If you're one of the many moviegoers who loved Mamma Mia!, perhaps you thought the only thing missing from the experience was the shrill sound of your fellow audience members screaming the lyrics of "Dancing Queen" along with Meryl Streep and her lady friends. Well, Universal Pictures has read your mind, and Mamma Mia!: The Sing-Along Edition will open on Aug. 29 in select theaters. It'll be the same movie, only with all the musical numbers subtitled and audience members encouraged to join in on the vocals.

All we have so far is a press release from Universal, which doesn't say how many theaters the sing-along edition will be in. You are encouraged to visit the Mamma Mia! website for updates, however. These will be regular screenings at regular movie theaters for the regular prices; all that's different is that the lyrics will be on the screen, karaoke-style. And the best part is, even if you're a terrible singer, you can take comfort in knowing you're still better than Pierce Brosnan.

ABBA's music is famous for being catchy, and as a result many people overlook the actual words. This sing-along event will be an opportunity to really notice and pay attention to the subtle complexities of lines like this, from "Money, Money, Money":

In my dreams I have a plan
If I got me a wealthy man
I wouldn't have to work at all
I'd fool around and have a ball

Hooray for girl power and rhyming!

I'm slightly mistrustful of titles that include exclamation points. They always remind me of the musical version of The Elephant Man, Elephant!, in The Tall Guy ("... there's an angel with big eeears..."). But in the case of Mamma Mia!, I'm actually surprised the title only included one exclamation point -- you can imagine the filmmakers or the creators of the stage version embracing even more emphatic punctuation, just to let you know that This! Is a Musical! And also Wacky!! As if chorus lines of men in flippers, Meryl Streep waving a feather boa, and enough ABBA music to sate the leads of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert wouldn't have clued you in.

The movie, like the stage musical it's adapted from, is essentially and unabashedly an extended gimmick -- an excuse to sing and perform songs that originated from the Swedish musical group ABBA. Characters spontaneously burst into song not because they're aspiring performers (Chicago), or because their singing is meant as a melodious soliloquy (Sweeney Todd), but because the situation or their emotional state reminds them of an ABBA song (sometimes more tangentially than others), and they decide to share it with everyone. I've had friends like this in real life, although that seems to have been a college-age thing.

I have a soft spot for nearly everything Danny DeVito's directed. Death to Smoochy was a waste of a cast and a concept, but most everything else -- The War of the Roses, Matilda, and yes, even the underrated Duplex (I haven't seen Throw Momma from the Train in forever, but toss that one in too) -- has a dark, unforgiving sensibility that I really appreciate. For one thing, I'm pretty sure that DeVito is the only filmmaker to truly get what Roald Dahl was all about.

DeVito's next directing project, and his first for the big screen since Duplex flopped in 2003, will be an adaptation of The True Confessions of Charlotte Doyle, a young adult book by a dude named Avi (yes, just Avi). It's about a 13 year-old girl who's crossing the Atlantic on her own in 1832 and gets caught in the middle of a mutiny. Saoirse Ronan, Morgan Freeman and Pierce Brosnan are attached to star.

The funny thing is, I read The True Confessions of Charlotte Doyle at some point while traversing the middle school netherworld back in the mid-to-late 90's, but I'll be damned if I remember a single thing about it. (The plot does sound vaguely familiar. I think there might be a parrot involved, but I'm not sure.) To Kill a Mockingbird it ain't. But if DeVito (who also wrote the screenplay) can give it some character, I'm down.

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.

The professional seas are definitely clear for writer/director Shana Feste. She's got her first full-length feature script picked up by Barbarian Films, they're letting her helm it as her directorial debut, and now Variety reports that she's got two well-known stars to lead the cast: Pierce Brosnan and Susan Sarandon. That's not too shabby at all for a new screenwriter and first-time director.

The Greatest is another upcoming drama based on the aftermath of loss, and one that should feel familiar to Sarandon, seeing as she just finished The Lovely Bones. Feste's script follows a family that's trying to deal with the loss of a teen son, and a young girl who somehow throws them into chaos. (Let me guess: a secret love child!?) Brosnan and Sarandon are playing the grieving parents.

Producer Beau St. Clair notes that Feste has a "rare ability to uniquely dramatize the complicated dynamics" of loss, and I would hope so, because it seems like every day we're getting more projects that deal with the aftermath of loss -- The Lovely Bones, Fireflies in the Garden, Hickory Nation, Birds in Fall, Beautiful Children ... the theme is hotter than Derek Zoolander.

Last weekend brought the tragic news that the Aston Martin featured in the upcoming 007 movie Quantun of Solace was wrecked beyond repair. It turns out that's not the only danger on the set of the film, currently shooting in Italy: On Wednesday, a James Bond stuntman crashed while performing a chase scene in the area, and is currently in critical condition. suffering minor injuries It's probably better that this stuff is happening now, considering how many people were ready to pounce on the last film in order to prevent Daniel Craig from taking the reins from Pierce Brosnan. Now that the franchise appears to have a newfound groove, Quantum has a lot of positive buzz. So why does it seem like the set is suddenly cursed?

Accidents of varying degrees are commonplace on large scale film shoots, but the sense of peril can impact the final result in different ways. In the Twilight Zone movie, the helicopter accident during the John Landis-directed sequence killed three actors, causing Hollywood to avoid similar stunts for many years to come. The stuntman who suffered burns on 60% of his body on the Mission: Impossible III set, however, couldn't affect that movie, even when he decided to sue Tom Cruise. In the case of Quantum of Solace, subversively, the accidents might be a positive indicator of the sheer intensity that director Marc Forster hopes to bring to the film.

