So am I the only one who thinks that in the first picture for the musical comedy Soul Men, Samuel L. Jackson looks a lot like good old Ordell Robbie? But I guess there are only so many different hairstyles and beards you can try before you start running into some repeats. The first picture for Malcolm D. Little's film has popped up on the official site of music legend and former 'Chef' Isaac Hayes. Hayes, who will appear in the film as himself, stars alongside Jackson, Bernie Mac, Sean Hayes (Will and Grace), and Sharon Leal.

Soul Men centers on two feuding back-up singers named Louis (Jackson) and Floyd (Mac). When their band splits, Louis and Floyd go there separate ways with varying degrees of success. More precisely, Louis robs banks and becomes a convict and Floyd becomes a laundromat baron and retires in style. When the leader of their former band dies, the two men put aside their bad blood and go on a road trip to the Apollo Theater to hold a tribute concert.

We've seen more of Ken Davitian's body than anyone could ever want (with the exception of Sacha Baron Cohen, who got it in the sweaty flesh), and we'll soon see him as the gun-wielding baddie in Get Smart. Now he's hitting the small screen and signing on for a co-starring role that should give us a better taste of his acting chops, or at least give him some more lines. Variety reports that he will star with Bernie Mac in an upcoming comedy called Starting Under.

With images of hairy, naked wrestling in Borat lodged into my cranium, "Starting Under" isn't the best title, but it doesn't look like this will have any sort of black-bar-required scenes -- especially since this show is on Fox and not HBO. Mac stars as a man who has just gotten a divorce, moves in with his son, and gets a job at his son's liquor warehouse. He befriends Ken (Davitian), a 40-something co-worker who is also divorced, and the two hang out and chase women together.

Hopefully this won't interfere with Ken's big-screen work, because the man is damned funny. But even if it does, we've still got Lonely Street, Float, Let the Game Begin, Not Forgotten, and Soul Men on the way.

OK, so a musical comedy starring Bernie Mac and Samuel L. Jackson has got to be a step up from a Tyler Perry movie, right? For Sharon Leal's sake, I certainly hope so. The Hollywood Reporter announced that Leal has joined the cast of Malcolm Lee's comedy musical Soul Men. The film centers on, "...bickering backup soul singers who haven't spoken in 20 years but reluctantly travel cross country together for a tribute concert to honor their famous former band leader." Leal will play Jackson's daughter Cleo, and thankfully will not serve as a love interest for either of the men. Leal starred in 2005's Dreamgirls as Michelle Morris, Effie White's replacement in the girl-group. Jackson and Mac will do all of their own singing and dancing for Soul Men, so I can only assume that since Leal has musical experience, she will be doing the same.

Christopher had first brought us news of the film last November. At that time, the only cast that had been announced was King of Comedy, Mac and Jackson. Surprisingly the project managed to escape being hit by the writer's strike that has been delaying productions left and right, and is set to start filming on January 21st (I guess Leal was hired just in time). The script was written by Robert Ramsey and Matthew Stone, whose other credits included the Coen's Intolerable Cruelty and Man of the House -- neither of which is probably the best calling card for a screenwriter. Soul Men is scheduled for release on October 10th, 2008.

Those of you anxious to see Samuel L. Jackson and Bernie Mac singing and dancing (without the aid of performance doubles) will be happy to know that Soul Men has not been affected by the strike. According to Variety, the musical road trip comedy is set to begin production January 21 with Undercover Brother director Malcolm D. Lee at the helm. Not to be confused with that beloved 1986 classic Soul Man starring C. Thomas Howell and Rae Dawn Chong, Soul MEN sounds more like a loose mix of The Blues Brothers and It Happened One Night (which one is Claudette Colbert, I wonder?). Written by Robert Ramsey and Matthew Stone (Man of the House), the movie will follow two estranged backup singers who are reunited after 20 years to pay homage to their recently deceased band leader.

It's pretty cool right now to get traditionally non-singing actors to perform their own vocals in musicals. Of course, it's a bit more exciting to think about Johnny Depp in Sweeney Todd than Jackson and Mac in Soul Men. Chances are, the most interesting thing about this movie will be the few moments we get to actually see the duo performing, while the rest of the road trip banter will be uninspired and tedious. Maybe it's just easy to be skeptical because of Jackson's last antagonistic team up, with Eugene Levy, or Mac's team up with any one (rather than any eleven, or twelve, or thirteen). Considering not even the Coen Brothers with George Clooney were able to salvage a movie scripted by Ramsey and stone, there simply can't be much hope for Lee, Jackson and Mac.

