Other than a few "f-bombs" and a positive endorsement of marijuana, there really isn't all that much in the new international trailer for Judd Apatow's musical spoof, Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story that could be considered particularly controversial. This is a film from the same man who brought us Superbad and Knocked Up, so it's not like we weren't already expecting drug references and potty mouth. Thankfully, in the age of the Yellow Band trailer, anything goes. You can check out the trailer now over on YouTube, or look for it after the jump. Walk Hard stars John C. Reilly as Dewey Cox, Jenna Fischer as his long-suffering love, and Tim Meadows as Dewey's long-time drummer and friend. Jake Kasdan (Orange County) directed and also helped write the script along with Apatow. This time, rather than just riff on the dramatic spoof angle, this one goes straight for the belly laugh. Not necessarily a bad choice, but I still like the overt seriousness of the first trailer (but that could just be me).

So despite not being completely blown away by what I've seen, there still seems to plenty of giggles to be had -- plus you have to love a 'For Your Consideration' ad that has the star flipping off the camera. We've been reporting on the film for a while now, and can you blame us? Now that 'R' rated comedy is finally getting the respect it deserves, it's just nice to go to the movies without a "tween" in sight. Walk Hard was originally set for release this month, but instead the movie hits theaters on December 21.

I like Will Ferrell as much as the next girl, but I don't think I like him enough to drop $47,100. The Hollywood Reporter tells us a winner has emerged in the auction for a cameo role in Ferrell's next film, Step Brothers. Erik had first reported on the auction last week, and just in case you are wondering, this isn't just a shameless cash grab -- Uwe Boll; I'm looking in your direction. All of the proceeds from the auction are going to a charitable organization called the Cancer for College foundation. The charity is run by Ferrell's former fraternity buddy, who is a two-time survivor of Hodgkin's Disease.

So who was willing to drop almost fifty grand for the part of 'Guy in Bathroom Stall #2'?. The winning bid came from an anonymous bidder in Texas who was bidding on behalf of his son. The bidder told THR, "I lost my mother to ovarian cancer a few years ago so I feel fortunate that my 10-year-old and I are able to participate in an event involving Cancer for College and Will Ferrell. It's a great opportunity for him to both hang out with 'Ricky Bobby' and learn a valuable life lesson -- that it's important to help people who need help by whatever means you are able to do so". Step Brothers is the latest collaboration for Ferrell and Adam McKay with Judd Apatow producing. The film stars Ferrell and John C. Reilly as two ultra-competitive step-brothers vying for their parents affection. Brothers is currently still in production, but is scheduled for release on July 25th, 2008.

Her name has been circling a bunch of projects as of late, but it seems American Idol runner-up Katharine McPhee has finally landed her first studio acting role (after already landing a part in the indie dark comedy The Last Caller). Take that Taylor Hicks! Mcphee has signed to star alongside Anna Faris in the untitled Happy Madison sorority flick we told you about recently. Columbia Pictures will distribute. Also joining the first female-driven comedy from Adam Sandler's shingle are Emma Stone, Rumer Willis, Kat Dennings and Dana Goodman. Fred Wolf will direct off a script penned by the Legally Blonde duo of Karen McCullah Lutz and Kirsten Smith. Story follows a Playboy bunny (Faris) who gets kicked out of the Playboy Mansion and settles into a role as house mother to the "lamest sorority on campus." I'm not exactly sure how one goes from Playboy Mansion to lame sorority house without at least stopping by Brett Ratner's casting couch first, but I guess we're supposed to suspend our disbelief a bit here.

Mcphee, for her first major role, will be playing a pregnant hippy. A pregnant sorority hippy, that is. Stone will act as the sorority's president, while Willis will play an insecure girl who wears an unnecessary backbrace, Dennings will show up as the token feminist (piercings included) and Goodman will take on the role of a girl who should have graduated years ago if she didn't constantly keep changing her major. (Hey, my best friend did that!) Like with most college comedies, there will be an evil, popular sorority -- and Sarah Wright has signed on to star as a conniving hottie from the other side. Shooting is set to begin later this month in Los Angeles. Personally, I'm just curious to see a female-centric Happy Madison flick. Since they're known for producing silly male-orientated films (mostly starring Sandler or one of his many pals), I wonder how this one will play out. Faris has potential if she's given the right material (a bit over-the-top in Just Friends, but I dug her), but I imagine the premise will rely on how "lame" they can make the rest of the cast, Mcphee included.

