It was just last year that Christopher brought us the news that Roman Polanski had selected Richard Harris' novel, The Ghost, as his next big film project. So even though it took some time to get name actors to sign on the dotted line, the wait is over now that MTV reports that Pierce Brosnan and Nicolas Cage will star in the political drama.

Ghost is the story of a writer hired to complete an autobiography of a soon-to-be ex-Prime Minister (with Brosnan playing the PM, and Cage as the writer). Through the course of the interviews, the ghostwriter uncovers some troubling secrets from the Minister's past that put our writer friend in some high-stakes danger. Rumor has it the original idea for the book was loosely based on former PM Tony Blair, but I would assume that any similarities were kept well in the realm of fiction.

Considering the amount of flack Nicolas Cage received over his last time-bending flick, I am a little surprised that he decided to come back for Alex Proyas', Knowing. Coming Soon is now hosting some on-set photos from the sci-fi thriller starring Cage and Rose Byrne. Sources managed to snap the pics on location in Geelong, Australia, and while there are no shots of Cage or Byrne, at least we get to see some stuff blowing up.

Knowing centers on a time capsule buried in 1958 that was chock full of doom and gloom prophecies. When the capsule is dug up 50 year later, it lands in the hands of a young boy and his professor father (Cage) who becomes obsessed with decoding the messages and preventing all-out destruction.

The production has had a long history in Hollywood, ever since the film was first set up over at Columbia. There have been a few directors attached over the years, notably Richard Kelly and Rod Lurie. Proyas came on board in 2005, and after a few rewrites, the film went into production in 2007. As if a long and troubled production history wasn't enough of an obstacle, it is no secret that Cage's 'shine' has been slowly diminishing over the years (thank you very much, Ghost Rider), so Knowing could be a hard sell to audiences who might still be ticked over shelling out their hard-earned dollars for Next.

Knowing is scheduled to arrive in theaters in 2009.

Nicolas Cage has landed another Troy girl as a co-star -- this time it is Rose Byrne, who will be taking the lead in the sci-fi thriller Knowing.

According to The Hollywood Reporter, Byrne will play a young woman whose mother buried a time capsule in 1962 which, when uncovered, predicts assassinations, the death of a professor's wife, and an imminent world apocalypse. Cage will be playing the professor, who discovers the contents and alerts Byrne. Initially skeptical, she begins remembering strange incidents from her childhood.

The movie will be directed by Alex Proyas, and the script has seen numerous revisions already. We all know what that can mean!

The last time Nicolas Cage tried to predict the future (and avert the end of the world), it didn't go so well. I would tell him he should study the past for his script mistakes -- but whenever he gets into the past, he makes another National Treasure. Can't he just stick with Charlie Kaufman?

Well, I knew I Am Legend was going to do well, but HOLY TOLEDO! Will Smith's apocalyptic science fiction/horror flick set a record for a film opening in December, an honor previously held by 2003's The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King. Alvin and the Chipmunks also found its niche, pulling in some righteous bucks of its own. As you can see, the gap between these two and the holdovers from previous weeks is quite dramatic. Here are the final numbers:

1. I Am Legend $76.5 million.
2. Alvin and the Chipmunks $45 million.
3. The Golden Compass $9 million.
4. Enchanted $6 million.
5. No Country for Old Men $3 million.

We've got a whopping five big releases this week, with three of them using colons in the titles. That must be a record right?

Charlie Wilson's War
What's It All About: Tom Hanks plays Charlie Wilson, a real life congressman who sought to aid Afghani rebels fighting off Soviet soldiers during the 1979 invasion.
Why It Might Do Well: As the TV spots are touting, this one has five Golden Globe nominations and some strong critical buzz working in its favor (83% Fresh over at Rottentomatoes.com). With bankable stars in front of the camera like Hanks, Julia Roberts and Phillip Seymour Hoffman and Mike Nichols at the helm, what's not to like?
Why It Might Not Do Well: There's some serious competition out there this week from both newcomers and last week's two big releases. Also, a film dealing with politics may not be what people are looking for in a holiday movie.
Number of Theaters: 2,500
Prediction: $15 million

National Treasure: Book of Secrets
What's It All About: Nicolas Cage returns as Ben Franklin Gates, the globe trotting artifact hunter who must now track down pages of John Wilkes Booth's diary to clear his family's name.
Why It Might Do Well: The first National Treasure movie opened to a respectable $35 million weekend in 2004 before going on to make $173 million domestic and $347 million worldwide, so I bet a lot of folks who liked the first will be back for more. This one opens in way more theaters than anything else coming out this week and I suspect this will be next week's number one movie.
Why It Might Not Do Well: It depends on how many people are willing to forget Ghost Rider.
Number of Theaters: 3,500
Prediction: $55 million

