'The Hobbit' To Start 14 Month Shoot In June, Michael Mann To Helm 'Luck' Pilot For HBO, 'Zombieland' Scribes Tapped For 'Deadpool'

Guillermo Del Toro’s adaptation of “The Hobbit” now has a June start date set for a 14 month shoot, according to Production Weekly. A global casting search began in early December and should surely be funneling down to the later stages if talent are going to commit to moving to New Zealand for over a year. Del Toro recently revealed that three actors will be reprising their roles from the original franchise (Ian McKellen, Hugo Weaving and Cate Blanchett?) with all other roles up for grabs. We hear James McAvoy’s schedule is free in the summer (can you tell that we really want him to star or appear?).

Michael Mann is set to direct the pilot of HBO series “Luck” from a script by David Milch, writer and executive producer for “Deadwood” and “John From Cincinnati.” The series will center on the horse racing and gambling industry told through the eyes of a diverse group of characters. We’ve always thought this very subject had immense cinematic potential and can’t wait to see what Mann and Milch bring to it.

“Zombieland” scribes Rhett Reese and Paul Wernick have been tapped to pen the script for the ill-conceived “Deadpool” film, Ryan Reynolds will reprise his role as the “mercenary with a mouth” for the upcoming film which he portrayed in the atrocity that was “X-Men Origins: Wolverine” (unless they radically change something, that character does not deserve his own film by a long shot). The writing duo also have a script titled “Earth Vs. Moon” over a Universal and wrote a draft of the “Venom” movie for Sony and Marvel which we hope for their sake is at least 1/2 less confused than “Spider-Man 4” sounds.

After the script leaked for their previous film “New Moon,” you’d think all the “Twilight” actors and actresses would have learnt to keep it to themselves. Not quite, genius Jackson Rathbone has obviously been sending it around as a copy of David Slade’s “Eclipse” script has now leaked online with Rathbone’s name all over it. Summit are denying the leak but it’s apparently real but only an early draft, not the shooting script (like the quality will waiver greatly). Cue fans arguing about differences to the book. Cue us not really giving a flying fuck.

Jason Sudeikis has joined the newly-announced Farrelly Brothers project, “Hall Pass.” Owen Wilson leads the comedy which centers on a husband who is given a ‘hall pass,’ a free ticket to engage in extramarital affairs, by his wife when their marriage reaches a lull. Sudeikis will play Wilson’s token best friend character. Yawn. No word on who plays the female character yet.