Chris Columbus is directing the adaptation of Rick Riordan’s best-selling fantasy-adventure book series, which involves the world-saving quest of Poseidon’s half-human son, Percy, in modern America.
Catherine Keener, Pierce Brosnan, Uma Thurman, Sean Bean, Kevin McKidd, Melina Kanakaredes, Logan Lerman, Alexandra Daddario and Brandon T. Jackson already have been cast.
Coogan will play the nefarious Hades and Dawson will play his imprisoned wife, Persephone, who has a flirtation with Jackson’s character, Grover, Percy’s best friend. Only the role of Ares, God of War, is yet to be cast. The Fox 2000 film, which Columbus and Craig Titley adapted from the first book in the series, The Lightning Thief, is scheduled for a February 12 release. Dawson most recently starred in Seven Pounds and Eagle Eye.
Coogan most recently appeared in Tropic Thunder and Hamlet 2. He returns as Octavius in the comedy-adventure Night at the Museum: Battle Of The Smithsonian, which hits theatres on May 22.

Jackman to haunt Ghostopolis
Hugh Jackman is moving from mutants to ghosts. The X-Men Origins: Wolverine star is attached to Ghostopolis, an upcoming graphic novel from Doug TenNapel that the author recently set up at Walt Disney Studios.
The story centres on a man who works for the government’s Supernatural Immigration Task Force. His job is to send ghosts who have escaped into our world back to Ghostopolis. When a living boy accidentally is sent to the other side, the agent must team with a female ghost (and former flame) to bring him back.

Jackman will produce through his Seed Prods., as will the Gotham Group. No director or writer has been hired yet for the project.
TenNapel’s graphic novels are in high demand as movie projects, with nearly all of them being developed at studios. His dinosaur tale Tommysaurus Rex is set up at Universal, Creature Tech at New Regency and Monster Zoo at Paramount.
Seed Prods., which Jackman runs with his wife, Deborra-Lee Furness, and John Palermo, is developing several comic book projects, including an adaptation of Virgin Comics’ Nowhere Man.

De Niro, Norton to star in thriller Stone
Robert De Niro and Edward Norton, who worked together in 2001’s The Score, have signed on to star in the psychological thriller Stone.
The story centres on the complicated relationship between a corrections officer (De Niro) and a convicted arsonist (Norton).
John Curran is directing Stone from a script by Junebug writer Angus MacLachlan. The project reunites Curran and Norton, who collaborated on The Painted Veil.
The film is the debut project of Mimran Schur Pictures, a venture formed by investment veteran David Mimran and former Geffen Records president Jordan Schur.