NICHOLAS HOULT IS "JACK THE GIANT KILLER"! SCOTT SPEEDMAN GOES WW2 IN "EDWIN BOYD". NO LEX LUTHOR IN "SMALLVILLE" FINALE! "CHARLIE'S ANGELS" ADD THEIR HUNKY PROTECTOR

Hear ye, hear ye, we have the new JACK THE GIANT KILLER and it's no one else but young Nicholas Hoult! According to "MovieWeb" he will take the lead role in Bryan Singer's new epic adventure about young Jack, who inadvertently breaks a longstanding peace between the humans and giants when he pursues a princess who was kidnapped by a giant. Nicholas Hoult, whom we shall see this year as Beast in X-MEN: FIRST CLASS, will join Bill Nighy, who will play the two-headed leader of the giants, and Stanley Tucci, who will play the main villain,  in the cast as I reported few days ago.

SHORT HEADLINES ABC's new CHARLIE'S ANGELS show has added Ramon Rodriguez (TRANSFORMERS) who will join Minka Kelley, Rachael Taylor and Annie Ilonzeh, as a hunky, younger version of Bosley, the very tech-savvy protector of the Angels. * Michael Rosenbaum has refused to come back to SMALLVILLE and play Lex Luthor for the last time in show's two hour finale. He played the main villain for seven years before they kicked him out from the show even though he was beloved by the fans and viewers. 

Now here's an interesting plot: as "Variety" reports Scott Speedman will join Brian Cox and Kevin Durand in EDWIN BOYD a true story of a WWII vet and family man turned bank robber, torn between the need to provide for his young family and an unfulfilled dream to head to Hollywood to become a star. He discovers a way to satisfy both needs by robbing banks "Hollywood style", but that leads him down an unexpected path of danger and tragedy.

FIRST TRAILER FOR "X-MEN: FIRST CLASS" IS HERE! IS AMBER HEARD THE NEW "RED SONJA"? BRADLEY COOPER & JEREMY IRONS IN "THE WORDS". "HIGHLANDER" GETS A REMAKE?

Eventhough Rose McGowan left the project long time ago, it seems the remake of famous epic RED SONJA is still on. According to "Empire" the new director who will helm the epic story of the brave, scantily clad and super hot red haired female warrior is Simon West (LARA CROFT TOMB REIDER, CON AIR) and rumor has it that the current favourite actress to take the lead

role, at least when it comes to producers, is young Amber Heard (ZOMBIELAND, PINEAPPLE EXRESS). The film will probably happen only if CONAN, which premieres this year with Jason Momoa as the muscly barbarian, proves successful at the box office.

SHORT HEADLINES *Now, I'm not sure why, but Summit Entertainment is planning a reboot of the famous HIGHLANDER saga about semi immortal Scottish warriors and, believe it or not, they want TWILIGHT screenwriter to write it. *Here's an interesting team: Bradley Cooper and Jeremy Irons will take the lead roles in THE WORDS, a film about a writer who, at the peak of his literary success, discovers the price he must pay for stealing another man's work. *Gary Oldman and Guy Pearce have joined Tom Hardy and Shia LeBeouf in THE WETTEST COUNTY IN THE WORLD,  the story of a crazy family of bootleggers from the Prohibition Era.

So, the waiting is finally over, after a bunch of new TV spots at this weekend's Super Bowl, here's the first trailer for another of this year's upcoming blockbusters - X-MEN: FIRST CLASS, the famous super hero saga which goes into past this time revealing the youths of the people who will become our favourite mutants. Starring Michael Fassbender as Magneto, James McAvoy as Professor Xavier, Caleb Landry Jones, Nicholas Hoult, Kevin Bacon, Jennifer Lawrence, Edi Gathegi, Jason Flemyng and January Jones as the White Queen, the film comes out this June and is directed by Matthew Vaughn.

CHRISTIAN BALE GETS STRANDED ON A "CONCRETE ISLAND". KEVIN PENNINGTON JOINS "THE AVENGERS"! ANTON YELCHIN IS STEPHEN SOMMERS' "ODD THOMAS". BLAKE LIVELY IN "THE CARRIE DIARIES"?

