First off, Jeremy Renner mentioned in a recent interview that he is one of the actors “fighting to do” George Miller’s new Mad Max film. Nothing near solid yet, but that’d certainly skyrocket my interest in reviving the franchise. [The Modesto Bee via AICN]

Pitch Black and Chronicles of Riddick writer/director David Twohy recently talked about what a third Riddick film might entail, further drawing out the possibility that another installment is in the works. He said “the third movie would be more modestly-scaled and it would probably feel more like Pitch Black then Chronicles.” I’d say that’s certainly the right move, as the first film was a well-executed genre pic but its sequel was a bloated and overwrought blockbuster. [via ShockTillYouDrop]

Some concept art for the ThunderCats adaptation has surfaced online. Check out Jerry O’Flaherty’s take on Lion-O below, or head over to Movieline for the rest of the goods:

Michael Moore may be done with documentaries. In a recent interview, the Bowling for Columbine director said that while working on his latest doc, Capitalism: A Love Story, he decided that “maybe this will be my last documentary… Or maybe for a while.” Instead, he wants to move into narrative features, and he’s already got a few potential projects in the works: “I have been working on two screenplays over the last couple of years. One’s a comedy, one’s a mystery, and I really want to do this.” [The Detroit News via FirstShowing]

Jennifer Love Hewitt wants to be Wonder Woman and Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje wants to be the Black Panther. Wishful thinking? Maybe. JLH doesn’t seem to have a firm grasp of Wonder Woman past her costume, and Akinnuoye-Agbaje doesn’t appear entirely enlightened about T’Challa either. You decide [via MTV's Splash Page and Movies Blog]:

John August has optioned the rights to Steve Hely’s novel How I Became a Famous Novelist with the intent of writing and directing the big-screen adaptation. The story follows a man who sets out to write an unabashedly commercial book to get rich, famous, and, most importantly, upstage his ex-girlfriend’s wedding. “Like ‘Go,’ it’s about thinking you have the system all figured out, realizing you don’t, then faking it,” said August. We know the Go and Big Fish scribe to be a writer that’s talented as all heck, and even though his directorial debut The Nines was a bit hampered by its own ambition, there’s enough promise in August as a director to keep me interested in how this one goes.

Jason Segel is attached to star alongside Jonah Hill and Jason Schwartzman in The Adventurer’s Handbook. If you remember, the story revolves around four childhood friends who decide to break up the monotony of their boring lives by going on a global adventure inspired by a book detailing the stories of the world’s greatest explorers. Segel would play a failed musician who’s become a back-up piano player and alcoholic; Hill plays an engineer isolated from his family; Schwartzman plays a cowardly and stuck-up three-time Grammy winner.

A poster-ish image for the Scott Stewart-directed, Paul Bettany-starring Priest is up over at badtaste.it via Latino Review (not to be confused with the Stewart-directed, Bettany-starring Legion). Click the image below to see it in higher resolution:

Jonathan Liebesman’s long-overdue trailer (albeit unofficial) for The Killing Room has popped up online. It looks like a great mix between Saw and Cube, though perhaps more grounded than both. Check it out [via QuietEarth]:

The film follows the nefarious Gru (Carell), who is currently busy hatching his most despicable plot yet: stealing the Moon. Amidst his preparations of all the shrink rays, freeze rays, and battle-ready land and air vehicles, Gru is poised for yet another stunning feat of villainy. That is, until he encounters the immense will of three orphaned girls who see in Gru something that no one has seen before: a potential Dad.

The teaser trailer doesn’t really showcase the main characters so much as it just sets up a little of the backstory. I’m keen to see Gru actually in action before deciding on the movie’s merits, but so far, I’m not sold. Hopefully, we’ll get a full trailer soon that’ll give us a better idea of just what to expect. I remain optimistic, as the film has an impressive voice-cast that includes Jason Segel, Russell Brand, Kristen Wiig, Will Arnett, Danny McBride, Jemaine Clement, Miranda Cosgrove and Julie Andrews.

Despicable Me is slated to hit theaters in 3-D on July 9, 2010.

The site caught O’Dowd on a British TV show announcing his involvement, which will apparently be the role of Edward, who is engaged to Emily Blunt’s Lilliputan princess. The character, who’s “a wee bit of a bastard and has it in for Jack Black’s Gulliver and Jason Segal(sic)’s buddy character,” was created for the film and not from the original text.

O’Dowd is an Irish comedic actor best known for his role on the British TV show The IT Crowd and roles in the upcoming Frequently Asked Questions About Time Travel and The Boat That Rocked. I’m not too familiar with the man’s work, so I don’t feel any particular way about this casting other than, “Oh. Well that’s nice. I guess.”

Your thoughts?

Knowing pulled in $24.8 million over the weekend and landed in the top spot at the weekend box office.

The Nicolas Cage sci-fi thriller was the widest of the new releases and had the biggest marketing push, and those efforts paid off. Opening at the number 2 spot with $18 million was I Love You, Man, the Paul Rudd-Jason Segel arrested development comedy. Rounding out the top 3 was the last of the new wide releases, Duplicity, with the Clive Owen-Julia Roberts romantic caper pulling in a so-so $14.4 million.

Last weekend’s number 1, Race to Witch Mountain, fell to the fourth spot with a $13 million take and a $44.7 million ten-day total. Watchmen, meanwhile, clung on to the fifth spot but did not slow its plunge, finishing the weekend with $6.7 million and a $98.1 million total.

