Pictured Above: Augie (CHRISTOPHER MINTZ-PLASSE), Danny (PAUL RUDD), Wheeler (SEANN WILLIAM SCOTT) and Ronnie (BOBB'E THOMPSON) in a comedy about two likable losers forced to do community service-Untitled Mentor Project.

As we told you earlier, Universal Pictures has released their upcoming 2008 film slate, including a ton of photos to go along with what looks to be a pretty solid list. Above you can check out the first image from the Untitled Mentor Project (aka Little Big Men on IMDb), starring Paul Rudd, Seann William Scott and Christopher Mintz-Plasse, following up his superb debut as McLovin' in Superbad. Below, check out an image of Angelina Jolie from Clint Eastwood's The Changeling, which comes with the caption: "Christine Collins (ANGELINA JOLIE) is introduced to a boy claiming to be hers by Captain J.J. Jones (JEFFREY DONOVAN) in a provocative thriller that tells the shocking tale of a mother's quest to find her son, and those who won't stop until they silence her-Changeling, from director Clint Eastwood.

Lots more after the jump ...

Casting bites for the day:

• We've got one more person to add to the cast of Topher Grace's Kids in America, the flick about the guy who has that one last chance to get with the girl of his dreams during a party in the 80's. Ice Princess Michelle Trachtenberg began filming in Phoenix last week. Her part: a Cure and New Order-loving goth girl who clashes against "the Flock of Seagulls mentality surrounding her." It might seem like a big jump for the actress, but she was half-way there with Gregg Araki's Mysterious Skin, so I bet she'll do just fine. Since MTV News says that the film is hoping to be the Dazed and Confused of the 80's, let's hope it does better than That '80s Show.
• There's yet another movie on the pike for Stomp the Yard actor Chris Brown, who has both After School and This Christmas coming later this year. This one is a basketball drama called Phenom. The 17-year-old is the only person cast so far, and there is no director, but he seems to be pretty active in the process: "I'm trying to get Antoine Fuqua, but there are so many different people we're trying to pitch it to as far as the actors and director is concerned." First step: Grammy nom, second step: stomping, third step: the world!
• Lastly, we've got the rest of the main cast set for Sci Fi Channel's upcoming Wizard of Oz re-imagining, Tin Man. Deschanel, Cumming and Dreyfus are being joined by Neal McDonough (The Hitcher) as the Tin Man former cop, Raoul Trujillo (Apocalypto) as Raw, the Wolverine-like creature and Kathleen Robertson (Splendor) as Azkadellia -- the wicked witch. It's not a bad cast to take on the weird project. My interest is up just to see Robertson as the "scintillatingly wicked sorceress." Do you think she'll don the famous tights?

Here's some bits and bites for you to chew on:

• If you're like me, you've been anxious for Allan Moyle to get back to his deliciously cult Pump up the Volume roots, which it seems he has, with his Canadian film, Weirdsville. After opening the Slamdance Film Festival, the U.S. rights to the flick have been picked up by Magnolia Pictures. The movie follows two heroin addicts (Scott Speedman and Wes Bentley) who almost bury an almost-dead junkie (Taryn Manning), have a run-in with Satanists* and a mob of little people....and a drug lord. The Hollywood Reporter has more info on the deal, and the film's website has got a trailer and other goodies. And yes, that's Bentley in the picture to the right, sporting lots of fu-facial hair.
• In December, Chris brought us news of Topher Grace's upcoming movie, Kids in America. Now Venom finally has some co-stars. The pic follows Grace as a recent college who tries to nab his paramour at a crazy party while dealing with his on-coming adulthood -- as any good coming-of-age story should. Scary Movie's Anna Faris has been cast as Grace's twin sister, Dan Fogler -- that wild-haired ping ponger from the upcoming Balls of Fury -- will play the best friend and Australian actress Teresa Palmer gets to be Grace's dream girl.
• Ms. Felicity Huffman, Transamerica star and desperate housewife, is now an author. She's penned A Practical Handbook for the Boyfriend: For Every One Who Wants to Be One/For Every Girl Who Wants to Build One with Patricia Wolff, which was launched in LA on Monday. This super-short titled book gives advice on how to be a good boyfriend "while still maintaining guy-dignity." Anyone want to make bets on how long it will be before this gets adapted into a really, really bad film?

*Thanks to Kirby for the good catch! While a group of Satinists would be interesting, this mob is of the Satan variety.

Topher Grace has come a long way since playing Eric Forman -- the skinny dork on That 70's Show. Really, I never believed the super-cute Donna (played by Laura Prepon) would have ever given him the time of day -- let alone date him or sleep with him. It's just the magic of television I guess. Even dorks get the girl. Fortunately, Grace has been able to leave Forman behind and transition into much different and more adult roles -- and he's managed to do a very good job of it too.

From his first feature film role in Steven Soderberg's Traffic to playing Spidey-nemesis Eddie Brock in Spider-Man 3, Grace has steadily added to his resume and put together an impressive body of work in a relatively short amount of time. And now, according to Production Weekly, the actor has been set to star in Michael Dowse's Kids in America -- which, at first glance, might seem like a step back towards Forman territory.

