It looks like once Ben Affleck cleans up the not-so-sexy straggly, shaggy-man look for Extract, he's going to town. The Hollywood Reporter posts that he's in negotiations to write, direct, and star in The Town -- a romance/heist flick. It's about a gal bank manager who has her heart broken by a thief "who stole more than her heart" and an FBI agent trying to bust him. Yes, more bad guy allure versus good guy aggravation, I'm sure. Ben has already got all sorts of Best Feature and Most Promising Director accolades, so do you think he's got another gem in him, or will he hit the sophomore slump?

Universal Studios Hollywood will offer an extended first look at The Wolfman on its "Terror Tram" as part of the park's Halloween Horror Nights, beginning October 3rd. (Footage to arrive online -- what -- October 4th, ya think?) Said tram takes you to places like the Bates Motel, Psycho House and the "tortured landscape" of War of the Worlds. (Trip to the set of Ace Ventura Jr. not included on Terror Tram for some odd reason.)

Amazon.com has just announced that its subsidiary, IMDB (aka Internet Movie Database), has begun showcasing both feature films and TV shows on its website for users to watch for free. While at first it looks to be more suitable for the casual TV viewer who wants to watch an episode of 30 Rock before its first air date (one pretty cool feature), the announcement indicates that "over 6,000 titles will be available." Films available now include Some Like It Hot, Liar, Liar, Bring It On, Fiddler on the Roof and more (in addition to a whole bunch of shorts). Anyone else losing track of all the different places online where one can download a film or TV program and watch for free? [The Hollywood Reporter]

Has the time come for more Up in Smoke?

Jam!/AP reports that the feud is finally over between Cheech Marin and Tommy Chong, and to celebrate they're launching their first comedy tour in over 25 years. Cheech says: "It takes about three minutes for that [fights] to happen. There's this veiled hatred. We've kind of resolved that. We've gotten to the age where we don't feel like fighting anymore because the end is a lot closer than the beginning." I'll say. How often do we get stoner comedies where the stars are in their 60s and 70s? (Chong turned 70 in May, while Marin is 62.)

Now "kind of resolved" isn't the best indication of a solid partnership where the pair can tour happily without diving for each other's throats. However, should they be able to pull it off, I wouldn't be surprised if we got more Cheech and Chong pot-smoking action in the future. Pineapple Express can just pave the way for their return.

Would you want to see them Up in Smoke again?

Remember these tots, Tia and Tony? In 1975, they made an Escape to Witch Mountain to get away from a money-hungry millionaire. Now The Hollywood Reporter has posted that both Kim Richards and Ike Eisenmann will be returning for Disney's reimagining, Race to Witch Mountain. Of course, they're a little too old to play Tia and Tony, so that job is for AnnaSophia Robb and Alexander Ludwig. Instead, Richards will play "a waitress at a roadhouse called Rays, in a town called Stony Creek," while Eisenmann plays a sheriff.

Also added to the cast are Tom Everett Scott (Because I Said So), Chris Marquette (Fanboys), Billy Brown (Cloverfield), and Cheech Marin. The first three roles are all sorts of special -- Scott plays a medical specialist, Marquette plays a computer specialist, and Brown plays a military specialist working for the bad guy. Cheech, meanwhile, is a helpful mechanic.

There's nowhere, however, to race right yet. The film is getting released next Spring.

Hollywood loves talking dogs. And I guess a lot of moviegoers love them too, because otherwise Hollywood wouldn't keep making them. Later this summer, we have a super-powered talking dog in Underdog and in two years, we'll be getting a super-sized talking dog movie called South of the Border. I say super-sized because the live-action Disney movie is going to have a lot of talking dogs in it. Drew Barrymore will be voicing the lead dog, a pampered Beverly Hills Chihuahua named Chloe, who ends up lost in Mexico while on vacation with her owner (Piper Perabo). As you'd expect, the little dog meets a bunch of new friends to help her find her way.

Most of the other dogs will be voiced by Latino actors, including Salma Hayek, who plays a spirit guide who helps Chloe learn her Hispanic roots, and George Lopez, who plays another Chihuahua who attempts to woo Chloe. Other unspecified roles have been cast with Cheech Marin (who voiced the cartoon Chihuahua character in Disney's Oliver & Company), Paul Rodriguez, Plácido Domingo, Edward James Olmos and Eddie 'Piolin' Sotelo. Andy Garcia will also be voicing a dog, one which doesn't seem to be of the Latino variety. The Cuban actor is voicing an ex-K-9 German Shepherd. I assume that the character will have a German accent (as long as they're going so racial) and that he will end up the true love interest for Chloe -- though I don't think this is physically appropriate.

Richard "Cheech" Marin, one half of the legendary stoner comedy duo Cheech & Chong, recently visited the Hollywood set of the Spanish version of the 1931 Bela Lugosi classic, Dracula, researching his "making of" drama called Señor Dracula that he pitched to (Universal's) Focus Features. Marin appears in the Nick Cannon comedy Underclassman, which opens September 2, is currently directing Broadway's Latinlogues and is a featured voice in the upcoming video game, Scarface: The World Is Yours. In a related stroy, the BBC reports, echoing reports from earlier this year, that Marin and his long-estranged former partner, Tommy Chong, are soon to reunite for their first new movie in 20 years.

[via WENN]