Calm down there guys, her career hasn't tanked enough for Anna Faris to begin entertaining the same ideas you were entertaining after reading the title of this post. Nope, instead, Faris will star in an untitled college campus comedy for Columbia Pictures and Happy Madison. And, in the pic, she'll play an ex-Playboy bunny who packs her bags and moves into the lamest sorority house on campus in an attempt to make this group of girl nerds more popular. I imagine it will be something like Ferris Bueller meets Revenge of the Nerds ... except with females. Perhaps we can call it Van Wilder 3: The One Where Anna Faris Shows Up to Deliver One or Two Laughs?

Penned by Legally Blonde (and She's the Man, and Ella Enchanted, and ... do you a spot a theme yet?) scribes Karen McCullah Lutz and Kristen Smith, pic looks to be another female-centric fish-out-of-water comedy and should fit right in alongside Lutz and Smith's other films. Granted, it doesn't appear to be the most mouth-watering concept, but I can see it having potential. Lutz and Smith know how to write entertaining comedy for a mass audience, and I'd be lying if I said I wasn't the least bit interested in a Revenge of the Nerds-type reversal. Only problem is can they find a group of Hollywood actresses who can play "lame?" We already know there's plenty of dorky guys out there, but there aren't many recent films that feature an abundance of nerd-ish girls. Who would you cast? (Here's where someone will inevitably say, "Well, they already cast their first lame actress -- Anna Faris!")

Once you hit your mid- or late twenties (unless you were a Doogie child genius), your attention is drawn to that looming link back to high school -- the reunion. I sometimes wonder how much the act is to reconnect with friends you've lost touch with, and how much is to show off and feed those curiosities about who everyone became. Antony Moore has pretty much asked the same thing in his not-yet-released British novel, The Swap: "Since I last saw them I've not got married, or had any children, or got a promotion, or inherited a fortune; I've been doing exactly the same things I was doing last time I went." "Well tell them you've expanded." "They'll see that for themselves."

Now Columbia Pictures has bought into the thought, optioning the upcoming black comedy novel for John Calley to produce. Swap is about a man named Harvey Briscow -- a drinker, smoker and comic-book shopowner who isn't itching to go to his next class reunion, because nothing has changed for him. However, his friend and lone employee Josh suggests that he might use the night as an opportunity to get back a rare comic he had swapped years ago. This quest embroils the protagonist in "murder, romance and the revelation of a long-held secret." Just a wild thought, but I imagine that they'll look for someone like Simon Pegg to head it. That is, if they keep it British. Sure, Columbia could make a stateside adaptation, but then it will lose that dark, tasty humor. Do you have any better ideas?

Just when you thought all signs were pointing toward Sam Raimi directing a big-screen adaptation of The Hobbit, The Hollywood Reporter announced that Columbia Pictures has picked up a high-concept action-adventure script for Raimi to produce (along with partner Josh Donen) through their Buckaroo Entertainment. No word yet on whether Raimi will also helm, but word is the project has definite franchise potential. Penned by Freddy vs. Jason scribes Damian Shannon and Mark Swift, studio is also looking to fast track the pic ... because it's just that awesome.

Based on the description alone, I guess you can say it's like Night at the Museum meets Shrek meets (insert a number of fantasy films here). Story centers on a cynical guy from New York who must travel to some mysterious far-off land, untouched by modern civilization, in order to help save a village and a princess from a bunch of evil fairy tale creatures. I'm thinking someone like Vince Vaughn (or, if they want younger, Jake Gyllenhaal) might be at the top of the "actors being considered" list. Surprisingly, even though the plot description was released, the title is being kept under wraps -- why, exactly, we have no idea. I mean, how much can a title give away? If Raimi does decide to direct, it could spell the end of his involvement with that other (something about a spider dude from Queens?) lucrative franchise.

There used to be a lot of talk buzzing around about The Green Hornet. However, while an alien in tights, an insect hero and a certain fantastic group of four have been fighting crime, the Hornet has lounged in the dugout, waiting for his turn at bat. He almost got his shot when Kevin Smith was heading the project for Miramax, but then Silent Bob bowed out a year ago, stating that he wasn't an action director. While that seemed to be the end of it, the tide has now turned in another direction. Variety has reported today that Columbia Pictures has optioned the rights to crime-fighter, which will be set up with Neal H. Moritz and Original Film.

