Hugo Weaving, best known for his work in the Lord of the Rings and Matrix trilogies, not to mention V for Vendetta, will play the villainous Red Skull in Captain America:  The First Avenger, according to a press release from Marvel Studios.

Weaving had been in talks to play Red Skull, aka Johann Schmidt, since March. Schmidt is a Nazi military genius whose preferred weapon is his “Dust of Death,” which kills in seconds and leaves victims with a shriveled red skull. Schmidt kills to the music of Chopin’s funeral march. However, the character will be updated for this version of the tale.

Chris Evans is slated to play titular Captain America, and Hayley Atwell will play Peggy Carter, Captain America’s wartime love interest.

Captain America:  The First Avenger will be directed by Joe Johnson with a script by Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely. Kevin Feige (Marvel Studios) will produce, and comic-book genius Stan Lee is on board as one of the executive producers.

The story will focus on the early days of the Marvel Universe when Steve Rogers volunteers to participate in an experimental program that turns him into the Super Soldier known as Captain America. The First Avenger is scheduled for release on July 22, 2011 and will be distributed by Paramount Pictures.

Chris Evans will reprise his role as Captain America in Marvel Studios’ The Avengers, set to be released on May 4, 2012.

Finally! Actually I’m serious, though the puns won’t stop, as I believe in Intelligent Design it has seemed to me that the story of creation as told in the Book of Genesis would be perfect for adaptation to the big screen. Walden Media co-founder Cary Grant Granat is teaming up with Paramount Pictures and Reel Fx to create a 3D adaptation of the first book of the Bible. David Cunningham (The Seeker: The Dark is Rising) is set to direct a reported $30 million budget with a screenplay written by John Fusco (Young Guns).

This project should enjoy great success as it is both polarizing and just what the fans of such box office hits as The Passion of the Christ (Mel Gibson) and The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe are looking for in their local cinaplex. Here is the synopsis I found lying on my table. What do you think of this project?

Will you see it?

It seems like just yesterday that the much-ballyhooed sequel to last year’s smash horror hit Paranormal Activity was in mortal danger. Last month, Kevin Greutert, the director of Saw VI, had been tapped to handle the project, but through some kind of legal juggling act, Lionsgate roped him back into spearheading this October’s Saw VII 3D, leaving the Paranormal sequel without a clear leader.

Now, Paramount Pictures, the distributors of the original Paranormal Activity, have unleashed upon the blogosphere a shortlist of filmmakers to whom they would be comfortable handing the reigns. The most left-field selection? Brian De Palma.

De Palma, most famous for his heavily-stylized 80′s classics like Dressed To Kill, Blow Out, and of course Scarface, is definitely an odd and unexpected choice for a franchise horror picture, but he does have experience in the genre. Remember Carrie?

In addition to De Palma, two other directors are reportedly being considered, both a little more familiar with modern scare-fare.

Greg Mclean, the man behind the Australian gorefest Wolf Creek, is apparently being looked at by the studio, and his style may best fit the brutal, real-world-style scares that helped make Activity a worldwide phenomenon.

Also reportedly being sized-up for the director’s chair is indie-thriller maestro Brad Anderson, who is responsible for such psychological creepers as The Machinist, TransSiberian, and the masterful Session 9. Anderson is definitely my preferred choice for the film, as I would love to see more cerebral horror, as opposed to a lot of quick, violent scares (I was a much bigger fan of Paranormal Activity‘s original ending.)

But what about the horror-loving masses? Do you crave blood and guts or quiet, atmospheric creepiness? In our comments section, we CAN hear you scream!

Last week it was reported that Saw VI director, and longtime series editor Kevin Greutert had officially signed on to helm the sequel to last year’s breakout horror hit Paranormal Activity for Paramount Pictures.

However, news is now buzzing (no pun intended, Saw fans) that Lionsgate is exercising a clause in Greutert’s contract that would legally bind him to the Saw franchise. The move would effectively force him to abandon plans to tackle the Activity sequel in order to direct this Halloween’s much anticipated Saw VII 3D.

Greutert released this statement regarding the debacle on his official site:

“I’m in the middle of something really terrible right now, as anyone who has come to this site probably knows. While I fight for justice in this, the important thing is to avoid giving in to hatred and anger, because these emotions are life killers.

Hopefully we will all arrive at an amicable solution. Thank you to everyone who is working with me on this.

Kevin”

Lionsgate has yet to comment on Greutert’s statements, as well as on the issue of what will become of David Hackl, the director of Saw’s fifth installment, who had been rumored to be taking on the seventh.

