The Simpsons replace Back to the Future at Universal

A new ride tied to the Simpsons movie will launch in Spring 2008 at Universal Studios Hollywood and Universal Orlando Resort. The deal also includes provisions that allow actors dressed like Simpsons characters to roam the parks, and the creation of new souvenir stores dedicated to selling Simpsons-themed merchandise. ”The ride is designed to duplicate the Simpsons home-viewing experience, only at high speed and with lots of screaming,” said Simpsons creator Matt Groening. The ride will replace the long-running Back to the Future attraction, which will shutter at both parks after Labor Day. (Variety)

Kevin Bacon to star in HBO Iraq War film

HBO has tapped Kevin Bacon to star in Taking Chance as Lt. Col. Michael Strobl, an officer in the Iraq War who accompanies the body of fallen U.S. soldier Chance Phelps as it is returned home for a burial in Wyoming. Ross Katz, who produced In the Bedroom and Marie Antoinette, will make his directorial debut on the movie. Katz is also writing the script with Strobl, adapting it from the soldier’s short story of the same name. The project is set to start shooting this summer with HBO planning to air it some time in 2008. (Variety)

Tucker tapped for The Ruins

Jonathan Tucker (The Black Donnellys, In the Valley of Elah) will star in The Ruins, DreamWorks’ adaptation of the best-selling Scott B. Smith novel. Red Hour Films’ Ben Stiller and Stuart Cornfeld are producing. Tucker will star as Jeff, an ambitious premed student, in the thriller about a group of friends whose leisurely Mexican holiday takes a turn for the worse when Jeff persuades them to go on a remote archaeological dig in the jungle, where something evil lives among the ruins. Production starts in late May. (Hollywood Reporter)

Coens set up second project with Focus and Working Title

Joel and Ethan Coen set up A Serious Man with Focus Features and Working Title, the second (along with Burn After Reading) of a two-movie deal the brothers made with the companies. Both stories are being kept under wraps, but Man is being described as a dark comedy in the vein of Fargo. Burn After Reading is set to start shooting this summer with Brad Pitt, George Clooney, and Frances McDormand. Past Coen Brother movies with Working Title include Fargo, The Hudsucker Proxy, The Big Lebowski, O Brother, Where Art Thou? and The Man Who Wasn’t There. (Variety)

Kathy Bates to star alongside Titanic costars in Revolutionary Road

Kathy Bates will join Titanic co-stars Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet in Sam Mendes’ 1950s-set drama Revolutionary Road for DreamWorks. The story, adapted by Justin Haythe from Richard Yates’ critically acclaimed 1961 novel, is about a suburban Connecticut couple and the deterioration of their relationship. Bates will play Mrs. Givings, who sells the couple their home and introduces them to the town. Also added to the project are Michael Shannon (World Trade Center, Vanilla Sky), who will play the son of Bates’ character, and Zoe Kazan (Fracture), who will play Maureen, secretary of DiCaprio’s character, with whom she embarks on an affair. Shooting starts in June. (Hollywood Reporter)

Possible changes in store for The Incredible Hulk

We open the week with a pair of rumors regarding The Incredible Hulk. Could the green giant end up being … not so green? Plus, buzz tells us that mega-hottie Jessica Biel might be showing up in the semi-sequel.
While describing the next Hulk flick, producer Avi Arad used a phrase that might have meant nothing — or maybe it didn’t. “It’s a new Hulk, new direction, new size, new color, new attitude. Anything that was done before is not in this movie,” is what the Marvel guru had to say. Wait, what? “New color?” What’s that all about? Either he meant a slightly different shade of green, an entirely different color altogether, or perhaps the grey shade that the Hulk used to be back in the earrrrly comic days. Guess we’ll just have to wait and see…
Additional speculation indicates that Ms. Jessica Biel is being considered for a part in the second Hulk adventure — although that’s being listed as pure rumor at this point. If so, she’d be re-joining her Illusionist co-star Edward Norton in a decidedly different type of film. (JoBlo’s Movie Emporium)

Spiderman franchise far from over

With Spider-Man 3 nearing its opening and the lead actors and director’s contracts up, the fate of a second trilogy, or even a fourth film, is up in the air. Sam Raimi confirmed that the studio, Columbia Pictures, is interested in making parts 4, 5 and 6, but he would only come back if he could maintain the same passion.
“If I didn’t think I could do it fantastically, than I should step aside and let a younger director come in who loves the character and said he could do it with the greatest passion on the earth,” said Raimi.
With reports that Tobey Maguire said he would absolutely not do a fourth film, Maguire himself expressed no such feelings. He said he would consider it if there was a great story and Raimi and other cast members were back. So what of those other quotes?
“I’m not sure,” said Maguire. “That’s not what I’m saying now. I think early on through one and two I always imagined this as like three and out, lIke I’d do three and that would be enough for those. I’m not saying I will do a fourth one at all. I’m saying I’m not committed either way and we’ll see what happens.’
Weighing in on the Tobey Maguire casting debate, Raimi would have trouble recasting if he retained the helm. “I would have to make that choice based on what the story is and what the characters are. It would be very hard to be involved without Tobey and Kirsten for me at least.’
For Marvel producer Avi Arad, it is inconceivable that Spider-Man would end for any of the above reasons. “You have to look at it as Spider-Man is over 40 years old, in so many media from animation to comic books to graphic novels, maybe Broadway, video games, probably the most successful video games of all time,” said Arad. “So the character is bigger than all of us. I think we’d rather continue of course with Sam and the whole team. We’ve been together for a long time. The fact is that the character will endure. Spider-Man survived, believe me, bankruptcies, bad economies, you name it. And it’s around and alive and bigger than ever.”

Streep, Hoffman tapped for Doubt

Meryl Streep and Philip Seymour Hoffman will star in the movie adaptation of John Patrick’s Pulitzer- and Tony Award-winning play Doubt for Miramax Films. Shanley wrote the script and will direct the movie. The story is about a principal of a Bronx Catholic School (Streep), a nun who’s a strict disciplinarian, who makes pedophile accusations against a popular priest (Hoffman). Streep just finished work on the Gavin Hood-directed Rendition and the Robert Redford-directed Lions for Lambs, and she is preparing to start shooting on a screen adaptation of the ABBA musical Mamma Mia!. Hoffman just starred in the Sidney Lumet-directed Before the Devil Knows You’re Dead as well as alongside Tom Hanks and Julia Roberts in the Mike Nichols-directed Charlie Wilson’s War. He will next work on the Charlie Kaufman-directed Synecdoche, New York, and he’s currently starring at the Public Theater in Jack Goes Boating. He will next appear on-screen this summer in Savages, which also stars Laura Linney. (Variety)

A funny game

Here is a fun game to play if you happen to find yourself with a few minutes to kill.
http://www.famousr.com/#
Check it out.

Pitt to appear in Coen Brothers’ latest

Brad Pitt will appear alongside costars George Clooney and Frances McDormand in the Coen Brothers’ black comedy Burn After Reading for Working Titles Films. Joel and Ethan Coen wrote the screenplay together, and Joel will direct. The story is about a CIA agent who loses the disc of the book he is writing. It is unclear what role Pitt will play. He’ll start shooting in late August. Pitt recently finished shooting Warner Bros. Pictures’ The Assassination of Jesse James, and he is finishing work on Paramount Pictures’ Benjamin Button. (Hollywood Reporter)