— Three actors (John Leguizamo, Dan Futterman, Trilby Glover) and one pro skateboarder (Rob Dyrdek) have signed up for Righteous Kill, which stars Robert De Niro and Al Pacino. Brian Dennehy is also in talks for a role in the police drama, which began shooting September 4.
— Sacha Baron Cohen is planning another film based on one of his fictional characters — this time, the fashion reporter Bruno. He is also in talks to star in a remake of Le Diner de Cons; the Dreamworks version of the French comedy has the more prosaic title of Dinner for Schmucks.
— Action director Andrzej Bartkowiak (Romeo Must Die) has agreed to helm a new version of Street Fighter. The video game was originally adapted in 1994 with the Belgian Jean-Claude Van Damme starring as an American GI; this one will focus on a Chinese woman fighter instead. No word on casting yet, but the companies involved probably hope for someone who can help beat the original version’s $33 million at the box office.
— Will Smith has agreed to star in Seven Pounds, a drama about a man who tries to kill himself but falls in love. The film will be directed by Gabriele Muccino, who also directed Smith’s Happyness.
— Ralph Fiennes has joined the cast of The Duchess, a biopic based on Amanda Foreman’s book about an 18th century English duchess. Keira Knightley will star as Georgiana, Duchess of Devonshire, and Fiennes will play her husband the Duke.
— Producer Scott Rudin has made a $2 million deal for the film rights to I, Claudius, the historical novel by Robert Graves. It’d already been turned into an Emmy-winning miniseries by the BBC, which let the film rights lapse; several studios were interested, and the project may end up at Disney (which has an overall deal with Rudin). There’s a chance Leonardo DiCaprio and writer William Monahan, who were part of Warner Bros.’s bid, may get involved in the project. Oscar noms, anyone?
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