Both Saw VII 3D and the still untitled Paranormal Activity sequel will be hitting theaters this Halloween.

Paramount Pictures and the Oscar-winning duo of the Coen brothers have teamed up to remake the 1969 John Wayne film True Grit.

The movie, based on Charles Portis’s novel of the same name, focuses on a young girl traveling with two lawmen to find her father’s murderer.

Jeff Bridges was the first actor approached by the Coen brothers to be involved with True Grit, and now Matt Damon and Josh Brolin are in talks to take on major roles in the film. Damon would play the part of a Texas Ranger tracking a murderer, the role that would be filled by Brolin.

Of the three actors in negotiations for True Grit, only Damon hasn’t worked with the Coen brothers before. Brolin had a role in 2007′s No Country for Old Men, while Bridges played the now-iconic role of “The Dude” in 1998′s The Big Lebowski. True Grit‘s producer, Scott Rudin, has also worked with the Coens as producer of No Country for Old Men.

Paramount hopes to get started on production of True Grit in the spring.

After much disagreement regarding budget and tone, director Kenny Ortega has split from the Paramount Pictures remake of Footloose.

Ortega, who directed all three of the High School Musical movies, had been involved with the Footloose project since its conception, back when HSM star Zac Efron was still on board as the movie’s lead. From the outset, though, Ortega faced conflict with Paramount.

The first issue between the director and the studio was a matter of artistic differences. Paramount was hoping for an edgy drama, while Ortega’s vision saw a film full of choreographed musical numbers. While this matter was one in which a compromise could have been found fairly easily, the second issue was a problem of budgetary difference.

Ortega demanded a budget of $30 million, while Paramount’s production chief was more inclined towards a budget around $25 million. Paramount has now said the actual budget will be less than $25 million.

Paramount had planned on starting production of the remake of the 1984 Kevin Bacon hit in March, which means they will have to start looking for a new director immediately in order to remain on track for the production start.

Ortega not only directed the High School Musical films, but also choreographed the blockbuster Dirty Dancing. With a background in movies incorporating music and dancing, Ortega was a good fit to direct Footloose. Hopefully Paramount will be able to find a new director who can bring the same theatrics to the movie.

Despite the film still being in theaters, Paramount Pictures is already hoping to capitalize on the unexpected success of Paranormal Activity after the film’s run is over.

Paramount’s chairman has announced the company has acquired the rights to a potential Paranormal Activity 2, and is looking for a plot that would make sense as a sequel to the hit of this fall.

In just a month at theaters, Paranormal Activity has grossed $62.5 million–not bad for a movie that was made for only $15,000. In addition to being made on a low-budget, Paramount also bought the movie for a fairly low price, and has spent less than the usual amount on marketing for the movie as well.

With those factors in play, plus the continued box office success of the film, Paranormal Activity could easily end up being one of the most profitable films in Paramount’s history. Thus, it’s no surprise that Paramount would want to continue bringing in that kind of profit with a sequel.

However, making sequels in general is a risky move, particularly when the precursor has been successful. With a flick like Paranormal Activity, whose success came out of nowhere, trying to match the appeal that brought that success is even more difficult than usual.

Paranormal Activity has continuously been compared to 1999′s The Blair Witch Project which was, like Paranormal Activity, a low-budget horror film that saw unexpected success. A sequel to the film was attempted the following year and brought in less than $30 million–a drastically lower take than the $140 million seen by the first film. The same type of box office drop could easily happen with a follow-up to Paranormal Activity.

It’s not set in stone that Paramount will go ahead with a Paranormal Activity sequel, just that they own the rights to do so. For now, we can expect to see Paranormal Activity continue to thrive at the box office, now with the possibility of a follow-up on the horizon.

Paramount Pictures is taking the first steps in moving forward with production of their newest drama, The Art of Making Money, by wooing actor Chris Pine and director D.J. Caruso to be involved with the project.

If negotiations go as Paramount would like, Pine, who audiences will remember from his recent portrayal as James T. Kirk in Star Trek, will be cast as the film’s lead. Pine would be playing the role of Art Williams, the alias of a former Chicago petty thief who made his way up through the ranks of the criminal world to become a master counterfeiter.

Paramount also hopes to have Caruso, who most recently directed Disturbia and Eagle Eye, take on directing duties for the film. If Caruso agrees to be part of The Art of Making Money, he will be joining producers Brian Robbins, Sharla Sumpter and Brad Weston in making the movie, along with executive producer Paul Pompian.

Production on The Art of Making Money is set to start early next year.