**It’s Arrested Development: The Movie!
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Well, not quite. But Jason Bateman – Michael Bluth in the much-missed Fox sitcom – has signed on to star in Juno, the second film from Jason Reitman… and he’ll be starring opposite his Arrested Development son, Michael Cera. They’re not playing father and son this time, however. Bateman and Jennifer Garner will play a couple trying to adopt the unborn baby of a pregnant high schooler (Ellen Page, in the title role), while Cera will play the guy who knocked Juno up in the first place. George Michael Bluth having sex? The mind fairly boggles.
**Avatar Has A Date!
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Yes, James Cameron’s CG-augmented blockbuster, which is sure to raise the bar on event movies so high that the bar will get a nosebleed and start whimpering like a little girl before being rescued by a noble fireman, has bagged itself a release date: Memorial Day weekend, 2009. Now, being British, Empire has no idea when Memorial Day is, but we’re assured it’s sometime in summer. Probably May. Don’t worry, we’ll seamlessly input that info once we’ve paid a trip to Wikipedia!
**Borat Won’t Present At The Oscars
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Mainly because he’s not real, but also because Sacha Baron Cohen was asked to present at the Oscars as himself, and refused. Because he’s shy, see? Aww… Still, the line-up of Oscar presenters is pretty darned impressive, with the likes of Jodie Foster, John Travolta, and Queen Latifah today joining a line-up that already includes half of Hollywood’s A-list. Be sure to join Empire’s team of crack bloggers and whatnot on Sunday evening for full coverage of the ceremony, during which we can point and laugh at those celebs who a) try to be wacky and zany, and die on their arses, and b) wrestle manfully with an autocue before, also, dying on their arses. Should be fun!