So while I seriously doubt that most people were actually going to confuse the crime drama, The Night Watchman with Zack Snyder's Watchmen at the box office, the similarity in titles probably wasn't helping much in the marketing department. It looks like someone at Fox Searchlight thought the same thing and Slashfilm is now reporting that the studio has decided it was time for a name change. The title of James Ellroy's The Night Watchman will now be known as Street Kings. Frankly, neither of these titles are 'rocking my world,' but at least now it's going to clear up a lot of confusion.

Street Kings stars Keanu Reeves as Tom Ludlow; an LA cop who has recently lost his wife. With his life already in shambles, it gets even worse when he is framed for a murder and his abandoned by his fellow boys in blue. Ellroy wrote the script along with John Ridley (U Turn and Three Kings) and David Ayer (writer for Training Day) is at the helm. The cast also includes Forest Whitaker as Reeves' supervisor, Amaury Nolasco (Prison Break) and TV's infamous Dr. House, better known as Hugh Laurie, will play another cop on the force.

Filming began back in July and we got our first look at Reeves in his 'blues' when Erik brought us over 20 photos of the actor hard at work on the set. The flick is now in post production, so I guess Fox figured that it was now or never if they were planning on a change -- and personally I think they made the right decision. Street Kings arrives in theaters this spring.

George Clooney is one of the busiest men in Hollywood. He's currently promoting his excellent new legal drama Michael Clayton. He's wrapping up acting and directing duties on Leatherheads, a 1920's football romantic comedy with John Krasinski and Renee Zelwegger. He's shooting the Coen Brothers' Burn After Reading, a CIA comedy co-starring Brad Pitt, Tilda Swinton (so great in Clayton), John Malkovich, and Frances McDormand. In addition to all that, he's got to fly around the world in a jet made of gold and make the women of the world swoon 24/7. So yeah, the guy's got a lot going on. In fact, he's just decided that he has too much going on.

Entertainment Weekly is reporting that Clooney has just dropped out of Joe Carnahan's White Jazz, a gritty tale of police corruption set in 1950s Los Angeles. Clooney was set to star in the independent film, which is based on the James Ellroy (L.A. Confidential) novel. White Jazz was expected to begin filming early next year, and was scheduled for a 2009 release date. Grant Heslov, Clooney's producing partner, says "It just simply came down to scheduling. George continues to believe in the project and in Joe." Clooney was set to be a producer on the film, and whether he'll remain involved in that capacity has not been announced. And those of you excited about the film, myself included, might not be too happy with this last sentence. According to a spokesperson at Warner Independent, where the film was set up -- White Jazz has dropped off its slate. Currently, there's no word from Carnahan, who, as of a couple days ago, was pretty pumped about starting production in January.

So you probably had to read that headline a few times before it sunk in. That's right, the man behind Code Name: The Cleaner has apparently joined the cast of the gritty crime thriller Night Watch (no relation to the Russian film of the same name) written by James Ellroy. Cedric (The Entertainer) Kyles told Blackfilm.com that he had joined the cast which already includes; Keanu Reeves, Hugh Laurie (TVs Dr. House, or as he will always be known to me, Lieutenant George in The Blackadder) Forrest Whitaker, Chris Evans, and Naomie Harris. Kyles seemed happy at the prospect of doing something other than comedy -- although calling Code Name: The Cleaner a comedy is still up for debate -- saying, "I play an informant named Scribbles. There are all these corrupt cops and they getting information from this modern day "Huggy Bear", but it's not comedic. I'm a street guy and I'm on some drugs a little bit. The director said that this would be a great serious role for me."

The story is set in LA and focuses on an alcoholic cop who is framed for the murder of his mentor and considering it's a James Ellroy story, it will be packed with the usual array of corrupt cops and double crosses. David Ayer is on board to direct and is working from a script he co-wrote with Ellroy. Since the film has already taken some leaps in casting in hiring Reeves as an embittered career detective, should it really be that much of a surprise that Cedric The Entertainer is now along for the ride?

