The live-action fairy tale craze shows no sign of abating, even with no less than three "Snow White" films in the works. Fortunately, Disney is laying off the raven-haired beauty and her seven wee friends in favor of another classic Disney Princess going the real route. According to Deadline, the studio is looking at director Mark Romanek to bring screenwriter Aline Brosh McKenna's take on the "Cinderella" tale to the screen.

 

Romanek is best known for "One Hour Photo" and "Never Let Me Go," two decidedly darker films that may give a hint as to the aesthetic and tone Disney is looking for on this project. The director also has experience in television and music videos, so he has much to offer a film looking to really riff on a classic tale. The film is of course billed as a "re-imagining" that takes the story in a political direction, with the prince set for an arranged marriage that has to do with the machinations of his kingdom. All that changes when he meets Cinderella.

 

McKenna sold her pitch for the film to the studio last year for a reported figure somewhere in the seven-figure range. Disney was hot on the pitch considering the massive success of "Alice in Wonderland," so even though the deal was huge, it wasn't totally shocking. McKenna has worked primarily in breezy features, including "The Devil Wears Prada," "27 Dresses," and "Morning Glory." But McKenna has lately started skewing more grown-up, with a script for Cameron Crowe's upcoming "We Bought a Zoo" under her belt signifying more depth to her work, despite the fact that she also penned the upcoming Sarah Jessica Parker-starring "I Don't Know How She Does It" (which looks nothing short of utterly paint-by-the-numbers​).

 

The Cinderella story has been brought to the screen so many times that the term "Cinderella story" is synonymous with any kind of romantic story that involves transformation - with works like "Pygmalion" (and, by extension, "My Fair Lady") to harder romantic comedies like "Working Girl" and "Pretty Woman" to basic reappropriated spins on the material like "Ever After" or "A Cinderella Story" falling under its umbrella. Does Hollywood really need another Cinderella story?

 

After from jumping from commercials and lowest-common-denomi​nator MTV programming to the big screen with "Zombieland," director Ruben Fleischer fast found himself a sought-after talent.  For his follow-up, he chose "30 Minutes or Less," a crime-comedy (based on a far less cheerful true story) where Jesse Eisenberg is strapped with a bomb by low-rent criminals Danny McBride and Nick Swardson and then forced to rob a bank.

Fleischer's currently casting and in pre-production for "Gangster Squad," a '50s L.A. crime saga with Ryan Gosling, Josh Brolin, Emma Stone and Sean Penn. We spoke with Fleischer in L.A. about keeping the gas down for "30 Minutes or Less," how he cant really think art imitates life, and about how "Zombieland 2" may be a victim of its own success.

When did this project first come across your bow  as something you might do?

 

Fleischer: I guess it was about a month or two after 'Zombieland.' It was before Christmas of last year. No, before Christmas of 2009. 'Zombieland' came out in October, so it would have been November, December of 2009. Obviously I had this completely revolutionary experience with 'Zombieland' where all of a sudden after being a struggling filmmaker who was dying to make his first movie, I was being presented with all of these beyond imaginable opportunities. I was a bit overwhelmed. Then I met with (producer) Stuart Cornfeld at Red Hour, and he shared that script with me. As soon as I read it, I was pretty sure that was the one that I wanted to do.

 

And you knew you wanted to work with Mr. Eisenberg again. Was that 'Done and done; I've got my guy?'

 

Fleischer: I love Jesse. I loved our collaboration on the first movie, and I was extremely excited to reunite with him.

 

 

The minute I heard about the movie “The Help,” without being familiar with the popular book by Kathryn Stockett or knowing that much about the story, I knew it would be subject to lots of criticism. I think it’s impossible to make a film about a white protagonist in the South who fights against racism without people taking issue with the concept of the “white savior.” I can empathize with this concern but I’m not fully on board with it. And despite some problems with the film, I loved “The Help.” Besides being entertaining as hell, it is a film that I think can spark some much needed conversations in this country, especially among young people who have little knowledge of many unpleasant aspects of our history. 