In honor of the striking screenwriters, I wanted to write a list of my favorites, either contemporary or all-time. But I decided that it would be more respectful to not exclude any of them. Even the bad writers need recognition right now. I've tried writing screenplays, and I salute anyone who has had one produced, whether brilliant or not. Even if it weren't difficult to actually write a script, it's certainly tough to deal with the b.s. of Hollywood and the sad truth that your vision will likely not make it to the screen as devised. So, instead of concentrating on real writers, I figured I'd look at screenwriter characters, specifically those portraying the hardships of the job.

"Joe Gillis" from Sunset Blvd. (1950, Billy Wilder).

I imagine there's nothing scarier for a struggling screenwriter than the thought of ending up like poor Joe Gillis (William Holden). The opening shot of Wilder's classic shows the character floating face down in a swimming pool, and immediately he's labeled "an unsuccessful screenwriter." This sets up a hopelessness for the character, and for writers in general, as the film then flashes back to one of the greatest stories of Hollywood cynicism ever made. Gillis not only represents the difficulty of making it as a screenwriter, he also shares some juicy lines about how writers aren't recognized enough by the public ("Audiences don't know somebody sits down and writes a picture; they think the actors make it up as they go along."); about drastic alterations to his scripts ("The last one I wrote was about Okies in the dust bowl. You'd never know because when it reached the screen, the whole thing played on a torpedo boat.") and about the desperation that turns good writers into seemingly hack writers (replying to talk of his once promising talent, he says, "That was last year. This year I'm trying to make a living."). There were screenwriter characters before him, and plenty after, but Gillis will forever be the quintessential example.

At one time, before Brandon Routh put on his best Superman, Nicholas Cage was looking to don the tights. While it may seem weird, there was just something about it that appealed to me. Now, while he isn't getting to be a world-famous superhero, Cage will be throwing on a pair of tights, or some other form of spandex. The Hollywood Reporter has posted that the actor is in talks to star in an upcoming indie drama called The Wrestler, which will come to us from Darren Aronofsky's Protozoa Pictures.

It's not some sporty tale of school wrestlers and their coach, but rather, and wonderfully, the world of pro wrestling. Cage will, hopefully, star as "a 1980s-era star pro wrestler who has become a burnt-out shell of his former self. After he has a heart attack during a small-time match, a doctor tells him he could die if he fights again." So, in the attempts to start a new life, he gets a job at a much-less-exciting deli, and gets sweet on an aging stripper and her son. "But the prospect of a rematch with his old nemesis the Ayatollah proves too tempting to resist, even if it means risking his life."

All of my little-kid WWF (pre-WWE) memories are bubbling up at the thought of this! Even though I think Cage would probably be better suited to something like the Mouth of the South Jimmy Hart, I'll bite. Now, I can only hope that this is filled with cameos from all those wrestlers of yester-year. Some, like Andre the Giant and the Von Erich clan, are no longer with us, but what about a little Jesse The Body Ventura, Ric Flair, Hulk Hogan, Hillbilly Jim, Jake The Snake Roberts, Macho Man Randy Savage, King Kong Bundy, and on, and on, and on!

I have to be honest with you; there probably is about a zero chance that I will be watching National Secrets: Book of Secrets when it hits theaters on December 21st. Frankly, I was pretty surprised that the first film had enough of a following to even warrant a sequel. But, far be it for me to spoil anyone else's fun; so I present to you Disney's brand new website for the adventure flick. In the spirit of mystery, I won't ruin the surprise, but, basically it's exactly what you would expect. There are plenty of; downloads, trailers, photos, games, and of course, the promise of more to come. Back in May, there had been a teaser poster and just last August, we finally got our trailer. So I can only assume that the web site is the last piece in Disney's marketing puzzle.

NT 2: Book of Secrets, brought back director Jon Turteltaub, and members from the original cast have also returned. Joining Nicholas Cage will be Diane Kruger and John Voight. Cage has been attached to a variety of roles this year – everything from Al Capone to Magnum P.I. and Liberace, although to be fair most of those projects have fallen by the wayside -- it makes you wonder what it was precisely about a National Treasure sequel inspired Cage to stick around. For NT2, Cage's treasure hunter, Benjamin Franklin Gates is uncovering the truth behind the Lincoln assassination through the diary of his killer, John Wilkes Booth. Basically, it's another conspiracy flick that's trying to make US landmarks and history just a little sexier -- which as any high school teacher can tell you, is no easy task.

