Guillermo del Toro's next film, says Deadline, will be the 3D At the Mountains of Madness, an adaptation of the HP Lovecraft tale that he’s been attached to for some time. The film is at Universal and now has James Cameron coming aboard as a producer.

At the Mountains of Madness will be a big-ticket item, says Deadline, with the film starting preproduction in the next few weeks ahead of shooting next summer.

Per Deadline, the story sees a gruesome discovery during a scientific expedition to the South Pole in the 1930s that hints at the true origin of mankind having come from elder gods from another planet. Bad things happen when those life forms are awakened.

Producers are Susan Montford and Don Murphy.

Mountains was first set up at DeamWorks in 2004 by del Toro, Montford and Murphy. Del Toro and Matthew Robbins wrote the script, which they are now retooling. The package was acquired by Universal when del Toro made a big overall deal there in 2007.

By Nancy Tartaglione

Edgar Wright has long been toiling away at his Ant-Man script and storyboards, hoping to get the film greenlit sooner than later. At this week's Comic-Con, many details about almost all of Marvel Entertainment's upcoming projects will make their way to the public, but one burning question that I'm personally interested in is whether or Ant-Man will, in fact, be a part of Paramount Pictures The Avengers and, if so, who will play him.

According to AMC's John Campea, that question may have already been answered as he has received word that Adrien Brody is at the top of a shortlist for actors to play Henry Pym, who fashions technology that allows him to shrink to the size of and communicate with the insects. Latino Review confirmed the scoop from a contact at the actor's agency (Paradigm), who said that 'at press time, they were pursuing Ant-Man but got nothing yet.'

The Playlist has challenged the rumor, stating that they have 'checked with sources very close to the project this morning and it's evidently untrue.' This conflicting report also states that recent claims that fanboy favorite Nathan Fillion is also in the running for the part are untrue. Brody's significantly higher industry status suggests that, of the names mentioned, he'd be the studio's choice.

By Daniel Hubschman, Hollywood.com

I can't help welcoming our new primate overlords. It's hard to have high hopes for the Planet Of The Apes prequel, since Tim Burton's recent foray into the franchise was so dismal, but there seems to be a lot of talent involved. Brian Cox is the latest to join the impressive cast of Rise Of The Apes. Cox, known for his impressive scenery-chewing capabilities, has been cast as 'the villainous owner of a primate sanctuary' who will inevitably be first up against the wall when the Ape uprising starts. Cox joins cast members James Franco, John Lithgow, and Andy Serkis, who is putting the motion capture suit back on to play the ape leader Caesar.

Rise Of The Apes will be set in the modern day and serve as an origin story for the primate franchise. The story follows a scientist (Franco) whose genetic engineering accidentally creates an advanced race of apes, led by Caesar. The film is being directed by Rupert Wyatt, who previously worked with Cox on The Escapist, and written by Amanda Silver and Rick Jaffa.

By Natalie Silverman

Roman Polanski is a free man. Swiss authorities have decided not to extradite the director to the US to face sentencing in his 1977 unlawful sex case. Polanski has been under house arrest in Gstaad since December last year pending the decision. In a statement, the Swiss Justice Minister said the 'measures of restriction on his liberty have been lifted.'

Polanski was released from electronic monitoring, the Justice Ministry said yesterday. 'Mr. Polanski is able to move around freely,' Swiss Justice Minister Eveline Widmer-Schlumpf said at a press conference in Bern. 'He's been a free man since 11:30 a.m. today. He’s free to leave.'

Widner-Schlumpf added, 'The reason for the decision lies in the fact that it was not possible to exclude with the necessary certainty a fault in the US extraditionary request.'

'Today it's about a remaining sentence of maximum of two years,' Widmer-Schlumpf said. After his imprisonment and house arrest, 10 months remain, she said. 'Under consideration of all aspects, we've decided to reject the extradition request.'

According to Widmer-Schlumpf, the US has accepted the decision. It does not have the possibility to appeal.

George Kiejman, Polanski's lawyer, told Swiss Info, 'I pay tribute to the Swiss justice system; its legal analysis is very fair. I think the continuing misunderstanding with the American authorities will be easier to settle and I hope he will one day be able to return to the US.'

