Sometimes race isn't as simple as what-you-see-is-what-you-get. Sometimes those little DNA buggers, or whatever determines it, throw a fast one, and before you know it the unfathomable happens. You can get super-cute twin sisters who have drastically different skin color, or a black child born to white parents. The latter is the focus of Skin, which I first blogged about back in May. Now Variety reports that the Little Film Company has sold the feature to a number of international territories that include Brazil, France, and Scandinavia, and the BBC has picked up the the television rights for the UK -- there is, however, no word on North American distribution.

Directed by Anthony Fabian, the music coordinator for Hilary and Jackie, and written along with Helen Crawley, Skin focuses on the true story of a black girl born to white parents in South Africa, and the troubles she experienced with discrimination under apartheid laws. While the film has been floating under the radar, it has a pretty decent cast with stars Sophie Okonedo and Tony Kgoroge from Hotel Rwanda, plus Sam Neill (The Tudors), Alice Krige (Silent Hill), and newcomer Ella Ramangwane. Topping that with the fact that Little Film was also behind the worldwide sales for Tsotsi, and I'm sure we'll see Skin hit shelves at some point.

I've got yet more proof that Peter O'Toole has been replaced by a robot. The man is in his mid-70s, and after steadily doing a few projects here and there for years, he's taking on a cajillion, million roles. I seriously don't know where he's finding the energy, but now he's added another film to the roster, and possibly another chance at that little, elusive statue. The Hollywood Reporter has posted that O'Toole will join his Tudors co-stars Jeremy Northam and Sam Neill, along with Australia's Bryan Brown, in a new film called Dean Spanley. It's almost like someone was watching that show and figured they'd just cast from there, rather than go through the effort of a long search.

The feature is going to be the sophomore effort of Toa Fraser, who got the World Cinema Audience Prize at Sundance for his first film, No.2. Written by Rob Roy scribe Alan Sharp, THR describes it as a film: "Set in Edwardian England, where upper lips are always stiff and men from the Colonies are not entirely to be trusted, Spanley reveals just how deep an Englishman's love for his dog can go." Yeah, so the beginning sounds so very O'Toole, but I'm not sure what's up with the whole dog twist. There's nothing quite like a good tale of animosity between the Colonies and Mamma England, mixed in with canine love. The film will slip into shooting next month.

Just when you thought there were no more fantastic, original ideas floating around Hollywood, I give you the latest Jurassic Park IV rumor. According to Bloody Disgusting, Universal is now going through the process of casting for the fourth installment in Steven Spielberg's dino-mite (heh, get it?) franchise. So far Laura Dern has confirmed that she will indeed reprise her role as Dr. Ellie Sattler, while Sam Neill has decided not to touch this piece of dinosaur feces with a ten foot pole. Same goes for Jurassic Park III helmer Joe Johnston. And the plot? The "plot!" Brace yourselves folks, because this one might sting a bit. Here, I'll let BD break the news: "We're told that the film is about the government who has trained dinosaurs to carry weapons and use them for battle purposes."

Um, wow. So are they trying to say that a Velociraptor isn't dangerous enough on its own -- that the thing needs to carry a missile launcher too?! I understand the need to up the ante a bit (because the whole "Oh no, we're lost in a jungle full of dinosaurs" gig has kind of run its course), but do they really think that giving a Tyrannosaurus rex a machine gun ... I can't even complete the sentence without wanting to hit something. Holy crap is this premise absurd. Let me guess: At first, the dinosaurs are kicking some terrorist ass ... until -- oh no! -- they turned on everyone, and pointed their weapons at us! Damn it, I knew we shouldn't have given that Dilophosaurus a grenade launcher. Damn it. Apparently, William Monahan (The Departed) wrote the latest draft, and I assume we can expect Jurassic Park IV to stampede into theaters (guns drawn) sometime in late 2008 or summer of 2009.

