akashiver | Aug. 17th, 2010

It looks like a relative unknown is to play Lisbeth Salander in the "Dragon Tattoo" movie, which seems promising. The rest of the cast looks good too. In other casting news, the "On the Road" movie cast is more-or-less complete, and Satya Bhabha from "Scott Pilgrim" will star in a film version of Salman Rushdie's Midnight's Children.

The British TV series Spooks may be remade by Americans. In other "Americans adapt British Stuff" news, the split of the final Harry Potter movie has been announced and it looks like Pt 1 will end quite late, around Chapter 24, so Part 2 will probably be all finale. That doesn't seem like a bad idea to me, given that I really didn't want to spend two hours watching Harry & Co wander around in the woods like the folks in the Blair Witch Project.

Here's a project that sounds cool: Jamie Bell has joined the cast of the British psychological thriller "Retreat."

"Cillian Murphy and Thandie Newton will play an estranged couple who head to a remote island getaway in an effort to rebuild their relationship. It's likely Bell is replacing the previously attached David Tennant as a dying military officer who arrives on their doorstep with news of a viral pandemic killing millions on the mainland."

Mmm. Plague. Psychology. British. This one sounds promising.

Now let's talk Ze Crazy. Peter Berg is directing a film version of the board game Battleship. Personally, I think I already saw that film, and it was called Das Boat. But here's how they describe the plot:

Based on the classic board game, the story revolves around an international fleet joining forces to battle a water-bound armada from outer space.

From... Outer... Space.

I have no idea how Peter Berg used to play Battleship, but if anyone had tried that cracked-out "my fleet's from Outer Space!" line on me, they'd have ended up with a Carrier wedged firmly up their nose.

Oh, and the "Battleship" cast includes Rihanna and Tom Arnold. Oh dear.