 

According to The Hollywood Reporter, "Silence of the Lambs" Oscar-winner Jonathan Demme has optioned the rights to "11/22/63," Stepehen King's upcoming novel about an English teacher who somehow goes back in time with the intent of preventing the Kennedy assassination and ends up rubbing elbows with Elvis and falling in love with a librarian.  

In a courageous if perhaps foolhardy attempt to keep Hollywood classy, Susan Sarandon, Julie Christie, and Richard Jenkins have agreed to join Robert Redford's "The Company You Keep."  

Taylor Launter's first major role outside of "Twilight" seems set on selling the actor as the next breed of action star - but will it work? "Abduction" imagines Launter as Nathan, a regular teen who discovers that his parents are not his parents, but instead of going the Movie of the Week route and focusing on the emotional repercussions of such news, the film further imagines that Nathan's faux-parents are somehow tangled up with what looks to be a shady government organization. Naturally, when they're killed by some faceless bad guys, Nathan goes on the run and attempts to untangle the mystery of his past. If it sounds like "The Bourne Identity" for the "Twilight" set, that's because that's absolutely how it's been packaged. 

Lovingly billed as "the cancer comedy," Jonathan Levine's "50/50" is the cinematic telling of screenwriter Will Reiser's real-life battle with cancer. A young, hip dude, Reiser discovered he had cancer when he was still in his twenties, and essentially just really starting his life. The film stars Joseph Gordon-Levitt as a character based on Reiser, with Seth Rogen basically playing himself (Reiser worked with Rogen and his writing and producing partner Evan Goldberg when he got his diagnosis, and the two apparently provided the levity Rogen's role brings). Gordon-Levitt's character struggles with his newfound disease while attempting to find a way to beat it, Rogen is his hapless best friend desperate to make things feel even somewhat normal.

"50/50" offers a unique take on the basic "oh, no, you have a terrible disease" film. It's a true dramedy - it's both very funny and very wrenching. Gordon-Levitt turns in a thoroughly lovely and believable performance as Adam, and though Rogen doesn't stretch his chops too far, his Kyle adds a level of emotion to Rogen's goofball work that he doesn't often get a chance to show. The film also stars Anna Kendrick as Adam's therapist, Bryce Dallas Howard as his girlfriend, and Anjelica Huston and Philip Baker Hall as his parents that already have enough a health distaster on their hands.

The second trailer for "50/50" zippily presents Adam's life with cancer - including diagnosis, responses from others, inevitable pre-chemotherapy head-shaving, and using his disease to pick up chicks. It's a breezy trailer that seems bent on convincing potential movie-goers that a film about cancer can still be fun. And it is, but make no mistake, "50/50" has a got a big gushy heart at its center. It may well be one of the biggest and best surprises of the fall season.

 

“50/50” opens on September 30. Check out the film’s second trailer, thanks to Yahoo!, after the break.

 

We’ve known since earlier this year that a third “Bridget Jones’s Diary” film was in the works, but Entertainment Weekly exclusively reports that a third film is indeed coming to a theater near you. Working Title Films, which released both the original 2001 film and its 2004 sequel, has based this new project over at Universal. There is no word as of yet on this third film's release date.

 

While the prospect of more Bridget is certainly exciting, there’s one huge problem with this news – just what the heck will this third film be based on? Though author Helen Fielding confirmed earlier this year that she was indeed penning a third novel, that book doesn’t seem to be any closer to publication, leaving plotlines up in the air. Fielding told the London Evening Standard, “I will be working on both the book and the film but I don’t know if they are the same thing yet. It’s not been decided.” Does this mean audiences would be in for another loose adaptation of less-than-great material, a la the second film, “Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason”? Let’s hope not.

 

The film may focus on the troubles of Bridget (played in the films by Renee Zellweger) and Mark Darcy (amusingly portrayed by Colin Firth as a wonderful in-joke to fans, as the books actually include mention of Colin Firth the actor) in getting pregnant. Firth speculated last year that those troubles may lead Bridget to – oops! – repeat her old mistakes and run back to cad Daniel Cleaver (a role that belongs pretty perfectly to Hugh Grant), only to end up pregnant and alone. Bridget, making a stupid decision, imagine that.