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Like everyone in the civilized world, I love Robert Downey Jr., and it's because I love him that I fervently hope that this fangbanger rumor hits sunlight, and bursts into flames. Bloody Disgusting reports that Universal is looking to cash in on the blood-sucking frenzy, and reboot Anne Rice's The Vampire Chronicles, and that Downey is in talks to play the famous Lestat de Lioncourt.

Lestat was the hero of most of Rice's vampire novels. Blond, bisexual, and a blend of poetry and snark, his seductive powers led him into all kinds of scrapes. He seduced men and women, ran around with the Devil, swapped bodies with humans, seduced the first vampire (who just happened to be an Egyptian queen), and found time to be a rock star. At thirteen, he was one of the most wonderful literary characters I had ever met and by my 20s I found him pretty annoying. Your mileage may vary. But I was one of the few who actually liked Neil Jordan's Interview with the Vampire, and enjoyed Tom Cruise in the role, and was always disappointed that they didn't go on to make The Vampire Lestat together. I think Cruise could have done good things with that installment.

To bring it back now just feels wrong. It feels like a series that time has just passed by, and so much of Rice has been ripped off by every vampire series after that it's not going to really offer anything new. But if they go through with it (and with Twilight and True Blood winding everyone up, I have no doubt they will), they have to look elsewhere for Lestat, don't you think? Downey is wrong for the role, far more ill-suited to the Frenchman's fangs than Cruise ever was. Hopefully, it won't come to pass, and a new Chronicles will only happen in a universe where Alexander Skarsgard can take the role because he isn't on True Blood.

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 ...

When Cinematical did an in-depth interview with Joe Carnahan back in early April, we discussed some ways that a potential sequel to Smokin' Aces might work, if he was inclined to go there. If you haven't seen the movie yet, I'm not going to spoil anything, but the ending does leave some wiggle room for a potential continuance of the original story. Then again, a sequel can create entirely new characters, or go the prequel-route, so there's actually a lot of wiggle room for a Smokin 2. And now a prequel is in fact moving forward, though not in the way you might expect -- it's going straight-to-DVD with Carnahan's good wishes, though apparently not his deep involvement. The director noted on his personal blog yesterday that "Universal wants to move ahead with a direct-to-video prequel of 'Smokin' and asked me if I wanted to Godfather the thing and make sure we did a really cool story."

Carnahan noted in his statement that the DVD numbers for Smokin' were "astounding" and encouraged the studio to go down this road, and to do the prequel in style. "Whatever reluctance I have is alleviated by the fact that we can really do this balls out, hardcore prequel and not be constrained by ratings or any other puritanical MPAA bullshit," he wrote. Of course, the biggest thing on Carnahan's plate right now is White Jazz, which is furiously prepping for a fall start. Last time we spoke with him, Carnahan was eyeballing Charlize Theron to star alongside George Clooney, but there's been nothing but silence on that front since then. There was also some talk of getting Ray Liotta into the mix, which is a move I fully support. Here's hoping that when he's ready to drop some more news on the Jazz ramp-up (or the Pablo Escobar biopic, or any of his other projects that are swirling around) Smokin' Joe will drop me an email.

Since I was celebrated for being one of only a handful of my friends who actually went to college, it's hard for me to relate to the pressures some kids face today as they prepare to leave high school for a little bit of higher education. Just being accepted to a college (any college) was enough for my parents to breathe out a sigh of relief. However, that's not the case elsewhere. Universal Pictures is interested in adapting Alexandra Robbins' new nonfiction book, The Overachievers, for Shawn Levy (Night at the Museum) to produce through his 21 Laps. Though he hasn't yet signed on to direct the pic, there's a chance Levy might do so as the project starts to come together.

The book, which was published in August, chronicles the lives of several students in a Bethesda, Md. high school as they obsess over the whole college prep process. Based on what I read off Amazon, all the stress causes one girl to lose her hair, while others try to cheat their way into a great college. Then, of course, you have the nutty parents who treat their kids like soldiers heading off to war. Says Levy, "I read the book while I was at the tail end of the 'Night at the Museum' shoot, and it really spoke to certain experiences I had had as a 16-year-old, virtually killing myself to get into Yale." Once again, since I don't even know someone who knows someone who went to Yale, I can't relate. But it does sound fascinating. The goal for Uni and Levy is to transform Robbins' book into a John Hughes-type comedy; one that, I assume, will feature a crop of hot young talent and a hip soundtrack. Personally, I'd rather see this issue addressed on a more serious platform; I've heard stories of kids who attempt suicide because of the pressures they face during this crucial period in their lives. Then again, suicide doesn't sell tickets.

