Who was it that said Playboy Magazine was worth a read ... for the articles? Because that person is exactly right! Seems Paramount has already snatched up an article that will appear in Playboy later this year, and have brought on The Departed screenwriter William Monaghan to help spin this puppy into a fascinating big-screen thriller. Graham King will produce the film along with Alexandra Milchan, and as of right now there's no title.

The fact-based story is a pretty interesting one -- apparently it follows a drug dealer named Jim Keene who gets nabbed by the cops and, instead of going to jail for a 10 years-to-life sentence, cuts a deal to go undercover in a maximum security hospital for the criminally insane. What's he doing there? Well, he's asked to cozy up to a serial killer in an attempt to find out the whereabouts of his victims. Says Variety, "Only the prison psychiatrist knew Keene was undercover, plus a visiting "girlfriend" who was actually an FBI agent." Okay, so we're gonna need a nutty serial killer, an undercover con and a female FBI agent, who, knowing Hollywood, will probably be written in as a love interest for our man undercover. We already have Monaghan and King. Do we have a Leonardo DiCaprio signing on in the near future?

Now that Gore Verbinski seems to be finished with Pirates, I guess he's getting a little anxious about securing himself a new franchise. The Hollywood Reporter announced that Verbinski is getting into the animation business, and he is still assembling his team for the yet to be named film. So far, some of the designers include; visual effects specialist Mark "Crash" McCrery and story and storyboard artist James Ward Bruit. Both men are veterans from the Pirate films, so there won't be a need for any introductions. Verbinski has yet to decide if he will be handling the animation work in-house, and is waiting to see what he has to work with once the script is completed.

The film has a projected budget of around $100 million and has a first look deal with Warner Bros. (thanks to Verbinski's producing partner, Graham King). The two met through screenwriter John Logan (Sweeney Todd), who had worked with King on The Aviator (even more proof that it's who you know in Hollywood). Logan is already in talks to pen the screenplay, but so far there are no details on the story. All we do know is that the flick will be of the action-adventure variety. But that isn't stopping Verbinski from pitching the idea of built in sequels to whatever Logan comes up with. Then again, it's not like it really matters, this is the guy who made a billion dollar franchise out of a crappy theme park ride. Verbinski's untitled animated extravaganza is expected to be released in 2010.

I'm not really connecting with the appeal of The Brave One, which looks like just another revenge film elevated slightly in prestige by the Oscar-winning talents of Jodie Foster and director Neil Jordan (as well as the Oscar-winning talents of Mary Steenburgen and cinematographer Philippe Rousselot and the Oscar-nominated talents of Terrence Howard, composer Dario Marianelli and production designer Kristi Zea -- hey, maybe the movie is worth seeing). But I tend to disagree with the tastes of the majority, so the movie is probably connecting better with mainstream audiences. Even if it fails at the box office, though, one of its screenwriters, Cynthia Mort, will come out just fine. Aside from being executive producer of a new sex-filled HBO series, Tell Me You Love Me, which she is also writing, and aside from scripting that Nina Simone biopic, in which Mary J. Blige is starring, the writer has just sold a pitch to Oscar-winning producer Graham King (The Departed).

According to The Hollywood Reporter, the pitch was for a murder-mystery thriller. Of course, it currently has no title and there isn't anything yet known about the plot. All that was said of the idea is that the film will be a "fast-paced morality tale" and "akin to the thriller genre films of the 1980s" (not sure what films The Hollywood Reporter is referring to with that description). King, who will produce the film, once scripted, through his GK Films, did admit the story pitched is one of the most dynamic and provocative he's heard in awhile and that it is an idea he thought must be brought to the screen. He referred to Mort as being, "at the top of her game." The Brave One is premiering tonight at the Toronto Film Festival, and Tell Me You Love Me debuts on Sunday, so we shall soon find out if King is correct about Mort's status.

Hollywood "Brit Girl" Emily Blunt has just signed on to play Queen Victoria in The Young Victoria. The movie is reported to chronicle the turbulent early years of Queen Victoria's rule, as well as her romance with Prince Albert, which yielded nine children. Martin Scorsese is producing the film with Graham King. (King accepted the last Oscar of the night this year, as producer on Scorsese's The Departed). Julian Fellowes wrote the screenplay, he's no stranger to Oscar himself, having won for his script for 2001's Gosford Park. Blunt was nominated for a Academy Award Golden Globe for her cute turn in The Devil Wears Prada -- perhaps seeing Helen Mirren clutching that trophy for The Queen drove her into the regal role?