If you're uninitiated in the ways of the Hornet -- at night, the Hornet was a masked hero who fought crime along with his sidekick, Kato. By day, however, he was Britt Reid, a blood relative of The Lone Ranger and a newspaper publisher. What makes this hero different is that he's a cross between Batman and any sexy, stylish hard-boiled detective. Instead of tights, Hornet wears a mask, suit, trench and fedora. If Columbia can get it right, this could be gold for the company -- a masked crime fighter who doesn't have to wear a ridiculous get-up.

Now that we're getting back on track with the adaptation, who would play Reid/Hornet and who would be Kato, a role that was once Bruce Lee's? Early rumors paired Jake Gyllenhaal with Jet Li, but that's just silly. Who would buy a sidekick who is much older than the hero? If the studio is going to go young, Gyllenhaal or any other hot-jawed actor who can look good in a suit would work, and then Kato's natural choice would be Ong-bak star Tony Jaa. If you go older, Li works well, and maybe... I know this is a stretch, but Crispin Glover bears a resemblance to Al Hodge, who was the Hornet years ago. But again, any older actor in a suit can do it. Who would you cast?

Just when you thought it couldn't get worse, IESB reports that Eddie Murphy will star in a big-screen remake of the hit 70's show Fantasy Island which, originally, began as two made-for-TV movies. In case you're wondering, here's what you'll get for that ten dollar movie ticket: Eddie Murphy playing multiple roles (look for them to go the Little Man route and have Eddie run into frame yelling "De Plane! De Plane!") A script written by Norbit scribes Jay Scherick and David Ronn (which means Eddie will be in a fat suit at some point singing cheesy karaoke.) And, if that's not enough, we'll have a ton of negative reviews coupled with a box office take of $100 million to look forward to. Sadly, I'm not making any of this up.

It's okay if you're not at all familiar with Fantasy Island; some of you were probably born after the show was already off the air. If that's the case, Fantasy Island starred Ricardo Montalban (Mr. Roarke) and Hervé Villechaize (Tattoo) as hosts of a mysterious island which invited guests to live out their fantasies in exchange for lots and lots of money. (Yes, it's kind of like Las Vegas, except with supernatural overtones.) ABC attempted a revival of the show in 1998 (which featured guests booking their fantasies through a travel agent), but it was canceled halfway through the season. I imagine the writers will pull ideas from both the original and the revival -- updating it in a way so that Eddie can play practically the entire cast. Columbia Pictures will shovel this one out (so you know where to send those 'Thank You' cards) and there's no word on a director yet.

All Charlie's Angels film rights remain solely with Columbia Pictures. California courts decided this today putting a close to Robert Wagner's lawsuit against Columbia Pictures. Robert Wagner and his late wife Natalie Wood -- whom I still adore with all sincerity -- collaborated with the now late Aaron Spelling and Leonard Goldberg to create the hit television series Charlie's Angels. I learn something new everyday. I had no idea that tragically destined Wood and her husband Wagner had any part in Charlie's Angels' conception, let alone development.

Robert Wagner was fighting for compensation from Columbia Studios for all revenues the film accumulated. During the Angels' television days, Wood and Wagner received 50% of all profits that Spelling-Goldberg Productions made. Now here's the tricky part: Spelling-Goldberg Productions sold all of their rights to Charlie Angel's to Sony Pictures Television years back. Whether Wagner was a part of this decision I'm not sure, and whether Wagner received any of the money that Spelling-Goldberg Productions sold it for is another gray area. Either way, due to the court's decision it leads one to believe that at the point of sale, Wagner was freed of any rights or obligations to Charlie's Angels. If that's the case, then it makes sense that Wagner would not receive any money from the success of the films, leaving him no reason to go after Columbia Pictures in the first place.

Here lies the conundrum. Why do people sell the rights to their work in the first place?! There must be something that I don't get. The biggest example of unreasonable sales is The Beatles selling the rights to their music to Michael Jackson. Yes, Charlie's Angels isn't The Beatles but if it's your work, your baby, then no amount of money should replace your artistic marriage to your creation. Therefore, don't sell your work unless you are certain you want nothing to do with it if someone resurrects it into another profitable success.

