We reported at the end of June that Joaquin Phoenix had agreed to star in the screen version of John Burnham Schwartz's novel Reservation Road. The novel, which was adapted by Schwartz himself, tells the story of a college professor whose young son is killed in a hit-and-run accident. The event (quite understandably) sends the man into a tailspin, and he heads out to track down the driver of the car -- who, meanwhile, has gone into a tailspin of his own, trying to decide if he should turn himself in or maintain his self-loathing freedom. Whew.

When the casting news first came out, it wasn't known which role Phoenix would play, but Variety reported this morning that he'll be the father, a gig that should allow him lots of room to work his patented Phoenix-agony. (I think I'm tearing up a little bit at the mere thought of watching him.) Appearing opposite Phoenix -- and, based on the plot summary, matching him angst-for-angst -- will be Mark Ruffalo as the tortured/hunted driver.*

The film, the first to come out of a new deal between Focus Features and Random House, will be directed by Terry George, who also did some late work on the screenplay. Production begins this fall.

*The IMDb also lists Jennifer Connelly in the cast, but that's not been confirmed by any industry sources.

Surely you've heard of the dude who got rid of all his stuff -- apart from a single red paper clip -- and resolved, through the power of trade/finding really dumb people online, to turn it into a place to live. Things went frighteningly well for the gentleman, a Canadian named Kyle MacDonald. Though the last I heard he'd scored himself a car and then a place to sleep, Variety informed me this morning that MacDonald had, in fact, accomplished his goal: He turned a paper clip into a house. Though you'd think that would be more than enough of a reward, Dreamworks and Random House decided that MacDonald deserved more for his ingenuity, and they've added movie and books deals, respectively, to his haul.

There's no indication of how much MacDonald made from his transformation into media darling, but I think it's safe to say that the eventual appearance of his story on the big screen -- in a movie named after the website that started the whole scheme, One Red Paper Clip -- probably surpasses the thrill of meeting the great Corbin Bernsen, who took part in one of the trades. Fingers crossed that Bernsen plays himself in the movie.

A British judge this morning announced his decision in the month-long plagiarism case that pitted The Da Vinci Code author Dan Brown and his publishing company, Random House, against the authors of The Holy Blood and the Holy Grail, who claimed Brown had dishonestly used their book as much more than a simple source. According to the statement by Judge Peter Smith, however, they were mistaken: "The plaintiffs' case has failed...Dan Brown has not infringed copyright. None of this amounts to copying The Holy Blood and the Holy Grail."

And, as they say, there was much rejoicing, both at Random House, which can continue to print copies of the book and make money hand-over-fist, and at Sony Pictures, which will be able to release the film as scheduled. Whew.

Because Focus Features was sick of all this bidding-war nonsense, they recently entered into a deal with Random House, the terms of which dictate that the two companies will co-develop and co-finance a series of films based on Random House books. The resulting films will be distributed by Focus, but Random House will share ownership. (This is an awesome idea -- why has no one else entered into this sort of agreement? Or have they? Those in the know, please drop some knowledge in the comments.)

The first two Random House properties to be picked up under the agreement were both set in the Middle East; The Attack, a novel by Yasmina Khadra, and Curveball, "a nonfiction narrative about the beginning of the war in Iraq" are in early development. The most recent addition, however, has a much more megaplex flavor -- it's Dean Koontz's The Husband, a not-yet-published novel about "an ordinary working man whose love for his wife is put to the test over the course of 60 hours after his normal workday is interrupted by a phone call from a stranger." (Yawn.) Given that Koontz has sold roughly 459 billion books and regularly appears on best-seller lists, it seems likely that the film version of this one will be pursuing his typical, mainstream audience.