Uma Thurman and Robert Pattinson will use each other in “Bel Ami.”

According to The Hollywood Reporter, Uma Thurman has been cast in “Bel Ami,” the adaptation of Guy de Maupassant’s 1885 novel (and that’s novel, not short story as THR says; people keep making this mistake any time there is an article about this movie, and it’s really sad. What does it take, thirty seconds to look this up and find about a million non-Wikipedia sources? Come on, everyone, just try a little bit more).The reason this is news right now has, alas, less to do with the lovely and talented Ms. Thurman–who does, indeed, grow lovelier and more skilled with time–than with her co-star, Robert Pattinson. You may have heard of him. He’s starring in a little movie called “New Moon” this weekend.

In “Bel Ami,” Pattinson will play Georges Duroy, a lowly young journalist who rises to the top of Parisian society by sleeping with a series of wealthy, older women. Thurman plays one of his targets but one who eventually becomes his wife. Kristin Scott Thomas has also joined the cast as another of Duroy’s steps on the road to the top.

Theater director Declan Donnellan will make his film debut with “Bel Ami.” It’s set to start shooting next year in Paris. Presumably they’re working around Pattinson’s “Twilight” commitments; he’s the one who’s driving this bus, after all.

There are certain movie stars whose very presence in films seems to ensure box office success. Or maybe they’re just both fortunate and canny at picking the right scripts. However, the flip side of the coin are those stars who are a gamble to cast because their movies aren’t always box office smashes.

Forbes recently compiled its list of the top ten most overpaid film stars, and it includes some huge names. Some are surprises, some were always odds-on to appear in such a list.

The figures were compiled by analyzing the box office takings of the actors’ last three films and how much they were paid for each of them. The figure in brackets beside each name is how much the films made for every dollar paid to the leading actor.

1. Will Ferrell ($3.29m)
2. Ewan McGregor ($3.75m)
3. Billy Bob Thornton ($4m)
4. Eddie Murphy ($4.43m)
5. Ice Cube ($4.77m)
6. Tom Cruise ($7.18m)
7. Drew Barrymore ($7.43m)
8. Leonardo DiCaprio ($7.52m)
9. Samuel L. Jackson ($8.59m)
10. Jim Carrey ($8.62m)

No surprise to see Will Ferrell at number one. The main reason for his positioning is Land Of The Lost being such a dismal failure. No surprise either to see Eddie Murphy or Ice Cube included in the list.

However, Ewan McGregor at number 2 is a bit of a shocker, as is Tom Cruise at number 6, and Samuel L. Jackson at number 9. They’ve clearly chosen their scripts poorly over the past few years.

The latest Star Trek movie succeeded on a number of different levels. It pleased the fans, gave newcomers a chance to enter the series, and managed to successfully bring Star Trek from what it was to what it has to become in order to continue onwards.

One of the best moves by director J.J. Abrams was managing to persuade Leonard Nimoy to reprise his role as Spock. This in itself succeeded in bridging the gap between the original series and the re-imagining.

The question is whether Nimoy’s work is done or whether he could and should be back in the sequel? Nimoy doesn’t think the series needs him any longer, giving his thoughts on the matter to MovieWeb:

“I am very happy with the direction J.J. took this particular film. He has a great cast, and he’s in great shape. I was fortunate enough to work with an exceptional group of actors, and the fans really seemed to enjoy the film. I don’t think there is room for me to return in a sequel. I don’t think they need me. I am happy to see Zachary continue on with the role. I don’t believe a second film would benefit from me being a part of it. If J.J. asked me to come back, I would consider it. But I don’t think it is necessary, nor do I think that is part of J.J.’s plan.”

If Abrams reads these comments then he’s likely to take note and move on the series without Nimoy being involved. However, there could always be cameos made by other members of the Star Trek cast, not necessarily as integral to the plot as Old Spock was this time around and not necessarily from The Original Series either.

Is Anne Hathaway sharpening her claws?

Deadline Hollywood says that the latest “Spider-Man 4″ casting rumor revolves around Anne Hathaway. She’s the latest in a line of young actresses who have been connected with the film; speculation is that they are up for the role of Felicia Hardy a k a The Black Cat. Others who have been rumored are Julia Stiles, Romola Garai, and Rachel McAdams.

I’m not enough of a Marvel expert to tell who would be the best choice for the part. The only one in the group I really don’t care for is Julia Stiles; the others would all be fine with me. To be honest, the quality of the script is more important than the casting of these roles; Garai, McAdams, and Hathaway are all basically interchangeable to me. They’re all competent, they’re all pretty, so fine, whichever. Just give us a good, clean script this time. Please.

The sunglasses are a dead giveaway that Brad Pitt is a movie star. 

No, the “Dark Void” isn’t the black hole that is Brad’s ”Moneyball” adaptation. Instead, Variety’s Risky Business blog reports that Pitt’s production company Plan B has picked up the film rights to the not yet released video game “Dark Void,” with the possibility that Pitt may star.

“Dark Void” the game comes from Capcom and is set to be released in January. Here’s the description:

“Dark Void” centers on a a cargo pilot named Will (Pitt’s presumed character) who, after crashing in the Bermuda Triangle, ends up in a parallel universe where a band of humans must fight an alien threat they had long been thought extinct. Will and the other humans are outmanned but have a number of weapons and powers to help them beat back the alien incursion. 

Of course, the game to big screen translation hasn’t been particularly successful so far, but “Void” may be different. Why? Let Capcom senior vp licensing Germaine Gioia explain:

“As a game, ‘Dark Void’ was developed with a wide-screen mentality – a world full of adventure presented in cinematic scope and scale.”

Well, that could help…maybe.

