Maybe you remember him from Earth 2 all those years ago, or more recently in Prison Break. Or, perhaps you spotted him in Kiss Kiss Bang Bang. Whatever the project, Rockmond Dunbar has been keeping busy over the years, and now The Hollywood Reporter posts that he's gearing up for his next directorial gig -- an indie drama called Pastor Brown that was written by Rhonda Freeman-Baraka.

The film, which is currently in production in Atlanta, is being described as a "twist on the prodigal son story." Jesse Brown (Salli Richardson Whitfield) is the daughter of a pastor who has charted her own course to get away from her religious roots by becoming an exotic dancer. But then she gives that life up and returns home "to make amends with her family and teen son and eventually lead her father's parish, becoming Pastor Brown." She not only finds religion, but a little love in a Muslim man named Amir (who will be played by Dunbar). It sound more like a comedy than a drama, but I guess it can be serious as long as the Pastor doesn't give a lot of advice that starts with: "When I was an exotic dancer..."

I have absolutely no idea why, but I'm kind of into Eddie Murphy's new family comedy called NowhereLand. I should be having flashbacks to the disappointing roles he's taken on over the last decade. I could go on and on about how much of a bummer it was that they could make Pirates of the Caribbean into a great series, and then flounder so pitifully with my favorite ride -- The Haunted Mansion. But forget Disney. NowhereLand is about a man named Evan who solves his work problems by exploring the fantasy world of his six-year-old daughter. It's the sort of flick that could be really good if it has some smarts, and I'm hoping that producer Lorenzo di Bonaventura is right when he says this is a role Murphy hasn't played before. I think Eddie not becoming five million different characters would be a good first step. However, I'm probably putting too many positive expectations on this project.

But on to the new castmates that The Hollywood Reporter just announced. Murphy and Thomas Haden Church (who will play his ruthless co-worker) are being joined by Brown Sugar's Nicole Ari Parker, DeRay Davis from License to Wed and ol' Beverly Hills Cop alum Ronny Cox. Parker will play Evan's estranged wife, who can't understand his preoccupation with their daughter's imaginary world, Davis plays his best friend -- "a therapist who calls himself the Man Whisperer and believes that all Evan needs to overcome his troubles is a good cry," and finally Cox plays the boss of a capital fund group who thinks Evan is doing some insider trading, but doesn't care as long as it works. Now all we need is the young tyke and we'll be set.

News bites for the new week:

• Big-screen newcomer Jessica Lowndes, who has had guest spots on shows like Masters of Horror and Kyle XY, has landed the starring role in a new, upcoming horror flick called Autopsy. The movie will have her searching for her injured boyfriend in a "bizarre and dangerous hospital." I'm sure that the outlook can't be good considering that the movie is titled after the practice of opening up and examining dead people. The film already has a cast that includes side players like Michael Bowen and Jenette Goldstein, as well as a whole mess of up-and-comings.
• Nicole Ari Parker has done a bit of a metamorphosis with her career. After starting things out with indie features like The Incredibly True Adventure of Two Girls in Love, The Adventures of Sebastian Cole and 200 Cigarettes, she's switched to a different flavah, namely flicks like Brown Sugar and King's Ransom. Continuing the trend, she's signed on to Martin Lawrence's The Better Man, a film Erik Davis posted about a few days ago. There's no word yet on who she will play.
• In January, I shared word that David Arquette's horror film, The Tripper, was going to slide into wide release this summer. Now it seems that the film has been dropped by After Dark and Arquette has told fans at the Wizard World convention in L.A. that he will release the film himself. Well, that doesn't bode well for the flick. How good can it be if an indie horror company doesn't want to release it? I wonder if he'll use a cow covered in blood-colored corn syrup to market the thing...