The Playlist

Jeffrey Dean Morgan Enters Ghost House, Opens 'Dibbuk Box'

By Gabe Toro
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January 14, 2011 3:09 AM
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0 Comments

Sleepy-eyed Jeffrey Dean Morgan has signed on to open the "Dibbuk Box." The horror film, slated for a Halloween 2011 release, will showcase Morgan as "a recently divorced father whose youngest daughter becomes strangely connected to an antique wooden box she purchased at a yard sale. As his daughter's behavior becomes more erratic, the father senses a dark presence building until he discovers that the box was built to contain a dibbuk -- a dislocated spirit that inhabits and ultimately devours its human host." Based on a true story, the real life dibbuk box is said to contain a vengeful Jewish spirit and has reportedly haunted all of the box's owners. We're guessing the movie takes great liberty with this legend, as the box has reportedly only been responsible for minor spooky happenings. It just wouldn't be all that compelling if someone's hair were to fall out, as it happened in real life.

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Updated: Who Sunk What 'Battleship'? Board Game Blockbuster Due For Reshoots, Multiple Endings

By Gabe Toro
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January 14, 2011 2:50 AM
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5 Comments

Update: Reps for Universal clarify that upcoming shooting in Hawaii, Baton Rouge and San Diego has always been part of the production schedule. Meanwhile, Brooklyn Decker has taken to Twitter to confirm spring filming was always the plan and there are no alternate endings being shot, revealing that she is "still learning to speak Hollywood."

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Eva Mendes Gets 'Anxiety,' Filming Starts Next Month

By Kevin Jagernauth
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January 14, 2011 2:40 AM
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1 Comment

Eva Mendes has kicked off the new year by joining the indie project "Anxiety."

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Richard E. Grant, Anthony Head & Roger Allam Join Meryl Streep In Thatcher Biopic 'The Iron Lady'

By Oliver Lyttelton
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January 14, 2011 2:30 AM
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It almost feel odd that, in such a strong year for Best Actress candidates, there's no place for Meryl Streep among a competing batch of contenders that include Natalie Portman and Annette Bening. Of course, it's principally because Streep hasn't made a film in the last year -- we're sure that, even if she'd cropped up for five minutes in "Yogi Bear," the Academy would have found some way to nominate her, the actress have being given a nod for three of the last four years (although she hasn't won since "Sophie's Choice" almost thirty years ago).

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"All Manner Of Nastiness Has Just Occured": New Image & Details From 'Sherlock Holmes' Sequel

By Oliver Lyttelton
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January 14, 2011 2:09 AM
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Just over a year on, and we're still a little stunned by how entertaining Guy Ritchie's "Sherlock Holmes" turned out to be. Seemingly displaying the reboot mentality that's been Hollywood's curse the last few years, and coming from a director who hadn't turned out anything watchable in a decade, the film has its share of problems (principally the redundancy of Rachel McAdams' character and a sub-par final set piece), but the chemistry of its leads, Robert Downey Jr. and Jude Law, carried the picture, and ensured it was one of the more quietly enjoyable tentpoles in recent memory.

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Kathryn Bigelow's Black Ops Thriller Gets Financing, Starts Shooting This Summer

By Kevin Jagernauth
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January 14, 2011 2:05 AM
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When you're a writing and directing duo coming off an Oscar win, things move quickly for you as Mark Boal and Kathryn Bigelow are proving today. Shortly after reports this morning suggested their newest untitled and under wraps project was going to be about the hunt for Osama Bin Laden and be taken out for international sales, reps for the writer quickly put the kibosh on those reports and now we know why.

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Adam Sandler To Play Andy Samberg's Father In 'I Hate You Dad'

By Gabe Toro
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January 14, 2011 1:51 AM
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3 Comments

You can say one thing about Adam Sandler -- he looks out after his own kind. Professional relationships between performers who once appeared on "Saturday Night Live" have always bordered on incestuous, but Sandler has pretty much turned it into the basis for his super successful Happy Madison banner, dedicated to giving the non-stars of "SNL" their own shot at fame, whether they deserve it (Dana Carvey) or not (David Spade).

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Cameron Crowe Had A Script About Meth Addict Nic Sheff Rejected By Brad Pitt's Plan B Shingle?

By Simon Dang
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January 14, 2011 1:34 AM
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3 Comments

Subject's Father David Allegedly "Didn't Like The Way He Was Portrayed"Buried in a story about Cameron Crowe's recent exploits, or lack thereof, Hollywood Elsewhere's Jeff Wells reports that the "Vanilla Sky" writer-director recently wrote a script adapted from two meth-addict memoirs by journalist David Sheff and his son Nic -- "Beautiful Boy" and "Tweak," both based on their experiences through Nic's drug addiction ordeal.

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Paul Dano To Star Opposite Robert De Niro In Paul Weitz's 'Another Bullshit Night in Suck City'

By Edward Davis
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January 14, 2011 12:50 AM
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2 Comments

Casey Affleck No Longer Part Of ProjectThis news will eventually illustrate some diversity (hang tight). During the junket for "Little Fockers" we asked director Paul Weitz if he was still intending on making "Another Bullshit Night In Suck City," a project announced in 2009 that would star Casey Affleck and Robert De Niro. All he basically said was, “I am still hoping to do that and I’m hoping to do it with Bob so it’s still something that I’m working on, it’s a terrific memoir.”

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Michel Gondry Talks Noam Chomsky Doc, Hopes To Have It Done "Before The World Dies" (Or In 2 Years)

By Kevin Jagernauth
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January 13, 2011 11:48 AM
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2 Comments

And He's Directing 'Jimmy Kimmel Live' TonightIf you think just because Michel Gondry now has his first studio tentpole under his belt, he's abandoned indie films forever, you'd be mistaken. As usual, the director has a number of projects in various stages of development that he continues to tinker with and as he revealed last month, one of projects is a documentary on the world-renowned linguist, philosopher and activist Noam Chomsky. Details at the time were scarce except that it would be animated and that he had already started the interview process with Chomsky.

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