Actor James Woods has become a legend in Hollywood through his body of work, and sometime next year (or slightly later), you'll be able to see him in Rod Lurie's version of the Sam Peckinpah revenge thriller Straw Dogs , playing Tom Hedden, a smalltown Southern football coach turned alcoholic who causes problems for a young Hollywood couple, played by James Marsden and Kate Bosworth.ComingSoon.net recently visited the set of the movie in Shreveport, Louisiana, and we were able to talk to Woods first-hand about the role, as well as a project he's really invested in called An American Girl which Woods plans to direct with Kristen Stewart in the lead role. Woods bought the script, written by Tim Metcalfe ( Kalifornia , The Haunting in Connecticut ) and Sean McCarthy, then...

UPDATE: NBC has officially picked up the project.The Hollywood Reporter says that NBC is close to landing a drama spec script by J.J. Abrams and Josh Reims that sparked a bidding war last week.ABC, NBC and CBS were in pursuit of the hot property, from Bad Robot and Warner Bros. TV, with NBC and ABC reportedly going down to the wire.The show, which revolves around two spies working together who also are husband and wife, returns Abrams to the spy arena, which he mined with his ABC series "Alias."

Before we get into "The Hobbit" films, here is the official statement by MGM released today after worries a week ago that the studio could be facing bankruptcy:MGM is pleased to announce that the Company has entered into a forbearance agreement with its lender group. The Company is appreciative of its lenders' ongoing support. Under the terms of the agreement, MGM's lender group has agreed not to enforce its rights or remedies arising as a result of the Company's request to not currently pay interest due on September 30, October 31, and November 30, 2009.This agreement, which expires December 15, 2009, provides MGM with additional liquidity as discussions continue regarding the development of an optimal capital structure in support of the Company's long-term...

Director Michael Bay has announced on his official website the release date for Transformers 3 and says they are jumping right back into it! Oh, and he included a note to Megan Fox as well...Well its official: We have a great Transformers 3 story. The release date is now July 1st 2011. Not 2012.Today is Day One. This morning started with an ILM meeting for five hours in San Francisco. Currently I'm flying with writer Ehren Kruger to Rhode Island to talk to Hasbro about new characters.P.S. Megan Fox, welcome back. I promise no alien robots will harm you in any way during the production of this motion picture. Please consult your Physician when working under my direction because some side effects can occur, such as mild dizziness, intense nausea, suicidal tendencies,...

Sam Raimi's genre label Ghost House Pictures is launching Spooky Pictures as a new banner that will produce thrillers for family audiences, says Variety .The first film will be The Substitute , a remake of the Danish thriller that Scott Derrickson ( The Exorcism of Emily Rose ) will direct and Columbia Pictures will co-finance and distribute through a first-look deal with Spooky.The Substitute revolves around a terrified sixth-grade class as the students race to reveal to their parents that their new substitute teacher is an evil alien being.Derrickson is writing the script with Paul Harris Boardman, who co-wrote "Emily Rose" with Derrickson. The two also collaborated on the remake The Day the Earth Stood Still .

Warner Bros. Pictures is developing a feature version of animated documentary series "The Future is Wild" with producer John H. Williams' Vanguard Films and series creator John Adams as well as brand partners Gerhard Sieber and Ettore Botta, reports Variety .The animated/live-action/animatronic project involves a group of scientists and zoologists and their projections for what Earth could look like over the next 200 million years."It's a freaky, fantastical interpretation but also a scientifically based version of what the evolution of Earth looks like -- with or without us," Williams the trade.You can check out the official website for more on the property.

20th Century Fox has teamed up with Electronic Arts to turn the publisher's popular "Spore" game into an animated creature feature, with Chris Wedge ( Ice Age ) attached to direct.Greg Erb and Jason Oremland, who penned Disney's upcoming The Princess and the Frog and Ben Stiller pic The Return of King Doug at Paramount, will write the script for the movie. It will be produced as a CG-animated toon by EA and Blue Sky Studios.In the game, which was released in September 2008, players create their own creatures and the worlds they live in and share them with other gamers to create an overall universe."I'm always looking for unique worlds to go to in animation," Wedge said. "From every perspective -- visually, thematically and comedically -- the...

They met as struggling actors in 1993 while working on Rudy and three years later, Vince Vaughn and Jon Favreau were ubiquitously known by their clever catch phrases and quotable lines from their low-budget hit Swingers .The two have been inseparable ever since and have corroborated on a string of projects including Universal Pictures new comedy, Couples Retreat .When Vaughn came up with the idea, he took the concept to his longtime friend and co-star "Favs" who loved the script about a group of friends all having martial problems. While some issues are more drastic than others with the couples, Vaughn said "the fun is in seeing all of their relationships put under a microscope."ComingSoon.net talked to Vaughn and his on-screen wife Malin Akerman...

The Walt Disney Studios announced that it is downsizing its specialty division Miramax Films:Miramax Films will reduce the number of films it releases annually while consolidating certain of its operations within The Walt Disney Studios (TWDS), Alan Bergman, president, TWDS, announced today.Daniel Battsek, president of Miramax Films, will continue to oversee all aspects of creative, development, production and business and legal affairs out of New York. TWDS will handle certain marketing, distribution, operations and administrative support functions from its Burbank headquarters."Disney has a first-rate marketing and distribution team operating globally," Bergman said. "This restructuring maximizes operating efficiencies and provides significant cost savings...

Paramount Pictures has released a second full trailer for the Martin Scorsese-directed psychological thriller Shutter Island , starring Leonardo DiCaprio, Mark Ruffalo, Ben Kingsley, Michelle Williams, Patricia Clarkson and Max von Sydow.Opening February 19th, Shutter Island is the story of two U.S. marshals, Teddy Daniels (Leonardo DiCaprio) and Chuck Aule (Mark Ruffalo), who are summoned to a remote and barren island off the coast of Massachusetts to investigate the mysterious disappearance of a murderess from the island's fortress-like hospital for the criminally insane.You can watch the trailer here !