Nick Nolte joins The Gangster Squad!

Deadline has the exclusive:

Nick Nolte continues his recent career resurgence. He’s been set to join the cast of the Ruben Fleischer-directed Warner Bros. drama The Gangster Squad. Nolte will play Bill Parker, the new chief of police in Los Angeles, and the first in a while who hasn’t been corrupted by Mickey Cohen (Sean Penn).

The chief, a Purple Heart recipient at Normandy, is the one who starts the Gangster Squad, a crack team designed to bring down organized crime. Ryan Gosling, Josh Brolin, Emma Stone, Mireille Enos and Anthony Mackie star.

Nolte stars in the Gavin O’Connor-directed Warrior, and he just wrapped the Taylor Hackford-directed action film Parker for FilmDistrict opposite Jason Statham, Jennifer Lopez and Michael Chiklis.

Ricky Gervais to host the Golden Globes...and the Oscars?!?

That’s what he says, though it could just be a goof. Deadline has more:

Ricky Gervais had Hollywood buzzing in January with his no-holds-barred hosting stint on NBC’s Golden Globes telecast. He ripped enough folks — from Charlie Sheen to Robert Downey to Johnny Depp to God — that few thought the host Hollywood Foreign Press Association would want him back for a third.

Apparently, though, NBC has other ideas about it: The British comedian said at the Edinburgh International Television Festival today that the network has asked him to host again, saying he is considering it “but I shouldn’t do it.” NBC declined to comment on the matter.

“I love NBC, I love the fact they stuck by me through it,” Gervais said, adding, “I don’t think I should do it. What am I going back as?” Gervais wasn’t done yet at the annual TV confab.

He also revealed that he was approached about hosting the Oscars, though it’s unclear whether that was before or after the Academy announced Brett Ratner and Don Mischer would produce the Oscarcast — normally the producers make the call on the host.

Did you miss the VMAs last night?

Don't worry, it was a disaster, but here's the teaser for The Hunger Games for anyone interested:

Get More: 2011 VMA, Music

Ghostbusters 3 could go forward without Bill Murray?

Apparently so, according to Coming Soon:

After years of rumors, it appears that Ghostbuster 3 is finally moving forward and will likely do so with or without Bill Murray's involvement. Dan Aykroyd appeared on The Dennis Miller Show to discuss the project, dropping specific details about the sequel, hinting that the plan is to film in Spring of 2012 no matter what happens casting-wise.

"Yes, we will be doing the movie and hopefully with Mr. Murray," he says, "That is our hope. We have an excellent script. What we have to remember is that 'Ghostbusters' is bigger than any one component, although Billy was absolutely the lead and contributive to it in a massive way, as was the director and Harold [Ramis], myself and Sigourney [Weaver]. The concept is much larger than any individual role and the promise of 'Ghostbusters 3' is that we get to hand the equipment and the franchise down to new blood."

Circuit Round-Up, 08/28

* Last week, Joey Magidson and I closed the book on the summer of ’11. How did you feel about the last three months?

* I previewed the final summer films almost certainly destined to fail in the wake of Irene’s destruction.

* Joey’s DVD Picks of the Week was one of his most joyous installments yet, with his two of his favorite films of the year so far hitting shelves.

*Finally, Mike Ward reported on The Help’s box office dominance and ponders how far it'll go at the multiplex.

So just how bad a hit will the box office take due to Hurricane Irene?

About as bad as can be expected (with many theaters near me in New York closing shop this weekend), according to The Hollywood Reporter:

Hurricane Irene could result in box office losses of as much as $30 million for the weekend as movie-going comes to a standstill up and down the East Coast.

Domestic box office revenues for the frame were on track to reach $120 million, but the massive storm could reduce that number by as much as 25%. By Friday afternoon, the news was grim. “Its horrendous,” one distribution executive noted.

Across the board, films were posting lower than expected results, including three new titles—the Luc Besson-produced action pic Colombiana, starring Zoe Saldana and distributed by TriStar, the Weinstein Co.’s R-rated ensemble comedy Our Idiot Brother headlining Paul Rudd, Elizabeth Banks, Zooey Deschanel and Emily Mortimer, and the Guillermo del Toro-produced horror movie Don’t Be Afraid of the Dark, distributed by FilmDistrict and starring Katie Holmes and Guy Pearce.

Ben Affleck casts Kyle Chandler in Argo!

Via The Playlist:

Kyle Chandler is one of those actors who is a journeyman, logging time on a number of television shows—“Homefront” and “Early Edition” among them—and appearing in small roles in a number of films before finally landing what would be his star-making turn in “Friday Night Lights.” The critically acclaimed show struggled for survival throughout its five seasons, but it was a launchpad for folks like Taylor Kitsch, Adrianne Palicki and Minka Kelly and for Chandler as well, it put him firmly on the radar thanks to his turn as Eric Taylor. J.J. Abrams made a great choice in slotting him in “Super 8” and now Chandler will see his stock rise with a role in another highly touted pic.

Bullock and Reynolds also planning to reunite?

According to The Hollywood Reporter, yes:

Pals Sandra Bullock and Ryan Reynolds are poised to reunite on screen.

Though Bullock's deal has not closed, the former Proposal co-stars are in talks to lead the voice cast of And Then There Was Gordon, from Reynolds and Allan Loeb's production shingle, Dark Fire, and 20th Century Fox TV.

The news comes one week after Dark Fire sold its first project, Guidance, a high school set buddy comedy starring Mad Love’s Tyler Labine, to Fox.

