Anjelica Huston and Philip Baker Hall have joined the cast of Summit/Mandate’s now untitled comedy that was formerly known as I’m With Cancer.

Starring Seth Rogen, James McAvoy, Anna Kendrick and Bryce Dallas Howard the film is due to start shooting later this month in Vancouver. Read the full story

An untitled Seth Rogen and James McAvoy comedy has been acquired by Summit Entertainment.  The film, which was previously called I’m With Cancer, is amassing a bit of a starry cast including Rogen, McAvoy, Oscar nominee Anna Kendrick and Bryce Dallas Howard. Summit’s president of production Erik Feig had promising remarks on the film:

It’s rare to find a script that has you laughing and crying in equal measure, or a cast and director as perfectly suited to get the tone of this unique and moving film as perfectly right. [The Wrap]

The film will be directed by Johnathan Levine (The Wackness) and the screenplay was written by Will Reiser. No word yet on the plot.  Production is set to begin this month.

Dramedy?  Is this a safe foray?  How will McAvoy do alongside Rogen?

Since the initial release of the trailer back in December people all across the blogosphere have been attacking Kevin Smith’s latest film Cop Out for a whole host of different reasons. Whether it be nit picking the fact that Smith’s name isn’t on the trailer, which as Smith himself defended (his name is never on ANY of his trailers). Or the fact that people say the movie looks like a stupid, watered down action comedy. It has become clear, at least to this writer, that people have lost sight of what this movie is: Kevin Smith’s attempt at a studio picture. There are some things that need to be addressed. Read the full story

According to Film Score Daily’s Top Forty Composer Countdown (via First Showing) the composer for Michel Gondry’s The Green Hornet starring Seth Rogen, Jay Chou, Cameron Diaz and Christoph Waltz has been announced. It will be none other than Danny Elfman, the man behind almost all of Tim Burton’s scores, including the upcoming Alice In Wonderland. He has also done Terminator: Salvation, Spider-Man 2, Milk, and Good Will Hunting among many others. Read the full story

Sarah Polley directed the fantastic 2006 drama Away From Her and now the actress/writer/director  has announced her next film, Take This Waltz. Deadline Hollywood is reporting that Polley has found financing to direct her script and Seth Rogen and Michelle Williams are attached. Waltz was on the 2009 Black List of best unproduced screenplays and follows “a young woman struggles with her infidelities and the budding realization that she may be addicted to the honeymoon period of her relationships.” Polley also stars in the horror/thriller Splice, which is at Sundance and has been getting positive reviews. Michelle Williams also has a film at Sundance, Blue Valentine, in which she stars alongside Ryan Gosling.

Take This Waltz is set to start production this July in Toronto.

Did you like Away From Her? What do you think about this project?

According to Deadline Hollywood today actor Christoph Waltz, perhaps best known for his portrayal of Col. Hans Landa in Quentin Tarantino’s Inglorious Basterds has been signed to play the villain Chudnofsky in the upcoming film adaption of The Green Hornet starring Seth Rogen. Waltz has yet to make a comment on his new role. Production on The Green Hornet began 2 weeks ago and is being directed by Michel Gondry.

When it was announced that Nic Cage had dropped out of the role I was worried as to who was going to replace him. I am now kicking myself for not thinking of Waltz. He is the perfect guy to play a comic book villain. Hell, he kind of already did in Basterds. I cant wait to see this film and hope to see some comments from the cast and crew soon.

Do you think Waltz was the right choice?

After being delayed from its original scheduled release date of Summer 2010, The Green Hornet, the Seth Rogen starring, Michel Gondry directed adaptation of the superhero character is now being released on December 17, 2010.  However, this is also the same newly announced release date for Tron Legacy, the sequel to the 1982 film Tron.  Interestingly enough, it seems Disney has moved the film up from their planned release of 2011 to compete for the holiday spot.  Two other films are also opening up on that date, The Smurfs and Yogi Bear, which according to ScreenRant are also in 3D, along with Tron Legacy. This could spell out a problem, as many theaters, including mine, have only one 3D screen in the whole theater, and to accommodate three films on the same weekend would be madness.  However, the question of who wins the weekend box office seems much more clear.

