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Oliver Platt signs on to 'X-Men'

Oliver Platt has been cast in Matthew Vaughn's X-Men: First Class movie.

The Frost/Nixon star will play the role of the 'Man in Black', reports Deadline.com.

The character is not a mutant, but little more is known about the role. The 'Man in Black' title does not have an obvious connection to any recurring X-Men characters.

Platt joins a cast including James McAvoy, Michael Fassbender, Alice Eve, Nicholas Hoult, Jennifer Lawrence, Caleb Landry Jones, Lucas Till, Edi Gathegi, Kevin Bacon and Rose Byrne.

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Angelina Jolie keen on 'Salt' sequel

Angelina Jolie has reportedly shown an interest in starring in a sequel to her new spy thriller Salt.

According to the Los Angeles Times, Jolie and director Phillip Noyce are eager to bring the Evelyn Salt character, a CIA operative accused of being a Russian sleeper agent, back for a second movie.

Screenwriter Kurt Wimmer has a storyline in mind for a follow-up, but backers Sony Pictures and producer Lorenzo di Bonaventura are waiting to see how Salt fares in international territories before moving forward with a sequel.

Jolie will also have to fit Salt 2 around her role in Tim Burton's Maleficent and a potential Kay Scarpetta franchise.

Salt, which cost $110 million to make, has so far earned $186 million at the worldwide box office. The movie opens in the UK on Wednesday.

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Jolie, Clooney deny Monroe movie link

Angelina Jolie and George Clooney have denied that they will appear together in a film about Marilyn Monroe.

Reports surfaced yesterday claiming that Jolie would play Monroe and Clooney Frank Sinatra in an adaptation of Andrew O'Hagan's novel The Life And Opinions Of Maf The Dog, And Of His Friend Marilyn Monroe.

However, a representative for Clooney said that the story is "totally fabricated" and Jolie's management also distanced the actress from the project.

"This rumour is not true. AJ said this rumour is not true while talking to the press at the London premiere of Salt tonight," Jolie's reps told The Hollywood Reporter.

O'Hagan allegedly announced the casting of Jolie and Clooney himself at the Edinburgh Book Festival.

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Jackman drops 'Avon' for 'Wolverine 2'

Hugh Jackman has dropped out of starring in comedy Avon Man to prepare for Wolverine 2, reports Deadline.

Jackman is remaining on as producer for Avon, about a salesman who uses his charisma and looks to become the company's most successful employee, but will move on to star in the Wolverine follow-up instead.

The Christopher McQuarrie-penned Wolverine 2 is said to be a samurai story that will take Jackman's Marvel antihero to Japan. A director has yet to be selected for the comic book adaptation.

Jackman recently filmed robot boxing movie Real Steel and could potentially star in Selma, the Civil Rights drama from Precious director Lee Daniels.

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January Jones for 'X-Men: First Class'

January Jones has signed up to star in X-Men: First Class, it has been revealed.

According to Deadline, the Mad Men actress is to play Emma Frost, a telepathic mutant also known as the White Queen, whose allegiances continually shift throughout the X-Men comic book series.

Alice Eve and Rosamund Pike were previously linked to the role, but Jones has apparently agreed to start shooting as soon as the fourth season of Mad Men wraps up in September.

Director Matthew Vaughn also announced that Zoe Kravitz has been cast as Angel, Bill Milner will play a young Magneto, and Morgan Lily is to portray the Young Raven.

They join James McAvoy, Michael Fassbender, Caleb Landry Jones, Nicholas Hoult, Lucas Till, Edi Gathegi, Jason Flemyng Rose Byrne, Oliver Platt, Kevin Bacon and Jennifer Lawrence in the final cast list for the summer 2011 film.

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Will Smith linked to Bigelow's 'Frontier'

Will Smith has allegedly met with Kathryn Bigelow about starring in the director's upcoming drama Triple Frontier.

