We're now two steps closer to Disney's 're-imagining' of the kid's classic, Escape to Witch Mountain. The Hollywood Reporter has announced that Ciarán Hinds (Stop Loss) and Alexander Ludwig (The Seeker: The Dark Is Rising) are signed to star in Race to Witch Mountain, the update of John Hough's 1975 film. Witch Mountain focused on two orphans with paranormal abilities, and was based on the 1968 sci-fi novel by Alexander Key.

For those who didn't come of age wishing to be witchy orphans, the storyline focused on mind-bending siblings Tia and Tony, whose alien origins had them on the run from an evil millionaire. This will mark the second attempt at a remake, with the first being for TV back in 1995. Matt Lopez (She's the Man) was in charge of the re-write and Andy Fickman was signed to direct back in July. Casting for Race to Witch Mountain started back in August, when Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson signed on for a role as a part time cab-driver and protector to the siblings. A little while later, Anna Sophia Robb was hired to play one of the 'spooky kids'. I can only guess that now that Ludwig is on board he will be taking over the part of Tony and Hinds will play the evil millionaire.

When the book was first adapted, there were plenty of complaints that Disney ignored most of the darker elements of the story. But Fickman has promised that this time around he is going to make, "a pretty bad-ass ride." Probably not how I would have described a movie from the man who directed The Game Plan; but you never know. Race to Witch Mountain is scheduled for release March 13th, 2009.

If I were going to pitch Susan Cooper's kid-lit fantasy series, The Dark is Rising, to a room full of studio execs, I'd proceed as follows: "Listen, guys. I'm not gonna lie. This is gonna be a real challenge. These books are not only noticeably dated from a sci-fi/fantasy fan's perspective, but also remarkably insular and plotty, and not even the good kind of plotty. They aren't 'every chapter is a new adventure' plotty, but more like a catalog of meaningless busywork-tasks the hero has to perform. The books remind me of a third-rate Atari 2600 game, in which the hero has some Arthurian pedigree that's spelled out in the booklet, but on-screen he's just a bland avatar who has to collect six out of nine sacred talismans and place them in the right spots on the map, in order to thwart the 'forces of darkness.' That's all this series amounts to, but I wouldn't be pitching this to you if I didn't see some ways we can get around that stuff. So allow me to proceed.

We're going to adapt the second book in the series, for two reasons: first, because it's called The Dark is Rising, which will make a cool title, but also because it contains an intriguing substrata. The main character, Will Stanton, is a 14 year-old wizard who is struggling with puberty just as he's discovering his wizarding ways. The bad guys know this, so they send a witch to tempt him, in the form of a hot, older girl. In the book, this is hardly more than a footnote and most of the plot is given over to the young wizard learning his craft from an old wizard, but that's just bo-ring. We're going to downsize that angle considerably and make the witch subplot the A-story. I'm envisioning a tragic first-love saga between this kid who doesn't know any better, and this more experienced girl who is allied with the forces of evil, but isn't totally evil to the core. There's a sort of Anakin Skywalker quality to her, which a good script will heighten. With me so far? Good.

You never know quite what you're going to get with Ian McShane, interview-wise. Sometimes he's playfully grumpy, as he was with some journalists who visited the set of The Seeker: The Dark is Rising earlier this year. "What made you want to do this film?" they asked. "The check," he replied. Other times, he's relaxed and jovial, as he was back in 2006 when I sat in on his roundtables for Woody Allen's Scoop. He always comes across as a straight-shooter, and I don't think it would be tough to get him to go off-message, but mostly he just wants to be in and out of press situations with little fuss, it seems. That was the case when he agreed to speak with Cinematical late last week about his role as Merriman Lyon in Seeker. When the time came for our appointment, I got a call from McShane's handler, telling me the big guy had decided to put off our call in favor of a quick lunch, so when he finally called a half-hour later, it seemed like the place to start.

Cinematical: So, how was lunch? What'd you have?

IM: Ha! I don't know what it was. I ordered some artichoke and it came up ... it's very good if you put it across pasta ... and buffalo wings, which were so hot I must have put a pound of vinegar on them, God knows what. Anyway! Enough of lunch. I'm fine. I've just had some melon and I'm having a coffee and I'm talking to you. How are you?

Cinematical: I'm good, thanks. So it's all press for you today, then?

IM: Yeah, I've done the junket. So far, we've done all the TV stuff. Now I'm doing the online, and some telephone stuff, and I'll be through by about five.

Cinematical: I have to start by asking you about the status of the Deadwood movies. I wish I could think of a fresh way to ask, but there it is. Has that ship sailed?

IM: You might be onto a thing there. I just got a call on Friday from ... a dear friend of mine, who told me that they're packing up the ranch. They're dismantling the ranch and taking the stuff out. That ship is gonna sail. I think with the uncertainty of the future, because of this possible strike next year, the writers and the actors, there was no chance of doing it before next May or June anyway, because I'm committed to other things. So I think it's ... Bonsoir, Deadwood.

The Dark is Rising towards a big release on October 5, and after releasing some pictures back in May, a trailer for the film has finally come out. While I can't comment on how well the novel world has translated to the movies, it looks to be the standard kid-hero fantasy fare with a great supporting cast, funky effects and lots of adventure. There's Ian McShane leading the pack as Merriman Lyon, Frances Conroy (almost looking like Maggie Smith's* McGonagall in disguise) as Miss Greythorne and Christopher Eccleston pulling off a creepy Rider. This trailer also has one of the best uses of those cheesy, bigger-than-life voice-overs. While it's groan-worthy at first, they've used it to only illustrate Will's adolescent innocence. Wait it out because when Will discovers his powers, the voice disappears and the creepy music begins.

For those that aren't familiar with the series of books, The Dark is Rising is a series from the 60's and 70's that deals with the struggle between the good (The Light), and the bad (The Dark). Will Stanton (Alexander Ludwig) is a young kid who finds out on his eleventh birthday that he has special powers and must stop the Dark, while collecting the Signs of the Light. According to Wikipedia, there are some big diversions from the books -- Will is a 14-year-old American in the movie, and apparently they give one of his brothers a bit of a twist (look here to see what that is, if you're not worried about possible spoilers).

*Thanks to roadkillbuddha for catching that Maggie Grace is not the same as Maggie Smith, even if my fingers always want to believe otherwise. MB

A cast is falling into place for the project that will bring Susan Cooper's The Dark Is Rising series of fantasy books to the big screen. Deadwood's lovable Al Swearengen (Ian McShane) will star, along with Frances Conroy and Alexander Ludwig. First published in the 60s and 70s, the series chronicles a struggle between two opposing forces, known simply as The Light and The Dark. The main character is a boy who learns that he is endowed with special powers that will allow him to do battle against The Dark and must accept training from an old mentor. (Did George Lucas pay someone royalties for this?)

McShane will star as Merriman Lyon, one of the 'Old Ones' who serves as the kid's mentor. The film will be one of the first to be handled under a new joint-venture between 20th Century Fox and Walden Media, and the team bringing it to the big screen includes director David Cunningham, previously known for helming the Path to 9/11 for television, screenwriter John Hodge, who wrote Trainspotting and A Life Less Ordinary (my favorite movie) and producer Marc Platt, whose credits include Legally Blonde, Legally Blonde 2, and the upcoming Untitled Kirsten Dunst Project.