Today's Film News: Michael Douglas Gets Around

By Katey Rich

Michael Douglas is all over the place these days. Not only has Variety confirmed the rumor that he will be part of Ghosts of Girlfriends Past, but now he's joining Beyond a Reasonable Doubt, a remake of the 1951 Fritz Lang noir about a journalist who tries to expose a corrupt district attorney (Douglas) by framing himself for murder. Jesse Metcalfe, a.k.a. the hunky gardener from "Desperate Housewives," plays the journalist, with Amber Tamblyn (Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants) also starring. Peter Hyams (End of Days) directs.

The motormouthed Jonah Hill of Superbad fame and Louis C.K. (TV's "Lucky Louie") will pal around with Ricky Gervais in This Side of the Truth, according to The Hollywood Reporter. Gervais, who co-wrote the script and is co-directing with Matt Robinson, plays a man who discovers how to lie in a world where everyone must tell the truth. He uses the skill, of course, to nefarious ends, using his lies to pick up a woman way out of his league (Jennifer Garner). Anyone who has seen Gervais' role on the U.K.'s "The Office" will realize that, had David Brent discovered this skill, he would have used it as much as possible, and probably badly.

"Lost" fans will be thrilled to know that Dominic Monaghan, killed off the show last season, will at least be appearing on the big screen in the psychological thriller Pet. He plays a man who runs into an old flame and becomes obsessed with her, eventually dragging her down beneath the animal shelter where he works. Newcomer Edna McCallion directs. As a "Lost" fan who misses Monaghan's drug addict rock star character dearly, I'm going to ignore the similarities between this movie and last fall's forgettable P2 and hope this one will be worth watching.

Miguel Arteta, who found a degree of indie success with 2000's Chuck & Buck and 2002's The Good Girl, may hop onboard a likely smash if he directs Youth in Revolt, the upcoming Michael Cera comedy based on the cult teen book. The Hollywood Reporter describes Cera's role as "a smart, sexually obsessed teen living in a world of moronic adults."

"Heroes" star Hayden Panettiere will play a cheerleader in the upcoming I Love You Beth Cooper, but she's heading in a different direction with Daydream Nation, in which she'll play an acerbic teenager with a dimwitted boyfriend (Kieran Culkin, who, incidentally, is eight years too old for high school). The Hollywood Reporter writes that the producers are calling the film a coming-of-age comedy in the vein of Juno or Election. Michael Goldbach wrote the script and will make his directorial debut.