I am, by no means, a big fan of medieval themes, although a movie here and there, or an occasional trip to a Renaissance Faire is fun. But man, Ironclad is sounding awesome. Variety reports that the film is the first project for the newly formed Mythic International Entertainment, and will be directed by Jonathan English.

Why is this sounding so awesome? The cast. Already signed to the $30 million feature is Richard Attenborough, Pete Postlethwaite, Angus Macfayden, and Colm Meaney. Meanwhile, James Purefoy and Paul Giamatti are in talks to join the production as well. It's a historical feature full of talented testosterone!

Set in 13th century England, the film will focus on "a small band of knights who defended Rochester Castle against the tyrant King John." There's no mention of who the signed leads are playing (presumably knights), but if James and Paul sign on, Purefoy will play the lead night, and Giamatti will be King John.

It sounds great to me! After John Adams, I've been on a total Giamatti kick, and along with actors like Attenborough and Postlethwaite, this could be one hell of a great action film.

What do you think?

I never thought much of Neve Campbell's acting chops (she seems ever-so-pouty in various movie and TV roles), and aside from her solid turn in Robert Altman's The Company, I thought she disappeared from the movie scene. But it looks like she's been busy: she's made a film with James Toback and is now joining the cast of Richard Attenborough's (Chaplin, Shadowlands) romance Closing the Ring, which boasts a cast consisting of Shirley MacLaine, Christopher Plummer, Brenda Fricker and Pete Postlethwaite. (And, as we reported in February, stick figure Mischa Barton is going to be there for some reason as well.) The picture is a World War II story about a dying gunner who crashes his plane in Northern Ireland and asks a local to return his ring to his girlfriend in America. Apparently it takes the local fifty years to complete the quest. The movie is Attenborough's first feature film since 1999's The Grey Owl.

 

• Sir Richard Attenborough, John Boorman and Nic Roeg are all scrambling to get new films into production in Ireland before the end of the month. On March 31, the tax-friendly UK-Ireland and Canada-Ireland coproduction agreements under which their films are being made is scheduled to expire, and a renewal of the deals isn't assured. Hey, even fake royalty like to save a buck when they can.

• Pedro Almodovar's highly anticipated Volver was screened for critics in Madrid this weekend, and has also been submitted for competition at Cannes. While the responses in at the screening were immediate - if someone called my film "a gift", I'd be pretty stoked - the director won't hear from Cannes until next month. The film, which tells the story of two sisters whose mother returns as a ghost to solve the problems among the three of them, is described as being lighter in tone that Almodovar's recent work, as well as a return to his earlier focus on female characters. And, boys, in case you're unsure about seeing a foreign chick flick, Penelope Cruz is "spellbinding as Volver's undeniable protagonist, oozing a mid-century glamour and sex appeal modeled on the young Sophia Loren." Yowzers.

• The lineup for the Sofia meetings portion of the ongoing Sofia International Film Festival has been set, and includes 10 projects (half of them by women) from countries as diverse as Germany, France, and Kazakhstan. The meetings will take place this weekend, and are two days during which the 10 "filmmakers...have an opportunity to pitch to more than 50 international producers and film funds." All of the directors involved this year are seeking funding for their second features.
  

Wrapping up today's odds and ends:

• In this midst of summarizing the upcoming Superman/Batman festivities, Variety dropped Bryan Singer's target start date for his brilliant or disastrous remake of Logan's Run: if all goes well, shooting will begin in Vancouver this fall. Eeeeexcellent.

• Though they apparently didn't kill him, when he died Chris Penn's body was home to "Valium, morphine, marijuana, and an elevated level of codeine." It's probably safe to say that he wasn't feeling any pain in those last few minutes.

• When we reported that Adam Sandler and Kevin James had agreed to star in it, we detailed the incredibly long path I Now Pronounce You Chuck and Larry had taken to production - it's been through zillions of stars and multiple writers, none of whom have worked out. And now, yet again, there's a problem: director David Dobkin took off yesterday, "citing big creative differences." Universal claims that they'll hire someone else in time to start this summer, as planned. Sure they will.

• Mischa Barton, who seems to have forgotten that she can't act, has signed on to star alongside Shirley MacLaine in Closing the Ring. A "romantic epic," the film marks Sir Richard Attenborough's return to direction after a break of nearly a decade. Sadly, the task of wringing a performance out of Barton may well drive him away again.