Here's a strange twist to the writer's strike, and a postponement excuse we haven't heard before: New Line has pushed back Inkheart from March 2008 to January 2009 because of what the strike is doing to the television industry. Huh? According to Variety, the studio figures that without first-run programs on TV, it can't reach enough viewers through commercials, which is apparently the only way to market a movie these days.

OK, I kind of get it, but I hardly ever watch TV, and I've seen about 1,000 TV ads for Cloverfield this week, so there has to be a way to reach an audience by the original release date of March 18. They could have bought some time during the Super Bowl or the Oscars or, since its a family fantasy, any children's program. Seriously, kids don't care if their show is in repeats or not. I'm not going to go the usual route and accuse Inkheart of having production troubles. Judging by the trailer and Erik's visit to the film's set last year, the movie looks and sounds like it's a lot of fun, and anyway, it's reportedly all finished and ready to deliver to theaters. But since the TV marketing excuse seems odd, I'll assume that New Line is simply trying to figure out how to market a movie that could be accepted as just another fantasy movie and go mostly ignored by the same public that didn't go to see The Golden Compass or The Seeker: The Dark is Rising.

Those of you who need your Brendan Fraser fix need not cry for too long. The actor can still be seen in New Line's Journey to the Center of the Earth 3D, which comes out July 11, and Universal's The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor, out August 1.

In other release date news, New Line has also pushed back Pride and Glory, which stars Edward Norton and Colin Farrell (which I remember them filming in Brooklyn back in Summer 2005), from March 14 to sometime in 2009, though the reasoning behind this one may have had more to do with Norton and Farrell having other new releases coming out soon, than it had to do with the writer's strike effect on TV ads. Meanwhile, Universal has moved up its Judd Apatow-produced comedy Forgetting Sarah Marshall so that it doesn't have to go up against Sex in the City (which New Line will have no problem advertising on television) and Starship Dave (which I can't imagine really being a threat to anyone). Forgetting Sarah Marshall will now bow on April 18, which should perfectly fit in with some college kids' spring break. The same studio also pushed back its Baby Mama one weekend, from April 18 to April 25.

Yesterday, we unloaded a bunch of movie pics on you from Universal Pictures upcoming 2008 slate (including two new pics from The Incredible Hulk). Today, we have a few more for you, courtesy of Universal once again, as well as a few other studios who have also unveiled their 2008 calendar. The first image (see above) is from 20th Century Fox's upcoming comedy What Happens in Vegas, starring Ashton Kutcher and Cameron Diaz. The photo comes with the caption: "A night of debauchery culminated with impromptu - and soon regretted - nuptials for Ashton Kutcher and Cameron Diaz in What Happens in Vegas." Considering these are two of the most annoying actors working today, here's hoping what happens in Vegas stays in Vegas. Zing!

From Disney's official 2008 preview comes the first image from the animated film Bolt, which you can view below. Bolt stars the voice of John Travolta as a dog who is the star of a hit TV show. However, when Bolt accidentally gets shipped from his Hollywood soundstage to New York City, he sets out on a cross-country trip through the real world. Here's more from the synopsis: "Armed only with the delusions that all his amazing feats and powers are real, and with the help of two unlikely traveling companions: a jaded, abandoned housecat named Mittens (voice of Susie Essman) and a TV-obsessed hamster in a plastic ball named Rhino, Bolt discovers he doesn't need superpowers to be a hero."

I know what you're thinking: "Please don't tell me the guy who directed Norbit is remaking the classic Elvis flick from 1957." Good news -- he's not. This will be an entirely different Jailhouse Rock based on the true story that was written about in an L.A. Weekly article by Joshuah Bearman. Disney has optioned the article and tapped Brian Robbins to direct. The story will follow a musician-turned-detention officer at Arizona's Tent City who decides to hold an American Idol-type singing contest at the jail. Called Inmate Idle Singing Con-Test, the event became so popular that Alice Cooper himself showed up to judge the finals. Something tells me Simon Cowell's snarky attitude wouldn't go off so well here. Whaddya think?

Robbins, who was very vocal towards critics when Norbit received tons of bad reviews, just wrapped his second film in a row with Eddie Murphy as star, Starship Dave (not to be confused with the other Murphy atrocity that was Pluto Nash). Seeing as Disney is putting this one out, I imagine the jail environment will be rather tame -- even though Tent City is one heckuva nasty place. Oh yes, I watch MSNBC's Lock Up -- I've seen the inside of practically every prison in the country. Tent City is outside though, and the inmates have to stay in tents. And since this is Arizona, it gets hot. Real hot. Needless to say, this isn't the sort of place you'd like to end up. But Robbins feels good about the project, telling Variety "I don't see this as a prison movie as much as about the healing power of music." Ah, but can that music help heal his relationship with critics as well? Guess we'll see.

If you're like me, you read that headline and immediately thought of What About Bob?, an almost perfect "comedy of the uncomfortable" that starred Bill Murray and a never funnier Richard Dreyfuss. Unfortunately, the new film is not a sequel, but it still sounds promising. The gorgeous and funny Elizabeth Banks will star in and produce What About Barb, a romantic comedy about a socialite who is forced to let her uncouth cousin be her maid of honor in order to have her rich uncle pay for her wedding. The movie will be written by Mark Perez who also wrote the immediately forgettable college comedy Accepted, with Justin Long and Lewis Black.

