When Stephen Frears' The Queen came out in 2006, all the buzz emphasized Helen Mirren's icy performance as London's reclusive royal highness. The ubiquitous praise lead to her Oscar win, but it overwhelmed recognition of the movie's secret weapon: Michael Sheen as Tony Blair, quietly pressuring his Majesty to face the public in the wake of Princess Diana's untimely demise. There's a reason why Sheen conveyed the nuances of Blair's role in the event, which transpired a mere three months after the Prime Minister rose to power -- he had practice. The Deal, a fantastic made-for-TV movie Frears directed in 2003, tracked Blair's cunning (and morally questionable) instincts in the years leading up to his position at the top of the Labor Party.

Sheen played Blair in The Deal first, and it's both a superior performance and a superior film. Whereas The Queen had a tabloid hook and only tangentially explored the deeper political ramifications of a reclusive national leader, The Deal delves into precisely how Blair managed to emerge at the top of British politics with a series of calculated maneuvers. Political drama at its finest, The Deal hit DVD in the United States last month, where it has been touted as "the prequel to The Queen." That's not quite fair; The Queen is the sequel to The Deal, and the two movies ought to be seen as a single, wholly fascinating package depicting British politics in the 1990s.

The man who brought us the videos for "Smells Like Teen Spirit" and "Bullet with Butterfly Wings," and who was at one point turning Scarlett Johansson into a diamond thief, is getting ready for a different feature. The Hollywood Reporter posts that Sam Bayer is teaming up with Michael Bay for the action thriller called Fiasco Heights.

Said to have shades of film noir, the film focuses on a gunman who heads to the crime-filled city of Fiasco Heights. There, he "teams with a degenerate gambler/private eye on the run from a syndicate to look for a beautiful femme fatale and a mysterious briefcase." Oh, those pesky briefcases and sexy women. THR says that there has been a few drafts of the script, but the most recent was penned by Kyle Ward. This is actually his spec, that was picked up last year in April, so I guess he got to bring his pen back to it after some rewrites.

So far, the project is moving along slowly, and time will tell if this Bayer feature fares any better than Brilliance, the ScarJo piece, which seems to have faded into the oblivion.

If there's one movie descriptive that can actually get my jaded heart racing, it's "in the style of L.A. Confidential." Sure, it's glib, and probably sells the potential film and its source material short, but I can't help it, it's a magical phrase. And The Hollywood Reporter (by way of Lakeshore Entertainment) used it to describe Barry Levinson's latest movie.

Levinson is set to direct an adaptation of Peter Dexter's novel Train, a story set in 1950's Southern California. It centers around Miller Packard, a white sergeant in the San Diego Police Department, who has little time for the hypocrisy and racism of his age. An avid golfer, he befriends a troubled young African-American caddy named Lionel "Train" Walk, who harbors knowledge of an unreported murder that haunts his past. The city politics and racism of the 50's surround the murder investigation, and threaten their friendship.

Dexter's books have been popular in Hollywood recently -- he was the pen behind Mulholland Falls and The Paperboy is currently in production with Paul Verhoven and Jan de Bont. Unlike with Falls, he won't be penning the script this time around. That job falls to Allison Burnett, who's a pretty popular writer at Lakeshore, adapting Fame and penning Untraceable for them.

Hopefully, a Cinematical reader or two can chime in on the book. From its reviews, the source material sounds pretty enticing. Here's hoping this can not only be a comeback for Levinson, but a noir rival for L.A. Confidential.

This isn't the first murmur of a remake of The Party. In October of last year, there were rumors that Sacha Baron Cohen starring in a new take on the Peter Sellers film. But this is a bird of an entirely different feather.

The Hollywood Reporter posts that Marco Garibaldi, who directed a few episodes of Mighty Morphin' Power Rangers in the '90s, is ending his 10-year absence from entertainment with a new production company. He will write and direct a thriller called Last Chance Motel, develop The Vault, but focus on his flagship project --a remake of The Party. "Remake" is being used as loosely as possible.

Instead of Hrundi V. Bakshi heading to a glamorous Hollywood party and trying to fit in, "a hapless blond Midwesterner will have his appearance changed to resemble an Indian by a zealous studio eager he fit a part." Then he gets to this fancy party and mingles with a bunch of stars popping up in cameos. I guess his challenge is to figure out how to mingle as an Indian man for the role? Or, to confuse people by being a seemingly brown-skinned man with a midwestern accent?

