• Are you sick of Watchmen casting notices yet? We’re not! The latest hot scoop is that Billy Crudup (Almost Famous) is set to play detached Dr. Manhattan:
This news comes courtesy of CHUD, whose Devin Faraci reports that “a very reliable source” has confirmed Crudup’s casting as Jon Osterman, the nuclear physicist who gets all blowed up and comes out the other side as the freaky blue-skinned super-being known as Dr. Manhattan. Names previously attached to the role have included Reeves and Jason Patric, but — Reeves’ natural gift for the wooden detachment intrinsic to the part notwithstanding — Crudup might just be the best choice.
• We have no idea how the English TV business works, but it seems that a pilot created by tooner Jamie Hewlett has been greenlit:
From the mind of Gorillaz and Tank Girl creator, Jamie Hewlett, comes Phoo Action – a futuristic kung fu live action drama. The year is 2012 and London is in the grip of mutant criminals. Only Terry Phoo, a Buddhist kung fu cop, and Whitey Action, an enigmatic young anarchist, can save the nation.
Based on the comic strip Get The Freebies which appeared in The Face magazine, Phoo Action is written by Matthew Enriquez Wakeham, Peter Martin and Jessica Hynes.
[Thanks to AT for tip.]
• And prolific Japanese shock-meister Takashi Miike’s may manga based Big Bang Love will have more American showings (it just ran at the Asian Film Fets here in NYC):
Now he’s going even further afield with his first gay movie, Big Bang Love, Juvenile A. Based on a popular graphic novel, the film centers around two beautiful young men who meet in jail while serving time for unrelated murders. In telling their love story, Miike takes a decidedly nonlinear approach that involves everything from dance to anime. No word yet on a U.S. theatrical release for Big Bang Love, but it’s going to be screening at gay and lesbian film festivals nationwide throughout the rest of the year.
Dance? Whatever! If it’s Miike, I’ll take it.