the industry

Industry: Neil Patrick Harris Takes Over for David O. Russell

New Direction: Neil Patrick Harris has signed on to direct Aaron and Sarah, a romantic comedy starring Emma Roberts and Josh Hutcherson. It will be Harris’s directorial debut, and he replaces David O. Russell on the project. The movie “follows a geeky guy and a popular girl who become friends as freshmen in high school and see their relationship deepen through the four years, four proms and one funeral before graduation.” [HR]

Murphy’s Outlaw: Eddie Murphy is going to join Alan Alda and Ben Stiller in Tower Heist, a caper directed by Brett Ratner about “operations and maintenance workers in a luxury Manhattan high-rise whose pension funds were looted by a Bernie Madoff–like Wall Street crook, who is living high style in a penthouse apartment, under house arrest.” Alda recently signed on as the “Wall Street crook.” [Deadline]

Murphy’s Outlaw: Eddie Murphy is going to join Alan Alda and Ben Stiller in Tower Heist, a caper directed by Brett Ratner about “operations and maintenance workers in a luxury Manhattan high-rise whose pension funds were looted by a Bernie Madoff–like Wall Street crook, who is living high style in a penthouse apartment, under house arrest.” Alda recently signed on as the “Wall Street crook.” [Deadline]

Sand Lot: Antonio Banderas, Freida Pinto, and Mark Strong will be in Tunisia next week for the filming of Black Gold, an epic about “the rivalry between Arabian rulers in the 1930s just as oil is being discovered, and the rise of a young, dynamic leader who unites the various tribes of the desert kingdoms.” The film is bankrolled by Tunisian entrepreneur (and Saudi royal confidante) Tarak Ben Ammar. [Deadline]

Network Deduction: Samuel L. Jackson is the executive producer of “Hawkshaw,” a detective drama written by David Loughery that is currently in development for the CW. It is about a mystery man with a British accent that “believes that he’s either a descendant of Sherlock Holmes or is actually the literary sleuth.” His psychiatrist thinks he’s crazy, but her sister is a cop who discovers that he’s pretty good at solving crimes. [Variety]

Industry: Neil Patrick Harris Takes Over for David O. Russell