By Katey Rich
OK, this is just a weird trend. For the second day in a row a member of the Black Eyed Peas is part of a casting announcement. Yesterday it was Taboo in Street Fighter, and today it's frontman will.i.am, joining the cast of the X-Men spinoff Wolverine. He and Ryan Reynolds have been cast in key roles against Hugh Jackman's titular character, as John Wraith and Deadpool, respectively. As has been long-rumored, archenemy Gambit will also make an appearance, played by "Friday Night Lights" regular Taylor Kitsch. Variety suggests that Fox will aim to make a spinoff based on Reynolds' character, though given the middling performance of Definitely, Maybe over the weekend, that might not be the best plan. But given will.i.am's bizarre rendition of "Mack the Knife" at the Grammys last weekend, he's probably not spinoff material either.
I know the sitcom "Back to You" isn't exactly a smash hit, but is Kelsey Grammer really this hard up? He's agreed to play Ebenezer Scrooge in An American Carol, not to be remotely confused with the version of A Christmas Carol Robert Zemeckis is doing over at Disney. This one is an indie parody, and it's directed by the man responsible for Scary Movie 4, David Zucker. Granted, he's also the man responsible for Airplane!, but we're not revering Nick Nolte for his great work nearly 30 years ago, so why hold Zucker to the same standard? Variety tells us that the movie will lampoon modern American culture, with a particular focus on Hollywood. Oh, brother.
The Ellen Page Money Train keeps rollin' along: ThinkFilm will distribute the Canadian film The Tracey Fragments, which is up for six Canadian Genie awards this month. Page plays a depressed teenager on a hunt for her missing younger brother. The distributor will roll out the film on a small scale in May, and will bring it wider if it becomes a success. I'm a bit doubtful: Page is a hit when she's a clever pregnant teen, but an unconventional narrative and a Canadian production? That's a little less of a surefire hit.
Finally, The Hollywood Reporter has a numbers-heavy article on the future of Marvel, which is aiming to become a bona fide production company with this summer's dual releases The Incredible Hulk and Iron Man. Basically, fortunes over there aren't so hot, even though some are still saying they may release as many as two films in 2009. Character names being tossed around include Ant Man, Captain America, Thor and The Avengers. Ant Man? Is it unkind to suggest we might be scraping the bottom of the barrel here?
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