Well, what do you know? It turns out that not only is Jeff Bridges the man responsible for the patron saint of stoners everywhere, but apparently the guy can sing too. Variety reports that Maggie Gyllenhaal and Robert Duvall have signed to star alongside Bridges in the country music drama Crazy Heart.

The indie drama is based on Thomas Cobb's debut novel of the same name, and centers on an alcoholic country star with the unfortunate name of Bad Blake. Scott Cooper (who will also direct) has adapted the story of an alcoholic country music singer (Bridges) who is in the midst of a professional and personal meltdown. When a journalist (played by Gyllenhaal) blows through town to interview the fading star, the two begin a relationship that helps Blake get his life back on track.

Plus it turns out that all three stars have some previous musical experience. Duvall starred in Tender Mercies back in 1983 (which also centered on an alcoholic country singer -- and won Duvall an Oscar for Best Actor), Gyllenhaal did a little singing in the flick Happy Endings, and Bridges has already released an entire album -- and here I was thinking the guy was only a great actor and pretty decent photographer. I would assume that as Blake, Bridges may be doing the bulk of the singing (with original music provided by T Bone Burnett), but it's good to know he has some back-up if he needs it.

Crazy Heart is scheduled to start filming on location next month in New Mexico.

When it comes to sifting through all actors responsible for portraying the most powerful man on the planet, there's no shortage of options. John Travolta did a great Bill Clinton impersonation in Primary Colors and Timothy Bottoms delivered a near-perfect imitation of George W. Bush in both D.C. 9/11: Time of Crisis and That's My Bush! Neither one comes across as particularly flattering, so presidential nominee Barack Obama has chosen a safer bet: At a recent party in Los Angeles, Obama revealed that he prefers Jeff Bridges' conflicted commander-in-chief in The Contender. Granted, he may have said this simply to keep his audience happy -- in this case, Contender director Rod Lurie, one of the attendees who was willing to plop down $28,000 for the event. "'I just plugged your movie," Obama told Lurie, according to a report the director sent to Hollywood Elsewhere's Jeffrey Wells.

Still, when you're under the kind of intense scrutiny that Obama currently endures, Bridges actually seems like a pretty safe choice. Choose Anthony Hopkins in Nixon and it sounds like you're endorsing the bad guy. Choose Kevin Kline in Dave and you come across as disingenuous. Choose Peter Sellers in Dr. Strangelove and somebody will call you incompetent. Bridges, on the other hand, plays a fierce leader bound to his moral convictions. Of course, Obama also expressed sympathy over Lurie's short-lived television show Commander-in-Chief, which featured Geena Davis as the first woman president. Perhaps it's no coincidence that he and Hillary have publicly made amends.

Indiana Jones -- he's got to be Harrison Ford, doesn't he? Okay, we had young Indiana Jones characters -- River Phoenix in the opening sequence of Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, and Sean Patrick Flanery in The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles -- but I never really thought of Indy as a character who could be cast in any other way. You know, you figure the part in Raiders of the Lost Ark was practically written for Ford, who'd been in a couple of George Lucas films before that anyway (Star Wars and American Graffiti).

However, that assumption couldn't be more wrong. I've been digging around on that great source of reliable information, the Internet, and reading all kinds of stories about the casting of Indiana Jones. The general gist is that Steven Spielberg was interested in Ford, but Lucas didn't want to be one of those directors who cast the same guy in all his movies. So they tested a bunch of other actors, and were seriously interested in one who had to back out ... and then ended up with Harrison Ford after all. We are all profoundly grateful. But let's take a look at some of those actors allegedly under consideration, and a few more that I threw into the mix just for fun. (I picked only actors who were alive and the right age at the time, which is why you don't see Steve McQueen on the list.)

In case you haven't heard by now, Iron Man took home a whopping $201 million worldwide over the weekend, with that amount pretty much split right down the middle between domestic and international. Not only is it the second best non-sequel opening ever, but it also proved that Marvel (now self-financing their films) is in it to win it ... big time. Fortunately, folks won't have to wait long to see if Marvel will strike gold twice -- in a little over a month from now (on June 13, to be exact), The Incredible Hulk will debut in theaters. Last time a Hulk film was in theaters, Ang Lee directed and Marvel did not self-finance the flick. After seeing what Iron Man did to the box office over the weekend (and what fans thought of the film), something tells me we're in for a completely different kind of re-boot this time around.