She isn't too well known in America, but Star Wars fans may recognize Claudia Karvan as the actress who played Padmé's elder sister Sola in Revenge of the Sith. Now the Australian actress, who is a popular television star in her native country, has landed herself another Hollywood role sure to make her more familiar to audiences in the States. She has been cast as the female lead in the futuristic vampire movie Daybreakers, in which she'll co-star with Ethan Hawke, Willem Dafoe and fellow Aussie (slash New Zealander) Sam Neill. The casting of an up-and-coming Australian star makes perfect sense since the movie will be shot Down Under by Australian filmmakers the Spierig twins (Undead), who also wrote the screenplay.

According to Moviehole, Karvan will be playing a human love interest for Hawke's vampire character. The movie is set in 2017 when the world is mostly populated by vampires, a race that may become extinct once the blood-supplying humans are also extinct. Hawke is some sort of good guy vampire who is researching a way for his people to survive with a blood substitute. Dafoe plays his rival. Still no word on who or what Neill will be playing. If Karvan's part is correct, I think we can assume that once Hawke falls for her, he begins to think twice about feeding on humans. Of course, he could just turn her into a vampire and then live happily for eternity with her, but narratively that idea lacks conflict. Daybreakers begins filming soon and is set to release next year, which will be long after we've already seen I Am Legend, 30 Days of Night and Bloodrayne II. Hopefully we'll still be interested in vampires by that point.

Look up "intense" in the dictionary and you'll find Guy Pearce glaring back at you. That's how I've felt ever since I saw him as the ambitious, ramrod-straight "good guy" in L.A. Confidential, and the impression only deepened with his subsequent hard-boiled appearance in Memento. Of course, he's also played a guilt-ridden psychiatrist (Till Human Voices Wake Us), a drag queen (The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert) and Andy Warhol (Factory Girl), but can you picture him as an anguished parent? That's the role he'll be portraying in How to Change in Nine Weeks, which began filming this week in Brisbane, Australia.

The film is based on Perfect Victim, a book by Elizabeth Southall and Megan Norris that looked into the mysterious disappearance and murder of a dreamy, ballet-loving teenage girl named Rachel (co-author Southall's daughter). It seems that a childhood friend of the girl developed serious mental problems and eventually hatched a scheme to assume Rachel's identity. Pearce will be playing Rachel's father and Mirando Otto, the sword-wielding Eowyn in two of the Lord of the Rings films, has been cast as her mother. The ever-reliable Sam Neill and Rebecca Gibney are also featured as the disturbed girl's parents.

Reportedly the book is based on the journals kept by Rachel's mother after her daughter disappeared. I hope I'm not giving anything away by noting that Rachel was murdered in 1999; though I haven't read the book, it appears that it begins with that fact, and the case was widely-reported in Australia. First-time director Simone North is a veteran producer; Thom Mount will co-produce and the legendary Sidney Lumet will act as North's mentor (Monica wrote about Mount's new production company Reliant Pictures a while back). The project has the blessing of Rachel's parents; the source material certainly suggests a powerful drama will be coming soon.

Is there anything left to say about vampires? The question answers itself, but get ready for a new vampire movie, Daybreakers, starring Ethan Hawke. As we recently told you, Hawke won't actually be playing a vampire in the movie -- he's playing a researcher in the year 2017, when most of the world's population has been turned into vampires by a plague. With the number of human beings rapidly dwindling, the vampires face a problem -- how will they get blood after they've sucked the last person dry? Word comes today via ScreenDaily that Sam Neill has signed on to co-star with Hawke in the film, but frustratingly, they haven't revealed what part he's going to be playing in the film. If he's not the vampire leader, I think we'll all be very surprised and disappointed.

