and tell” day.

To make sure LA talent scouts don’t get caught in a “booby trap,” potential lassies will have to undergo a Hollywood-style jiggle-your-jugs test and jog for judges. If there’s nothing moving from the waist up, they’re saying, it’s a dead giveaway that you’re not all flesh and bones — and you’re out.

Apparently, the bouncier the better, especially for sword-fighting action sequences, according to the Sunday Times of London.

“In the last movie, there were enhanced breasts to give that 18th-century whorish look, and men were pretty well padded too, and no one worried,” a former casting agent said. “But times are changing, and the audience can spot false breasts.”

There you have it, 100% real breasts in Pirates 4.

The film will be directed by Rob Marshall (Chicago, Nine) and is set for a May 20, 2011  release date. The project is scheduled to begin shooting in June, mostly in Hawaii.

Are you looking forward to a new Pirates?

Yesterday’s story of Penelope Cruz joining Lars von Trier‘s Melancholia proved to be false, but here is another casting announcement with the actress. THR’s Heat Vision Blog is reporting (and since has taken down) that Penelope Cruz (Nine, Broken Embraces) will be joining Johnny Depp in the Rob Marshall-directed Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides. The film’s story “revolves around the Fountain of Youth.” Read the full story

In a press release Governor of Hawaii Linda Lingle announced a number of films that will start filming in the state. On the islands of Kaua’i and O’ahu this summer Walt Disney Pictures and Jerry Bruckheimer Films will being shooting Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides. This is the fourth installment of the series and will be directed by Rob Marshall (Chicago, Nine). The release also confirmed Clint Eastwood just wrapped Hereafter, a thriller starring Matt Damon. It also confirmed that Alexander Payne‘s (Sideways, Election) latest film starring George Clooney, The Descendants has started pre-production. Check out the full press release below thanks to Coming Soon. Read the full story

With Nine being released very soon director Rob Marshall has been out and about doing press. Coming Soon had a chance to sit down with him and they uncovered some facts about the next entry into Pirates series, On Stranger Tides:

We’re still trying to figure out if it’s going to all happen. If it happens–I think Johnny’s doing a movie with Angelina Jolie in the spring [The Tourist] — so if it happens, we’ll start in the summer, and we’ll see. I’m excited. If it happens, it happens. I’d be thrilled. I just love Johnny and I’m excited about the genre.

When asked about where he would take the movie visually:

I would need a script first. It all comes from the script and the story. You serve the story and you find out what the story is and then you work from there, that’s it. It’s simple.

I can’t imagine this movie not being made, as the massive box office the previous three have accumulated. The only question is when…and nobody seems to have that figured out.

Do you want to see another entry into the Pirates series? What about with Marshall directing?

The third trailer for Rob Marshall’s (Chicago) Nine has premiered on Apple in HD. The film is a musical adaptation inspired by Fellini’s famous film and the original play. Check out the trailer with the all star cast of Daniel Day-Lewis, Penelope Cruz, Marion Cotillard, Nicole Kidman, Judi Dench, Kate Hudson and Sophia Lauren below. Read the full story

In July it was rumored that Chicago and upcoming Nine director Rob Marshall would possibly be directing the fourth entry into the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise. According to an AICN report from a DGA screening of Nine, when Marshall was asked about the project he said “ya’know, it’s something that I was offered and never in the world thought I would do but then I was like ‘why not?’… I’m doing ‘Pirates of the Caribbean….” The story also mentioned how Marshall and Johnny Depp got together are excited to get to work on the film. This fourth entry will be based on Tim Powers’ pirate novel On Stranger Tides which was optioned by Disney years ago. You can find the plot below.

Read the full story

It looks as though we will be seeing a lot of Nine promotion on ABC. The Weinstein Company, still struggling to stay above financial waters it seems, has signed a pact with Disney/ABC Unlimited to pepper the high-profile Rob Marshall musical all over ABC television, whether it’s applying the song “Be Italian” (from the “Nine” musical) into Dancing With The Stars (matching dress ensembles included) or name-dropped in day-time soaps.

Disney will also offer a road block-style trailer on ABC and the majority of ABC/Disney own cable channels on November 22nd. ABC.com is even devoting a microsite to the film on the master Web site, “streaming of the movie trailer and a half-hour “Making of ‘Nine’” special.” [Variety]

This harks back to the way TWC handled the release of Inglourious Basterds, splitting the work with Universal, forfeiting most of the international take to the big studio.

While it’s a smart, “hedge you bets” kind of move that worked in the case of the $300 million grossing Basterds, it’s still a bet that may not pay off. But TWC and Disney are covering all media bases, from TV to Internet. “The audience is not just watching TV,” he said. “There’s a fragmentation. They’re also online, they’re accessing shows on Blackberrys. This allows us to say, this is the depth of programming we want to access. We want to go after audiences on several fronts,” said Francois Martin, senior vice president of marketing at the Weinstein Co. [Variety].