The Oscar-winning Hurt Locker filmmaker has also held discussions with Sean Penn, Javier Bardem and Christian Bale about boarding the cast, reports TheWrap.

Denzel Washington had been linked to the project earlier this year.

Triple Frontier, penned by Mark Boal, is set in the border zone between Paraguay, Argentina and Brazil, a region that is difficult to police and a target for the criminal underworld.

The Paramount movie is expected to go in front of cameras in December or January next year.

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Brooklyn Decker joins 'Battleship' cast

Victoria's Secret model Brooklyn Decker has joined the cast of Universal blockbuster Battleship.

According to Latino Review, Decker will play the character of Sam in the Peter Berg-helmed movie. Taylor Kitsch, Alexander Skarsgard, Rihanna, Hamish Linklater and Tom Arnold have already boarded the Battleship cast.

Decker, who was in contention to replace Megan Fox in Transformers 3, also has an upcoming role in romantic comedy Just Go With It opposite Adam Sandler, Jennifer Aniston and Nicole Kidman. The 23-year-old has also made guest appearances on Ugly Betty and Chuck.

Battleship will open in cinemas on May 18, 2012.

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Hemsworth's brother almost played Thor

Chris Hemsworth has revealed that he almost lost the role of Thor to his brother Liam.

Speaking with Newsarama, Chris explained that he had been shocked to discover they were both auditioning for the same part.

"[Liam and I] both auditioned for it funnily enough," he said. "The next minute I heard they were flying Liam over to meet with Kenneth [Branagh]."

Once he also received the call to meet with Branagh, Chris admitted that he turned to his younger brother for advice but did not go on to explain why he eventually secured the role over Liam.

Thor will be released in summer 2011, following which Chris will star in 2012's The Avengers.

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Simon Pegg: 'Spielberg beat me up'

Simon Pegg has joked that Steven Spielberg once beat him up.

Pegg, who was working with the Oscar-winning director on the upcoming Tintin film, said that Spielberg showed co-star Andy Serkis exactly how Pegg's character should be assaulted.

Speaking at Movie-Con, the actor said: "There was one day where [Spielberg] actually demonstrated to Andy Serkis how Captain Haddock should beat me up.

"I was lying on the floor with him holding me by the lapel, shaking me, hitting me against the floor, and I was just laughing because it was f**king Steven Spielberg!"

Pegg compared Spielberg's vision with that of Scott Pilgrim Vs. The World director Edgar Wright, who worked with Pegg on Shaun of the Dead, Hot Fuzz and TV sitcom Spaced.

He said: "[Steven]'s extraordinary. You know within five minutes of working with him why he is where he is.

"You look at him and you see, 'You know something we don't know about how to make people feel by moving a camera around.' I'm not just saying this, but I see it in Edgar sometimes.

"[Steven] has that. It just comes off him like a big aura."

Pegg and regular collaborator Nick Frost play Thomson and Thompson in The Adventures of Tintin: Secret of the Unicorn, which is due for release in the latter half of 2011.

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J.J. Abrams develops 'Minutes In Heaven'

J.J. Abrams is developing a movie focusing on the teenage kissing game Seven Minutes In Heaven.

The creator of Lost reportedly got the idea from Jack Bender, who directed the final episode of the show and has collaborated with Abrams's production company Bad Robot.

Bender signed a development deal with the firm in June.

According to The Hollywood Reporter, the film sees two teenagers go into a closet to play the game, and emerge to find all their friends dead.

Abrams directed the upcoming Super 8.

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'Saw' director making '11 11 11'

Saw franchise helmer Darren Lynn Bousman will direct a movie based on the 11:11 phenomenon, says The Hollywood Reporter.

Bousman's 11 11 11 is inspired by the movement who believe that the number 11 plays a significant part in their lives and alerts them to angels or spirit guardians. Conspiracy theorists also claim that the number recurs in major historical events.

