Another day, another intriguing project from Ryan Kavanaugh and his Relativity Media shingle. According to Variety, their latest script acquisition is D. B. Weiss' Kashmir, which has already attracted the interest of director Jean-Jacques Annaud.

Weiss' script revolves around three ex-mercenaries who receive a tip as to the location of a terrorist who boasts a $30 million bounty on his head. For that kind of money, they decide to brave a trip into Kashmir, the volatile region between Pakistan and India. And because nothing is ever so simple as heading into a dangerous region to hunt a terrorist, all three men have their own reasons for the journey, and their working relationship is sorely tested.

The idea comes from those early days of the War on Terror, when the U.S. government actually was putting up wanted posters -- it's a sign of how much has happened that I can't remember if anyone ever collected on them. Annaud, ever the adventurist, has every intention of shooting as close as he can to Kashmir, and is traveling to Pakistan with Weiss for research.

While I'm a bit tired of terrorism plotlines, the story has all the classic marks of a Western -- and I'd love to see it tackled as such. Annaud certainly does grueling journeys (inner and outer) and sweeping vistas well, though the final result can be wanting. Here's hoping he can take the best parts of Enemy at the Gates and combine it with his eye for landscapes, and give us a good old fashioned bounty hunt.

With J.C.V.D. charming audiences everywhere and making the unlucky of us foam at the mouth to see it, the big question has become: Would this be the start of a great career twist, or a charming, but fleeting, aberration for Jean Claude Van Damme? Rather than taking it step by step, the dude has jumped head first into the deep end -- next up will be Van Damme's labor of love, Full Love, which he wrote, produced, directed, and stars in. It's supposed to be a personal story, but is currently all hush-hush. But now we've at least got a peek inside, courtesy of Twitch. They've posted five images from the film, including the thumbnail to the right. It doesn't show much, but one thing that's definitely not there -- JCVD splits.

Turning from possible success to definite success -- CNN reports that Tim Robbins has nabbed himself a star on Hollywood's Walk of Fame. In the ceremony last week, the actor said: "I used to take the bus from here to Burbank to go to work. When the bus was late, I would walk up and down and throw my cigarettes down. Now I have the honor of having this done to my star."

Meanwhile, if you've dug the tunes coming out of Repo! The Genetic Opera, Horror-Movies.ca reports that the film's soundtrack will be up for free for one day only, today the 13th, on the flick's official website. Go now!

And one last nibblet: Variety reports that Mark Waters, director of films like The House of Yes, Mean Girls, and The Spiderwick Chronicles, is heading to TV to helm the pilot Eva Adams. Adapted from the Argentinian telenova Lalola, the series will follow a womanizer who gets turned into a woman and must endure what he used to dole out.

So you might be wondering what a picture of Eric Bana swigging a beer in a Hulk t-shirt has to do with the remake of a French thriller. Well, the answer I'm afraid is nothing, its just one of my favorite pictures of the Aussie actor -- but back to the business at hand. Variety reports that Millennium Films is currently in talks with Bana to star in their remake of the French thriller, Le Convoyeur (now titled, Armored).

The original film was written and directed by Nicolas Boukhrief, but Millennium have their eye on F. Gary Gray (The Italian Job) to take over the remake. The script was also given a re-working by David Ayer (Training Day) and Andrew Kevin Walker. The story centers on a man (presumably to be played by Bana) working for an armored car company who manages to ingratiate himself into a heist planned by his co-workers. But as it turns out, our protagonist has his own motives for weaseling his way into this band of lowlifes.

Bana had originally been set to star in the flick before dropping the project to play Nero in J.J. Abram's Star Trek reboot. So what could have changed his mind? According to Variety, Bana "has a deal negotiated down to what sources described as a $7.5 million paycheck." Not bad for a guy who has yet to really break out as a leading man.

Bana's schedule would appear to be packed for the foreseeable future, including promoting Trek and the romantic weepy, *The Astronaut's Wife. Not to mention he will be making his directing debut with the documentary, Love the Beast, later this year. Armored is scheduled to start production on April 1st, so Millennium is going to have to work fast if they want to convince Bana to sign on -- I personally can think of 7.5 million reasons to sign on the dotted line.

*Correction: Bana will star opposite Rachel McAdams in The Time Traveler's Wife.

