the industry

Hugh Grant Bumbles His Way Out of a Movie Role

Grant Gets Lost: Hugh Grant has peaced out from Working Title’s Lost for Words because of “creative differences,” and, according to a spokesperson, he “wishes them well.” Story, by Jamie Curtis and Dan Mazer, follows a British actor caught in a love triangle between his Chinese director (Ziyi Zhang) and their translator. The search is allegedly underway for his replacement, which pretty much means director Susanne Bier just sent Colin Firth a box of kittens (he loves them). [Variety]

Season of Perlman: Hellboy’s Ron Perlman will co-star in Dominic Sena’s Season of the Witch with Nicolas Cage. Story takes place in the 14th century and follows knights transporting a girl suspected of being the witch who started the black plague. Sena should consider adding a subtitle, Season of the Witch: Not a Halloween III Remake. [Coming Soon]

Riggle Blows Up: Daily Show correspondent Rob Riggle has signed a talent-holding deal with CBS to create and star in a half-hour comedy that may or may not “touch upon his background as a major in the U.S. Marine Corps Reserve.” He chose CBS because, in his view, they’ve made “a real commitment to comedy,” and they have “good sensibilities over there,” which apparently means he’s never watched a full episode of your mom’s favorite show, Two and a Half Men. [Variety]

Furyous Jackson: Samuel L. Jackson told our friends at IESB that Jon Favreau has promised to make his character, Nick Fury, a larger part of Iron Man 2. Considering that he’s in the first one for like ten seconds after the end credits, even walking through a random scene holding a pizza box would be “a larger part.” [IESB]

Under Universal’s Umbrella: IESB recently caught up with My Chemical Romance’s Gerard Way, writer of the colorful and totally great Umbrella Academy comic, and he revealed that his peculiar creation has been optioned by Universal. No writer or director yet, but Way tossed out Alfonso Cuarón’s name on his director wishlist and mentioned that Uni wants Diablo Cody to write. They must not have heard that Jennifer’s Body kind of — oh, what’s the word we’re looking for — sucks? [IESB]

Miramax Gets a Divorce: Miramax has cemented their relationship with Daily Show writers Ben Karlin and Stu Zicherman by acquiring A.C.O.D. (Adult Children of Divorce), the story of “a grown man caught in the crossfire of his parents’$2 15-year-old divorce,” with Zicherman attached to direct. Good work, fellas. Now get back to being the only reason we still own a television. [HR]

Hugh Grant Bumbles His Way Out of a Movie Role