Imagine musical reunification from the likes of A Mighty Wind, add in some traveling entertainment, perhaps like the upcoming Walk Hard, and top it off with a little soul. What do you get? Soul Men. Variety has reported that, believe it or not, Samuel L. Jackson and Bernie Mac have signed on to star in the musical comedy. Robert Ramsey and Matthew Stone, who penned Intolerable Cruelty, wrote the feature, which is about two men who used to be backup soul singers who were part of a famous group. They haven't been in contact with each other for 20 years, but when the band leader dies, they agree to reunite and travel together for a tribute reunion tour.

That's right -- Jackson will be singing and dancing right along with Mac, and it looks like they're going to do it to songs from the Stax Records catalog (unless that will just be background music). This is probably the last thing that I ever thought the Pulp Fiction star would be involved with, especially since Mac's starring flicks don't work half as well as his ensemble stints (Guess Who -vs- the Ocean's series). Nevertheless, we'll soon see him belting out the tunes and being wacky with Mac. While I'd like to see Jackson singing on-stage, I'm not so sure about this whole plan. How about you? Are you ready for Sam and Bernie, the soul singers?

I think Bernie Mac is a really funny guy (am I the only person who liked Head of State?), so it's always disappointing to see him under-utilized. This summer alone, he was on screen for maybe three minutes in Transformers, and I barely recall him speaking in Ocean's Thirteen. Mac's best work -- from his hilarious-simply-eating-an-orange performance in Bad Santa to his surprisingly effective dramatic turn in Pride -- makes me think the dude might have a few truly great performances ahead. I'm not so sure his latest film will prove my point, but his role in Old Dogs does sound like it could be pretty amusing. According to The Hollywood Reporter, Mac will play "Johnny Lunchbox -- the Elvis, Bono, and Beatles of children's entertainment all wrapped up into one super-charismatic puppeteer."

Mac joins an already pretty stacked supporting cast that includes Matt Dillon, Seth Green, and Mrs. Travolta -- Kelly Preston. In Old Dogs, which we told you about here and here, John Travolta and Robin Williams play "best friends and business partners whose lives are turned upside down when they find themselves taking care of seven year-old twins." Sigh. I can imagine the pitch meeting now -- "It's exactly like Three Men and a Baby..." (The studio executive's face lights up and he claps his hands together) "...but with only two men instead of three..." (studio executive frowns disapprovingly and stops clapping) "...but with two kids instead of one!" (Studio executive jumps to his feet, ecstatic, and asks if there will be poop jokes). "Baby, it's all poop jokes!" (Studio executive pulls a blank over-sized novelty check from behind his desk and hands it over).

After having seen a thousand feel-good sports dramas -- Rudy, Remember the Titans, We Are Marshall, Glory Road and so on ad infinitum (and in many cases ad nauseam) -- you'd think that I'd be inclined to sneer at Pride. Or dismiss it as hokey, old-timey, sentimental, manipulative. Well, I actually want to celebrate Pride for being hokey, old-timey, sentimental and manipulative in the best possible way -- and also for being well-made, smarter than it has to be, packed with pleasures and full of rousing depictions of both the pleasures of competition and the hard work it takes to achieve excellence. Plus it's got an amazing Philly soul soundtrack, a steadfast-but-never-dull lead performance by Terrence Howard and Bernie Mac in what I'll call, for lack of a better phrase, the Ernest Borgnine role. Yeah, Pride is a standard-issue production-line sports drama. But Jaguars come off production lines too.

Howard plays Jim Ellis, and in a pre-credit sequence we see Ellis's swimming career as a youth -- and how a meet in 1964 North Carolina spoiled swimming for him. As the credits begin -- lettering that looks like it was pulled off the side of a Chevy van over scenes of '70s Philadelphia while the soundtrack roars with the O'Jay's "Back Stabbers" -- it's years later, and Ellis just wants a job. Any job. He tries to get a gig coaching at the local academy, but the headmaster's indifferent, and as Howard stands in a polyester suit in front of retro-atheletic banners, Pride looks like a scene from The White Shadow. And the white shadow is in the room -- Ellis's job application is pretty much rejected outright by the snotty headmaster -- Tom Arnold, who puts a few spins on a rote role throughout the film. Ellis gets a job down at the unemployment office, preparing an inner-city recreation center for demolition.

Caper-film junkies, George Clooney fans and Brad Pitt worshippers, this is your lucky day. We have your absolute first look, anywhere on the planet, at the new poster for 'Ocean's 13' (click on the image to the left for a larger version). And in case you're counting, there are only 12 people on the poster: the original crew of 'Ocean's 11' and their perennial nemesis Andy Garcia.