A long time passed since 10 Things I Hate About You hit the big screen. Julia Stiles got Bourne, Joseph Gordon-Levitt has become a powerhouse on the indie scene, and Heath Ledger ... we know what became of him. I'm guessing that his death and reminiscing moments about his work is what inspired this next piece of news: Ace Showbiz reports that ABC Family is going to make the Shakespeare-inspired film into a television series, with the film's director, Gil Junger, signed on to helm the pilot. In it, Kate and Bianca Stratford will face "their new high school environment." I don't know if that means freshman hitting the big leagues, or the girls moving to a new zip code, but I can only hope that they come up with a new love interest for Kate. There's only one Patrick Verona.

Hater has been on a long road to production, but it looks like the time is finally here. Almost a year ago, Guillermo del Toro had signed on to direct the adaptation of David Moody's novel. But then the Hobbit swept him away and left Hater director-less. Have no fear, Moody fans, the pic is back on track. Variety reports that the director of The Orphanage, Juan Antonio Bayona, will helm the feature when it kicks into gear next year. So, if you liked the one-two producer-director punch of del Toro and Bayona, this should be a treat!

Hit the jump for a few exhibition news bits for the next few months.

I predict that the news you are about to read will result in many people shocked, shocked! that someone would make a comedy about cancer. Even The Hollywood Reporter sounds a little uncertain about the news. But once you read the film's plot, I think you're going to see exactly what kind of movie this is.

Mandate Pictures has bought I'm With Cancer, an autobiographical comedy by Will Reiser. Seth Rogen, the busiest man in Hollywood, is set to costar and produce the film alongside his writing-producing partner Evan Goldberg and The Daily Show's Ben Karlin.

Reiser's script is based on his own battle with cancer, and is centered around an up-and-coming 25-year-old who discovers he has the disease. I think you know where this is going. This isn't going to be some spoof of serious illness, or run with the idea that coming down with cancer is funny. Cancer is going to be about a young man trying to deal with something that could kill him, finding the humor in hospital situations, and using it to stay sane. Laughter is the best medicine, and all that. Given that Reiser obviously conquered his disease to co-produce this movie, I bet it will even have a happy ending. You know what I'm also willing to bet on? Medicinal marijuana jokes. If there isn't at least one, I will eat this post.

Sixteen years ago, we got Beethoven -- not Ludwig, but rather the big ol' St. Bernard. Just in case four sequels and a stint on television wasn't enough for you, The Hollywood Reporter posts that Universal is releasing yet another direct-to-DVD sequel on December 30 -- Beethoven's Big Break. I guess they gave up punning on Ludwig with their titles. But just because it's not going to the big screen doesn't mean you can't see the pup in huge glory -- it seems that a giant Beethoven balloon will be part of the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade this year. I bet it'll be cuter than the movie.

In other DVD news: Have you ever scoured the DVD shelves, discovered some strange, old film with current stars, and comment on how someone unearthed the crappy flick to make money on the actor's newfound fame? Well, this next bit is something like that. THR also reports that ex 90210 gals Tori Spelling and Shannen Doherty are hitting DVD shelves with Kiss the Bride and Kiss Me Deadly (respectively, and I don't think connected) to tap into some of that spotlight currently shining once again on Beverly Hills High. Ever watch either flick? Thumbs up ... down?

Finally, James Gunn's PG Porn has debuted. You can check it out after the jump. Remember -- just because Aria Giovanni is in it doesn't mean that it's going to be explicit. So, check out Nathan Fillion acting like a porn star who doesn't get the goods -- it's not quite Funny or Die funny, but I'll definitely keep watching.

Have you ever wondered where Tom Thumb came from? If so, you'll be happy with a recent post from The Hollywood Reporter. It seems the tiny character is heading for the big screen with Warner Bros. and director Kevin Lima (Enchanted), and the project will be go the live action route, although Thumb might be CG. Robert Rodat, of Saving Private Ryan fame, wrote the script, which is said to "look at the heroism that a knight must summon after he is reduced to a pint size." Okay ... CG is cool and all, but I hope they stick to miniaturizing a real person. CG doesn't have to be used for everything, and Tom Thumb wasn't made into a cartoon character when he shrunk, after all.

