the industry

Mel Gibson Heads Back to Mexico

Viva Gibson: A Mexican governor spilled the beans on a new Mel Gibson film that will be shot in Veracruz, where Apocalypto was filmed, next year. According to Gov. Fidel Herrera, part of the Ignacio Allende prison will be emptied to accommodate the filming of Gibson’s next project. No details about the film are known, except that Gibson will labor endlessly to make sure it’s filmed in some archaic language. That guy loves his archaic languages. [HR]

Jerry Is Your Lawye
r: Just days after Sendhil Ramamurthy was cast as an ambitious lawyer in NBC’s pilot Rex Is Not Your Lawyer, the Heroes regular has dropped out and will be replaced by Jerry O’Connell. The show is based on a lawyer (David Tennent) who loses his mind and teaches his clients to represent themselves. Ramamurthy canceled because of scheduling conflicts. Luckily, Jerry O’Connell hasn’t had anything scheduled for years. [HR]

Black Ness Monster: No stranger to animation, Jack Black has jumped onboard Jason Micallef’s latest pitch, which has been picked up by Illumination Entertainment. Exact details of the story aren’t known, but we do know it will involve Cryptozoology, the study of creatures like Bigfoot and the Loch Ness Monster. Black is set to produce, but not to voice any characters, though that could still happen. Obviously, he’d make a fantastic Yeti. [HR]

Who’s Writing About J.R.?: Cynthia Cidre, the creator of the short-lived ABC drama Cane, has signed on to write TNT’s remake of the biggest prime-time soap opera ever, Dallas. The network is refusing to say anything about the plot. Previously, the show was to revolve around the son of J.R. and Sue Ellen and the adopted son of Bobby and Pam, but the studio is waiting to see Cidre’s take. This sounds like a project James Franco should be involved in. [HR]

Picture This: David Permut, who produced Michael Cera in Youth in Revolt, is bringing the Joshua Friedlander–written Pictures of You to the screen. Set in a Florida resort town, the story centers on a teenage boy who finds a camera on the beach. He develops the film and sees the girl of his dreams, the he sets out to find her. We’re assuming this is set in 1998, because all cameras that use film are now either in museums or time capsules. [Variety]

Mel Gibson Heads Back to Mexico