Shmeh. This sounds like a mess.

It's amazing what two goofy songs can do for one's career. Wayne McClammy was one of the names behind that Jimmy Kimmel song phenomenon earlier this year, when love was still in the air for Jimmy and Sarah and music could flow freely. In June, the songs helped McClammy score a movie deal, and now he's already got another one gearing up.

The Hollywood Reporter posts that McClammy is going to direct a new revenge comedy called Beat Kip. Just like Cool School, which will have some 30-something men going back to high school to regain their cool, this pic will have some guys being juvenile. Kip centers on three friends "who travel across the country to confront an Icy League nemesis who stole one of the guys' girlfriends," and was written by Todd Waldman and Rob Kerkovich.

This is one of those simple classic plots that could be an insanely huge comedy if done right, or one to scowl and run away from if done poorly. It's too soon to tell, but if he can do another awesome "We Are the World" spoof, I'm so there.

By now, we've all heard about the woes of THINKFilm, and how it has affected a myriad of filmmakers, from Alex Gibney suing over the company's treatment of Taxi to the Darkside, to David O. Russel's Nailed getting nailed over and over again. If you missed some of this, click here.

Now THINKFilm head David Bergstein has talked about the drama with The Hollywood Reporter, and he seems to be on a different planet than the rest of us. Check out the following quotes:

"There is always an adjective that precedes us: 'Beleaguered,' 'financially distressed,' and none of these people know anything."

"Our business plan is not so much about the movie business. It's really to build a global digital distribution business. It's based on the expectation that in the not too distant future most content will be delivered digitally and on-demand."

"Some of what is out there is true. The vast majority is not true. And for the stuff that is true, my answer is 'So what? So what if X, Y, or Z might be owed money?"

What a stellar attitude to have. I imagine those filmmakers and films attached to THINK are feeling all sorts of special and secure with that attitude guiding them. Check out the THR link for more particulars on the insanity.

As Hollywood is not an industry known for letting chick-lit properties slip through its proverbial fingertips, it should come as little surprise that the yay-for-life bestseller "Eat, Pray, Love" -- a memoir by Elizabeth Gilbert about her quest for peace in those three forms following her divorce -- is being indeed developed into a movie by Paramount, with Julia Roberts attached to star and a 2010 release date as rumored by the good ol' IMDb.

What's of arguably greater interest in this Hollywood Reporter piece is the fact that Warner Bros. has already snatched up rights to comedian Andrew Gottlieb's riff on the memoir, titled "Eat, Play, F*ck". The novel, to be published early next year, follows a man from Ireland to Vegas to Thailand as he seeks similar solace once his wife leaves him.

On the one hand, I'm all for snark, especially in response to such pre-programmed feel-good fare. On the other, this seems like a flash-in-the-pan proposition, unless "Love" hits it big and "F*ck" follows fairly soon after (ain't that usually how it goes?).

What say you, readers, about either project? I fully expect the typical fan defenses to crop up, but did any woman out there read that book and happen to be unimpressed? How about any guys who picked it up and couldn't put it down? Let's mix things up here, people!

OK, stay with me here. The Dogs of Babel, by Carolyn Parkhurst, is a novel about a man whose wife dies under what he considers mysterious circumstances, though the police ruled it an accident. The only witness to her death was the couple's dog. The bereaved husband's solution? Teach the dog to speak so he can hear the pooch's eyewitness account. And it's not a comedy, it's a drama!

I read the book a few years ago and thought it was a terrific examination of the grieving process, obsession, and learning to face reality. I had no problem buying the basic premise of a guy wanting to teach his dog to speak. But how will all this translate to the big screen? That question is about to be answered, as Variety reports a film adaptation has been fast-tracked.

The director will be John Crowley, a Tony-nominated stage director who also made 2003's Intermission (starring Colin Farrell), and the current Miramax release Boy A. The screenplay is being written by Jamie Linden, who wrote We Are Marshall and the upcoming Nicholas Sparks adaptation Dear John. The Dogs of Babel has some complex subject matter that's going to be hard to pull off in a visual medium, and I'm guessing the Nicholas Sparks book, um, doesn't -- so we'll see how Linden handles the transition. Crowley seems to be a capable director, at any rate, and Boy A (about a man who committed a murder as a child being released from prison) deals with sensitive subjects, too.