I'll be Blunt with you -- Emily Blunt's in a lot of damn movies. Next month you can see her in the horror flick Wind Chill. This Christmas she'll be in Mike Nichols' Charlie Wilson's War, with indie darlings Julia Roberts and Tom Hanks. She's also in The Jane Austen Book Club, (Zzzzzzz!), cool-sounding magician pic The Great Buck Howard with Hanks again and John Malkovich, Dan in Real Life with friend of comedy Steve Carell and foe of comedy Dane Cook, and the independent Sunshine Cleaning with Alan Arkin and the adorable Amy Adams. Whew! In conclusion, if you go to see a movie in the next couple years, there's a 50% chance Emily Blunt will be in it. No studio is attached just yet to The Young Victoria, but it sounds like a very classy affair. King, Scorsese, Fellowes, there's a lotta Oscar folks working on this thing! Might we have a contender?

It's like The Departed, but, ya know --- for kids. With everyone talking about a possible Departed trilogy as of late, Martin Scorsese might be thinking differently; Variety tells us Warner Bros. and Graham King's Initial Entertainment have picked up the children's novel, The Invention of Hugo Cabret, as a potential directing vehicle for Scorsese. But can this Goodfella warm our hearts after he's already ripped them up, cursed them out and tore them to shreds? How odd would it be buying a ticket for a Scorsese pic with a slew of little kids lined up behind you? It might be odd, but it's certainly something I'm already looking forward to.

Not only is Scorsese involved, but King has snatched Aviator scribe John Logan to help pen the script -- which, apparently, is being written "immediately." Brian Selznick's novel takes place in the 1930s and concerns an orphan who lives in the walls of a Paris train station, his late father, a robot and some sort of mystery that involves all three. No word yet whether this will indeed by Scorsese's next project; since The Departed bashed the box office, the man has signed a first-look deal with Paramount, and attached himself to two other period pieces: Silence deals with 17th century Jesuit priests, and Last Duel is set in Medieval France. Tack on those Departed sequels (or prequels), as well as a rumored Theodore Roosevelt project, and Scorsese has a pretty full plate with plenty of leftovers to nosh on for the next few years.

With the mere existence of The Queen, let alone its success, it was inevitable that more of the royal family would make its way to the big screen. Luckily, it won't be a way-too-similar and way-too-soon alternative treatment, but another part of the British monarchy -- not only that, but it's getting royal, behind-the-scenes treatment. Martin Scorsese is once again teaming up with Graham King to produce The Young Victoria, a script by Gosford Park scribe, Julian Fellowes.

The film will follow Queen Victoria's rise to power when she ascended the throne at 18, the earlier years of her reign and her marriage to Prince Albert. Why only the beginning? Besides the fact that she ruled the United Kingdom for 63 years, King has said: "We all think we know Queen Victoria from the latter part of her life, but in fact she was an amazing, dynamic, romantic personality from a very early age that is largely unknown." Besides, who wants to whittle down that much drama into two hours? Not only that, but the film is coming from a royal family member - The Duchess of York, Sarah Ferguson -- who brought King the project.

Scorsese will be busy directing another period piece, The Rise of Theodore Roosevelt, so there's a different body to sit in the directorial chair -- Canadian filmmaker Jean-Marc Vallee. His last film, C.R.A.Z.Y., won the prize for Best Canadian Feature Film at the Toronto International Film Festival. It's an interesting collection of talent, so I can only imagine the royal treatment that Victoria will receive.

Though he's still busy running around town as Captain Jack, fending off enemies and bringing Disney an absurd amount of money, Johnny Depp (and his production shingle, Infinitum Nihil) managed to spare enough time to partner up with Graham King's Initial Entertainment Group on three adaptations, all of which will be co-produced for Warner Bros. Pictures. Three books. Three stories. Three films. However, Infinitum Nihil (why does it take me ten minutes to type that name correctly?) stressed that Johnny Depp is not attached to star in any of the films ... but we'll go ahead and speculate that he'll pop up in at least one. Here's what we're looking at:

• The first book is Joseph Gangemi's Inamorata, in which Peter Medak (Romeo is Bleeding) is in talks to direct. This one takes us to Philadelphia during the 1920s in which a Harvard grad attempts to discredit a beautiful psychic, but falls in love with her at the same time. Hmm, I bet she didn't see that one coming. Zing!
• Next up is Lord Breaulove Swells Whimsy's (say that ten times fast) Affected Provincial's Companion which, according to Variety, is a "compendium of essays, diagrams and poetry" on the value of being a refined gentleman is an unrefined world. Sounds strange, but it's supposed to be hysterical -- in the vein of McSweeney's stuff. I also love the title, though I expect Hollywood would change it to something like, How To Be a Better Man in 10 Days.
• Finally, we have James Meek's The People's Act of Love which -- get this -- is set in 1919 Siberia. Random. Anyway, story revolves around an escapee from a Russian prison camp who, while on the run, stumbles upon a Christian sect. And that's when things really get crazy. We think. And hope.