Eminem's 'Southpaw' may land director Antoine Fuqua

Director Antoine Fuqua is in talks to direct an upcoming boxing drama & Eminem vehicle entitled "Southpaw." Fuqua, who hasn't done anything significant since 2001's "Training Day", has stepped away from a Tupac Shakur biopic that he has been working on for several months in order to pursue this new project.

According to the Los Angeles Times, "Southpaw" was written by "Sons of Anarchy" creator Kurt Sutter and focuses on the plight of a left-handed boxer whose life is beset by tragedy during his quest for the title. The film is on track to go into production later this year and will be Eminem's first role since 2002's "8 Mile."

'Brooklyn's Finest' gets an intense trailer

Antoine Fuqua returns to the big screen with a new cop drama, and this time, he's focusing on "Brooklyn's Finest." The film is slated for a March 5, 2010 release, and a trailer is now finally online.

The film essentially focuses on three cops with different personal problems. Richard Gere plays a cop close to retirement, while Ethan Hawke is a Narcotics officer struggling to provide a decent living for his family.

Then there's Don Cheadle, who plays an undercover cop who sees his loyalties slowly shifting away from the law. Also on board is Wesley Snipes, who plays a badass drug dealer. Ellen Barkin co-stars as well.

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Daily news dose: Affleck to helm Phoenix biopic; J.K. Simmons back for 'Spider-Man 4'

Here's your dose of quick news bits for Jan. 19, 2009...

• Believe it or not, but Casey Affleck will direct a documentary about retired actor Joaquin Phoenix's music career. I'm sure by now you've all heard Phoenix quit acting to become a - guess what - rapper. He's currently working on an album produced by Sean Combs. (The Hollywood Reporter)

• In a recent interview with MTV, actor J.K. Simmons said he would return as J. Jonah Jameson in "Spider-Man 4," which will shoot in 2010 for a 2011 release. “We’ve definitely brainstormed ideas for Triple-J, but I have no desire to make Triple-J more of the focus of those movies. The amount that I did in 1, 2 and 3, is just exactly right," he said.

• Roland Emmerich will direct the big-screen version of Isaac Asimov's sci-fi trilogy "Foundation," which Columbia recently acquired. Variety says the story follows a "psycho-historian who can scientifically read the future sees an imminent empire collapse and prepares to save the knowledge of mankind."

• Antoine Fuqua is planning a biopic about Gregory Scarpa Sr., an FBI informant and chief enforcer for the Colombo crime family. "It's called 'Scarpa' with Morgan Creek, and it's New York again, Brooklyn, FBI, Italian gangsters, it takes place from the '60s to the '90s, and we're talking to Sean Penn," he told ComingSoon.