Anyone else read Dogs of Babel? What do you think of a movie version? Can they pull it off? If your dog could speak, what would it say to you? Mine would say, "I wish you didn't walk around the apartment naked so much." My dog is a total bitch (in the zoological sense).

Finally, we all have a reason to watch American Gladiators sober! Apparently, the Gladiator known as Titan (aka Mike O'Hearn) was on the Todd n' Tyler radio show this morning in Omaha where he blew the mind of Omaha-ians with word that he's pretty close to landing the lead role in Lionsgate's Conan reboot. Slashfilm picked up the news from a reader, then listened to the show and came back with this quote from Titan (who was supposed to meet with Conan folks this morning): "Today's not even an audition. They're bringing me in today just to sit me down and talk. How about that? It's even better than an audition!"

Additionally, Titan also told Todd n' Tyler that he's got a casting session scheduled for Marvel's Captain America, which means they've got the ball rolling over there. He definitely looks the part, but will Marvel really take a chance on an American Gladiator as the lead in a big summer blockbuster flick? I can't see that happening, but you never know -- word is Titan looks good when he ... makes a fist? (I dunno, I'm reachin' here ...)

What do you think about all this? Personally, I don't mind Titan as Conan, but only if this guy plays the bad guy. On the other hand, the role of Captain America is a bit more precious. Would you fans mind it going to a Gladiator, or do you want someone more recognizable?

Having already thrice not understood the words coming out of Chris Tucker's mouth, it seems smart that Jackie Chan will go ahead and head towards the considerably greener pastures of family-friendly actioners. After all, just these past few months have seen The Forbidden Kingdom and Kung Fu Panda post respectable grosses (even if he only had the slightest voice part in the latter).

However, it's a shame to see the star come under the direction of one Brian Levant, who helped bring the world Are We There Yet? and Snow Dogs, not to mention that Scooby-Doo prequel that Scott made mention of the other day. The project itself is called The Spy Next Door, and according to the Hollywood Reporter, it has Chan playing the role of reluctant babysitter to the neighbor's kids, one of whom has inadvertently downloaded some super-secret code and thus attracted the attention of secret agents unlikely to anticipate his kung-fu mastery. (I'm just taking a stab here - to boot, he and the kids will probably come to form a bond (pun points!), and just in time for the wacky outtakes reel, right?).

Sorry for the snark, but I just find it hard to believe that this project is going to live up to the man's potential. After such a physically demanding career, I shouldn't begrudge the man a safe bet like this at the age of 54, but really, is an inverted version of The Pacifier the best we - and, in turn, he - can offer?

Just over a year ago, Christopher Campbell blogged about Flash of Genius heading towards production with Greg Kinnear. It's the story of Robert Kearns, the man who invented the intermittent windshield wiper and had to battle automakers all the way to the Supreme Court to get payment for his patent. Campbell noted: "The problem with waiting so long to get the film into production is that now Kearns has passed away and won't get to see how well Kinnear portrays him."

But Kearns isn't the only one who's missing the chance to see the film come to fruition -- screenwriter Philip Railsback died a few years ago. But that's not stopping his unfinished work. The Hollywood Reporter posts that the late writer's brother, Steve Railsback, is planning to bring one of Philip's final scripts to the screen -- a dark comedy called Barstow. Starring Keith Carradine and Scott Wilson, the film focuses on "three desperate characters, one of whom finds hope in a small, depressed town." The screenwriter had penned the script a decade ago, "after living among poor residents of the eponymous California town."

These are just two of a handful of Railsback's scripts that are in development. It's too bad he can't see them come together.

I'm a sucker for slightly alternate realities. I'm not talking about strange lives on other planets, or sci-fi wackiness in space. Instead, I'm talking about the worlds where things are just like they are now, except, different. Think Mark Leyner's forays into tetherballs, gastroenterologists, and tattooed internal organs. While his work probably won't hit the screen for a while, if ever (thanks to War Inc.), we're getting another writer's stab at alternate realities.

Variety reports that Oren Segal (who has also nabbed Downers Grove) has picked up the rights to Lisa Lerner's first novel, Just Like Beauty, for Nick Pustay to adapt. If you thought Little Miss Sunshine was weird, you ain't seen nothing yet.

A dark comedy set in a dystopic near-future where things are just a wee bit different, the book focuses on a 14-year-old girl named Edie Stein, who is preparing for a beauty pageant to please her mother. But these aren't the pageants of yesterday -- "girls must not only display 'Better Person Skills' and their knowledge of chemical substances but also simulate sex with the Electric Polyrubber Man and sacrifice trained rabbits and sew them into muffs." In case that wasn't strange enough, she also faces a local gang called the Blow Torchers and "chemically amped-up grasshoppers." What more could you want?