Next up, THR also reports that David Cronenberg is circling the Robert Ludlum project The Matarese Circle, which we previously told you about when Denzel Washington signed on earlier this year. Before it was simply the latest political thriller to hit the screen, one that focuses on two rival agents, US and Soviet, who work together to find Matarese criminals lurking in the American government. But with Cronenberg? The man behind The Fly, Crash, Spider, and A History of Violence? This sounds so bloody good.

Finally, there's good ol' David Duchovny. In August, he went away to rehab for sex addiction. Now, according to Ace Showbiz, he's out and heading back to work. A statement issued by his lawyer says: "He is out of rehab and will be starting a movie soon." This will, most likely, be The Joneses. I'm just glad it's about a fake family and not about sex. After all this, I just can't watch Californication without getting weirded out.

Celebrity interviews can be pretty nerve-wracking. The ante is upped even more when the interviewee doesn't give many interviews. You hope for the best, but sometimes that's not what you get. Xan Brooks got a chance to interview Faye Dunaway for The Guardian, and things didn't go so well. It started with a list of ixnayed topics, but one was left off the list -- Roman Polanski and rumors about Chinatown. He asked if it was true that she once threw a cup of urine at the famed director and well, she didn't take too kindly to that line of questioning. Follow the link to see what happened and then comment below: Was it okay for Brooks to ask her about that? Did she overreact?

And then there's a little bit of tennis. Variety reports that Frank Deford's adaptation of his novel Big Bill: The Triumphs and the Tragedy, which focuses on tennis legend Bill Tilden, has been optioned by Baldwin Entertainment. This is a pretty old-school story -- Tilden won six straight U.S. Open singles titles in the 1920s, and was the first American to win Wimbledon. The plus about this feature: there's a lot more to the man than just rackets and balls. "He was also a contract bridge champ, musicologist, novelist, playwright and actor. On the other side of the ledger, Tilden was famously self-destructive, going to jail twice for sexual misbehavior with teenage boys and dying penniless." That should prove interesting.

Finally, Michael Pena told MTV that he'd definitely be in if a feature version of The Shield, if one was schemed up. In fact, he thinks there could be a prequel and that it would be "awesome." Me, I caught some old-school Felicity eps recently, and now I can't see him as anything other than the wanna-be ladies man who lived in the dorm. He's come a long way in 8 years.

We might have all seen this coming, but then again, it is always nice to know you're right.

The sci-fi blog, Io9 has now confirmed that Ridley Scott's next project will be a feature film version of Brave New World, Aldous Huxley's classic novel. In an interview with the blog, Scott told them about the origins of the project. Scott says, "I didn't choose to do it, someone came to me with it. In fact it was Leo's [Leonardo DiCaprio's] production company that came to me with that." Could this mean that Scott already has Mr. DiCaprio in mind for a role in the film as well? Rumblings about the project started back in June, when Scott announced that he was finally making a return to sci-fi -- but he wasn't giving away details at the time. As it turns out, the smart money was on a big screen version of Huxley's prophetic novel.

Written in 1932, Brave New World centered on a future in which everyone appeared happy and content while in a constant state of consumption (sound familiar?). When an outsider is brought into the 'perfect society', things get a little tricky. The message: we're all willing to give up our freedoms and humanity for a little comfort and entertainment.

After the jump, Scott talks about the script, and the problem with finding 'the perfect writer'.

This summer's Get Smart reboot, with Steve Carell as Maxwell, was far from brilliant, but sweet Jebus, Carell is funny. His improvised dance with a bewildered-but-willing overweight partygoer is one of this year's comic highlights -- a perfect blend of good-natured mockery and non sequitur. So the official announcement of the inevitable sequel strikes me as a good thing. I doubt they'll ever come up with any sort of finely tuned masterwork, but I figure it's guaranteed to have a bunch of great moments. Big budget comedies are often so dire that "uneven with flashes of inspiration" is music to my ears.

Even better, the success of Get Smart has earned Carell a three-year deal with Warner Bros., giving him a chance to develop both starring vehicles and projects for others. It's good to see the right people take off like this, y'know? On the other hand, it's kind of unfair: why do today's teenagers get to inhabit a comedic landscape dominated by the likes of Carell, Judd Apatow, Michael Cera, Seth Rogen, etc., while I got Adam Sandler and Mike Myers? Kids these days, they don't know how good they got it.

I guess I liked Mike Myers back when; I was 13 when the first Austin Powers came out. I still kind of like him. But he's certainly overshadowed by the crop of comics in today's mainstream.