A movie like Tron Legacy being released on the weekend before Christmas is destined to win the box office.  An action movie from Disney, a sequel to a popular movie from the 80’s, and of course, all in 3D.  The Smurfs and Yogi Bear, the former being animated with a mix of live action, the latter most likely being all CG, should do well, but if they do in fact stay in that release date, which I speculate they won’t due to competition, I think Tron Legacy will still best those two.  As for The Green Hornet, I actually don’t know if it’ll have legs.  My reasoning is this: A. The Green Hornet is not a well known character for modern audiences, and it will be hard to get people to see him right away, and B. Seth Rogen’s profile is dropping.  While he isn’t completely faded from the public consciousness, the box office of his last four starring movies has been on a weak run.  Funny People is the lowest grossing and least well received Apatow written and directed movie yet, and one has to wonder how much of that box office slide has to do with Rogen’s presence.  While perhaps if given the right movie, like maybe Green Hornet, he can have a rebound, but as for now things look a little less bright in terms of successes and failures.

Of all the movies here, Tron Legacy is the one I want to see the most.  The Green Hornet picture maybe being entertaining, but Tron is the one I want to see the most at the moment.  The two other films I imagine will be moved from the December 17, 2010 release date to a more safe date for either picture.  Otherwise, the lead up to December 17, 2010 will be a big game of chicken for the four studios.  And that could possibly be more entertaining than any of the movies they plan to release on that date.

What do you think of the crowded release schedule for December 17, 2010?

It has been reported today by many sources that the film adaptation of The Green Hornet has been pushed 5 months back from its original July 2010 release date to December 17, 2010. HitFlix was able to reach the film star Seth Rogen for comment. He said “It gives more time for post, which would have been immensely rushed if we were to come out in the summer. It also affords us more time to promote the film, (now we can go to Comic-Con with more than a car!) and ultimately is a great vote of confidence from the studio.” This is the most recent news on the film since it was announced that Edward James Olmos had joined the cast. The film is directed by Michel Gondry and written by Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg.

This feels like a weekly event know with all the recent Hornet news. First it was that Cage might be playing the villain. Then the Olmos report and now this.  I think this pushback is a good move because this is a film that is going to need a lot of good advertising since most of the younger audience arnt even aware of the existence of the Green Hornet character. Also, allowing more time for post is always a plus (usually).

Are you excited about the long-gestating, high-profile The Green Hornet?

The Seth Rogen starring, co-written by Superbad and Pineapple Express co-scribe Evan Goldberg, Michel Gondry directed movie version of the TV show The Green Hornet has finally found their Kato.  Stephen Chow, best known for Kung Fu Hustle and Shaolin Soccer, was originally set to direct and star as Kato, the Green Hornet’s crime-fighting sidekick, but he later dropped out in favor of other projects.  With a director in place, finding a replacement actor was the biggest snag in the production.  But now, actor Jay Chou has been selected for the part, says a Columbia Press Release.

Described as a “pop-star phenomenon throughout Asia”, Chou is best known for his singing career, although he has acted in five previous features.  Also rumored for the movie are Nicolas Cage for a villain role, and Cameron Diaz reportedly as a “reporter/love interest”.  The movie is scheduled to begin filming this year for a 2010 release.

The Green Hornet is a project that doesn’t pique my interest that greatly.  I have no attachment to the character, and only Rogen’s involvement has me interested.  I’m still curious as to how Gondry will direct this, as his movies are known for their surreal style, and this doesn’t seem like the kind of movie that would benefit from that.  I also have no idea how Chou will do in this role, considering this is the first time I’ve ever even heard of him.  But both Gondry and Rogen approved, so I have confidence in him.  Nicolas Cage as the villain sounds, well, pretty awesome, and that I would love to see.

What do you think of Chou being cast as Kato?

Judd Apatow’s (The 40 Year Old Virgin, Knocked Up) latest film Funny People is his best film to date (directed or otherwise). It reverses the standard “Apatow formula” and delivers something completely original. In 40 Year Old Virgin and Knocked Up we get a well-written dirty comedy with a fair amount of drama thrown in at key points. Funny People however is a well-written drama with comedy thrown in at perfect moments so you aren’t left in a sea of sad emotion.

This film is also another example of Apatow telling the story of a sensitive topic through humor, much like Knocked Up, which dealt with the issue of unplanned pregnancy, this film deals with the very broad topic of death.  Apatow has stated that most of his writing comes from personal experience. What is nice about Funny People is that we actually get to see these personal experiences play out. The very opening of the film features a young Adam Sandler on an old home movie, prank calling people. It was nice that Apatow added that sense of realism, allowing us to dive much deeper into the character of George Simmons.

Read the rest of this review below >>