Eric Dane joins Burlesque
Grey’s Anatomy star Eric Dane has joined Burlesque, a musical drama starring Christina Aguilera and Cher.
The Screen Gems film centres on the journey of an ambitious small-town girl (Aguilera) with a big voice who finds love and success in a Los Angeles neo-burlesque club, reminiscent of the nightclub in Bob Fosse’s Cabaret.
Dane is playing the role of a charming, highly successful businessman, who vies for Aguilera’s heart.
He rounds out a cast that also includes Stanley Tucci, Cam Gigandet, Kristen Bell and Alan Cumming.
Steve Antin is directing the feature, which will be released Thanksgiving 2010.
Dane last appeared on the big screen in Marley & Me and will be seen in New Line’s Valentine’s Day.
Justin Theroux accepts Space mission
Justin Theroux is heading to space. The actor/writer will pen a draft of Space Invader, an astronaut romantic comedy set up at 20th Century Fox.
Mike Lisbe and Nate Reger sold the project and wrote the original draft of the comedy, which centres on a man who decides to travel into outer space after he suspects that his longtime girlfriend, an astronaut, is cheating on him with another spacewalker. Will Arnett is attached to star.
Davis Entertainment, the production company behind a number of comedies, including The Heartbreak Kid, is on board to produce with Principato/Young.
Theroux co-wrote the comedy hit Tropic Thunder and wrote the screenplay for the upcoming Iron Man 2.
He’s also on board to produce Air Guitar Nation, a narrative version of the well-received documentary.
Atonement director to shoot assassin movie
Joe Wright, director of Atonement, is in talks to shoot the thriller Hanna, his first foray into the action realm.
The film, described as having shades of La Femme Nikita and the Bourne movies, centres on a 14-year-old Eastern European girl, who has been raised by her father to be a cold-blooded killing machine. She connects with a French family, forms a friendship with their daughter and goes through the pangs of adolescence. When the girl is dragged back to her father’s world and discovers that she was bred as a killer in a CIA prison camp, she must fight her way to a free life.
The project has garnered considerable attention in director circles since getting set up at Focus Features in 2007, with Danny Boyle (Slumdog Millionaire ) kicking its tires at one point and Alfonso Cuaron (Children Of Men circling it in recent weeks.
Wright was due to direct Cate Blanchett in the period love story Indian Summer. But as the project’s budget rose amid an unfavourable climate for upscale adult dramas, Working Title/Universal opted to put it on hold.
His credits include The Soloist and Pride & Prejudice.