Right from the start, folks haven't been giving The Incredible Hulk a fair shake, myself included. It took a long time to get those first images, and even longer for a trailer. But now that the film's marketing campaign is in full swing, I'm starting to see the fans turn. I witnessed the full "field scene" from the trailer at New York Comic Con last month, and I can assure you it looked awesome. Everyone is talking up the Iron Man cast, but have you noticed that The Incredible Hulk cast is just as good (not to mention I think Tim Roth will play a better villain than Jeff Bridges)? And now that Iron Man killed, does that change anything for The Incredible Hulk? Do more people now want to see it? Are expectations higher? Sound off below in the poll and in the comments section ...

One of the many nice moments in Iron Man comes as techno-titan Tony Stark (played by Robert Downey, Jr.) is consulting with his artificial intelligence majordomo, Jarvis, about the fabrication of the newest version of the high-tech power armor Stark intends to use to stop evil and protect the innocent. Looking at a holographic simulation of the proposed design of the glittering, golden armor -- which enables its wearer to fly, lift cars, shoot energy beams, withstand bullets and includes many other clever bits of engineering -- Stark makes a brief request regarding the color scheme: "Why don't you throw a little hot rod red in there?" Stark seems to be saying Sure, it's fancy and expensive and technologically majestic and wonderful, but a little style can still go a long way. ...

And as it is with the Iron Man armor, so it is with the Iron Man movie. Marvel Comics' first foray into self-financed film making has movie stars and impressive effects and a script where every plot point you would expect meshes with its neighbors as precisely as the plates and pieces of Stark's armor do, but it's the touches of style that make it truly sizzle. Director Jon Favreau does not seem like a choice you would expect as the director of a comic-book movie; Robert Downey Jr. does not seem like a choice you would expect as the star of a comic-book film. Between the two of them, they give us something different from the comic-book movies we've come to expect; a little swagger, a little strut, a touch of self-mocking humor that never undercuts the pleasures of the thing being mocked. It's as if someone snuck a hefty slug of bourbon into your cherry cola; all of the sugar and flavor and fizz you expect from a well-made comic-book movie are there, but there's something a little more grown-up going on behind them.

I just now came up with a new Cinematical column: A Flick You Missed. Catchy title, eh? This is where the Cinematical writers will offer up a mini-mini-review (more of a reminder) on a flick that nobody really saw ... but we really liked. The flick that inspired such a simplistic idea? Mike Traeger's The Amateurs (aka The Moguls), which played at a whole bunch of film festivals before landing a (very) limited release late last year. The DVD was released last month by First Look Pictures -- and I liked this goofy little farce a whole damn lot.

Big fan of ensemble comedies are you? Then I'll just toss the cast list out there before offering a brief synopsis and a few random opinions. Ready? (Deep breath) Jeff Bridges, Joe Pantoliano, William Fichtner, Ted Danson, Patrick Fugit, Tim Blake Nelson, Isaiah Washington, Steven Weber, John Hawkes, Brad Henke, Elden Henson, Brad Garrett, Mike Binder. All funny guys -- and every single one of 'em delivers a chuckle or two. Oh, and the women! Lauren Graham, Glenne Headly, Jeanne Tripplehorn, Valerie Perrine, Judy Greer, Eileen Brennan. That's a lot of funny actresses. And with alllll these people on board, Jeff Bridges still anchors the flick with an aw-shucks effortlessness that's ... pure Jeff Bridges.

Wanna know how to score ladies like the ones featured above? Easy -- just become a billionaire who builds a kickass superhero suit. Yes, some new images from the film Iron Man have arrived online; one of which shows Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr.) talking up two girls in skimpy bathing suits. Of course, what good are two random babes when you can have Pepper Potts (Gwyneth Paltrow) all to yourself. Hence the image below, which shows Stark and Potts talking on what appears to be a balcony. But what are they talking about? Care to take a guess? After the jump, you can check out two more photos -- one which shows Stark with his mentor (and future nemesis) Obadiah Stane (Jeff Bridges), and one of Stark all bruised and beaten to a pulp. A new made-for-TV trailer is supposed to hit soon as well, so be on the look out for it. Iron Man hits theaters on May 2.

[via JoBlo]

When 'N Sync was prancing around the stage in the late '90s, did anyone imagine that one of the dudes would become a pretty successful actor in less than 10 years? I mean, I'm sure Jeff Bridges didn't see Justin Timberlake on the boob tube and say: Gee, that kid should play my son in something! It's as weird as watching Ronnie Regan in his movies and imagining that he'd become President. NOTE: I am, in no way, suggesting Justin will turn to politics -- I'm just noting surprising career moves.

