Oh, don't worry, this isn't some too-soon remake of that Matthew Perry / Salma Hayek film. This is something a wee bit more serious.

Variety reports that Liam Neeson and Orlando Bloom have signed on to star, and Javier Bardem is in talks to co-star, on a currently untitled film based on Bill Carter's book, Fools Rush In. The book focuses on Carter's time as an aid worker in Sarajevo, as he was grieving the death of his girlfriend in a car accident. It certainly will be a challenging piece of cinema, as Carter was there during the 43-month Balkan siege. I'm guessing that the untitled nature of the project is related to the Perry film.

Anyhow, Bloom says: "I read the script, and the very human story and the very core of this film spoke to me very clearly. This is a departure from the very big Hollywood productions." Andrucha Waddington, a Brazilian director, will helm the feature, and the production is scheduled to begin later this year. Now if only I could get over my Orlando apprehension...

I'm not convinced that the Liam Neeson kidnapping thriller Taken, due during this year's annual September movie wasteland, is going to amount to much. I can't get too excited about the concept -- former superspy goes after his kidnapped daughter instead of paying ransom -- and I'm not nearly as enamored with director Pierre Morel's parkour-popularizing debut, District B13, as other folks are. But I'll say this: the speech that's the centerpiece of the film's new trailer, which you can see above, is kind of a tour de force. Casting Neeson was a masterstroke, and the fact that he took the role speaks well of him, I think.

By the way: that's a masterfully cut trailer, don't you think? Quick, exciting; maybe a bit too revealing for my tastes, but still vague enough that it doesn't (seem to) give away the whole thing. I love the way it's driven by the sound of Neeson's voice, using it to build momentum.

The movie was written by Luc Besson and Robert Mark Kamen, who also collaborated on the Transporter films. Besson, of course, also produced, wrote, and brought to prominence District B13.

I haven't seen this weekend's The Incredible Hulk yet, and will do so a little begrudgingly because it's an implicit (or explicit, depending on whom you ask) diss of Ang Lee's Hulk, a film I admire. But to the extent my interest in the Louis Leterrier version is piqued, it's mostly because of the casting of Edward Norton as the title character's alter ego. It's such an interesting choice -- partly because Norton usually stays away from projects like this, partly because he's so uniquely gifted, and partly because my mind just reels at hearing "you wouldn't like me when I'm angry" coming out of his mouth. I'll watch The Incredible Hulk less because I want to see another movie about Bruce Banner than because I'm curious to see Norton's interpretation of him.

All of which got me thinking about superhero/comic book casting in general. It's a subject that attracts a lot of breathless speculation every time a new movie is in the works, and there's rarely consensus on anything. In this edition of Cinematical Seven, I take a look back at what I think have been the most inspired, interesting, or appropriate superhero (and villain, because why not?) casting choices in recent history -- not so much the resulting performances (though it can be hard to distinguish in hindsight) but the initial casting decisions.

As I like to do with these lists, I tried to mix the obvious with the out-of-the-blue, so feel free to weigh in with what I unjustly left out. In no particular order:

The part of me that loves strange premises is having daydreams of Liam Neeson and James Nesbitt (Match Point) getting to grab each other's hands, giggly with giddy glee, whilst running off for five minutes of heaven in some closet somewhere. Sure, it should be seven minutes, but still, this title makes me think of teenage forays into kissing, not the serious themes that it's actually about.

Variety reports that both actors have signed on for a new film called Five Minutes of Heaven, and it's about the troubles in Northern Ireland -- not exactly prepubescent romantic fare. Under the eye of director Oliver Hirschbiegel (The Invasion), the film focuses on "two men wracked by the violence that plagued Northern Ireland from the late 1960s through to the peace process in 1998, and how they attempt to come to terms with the Troubles' aftermath."

The project is currently filming on location in Northern Ireland.

One thing I've noticed about most epic sci-fi/fantasy stories is that they're essentially about war, albeit disguised and softened with weird monsters, robots and other creatures with funny names. There's usually a bad guy (with a really sinister sounding name) who wants to take over the world or something similar, and a reluctant hero -- plucked from his comfortable, yet mundane home -- who has to stop him. The trick is to make it all fun. Because let's face it, we humans love war. If we didn't there wouldn't be so many movies and books about war, as well as -- you know -- real wars. (More specifically, I think, we love watching them, rather than fighting in them.) The Lord of the Rings trilogy worked so well because Peter Jackson projected his own twisted glee into every frame; he loved making those movies and it showed. The characters felt an anxious anticipation toward the battle, like a buildup, and the battles themselves were explosive releases. The new film The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian, the second in an unfortunately ongoing series, treats war as if it were already played out, rather than happening before our eyes. It's a dead dog dull bore of a movie, but that won't stop it from making a fortune. (See also Jette's review.)

While doing publicity rounds for a certain fedora-wearing adventurer, Steven Spielberg told German magazine FOCUS that he intends to return his focus to his long delayed biopic of Abraham Lincoln.

According to Variety, Spielberg is shelving the Aaron Sorkin-scripted Trial of the Chicago Seven because he is dissatisfied with the script, and could not get the rewrites he wanted due to the WGA strike. Though that is over, it apparently needs some development time not even Tintin will provide.