Banks is busy these days, you'll see her next in Spider-Man 3, she's got a lead role in Fred Claus with Vince Vaughn and Paul Giamatti, and she was recently added to the cast of the Eddie Murphy vehicle Starship Dave. I first took notice of Elizabeth Banks in Wet Hot American Summer, which I consider one of the funniest films ever made. I was smitten at first sight, even when her face was covered in barbecue sauce. She was adorable in her brief role in Catch Me If You Can, hilarious as the secretly kinky Beth in The 40 Year-Old Virgin, and played a difficult part perfectly in the nifty horror/comedy Slither. The article doesn't mention whether she'll be playing the socialite or the "uncouth sister" in Barb, but here's hoping for the sis. I really love Banks as a character actress, and I'd hate to see her off-kilter charms watered down.

The cast for Norbit Nash, er, Starship Dave is starting to take shape; Gabrielle Union, Ed Helms and Elizabeth Banks have joined the Eddie Murphy comedy, to be directed by Brian Robbins (Norbit). Pic, which kind of reminds me of that awesome 1987 flick Innerspace, tells of a spaceship full of aliens that takes the shape of a human and comes to earth seeking out a way to save their planet. Inside the human (played by Murphy, of course) are 100 human-looking aliens operating its every move. (Don't you hate it when all the aliens look like humans? Knowing Robbins, he probably thinks it's the smartest idea in the history of ever.)

Once on earth, pic switches gears and becomes more like Innerspace meets Coming to America -- the captain of the ship (yes, Murphy) accidentally falls in love with a woman (Banks) who strictly dates losers (who use Soul Glow, we hope). I imagine things will get complicated from there -- there's no way Robbins is ending this flick without at least one attempted sex scene. C'mon, 100 people aliens trying to operate Eddie Murphy having sex. Comedy was invented for scenes like that! Gabrielle Union and Ed Helms will play members of the miniature alien crew; Union as the chief cultural officer and Helms as the uptight second-in-command. Does it have potential? Yes. Will critics hate it? Probably. Will Robbins take a critic hostage and force him (or her) to watch Norbit and Starship Dave back-to-back for 100 hours in a bizarre attempt to somehow convert them and reveal "the light?" Probably not ... although that would be a good idea for Eddie Murphy's next flick.

Although Eddie Murphy is now "Oscar-nominee Eddie Murphy," he isn't immediately giving up on family comedies and heading into really serious roles. According to Variety, he just signed on to star in a new kiddie fantasy called NowhereLand. If we're lucky, it won't be as childish as Daddy Day Care or Doctor Doolittle, though it does at least involve a child. Murphy will play a financial executive who is given a new outlook on life from his daughter and her imaginary world. Sounds a little like It's a Wonderful Labyrinth.

The script is by Ed Solomon and Chris Matheson, who last collaborated on Mom and Dad Save the World, which I'll admit I guiltily enjoy. Of course, if you're not a fan of that movie, and chances are you're not, they also wrote the Bill & Ted movies! Producer Lorenzo di Bonaventura (Constantine) told Variety that like Murphy's character in Dreamgirls, the NowhereLand role is something we haven't seen the actor play before. But if there's anything I want in this world, it is to see Murphy play the role we have seen him play before. That role is any character he played between 1982 and 1990, preferably one with a loud mouth and an asthmatic-sounding laugh.

Basically I would like to see Murphy play his character from The Golden Child, still naive and ever-baffled, but as a father. Then, I would like to see him made up as fantastic characters that dwell in his daughter's imaginary world. And then, I would like to hear myself laughing as much as I do while watching Trading Places. I know this is a lot to hope for, especially not knowing much about the movie's plot, but I like to have my own imaginary worlds. NowhereLand will begin shooting this summer after Murphy's done on Starship Dave.

In the words of my friend John's teeneage daughter: OMFG! Eddie Murphy has been signed to star in another sci-fi comedy called Starship Dave and will re-team with director Brian Robbins on the project. Murphy and Robbins worked together on Murphy's previous film, the soon-to-be-released Norbit, and bonded enough during the shoot that they decided to work together again on Starship Dave. Peter Segal was originally attached to direct the pic, but for some reason (good taste perhaps?) decided to leave the project to make room for Robbins.

Starship Dave tells the story of a crew of miniture, human-looking aliens who are seeking a way to save their doomed planet. Murphy will play -- wait for it -- Dave, the human spacecraft they travel in an as well as the ship's captain. Am I the only one who thinks this can only go one way -- horribly, horribly wrong? Seriously, doesn't anyone remember The Adventures of Pluto Nash? If you don't remember this very bad Murphy sci-fil film from 2002, the official webite is still, for some reason, active. Maybe because there are just way too many Pluto Nash fans out there. Yeah, I'm sure that's it.

It's not that I don't like Eddie Murphy, I do. He's a funny man who's been in some really hilarious films like Beverly Hills Cop, Trading Places and the great Bowfinger. But Murphy and space comedy are a recipe for disaster. Shooting on Starship Dave is scheduled to begin in March with arrival on DVD soon afterward. Anyone else think this is a bad idea?

Remember Pluto Nash? Yeah...I know it hurts, but it looks like Eddie Murphy may be going down that road again with the annoucement of his latest project, Starship Dave. The short description of the movie, as provided by Cinescape, goes something like this: "The story centers on a crew of miniature human-looking aliens who are seeking a way to save their doomed world."

Now to be fair, there is not really enough of a plot synopsis there to declare this movie a doomed failure already- for all I know, the sucker could be the next big thing- but you've got to admit that it sounds like another risky career move for the ever indiscriminant Eddie Murphy. For his sake, I hope it does well, even if I'll never forgive him for what he did to Rex Harrison's wonderful Doctor Dolittle. I mean, I genuinely like the man when he is on top of his game- but it seems like he is exceptionally hit-or-fall off the cliff with his films.

[via cinescape]