It looks like the marketing machine is at full tilt for Nicolas Cage's upcoming thriller Next. Already we have had the trailer and some poster art that was less than eye-catching, but now there is a fancy new website. There are plenty of bells and whistles, including do-it-yourself ESP tests, the promise of a "Nuclear Countdown" game, and something vaguely titled "Experience". Next centers on Cage, a man who has the ability to travel through time and is being hunted by some shadowy government types -- is there any other kind? As if that was not enough, all the while he is trying to prevent the death of his girlfriend (Jessica Biel) and stop a nuclear annihilation. Also, Julianne Moore has something to do with it, and Peter Falk, TV's Columbo, also has a role in the film.

Directed by Lee Tamahori (XXX), the story is based on Philip K. Dick's The Golden Man, but the script was adapted by one of the writers of Navy Seals so I'm thinking it could go either way; even Patrick and Scott seemed undecided about the whole thing. In the end I guess it really doesn't matter, Cage seems to be going for the title of "Hardest Working Man in Show Business" so it will not take long before he is onto another film, and then another, and another. As for Next, it's currently scheduled to drop in theaters on April 27.

While I understand mixing some meaty, heavy roles with some mainstream, lighter fare, especially to get that big, box office money, I just can't imagine what Helen Mirren is thinking. If there is a woman who has made a strong and firm footprint in the movie world recently, it is her. She's won a whole slew of awards in the past few years, topped with an Oscar cherry for The Queen, and she receives high praise and admiration all over the place. If there is anyone I would consider to be in a position to take any type of role, I would think it would be her. Yet, JoBlo has a source that says she's going to join Nicolas Cage in National Treasure:Book of Secrets as his mother.

It's a sequel based on a film that didn't even get a 50% decent rating on Rotten Tomatoes. Is the script that good, or does she really not care whether it's a quality film or not? I hope she's at least getting the big bucks for this! As I said above, Mirren is rumored to be Cage's mother, Emily Gates. It appears that she will help the hero link his family to John Wilkes Booth and the Knights of the Gold Circle. But she's not the only one to be added. It seems that Ed Harris has been grabbed for the role of Jeb Wilkinson, the movie's traitorous bad guy. Maybe this is a good thing. There could be a great, or at least entirely entertaining script, and there's a whole slew of interesting actors (Harvey Keitel, Diane Kruger and Justin Bartha are said to be returning) to keep things interesting. So, maybe this will be a stellar remake to re-fuel the ever rampant habit of sequels. Or, maybe I'm just trying to rationalize some acceptable reason why Mirren is involved.

You might not even notice Circle of Six: The True Story of New York's Most Notorious Cop-Killer and The Cop Who Risked Everything to Catch Him if you saw it on the shelf. As the name suggests, it's one of many true-crime novels that line the stacks of bookstores. With the help of Robert Crea, NYPD detective Randy Jurgenson used the book to discuss his quest to unearth the truth behind a famous case, which has been covered up since the 70s. This morning, some news sites were reporting that Nick Cage had purchased the rights, and was planning to shop around a film adaptation of the book.

The Associated Press talked with Cage's publicist, who has denied the reports: "Nicolas Cage's Saturn Films was merely in the very early stages/talks of an exploratory process of the book. Absolutely no purchase was made or will be made." So, the adaptation is still up for grabs. The story is as follows -- In April of 1972, the NYPD received a 10-13 (officer distress call) that led them to Mosque Number 7 in Harlem, which was led at the time by Louis Farrakhan. Police entered the mosque in response to the call, which led to a clash that resulted in the death of Officer Phillip Cardillo. Sensing that the city was about to enter a crisis with the Black Liberation Army and the Nation of Islam, the police pulled their officers out of the area and the details were covered up. An investigation wasn't really performed until Jurgenson, who once arrested Lenny Bruce, took it upon himself to find the answers. The crime remains officially unsolved, but in the book, the cop argues that he did find Cardillo's killer.

Honestly, I'm happy about this news as Cage really needs to start changing things up. I watched Moonstruck the other night, and I forgot about all the fun, quirky roles of his past, before he lathered himself in action bubbles. He hasn't had some good quirk since being Charlie/Donald Kaufman in Adaptation, but perhaps his stint as Fu Manchu in Grindhouse will change things.