Today's Film News: Christopher the Terrible

By Katey Rich

I'm going to be honest with you guys-- it's been hard coming up with film news lately, since all the good news seems to be about TV deals. I don't know if it's because of the looming actors strike or what, but exciting movie casting seems to be hard to find these days. But, of course, I will soldier on! Today's best item is probably the news that Christopher Guest will play yet another historical figure in the upcoming Night at the Museum 2: Escape from the Smithsonian. The man who has brought life to so many out-there characters in his own movies will play Ivan the Terrible in the Ben Stiller vehicle, according to Variety. Bill Hader (Superbad), Jon Bernthal (Day Zero) and Alain Chabat (The Science of Sleep) have also signed on for roles. The movie comes out May 22, 2009.

Tom Cruise's name has been attached to the CIA thriller Edwin A. Salt for what seems like forever, but now Philip Noyce has made the project a lot more likely to come to fruition. Variety reports that Noyce will direct Cruise in the story of a CIA operative falsely accused of being a Russian spy, and sent on the run until he can clear his name. Columbia Pictures has the project, but no release date has yet been set.

So if you thought the Michael Douglas movie The Game was disturbing, just wait until it's parents pulling the strings to mess with their children instead! No, it's not reality television-- it's a spec script by Richard D'Ovidio that was recently picked up by CBS Films, according to The Reporter. Care to take bets on how long it takes this to actually turn into a reality TV show?

And finally, Gillian Anderson is making her way back on to the national radar thanks to her upcoming role in X-Files: I Want to Believe, and she seems to be using that power to get a gig as producer and star of Gellhorn: A Twentieth Century Life. An adaptation of the biography by Caroline Moorehead, the movie will feature Anderson as the war correspondent who also had a brief marriage to Ernest Hemingway. Variety writes that Deborah Newmeyer, Michael Glassman and Sarah Radclyffe will also produce.