John C. Reilly and Salma Hayek starring in a Paul Weitz semi-horror flick / adaptation of a best-selling kids book? Sounds interesting enough to me. It'll be the first movie for Ms. Hayek since she took some time off to have a baby, and she'll be co-starring opposite the Dewey Cox star in Universal's Cirque du Freak. (Check out Monika's previous report right here.)

The film, which is based on a popular 12-book series by Darren Shan, begins production this month. Variety offers us non-readers a handy little synopsis: "Reilly will play a vampire who drafts a 14-year-old to serve as his assistant. The youth is turned into a half-vampire and becomes the catalyst in a battle between vampires and the rival Vampanese. Hayek will play Madame Truska, the bearded lady." According to the IMDB, the adaptation was written by screenwriter Brian Helgeland, whom you'll no doubt remember from L.A. Confidential, Mystic River and (of course) 976-EVIL.

Mr. Weitz's most recent film was American Dreamz, but I choose to focus more on his good movies. Like the first American Pie, the fantastic About a Boy, and the seriously underrated In Good Company.

For a while, "Freak Show" meant a gathering that showcased anyone who was a bit different. Perhaps they had much excess hair, or were particularly tiny or tall. Maybe they were twins who were bonded by more than sibling love, or dudes missing appendages. But times have changed, and that's not really acceptable anymore. So, if you want to delight in all things freak, you've got to be able to stomach seeing dudes nail things into their body, or, in the case of cinema, see a Freak Show that's more fantastical than "freakish."

The Hollywood Reporter has posted that Cal Naughton Jr., aka John C. Reilly, Josh Hutcherson (Bridge to Terabithia), and Chris Kelly (Boys Life) are in final negotiations to star in Cirque du Freak -- a kidlit adaptation that's being put together by Universal. Based on a series written by Darren Shan, the story focuses on best friends (Hutcherson and Kelly) "who visit an illegal freak show, where an encounter with a vampire and a giant deadly spider forces them to make life-changing choices that result in vampire servitude and vampirism itself." (The show also has a really bitey werewolf.) Believe it or not, Reilly will play "Larten Crepsley, the centuries-old vampire and owner of Madame Octa, the spider." This crazy, yet weirdly appealing, story is the brainchild of About a Boy writer/director Paul Weitz, who wrote the script and will direct it when production starts in February. So, what do you think? Are you ready to see Reilly get his bite on?