Daily news dose: Roger Donaldson to direct 'Umbra;' 'Buffy' remake in the works

Here's your dose of film news for May 26, 2009:

• Roger Donaldson, whose credits include "Dante's Peak," "The Recruit" and "The Bank Job," is in talks to direct Relativity Media's "Umbra." Steven Karczynski wrote the script, but plot details are still kept under wraps. (Variety)

• Vertigo Entertainment is currently working on a remake of "Buffy the Vampire Slayer," but the Hollywood Reporter says creator Joss Whedon is not involved at this stage. The trade also says the project will not be connected to the television series. No writers are on board yet, and no studio has committed to the film yet.

• Speaking of remakes, Disney is in the planning stages of redoing "Flight of the Navigator," with Brad Copeland on board to write the screenplay. Randal Kleiser directed the 1986 original, about a boy who escapes NASA scientists and experiences a unique adventure on a spaceship. (THR)

• If you just can't get enough of Dan Aykroyd talking about "Ghostbusters III," here is what he told the Guardian about the plot of the new flick: "There'll be lots of cadets, boys and girls who'll be learning how to use the neuron splitter and the inter-planet interceptor - new tools to enable them to slip from dimension to dimension."