'Vampire Academy' coming to the big screen

Preger Entertainment is bringing Richelle Mead's popular series of "Vampire Academy" novels to the big screen. Preger announced it acquired the rights to the books. Details from the press release follow.

The "Vampire Academy" story is a coming-of-age, action driven, "paranormal romance" fantasy. It is set in the present day against a hidden universe of vampires, half-humans, alchemy, and magic.

Mead shifts the focus from the brooding male vampires of "Twilight" and "Vampire Diaries" to that of a strong, yet flawed, 17-year-old female who confronts her world with grit, determination, and lots of moxie.

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Jason Reitman to produce 'Allagash'

Jason Reitman, the dude who directed last year's "Up in the Air," is developing the big-screen adaptation of Simon Rich's novel "Elliot Allagash." Rich will write the script, with Reitman producing the flick.

The Hollywood Reporter says it's not yet determined whether Reitman will also helm the film. He hasn't announced his next directorial project yet. Here is the official description of "Allagash":

Seymour Herson is the least popular student at Glendale, a private school in Manhattan. He’s painfully shy, physically inept, and his new nick-name, “chunk style,” is in danger of entering common usage.

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'Legally Blonde' writer sets 'Camp Rules'

Kirsten Smith, the screenwriter behind "Legally Blonde," is making her directorial debut for Paramount Pictures with "Camp Rules," a comedy feature based on the novel by Jordan Roter, according to Variety.

The film follows a 16-year-old during her stay at a girl's camp in Maine. Smith is writing the screenplay with Deanna Kizis. Her other credits include "The Ugly Truth," "The House Bunny" and "She's the Man."

Steven Spielberg to direct 'War Horse'

Steven Spielberg will next direct "War Horse," a drama set during World War I. DreamWorks will team up with Disney to release the movie Aug. 10, 2011, which is a couple of months before the release of Spielberg's "The Adventures of Tintin: The Secret of the Unicorn." That one is now in post-production.

"Horse" is based on the book by Michael Morpurgo, and it follows the friendship between a boy and his horse during the war. Lee Hall and Richard Curtis are writing the screenplay. We've heard about several projects Spielberg wants to tackle, but this one is definitely going to be his next. (Source: Variety)

Movie Review: “The Time Traveler’s Wife”

Seen on: August 14, 2009

The players: Director: Robert Schwentke, Writer: Bruce Joel Rubin, Cast: Rachel McAdams, Eric Bana, Ron Livingston, Jane McLean, Arliss Howard

Facts of interest: Based on the novel by Audrey Niffenegger.

The plot: The film chronicles the love story between a young woman and a man who involuntarily travels through time.

Our thoughts: Even though I really tried to make it last a bit, my interest in Robert Schwentke’s big-screen romance “The Time Traveler’s Wife” almost disappeared as quickly as Eric Bana does in the film. I know it can be tough to take a movie like this one seriously in the first place, but I definitely tried. Alas, what I got in return almost wasn’t worth my time at all…

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Clive Owen in powerful 'Boys Are Back' trailer

Clive Owen stars in Scott Hicks' upcoming drama "The Boys Are Back," and a new trailer for the film has recently debuted online. Check it out after the jump; it's a powerful one.

Based on the novel by Simon Carr, the film follows a witty, wisecracking, action-oriented sportswriter who, in the wake of his wife's tragic death, finds himself in a sudden, stultifying state of single parenthood.

Tommy Bastow, Laura Fraser, George MacKay, Emma Booth, Natasha Little and Erik Thomson co-star in the film, which will hit limited release Sept. 25, 2009.

Hicks’ directing credits include “Hearts in Atlantis,” “No Reservations” and “Glass: A Portrait of Philip in Twelve Parts.” Allan Cubitt adapted Carr's novel. Looks good. It's definitely one I will be looking for this fall.

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Catherine Hardwicke to direct 'Maximum Ride'?

Catherine Hardwicke is in talks to direct Columbia's big-screen version of James Patterson’s best-selling novel series “Maximum Ride."

The story focuses on six kids who underwent genetic modification to be 98 percent human and 2 percent bird. After escaping from the laboratories they’re held at, the children are pursued by a gang of werewolves sent to track them down.

Don Payne, screenwriter of “My Super Ex-Girlfriend” and “Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer,” is writing the script.

Columbia is eyeing an entire franchise if this film succeeds. No word on how many films the studio is planning at this stage.

Hardwicke last directed Summit's "Twilight," but she won't return for the sequel, "New Moon." Her credits also include "Thirteen" and "Lords of Dogtown."

Source: The Hollywood Reporter

Another dog movie: 'Dog on It' coming to big screen

Animal lovers rejoice! You have another dog movie heading your way.

Universal Pictures has acquired the big-screen rights to Spencer Quinn's novel "Dog on It: A Chet and Bernie Mystery."

Variety reports Jeff Lowell will write the screenplay, about an investigator and his dog trying to find a missing person.

If the dog in the movie is not enough, get ready for this: "Dog on It" will actually be told from the animal's point of view.

Lowell, whose writing credits include "John Tucker Must Die" and the awful "Over Her Dead Body," also recently wrote "Hotel for Dogs," a movie that didn't really amuse me that much.

Other recent big-screen dog flicks include "Beverly Hills Chihuahua" and "Marley & Me." I say it's time for a break, no?

'Dark Knight' producer heads to 'Damascus'

"The Dark Knight" producer Charles Roven is working on a big-screen adaptation of Robert Stone's novel "Damascus Gate" for Columbia.

The Hollywood Reporter describes the film as a political thriller "set in a world in which a groundbreaking accord between Palestinians and Israelis is nearly complete when a burned-out journalist comes upon an extremist plot to sabotage the effort. The title is a reference to a landmark gate in Jerusalem's Old City."

Eric Singer is writing the screenplay for the project, which Roven and Richard Suckle are producing. Roven also told THR the film will feature "complex characters."

Singer most recently wrote Tom Tykwer's upcoming thriller "The International." As for Roven, his producing credits include "Get Smart," "The Bank Job" and "Batman Begins."

One of his upcoming projects is Dominic Sena's "Season of the Witch," a period drama/thriller starring Nicholas Cage and Ron Perlman.

Barry Levinson set to direct 'Babi Yar' adaptation

Barry Levinson is set to direct a big-screen adaptation of Anatoly Kuznetsov's WWII classic "Babi Yar."

Here's how Variety describes the project:

"Novel is the author's harrowing account of witnessing mass executions of Jews, gypsies, Poles and prisoners of war during the German occupation of Kiev. The title refers to a ravine called Babi Yar where the atrocities took place."

"Yar" will be produced on a $35 million budget, and shooting is expected to start in Ukraine and Romania in April.

Levinson's credits unclude "Good Morning, Vietnam," "Rain Man," and more recently "Man of the Year." He last helmed "What Just Happened."

The most recent WWII films to open in theaters include "Defiance," "Valkyrie," "The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas" and "The Counterfeiters."