One of the things that couples do is they look for other couples to hang out with. Why? Because men and women aren't crazy about their significant others strolling around town with single folk. So, couples plan activities with fellow couples -- they go to dinner, go bowling, go to a movie -- and it doesn't matter much if they have a ton in common as individuals, they're couples ... that's what counts. Well, Columbia Pictures has snatched up a pitch that places us inside the world of couples, but puts a bit of a spin on it.

Normally, when we see films that focus on couples, they're either breaking up, cheating on one another, complaining about kids, getting pregnant, hiding their love for one another from each others parents ... blah blah blah. However, My Wife Hates Your Wife -- which Will Smith will produce through his Overlook Entertainment alongside partner James Lassiter -- centers around two couples who do everything together until the ladies have a falling out. But, since the men are still good friends, they must now find a way to see each other in secret in order to avoid conflict from their partner. Gina Wendkos (The Princess Diaries) will pen the script, and there's a small chance Will Smith will star ... assuming he likes the script and it includes roles for everyone in his family. Seriously, I'm still waiting for Will Smith's pet fish to show up in a film alongside the Bad Boy. You think I'm joking -- just wait my friends. Just wait.

I don't remember much about my childhood. I remember playing with action figures and watching Fraggle Rock -- but aside from that, my memory is shot. Damn you drugs! However (and this is partly due to the fact that my mother kept every single book she read to me as a child), I do remember reading Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day over and over again. And I'll always remember the book's cover -- here's this kid hiding in his bed, barely peaking out from behind the covers, with this smirk on his face as if to say, "Why does my life totally suck?"

Well, the (good news? bad news?) is Columbia Pictures has just snatched up the film rights to the book for Neil Moritz to produce. Mike Bender (not Binder) will pen the adaptation. Bender and Moritz last worked together on Not Another Teen Movie (in which Bender wrote and produced), and the two are currently looking to take the Not Another Teen concept to TV with Not Another High School Show. (Oooh, please tear into those annoying rich brats on Laguna's Beach House in the Malibu Hills ... or whatever it's called.) As far as Alexander and his horrible day goes, the plot will revolve around a kid who wakes up with gum in his hair ... and it just gets better (or should I say, worse) from there.

What were some of your favorite books as a kid that you'd like to see up on the big screen?

Say you're Ashton Kutcher. You spent roughly 34 years starring in a wildly-popular sitcom, and you're dating a really hot older woman. You also created a couple of very successful tv shows, one of which (Beauty and the Geek) is incredibly sweet, while the other (Punk'd) is evil and cruel and people love it. You've never had a massive movie hit, but you're making some damn good money out Hollywood-way, and life is pretty much sweeter than sweet.

So, one day you and your buddy Kevin Bisch (he wrote Hitch -- hey, when you're Ashton, you don't hang with just anybody) decide to bang out a comedy pitch together. Just for kicks, you know. Something to pass the time. Once the pitch is sorta polished, you wander over to Columbia to tell them about the idea, a "modern-day Shampoo, set amid the world of florists." And, because everyone loves florists, they said "Ashton, here's what we're gonna do: We'll give you guys $1.5 million for the idea, fast-track the movie into production, and let you star. I mean, if it's cool with you and all." And you yawn, and give them a high-five. Just another day in the life of the Great Ashton.

Picking a project to follow up the either trite or brilliant Crash (and, since it won best picture, no one really cares about the haters, do they?), writer/director Paul Haggis has gone in an interesting direction: he's in final talks to direct Against All Enemies, an adaptation of Richard A. Clarke's condemnation of the Bush administration's handling of the threat posed by al-Qaida. Though Haggis won't be writing the screenplay himself, he's expected to "supervise" the next draft, which is in the hands of James Vanderbilt. Haggis himself is currently writing and will direct Death and Dishonor for Warner Brothers, and it's not clear which project will be made first.

Aside from its intensely political nature, what's interesting about a movie version of Clarke's memoir is its cast: George W. Bush, for example, is sort of a main character in the thing. Is Columbia actually going to hire someone to play him? What about Condoleezza Rice, and Donald Rumsfeld? While I'd be the first to admit that such a thing could work (Nixon, which is packed to the gills with portrayals of well-know politicians, is fantastic), the fact that the central figures of Clarke's book are still in the public eye complicates things. Will we, for example, be able to see a Bush on screen without giggling, and thinking immediately of SNL?