[via Moviehole.net]

Okay, bear with me because this is going to get confusing. Keanu Reeves is starring in an upcoming thriller called Night Watch. Its title used to be The Night Watchman, but it was changed, likely to avoid getting mixed up with the upcoming Zack Snyder superhero flick Watchmen. Oh, and this Night Watch has nothing to do with the other Night Watch, the 2004 Russian film that was pretty popular in its own right, and spawned a sequel -- Day Watch -- out this summer. Oh, and it also has nothing to do with the 1997 Ewan McGregor morgue thriller Nightwatch. Which was a remake of a 1994 Danish film...called Nightwatch. So in conclusion, to avoid confusion, they've changed the title to one that will probably cause much, much more confusion. Everybody up to speed? Alright, then let's move on.

Casting news on the film has been dribbling out steadily. In February, Erik told you that Keanu Reeves would star in the film, as an alcoholic LA cop framed by his former mentor. Then Jessica added that the mentor would be played by the always-excellent Forest Whitaker. And now I am telling you that Naomie Harris has joined the cast. Harris is best known for playing Tia Dalma ("Voodoo Lady") in Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest. She tells mtv Night Watch is "really dark. It's a really great movie, though, and I'm really excited to be part of it." David Ayer will direct the film, which he co-wrote with Jamie Moss and master of LA corruption stories -- James Ellroy. Ayer certainly knows police dramas, having written one of the best recent examples -- Training Day. He made his directorial debut with last year's very effective Harsh Times. Rapper Common, Chris "Flame On!" Evans, and Dr. House himself -- Hugh Laurie -- will round out the cast. I'm not a big Reeves enthusiast, but any movie that puts Whitaker in his "Kavanaugh on The Shield" mode definitely has my interest.

It's always tricky for an Oscar winner to pick their next projects. You can either follow in the footsteps of Tom Hanks and win yourself two in a row, or you can end up in Catwoman and only have a Razzie to show for it. Variety has reported that Forest Whitaker, fresh off his win for the role of dictator Idi Amin in The Last King of Scotland, is in talks to star in The Night Watchman with Keanu Reeves. Directed by David Ayer (Training Day) and written by novelist James Ellroy (LA Confidential) the story follows a LAPD officer in the midst of a crisis of conscience about what he has done in the name of "law and order". Whitaker will be joining the cast as the chief of the elite squad that Reeves is a part of -- although I can't say I am exactly sold on the idea of Reeves as a battle hardened cop.

It seems that Whitaker is steering clear of any other big-budget productions though, as his next two projects are independent features. He will be starring with Kate Beckinsale and fellow Oscar nominee Jackie Earle Haley in the upcoming Winged Creatures, and has also signed for the Tim Bui drama Powder Blue. Production on The Night Watchman is set to begin this May.

This is my third post this week on dueling projects. I could say something about bad things coming in threes, but that just doesn't make sense when discussing competing pairs. Plus, dueling projects are not necessarily a bad thing. For instance, the latest is that two separate sequels to L.A. Confidential may be in the works. Sounds pretty good to me.

We told you about one of the sequels, an adaptation of James Ellroy's White Jazz starring George Clooney, back in October. Now, TMZ has word that another film, which won't be an adaptation of any source, is also being planned. This one will supposedly feature the cast (Russell Crowe and Guy Pearce, specifically) as well as the writer and the director (Brian Helgeland and Curtis Hanson, respectively) of L.A. Confidential and will pick up where that film's story left off.

Considering White Jazz should have little to do with the characters from L.A. Confidential, there is no reason both projects can't exist. Surely there will be some protest from Warner Bros., the studio that released the original film and is releasing, through Warner Independent, White Jazz. The more direct sequel from Hanson will be set up at 20th Century Fox. Regency Enterprises, which produced the original film and which was formerly based at Warner and is now based at Fox, presumably still owns the rights to the L.A. Confidential characters.

When I sat down with David Ayer back in November, he wasn't too worried about being labeled a certain kind of writer-director. After all, if the studios know you're good at something, they'll exploit those strengths and, heck -- you keep working. Needless to say, Ayer has been the go-to man for gritty LAPD gang-life stories (Training Day, Harsh Times) for the last few years, and now that Fox Searchlight/New Regency got their hands on The Night Watchman -- a James Ellroy-scripted project originally set up at Paramount -- they've tapped Ayer to re-write and helm ... with none other than Keanu Reeves set to star.

