Adaptations

Alfred Molina and Ben Kingsley have joined Mike Newell’s Prince of Persia movie.

Bruce Willis is in negotiations to play Kane in the Simon Crane directed Kyle Ward written Kane & Lynch movie adaptation. "Adam 'Kane' Marcus, a mercenary who makes an unlikely alliance with schizophrenic killer James Lynch. The pair are forced on a mission to retrieve a stolen microchip."

Director Hitoshi Iwamoto is adapting Osamu Tezuka ‘70s suspense manga MW. The live action film will star Hiroshi Tamaki, as Michio Yuki, and Takayuki Yamada as priest Garai. In it, “Yuki survived a deadly nerve gas tragedy as a child, but this ‘MW’ incident left his damaged brain without a conscience. Yuki grows up to become a handsome bank executive by day, and a mass murderer by night. On top of that, Yuki aims to acquire the MW nerve gas, which leaves his longtime confidante Garai struggling with the right decision.” Tetsuya Oishi and Haruo Kimura wrote the script.

Comedian Hiroshi Shinagawa will write and direct the adaptation of his coming of age autobiographical Drop novel and manga. “Drop's story follows Shinagawa's early life as he grew up in the streets of 1980s' Tokyo. Young Shinagawa decides to become a delinquent after reading the manga classic Be-Bop High School and transfers from a private middle school to a public one. Shingawa's new life of cigarettes, bats, and iron pipes begins when he meets the leader of the delinquents at his new school”.

Matt Damon and Morgan Freeman will star in Clint Eastwood’s rugby drama adaptation of John Carlin’s The Human Factor: Nelson Mandela and the Game that Changed the World. “Mandela, freed from 27 years in prison and elected president, decided to get behind South Africa's Springboks team when the country was selected as host country for the 1985 Rugby World Cup. The Springboks had been banned from international competition because of the country's apartheid practices. The majority of blacks viewed the team as a symbol of exclusion, but they rooted along with white countrymen as the Springboks won in overtime against New Zealand to capture the Cup. Pienaar was the Springboks captain who developed a relationship with Mandela during the team's run.”

Ridley Scott on his mysterious third science fiction movie: "I waited for a book for 20 years and I have got the book. I am not going to tell you what the book is, but that film is going to probably be written within the next month. That will definitely be what I do next after Nottingham, the Robin Hood film that I am doing now in England."

According to IESB, Tim Burton will direct and John August will write the adaptation of ‘60s vampire soap opera Dark Shadows.