By Nancy Tartaglione, Hollywood.com

The X-Men: First Class casting process will not slow down for you, or for me, or for anyone. Now we are hearing that the illustrious Kevin Bacon (of Footloose fame) has been made an offer to play the unnamed villain in the Matthew Vaughn-directed prequel/reboot, and is currently in talks with 21st Century Fox.

If Bacon joins the roster for First Class, he'll be in good company with the likes of James McAvoy (Xavier), Michael Fassbender (Magneto), Alice Eve (Emma Frost), Nicholas Hoult (Beast), Caleb Landry Jones (Banshee), and Lucas Till (Havoc).

I'm sure this announcement has people turning heads ('Kevin Bacon' is not a name we hear too often in Hollywood, and yet he has a sort of je ne sais quoi cachet), but I think Bacon could be perfect for this feature's villain. Observe his sallow face, the surly demeanor, the high cheekbones and thin lips. He really is aging just perfectly for a villainous turn.

By Ben Landy , Hollywood.com

Even more bad news for Bond fans as the financially drained MGM has officially cancelled Bond 23 until it can find a buyer/saviour. Though we've all known about the delays on the film that follows the phenomenal reboot of Hollywood's longest running film franchise, today marks the lowest point in 007's storied history.

AICN broke the story today and it's a sad, sad development to an already dismal scenario. After nabbing Oscar winner Sam Mendes to direct Daniel Craig in his third outing as Britain's suave secret agent and Peter Morgan to write the script for it, MGM's publicized bankruptcy brought the production to a screeching halt. The project was classified as 'delayed' since then, but is now to be considered scrapped.

True: this is a major blow to fans like myself and all the hard working hands that make Bond the globe-trotting, girl-getting, villain-thwarting hero we love, but we shouldn't go to Defcon-5 just yet. MGM will be purchased by a movie studio, hedge-fund, billionaire or Santa Claus at some point, or the property will be sold to a party that is willing and able to continue the adventures of MI:6's most valuable player. This is not the end of James Bond. However, as we wait for one of the fore mentioned actions to occur, we suffer a long, unknown period of time without 007. On a positive note, Daniel Craig finally gets to eat some carbs.

By Daniel Hubschman, Hollywood.com

James Cameron is quite the big boy with the big guns. He's trying to solve the oil spill, expanding 3D entertainment to unthinkable heights, and probably is doing a bunch of other stuff that's even more complicated. However, one of Cameron's upcoming projects is much less of a secret. Black Eyed Peas member Will.I.Am let it slip the Avatar director will create a 3D movie about the group's tour.

Will.I.Am told Vibe magazine, 'We have the biggest director, because we are the biggest group on the planet. People will be able to see us in the theatre with the 3-D glasses and everything... We've toured from America and Europe, to the Middle East, South America, Asia and Africa. It's not like we go, 'Yo, we are international, you know what I'm saying? London and Paris!' Nah, that's just two cities. We want to go across the planet.'

So surprise! Despite Cameron's preference to depict CRAZY things, like a bunch of Piranhas causing our demise and generating widespread disgust towards water travel, he’s still not opposed to filming normal things - like humans wearing clothes and emitting words from the correct orifice.

By Hannah Lawrence

After a comprehensive worldwide casting search, Andrew Garfield has been chosen to portray Peter Parker when Spider-Man swings back onto the screen in 3D on July 3, 2012. The new film will begin production in early December directed by Marc Webb from a screenplay by James Vanderbilt. Laura Ziskin and Avi Arad will produce the film from Columbia Pictures and Marvel Studios.

Today’s confirmation culminates what has been one of the most eagerly anticipated casting announcements in recent memory. Bloggers, pop culture speculators, and everyday fans have pored over and analyzed every conceivable online rumor in an attempt to discover the identity of the next actor to play Peter Parker. Garfield will immediately begin preparing for the coveted role.

Sure, there was a meaty love story within Fox's $2.7 billion hit Avatar, but apparently someone over at the studio felt that James Cameron's epic was actually a romance. Now they're looking to expand on that success by pushing forward with Ion, a sci-fi romance film that the studio is looking to purchase and thinks could be another potentially huge science fiction hit.

