Well, since Angels & Demons still has that big question mark hanging over the production, I guess Ron Howard wants to keep busy. Sci-Fi Wire reports that Howard's Imagine Entertainment and Paramount Pictures are in negotiations for the film rights to E.E "Doc" Smith's classic pulp sci-fi series, Lensman. Smith's grandson told Sci-Fi Wire that Imagine and Universal are negotiating for an 18-month renewable option for the film. He also went on to say, in what looks to be a carefully crafted response, "This is being negotiated now. One can only assume at that point if they believe it will be a profitable venture they would move ahead with at least one film."

The series first appeared in the '30s in Amazing Stories and at the insistence of friend and publisher Lloyd Arthur Eshbach, Smith later went back and re-wrote the story to work in the new stuff he was writing. The story focused on the struggle between two alien races: the Arisians and the Eddorians. The Arisians were in the role of the 'good' guys and the Eddorians are a power hungry race bent on war and destruction. The Lensmen are the result of selective breeding by the extinct Arisians to protect future generations from the Eddorians -- and armed with the 'Lens' which is way too complicated to explain but it appears to have something to do with telepathy and a pretty gaudy looking bracelet. Howard still has his political drama Frost/Nixon and the film version of Claire Messud's 2006 novel, The Emperor's Children, so I wouldn't start looking for Lensman any time soon.

[via ComingSoon.net]

Remember the dueling Truman Capote biopics, Capote and Infamous? That's nothing compared to the possibilities for movies focusing on Sammy Davis Jr. and his memorable career. According to the New York Times, the potential movie projects currently number four -- three features and a documentary, focusing on different aspects of the singer/actor's life from various biographical sources. If the Capote films are any kind of benchmark, it seems that the first movie to reach theaters will likely be the one with the biggest box-office success. This means that when one of these films actually goes into production, the other projects may crumble. Here are the contenders for the big race:

• Denzel Washington starring in and possibly directing a Brian Grazer-produced adaptation of 2003 biography In Black and White: The Life of Sammy Davis Jr., written by Wil Haywood. Imagine Entertainment and Universal Pictures have teamed up for this movie. This is the one I'm betting will prevail, simply because of the big-name talent behind it.
• Andre Benjamin (aka Andre 3000) starring in Sammy and Kim, about Davis's affair with actress Kim Novak in the 1950s, which drew a lot of controversy at the time. The sensationalist aspect of this story could potentially draw a lot of crowds.
• New Line is finalizing a deal to adapt Davis's best-selling autobiography from 1965, Yes, I Can, which was actually written by Jane and Burt Boyar. Craig Zadan and Neil Meron, who have produced Chicago and Hairspray, are attached as producers. This biopic is endorsed by Davis's widow, but no lead actor has yet been named.
  
• A documentary is also in the running, also based on Yes, I Can, and using Burt Boyar's filmed interviews with Davis. This sounds like it might be a good alternate, smaller film that would clarify facts that might balance out a more sensational, fictionalized biopic.

It seems like a big budget Hollywood film about the 1992 L.A. Riots was almost destined to happen, and who better to take on this monster of a film than one of the most prolific African-American filmmakers out there -- Spike Lee. The director will once again be teaming up with Universal Pictures and Imagine Entertainment (he also worked with them on Inside Man) to bring this true-life tragedy, simply called L.A. Riots, to the big screen.

While the director is also hard at work on an Inside Man sequel, it appears Universal is making L.A. Riots its top priority, as they want the script (which is being written by Undercover Brother's John Ridley) in their hands before Christmas. As most of you are probably already aware, the 1992 riots were sparked when four white police officers were acquitted of beating up black motorist Rodney King, even though the entire event was captured on videotape. The subsequent riots in Los Angeles caused the death of 55 people, along with thousands of injuries and a whopping $1 billion in damages. Yeah, it was a pretty big deal and, at the time, I was happy I wasn't in L.A. On how he plans to approach the touchy subject, Lee said: "This isn't about some cavalcade of stars, but rather a truthful and realistic examination of what happened, what the ramifications were and where we are now, in hopes that something like this doesn't happen again."

Lee was actually in L.A. during the riots, as he was screening an early cut of Malcolm X. What did he do? "I went straight to LAX, and my ass was on the red eye." It should be interesting to see how this film turns out, and whether or not it will be nominated for an Oscar before production even begins. Ya know, Hollywood's way of saying, "We're so sorry this happened, but here's a shiny gold statue for you to put above the fireplace." And since they're demanding a script right away, could they be itching to get this puppy into theaters late next year? If that's the case, then it's going to be awhile before Inside Man 2 sees the light of day.

This morning's Variety reported that Universal, along with Brian Grazer and Ron Howard's Imagine Entertainment, has acquired the rights to The School, an article in June's Esquire Magazine about the September, 2004 terrorist takeover of School #1 in Beslan, Russia. They plan to turn the story into a fiction film, with Grazer producing. According to Grazer, The School "captures for the first time the human aspect of a horrendous event." Which he can believe only if he's read and seen nothing about the story except that one article -- hell, even Three Days in September, a thin, American cable doc on the event clearly conveys the individual human suffering that was central to the siege. And come on -- how can a tragedy in which over 300 people, most of whom were children, died NOT have a "human aspect?" Give me a freaking break, Grazer.

Maybe I'm just a pansy who is too wrapped up in Russian history and culture, but I haven't heard about a feature film that made my stomach crawl this much in a while, particularly given how totally clueless Grazer obviously is about the actual event. What good could possibly come out of the Hollywoodization of a tragedy so huge it's often called "Russia's 9/11?" I realize that United 93 has been praised and appreciated by those who have seen it, but it was made five years after the events it depicts, and by an American studio. So why don't we just let Russia deal with Beslan in its own time, in its own way?

OK, I'm going to say this up front, so no one goes crazy with glee or fury at the news that's going to follow: This information comes from someone else's unnamed "insider" source, so its veracity is tenuous at best. This "source" could be his crazy Uncle Charlie, for all we know. (Of course, the fact that it could also be someone at Imagine is what makes all of us want so badly to believe these things.) These are RUMORS, not facts. Got it? OK, good. Moving on.

Rumor has it that two names are on the shortlist to star in the still-a-long-way-from-production Magnum PI movie: George Clooney and Vince Vaughn. Now, as you may have noticed, the women at Cinematical are rather huge lovers of the Clooney, so it's sort of a foregone conclusion that I'd be excited about him in pretty much any role. But I'm also a massive Magnum fan, and it seems like, if we can't have the original, Clooney would really be perfect. He can do the whole "cocky, good-looking man" thing in his sleep, but also has a very convincing serious side. Vaughn, on the other hand, would be a different Magnum entirely -- it seems obvious that, if they cast him, the movie will follow in the footsteps of Starsky & Hutch, taking the "We love this dude but man, ain't he silly?" approach.

Really, both men (if, again, they really are being considered) have their merits, it's just a question of what direction Imagine wants to go with their film: Hire Clooney if it's going to follow the tone of the series, and Vaughn if they prefer to mock the show (with love, of course).