Producer Wayne Rice (Valentine's Day) has teamed up with Bousman for the project, which will open in cinemas on November 11, 2011.

"With Saw and Repo: The Genetic Opera, my career has been about finding new ways to freak people out; that's what I want to do with this," said Bousman. "We want to take this phenomenon and give it horrific purpose."

Rice added of the 11-11-11 release date: "A lot of this has been New Age-y or biblical, with talk of angels. Leave it to Darren to see the dark side of that date."

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Seth Rogen to voice ghost in 'Boo U'

Seth Rogen will voice the lead character in DreamWorks animation Boo U, says The Hollywood Reporter.

The 3D movie, from Igor director Tony Leondis, revolves around a ghost who is sent back to spook school in order to become better at scaring people.

Boo U will be Rogen's third animated film with DreamWorks. The Knocked Up star voiced Mantis in Kung Fu Panda and B.O.B. in Monsters Vs. Aliens.

Rogen can next been seen heading the cast of superhero movie The Green Hornet in January before reprising his role in Kung Fu Panda sequel The Kaboom Of Doom, which opens next summer.

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Piranha 3D' director developing 'Cobra'

Piranha 3D director Alexandre Aja is developing a movie based on Japanese manga Cobra - The Space Pirate.

Aja has acquired the rights to the property, which was previously adapted for a hit animated series in Europe, reports Deadline.

The sci-fi manga, created by Buichi Terasawa, centres on rogue space pirate Cobra and bounty hunter Jane as they seek to liberate a lost treasure on Mars.

"I grew up dreaming about Cobra," Aja said. "My day was, finish school, run home and switch on the TV, and I was hardly the only one. Kids did it in France, Italy, Spain, all over Western Europe.

"For many people there is Star Wars and nothing else, but for me and my writing partner Gregory, there is Star Wars and Cobra."

The helmer, who is pitching the project to financiers, pictures the film as a big-budget 3D sci-fi spectacle.

"It should be in 3D, science fiction and 3D are a good mix," Aja said.

He added: "I'll start work on the script soon, but I have been carrying this inside me for 30 years and we are talking to the creature designers of films like Avatar and Star Trek, building a new world and doing it the right way."

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Gyllenhaal, Sarsgaard for Monroe biopic

Maggie Gyllenhaal and Peter Sarsgaard are to star in a new biopic on the life of musician Bill Monroe.

Sarsgaard has signed up to play musical legend Monroe, dubbed 'The Father of Bluegrass' for his pioneering of the genre. Gyllenhaal will star opposite as Monroe's lover Bessie Lee Mauldin.

The Oscar-nominated actress told Screen Cave: "Bill Monroe, who invented Blue Grass music, had a kind of Sid and Nancy-style affair with this woman Bessie Lee Mauldin throughout his life.

"T-Bone Burnett's going to do the music and Callie Khouri, who wrote Thelma & Louise, wrote the script so we're going to do that together."

The couple, who married in May 2009 and have a 3-year-old daughter, Ramona, have previously worked together on stage. They are also due to star in the play Three Sisters with Mamie Gummer and Josh Hamilton in New York as part of Gotham's Classic Stage Company's 2011 season.

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Noomi Rapace for 'Sherlock', 'M:I 4' roles?

The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo star Noomi Rapace is reportedly in the running for roles in Sherlock Holmes 2 and Mission: Impossible 4.

According to Deadline, Hollywood executives are keen to bring the 30-year-old Swedish actress in for parts in the blockbuster sequels. Next week she is due to meet M:I 4 helmer Brad Bird, potentially to play a villain or love interest opposite Tom Cruise in the Paramount spy thriller.

Rapace - who portrays Lisbeth Salander in the Swedish adaptations of Stieg Larsson's Millennium series - has also met with several other A-list filmmakers about US projects, including Ridley Scott, Brett Ratner, James McTeigue (for The Raven) and McG (for This Means War).

