Movie Minesweeper - The Bad Punting Edition

I can't punt. I've been listening to Kodachrome by Paul Simon. Again.

- Chud have come out and reported that Billy Crudup will be Dr. Manhattan in Watchmen. Suits me.

- More Comic-Con details are out.

- A Hulk casting call has revealed that - surprise, surprise - there will be soldiers in the film.

- What is Indiana Jones looking for this time? Aint It Cool have a very interesting theory. I hope it's true, and I expect it is.

- Neil Gaiman linked to a piece on Travis Knight, the lead animator on Coraline. It confirms that the film is being shot digitally and in stereo vision. I love 3D.

- Aisha Tyler has joined Karl Urban and Larry Fishburne in the cast of Tony Kaye's Black Water Transit. Come on Tony: I'm rooting for you.

- David Morell's novel The Brotherhood of the Rose has been optioned by Warner Bros.

- Variety have today given Trailers form Hell some kind of official launch - months after I first linked to it. As well as (my favourites) Joe Dante and John Landis performing commentary tracks for exploitation trailers, the site now features the more-readily hip Edgar Wright and eternally unhip Mary Lambert.

- The Swing Vote cast has been rounded out to include Dennis Hopper, Kevin Costner, Nathan Lane, Kelsey Grammer, Stanley Tucci, George Lopez and Madeline Carroll. The stars is out (and so is Madeline Carroll).

And I need to take a breather, so I'm publishing this and coming right back with another heavy load.

Oh - and if you're interested, I'm listening to all of Tapestry by Carole King. Best. Album. Ever.

More Watchmen Casting Bits And Bobs

This is all according to Drew McWeeny at AintItCool - and he's typically very careful about what he reports, often to the point that loads of great stuff he's fully aware of remains secret for a long time. I'm believing every word of this 100%.

In his new piece, he suggests front runners for the roles of Dr. Manhattan and The Comedian. For the blue guy, he suggests Jason Patric is the front runner; for the funny guy, it seems like Thomas Jane is the pack leader.

I'm a little disappointed that Patric may have taken the role from Billy Crudup, but elated that there isn't a whiff of Keanu Reeves about either of them. As for Jane beating out Ron Perlman and Nathan Fillion... well, he wouldn't be my first choice...

These decisions may be budgetary in some sense. Crudup may cost more than Patric with no more marquee value, the same for Jane over Perlman and Fillion. That's not a bad reasoning method however - films do cost an awful lot of money, you know.

Almost Almost Famous

According to The Hollywood Reporter, Mr. Jason Lee has set up a new comedy at Warner Bros. and several of the details sound very familiar.

The story revolves around a 70s band. Lee is their leader - though not their vocalist. A new vocalist is hired, and it turns out the new guy has broadway aspirations. Hilarity ensues.

I'm sure you can pick out the bits and pieces of Almost Famous by yourself. Lee came up with the concept (I wonder what gave him the idea?), will star and produce, and has one J D Ryznar writing the script. Both the band and the film will be called Krater, which even ends with the same letters as Stillwater, the Almost Famous band. Weird? Okay, maybe not. But it will be when Billy Crudup joins the cast, Kate Hudson appears as a groupie and Rolling Stone have Patrick Fugit conduct an interview with Lee.

Writer Ryznar is also working on Jack Black's The Department of Acceptable Media - a clip show somewhere between America's Stonediest Home Videos, Strutter and Takeover TV.