They've courted Channing Tatum, and it looks as though the Dear John star will play a man who travels to different Earth's and dimensions in order to find his reincarnated lover. Execs are using the magic word - Avatar - to describe the scope and otherworldly elements of Will Dunn's spec script. Ridley and Tony Scott, whose production shingle Scott Free productions is based at the studio, will produce the picture.

The filmmaking duo had confidence in the script when it first made the rounds to studios last year. When every company passed, they helped to further develop the project before taking it back to Fox and getting Tatum interested. Now that the package is looking more viable with big names attached, Fox is seriously considering pulling the trigger.

It would be yet another foray into romance for Tatum, who helped Sony pull major profits from this February's Dear John and will work with Rachel McAdams on the soapy tear jerker The Vow later in the year.

By Daniel Hubschman , Hollywood.com

Daniel Radcliffe has already made his plans for life after Hogwarts. The Harry Potter star will play the lead in a remake of classic film All Quiet On The Western Front. Ian Stokell and Lesley Paterson have written the script for the film, and will produce along with Sliding Down Rainbows Entertainment. Lord Of The Rings’ Bernard Hill may have a role in the feature as well, according to IMDB.

All Quiet On The Western Front, based on the novel by Erich Maria Remarque, is an anti-war tale that follows a young German soldier into the madness of World War One. The original film won both the Oscar for Best Picture and Best Director in 1930, and is regarded as a cinematic classic. It was also remade as a far less memorable TV movie in 1979 with Ernest Borgnine and the kid from The Waltons.

Ian Stokell is clearly counting on Radcliffe being more than “the kid from Harry Potter.” The producer told Variety 'Daniel brings a vulnerability and innocence to [the role.] When we realized how much he loved the script we were really excited because we know he can tap into the delicate balance between intensity and believability that is critical for this demanding role.'

Filming for All Quiet On The Western Front will not begin until at least 2012, after Radcliffe finishes his run on Broadway in How To Succeed In Business Without Really Trying.

By Natalie Silverman, Hollywood.com

20th Century Fox's Planet of the Apes prequel, aptly titled Rise of the Apes, has been in development for a long time. Since the film was greenlit, there hasn't been much movement aside from director Rupert Wyatt and star James Franco being hired. Today, we get a bit more insight into the production as two major characters are cast.

The Hollywood Reporter states that John Lithgow and Freida Pinto will work on the Peter Chernin produced prequel. Lithgow will play Franco's Alzheimer's-stricken father, while Pinto, the female lead, plays a primatologist who works in the lab with Franco's scientist. Together, the two lab rats work on a cure for Alzheimer's by testing on apes. The test subject named Caesar evolves rapidly, and the scientist takes him home to live with him and protects him from cruel doctors, but as the beast grows smarter and smarter, he begins to lead his species to world domination.

I'm psyched that these two gifted performers will be joining the project, but I can't deny that I'd love to see them both play fully evolved apes like Helena Bonham Carter and Tim Roth in Tim Burton's 2001 blockbuster. I, of course, realize that this is a prequel to a storied sci-fi series and given the premise of the film, know that we aren't going to see many Apes on that level of sophistication, but a guy can think 'what if', right?

Rise of the Apes shoots this summer in British Columbia under the supervision of producers Chernin and Dylan Clark.

By Daniel Hubschman , Hollywood.com Staff

Warner Bros. has been trying for some time now to move ahead on a remake of the 1976 film Logan's Run - itself an adaptation of William F. Nolan and George Clayton Johnson's 1967 dystopian novel - and now the project has acquired a screenwriter, Alex Garland, who will work with director Carl Erik Rinsch.

Garland is not a stranger to writing about dystopian worlds: his past work includes 28 Days Later, Sunshine, and the upcoming sci-fi drama Never Let Me Go. So Logan's Run, which is about a 'Sandman' whose job it is to hunt people who try to 'run' on their 21st birthday in a 22nd century society where an age cap is strictly enforced, should be in extremely capable hands.