And yes -- Tintin is still scheduled to begin shooting in early fall, though we still are lacking any casting confirmations. Spielberg says the actor's strike will not delay it, because the film is motion capture.

But back to the Lincoln biopic! It has been kicked around so long that Spielberg's decision is almost a nonevent, but it is still all kinds of exciting because it could begin shooting early next year. Liam Neeson is still attached and has been for the past three years, reportedly amassing research all this time. It will still have that Tony Kushner script, and it is still based on The Uniter: The Genius of Abraham Lincoln, the brilliant biography by Doris Kearns Goodwin.

I really want this to finally come together. Neeson is due for another meaty role like Abraham Lincoln, and there has never been a proper movie made about such an iconic figure. Actually, I don't really think there has been a movie that truly dug into the Civil War, not in the way that can really attract and educate an audience. If anyone is up to the challenge, it's Spielberg.

The man behind Election might not be heading to Hollywood yet, but he is heading to Europe, and he has a certain pirate in his sights. The Hollywood Reporter posts that Hong Kong filmmaker Johnnie To is heading to France to take on Red Circle, a remake of the 1970 crime thriller Le Rouge Cercle, and Wai Ka-Fai is developing it. So far, so funky, until you imagine that he wants Orlando Bloom to star in it.

I want to like Bloom. Really, I do. But the man just kills me. Rather, he has in his post-Lord of the Rings work. He inspired people to hope for his demise in Pirates, sunk with Elizabethtown, and is now being eyed to lead a crime thriller? A crime thriller that would have him star as a cool thief straight out of prison, no less. I just don't see it; he doesn't have the charisma for a tough thieving heist.

At least it's far from definite. To is said to have sent an offer to the actor, but negotiations haven't happened yet. Meanwhile, Chow Yun-Fat and Liam Neeson are in negotiations to co-star. Those two -- they sound just about right, but it makes me even more nervous about Bloom, who couldn't even begin to battle the presence of Johnny Depp. So, I ask you -- do you agree with To's selection, or can you think of someone better?

Maybe the most irritating thing about Roland Emmerich's generally unwatchable 10,000 BC was leading man Steven Strait's bizarre accent. Totally indeterminate -- he trilled his r's and drawled occasionally -- it was clearly meant to indicate in some uncertain way that what we're watching takes place a Very Long Time Ago. Hello? The movie is called 10,000 BC and the characters are already speaking English. Making them speak weird English isn't exactly adding verisimilitude. I don't know who Emmerich thought he was fooling.

I always find this sort of thing annoying, and sometimes vaguely insulting. I'm perfectly fine with characters who speak English even though they're not supposed to -- it's easier that way, and I can suspend disbelief. But if you're going to go that route, why add constant, pointless reminders of the very fact you're trying to dodge? Part of the reason I admire The Hunt for Red October is that John McTiernan said "screw it" and let Sean Connery keep his Scottish brogue as a Soviet submarine captain.*

The new international trailer for Taken has just hit the net, and I don't know about you, but I'd like to ask 20th Century Fox to please set up a domestic release date for this flick because it looks pretty damn good. I mean, heck, Liam Neeson plays a badass! That should be more than enough to get you interested in Taken, which comes to us from director Pierre Morel (whose District B13 was a fun watch). Taken stars Neeson, Maggie Grace and Holly Valance, and it revolves around an ex-soldier (Neeson) whose daughter (Grace) gets kidnapped while traveling in Paris, and his subsequent quest to find her, as well as those responsible for her disappearance.

So far, Fox has set a February 27th release date in France, but nothing here in the states. Not sure why; the film looks intense, well acted and definitely the kind of flick I could see doing well in early March before the summer madness begins. Check out the trailer above, and let us know what you think. (Personally, I've never been so afraid of Liam Neeson in my entire life. Damn. And he's the good guy!)

Just after we headed into our new century, Bernard Schlink had a selection of short stories published called Flights of Love. One of the tales published in the collection was The Other Man. Just like its title suggests, the story is about a love triangle of sorts. After a man loses his wife to cancer, he receives a letter from her lover. What would seem like a huge blow to an already-mourning man actually does him good. The two men begin a correspondence, and the widower finds comfort in his letters to the other man.

Now Variety reports that writer/director Richard Eyre (Notes on a Scandal) has adapted the story with Charles Wood, and has put together quite a cast to star -- Liam Neeson, Laura Linney, Antonio Banderas, and Romola Garai. Sure, it's way too early to make any real judgments, but I'd be beyond surprised if this doesn't work itself into one hell of a film. However, I'm a bit curious about the plot. The story's layout sounds decent, but Variety describes the film this way: "the story of a husband who starts to suspect he's not the only man in his wife's life, and sets out to track down his rival."

If this is how the film will play out, that means he doesn't find out post-death, and that it's more a story of tracking down the other man than bonding, or finding comfort with him. On the other hand, a synopsis on IMDb says it's "the story of a widower's slowly-developing revenge against his late wife's secret lover," which "reveals to him his own compromises and failings." Who knows?! I guess we'll just have to wait and see. Production will get going next month, appropriately on Valentine's Day, in the UK and Italy.