The film, written by Dowse and That 70s Show vets Jackie and Jeff Filgo, centers around recent college grad Matt Franklin (Grace) obsessed with the dream girl that got away. But a wild Labor Day party gives him one last chance to get the girl and, along with his twin sister and their best friend, learn a little something while struggling with the future and their impeding adulthood.

Even though the plot of the film sounds a little like That 70s Show: The Later Years, I don't think it will really end up that way once it finished. Plus, Grace has really matured a an actor and I think he's smart enough to pick good roles for himself and improve even more. So, despite the films' description, I'm going to give it, and Grace, the benefit of the doubt. So far, he hasn't let me down and I don't think he will here either. Production on Kids in America is expected to start in February in Phoenix.

Odds and ends from Thursday:

• Have you jumped on the Dane Cook bandwagon yet? No? What are you waiting for -- the guy is totally freaking awesome! Seriously though, his stand-up is spectacular. His acting? Eh, I'm not impressed yet. However, that doesn't stop the man from lining up role after role. His latest pic, Good Luck Chuck, was recently rescued by Lionsgate after New Line left it in development limbo for quite awhile. Story surrounds a self-centered dentist who finds himself in a situation where every girl he meets winds up finding their soul mate after dating him. This lack of commitment thing works out great until he eventually falls in love with one of the women.
• Universal and Imagine Entertainment have tapped Pete Tong director Michael Dowse to helm Kids in America, with Topher Grace attached to star. Brian Grazer will produce the film which is said to be about a college kid pursuing his dream girl while attending a wild and crazy Labor Day bash. Based on the description, it kind of sounds like Can't Hardly Wait: The College Years. In fact, Topher and Ethan Embry sort of look the same. Oh, I know I'm not the only one who sees it -- admit it people! 
• And here you thought Vin Diesel had had enough of the Fast and the Furious. Shame on you for thinking the actor would turn down a chance to appear in a sequel to the film that made him. With Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift attracting decent buzz, word is that Vin Diesel is telling people he'll be returning for a fourth installment. Who is he telling? Well, does Latino singer Dom Omar count? Apparently Diesel attended one of the musician's parties and, while probably drunk and stoned off his face, disclosed he was involved in the Fast sequel and asked Omar to get in on the Furious 4 soundtrack. Seriously Vin, please go away -- you're scaring my future children. Thanks.

• Breaking News - Hong Kong action director Johnny To delivers this watchable Woo-alike about a police force that loses the support of the public when a robbery goes bad and is covered by a local news program. The set pieces are pretty tight, even if the drama and the statement To tries to make about the power and responsibility of the media doesn't fully come through.
• Free Enterprise: Special Edition - A self-effacing turn akin to Marlon Brando's in The Freshman and Pauly Shore's in Pauly Shore Is Dead is William Shatner, sending up the cult of personality that has followed him since the original Star Trek series ended its five year mission two years early in 1969. When fanboys Rafer Wiegel and Eric McCormack meet their boyhood idol, he is far from the super-cool man for all seasons they have long worshiped. He's bent on staging a one-man musical version of Shakespeare's Julius Caesar, a great running joke that culminates in the brilliant payoff that is the Shatner/The Rated R rap duet, "No Tears For Caesar". Writer-director Robert Meyer Burnett has created a love letter, not just to Trek, but to anyone who has ever loved anything with fanatical passion, and this long-overdue 2-disc treatment gives it the respect it was not afforded when it was first released in 1999. Check out the Pop-Up Video style trivia track, which annotates the geekery, new special effects, the making-of feature Where No Man Has Gone Before, and the unaired TV pilot, Café Fantastique, which features the real fans who inspired this smart, hardy-har-har trek. A sequel, My Big Fat Geek Wedding, has been listed on the IMDB for nearly 3 years now, and Mindfire Entertainment's website features a rudimentary mention of it, though no firm details are available as yet.
• Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire: Special Edition - Death, and the gloomy heft that comes with it, visits Hogwarts in the fourth and most satisfying installment in the ongoing series so far. When an evil thought vanquished literally rears its ugly head again, Harry (Daniel Radcliffe), Ron (Rupert Grint) and Hermoine (Emma Watson) team up to expose it. Like the overwhelmingly dark Revenge Of The Sith, this is the first to bear the PG-13 rating (for "sequences of fantasy violence and frightening images"), though its decidedly down ending makes it feel more like The Empire Strikes Back. It is not unreasonable to expect studio Warner Brothers to keep their three leads on through Harry Potter and the As-Yet-Unwritten-and-Untitled Year 7 Story. This, of course, is despite the fact that they will be in their early 20's by then, but let us not forget that at least one of the 90210 kids was practically eligible for Social Security by the end of that run. Even at 157 minutes, the book has still been truncated, but it is doubly encouraging to know that kids will know what is missing and will sit still for that long in order to be able to go on smartly about it. The second disc is chock-full-o' extra goodies, and is available in full- and widescreen editions. A single disc version is also available.