I've been spending the last half hour or so trying to wrap my head around Claire Messud's novel The Emperor's Children, as it was just optioned by Universal Pictures and Imagine Entertainment as a possible directing vehicle for Ron Howard. According to the reviews on Amazon, people either love it or despise it -- the kind of book that features selfish, unsympathetic characters struggling to find direction in their lives as a horrific terrorist attack sweeps through their city on September 11, 2001.

I've always found myself drawn to books that take place in New York City, partly because I've lived here all my life, and also because the city is divided into a number of unique neighborhoods, each with its own vibe, culture and fascinating occupants. Arthur Nersesian has written a number of novels which delve deep inside life within the East Village and Lower East Side of Manhattan, while Messud's Emperor's Children appears to follow the tales of those on the Upper West Side -- New York's priciest neighborhood -- full of money, power and wannabee intellectuals. If you've ever seen Cruel Intentions then you already know the kind of people I'm referring to -- those so wrapped up in their own importance, that it's often impossible for them to feel the world around them.

I'd be interested to see how Howard would go about approaching these kinds of characters, seeing as he's often fond of the real life underdog/heroic type, what with Cinderella Man, Apollo 13 and A Beautiful Mind. Anyone read the book? What do you think?

Universal has finally decided that it's time to bring some of their attention to producing family films. Variety pointed out that Universal Pictures has not released a film devoted to a family audience or even an animated film -- rather, a successful animated film -- in a very long time. Their last attempt at releasing an animated feature was last February with Curious George, which received less than perfect reviews and brought in a meager $69 million in box office sales -- just above its production costs. Chris Meledandri plans to change all of that with one great and still unnamed plan.

Meledandri is lobbying to create a 'new unit' at Universal Pictures that "will produce both animated and live-action pics that U will distribute worldwide under an exclusive five-year agreement." This new branch at Universal is much needed since they have been out of the CGI competition with other studios -- Dreamworks and Pixar to name a few -- and have a theme park that relies on attracting families for its admission.

How many films can we expect from the new family-oriented animation and live-action branch of Universal? Meledandri is expecting to release its first feature in 2009 and is predicting the release of about three films per year. It also seems that Meledandri is the right man for the job; he's responsible for the success of Fox's Blue Sky Studios and its release of films such as Ice Age and Robots; he is also currently working on The Simpsons Movie which is currently wrapping up production for a release this summer. Should Pixar and Dreamworks be shaking in their boots over their new competition? With Meledandri's resumé they should at least be shaking a little, but they may be shaking a lot when Universal announces what exactly is in the works for 2009.

Honestly, it was only a matter of time before another one of Broadway's hit shows, well, hit the big screen. Dreamgirls (though an older Broadway show) is now out in theaters, Hairspray (which was originally a movie-turned-musical) is coming this summer and pretty soon we'll get to see what Tim Burton and Co. have in mind for Sweeney Todd (which just left Broadway recently). Before those shows came feature film versions of Chicago (of which I'm seeing the staged version for the first time tomorrow night), Rent, The Producers (another movie-turned-musical), Phantom of the Opera, Les Miserables, A Chorus Line ... and the list goes on. Hey, am I the only one surprised to never have seen Cats make the cross-over? Who didn't love those cats?

Anyway, yes, Mamma Mia! is officially being turned into a major motion picture, with theater director Phyllida Lloyd in talks to helm the big screen adaptation for her feature directorial debut. Universal Pictures will shovel this one out, along with Playtone, and ABBA fans will most certainly want to line up for a ticket as the musical features 22 ABBA songs! Didn't get enough of Dancing Queen at the last wedding reception you attended? Well fear not, it's in there. Catherine Johnson (who co-created the show alongside Judy Cramer) wrote the screenplay, which revolves around a bride-to-be whose mother invites three male strangers to her daughter's wedding -- one of which might be the long lost father she never knew. Did I mention Dancing Queen? Yay!

