Elijah Heads To Oxford
No, not another of those awful American-upstart-challenges-stuffy-Brits movies (we're looking at you, Garfield 2, What A Girl Wants, Van Wilder 2: The Rise of Taj, etc. etc. etc.); rather, Elijah Wood has signed on to star in mathematical thriller The Oxford Murders. He's a student who becomes intrigued by a murder that takes place near his lodgings, and falls under the wing of a Sherlock Holmes-style mentor who uses logic and mathematical symbols to solve the case (played by John Hurt). We're not sure if mathematical symbols are generally much use in solving criminal cases, but if they are maybe our third form maths teacher was right after all and there was a point to learning quadratic equations. Spanish director Alex de la Iglesias (which means "Alex of the Churches", fact fans) is directing.
Henstridge Goes On Holiday
Well, sort of. Natasha Henstridge, still best known as the scary sex alien in Species, has signed on to star in The Tourist opposite Ewan McGregor and Hugh Jackman. It's the story of an accountant (McGregor) introduced to a sex club by his lawyer friend (Jackman) and then implicated in a murder, which we're guessing means that all is not as it seems! No word yet on who Henstridge is playing, but we're guessing that a lot of her fans, having already worn out numerous copies of the Species DVDs by pausing and rewinding certain scenes, will be hoping that she appears in the sex club scenes.
Willie Nelson's Blonde Ambition?
In what is still being described as a "loose remake of Working Girl" despite having what sounds like a completely different plot (what else are they going to take from that '80s classic? The shoulderpads?), Blonde Ambition has signed two new cast members to star opposite pneumatic popster Jessica Simpson. Country legend Willie Nelson, last seen playing her Uncle Jesse in The Dukes of Hazzard, will this time play her grandfather, while Larry MIller, currently appearing in For Your Consideration, plays the CEO of her company, under threat from two ruthless executives using Simpson as their unwitting pawn. So the CEO is the good guy? Maybe that's where the '80s throwbackery comes in. Luke Wilson, Rachael Leigh Cook, Andy Dick and Penelope Ann Miller round out the cast.
Fargo Gets Protection
The US National Film Registry, part of the Library of Congress, chooses 25 films each year which are guaranteed to be preserved and protected for future generations. And among listed for inclusion this year are Fargo, Blazing Saddles, Rocky and Groundhog Day. Yes, these films are now all going to be guaranteed against the deadly "vinegar syndrome", wherein film stock begins to smell of vinegar and the images disappear, as well as the terrifying spectres of hollondaise disease, ketchup sickness, HP Sauce fever and the dread mustard monster.