Ah, I guess that gorgeous young creature Kevin Pennington, whom you know as a model and an actor from BH90210, has finally got his well-deserved role in a super hero film. I don't know whether you remember,but his name was mentioned in pretty much all the casting processes for all the super hero films in last five years. Now he will join THE AVENGERS as Wendell Vaughn, one of SHIELD agents and his boss will be Samuel L. Jackson as Nick Fury. It's interesting that alongside Cobie Smulders, the three of them will appear in NYC and at San Diego Comic Con to sign autographs to fans.

SHORT HEADLINES British actress Rosamund Pike has joined Sam Worthington and Liam Neeson in the ancient Greek sequel WRATH OF THE TITANS as princess Andromeda. *Gorgeous girl Blake Lively might play teenage Carrie Bradshaw in THE CARRIE DIARIES, the prequel to SEX AND THE CITY. * Stanley Tucci, as the villain, and Bill Nighy, as the two-headed leader of the giants, have joined Bryan Singer's upcoming exciting epic tale JACK THE GIANT KILLER!

According to "MovieWeb" Christian Bale has found himself a  new role in CONCRETE ISLAND, a film about a wealthy architect

who finds himself stranded in a manmade island (a section of fenced-off wasteland in the middle of a motorway intersection) between the Westway and M4  in West London, forced to survive on only what is in his crashed Jaguar and what he is able to find. As his condition degrades, it soon becomes difficult to determine whether he is finding sanity or watching his mind fall apart as he finds companions on the island and eventually decides to remain there and forsake his former life.

Anton Yelchin (STAR TREK, TERMINATOR SALVATION) might get his first leading role in Stephen Sommers' (MUMMY, VAN HELSING) film adaptation of the novel ODD THOMAS

which follows Odd who sees and converses with ghosts, a secret he has kept from nearly everyone but his girlfriend and the local police chief, whom he occasionally helps solve terrible crimes. Odd also has the ability to see bodachs, malevolent spirits that feast on pain and whose presence signifies a likelihood of imminent violence. The proximity of bodachs to a weird-looking stranger in town alerts Odd that trouble is brewing and after breaking into his house, Odd discovers not only hundreds of bodachs but a shrine to serial killers that helps him deduce that somehow the stranger will wreak widespread havoc very soon, so Odd is caught in a classic race against time to deter catastrophe.

AMAZING PICTURE OF MERYL STREEP AS "THE IRON LADY"! FAMKE JANSSEN JOINS "HANSEL AND GRETEL: WITCH HUNTERS". JERI RYAN IN NEW "MORTAL KOMBAT"!

Ready to be amazed? Here's the first picture of Meryl Streep as Margaret Thatcher in THE IRON LADY, the upcoming biopic of the famous British prime minister. Starring also another amazing acting legend, Jim Broadbent, as her husband, the film will tell the compelling story of Margaret Thatcher, a woman who smashed through the barriers of gender and class to be heard in a male dominated world. The story concerns power and the price that is paid for power, and is a surprising and intimate portrait of an extraordinary and complex woman. We smell Oscars here as usually!

FRESH CASTING NEWS Famke Janssen has joined Jeremy Renner and Gemma Arterton in the new retelling of the famous fairy tale HANSEL AND GRETEL: WITCH HUNTERS in an unknown role (the witch maybe?).  Julia Roberts has officially signed on to play Evil Queen in Tarsem's THE BROTHERS GRIMM: SNOW WHITE. Dakota Fanning has joined GIRLS NIGHT OUT,  where she will play princess Margaret, the sister of the current Queen of England, who is allowed one night out of Buckingham Palace to celebrate the WWII being over. According to crazy new rumors Lindsay Lohan

has also auditioned for the role of a major female character in Zack Snyder's SUPERMAN (not Lois Lane), the one I mentioned a few days ago. 

Now this is both good and bad news: the hottest STAR TREK crew member ever (she got the official title in HOLLYWOOD SPY's BEST SF BEAUTY poll) Jeri Ryan AKA Seven of Nine, is coming back to sf. But it will only be in a web series. She will play Sonja Blade in MORTAL KOMBAT and she says that the ten episode web series will have a great script, foillowing a group of world-renowned warriors who band together to save the world from the nefarious villain.