Anyway, Variety reports that Timberlake is about to head on The Open Road with Bridges, the comedy drama that Christopher Campbell first blogged about almost a year ago. Under filmmaker Wim Wenders' watchful eye, writer Michael Meredith will direct his own script. This was going to be a reunion for the Land of Plenty crew, but unfortunately, it seems that cinematographer Franz Lustig has been replaced by Yaron Orbach.

Road is a reconciliation tale about a young man who reconnects with his dad, "a legendary athlete, as he struggles to get him home to his ailing mother's bedside." While the parts aren't specifically laid out, I imagine Bridges is the dad, Timberlake the son, and Mary Steenburgen is the mom. Initial reports also described a girlfriend on the trip, but there is no word about that role in this latest bit of news. This could be at least partly autobiographical, as Meredith's dad is ex Cowboys QB Don Meredith, but for this film, the sports figure is a baseball legend. Personally, I'm interested in seeing how Meredith handles the comedic aspects since Land of Plenty was all sorts of somber -- good, but somber. The film is scheduled to slip into production in Louisiana later this month.

Paramount has released a new photo from the upcoming flick Iron Man (click on the image for a larger version), which is similar to other photos we've seen except this one features Robert Downey Jr. (as Tony Stark) with a bit more mechanical nonsense strapped to his body. There's no doubt that this is a very big film for Paramount, for Marvel, and for director Jon Favreau. Not only are they attempting to kick-start a brand new comic franchise, but they'll be doing so right at the beginning of the summer blockbuster season. Last year saw the underwhelming Spider-Man 3 is this slot, so hopefully Iron Man will turn out a lot better. So far the trailers rock, and any movie that stars Downey Jr. and Jeff Bridges has an immediate head start up the awesomeness ladder.

Additionally, and I completely forget where I read this (so I apologize to the site that broke this news), but rumor has it Downey Jr. is also set to make a cameo, as Tony Stark, in this summer's The Incredible Hulk. How cool would that be? It's obvious Marvel is hella serious about an eventual Avengers flick, and if all these rumors are true (including Sam Jackson in Iron Man as Nick Fury), then Marvel is definitely going about things the right way.

That said, Screenrant is also hosting a pretty cool fan-made Iron Man video that's described as "a non commercial fan film inspired by the famous Marvel Comic character and directed by David Guivant with the help of a few friends and with practically no budget." The fan film includes characters like Iron Man, Pepper Potts, Happy Hogan, The Black Widow, Ms. Marvel, Nick Fury and The Mandarin. It moves fast, and it's a little confusing, but it's still pretty impressive considering the limited resources the filmmaker had. Head on over to Screenrant to check it out.

Surprise! Jason Reitman's Juno, the most buzzed about teen pregnancy comedy of the fall, hauled in an overwhelming take of $60,000 per screen at seven theaters in New York and Los Angeles, according to estimates compiled by Box Office Mojo, easily topping the indie box office chart. It got a head start by opening on Wednesday, but it actually began building momentum when it screened at Telluride more than three months ago. Critical response has been nearly unanimous (93% positive per Rotten Tomatoes), with our own Kim Voynar leading the hosannas. Juno will be opening wide soon, so it will be interesting to see if it can cross over to mainstream acceptance.

Also widely praised since its debut at Venice, Atonement scored very well with a per-screen average of $25,531 at 32 theaters in major markets. Keira Knightley and James McAvoy star in director Joe Wright's adaptation of the Ian McEwan novel. Christopher Hampton scripted the screen version of an epic period romance. Cinematical's James Rocchi participated in a roundtable interview with McAvoy; you can read McAvoy's thoughts on Atonement and much more.

Other indies struggled to find audiences. Grace is Gone, starring John Cusack as a father having trouble telling his daughters that their mother has been killed, had the highest profile, but earned just $3,500 per screen at four theaters. Long on the shelf, The Amateurs may be heading quickly to DVD; despite the presence of Jeff Bridges and Ted Danson, it managed to earn only $4,000 per screen at three theaters in Los Angeles and Dallas. Bridges did all he could to publicize the film; he and Danson participated in a junket, which our own Patrick Walsh just wrote about, and was present for a post-screening Q&A on Friday night in Dallas.

Also debuting over the weekend: Maurice Jamal's comedy Dirty Laundry ($7,700 per-screen at two theaters), Paul Schrader's Washington drama The Walker ($5,533 per screen at three theaters), Guy Ritchie's crime drama Revolver ($2,316 per screen at 18 theaters) and David Wall's religious drama Noelle ($802 per screen at 203 theaters).