When it comes to sifting through all actors responsible for portraying the most powerful man on the planet, there's no shortage of options. John Travolta did a great Bill Clinton impersonation in Primary Colors and Timothy Bottoms delivered a near-perfect imitation of George W. Bush in both D.C. 9/11: Time of Crisis and That's My Bush! Neither one comes across as particularly flattering, so presidential nominee Barack Obama has chosen a safer bet: At a recent party in Los Angeles, Obama revealed that he prefers Jeff Bridges' conflicted commander-in-chief in The Contender. Granted, he may have said this simply to keep his audience happy -- in this case, Contender director Rod Lurie, one of the attendees who was willing to plop down $28,000 for the event. "'I just plugged your movie," Obama told Lurie, according to a report the director sent to Hollywood Elsewhere's Jeffrey Wells.

Still, when you're under the kind of intense scrutiny that Obama currently endures, Bridges actually seems like a pretty safe choice. Choose Anthony Hopkins in Nixon and it sounds like you're endorsing the bad guy. Choose Kevin Kline in Dave and you come across as disingenuous. Choose Peter Sellers in Dr. Strangelove and somebody will call you incompetent. Bridges, on the other hand, plays a fierce leader bound to his moral convictions. Of course, Obama also expressed sympathy over Lurie's short-lived television show Commander-in-Chief, which featured Geena Davis as the first woman president. Perhaps it's no coincidence that he and Hillary have publicly made amends.

Ever since director Jason Reitman knocked one out of the ballpark with Juno, folks have been itching to see what the man takes on next. Yes, he's taken to producing a few things (like the Diablo Cody-penned Jennifer's Body), but what, exactly, will be his next directorial project. Well, according to Latino Review, they've heard from a source that the younger Reitman will direct an adaptation of the novel Up in the Air, written by Thumbsucker author Walter Kirn. Apparently, some digging reveals that Jason's dad Ivan Reitman is already executive producing the film after picking up a script from Sheldon Turner back in 2003.

Recently, Reitman told MTV that he was "writing something" and would "direct it at the end of the year." When pushed to reveal something, anything, Reitman said "it's a comedy and a drama [book adaptation]. Think Thank You For Smoking, but instead of political it's corporate." And if you look at the synopsis for Up in the Air over on Amazon (I've never read the book personally), it fits right into the above description.

Here's a taste: "Officially, Bingham is a management consultant, specializing in the lugubrious field of career transition counseling (i.e., he fires people for a living). But what Kirn's airborne protagonist is really doing is pursuing his own private passion, his great white whale: accumulating one million miles in his frequent-flyer account. As Up in the Air opens, Bingham has set out on a final, epic traveling jag. He intends to visit eight cities in six days, thereby achieving his own vision of Nirvana somewhere over Sioux Falls, South Dakota."

No official word on this one yet, but the pieces definitely seem to be coming together. Anyone read the book? Is it a good fit for Reitman?

UPDATE: LR provides the following update: I just got off the horn with Jason Reitman's publicist. She did in fact confirm that Jason is adapting the book but that no deal is YET in place for him to direct.

At the age of 30, Jason Reitman has directed a half dozen short films, two narrative features, and an episode of The Office. He has been nominated for an Academy Award for Best Achievement in Directing. He is beyond the usual Hollywood definition of "hot": he is, thanks to the runaway success of Juno, superheated, like the molten core of the sun.

At the age of 30, his father, Ivan Reitman, had directed one short film and two narrative features (the immortal Foxy Lady and Cannibal Girls). At that point of his career, it is safe to say he was as far from "hot" as possible: he was as cold as the far side of the moon, at least as far as Hollywood was concerned. Three years later, the success of Meatballs, especially in relation to its budget and its recognition as the one that made Bill Murray a film star, warmed things up for the senior Reitman, in much the same way that Thank You For Smoking would later warm up his son's career, raising expectations.

Thus it's interesting to compare Ivan Reitman's follow-up, Stripes, with his son's follow-up, Juno. Strictly in financial terms, Stripes was comparable to Juno, earning $85 million in 1981, a year in which only nine films broke the $50 million mark. (To be fair, Juno's budget, at $2.5 million, was only 1/4 of Stripes' reported budget.) Stripes wasn't nominated for any Academy Awards and Ivan has never been nominated, so that gives a leg up for Jason, but that's more a reflection of the Academy's malleable taste than any intrinsic merit. Though Stripes is remembered as a broad, mainstream comedy, I'd argue that it's just as edgy and independent as Juno, and displays some of the same borderline reactionary leanings as the newer film.

In a forthcoming interview with Premiere conducted by yours truly, Sigourney Weaver talks at length about all her various franchises, and even has a few words to say about the recently resurrected hoopla over a possible Ghostbusters III. When I pointed out that the film industry's renewed focus on next-gen 3D imagery and CG-rendered worlds means that perhaps a third Ghostbusters adventure is still feasible, Weaver looked at me a bit like I had just given her a toothache. She then took a big breath and said "Well, I just saw Ivan Reitman at this dinner, this lunch for his son, and, ummm, there's no way." Perhaps responding to the look of sadness on my face, she quickly added "You could 3D Ghostbusters. You could pay for that. I think they're fantastic movies for that time, and I think, if anything, Be Kind, Rewind is kind of a Ghostbusters for this time." Since I haven't seen Be Kind, Rewind, I have no clue what that last part is supposed to mean. Does Slimer make an appearance in Be Kind, Rewind or something?

