For a while, I've been torn on this whole Amelia Earhart biopic. On the one hand, I have always wanted to learn more about her. On the other, we're finally getting a biopic and it's a frickin' romance -- something that seems really silly considering how much of a tough, femininity-defiant female icon she is. And then to top it all off, there are some ridiculous costumes in the mix. But then Elisabeth posted that there would be some Gene Vidal in the film (father to Gore, and played by Ewan McGregor), and now, the ever-wonderful Christopher Eccleston.

Variety reports that he has signed onto Amelia to play Earhart's flight navigator, Fred Noonan. This is the man who was with Amelia when she tried to fly around the world and her plane disappeared in the Pacific. After a teasingly short stint as the Doctor, and an even-shorter invisible trip to Heroes territory, it's nice to see Eccleston give us more roles. Heck, I'm planning to see G.I. Joe just so I can watch him play Destro. Fie to these films that sign on so many great actors to the cast that I can't not check it out.

Although he functions under the cinematic radar, Christopher Eccleston has become quite the television scene stealer. He made Doctor Who irresistible to a much larger audience (including me). After his abrupt departure from his role as the infamous Time Lord, he jumped into Heroes and pretty much mopped up the floor with much of the cast. After those geek roles, Eccleston has been getting all sorts of dark and topping off his role as The Rider in The Seeker: The Dark is Rising and Dr. Jekyll in New Orleans, Mon Amour, The Hollywood Reporter says he's heading for G.I. Joe. (IESB first broke this news last night.)

He's grabbed the role of "the villainous Destro" in Paramount's update of the Real American Hero. Last month, it was going to be David Murray, but unfortunately, the Irish-born actor had to back out due to visa issues. As Destro, Eccleston will be the main bad guy, straight out of the Scottish Highlands. He's the head of M.A.R.S., and is known for being both calm and cutthroat. This also means that he gets to love Sienna Miller, who will play the Baroness, Cobra's second-in-command. Okay, I think I got that right, but unfortunately, my G.I. Joe knowledge goes no further than the elaborate scene an old friend of mine had set up in a spare room with rescued figures.

Then again, I bet I'll know more soon enough. For an action movie based on an old action figure, they've set up a huge and surprising cast. Production gets going this month, and the flick will hit theaters in 2009.

If I were going to pitch Susan Cooper's kid-lit fantasy series, The Dark is Rising, to a room full of studio execs, I'd proceed as follows: "Listen, guys. I'm not gonna lie. This is gonna be a real challenge. These books are not only noticeably dated from a sci-fi/fantasy fan's perspective, but also remarkably insular and plotty, and not even the good kind of plotty. They aren't 'every chapter is a new adventure' plotty, but more like a catalog of meaningless busywork-tasks the hero has to perform. The books remind me of a third-rate Atari 2600 game, in which the hero has some Arthurian pedigree that's spelled out in the booklet, but on-screen he's just a bland avatar who has to collect six out of nine sacred talismans and place them in the right spots on the map, in order to thwart the 'forces of darkness.' That's all this series amounts to, but I wouldn't be pitching this to you if I didn't see some ways we can get around that stuff. So allow me to proceed.

We're going to adapt the second book in the series, for two reasons: first, because it's called The Dark is Rising, which will make a cool title, but also because it contains an intriguing substrata. The main character, Will Stanton, is a 14 year-old wizard who is struggling with puberty just as he's discovering his wizarding ways. The bad guys know this, so they send a witch to tempt him, in the form of a hot, older girl. In the book, this is hardly more than a footnote and most of the plot is given over to the young wizard learning his craft from an old wizard, but that's just bo-ring. We're going to downsize that angle considerably and make the witch subplot the A-story. I'm envisioning a tragic first-love saga between this kid who doesn't know any better, and this more experienced girl who is allied with the forces of evil, but isn't totally evil to the core. There's a sort of Anakin Skywalker quality to her, which a good script will heighten. With me so far? Good.

The Dark is Rising towards a big release on October 5, and after releasing some pictures back in May, a trailer for the film has finally come out. While I can't comment on how well the novel world has translated to the movies, it looks to be the standard kid-hero fantasy fare with a great supporting cast, funky effects and lots of adventure. There's Ian McShane leading the pack as Merriman Lyon, Frances Conroy (almost looking like Maggie Smith's* McGonagall in disguise) as Miss Greythorne and Christopher Eccleston pulling off a creepy Rider. This trailer also has one of the best uses of those cheesy, bigger-than-life voice-overs. While it's groan-worthy at first, they've used it to only illustrate Will's adolescent innocence. Wait it out because when Will discovers his powers, the voice disappears and the creepy music begins.

For those that aren't familiar with the series of books, The Dark is Rising is a series from the 60's and 70's that deals with the struggle between the good (The Light), and the bad (The Dark). Will Stanton (Alexander Ludwig) is a young kid who finds out on his eleventh birthday that he has special powers and must stop the Dark, while collecting the Signs of the Light. According to Wikipedia, there are some big diversions from the books -- Will is a 14-year-old American in the movie, and apparently they give one of his brothers a bit of a twist (look here to see what that is, if you're not worried about possible spoilers).

*Thanks to roadkillbuddha for catching that Maggie Grace is not the same as Maggie Smith, even if my fingers always want to believe otherwise. MB

Just the other day Ryan brought us news of the increasing cast for the film adaptation of Susan Cooper's young adult fantasy series, The Dark is Rising. After grabbing a "good guy" in Ian McShane, they've got themselves a bad guy, who is none other than Doctor* Who alum and current invisible man, Christopher Eccleston. (Or, if you haven't been geekfesting on television lately, he's starred in everything from Shallow Grave to The Others.) They've also added Gregory Smith to the cast (Everwood star), who will be wiping away his clean-cut image to play the edgy, tattooed older brother of Will. In case you're itching to know how all of the cast is fitting in, here's a quick guide: Alexander Ludwig is playing the lead, Will Stanton -- a boy who finds out that he is the last of the Old Ones on his 11th birthday, and subsequently rises to power. As for the others:

Ian McShane will be Merriman Lyon -- the first Old One, which bonds him to the last, Will, as a mentor. Christopher Eccleston is playing The Rider (I assume Black) -- a Lord of the Dark with power comparable to Merriman, he's Will's major nemesis -- and the man who tries to bring him to the Dark Side. (And better to look at than a deep breather in a big, black mask.) Gregory Smith will be Max -- Will's older brother. Emma Lockhart will play Gwen -- the oldest of the Stanton children. Austin Vaccaro is playing James -- Will's slightly older brother who loves to tease. Frances Conroy, the mom from Six Feet Under, doesn't have her role listed yet. Could she perhaps be The Lady -- a great being of Light who is a friend and mentor to all of the Old Ones?

*Of course, the Doctor is too important to be short-formed. Thanks, The Jeremy. :)