Reeves will take on an LAPD cop who's always played by "his rules" until, suddenly, he gets a "wakeup call" from his conscious down at the front desk telling him he can no longer use the (illegal?) tactics that have made him so effective. Pic, which at one point had folks like Spike Lee, Oliver Stone and David Fincher interested, is set immediately following the L.A. Riots and O.J. Simpson Case -- because when racial tensions are at an all-time high, Keanu Reeves is the first man I think of to swoop down and save the day. Sure, his stale, wooden persona can often get tiring ... then again, don't we feel the same way about cops in general? Production begins end of April; no word yet on further casting.

At the fantasy movie studio where I control everything, one of my favorite authors from which to adapt material would be James Ellroy. I would send my minions out to acquire every piece of Ellroy's fiction that I could possibly get my hands on. His novels, including The Black Dahlia and the exceptional LA Confidential, are quintessential tales of Los Angeles that reveal the seedy underbelly of a city dedicated to illusion. Plus, they're truly great reads.

And, if I got to pick a hot director to bring one of Ellroy's novels to the screen for my studio, I can't think of anyone better suited for the job than Joe Carnahan, who so aptly demonstrated his abilities with the terrific in-your-face film Narc and his exceptional debut Blood, Guns Bullets and Octane. Well, it looks like I don't have to imagine any of this because according to an article over at CHUD, it's really going to happen.

After Carnahan puts the finishing touches on his upcoming film Smokin' Aces, featuring Ben Affleck and Ray Liotta, he will next turn his attention to James Ellroy's novel White Jazz. "The film I'm doing next is White Jazz,'the sequel to L.A. Confidential. My brother and I wrote the adaptation. That script is one of my favorites," said Carnahan in the article.

No word yet on a start date for White Jazz or on potential casting. Although Carnahan did say in the article that he has someone already involved in White Jazz that will "blow us away," but he wouldn't say who. OK Joe, I'll trust you because you sure look like you know what you're doing. However, if you were doing this project for my studio, I would push for an LA Confidential cast reunion re-teaming Russell Crowe (as vice cop Dave Klein) and Guy Pierce along with one of your favorite actors -- Ray Liotta. Now that's a cast, combined with your directing skills, that would make this film worth seeing when it hits theaters.

What do you guys think? Will White Jazz kick ass like Narc did?

Brian De Palma arrives in the final third of 2006 with one of his best films, and yet no one will realize it for years to come. De Palma's work is routinely ignored and undervalued for the very simple reason that he makes cinema. He hasn't shown much interest in making socially significant films; he probably won't make a To Kill a Mockingbird or a Hotel Rwanda anytime soon. And he's not much interested in adapting Henry James or E.M. Forster for the big screen. As a result, he is often seen as inferior. He never reaches beyond cinema into other realms; he only makes movies.

Thirteen years later, many see Carlito's Way as arguably De Palma's greatest achievement. (The film critics at Cahiers du Cinema selected it as the best movie of the 1990s.) And yet in the thick of 1993, no one cared. Schindler's List, The Piano and The Age of Innocence were the rage. And it's noteworthy to remember that, as beloved as his Scarface is today, De Palma received a 1983 Razzie nomination for his trouble (he has received five in all).

Thursday's bit and bobs:

• One imagines that giant fireballs erupt fairly regularly on the set of Mission: Impossible III. The problem, however, is when unscheduled explosions occur, and there are unprepared stuntmen in the area, and they get burned over 60% of their bodies. One such stuntman is suing, among others, Paramount Pictures and Tom Cruise's very own production company, seeking "unspecified damages."
  

• New Line won the bidding war for the movie rights to Land of the Living. The Nicci French novel suddenly became a hot property in Hollywood when one James Ellroy pitched his own take on the story; New Line's nearly-million-dollar investment bought both the rights and Ellroy's agreement to write the screenplay. The summary of the story - which is about a "promiscuous woman" who is kidnapped and tortured, only to find that the police don't believe her story and leave her to figure things out on her own - is scary as hell, and it's safe to assume that Ellroy will make it even darker.

• A Soap, a Swedish/Danish film that earned a lot of buzz (not to mention a jury prize) at Berlin, has been picked up for North American distribution by Strand Releasing. The film explores the relationship between "an emotionally confused woman...[and] her young, pre-op transsexual neighbor"; it just made its American premiere at New York's New Directors/New Films Series, and is expected to make a quick turnaround, appearing in theaters this spring.