Here are some Fanboy nuggets for you to chew on ...

Halo: The Fall of Reach -- While that old Halo movie is dead and buried, the property may still have a little life left when it comes to a big-screen adaptation. Stuart Beattie wrote a draft of a script based on the 2001 novel by Eric Nylund, which served as a prequel to the first game in the series. Now, Latino Review has snagged a piece of concept art from Kasra Farahani (Wolf Man, Spider-Man 3, Hancock) that's accompanying Beattie's script and will be part of an eventual presentation to Microsoft. Click on the image above to see a larger version over at LR. Hang on Halo fans, they're trying to make this happen for ya ...

Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen -- We now know what Shia LaBeouf's next ride might be, and it's definitely not a used 2001 Honda Accord. Oh no, CHUD reports that Megatron will be back in the sequel! Not a giant reveal, I know, but they also claim -- possible spoilers -- that the baddie from the first film might come back to help the Autobots defeat "a new menace." (Some say that menace is The Fallen, some say it's LaBeouf's future parole officer -- we'll check our sources and get back to you.) Not only that, but Megatron might return as a tank this time. Hopefully said tank will offer up enough protection from, ya know, tight corners and multiple shots of whiskey.

More Mummy and Justice League still has a pulse after the jump ...

Disney doesn't read and buy comic books very often -- the last one I can remember them optioning was Pet Robots, which is still sitting in pre-production land. (And was, interestingly enough, optioned year ago this week!) When it comes to comics, Disney likes to stick to making their own.

But now, according to Variety, they've gone and optioned themselves a new graphic novel -- and it's a loud one. They've purchased the rights to Marc Bernardin and Adam Freeman's Monster Attack Network, a story for all of those who relish Godzilla movies.
It centers around the South Pacific island of Lapuatu, perfect in every way, except for frequent attacks by giant sea monsters. That's where the Monster Attack Network comes in, a group of tough first responders who battle (but rarely kill) the pesky monster invaders, and oversee the aftermath of rebuilding. It's perfect for a over-the-top summer movie idea, a lighthearted Cloverfield, even down to its heroes -- handsome, muscle-bound Nate Klinger, and his incredibly sexy new coworker Lana Barnes. No director or release date has been named yet, but Jason Netter (yet another industry fellow with Wanted on his resume) is set to produce. Casting should be a breeze. My mind is buzzing with a dozen hot actors and actresses they could put in this thing.

I've scoured the Internet for a preview for you, but all I can find is an interview with Bernardin and Freeman on Comics Bulletin which has a few uncolored pages you can gaze at. It seems like it could be a fun popcorn movie, especially for all those hankering to see monsters smashing skyscrapers, and helicopters driven through giant octopus eyes.

A couple of weeks ago, everyone got sort-of excited about the fact that Kevin Smith's Zack and Miri Make a Porno got slapped with the kiss-of-death NC-17 rating by the MPAA. I sure did: even the tiniest glimmer of hope that a mainstream film may make it into release with an NC-17 would be great news. Maybe -- as Roger Ebert among others has been pushing for years -- we can finally decriminalize the Movie for Adults.

But we all knew it was wishful thinking; that Smith is almost certainly obligated by contract to do whatever it takes to secure the R for Zack and Miri. In a conversation with Capone of Ain't It Cool News, Smith confirms that, and goes into considerable detail about his back-and-forth with the MPAA over the film.

Smith claims that the MPAA originally gave him two "areas" of the film to focus on; after he cut out more than 12 minutes, did some trims of other offending section, and resubmitted (twice), the ratings board apparently got hung up on one 14-frame-long shot ("It's not even a second!" Smith objects) and Smith gave up on editing and is now simply appealing the rating. If his appeal is rebuffed, he says, he won't have a choice but to make the cuts. And he's not angry about it: "I haven't blogged about it, I'm not out there screaming 'Oh my God, they're violating my .f***ing civil liberties or my rights as an artist.' It's just part of the process." (This is in stark contrast to star Seth Rogen's take on the subject.) The MPAA is set to hear the appeal on August 4th.

Smith also tells AICN he is still planning to make the fundamentalism-themed horror movie Red State; the Weinstein Co. refused to finance it, but he is close to securing some independent backing.