What's a Ben Stiller movie without Owen Wilson? They've been working together together on and off -- though it seems more like continuously on -- since The Cable Guy. It is no surprise, then, that Wilson has just signed up for Stiller's Tropic Thunder. This is Stiller's fourth feature as director, and with the exception of his debut, Reality Bites, he has so far found a role for his friend in all of them (he also directed Wilson in the TV pilot for Heat Vision and Jack). It isn't clear what kind of role Wilson will have this time, but I'm guessing he will play an actor working on the movie-within-the-movie. So far, these actors, who end up on a war film shoot gone to hell, include Robert Downey Jr. as an Oscar-winning star, Jay Baruchel as an unknown, Jack Black as a drug addicted comic actor, and Stiller himself, who may be a pumped up action star (as per Erik's educated guess). Then, as a non-actor, Tom Cruise is rumored to be making a cameo as a studio tyrant.

Also joining the cast now is Nick Nolte. His part is also unspecified, but he clearly must be some actor playing a lieutenant colonel or something -- basically playing himself playing his part in The Thin Red Line. Nolte is thankfully getting a lot of work these days, despite his infamous personal problems, but this is a welcome chance for the 48 Hrs. actor to return to comedy. Sure, he's not the funniest man in the world, but I think he's a good cranky straight man (in addition to the two 48 Hrs. movies, he's the only good thing about Three Fugitives), and he can even occasionally be the comic, too (Down and Out in Beverly Hills). Unfortunately he really missed the funny boat by working with director Alan Rudolph in Breakfast of Champions and Trixie (he has done great dramatic work for the director), and so it seems easier to just cast him in dramas. Although Nolte probably won't have the opportunity to get a lot of laughs in Tropic Thunder, I at least applaud Stiller for adding him to the ensemble of funnymen.

IESB's got a new interview up with Robert Downey Jr. that's ostensibly about The Shaggy Dog, but he talks about a few other projects, as well. Because I love you, I sat through the entire thing - which involves far too much studio-mandated talk about how great an actor the dog is (apparently no one can shut up about his brilliance) and a strange effort by Downey to portray his Token Bad Guy character as a lesson to kids - in order to glean the few interesting tidbits that appear at the very end.

First, though he doesn't actually speak about it, Downey appears to be very fired up indeed about A Scanner Darkly, at least if rubbing his hands together and cackling with glee at its mere mention is any indication. Second, he thinks it would be a good idea to remake Weird Science. He really said that, almost totally unprompted. I don't get it either, particularly because the interviewer didn't think to ask for details about why such a thing might be necessary. Third and most bizarrely, Downey is in informal talks with Sylvester Stallone to star in Poe, a biopic written and directed by Sly himself. While it's remarkably easy to picture Downey as Poe (my mental image looks pretty much just like he did in Chaplin, except with a more elaborate mustache), the thought of Stallone giving Downey acting direction is almost too demented to comprehend.

[via Moviehole]

This, my friends, is more like it. Finally, we have a proper trailer for Richard Linklater's fanboy dream,  A Scanner Darkly. After forcing us to survive for months on an interesting-looking but totally uninformative teaser, Warner Independent Pictures has unleashed something with a little meat on its bones (presumably this is the trailer that the Amp'd Mobile kids got last week).

Confession time: I have major, major issues with Linklater and find it almost impossible to take Keanu Reeves or Winona Ryder seriously. And yet, I dig this trailer - that must mean it's good, right? The look is still fascinating, and for someone who hasn't read the source novel, the story is as well. The best thing about the trailer, though, is Robert Downey Jr. It's interesting how the visual style forces you to focus more on how familiar the voices of these people are - there's a wonderful, weird gravity to Downey's that somehow gives everything he says a lot more layers that it might actually deserve. And, though Reeves' delivery on his "The two hemisphere's of my brain...are competing?" line is a little too "I know kung-fu" for my tastes, even that doesn't destroy the surreal atmosphere that the trailer manages to conjure up.

Only, what, five more months until it comes out?

[via Filmmaker Magazine]