In this case, the animated comedy project is about an ordinary child surrounded by brainiac siblings. It received a presentation order from Fox, home to Sunday evening's animation domination block of such shows as The Simpsons and Family Guy.

Looks like DiCaprio and Scorsese are once again teaming up...

Deadline has the exclusive:

In what shapes up as a reteam for the writer, director and star of the Oscar-winning The Departed, Leonardo DiCaprio is attached to star in The Gambler, a Paramount remake of the 1974 drama.

James Caan starred in the original as an academic whose gambling addiction begins to get the best of him.

William Monahan is writing the script as a potential directing vehicle for Martin Scorsese.

DiCaprio recently completed the Clint Eastwood-directed J. Edgar, and he’s playing Jay Gatsby in Baz Luhrmann’s remake of The Great Gatsby for Warner Bros, based on the F. Scott Fitzgerald classic. DiCaprio then takes a villainous turn in the Quentin Tarantino-directed Django Unchained for The Weinstein Company.

So what exactly did the first part of the year give us in terms of Oscar contenders?

Well, this article from Deadline gives sort of a primer on just that:

OK, I’ll say it: If the Oscars were held today (nearly two-thirds of the way through 2011) Woody Allen could have another Best Picture winner. Of course the 84th Academy Awards aren’t being held yet and we are still four and a half months away from the end of eligibility. But as I embark on the fall season beginning with the Venice + Telluride + Toronto film festivals it’s time to take a look at where things stand and where things are going. First up in this series of posts: Is there anything released so far in 2011 with a realistic chance to ultimately win Best Picture? Or at the very least earn a nomination? Remember, new rules say from 5 to 10 films could benominated, meaning each nominee can’t get there without receiving at least 300 first place votes in the nominating process. Conventional wisdom is that films released in the first 8 months of the year are at a tremendous disadvantage to those coming out in the fall and holiday season. Last year no eventual winner in the top 8 categories was released before October — and 7 of those winners came out on or after Thanksgiving. Then again some recent Best Pic winners like The Hurt Locker (2010) and Crash (2005) came from the first half of their respective years. Other classic Best Pic champs like Patton, The Godfather, The Silence Of The Lambs, Gladiator, Braveheart, and yes, Woody Allen’s first Best Picture, Annie Hall (1977), were all released in the first 5 months of their respective years so it would be foolish to downgrade the chances of movies we’ve already seen this year. Or would it? Indeed 4 of last time’s 10 Best Picture nominees were released in June and July.

But other than animated films like Rango and Rio there were no solid Best Pic possibilities until we hit the Cannes Film Festival in May. Slowly simmering Best Picture talk was sparked by the fest opener, Allen’s rapturously received Midnight In Paris and Terrence Malick’s Palme d’Or winner The Tree Of Life which both went on to later May domestic releases. The Allen film has become his most financially successful film ever and it will hit the $50 million benchmark this weekend. Its official Academy screening was packed to the rafters (“the best turnout I have seen in years”, according to one member) and was extremely well received. “I liked it but some members I know got mad at me because I didn’t love it,” another voter told me. ”I haven’t seen anything that’s gotten that kind of response.”

In Time gets a new International Trailer!

Behold:

-Joey's Two Cents: I think this could be a very entertaining flick...thoughts?

Robert Zemeckis drops out of directing the time-travel drama Replay...

...which I honestly was really hoping he'd do. Here's the article from /Film:

With the amount rumor running around Hollywood, it’s hard to believe a movie is actually getting made until a filmmaker calls “Action” on set. That said, it seems after considering a number of projects, Oscar-winning director Robert Zemeckis has settled on his next film and it’ll be one of the many he was previously attached to. That film is called Flight and stars Denzel Washington as a pilot who saves his plane after a malfunction and is labeled a hero (Think Sully Sullenberger). However, as the investigation moves on, it becomes apparently that he was under the influence of drugs and alcohol and he must then deal with keeping the secret and the guilt of being an undeserving hero.

As a result of choosing to direct Flight next, Zemeckis has dropped out of the Groundhog Day/Back to the Future influenced Replay.

Deadline broke all this Zemeckis news. Their article says the producers of Replay, which once had Ben Affleck attached, are trying sell the Jason Smilovic scripted project to another filmmaker. It shouldn’t be a problem with a premise that’s as great as this. I can’t be the only one bummed that Zemeckis is NOT doing this film:

Want to see more Zoe Saldana?

The Hollywood Reporter has the exclusive:

Just as her action movie Colombiana opens across the country, Zoe Saldana has set up the supernatural thriller Dominion at Paramount.

The pitch hails from Dean McCreary and Chester Hastings and while plot details remain sketchy, the story centers on a woman (Saldana) who is half-human, half-angel.

Saldana will also serve as a producer on the project, alongside Robbie Brenner. Brenner is a producer on the Gerard Butler drama Machine Gun Preacher, and it was on that project where he first met McCreary and Hastings, who worked on the screenplay early on.

Hastings and McCreary, both repped by Gersh, co-wrote You’re My Angel, a thriller from 4 Horsemen Films that is in development. They also co-wrote Fanboy, a short film about a video store employee who is the world’s biggest Sam Raimi fan. The unreleased comedy features turns from Raimi and J.K. Simmons, who play themselves.

Behold the trailer for The Rum Diary!

Looks like a fun time, at least:

Trailer day continues with a glorious one for The Artist!

Right on the heels of a great look at Drive, we now have this trailer for The Artist:

-Joey's Two Cents: It looks rather beautiful to me. I can't wait to see it...thoughts?