Director Carl Erik Rinsch should likewise inspire confidence: although he isn't yet well-known , the Ridley Scott protege has created some of the most imaginative commercials in recent memory, and his recent sci-fi short 'The Gift' confirms that this is a director to watch closely. Plenty of industry insiders have already taken note, and Rinsch has been tapped to helm a new 'Alien' prequel, is developing a remake of Creature From The Black Lagoon, and is in pre-production on his samurai epic 47 Ronin.

By Ben Landy, Hollywood.com Staff

Well, it looks like Sam Raimi managed to clear his schedule for this one. It had been reported that Disney was courting the director to take the reins of Oz, the Great and Powerful, a proposed prequel to the original The Wizard of Oz, but that he had other commitments (World Warcraft) to consider before accepting. Now, Nikke Finke over at Deadline Hollywood is reporting that Sam Raimi has in fact agreed to take the directors chair in a meeting that went down with CAA (Creative Artists Agency) reps last night. Raimi will direct Robert Downey Jr. in the title role as a circus wrangler who gets whisked away by a tornado to the land of Oz, where he somehow manages to finagle his way onto the throne in the Emerald City.

Original story (June 14): Vulture is reporting that Disney has reached out to Sam Raimi to helm Oz, the Great and Powerful, a prequel to the classic 1939 film The Wizard of Oz. Although it had been rumored that Sam Mendes and Adam Shankman were also in the running for the gig, insiders are now reporting that Raimi received an official offer for the project this weekend.

However, it's not yet clear whether Raimi's schedule will allow him to accept. The director of the Spider-Man trilogy had planned on shooting a live-action adaptation of the popular video game World of Warcraft after wrapping Spider-Man 4, but since Sony has dumped Raimi and ordered a Spider-Man reboot, the director's next project has been a matter of speculation. World of Warcraft is now in pre-production, with a planned release date some time in 2013, but Disney is interested in beginning principal photography on Oz, the Great and Powerful sometime this year.

Even if that leaves time for Raimi to direct Oz, the Great and Powerful, Warner Bros. has been concurrently developing two competing Oz-based films of their own. One, called Wizard of Oz, is connected with studio producer Basil Iwanyk and scribe Josh Olson (A History of Violence); the other project, Oz, is being developed by Twilight producers Marty Bowen and Wyck Godfrey and writer Darren Lemke (Shrek Forever After) for Warner's New Line Cinema. Both would have to contend with British filmmaker John Boorman's straight-up CGI adaptation The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, which is due sometime this year.

While it's not unusual at all for competing studios to be in development of similar subject matter (especially when said subject matter is now public domain, as the original L. Frank Baum novel has been since 1956), pressure from Warner Bros. may force Disney's hand; if World of Warcraft becomes a major commitment for Sam Raimi, I wouldn't be surprised if the studio moves ahead on Oz, the Great and Powerful without him.

By Ben Landy, Hollywood.com Staff

Clash of the Titans will be getting both a sequel and a new director. (This is what happens automatically nowadays when a film grosses almost half a billion dollars worldwide, as Clash did.) Since former director Louis Leterrier has said he has no interest in making a second film, Warner Bros. has compiled a shortlist of directors to take over the project, with Jonathan Liebesman reportedly emerging as the frontrunner.

Liebesman began his career as a horror director, with Darkness Falls in 2003 and the Texas Chainsaw Massacre prequel in 2006, but has since expanded his repertoire to include action movies. While those aren't titles that necessarily inspire confidence, his latest project, the alien-invasion thriller Battle: Los Angeles is already getting a lot of positive buzz, and has been described as 'like Independence Day and Black Hawk Down mixed.' So there may yet be hope for both Liebesman and the Clash sequel, which will thankfully be shot in native 3D this time around.

Liebesman reportedly found himself in the good graces of Warner Bros. after successfully pitching the studio his vision for a big-budget adaptation of Homer's 'Odyssey,' which apparently got the execs thinking that, with his sights set on a re-imagining of the classic Greek epic, Liebesman might be in the perfect mindset to helm the second Clash of the Titans as well.

Those same Warner Bros. execs want to move quickly on this sequel; because lead actor Sam Worthington is also committed to begin work on Avatar 2 in the second half of next year, production of the Clash sequel could begin as early as January of 2011.

By Ben Landy, Hollywood.com