From the description, it sounds like this could be a fun project for our man Brad. If you think about it, he hasn’t done many full-fledged action pictures–I guess we could say “Troy,” and maybe we would say “Inglourious Basterds”?–and I certainly don’t believe he’s done any scifi. Put him on a planet, give him a big gun, and let him blow away a few CGI aliens. It would be a nice change of pace. You don’t always have to go for the Oscar.

The Academy bears no love for Canadian rockers.  

The Oscars documentary category has always been independent. When you talk about Oscar snubs, the documentary jaw-dropping leave-outs could form a critically acclaimed festival on their own–”The Thin Blue Line,” “Hoop Dreams,” and “Grizzy Man” are a few of the much-admired documtaries that never even got a nomination.

Today the Academy announced their “shortlist” of fifteen documentaries out of 89 contenders. From the fifteen, five will actually receive nominations. Here are the candidates:

“The Cove”

“Food, Inc.”

“Valentino: The Last Emperor”

“Every Little Step”

“The Beaches of Agnes”

“Burma VJ”

“Facing Ali”

“Garbage Dreams”

“Living in Emergency: Stories of Doctors Without Borders”

“The Most Dangerous Man in America: Daniel Ellsberg and the Pentagon Papers”

“Mugabe and the White African”

“Sergio”

“Soundtrack for a Revolution”

“Under Our Skin”

“Which Way Home”  

As usual, there are some high-profile, well-known (and often well-liked) titles left off that list: “The September Issue,” “It Might Get Loud,” “Capitalism: A Love Story,” “We Live in Public,” and saddest of all, the little doc that could, “Anvil! The Story of Anvil.” Rock on, Anvil.

Of the docs that did make it, my favorite is “Every Little Step.” I adored it when I saw it and even when I walked out out of the theater, I would have gladly taken a ticket to go back in and see it again right then. So that one has my vote…which means it’s unlikely to make it out of the shortlist.

If you’re not aware of what Call Of Duty is then you must have had your head in the sand for the last few weeks. The latest game in the series, Modern Warfare 2, was released on Nov. 10, and has broken the record for all entertainment media.

In its first five days, the title racked up $550 million in sales, which beats not only every other video game ever released, but also every movie and music album ever released as well. In other words, it’s a big deal.

And now there could be a movie made based on the series. At least according to speculation by Kevin McKidd, Lucius Vorenus on HBO’s Rome. The actor has voiced parts in the previous two games and told The New York Post that, “there are talks of a feature film.” He also said of the game:

“I had no idea it would be so huge. They were looking for a rough, Scottish actor in Hollywood, they probably couldn’t get Gerard Butler, so they got the No. 2 Gerard Butler, me. If the script is good, and Gerard [Butler] isn’t available, then absolutely.”

It’s not clear who is talking about a feature a film - it could be a reference to the developers or just the fans - but it wouldn’t surprise me to see a Call Of Duty movie made, as this is one video game series with no shortage of fans.

Justin Theroux, looking like a director. 

According to The Hollywood Reporter, Justin Theroux will do a rewrite of “Space Invaders,” a romantic comedy originally written by Mike Lisbe and Nate Reger (Empire says the script has been kicking around since 2007). Theroux may also direct the film.

The romantic comedy is about “a man who decides to go to space after he suspects that his longtime girlfriend, an astronaut, is cheating on him with another spacewalker.” Will Arnett is supposed to star. Sounds like a good match for him.

Theroux is an actor, don’t forget (remember him in “Mulholland Drive?” Or more recently, the HBO “John Adams” miniseries?), but has recently won some success as a screenwriter. He wrote “Tropic Thunder,” and then followed that up with the script for “Iron Man 2.”   

If he gets the directing gig, this won’t be his first turn in the big chair. Theroux also directed “Dedication,” which starred Mandy Moore and Billy Crudup. S

47 Ronin is shaping up to be a brilliant project. Fast & Furious and Wanted scribe Chris Morgan has written the screenplay, Keanu Reeves is attached to star, and now, according to The Hollywood Reporter, Carl Erik Rinsch is attached to direct.

Rinsch is a commercials director who has made his name with futuristic concepts for companies such as Mercedes and Heineken. 47 Ronin will be his first feature and it must be considered a bit of a gamble for Universal to give him directing duties.

Rinsch narrowly missed out on directing the Alien prequel. His name was attached but Ridley Scott, originally only producing, has now moved up to directing duties.

47 Ronin tells the story of a group of 18th century samurai determined to avenge the death of their master. It’s a Japanese legend that has already been filmed at least half a dozen times. It’s not associated with Frank Miller’s Ronin, which is also in the works.

Look! It’s medievalish and magickal!

Variety says that Lorenzo DiBonaventura has bought the film rights to Michael Scott’s “The Secrets of the Immortal Nicholas Flamel” books. DiBonaventura is known for producing such action epics as “GI Joe: The Rise of Cobra” and “Transformers.”

Scott’s series is about “fifteen-year-old twins Sophie and Josh as they adventure across several continents with the immortal alchemyst of the title, Nicholas Flamel.” DiBonaventura says, “Michael’s fantastic series is a natural evolution from Harry Potter.”

That’s everyone’s dream, isn’t it?

The first three books in the series, “The Alchemyst,” “The Magician” and “The Sorceress,” are available now; the fourth book, “The Necromancer,” will be out in May.

(Apparently they are set in that far away time period before the letter “i” was invented.)

Whenever something becomes a hit, a thousand authors, publishers, producers, etc., try to find a way to reproduce it. So now we’re stuck with a million faux Harrys, and mini-wizards, alchemists, psychics, etc. Post “Twilight” we’re getting more vampires, probably more werewolves, teen witches, and of course, forbidden Frankenstein romances.

I am weary of kids’ books of ye olde stories with lots of Magick.