The above shot is part of a larger picture of Sandra Bullock proposing to Ryan Reynolds in Anne Fletcher's The Proposal, courtesy of Just Jared. The site has a bunch of shots of Bullock and Reynolds preparing for the scene, as well as Sandra viciously wielding a sharp stiletto, and fashion details (oo lala!).

As I said before, this whole project just seems like more of the same -- get Bullock in a romcom, have her flail around in her usual, physically comedic way, and ultimately get the guy and fall in love. But this time around, she does it by forcing her subordinate to marry her so that she doesn't get deported back to Canada. I just hope she gets a little more than that. She has more talent than most of her film choices show, and it'd be nice to see them more often.

A new week, and a new round of casting nibblets courtesy of Variety:

• First up, there is Shawn Hatosy -- who has been around for years in films like Outside Providence and Factory Girl. He has scored a gig as FBI agent John Madala in the upcoming crime flick Public Enemies. Madala is a guy who looked in on Richard Nixon in Miami back in the day, and who later became the head of security at Garden State Park. But this is the story of John Dillinger, J. Edgar Hoover, and the rest, so we're talking old-school FBI days.
  
• Then we've got Oscar Nuñez, the man who plays Oscar Martinez on The Office. He's picked up a role in the upcoming family film, Beethoven: The Reel Story. Yes, unfortunately, I'm not talking about some lovely Ludwig, but rather more St. Bernard chaos. Will the madness ever end? This time around, the dog gets to become a superstar and be the focus of a kidnapping plot. Also up, he's got a gig in that romcom The Proposal, which has Sandra Bullock forcing Ryan Reynolds to marry her for a green card. There's no word on who he will play in either project.
  

To be fair, I haven't read the script for this -- but based on the description, it certainly seems like Disney is about to break Doc Brown's biggest (and most important) time-traveling rule. The Hollywood Reporter tells us Disney has picked up the spec script (yay for spec script surge!) Self-Guided, written by Jared Stern. So maybe we should blame Stern for this one, because his script centers on a man who "magically goes back to high school as a guidance counselor to give advice to his younger self." (I wonder if, while writing this, Stern pictured a slew of BTTF fanboys crying foul?)

Mandeville Films' David Hoberman and Todd Lieberman will produce, and there's currently no word on casting or a potential director. However, Lieberman was prepping the Disney rom-com The Proposal when he read this script, and since that film stars Ryan Reynolds, I wouldn't be surprised if Reynolds' name is first on the list. The actor seems to be heading in a new direction as of late; away from all those raunchy comedies and more toward playing adult characters.

So, are we far enough away from BTTF that this shouldn't present a problem? We're not in Zemeckis' world anymore, so why not ... right? (I'd be lying, though, if I said a part of me wasn't kinda ticked off.)

As Jessica posted back in January, we're about to get more of the same, old, tired romcom fare with the upcoming Disney-distributed flick, The Proposal. The queen of romantic comedy herself, Sandra Bullock, and Ryan Reynolds had signed on to play a publishing exec who forces her assistant to marry her to avoid being deported back to Canada. Come on... Is it really a proposal if an older, desperate woman forces her subordinate to marry her? It's going to be directed by Anne Fletcher, who will tap into her Step Up roots and make use of the film's "great physical comedy."

The Hollywood Reporter now posts that the two stars will be joined by Malin Akerman, Mary Steenburgen, Craig T. Nelson, and Aasif Mandvi (Jericho). There is, however, no word on who they'll play -- not that it really matters. We know the drill by now -- there will be hatred, crappy power plays, and ultimately, romantic reconciliation -- just like real life. You gotta wonder -- does Sandra Bullock ever get tired of these flicks? After Crash, I was hoping she'd get some more meaty work, but I guess not. And what about Malin? I can only hope that Watchmen wrenches her from her selection of questionable romcoms. Then again, it works for Ashton Kutcher's paycheck, so why should she stop?

Production begins this month.

Judging by choreographer/director Anne Fletcher's choice of projects, she must have a thing for weddings. The Hollywood Reporter announced that Fletcher, who directed Katherine Heigl's latest foray into interchangeable romantic comedies (27 Dresses), has signed to direct another rom-com called The Proposal. Proposal stars Sandra Bullock as a publishing executive trying to avoid deportation to Canada by marrying her assistant (played by Ryan Reynolds). So, like most career women in the movies, she is demanding and bullying and pretty much forces her assistant up the aisle -- although if my assistant had abs like Reynolds I might do the same thing.

Peter Chiarelli penned the script and while Reynolds and Bullock have been attached to the project since last May, it took Touchstone some time to find the right director. Fletcher started her career as a dancer and a choreographer, and finally made her directing debut with Step Up (a teen dance flick). Keeping with her strengths, she will. Fletcher told THR, "The Proposal has great physical comedy, which I for one, and I think a lot of other people, love seeing Sandy in. Ryan has great physical comedy skills too, and I always thought, why isn't he doing romantic comedies? So I'm excited to get my fingers into this."

Physical comedy is great and all, but am I the only one who would appreciate a moratorium on wedding comedies for awhile? I know I'm not the only one who thought that 27 Dresses premise was a little, shall we say, 'retrograde' for a modern romantic comedy. Maybe I've just come to expect a little more than tired clichés about bitter career woman and matrimonial fulfillment. The Proposal is scheduled to begin production this spring and will be released in 2009.

We now know just how young Sandra Bullock's co-star will be in the romantic comedy The Proposal. And, in fact, he's not that young at all. The Hollywood Reporter tells us Ryan Reynolds will star alongside Bullock in one of three upcoming romantic comedies for the actress; this one being about a demanding female boss who faces deportation back to Canada, and so she hatches a scheme to marry her young male assistant (Reynolds.) Only thing is the entire thing is a sham ... until about halfway through the second act. Either that, or Reynold's character will help her find her true love -- blah blah blah.

The script was penned by Peter Chiarelli (who sold the thing roughly two years ago under a pseudonym); he used to be the director of development over at MGM and is now president of Kurtzman/Orci Prods. If those names sound familiar, that's because they belong to Transformers scribes Alex Kurtzman and Roberto Orci; both are sharing exec producing credits on this gem for Touchstone Pictures. Additionally, Mandeville's David Hoberman and Todd Lieberman will tack on producing duties. Although Reynolds has already hit his thirties, I'm sure they'll age him down a tad for this one -- if only to make it seem like the two are that much farther apart in age. Bullock, however, perpetually looks like she's 26, so they'll have to work on her a bit. Look for plenty of 'You're sleeping your way to the top' gags and hilarity to ensue.