It's not like any of this is a great surprise -- to my knowledge, Weaver has never expressed any enthusiasm for returning to the franchise and rumor has it she declined to participate in the upcoming video game that will feature voices from the main Ghostbusters and will cannibalize Dan Aykroyd's never-in-development Ghostbusters III: Ghostbusters Go to Hell script. Most of the recent GIII talk stems from Ernie Hudson, who was quoted as saying that he hoped the success of that particular game would renew interest in creating a third film, and that Ramis and Aykroyd still wanted a third film, too. That would be fine with me as long as it starts with a fresh concept, as opposed to the whole 'Manhellton' crap. I've heard Aykroyd describe his 'hell' script at length -- to a radio DJ on a country music station, no less -- and, frankly, it's the opposite of impressive. It sounds like a recipe for a studio-killing flop with a $300 million budget. But with Murray and Weaver and (apparently) Ivan Reitman not even down for a third go-round, don't hold your breath. To read the interview, which mostly centers on Avatar, check out Premiere.com on Thursday.

Good news , especially if you're a producer or director like Joel Silver or Ivan Reitman whose movies have grossed billions of dollars at the box office. According to a recent New York Times article, you now have a new way to finance your films -- Wall Street.

Wall Street investment groups like Merrill Lynch and JP Morgan are looking to get into bed with high-profile, and high-profit, Hollywood producers and directors. It's pretty obvious why this kind of deal is good for producers and directors. More creative control over their projects, a much bigger share in the profits from DVD sales and ownership of their films make this pretty much a no-brainer for creatives looking to get out from under the thumb of the studio system.

But what's the upside for the Wall Street crowd besides lunches at the Grill and Spago or the "glamor" of it all? Well, according to the article, the investors are in it for a reason that shouldn't come as a surprise to anyone -- money. Plus, in return for the money they will also be trying to curb the free-spending ways of filmmakers and protect their investment by not funding things like development, which can eat up quite a bit of cash. So, Wall Street gets to invest in movies, with the potential for billions in profit, and still has a safety net in case something goes wrong. Seems like pretty smart business to me.

And what about the glamor of it all? Ivan Reitman's producing partner Tom Pollock put it this way in the article: "I don't think any of them are in it for the glamor. They kept talking about their next big deal, which was recreational vehicles."

Ivan Reitman and producing partner Tom Pollock have managed to score co-financing -- to the tune of $200 million over five years -- for 10 new films from their Montecito Picture Company. Mmm ... lots and lots of comedies. The deal is sort of complicated -- for example, the funding body, Cold Spring Pictures, also has the option of financial involvement in Montecito properties that don't get picked up by partner DreamWorks -- but the point is that Reitman and Pollack are very happy men this morning. When taken in combination with their recently extended first-look deal with DreamWorks, this news means they can make what they want, and that what they make will get distribution without a struggle.

Obviously, packages this sweet don't just appear out of the blue: Pollack and Reitman make movies that make money men happy. As Pollack himself told Variety, "The kinds of movies we make are in an exceptionally sweet spot in the studio system; we tend to make comedies at a price. When they work, like with Old School and Road Trip, they make a lot of money. When they don't, like EuroTrip, they don't lose much. From a Wall Street standpoint, that's a good risk."

Dreamworks has picked up the latest successful pitch from The Office staff writers (mark my words, those people are going to be ruling the comedy world soon); said pitch was brought to Dreamworks by Ivan Reitman and his Montecito Pictures, through which the film will be produced. This one was dreamed up by Lee Eisenberg and Gene Stupnitsky, and is called The Intern, a title from which most of you can probably figure out the plot without any further help from me. The movie will tell the undoubtedly hilarious story of "a middle-age, stay-at-home dad who decides to return to the work force and is forced to start as an intern."

This is the point at which I almost write something like "Gee, a story about the humiliation of a sad-sack middle aged man? Why, that's a original idea." But then I remember that all Hollywood ever does is reuse old ideas, and that it's silly to put up a stink. Plus, every once in a while one of the retreads works, so I suppose there's a tiny glimmer of hope here.

Fans of the screenwriting trade might be unfamiliar with Mr. Don Payne -- but that's about to change. After slaving away on a variety of ill-fated sitcoms, Don got his big break when he landed a sweet gig on the writing staff of The Simpsons. While hard at work helping to concoct new scenarios for everyone's favorite Springfieldians, Don still found the time to bang out a screenplay that attracted a lot of interested glances throughout Hollywood. That screenplay was called Super Ex (which has since been lengthened to My Super Ex-Girlfriend), and it not only attracted interest from Regency Enterprises, but also the attention of stars Luke Wilson and Uma Thurman -- in addition to veteran comedy expert Ivan Reitman. And with his very first movie poised to hit the screens (on July 21), Don landed an assignment to pen next summer's Fantastic Four 2, a project that the Marvel maniacs are keeping a very close eye on.

Don was kind enough to sit down and have a lengthy chat with yours truly (and on his birthday, no less!) to share some info on how The Simpsons gets made, how he penned the world's first superheroine rom-com, and how he hopes to be part of a reinvigorated Fantastic Four franchise. And here's how the conversation went down.