'Ocean's 13' finds Danny (Clooney), Rusty (Pitt) and the rest of the boys planning their most ambitious heist to date AND rolling sans ladies (Julia Roberts and Catherine Zeta-Jones, you will be missed) -- but they've also got a new pal to play with: an unknown actor you've probably never heard of named Al Pacino. And if that doesn't pique your interest, you'll be happy to learn that the earnest Linus (Matt Damon) may get a little loving this time around ... from an attractive and alluring older woman played by Ellen Barkin. Wow, our little boy Linus is all growed up.

POST: Are you excited for the movie?

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SEE 'EM: George Clooney | Brad Pitt pics

Back in February, Martha Fischer had news of Terrence Howard's upcoming sports drama titled PDR. Well it's almost a year later, and the film is now called Pride, and the new teaser poster and trailer are available online.

JoBlo.net has the teaser poster with a link to the official site and trailer. The film is the true story of Jim Ellis, who turned inner-city teens from a local park and recreation center into a championship swim team. The film also stars Bernie Mac, and is being directed by first-timer Sunu Gonera. Sure, the whole thing sounds a little tired, and this is a movie I think we've all seen plenty of times before. All the clichés of an uplifting sports flick seem to be there and watching the trailer pretty much confirms it. On the upside, it looks like it might have a great soundtrack. And, I have to admit that Lionsgate pulled off a pretty slick poster for the film. I love a good movie poster, and Pride's one-sheet has a nice combination of 70's kitsch and simple graphics. It's pretty eye-catching, even if the movie itself seems like nothing special.

Lionsgate is planning on a spring release for the film, so there is still some time to drum up some interest. If nothing else, at least they managed to make an original poster. ...

My name is Martha, and I like Bernie Mac. (Yes, Mark and I will be fighting about it later.) I think his show is great, that the "cracker" scene was the best thing about Ocean's Eleven, and that The Original Kings of Comedy is one of the funniest concert films I've ever seen. All of which puts me squarely in the "broader, middle America" audience (since I'm sadly not in their "urban core aud") Lionsgate was eying when they signed a production deal (their first ever) with Mac's MacMac Entertainment.

Under the terms of the deal, Mac will first get to work on a new concert film, which the studio will release theatrically. In addition, he's agreed to host at least four "Dean Martin-style celebrity roasts" over the mutliyear length of the contract's run; those will go straight to DVD. Call me crazy, but I sort of love that idea. Granted, the Martin roasts are enjoyable due primarily to the combination of generously flowing alcohol and their host's incredibly laid back demeanor, but I wouldn't put it past Mac to step into the Martin role and, as the great Tim Gunn would say, make it work.

Director Michael Bay is really starting to gear up for his mighty venture of turning the very popular '80's robot series The Transformers into a modern film. Casting news continues to be revealed by the day, and today is no exception.  So in today's short update on the newest cast member to join the daily-growing human cast for Michael Bay's combination live-action/CGI flick we present to you popular sitcom star Bernie Mac. Mac will be joining the already announced cast of Shia LaBeouf, Jon Voight, Megan Fox, John Turturro, John Robinson and Travis Van Winkle.

Mac was rumored to be joining the cast several weeks ago, and has given official confirmation this week. He will be playing the part of "the salesman." In case you don't remember the casting call description, Mac's character "could sell ice to an Eskimo ... your typical wheelin' dealin' used car salesman." Don't get too excited though, Mac fans. According to the original call, the part is only a one-scener. If you want a reminder of the character outlines, you can dig the full casting call here. Maybe it'll tide you over while you patiently wait for information of the important part of the film -- the Transformers themselves.

Both Lenny Kravitz and Bernie Mac - two men not exactly known for their dramatic acting work - have recently signed on to play roles that they hope will defy expectations. Mac will be joining Terrence Howard in PDR, the true-story-of-redemption swimming coach movie in which he'll play a janitor. Together, the two characters successfully keep a rec center (presumably that's where the swimming happens) open, and turn it into a "vital community center." I don't know about anyone else, but I feel uplifted already.

Kravitz, meanwhile, will be taking on a slightly darker role: he's agreed to star in a screen version of Ray Shell's forthcoming debut novel, Iced. In the movie, Kravitz will play a musician with a crack addiction (hopefully the second part of that is going to be a bigger stretch for him than the former); the story follows him over the course of his early career, as the impact of his drug use deepens. The film will be directed by Lee Daniels, whose short career has included production credits on Monster's Ball, The Woodsman, and Shadowboxer, his only other directorial effort.