IS JOSEPH GORDON LEVITT ROBIN IN "THE DARK KNIGHT RISES"? NAOMI WATTS GOES EPIC IN "QUEEN OF DESERT". ALEX PETTYFER & JEFF BRIDGES IN "THE LAST APPRENTICE"

Now, my little freaks, you know how much I don't care about Nollan's films, but I know this would interest you: you remember

how I mentioned a couple of times that talented young actor Joseph Gordon Levitt might join the cast of THE DARK KNIGHT RISES? Well it seems, that he might be preparing for the role of no one else but Robin! There were rumors before that he might play Riddler, and Christian Bale said himself some time ago that he would quit Batman if they put Robin in the film :) but fresh gossips say Levitt could become Batman's trustworthy sidekick in the fight against Bane (Tom Hardy) and CatWoman (Anne Hathaway)!

"Beyond Hollywood" reports that Naomi Watts might get the lead role in Werner Herzog's epic drama QUEEN OF THE DESERT. Naomi would play Gertrude Bell an English writer, traveller, political officer, administrator, and archaeologist

who explored, mapped, and became highly influential to British imperial policy thanks to her extensive travels in Greater Syria, Mesopotamia, Asia Minor, and Arabia. She helped establish the Hashemite dynasties in Jordan and Iraq. She played a major role in establishing and helping administer the modern state of Iraq, utilizing her unique perspective from her travels and relations with tribal leaders throughout the Middle East. During her lifetime she was highly esteemed and trusted by British officials and given an immense amount of power for a woman at the time. She has also been described as “one of the few representatives of His Majesty’s Government remembered by the Arabs with anything resembling affection”.

One of the most wanted names in Hollywood among the young actors these days, Alex Pettyfer has yet another potential project: he might join Jeff Bridges and Jennifer Lawrence in THE LAST APPRENTICE.  He didn't reach a deal to star in the adaptation of another YA fantasy THE MORTAL INSTRUMENTS so he might join THE LAST APPRENTICE a saga about a teenage boy training to be an exorcist in the 1700s in which Bridges would be the exorcist, Pettyfer his apprentice while Lawrence would play the alleged witch. The film will be directed by famous Russian director Sergei Bodrov (MONGOL).

PS if you go to HOLLYWOOD SPY'S OFFICIAL YOU TUBE CHANNEL you can watch the amazing Super Bowl TV Spots for sf epic PRIEST, THOR, TRANSFORMERS III (probably the best spot), Roman epic THE EAGLE,  animated film RIO and Steven Spielberg's luxurious TV show TERRA NOVA.

FIRST TRAILER AND GREAT NEW IMAGES FROM "CAPTAIN AMERICA: THE FIRST AVENGER" WITH CHRIS EVANS, TOMMY LEE JONES & HUGO WEAVING!

It's here, it's finally here - after being postponed a month ago, because the producers wanted to work a bit more on it, the trailer for this summer's big super hero film CAPTAIN AMERICA: THE FIRST AVENGER is here. But you might get a heart attack after you see Chris Evans' body in the teaser :)  You can also check out some new pics and posters featuring Captain America, the cool Hydra soldiers and other characters.

Directed by Joe Johnston (who hasn't really proved himself so far having done some rather bad films like HIDALGO, THE WOLFMAN and JUMANJI) the film stars Chris Evans as Steve Rogers aka Captain America (Chris has signed to appear as Captain America in six different movies including THE AVENGERS),

Tommy Lee Jones as Col. Chester Phillips, Hayley Atwell as Peggy Carter, Sebastian Stan as James 'Bucky' Barnes, Richard Armitage as Heinz Kruger, Hugo Weaving as the Red Skull, Dominic Cooper as Howard Stark, Stanley Tucci, Natalie Dormer, Neal McDonough ...

Born during the Great Depression, Steve Rogers grew up a frail youth in a poor family. Horrified by the newsreel footage of the Nazis in Europe, Rogers was inspired to enlist in the army. However, because of his frailty and sickness, he was rejected. Overhearing the boy’s earnest plea, General Chester Phillips offered Rogers the opportunity to take part in a special experiment - Operation: Rebirth. After weeks of tests, Rogers was at last administered the "Super Soldier Serum" and bombarded by "vita-rays". Steve Rogers emerged from the treatment with a body as perfect as a body can be and still be human. Rogers was then put through an intensive physical and tactical training program.