In the specialty market, Sin Nombre opened with a respectable $77,400 across 6 theaters, or a $12,900 per-theater average. Documentary Valentino: The Last Emperor, about the fashion industry legend Valentino, bowed well with a $20,300 weekend in just one theater. Lastly, Spanish drama Mancora opened with a tepid $5,800 across 2 theaters, or a $2,900 per-theater average.

Check out the top 12 below, or head over to Box Office Mojo for the full weekend chart.

New releases highlighted in yellow

I don’t care who knows it: I love Paul Rudd.

Man Crush? Yea, maybe just a tad. The guy is amazing no matter what he is in. I took a look at his IMDb profile and saw that he is almost 40 years old and yet he is keeping up or even surpassing his younger comedic colleagues. Ever since his great supporting turn in Anchorman, the man has been getting more and more popular and rightfully deserves it. The guy has such an easygoing manner to him that you can’t help but feel you are friends with the guy. In I Love You, Man, he turns in another memorable performance that makes an otherwise fairly formulaic story a worthwhile watch.

I Love You, Man follows the boy-meets-girl formula. Of course, the twist here is that it is between two guy friends.  Paul Rudd plays Peter Klaven, a real estate seller who is about to get married to Zooey, played by the very lovely Rashida Jones. While figuring out wedding plans, Peter realizes he has no close guy friends. Thus, he goes on a series of man-dates to find a best man. Hilarious disasters ensue until he meets Sydney Fife, a laid back investor played by Jason Segel. The rest of the plot deals with the mentoring Sydney offers to Peter and the friendship that emerges from it.

What makes this movie worthwhile are the performances turned in by Rudd and Segel. Rudd’s character Peter Klaven is very timid and very naïve when it comes to hanging out with guys. He’s been around girls for so long he has no idea how to interact with other dudes. Rudd here plays it more like Steve Carell’s character in The 40 Year Old Virgin: just a genuinely good guy put in an awkward position. We laugh at his character, but never in a mean or malicious way. Rather, it is just funny and sweet seeing his character struggling to learn how to hang out with a dude. The brilliance in his performance is seeing Peter’s attempts at humor fail. To have a joke truly fall flat while at the same time trying the MAKE it fall flat from a comedic actor’s standpoint without ever being annoying or self-aware…I think I might have broken my brain trying to figure that out. No easy task for any actor, but Rudd makes it seem as easy as turning the light on.  Slick motherfucker.

Jason Segel’s Sydney character is the friend that Peter clicks with. Sydney is a bluntly honest, straightforward guy. Once again, he isn’t overtly malicious or mean-spirited, he is just a guy who does and says what he feels. He is pretty much the representation of what many guys wish to be. Young, single, open-minded, with a garage filled with guitars, drums and a masturbation corner.

Segel is also a rising star in comedy. He was my favorite supporting actor in Knocked Up, he starred in the cult TV darling Freaks and Geeks, and got a lot of looks for his debut starring role in Forgetting Sarah Marshall (although a lot of those looks might have been directed at his penis). It is easy to see why Peter clings to Sydney. Segel plays him as a smart but casual guy who has his own ideas about life and society. He isn’t an asshole; he just thinks differently.

Rudd and Segel have chemistry for days in this movie. You truly believe the affection they have for each other without ever really going into the “let’s make a gay joke” territory. The friendship works so well you just imagine in your head that these guys must hang out all the time in real life. It is nice stepping back and seeing why it is important to have a friend you can talk to about sex or masturbation, and other common topics of conversation. It not only makes sense to me as a guy, but I think girls will be able to relate to the idea of having a close friend you share your intimate ideas and feelings with.

Judd Apatow helped usher in this current trend of comedies with heart. While he isn’t credited to this movie, he is undoubtedly responsible for bringing comedies with a brain and a heart to the mainstream audience’s attention. This is almost the perfect date movie. The usual trend of romantic comedy movies is to lean towards a typical romantic relationship, but here the mold is broken.  Here, there’s something for everyone. We have Paul Rudd’s character who is one of those guys that girls love to be with, and then you also have the stereotypical Dude in Segel that appeals to the guys. And there is no gender tug-of-war/battle of the sexes here. Ultimately, I Love You, Man is a funny and witty movie with some great performances that outweigh its fairly predictable plot.

UPDATE: Variety is reporting that Fox holds an option on Emily Blunt from the contract she signed when she was in The Devil Wears Prada, and may invoke the clause to make sure she takes the part in Gulliver’s Travels. The problem with this? It may cause her to drop out of playing Black Widow in Iron Man 2, though the two sides are trying to work the schedule out so she can be in both films. Let’s hope they can reach a compromise.

THR reports that Emily Blunt and Jason Segel are being sought to sign on for Rob Letterman’s re-telling of the classic Jonathan Swift story, Gulliver’s Travels.

Jack Black is currently attached to star as the titular hero. In this incarnation, Lemuel Gulliver is a travel writer that takes an assignment in Bermuda, but ends up washing up on the shores of Lilliput. The first and most well-known segment of the four-part story, the voyage to Lilliput finds Gulliver in a land where the citizens are tiny but industrious.

Blunt would play the princess of the island and the love interest of Segel’s character Horatio, a Lilliputan who befriends the giant Gulliver.

While the Lilliputan segment is the obvious choice for the movie, I wish we could’ve seen some of the lesser-known voyages play into it.  Though I’m intrigued by the cast, I can’t help but feel like this set-up will bring nothing new to the table. What do you guys think?