Today's Film News: It's Earth Day!

By Katey Rich

Though the rest of the country may be focused on the fact that today is the Pennsylvania Democratic primary, Disney wants to remind you that it's also Earth Day! They chose this day of planting trees and hugging the planet to announce that they're building a new production shingle, DisneyEarth, that will focus on nature documentaries. First up will be Earth from director/producer Alastair Fothergill, who gave the world the breathtaking BBC miniseries "Planet Earth." The Variety article doesn't mention whether or not Disney will show the films on IMAX or in 3D, but this seems a pretty clear attempt to edge in on the nature documentary market that National Geographic has had cornered for years now.

Plenty of films currently in production are nervously eyeing the potential June 1 start date of a SAG strike, but a handful of indie projects are in the clear. The Hollywood Reporter announced today that two Bob Yari Films productions, Killing Pablo and The Governess, have been awarded no-strike pacts with the union, guaranteeing that their actors will stay on the set through the summer shooting dates in the case of a strike. A handful of other indie projects have been awarded similar pacts, and more are expected to come. Killing Pablo is a drama about Colombian drug czar Pablo Escobar, starring Christian Bale and Javier Bardem. The Governess is a comedy starring Jennifer Lopez.

Sam Mendes' upcoming romantic comedy, which goes into production this week, continues climbing higher and higher on my "can't wait" list. Now two new names have been added to the cast that, unbelievably, makes it sound even better-- Jeff Daniels and Catherine O'Hara will be part of the fun, presumably in some parental role with the main characters, played by John Krasinski and Maya Rudolph. The script, written by novelist Dave Eggers and his wife Vendela Vida, follows an expectant couple as they travel the country looking for a place to live. The Reporter writes that Allison Janney, Jim Gaffigan and Paul Schneider, among others, are also on board. With a cast this big and this talented, not to even mention the greats behind the camera, how can you go wrong?

And finally, Hilary Swank will be duking it out with Virginia Madsen over her one true love Richard Gere in Amelia, Mira Nair's biopic about Amelia Earhart. Variety reports that Madsen has signed on to play Dorothy Binney, the first wife of publishing magnate George Putnam (Gere), who went on to marry Earhart (Swank). The movie will begin shooting later this month in Canada and South Africa.