Three months later, he was given his first assignment as Captain America. Armed with his indestructible shield and and battle savvy, Captain America has continued his war against evil both as a sentinel of liberty and leader of the Avengers.

COBIE SMULDERS WILL BULLY SUPERHEROES IN "THE AVENGERS". SYFY MAKING "TREASURE ISLAND" WITH RUPERT PENRY JONES, ELIJAH WOOD & DONALD SUTHERLAND. FREIDA PINTO & RIZ AHMED IN "TRISHNA"

Ah, so here's the new twist in the AVENGERS soap opera: the female role I've mentioned yesterday probably won't be Wasp, but agent Maria Hill who will just be a sidekick to Samuel L. Jackson's Nick Fury, someone who has been known to blackmail and bully superheroes

to get her way. And according to last rumors Morena Baccarin won't get it as we would all like, but Cobie Smulders, from HOW I MET YOUR MOTHER, who was apparently the best at the screen testings which were held last week. According to "Playlist" she was also a candidate for Joss Whedon's WONDER WOMAN.

If you miss some pirates on TV, Syfy is preparing their two-part film adaptation of the famous TREASURE ISLAND which follows young Jim who is unexpectedly drawn into the world of piracy when he discovers a treasure map and finds himself battling with Silver for the treasure and his life. Quite an interesting cast includes: Eddie Izzard as Long John Silver, Elijah Wood as Ben Gunn, Donald Sutherland as Flint, our dear Rupert Penry-Jones as Squire Trelawney... The film should premiere in 2012.

Since there haven't been many Indian films after SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE, you might like the new project from famous filmmaker Michael Winterbottom who is preparing TRISHNA, a modern-day retelling of famous novel "Tess of the d’Urbervilles". According to "Playlist" he already has two extremely gorgeous young actors: Riz Ahmed (FOUR LIONS) and Freida Pinto (SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE, IMMORTALS). The film will follow the tragic relationship between Jay, the son of a property developer, and Trishna, the daughter of an auto rickshaw owner.

ALICE EVE & DIANE KRUGER TO PLAY LANA LANG IN "SUPERMAN"? JAKE GYLLENHAAL IN STEPHEN KING'S "THE STAND"? RALPH FIENNES AS VILLAIN IN "JAMES BOND"? JESSE MCCARTNEY JOINS "LOCKE & KEY"

Ah, each new day brings us new updates on SUPERMAN casting. According to "Variety" the list of candidates, which will take female lead beside Henry Cavill who is playing SUPERMAN, is now down to only three names: gorgeous Alice Eve

(just finished shooting RAVEN with John Cusack in Serbia), Diane Kruger (TROY) and Rosamunde Pike (the worst possible choice if you ask me). But here's the biggest surprise - it seems that Lois Lane won't appear in the movie at all, but some other female character, possibly Lana Lang. The studio is also searching for a villain too.
FRESH UPDATE 8PM - it seems there will be Lois in the film, and that one of the girls above could actually play a side-kick to the main villain in the film.

According to the producers, the second season of THE WALKING DEAD, one of them most successful shows from last year, will become a more ensemble based show with episodes focusing on each individual character. They are looking to describe the main heroes of the show in more detail, after the plot was set in the first season.

Warner Bros. is planning a new film adaptation of Stephen King's famous sf novel THE STAND which is centered on the survivors of a man-made plague that has wiped out most of mankind. Stephen King wants Jake Gyllenhaal in the leading role. As you know, another of King's famous sagas THE DARK TOWER is also in preproduction.

It seems that JAMES BOND 23 could have three villains: beside Rachel Weisz and Javier Bardem who were rumored to have been offered villainous roles, the new gossip says that Ralph Fiennes has been offered a role of a very dark and complex character which will oppose Daniel Craig in Sam Mendes directed film.

According to "Deadline" one of the most interesting shows coming out this year, LOCKE & KEY has just added pop star Jesse McCartney (currently promoting his hit single SHAKE) into its cast. He will play the male lead in the story of Nina Locke (Miranda Otto) and her three children, Tyler (Jesse McCartney), Kinsey (Sarah Bolger from THE TUDORS), and Bode (Skylar Gaertner) who, after the brutal murder of Nina's husband, return to Keyhouse, his old family home in Massachusetts. There, they are pestered by an evil entity that's determined to hold the family hostage one way or another until it gets what it wants.