The president of Lionsgate International had this to say about the casting: "Sam Neill is an outstanding actor who brings gravitas to all his roles and we are delighted he is joining Ethan Hawke for this exceptional and visionary project." Gravitas, eh? We'll see about that. Writing and directing duties on this project are being shared by Peter and Michael Spierig, whose most recent film was 2003's Undead, which I haven't seen but sounds like good practice. Finally, the article also notes that the Weta Workshop has been tasked with putting together the effects for the film, which is a big bonus -- those guys know what they are doing. So who knows -- this might be one to look forward to. No word yet on when Daybreakers, but don't expect it to show up anywhere near the Sam Raimi-produced vampire film 30 Days of Night, which has already marked its release-date territory for late fall.

Ever since they announced there would be a Jurassic Park IV, the first question on my mind was: Who from the original will they get to return for a fourth adventure? Sure, it's possible to produce a new sequel with a fresh cast, but the franchise wouldn't feel complete without a few familiar faces. Jeff Goldblum did his part for The Lost World: Jurassic Park and Sam Neill was somehow convinced to take on the lead role in Jurassic Park III. Since there's a good chance neither one of those guys are coming back for another round, it appears all the attention is now heading in the direction of Laura Dern (who, as we all remember, played Neill's longtime girlfriend in the original dinosaur flick).

While at a press junket for Year of the Dog, Dern spoke openly about the fourth installment and revealed that she had just recently received a special phone call from the man himself, Steven Spielberg. Says Dern, "Well a certain fellow is the one that called me and it's hard to say no to him cause he's always got something totally genius up his sleeve so we'll see what they have in mind. But I don't know anything about it at this point. I'm told it's happening and I'm told they're calling me. I'm told that Ellie Sattler is involved in it." As far as when we'll get to see it in theaters, Dern felt that they want to try to somehow get it done for 2008. However, with all the effects work that needs to be done for this bad boy, I can't see it arriving in our laps until summer 2009. So, does Spielberg really have genius up his sleeve, or is he simply running out of people to throw money at?

Contrary to what you may have heard, Sam Neill has officially debunked those "internet rumors" that suggest he will once again return to the land of dinosaurs in the upcoming Jurassic Park IV (aka The Dinosaur Sequel We Could Live Without). The actor, who portrayed Dr. Alan Grant in both Jurassic Park and Jurassic Park III, claims he hasn't "heard from anyone" about the project and says he currently has two back-to-back films (one in Australia and one in China) lined up. Basically, he's done fighting with dinosaurs ... and I don't blame him.

If Neill is out, then who does director Joe Johnston and producer Steven Spielberg have in mind? After all, at least one actor from the original has appeared in both sequels -- so does that mean Jeff Goldblum will somehow be talked into appearing in the fourth installment, making it so he and Neill rotate sequels? Or will we get an entirely new cast? The good news is that Oscar winner William Monahan (The Departed) penned the script, which means chances are pretty good we'll get a decent story. But, will audiences flock to the theater if none of the original stars are in the flick? No word yet on what the film will be about, but early rumors alluded to it revolving around Lex -- granddaughter of billionaire investor John Hammond -- played by Ariana Richards in the original film.

According to Production Weekly, Cillian Murphy (and Cillian Murphy) will be starring in a sci-fi movie called Telepathy. He will be playing identical twins Josef and Viktor Zalenski, who become part of a top-secret experiment to test telepathic communication. It seems the Russian Government thinks that one twin in space and one twin on Earth will be able to talk to each other via the mind. The picture will also star Nathalie Press, Sam Neill and Miranda Richardson and is due to begin shooting this October with Lesley Manning directing from a script written by Stephen Volk.

Okay, so the experiment sounds far-fetched but interesting. It doesn't sound like much of a plot, though. Perhaps it will be like Contact, and stretch a minimal amount of action while providing a lot of discussion about the phenomenon of telepathy. Or maybe there are some other story elements that aren't being given out just yet. A quick look at the resumes of both Manning and Volk shows the team is familiar enough with the supernatural to add something more, although neither of their talents has so far been well-received. Regardless, Murphy is an amazing talent, and after his ability (combined with Rachel McAdams) to actually make Red Eye more entertaining than its script should have allowed, I have confidence that whatever this movie is, it will work.