Shopping, casting and rumors, oh my!

• On the first, Patrick Walsh shared word that Peter Jackson was shopping around his script for Alice Sebold's The Lovely Bones. On the third, I shared New York magazine's first look at the script that Jackson was looking to sell for $65 million + fees. Now The Hollywood Reporter says that DreamWorks is the lucky winner. They have won the rights to the script, beating out other movie houses like Warner Brothers and Sony. Jackson is, of course, directing, and the film is set to shoot this October in Pennsylvania and New Zealand before being distributed by Paramount. Now... Who will star?
• As we told you last year, McDreamy doctor Patrick Dempsey had signed on to star in the upcoming romantic comedy, Made of Honor. In February, Michelle Monaghan signed to play his platonic, old friend-turned-love interest. Now The Hollywood Reporter is adding three new names to the mix. First, there is model/actress Beau Garrett, who will soon be seen as Frankie Raye in the next Fantastic Four film. Then, there is Tootsie director Sydney Pollack, who has signed on to play Dempsey's dad. Even better is one of the supporting cast -- Kadeem Hardison. Remember the name? He's Dwayne Wayne! Is it time for his comeback?
• Last we've got a rumor, but it's an interesting one, so I thought I'd share. Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix has not come out yet, but the rumor mill has greased its wheels for the next installment. According to LaineyGossip, U.K. buzz says that Naomi Watts might grab the role of Narcissa Malfoy nee Black -- wife* to Lucius, mother to Malfoy and connections to others who will not be named for those who haven't read the books. The site muses that Watts claims she feels more British than Australian (she was born in England) recently to warm Rowling up to the thought of her taking the role -- legend says that the author says only British actors can be cast in the films. Can you see her as Momma Malfoy?

*Edited, because she's obviously not a husband. Thanks, Cine readers! MB

A man makes a few blockbuster films full of grandoise scenes of rings and hobbits, or a giant ape climbing the Empire State building, and his past is forgotten. However, as much as it seems strange for Peter Jackson to have adapted Alice Sebold's The Lovely Bones, and subsequently shop it around, it's old hat for him. In 1994, there was his highly-regarded feature, Heavenly Creatures. The film was based upon the true story of two young girls who murdered the one's mother in an attempt to stay together. It's a pretty highly-remembered true-crime story which is probably further fueled by the fact that one of the girls was none other than prolific writer, Anne Perry.

So, Jackson's been shopping around this script, which instead tackles a young girl as the victim, but there haven't been any takers. This could, perchance, be a result of the high price that he's attached to it -- $65 million plus producing and directing fees for Jackson. Or, could it be the script itself? New York magazine got their hands on the script and just gave it an interesting review. While they say that it starts off spot on, with the same initial line from the book, it fails in its accuracy. Now, I don't mean that it is inaccurate, but that the magazine says the screenplay is so accurate that it fails to find the magic: "So much of the novel's action is stuffed into the screenplay, in fact, that little of it registers as important -- to the family left behind, or to Susie." While I can't comment on the script, the magazine is spot-on in its overall evaluation of the project. Lovely Bones is a dark and intriguing story that screams indie treatment, but it's not really the stuff blockbusters are made of. Can Bones swim with the pressure of a huge budget, or is it doomed to sink before it even gets its first stroke in?

Peter Jackson's next film won't involve elves, talking trees, or giant gorillas. He's working on a much smaller scale (he'd almost have to go smaller at this point) with his upcoming film The Lovely Bones. He adapted Alice Sebold's much-loved novel with his writing partners Philippa Boyens and Fran Walsh - Mrs. Peter Jackson. They started shopping the script to studios this week. With Oscar-winning director Jackson at the helm, and a much smaller financial risk than his past few outings, I don't think he should have any trouble finding a partner. Unsurprisingly, the only major studio Jackson and his crew didn't pay a visit to was New Line. Jackson has been publicly feuding with New Line chief Bob Shaye over royalties on the Lord of the Rings films, which led to Jackson pulling out of The Hobbit.

The Lovely Bones tells the story of Susie Salmon, a 14 year-old dead girl whose spirit keeps watch from Heaven. She watches how her death affects her family, friends, and even the man who raped and murdered her. It's pretty heavy stuff, but Jackson insists he'll be carrying over a lot of the humor in the book as well. If you question Jackson's ability to handle material like this, let me direct you to what I think is far and away his best film -- Heavenly Creatures with Kate Winslet. The Lovely Bones sounds similar to that 1994 gem in that both contain "normal" and "fantastical" worlds. It will allow Jackson to direct a more traditional narrative while giving him opportunities to show off his numerous visual gifts. Jackson has said that the hardest aspect of bringing The Lovely Bones to life will be recreating the Heaven Susie lives in, as it was left intentionally vague in the novel. Hey, if anybody can do it...

In what seems like an effort to put the roar back into the lion, MGM chairman-CEO Harry Sloan is looking to turn the studio into a tentpole factory and is about to announce some of the big-budget films currently in development. Not surprisingly, since the studio is anchored by its library of franchise-available titles, most of these tentpoles will be sequels, including Terminator 4, a second installment to the remake of The Thomas Crown Affair, the previously reported Pink Panther sequel, as well as a few that Erik mentioned last week.

One release to rule them all is The Hobbit, to which MGM co-owns the rights (with New Line, who made the Lord of the Rings films), and which actually may end up as two releases. There is a good chance the LOTR prequel will be a blockbuster no matter how it's produced, but Sloan is really hoping that Peter Jackson can be snagged to direct. Seeing as Jackson still has The Lovely Bones and The Dam Busters on his calendar, if he were to be interested in the project, Sloan will have to wait a few years to get it started. In the meantime, he can take another look through the library and find some more films in need of easily extended into sequels. Otherwise, he will have to find someone else ... someone that fans will trust and approve. Man, how long with that take?

Earlier this month, Mark reported on a New Line leak that claimed The Hobbit is scheduled for next summer, but the above information doesn't seem to make that possible.