Adaptations

Despite earlier rumors, Disney says that Orlando Bloom has not been cast in the Prince of Persia movie.

The film rights to Boom Studio's and writer David DiGilio's comic book series North Wind has been picked up by Davis Entertainment. Set in Los Angeles, survivors of a new ice age live under the ice and a dictator. One of the exiles who have been forced out into the harsh elements leads a revolution. DiGilio will adapt it for the live action feature.

Justin Marks has been hired to write a script based on Tim Seeley and Stefano Caselli's Hack/Slash. The comic is about Cassie Hack, her companion Vlad, and their hunting down of slashers (think Freddy, Jason, or Michael). Todd Lincoln is attached to direct.

Korea’s Eight Peaks and Japan’s Genome Entertainment will have joint production on a live action Captain Harlock movie. Based off Leiji Matsumoto’s Space Pirate Captain Harlock, about an honorable rogue space captain and his ship the Arcadia, it has a projected budget of $100 million (US).

After being bought, developed, and then dropped by both Disney and New Line, the rights to Steve Alten's 1997 novel Meg (about a prehistoric 80' 70,000 lb shark, carcharodon megalodon, that comes up from the Mariana Trench to chew on the modern world) has been bought again by Apelles Publishing Inc. of Abington, Va, with Lawrence Gordon and Lloyd Levin producing.

While he's still not officially attached, Guillermo Del Toro talks about the Hobbit.

Sony Screen Gems will make a Hip Hop version of Jane Austen's Emma called Emme. Let me repeat that: A Hip Hop Emma. "The contemporary-set tale, which takes place at an inner-city high school, revolves around a stepbrother and stepsister. The film will include at least 15 song and dance numbers. Tyger Williams penned the screenplay." Gems' Clint Culpepper, who came up with the idea, said, "Now it's urban. This is the way it should be reimagined in the new millennium." That's when my brain exploded and made a mess all over my keyboard.

Natalie Portman is on for a new Wuthering Heights written by Olivia Hetreed and produced by Ecosse Films.

Colin Farrell, Christopher Lee, and Paz Vega will star in Danis Tanovic’s Triage, based off Scott Anderson’s novel. It’s about a photojournalist who comes back from a dangerous assignment, but his colleague and friend doesn’t. The friend’s girlfriend must solve the mystery that's killing her boyfriend.

With this Myspace post, the producers of Babylon AD (which is based on a novel by Maurice G. Dantec) addressed the rumors regarding run time and the rating:
"Babylon AD has never had a 2h40min cut. This rumor came from a joke Mathieu did in front of some journalists last September. Apparently some of them didn't understand it. ... The approximate length of the film is 1h40min, and this is what has been delivered to our partner, FOX. So I can reassure you, FOX is not chopping up the film and cutting 70 [minutes], like I read on Rotten Tomatoes! :-)” “Oh and about the PG13, that was a contractual agreement between Fox and us, so there is no surprise on that end.”