If you ask me, it's about time that Michael Douglas got the chance to play with his reputation as a lady killer and, frankly, a bit of a hound. ComingSoon recently got the chance to speak with The Spiderwick Chronicles director Mark Waters and managed to score a little casting scoop for his next project, The Ghosts of Girlfriends Past. According to their sources, Douglas is in talks to appear in the comedy alongside Matthew McConaughey.

The story centers on "a womanizer (McConaughey) who attends the wedding of his younger brother and bride. There, he's haunted by several old flames, including the bride's best friend. Douglas will play "Uncle Wayne, a '70s playboy, who was his mentor and he wears Bob Evans shades and guides him (McConaughey) around the ghost world". The cast also includes Jennifer Garner as one of McConaughey's exes, Lacy Chabert (Black Christmas) as the bride, as well as Anne Archer and Emma Stone (Superbad).

Originally, the film was set to star Ben Affleck with Betty Thomas directing. The production hit a snag when Disney shut the film down and Affleck walked away from the film. Maybe Affleck just wasn't looking forward to all the conversations at home on the subject of previous girlfriends. McConaughey then rode in to save the day and now the film is back on. Plus, I have to agree with Waters when he says that, "There's something great about Matthew. He has an aspect of him that he can get away with murder with women. He's the kind of guy where women are apologizing to him when he breaks up with them, because he's so charming". Girlfriends Past will start shooting February 19th in Boston and will hit theaters sometime in 2009.

ComingSoon.net has the latest poster for the big-screen version of The Spiderwick Chronicles, and I'm afraid it is just another installment of one-sheets that I think looks pretty 'blah.' Sure, they all have the same look and feel, but since they aren't exactly the most eye-catching designs in the first place, this is not necessarily a good thing. Directed by Mark Waters, Spiderwick is based on the best-selling fantasy series by Holly Black and Tony DiTerlizzi. This is the third poster release for the film, and there was also a teaser trailer released in July. I'll admit that after watching the teaser, I couldn't help but think the whole thing seemed an awful lot like Pan's Labyrinth -- but without all of the trauma.

Set in the US, the story revolves around three siblings who stumble across a "field guide to faeries" that opens up a parallel world. While the trio are discovering all kinds of benevolent little creatures, they come across some slightly less-friendly ones as well, and the latest poster even works in a little menace by adding 'Beware' to the heading. The family flick stars Sarah Bolger as Mallory Grace and Freddie Highmore as both Jared and Simon Grace. Rounding out the cast is David Strathairn as Arthur Spiderwick and Mary Louise Parker as Helen Grace.

There were over 12 books published as part of the series, including supplementary books, so there is a lot of material if Nickelodeon decides to make a franchise out of the film. Now that The Golden Compass' future is a little less sure, maybe Spiderwick can take the place of the "heir to Harry Potter" for children's fantasy films. The Spiderwick Chronicles opens on February 15th, 2008.

First came Daniel Waters with the cult classic, Heathers. Then, brother Mark Waters followed suit with his own cult take -- The House of Yes. In the ten years since the dysfunctional, Kennedy-obsessed family hit the screen, he's only helmed four other films. Now, however, he's doubling that number. Three have already been announced, The Spiderwick Chronicles, The Ghosts of Girlfriends Past, and Will Sebastian. For the fourth, The Hollywood Reporter has announced that he'll direct Joshua Ferris' comedic drama, Seven Days.

The premise is sounding pretty interesting. The film will focus on "seven pivotal days in a man's life during the course of 20 years, with each segment of the film beginning as he wakes up that day." Ferris has been developing the project for a while (pre-strike, of course), and says: "I can't remember large periods of my life that well, but certain days stick in my mind, for good reasons and bad. At the end, hopefully it will be a portrait of a life as its lived." Which days will end up as the magical seven remains to be seen. Unfortunately, Ferris didn't finish the script before the strike, and is waiting for it to end so that he can finish it up and finalize which days pop up in the final version. (Fodder for DVD extras? False scenes to throw off rumors?)

I imagine Waters could make a pretty good flick from this, especially if it has some of the spark and spunk that helped get him to where he is today. As for Ferris, he's really interested in the whole process of looking back on life. He's also got another script in need a producer, called The Life and Death of Jimmy Katz, which focuses on a murderer-for-hire's real life, the fantasy life he could have lived if he chose a different path, and his time in purgatory to make up for it. In the meantime, it's almost Thanksgiving, so it's time to baste the turkey, hide the kitchen knives, and put in The House of Yes.

After going nowhere with Disney, Ghosts of Girlfriends Past got nabbed by New Line, and it was over a year ago that the company was trying to get Matthew McConaughey to star. At the pace of a snail, the pieces are coming together. In February, The House of Yes and Just Like Heaven helmer Mark Waters had signed on to direct, from a script by Jon Lucas and Scott Moore. Now, according to Variety, Jennifer Garner is in talks to co-star in an unspecified role. To recap -- the film will focus on a womanizer who gets haunted by 'ghosts' of his past, present, and future girlfriends while at the wedding of his younger brother. These apparitions lead him to realize that he's in love with his childhood sweetheart.

I imagine that means Garner is the sweetheart, although she could be the new sister-in-law, or a ghostly shepherd that herds the beings in and out of the guy's head. I really hope this flick is worth it, but I don't have much hope. I'm quite sure it will be a fluff success, but it would be really nice if it could be a substantial, fun, and worthy comedy. Or, even a decent one -- 13 Going on 30 wasn't a flawless movie, but it was a welcome change from the usual fare, and it had a killer Thriller recreation. Furthermore, Garner has been involving herself in some solid work lately, like The Kingdom and the hugely-buzzed Juno, so it would be a waste to tarnish those stints with a stinker of a cinema cherry. We'll have to wait a while to find out, however -- production won't get in gear until January.