"They're originally meeting her expecting this hard-ass on a Harley wearing leather. But she's nothing like Lisbeth," an insider said. "They're shocked to find this unbelievably beautiful and sexy fresh-faced actress with a wonderful sense of humor. So now that's opening doors for her. They go into the meeting to ask, 'Do I have a villain? And they leave saying, 'Do I have a great female lead?'."

Rapace could also potentially be in the 'Best Actress' Oscar race next year. Dragon Tattoo's US distributor Music Box Films is planning to hire an Oscars publicist to push Rapace for a nomination, believing that she can emulate the Stateside success of French actress Marion Cotillard, who bagged an Oscar for La Vie En Rose in 2008.

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Jolie, Depp's 'Tourist' for December release

Sony has confirmed the US release date for forthcoming thriller The Tourist.

The film, starring Johnny Depp and Angelina Jolie, will arrive in cinemas in December, according to The Hollywood Reporter.

The Tourist, directed by Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck, centres on the new relationship between an American tourist (Depp) and an Interpol agent (Jolie).

The movie was shot in Paris and Venice and will be released on December 10.

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Maggie Gyllenhaal lands vibrator comedy

Maggie Gyllenhaal and Hugh Dancy have signed up to star in a romantic comedy about the invention of the first vibrator, says Variety.

The period drama, titled Hysteria, centres on two doctors in Victorian London who experiment with an electrical device to treat irritable and angry women. Dancy and Jonathan Pryce will play the physicians.

Gyllenhaal has been cast as the daughter of Pryce's character and Rupert Everett is also attached to star as Dancy's best friend.

Tanya Wexler is directing Hysteria from a script by Stephen Dyer and Jonah Lisa Dyer.

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Carla Gugino in talks for 'MILF'

Sin City star Carla Gugino is in talks to lead the cast of MILF, says the Los Angeles Times.

P2 director Franck Khalfoun is helming the project, which centres on a mother out for revenge after serving a stint in prison. The 'MILF' acronym, in this instance, stands for "mother I'd like to fight".

Piranha 3D duo Alexandre Aja and Alix Taylor will act as producers on MILF.

Gugino recently appeared in a guest spot on HBO's Entourage and has upcoming roles in Dwayne Johnson's Faster and action-fantasy Sucker Punch.

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Winstone's 'Sweeney' project revived

Ray Winstone and Nick Love's big screen remake of The Sweeney has been revived by Vertigo Films, says The Hollywood Reporter.

Vertigo has retained the remake rights to the '70s police show, which starred John Thaw and Dennis Waterman, and Love will pen a new draft of the script that he will direct with Winstone in the role of Jack Regan.

According to producer James Richardson, Love's Sweeney will be "a gritty, slick, British cops and robbers movie".

A Sweeney film had been in the works as recently as last year with Winstone, Michael Fassbender and Ashley Walters among the cast, but the project fell apart due to financial issues.

Daniel Craig, Ewan McGregor, Orlando Bloom and Tom Hardy were recently linked to the role of George Carter in the Sweeney remake.

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Emma Roberts linked to 'Spider-Man' role

Emma Roberts and Teresa Palmer are in the running to star opposite Andrew Garfield in Sony's Spider-Man reboot.

Also in contention for the role of the Marvel superhero's love interest are British actresses Imogen Poots (Centurion), Ophelia Lovibond (4.3.2.1) and Lily Collins (The Blind Side).

Scott Pilgrim Vs. The World star Mary Elizabeth Winstead had also met with director Marc Webb about the role but has dropped out of the race, according to The Hollywood Reporter.

The part is reportedly not that of Mary Jane Watson, the character portrayed by Kirsten Dunst in the previous Spider-Man films, although it is unclear if the quartet are auditioning to play Gwen Stacy or a new character.

Spider-Man is due to go intro production in December and will centre more on Peter Parker's high school woes than the previous Sam Raimi-directed instalments.

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