Bryce Dallas Howard has signed on to replace Rachelle Lefevre as the villain Victoria in Eclipse, the third Twilight movie. Yes, they’re making a third Twilight movie.  They’re probably going to make 12, better just accept it now.

Lefevre played the role in the first pic, “Twilight,” and in the upcoming “New Moon.”  The studio attributed the move to scheduling conflicts. The actress was recently cast in the indie drama “Barney’s Version” opposite Dustin Hoffman, which also has an Aug. 17 start date, only several thousand kilometers east, in Quebec.  Victoria attempts to kill heroine Bella (Kristen Stewart) as she avenges the death of her mate James. [THR]

Uh huh, scheduling, suuure.  Just like when my girlfriend dumped me for a hotter dude – our schedules just didn’t match up!  Relationships are so complicated!  Anyway, considering Ron Howard is himself the son of an actor and director, it’s not surprising that his daughter Bryce would go into the family business. What is surprising is that a Howard came out not looking like a hideous bridge troll.  I think a good idea for a movie would be Bryce Dallas Howard using her hotness to trick guys into doing her, then the next morning Clint Howard bursts through their chest cavity like in Aliens.  Terrifying.

Long story short, Bryce Dallas Howard and her brother in law wrote a script, which her father’s production company will produce, and which her father might direct.  Long story re-lengthened:

“Originals” is an ensemble film about a group of twentysomethings who reconvene for a weekend in New York after learning that the teacher who shaped their childhoods has fallen into a mysterious coma. The idea for “Originals” germinated a few years ago, when Howard, an actress from such films as “The Village” and “Spider-Man 3″, [decided to write] something that tackled the quarter-life crisis issues her contemporaries were dealing with.

She roped in Dane Charbeneau and the two have been working on the script for the past couple of years.  “Originals” also became more of family affair during the writing process, as Charbeneau began dating Howard’s sister Jocelyn. The two are now are engaged. [THR]

Ah yes, the quarter-life crisis, I know it well.  As soon as I turned 25 I said, “Daddy?  What big Hollywood movie should I have one of your friends put me in?”  Luckily, my dad just took a huge bong rip and fell asleep so I became a movie blogger.

Oh my gosh, you guys, this is so awesome I almost spilled espresso on my scarf when I read it: Sofia Coppola is doing a movie about the Chateau Marmont! I can’t wait to tell everyone at the food co-op!

The writer-director who shot her “Lost in Translation” at the Park Hyatt in Tokyo, will set her next film at the iconic Chateau Marmont in Hollywood. Stephen Dorff and Elle Fanning [yes, Dakota’s sister] will star in the Focus Features dramedy “Somewhere,” which Coppola penned. Story centers on a bad-boy actor stumbling through a life of excess at the Chateau Marmont. With an unexpected visit from his 11-year-old daughter, he is forced to reexamine his life. The filmmaker, who said she has been looking to make “an intimate story set in contemporary Los Angeles,” received permission to shoot at the hotel, which has become notorious in recent years as a popular address for tabloid-friendly celebs. [Variety]

I already know how this will go down: a collection of dreamy party scenes that will seem funny at first, but with a creeping sense of decadence.  Then, just when we start to really hone in on the protagonist’s pathos, he’ll share a long, meaningful glance with his daughter and the movie will end.  It will deny you catharsis, but that was, like, the point.  She really wanted to challenge the audience, you know?  I loved how she totally, like, resisted the temptation to cheapen the emotions with “plot.”  It wasn’t all “slick” and “Hollywood.”  She really nailed the subtleness and the nuance.

[picture source = lookatthisf*ckinghipster.com - thanks, Burnsy]

Nic Cage is suing Kathleen Turner for libel in London over allegations in her autobiography about his behavior on the set of Peggy Sue Got Married.  Among the allegations:

"Another co-star who left a lot to be desired was Nicolas Cage, who played my boyfriend and husband in Peggy Sue Got Married.  He caused so many problems. He was arrested twice for drunk-driving and, I think, once for stealing a dog. He’d come across a chihuahua he liked and stuck it in his jacket.”

God forbid she make him sound fun.  But wait, why is he suing in London?

British libel law differs dramatically from US libel law in that in Britain, the burden of proof lies not upon the plaintiff to demonstrate a libel, but upon the defendant to show that what is written is truthful or has "justification". Almost uniquely in British law, there is no need for a plaintiff to actively prove that a defendant is "in the wrong". Nor is there a requirement to prove malice. …Libel cases are still typically pursued mainly by the wealthy. [Source]

Neither of them are British, so how does that work – you just sue someone in whatever country’s easiest now?  In related news, I’m suing Jerry Bruckheimer in Botswana for shrinking my penis with his dreams.  The penalty is death by stoning.  And his chances aren’t looking good because I’ve gone to the trouble of buying a goat for everyone on the jury, which is perfectly legal in Botswana.  You can read about this and more in my upcoming book, "Africa: What the Fuck are They Thinking?"

Coppola says he doesn’t want to work with Al Pacino, Robert DeNiro, or Jack Nicholson because they’ve become apathetic.

"I don’t feel that kind of passion to do a role and be great coming from those guys, because if it was there, they would do it! I mean, they’re all in a position to do it,"

Meanwhile, prior to the upcoming Youth Without Youth, Coppola hadn’t directed a film since The Rainmaker, in 1997.

"Pacino always wanted to do theater. He wanted to do `Peer Gynt.’ He wanted to do Shakespeare. Pacino will say, `Oh, I was raised next to a furnace in New York, and I’m never going to L.A.,’ but they all live off the fat of the land," Coppola says.
"I think if there was a role that De Niro was hungry for, he would come after it. I don’t think Jack would," he says. "Jack has money and influence and girls, and I think he’s a little bit like (Marlon) Brando, except Brando went through some tough times."
Nicholson — a front-row regular at the Oscars and at Los Angeles Laker games — "was always kind of a joker" and a Hollywood schmooze, says Coppola. [Yahoo]

Man, old people suck at talking trash.