The Movie Insider.com

Adrien Brody, who last starred in Wes Anderson's The Darjeeling Limited, will play the lead role in Russell Mulcahy's upcoming action thriller The Courier for Arclight Films. According to The Hollywood Reporter, the project follows an adventurous courier who's trying to deliver a briefcase to a crime boss who can't be located.

Oscar winner Don Cheadle (Traitor, Ocean's Thirteen) is stepping in to replace Terrence Howard (The Hunting Party) in Iron Man 2, Marvel Studios' sequel to its summer blockbuster, according to The Hollywood Reporter. Jon Favreau is returning as director, and Robert Downey Jr. is expected back as billionaire industrialist Stark/Iron Man. Gwyneth Paltrow also is expected to be back as Stark's assistant, Pepper Potts.

Director Timur Bekmambetov (Wanted) will helm a reimagining of Herman Melville's whale tale Moby Dick for Universal Pictures, according to Daily Variety. Adam Cooper (Accepted) and Bill Collage (Accepted) are on-board to pen the screenplay. The writers revere Melville's original text, but their graphic novel-style version will change the structure.

Stephen Chow will direct Seth Rogen and star opposite him as Kato in Columbia Pictures' The Green Hornet, set for release June 25, 2010, it was announced today by Doug Belgrad and Matt Tolmach, presidents of Columbia Pictures.

Funny woman Tina Fey, who was last seen in Baby Mama, has signed on to co-star with Steve Carell (Evan Almighty) in Date Night for 20th Century Fox, according to Daily Variety. The movie will likely begin production next year with Night at the Museum director Shawn Levy at the helm.

If anyone could turn around the video game spin-off genre, it is Gore Verbinski and that's likely why Universal and Take-Two decided to bring him aboard for Bioshock.

Director Mark Romanek has reportedly quit The Wolfman after a dispute with Universal Pictures involving the horror film's budget. Romanek, who has filmed numerous music videos and the feature film One Hour Photo, left The Wolfman project just weeks before he was scheduled to begin shooting it, The Hollywood Reporter said.

Jessica Simpson, whose most recent movie Blonde Ambition went straight to DVD, is in the early stages of recording a country album in Nashville, a project slated for a 2008 release via Columbia Records.

"Harry Potter" producer David Heyman and Warner Bros. Pictures will bring Paddington Bear to theaters. "'Paddington Bear' is a universally loved character and I have wanted to bring him to the screen for some years," Heyman says. Hamish McColl (Mr. Bean's Holiday) will pen the live-action script.

Ricky Gervais, who is probably best known for UK's "The Office", will next star in Warner Bros.' Early Retirement, says Daily Variety. The British comic is attached to star in the feature based on Mark Perez's comedy pitch about an work-obsessed man who quits his demanding job to spend more time with his family.

Johnny Depp will star in a feature-film version of the 1960s vampire soap opera Dark Shadows, Daily Variety reported. Depp has said in interviews that he has always been obsessed with Dark Shadows and had, as a child, wanted to be Barnabas Collins, the vampire patriarch of the series.

Andrew Adamson, director of The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian, told SCI FI Wire that the sequel to "The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe" will be even bigger and more visually stunning than its predecessor.

Filmmaker John Woo (Paycheck) has signed to direct and produce Ninja Gold, a new property from the creator of such video games as Deus Ex, "Thief: Deadly Shadows" and "System Shock." "Ninja" centers on a ninja warrior, part of a centuries-old legacy and bloodline, forced to confront the reality of covert warfare in the modern world.

Albert and Allen Hughes will direct the Joel Silver-produced "The Book of Eli", a post-apocalyptic western movie written by Gary Whitta for Warner Bros. Pictures.

Universal Pictures has set Angelina Jolie to star alongside James McAvoy and Morgan Freeman in "Wanted", an action film based on a graphic novel that Timur Bekmambetov will direct. The movie will be Jolie's next, with shooting to begin in Eastern Europe in May.

Ellen DeGeneres has just been named as the host the upcoming 79th Academy Awards.

James McAvoy has landed the starring role in a sci-fi action movie for Universal.

Rogue Pictures has closed a deal to remake one of Wes Craven's first horror films.

Ben Affleck is apparently the current favorite to play the role of Magnum P.I.

George Lucas says he's is pushing to get Sean Connery to appear in "Indiana Jones 4".