Remember how for the longest time whenever anyone talked about Samuel L. Jackson it was usually followed by the description of Jackson as one of the hardest working actors in the business? Well, it is not like he didn't earn that reputation -- Jackson currently has one film already headed to theaters and three other films in production. Variety reports that Jackson will add the spy thriller Unthinkable to the pile.

Gregor Jordan (The Informers) has already signed to direct the story of a "major threat to the United States when the locations of three nuclear devices are shrouded in secrecy by a single terrorist. With only two days before they are deployed, a black-ops interrogator and a female FBI agent have to decide how far they will go to find them" -- knowing Jackson's flair for interrogation I can only assume he will play the interrogator in the film.

Jackson is still filming the musical comedy Soul Men with Bernie Mac, so production on Unthinkable won't start until this fall in Minneapolis. But remember, Jackson likes to keep busy, so stay tuned for those Nick Fury updates -- because let's face it, Unthinkable will likely not be the Jackson film everyone is talking about in 2009.

Back in the day, Mel Gibson was the 'it' guy. The tough loved him for roles like Mad Max Rockatansky, while the soft went gaga for his dramatic plights in flicks like Forever Young. It sort of seems like another lifetime ago. Now, having thrown some ultra-violent directorial gigs under his belt, along with a troubling night with booze and a sharp drunken tongue, it seems Gibson is heading back to what made him a star. Hello Magazine reports that his rumored acting project, Under and Alone, will begin filming next year.

Gibson will star in the film, which is the true story of Billy Queen -- an undercover ATF agent who infiltrated the Mongols Motorcycle Club in the late '90s. He became a "full-patch member," nabbed the title of treasurer, and was able to gather enough evidence for the arrests of many Mongols in 2000. The project is based on the agent's book, and has been adapted by Sugarland's Daniel Barnz and Ned Zeman, along with Gregor Jordan (Ned Kelly) -- the latter of whom will co-direct with Antoine Fuqua (Shooter).

There has been no word of upcoming directorial gigs for Gibson, but he does have another acting project cooking up called Sam and George -- the story of friends who reunite after one (Gibson) has served 20 years in prison for a crime he didn't commit. Is this the return of actor Mel? Is he going to take a long break from his violent filmmaking? Will audiences forget his past turmoil and love actor Mel once again?

[via Moviehole]

Adaptations of Bret Easton Ellis' books are like smooth, tasty, cinematic butter. No matter what directorial eye tackles his prose, the unique fire remains, and even improves. First there was Less Than Zero, then came American Psycho, and finally, my favorite, The Rules of Attraction. After drug habits and Huey Lewis-led murder, the stakes were high, and Roger Avary whipped together a music-led dance of destruction. Could anything top that? I'm not sure, but I'm holding out hope that Gregor Jordan makes something great out of The Informers, which Christopher Campbell first posted about in May. Since then, they've started to compile one heck of a cast, and the list just keeps growing.

The Hollywood Reporter has posted that Winona Ryder and Mickey Rourke have joined the eclectic ensemble cast. The film is about seven interconnecting stories in 1980's LA, about a movie executive (Billy Bob Thornton), his wife (Kim Basinger), his mistress, a rock star, a kidnapper, and to strange things up some more, a vampire (Brandon Routh). Ryder is going to be a newscaster who has been dumped by the married producer she's had a long affair with, which I assume means she's Billy Bob's mistress, and Rourke is going to play Peter, a former security guard who wants to kidnap a kid to sell to an LA cult (which should make him the kidnapper). All that's left to fill is the rock star, unless that's being handled by one of the other names on the cast, like John from Cincinnati's Austin Nichols, or Thumbsucker's Lou Taylor Pucci. Production begins in October, so hopefully we'll have more Ellis goodies for you soon.

I'm a big fan of author Bret Easton Ellis' work. Since many of his novels rely on the inner workings of characters' minds, they can be difficult to adapt to the big screen. The film version of Less Than Zero made cocaine addiction look like Pretty in Pink. I know I'm in the minority, but I detested Mary Harron's American Psycho. The only adaptation I feel got Ellis exactly right was Roger Avary's excellent take on The Rules of Attraction. Now three more films are going to try and re-create Ellis' world. Darren Star is working on The Frog King with Joseph Gordon-Levitt. There is no director yet, but a movie version of Lunar Park has been announced. And director Gregor Jordan (Ned Kelly) has put together a cast for the film translation of Ellis' 1995 novel The Informers.

The Hollywood Reporter writes that Billy Bob Thornton, Kim Basinger, and Superman himself Brandon Routh are in "various stages of negotiation" to star in the ensemble film. The Informers is set in Los Angeles in 1983 and it tracks seven stories. The major characters are: a movie executive (played by Thornton), his wife (Basinger), his mistress, a rock star, a kidnapper, and a vampire (Routh, apparently looking to darken up his image). Rounding out the cast are Ashley Olsen as a "sexually promiscuous girl" (doesn't it seem like those twins are getting a ton of work these days?), Jon Foster (Stay Alive), Austin Nichols (John Monad on the baffling John From Cincinnati), and Lou Taylor Pucci (star of the very good Thumbsucker and the not very good Chumscrubber -- yes, they're different movies). Sounds like it could be a great flick! Now, whatever happened to Roger Avary's planned Glamorama movie? I would love to see that come to light. Did Zoolander steal its thunder?

I'm still disappointed that we will never get to see Glitterati, the semi-spin-off of The Rules of Attraction, which does exist but which writer-director Roger Avary claims will never be released to the public. I still have hope that Avary will eventually get his Glamorama adaptation off the ground -- Kip Pardue deserves the work. But while I wait for Avary to stop writing bad Silent Hill films, I will have to get hyped up for another Bret Easton Ellis adaptation: The Informers. Based on the author's 1995 collection of interrelated vignettes, the film is the first to be adapted by Ellis himself (with help from documentarian Nicholas Jarecki, who was originally set to direct and is also a producer). As can be expected of Ellis' work, the film will follow a number of amoral characters, including a pop star, a Hollywood player and a vampire. The criss-crossing stories are set in Los Angeles in 1983, though it is possible the adaptation -- like Rules -- could be modernized.

The Informers will be directed by Gregor Jordan, who better not let me down. So far, Ellis has been adapted three times and each film's director managed to create a style and tone that -- if not exactly captured the same style and tone of the source -- fit the material brilliantly. Jordan's film Buffalo Soldiers was a decent enough satire of the army during peacetime, but it just wasn't edgy enough for me. The characters in that pic should have been just as despicable as any in an Ellis book. So, therefore I pray the director will push himself a little further this time -- he at least will be working from a script that likely will have Ellis' teethmarks all over it. With that under consideration, I'm not too worried. Sure, Jordan probably won't make as great a film as Avary or Mary Harron (American Psycho) has, and he may not even make a film as notably atmospheric as Marek Kanievska (Less Than Zero) made, but I'm crossing my fingers that it will follow in the footsteps of those mostly underrated, mostly perfect adaptations. I do imagine a worst case scenario, though, which resembles the terrible 80s-set ensemble piece 200 Cigarettes. Other projects involving Ellis that may eventually see the light of the projector include an adaptation of his novel Lunar Park and the author's script for The Frog King.