When I saw Ira Sachs' Married Life at the New York Film Festival last fall, I had a lot of problems with it. But one thing I didn't have any complaints about is how gorgeous Rachel McAdams looks in the film. And now, thanks to Rope of Silicon, you can see for yourself how amazing the actress looks as a '40s-era blonde beauty. My favorite photo is the third, in which McAdams almost looks like a dead-ringer for Kim Novak in Vertigo. But I'd be fine with looking at any of them. In fact, I'm not just a fan of the way McAdams looks in the film; I also love the three-piece style of Chris Cooper, the open-collared playboy thing that Pierce Brosnan has going on and the partially see-through top that Patricia Clarkson wears in the second-to-last pic. (Clarkson is so stunning in the film, she actually gives McAdams a run for her money, and makes it hard to believe Cooper would cheat on her with anyone.) But aside from simply looking terrific, all four of the stars of Married Life give wonderful performances, as usual.

The film, which opens in limited release March 7, is based on John Bingham's 1953 pulp novel Five Roundabouts to Heaven. Cooper and Clarkson play a married couple, and Cooper's character has a mistress (McAdams). He makes the mistake, though, of introducing the girl to his best friend, played by Brosnan. Not knowing that his mistress is having another affair with his best friend, Cooper's character decides to murder his wife, because it's a more humane thing to do than break her heart. It's a very Hitchcockian plot, which makes sense since Bingham's books were adapted into episodes of The Alfred Hitchcock Hour. And it's a good enough movie to recommend, especially because of those great-looking actors. I just wish that Sony Classics would do away with Brosnan's awful and unnecessary voice-over before releasing the movie into theaters.

To be honest, when word went out that the sequel to The Thomas Crown Affair was on the hunt for a director, I could never have predicted this. The master of sex and violence Paul Verhoeven told the Dutch radio program Met Het Oog Op Morgen, that he will be directing the Crown sequel for MGM. Titled The Topkapi Affair, the story will be a combination of Eric Ambler's novel The Light of Day, about a small time heist man who gets roped into an international jewel heist, and the 1964 adaptation of that novel starring Peter Ustinov. Considering the glamor of '99's Crown, the script might have to make some minor adjustments. Unless this time they are going for Thomas Crown on the skids.

Back in August, Patrick reported that Brosnan would be reprising his role as Thomas Crown, the dashing thief. Unfortunately, Renee Russo would not be returning, but previous reports have Angelina Jolie slated to star -- although there is still the chance that Jolie deal could fall through since there hasn't been any official confirmation. The script was completed back in January, and the project was given the green-light in March; (and I don't mean to be cynical, but the strike might have had something to do with MGM's enthusiasm in getting the film into production). Filming is set to take place on location in Istanbul, which might make use of the famed Topkapi Palace. Although it is unknown whether the production has permission to film in the palace -- Verhoeven just better make sure the nobody at the Istanbul Archeology Museum gets a hold of a copy of Showgirls. The Topkapi Affair is set for release in 2008.

[via ComingSoon.net]

I remember very little about the Pierce Brosnan / Rene Russo version of The Thomas Crown Affair. I know that A) I liked it, B) that Rene Russo was frequently topless in it (see A), and C) there was a really cool scene with a bunch of dudes in hats. The film grossed a respectable $70 million back in 1999, and was a huge hit on video. And now a sequel is underway. You'll remember Thomas Crown was a remake of the Steve McQueen / Faye Dunaway original, which did not spawn a sequel. So are they coming up with an original story for TCA Part 2? Of course not, silly! Brosnan told Filmstalker that the sequel will be based on the Peter Ustinov classic Topkapi, and will be called The Topkapi Affair.

Moviehole is reporting that the screenplay is based on the novel Light of Day (this one, by Eric Ambler), so I suppose the script pulls from both sources. Casting has already begun on the sequel, and Brosnan says "This version of Topkapi will have a different part, different woman, and different affair. The guy is a little bit more seasoned and we're using wonderful locations this time." Wait, who is this different woman Brosnan is talking about? How do you one-up the gorgeous Rene Russo? Believe it or not, they did -- Angelina Jolie has reached a deal to play the love interest. The plot for this new adventure centers on getting the Kasikci Diamond out of Topkapki Palace, which is in Istanbul. The IMDb lists the screenwriter as Harley Peyton, whose last produced script was 2001's spotty Bandits. No word on a director yet, but let's hope they bring John McTiernan back. Mr. Die Hard stooped to making Rollerball, for crying out loud. Expect The Topkapi Affair in 2008.

James Bond -- when played by Sean Connery, Pierce Brosnan and now Daniel Craig (and a bit less so when played by Roger Moore, Timothy Dalton and George Lazenby) -- has long been the gold stanard by which all other cinematic spies have been judged. He's smooth, aloof, quick-witted and charming. Guys want to be like him and women with names like Pussy Galore want to sleep with him. But these days, 007 has some serious competition from a more reserved, grittier and -- dare we say -- more likeable amnesiac spy named Jason Bourne (Matt Damon).

When The Bourne Identity came along in 2002, it pretty much reinvented the action-spy genre, placing its hero, Jason Bourne, squarely in the real world (where things like Bond's invisible car do not exist) and dealing with the unheard of (in the Bond world, at least) issues of moral accountability, character metamorphosis and even vulnerability. Clearly influenced by his neophyte rival, a new Bond was born in 2006's Casino Royale, with Daniel Craig stepping into the tux of a more down-to-earth, relatable and gadget-free 007. Even so, the gap between these two men remains enormous.

From the cars they drive to the villains they battle to the way they fight to the women they bed, Moviefone compares the two most badass spies ever to grace a movie screen in a Jason Bourne vs. James Bond gallery. Check it out and then tell us: Who do you think is the more super spy?