Today's Film News: The Bubble is Bursting

By Katey Rich

As the country's economy slides ever-closer to that dreaded R-word, perhaps it's a good time to revisit the dot-com bubble burst of 2001. That's what First Look is banking on, at least, having picked up the Josh Hartnett indie vehicle August, which debuted at Sundance. Hartnett plays a Web magnate coping with the downturn in economic fortunes, just before Sept. 11 changes the landscape yet again. The Hollywood Reporter writes that David Bowie also stars, oddly enough, as a corporate raider. A July 11 release is planned.

Those of you looking for the next big thing, look no further than the cheerleader with the power to save the world. "Heroes" star Hayden Panettiere is currently filming I Love You, Beth Cooper (she's Beth Cooper, of course), is about to record an album, and now she's set to star in an adaptation of the young adult novel Naomi and Ely's No Kiss List. Variety writes that Panettiere will play a Manhattan girl who, to preserve her friendship with her gay best friend, puts together a list of people neither can kiss. Sounds like exactly the foolproof plan two teenagers would come up with.

Stan Lee is probably the secret force that makes all of Hollywood run, given that his comic books have earned the industry several billion dollars in the last few years. Now his POW! production company is set up at Disney, and he's got three brand-new projects in the works with the studio. The Reporter writes that all are intended as tentpoles and potential franchises, and all, of course, have comic-book qualities. Lee joked, "I only hope Disney will have room at the theme park once they become the tentpole franchises that we envision them to be." Time to start placing bets on how long it takes Lee to get a statue of himself holding hands with Spider-Man, a la Walt Disney and Mickey.

Stan Lee may be trying to convince you that superheroes are still where it's at in Holllywood, but it may actually be spies. Yet another spy romance is heading for the big screen, this one a spec script from Alan McElroy titled Man and Wife. The set-up may sound a little familiar to Brangelina fans; Variety writes that it centers on "a professional killer, who has to pretend to be an ordinary husband, and the wife who learns to love him in a totally unexpected way." If by "totally unexpected" they mean "pretty much like every other spy movie," then they're probably correct. McElroy also wrote Resident Evil and Spawn.