IS MORENA BACCARIN THE WASP IN "THE AVENGERS"? SAM WORTHINGTON & EVA MENDES IN "LAST NIGHT". JULIA ROBERTS IS THE EVIL QUEEN IN "SNOW WHITE". JULIAN ASSANGE GETS A FILM

The hottest superhero news of the day is that THE AVENGERS will have a new female character: it seems that Nick Fury (to be played by Samuel L. Jackson) will have a female partner while joining Thor (Chris Hemsworth), Captain America (Chris

Evans), Hulk (Mark Ruffalo), Iron Man (Robert Downey Jr) and Hawkeye (Jeremy Renner) in the super hero extravaganza. And according to fresh news, lovely Morena Baccarin (V, FIREFLY) has already screen tested for that role. It's been said previously that Scarlett Johansson's Black Widow will be the only major female hero in the cast, but according to rumors Morena could play Janet van Dyne a.k.a The Wasp.

This spring will bring us a new drama LAST NIGHT with an interesting cast: Sam Worthington, Eva Mendes and Keira Knightley star in the story which centers on a married couple apart for an evening when the husband (Sam) takes a business trip with a colleague (Eva) to whom he's attracted. While he's resisting temptation, his wife (Keira) encounters her past love.

SHORT HEADLINES Julia Roberts is in final negotiations to take the role of the Evil Queen in Tarsem Sing's THE BROTHERS GRIMM: SNOW WHITE in which Snow White bands together with the Seven Dwarfs to take on the Evil Queen after she kills Snow White's father and destroys their kingdom. The biggest hero of all freedom loving world Julian Assange will get his film based on "New York Times" article "The Boy Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest", and some rumors say Paul Bettany could play him.

JOAQUIN PHOENIX TO MENTOR "ABRAHAM LINCOLN: VAMPIRE HUNTER"? EXCITING NEW TRAILER FOR MEDIEVAL ACTION "IRONCLAD" WITH JAMES PUREFOY. IS JOSEPH GORDON LEVITT JOINING "THE DARK KNIGHT RISES"?

Now, since Timur Bekmambetov, the director of the ABRAHAM LINCOLN VAMPIRE HUNTER has chosen his Mr. President last week (young Benjamin Walker) new rumors say that he now has

his eye on Joaquin Phoenix in the role of the mentor who would teach Lincoln how to hunt down and kill vampires. Apparently Tom Hardy was previously seen in that role, but since he joined THE DARK KNIGHT RISES, the role is now free for Joaquin if he wants it.

SHORT HEADLINES after rumors on Robin Williams joining THE DARK KNIGHT RISES alongside Tom Hardy and Anne Hathaway, the rumors about Joseph Gordon Levitt joining the cast in an unknown role have surfaced again. There were stories last year that he might be the new Joker.

Here's the first official trailer for medieval action IRONCLAD which will premiere this Spring in UK. The film is set in 1215. King John (Paul Giamatti) has been forced to sign the Magna Carta,

a document that will ensure the freedom of men and form the basis of common law in England. Furious at having been forced to sign it, King John raises a vicious mercenary army and begins a rampage across the country to regain total power. But as the King’s army is on the brink of reaching London and taking back control of the country, one last castle stands between him and inevitable victory: Rochester. Gathered together by Baron Albany (Brian Cox), a small band of rebel warriors gather inside Rochester intent on holding off King John until reinforcements arrive: a Templar Knight (James Purefoy) whose soul is wracked with guilt over the atrocities he has committed during the crusades and his burgeoning feelings for Isabel (Kate Mara), the beautiful lady of the castle and lonely wife of the aging Reginald de Cornhill (Derek Jacobi), battle-hardened mercenaries such as Beckett (Jason Flemying), who fight not for God and country, but for money and bloodlust, and young soldiers like Guy (Aneurin Barnard), who’ll taste blood and battle for the first time – and perhaps the last.
And don't forget to read the post on Drew Barrymore bellow, it was supposed to be posted last evening, but my headquarters have been sabotaged by an electricity power cut (although I suspect that was just my penguins doing some mischief - the internal investigation is on).