Before the weekend hits, here are some just-made deals:

• The duo who brought us the likes of Chicken Little, Steve Bencich and Ron Friedman, have just sold their latest pitch, The Devil You Know, to 20th Century Fox. The film will be an adaptation of Nathan Hale's children's book, and while they're known for their animated films, this will be live-action. The books are about the Fell family, who share their house with a literal "little devil." The get fed up with his trouble-making, and call on Ms. Phisto (a spoof on Mary Poppins and Mephistopheles) to get rid of him and take his place. However, she proves to be more trouble -- she brings in boxes full of demons and calls a lake of fire and brimstone in the kitchen. How the pair are handling the adaptation is being kept under wraps, but hopefully it will maintain the charm and quirkiness of the original.
• The writer/director who brought us Camp in 2003, Todd Graff, is gearing up for another teen movie fueled by music. He is currently re-writing Josh Kagan's coming-of age dramedy -- Will. It is about an outcast in high school who befriends a popular girl because of their love for music. They bring together "a like-minded crew of misfits," form a rock group and plan to compete in their school's battle of the bands. Basically, it's just like Camp, but not at camp. Stay tuned for his upcoming films about misfits joining to form an air band for the local talent show, students doing a music internship over Spring break and wacky hi-jinx from a high school chorus class.
• In October, Mark Beall reported that Mark Waters, The House of Yes and Mean Girls, was going to be directing Walden's Media's upcoming film on Harry Houdini. Slowly but surely, the project is coming together and they've finally got a screenwriter. Variety has reported that Brett Merryman will be grabbing the pen to write the story about a 14-year-old boy who finds out that he is a Houdini descendant -- and decides to go on a quest to unlock the secrets of his famous ancestor. I'm waiting to see if the film gets the word "house" in it. Three out of the four films the screenwriter has been involved with have has it in the title.
  

Walden Media is taking a break from the "turn books into movies" business to develop a project of their own. The project doesn't have a solid working title yet, but the general idea of the plot centers around a young teenage kid who discovers he is a descendant of the famous Harry Houdini. This leads him on a discovery quest in an attempt to learn the (often secretive) story of Houdini's past. Walden is still looking for a screenwriter (brush up your resumes, guys) but they have attached a director to the project -- Mark Waters, of Mean Girls fame.
If I were to admit to a guilty pleasure as a geek beat writer, it would certainly be kid flicks/family films. While I generally view, enjoy, and write about films with titles like Sin City which are packed full of non-family friendly goodness, I also really enjoy a nice little PG flick with fun, simple characters and a happy ending. I know, weird, right? One of my favorite movies in the recent past was Curious George. In the same vein, I've been thoroughly geeked out for the upcoming Happy Feet. There isn't enough information about this Houdini movie yet (obviously, since a script hasn't even been written), but I think it has good kid-flick potential. Stick around, Cinematical will be sure to bring you plot/casting updates if and when they happen.

Try figuring this sentence out at 6am: "Freddie Highmore and Sarah Bolger have been cast as the three Grace children in the fantasy film The Spiderwick Chronicles." If you're like me, you'll read it roughly 15 times to make sure that "Freddie Highmore" and "Sarah Bolger" are, in fact, only two names. And then you'll spend far too long trying to figure out how the hell two people are going to play three kids. It's not until a half-hour later (post-coffee) that you read further and find out that two of the three kids are ... identical twins. A-HA! So that's how it's going to work! Highmore, who played Charlie Bucket in Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, will play those twins, Simon and Jared (he's the bad one), while Bolger will play sis Mallory.

The film is based on yet another of the endless list of young adult fantasy series recently snatched up by Hollywood; this one is about three kids who move into an ancient mansion (the Spiderwick of the movie's title), "where they discover Brownie, an enchanted creature who introduces them to a world of goblins, fairies and sprites." Mark Waters (of Mean Girls and Freaky Friday, both of which are votes in his favor) will be directing starting this fall, working from a screenplay that The Hollywood Reporter (but not the IMDb) claims was written by John Sayles.

A maddeningly vague and typically eloquent item over at Ain't It Cool points to the news (first spread by Variety) that Daniel Waters, the writer of Heathers is back with a project that could legitimate that early flash of brilliance. Called Sex and Death 101 (sounds like an alternate title for the film that introduced , no?), the film, which looks to be in pre-production, takes off when a guy receives an anonymous email detailing his entire sexual history – past, present, and future. Though casting is said to be underway, but the project doesn't have an IMDB entry yet.

Waters hasn't been heard from in a while. He had a brief stint as a scribe-for-hire in the early 90s, after Heathers introduced gems such as "what's your damage?" and "fuck me gently with a chainsaw" into modern parlance, receiving credit on the screenplays for Batman Returns and Demolition Man ... as well as those of the Adventures of Ford Fairlane (yep, the Andrew Dice Clay movie) and everyone's favorite debacle (or, at least, Martha's), Hudson Hawk. A rumored Heathers sequel never materialized, and Dan's career then seemed to go dormant as his brother Mark's ascended, with the latter cranking out five films, including Mean Girls, since debuting with The House of Yes in 1997. Dan's directorial debut, called Happy Campers, made barely a splash in 2001. Let's hope that he's been putting the last five years to good use, and that Sex and Death reverses the trend.