Currently, there's no cast lined up, although Tom Hanks and Rita Wilson are executive producing. Personally, I'd love to see Hanks belt out a little ABBA -- though chances of that happening are probably slim to none. The show itself (which I've seen twice) is one of the more enjoyable Broadway musicals currently on the scene -- I won't spoil the ending, but let's just say it requires a little audience participation.

Anyone see Mamma Mia!? Are you excited for a big screen version?

Everyone knows that, over the past year, the ability of online outlets to influence the movie-going audience has increased by several orders of magnitude. Movie websites that pull in millions of unique viewers each month are now being given the kind of access once reserved for newsstand glossies, as they should be. But there's a rub -- wildly unprofessional behavior on the part of some online outlets, which is getting worse, not better. At a recent junket for a Sony film about a certain British secret agent, stars arriving in rooms reserved especially for online outlets were mobbed for autographs and targeted in the cross-hairs of cell-phone cameras. At other recent junkets, stars have reportedly been followed out of the room after they said their goodbyes by online writers hoping to score some unauthorized one-on-one time. After similar goings-on at the recent junket for the Angelina Jolie/Matt Damon drama The Good Shepherd, Universal Pictures has now hit back.

Universal's publicity department has fired off a missive to all the online outlets they deal with, stating that autograph and picture whoring is "reflecting poorly on the online press as a whole" and noting that they would "hate to have our online coverage limited even more," which suggests they've already limited it previously because of this behavior. So, on behalf of all people who follow the rules, will the autograph whores please grow up? Because if you don't, Cinematical is going to start printing your names.

Okay, so wayyy back in March, we reported on a rumor that Chuck Palahniuk's (Fight Club) novel Choke was being adapted for the big screen and, supposedly, heading into production with names like Susan Sarandon, Heath Ledger and Ryan Gosling in the picture. (Seeing as this is my favorite Palahniuk novel, this news made me happier than a sex addict at a porn convention.)

Well, guess what -- that never happened. However, I'm happy to say that, today, Dark Horizons tells us Universal Pictures has now acquired the film rights to Choke, tapping Paul Bernbaum (Hollywoodland) to write the script. Though there's no mention of the original rumor or the actors that surrounded it, I'm pumped to see more movement on the thing.

Choke revolves around a man who scams folks out of their money by pretending to choke in restaurants; he uses the money to keep his overbearing mother in a nursing home. At the same time, he visits sexaholic meetings to meet women. If the book sounds warped, well, it totally is. But, damn, it's so much fun too.

Odds and ends from Friday:

• Though the President has left the building, he's currently making plans to stick around town a little while longer. Martin Sheen, who played TV President on The West Wing, will take on a role in the film Talk to Me for Focus Features. Pic, which will be set in 1960s Washington D.C., tells the real-life story of a radio station owner (Sheen) who hires controversial black on-air personality Ralph Waldo "Petey" Green (Don Cheadle). Green would ultimately go on to be somewhat of an icon in radio at a time when racial tension was at its peak across the country.
• Universal Pictures have teamed up with Boom Entertainment to bring the horror comic book Tag to the big screen. Talk about an intense and deadly way to play the game tag, story revolves around some average Joe who, while out with his girlfriend one night, falls victim to an ancient curse when a random stranger "tags" him. The curse makes it so this poor dude slowly begins to die, his body literally decomposing, forcing him to either give up and move on to a higher place or find someone else to pass on the curse to. Yikes, imagine explaining that one to your girlfriend: "Um, honey, I'm dying to see you tonight but, well, I'm actually dying ... so, yeah -- rain check?"
• Luc Besson is one of those directors who likes to float somewhere between worlds of crime and fantasy, giving us films like The Fifth Element, La Femme Nikita, Angel-A and the upcoming Arthur and the Minimoys. While Fifth Element was probably his most commercial hit here in the States, Besson's Léon (or The Professional) has garnered a large following and some think it's his best film. Besson recently squashed rumors of a sequel to Léon saying he has no plans to make one and is pissed people keep sending him scripts for an idea that's not theirs. He does admit, however, if there is going to be a sequel, he will write it. Damn, I guess my script for The Not So Professional will have to remain in my draw, where it belongs.