Denzel Washington will star in a remake of “The Taking of Pelham 123”. The star of “Man on Fire” and “Crimson Tide” will reunite with the director of those pictures, Tony Scott, on the new movie. Washington will play the character that Walter Matthau played in the original 1974 film about four criminals that take the passengers of a New York subway car ransom and the tense standoff that follows.

Washington will next be seen in “American Gangster” playing opposite Russell Crowe. “American Gangster” was directed by the brother of the director that will make the “Pelham” remake, Ridley Scott. It seems that working with the Scott brothers is becoming a bit of a habit for Denzel.

On Christmas Day Denzel will have another new movie out in theaters called “The Great Debaters”. This is the second movie that Washington will have directed after making “Antwone Fisher” in 2002. He also stars in the film as a black Texas university professor in the 1930s that went on to lead his school’s debating team to the national championship against Harvard University.

Two “Rush Hour” buddies may reunite on a film about Frank Sinatra’s personal valet. Chris Tucker (who played the loudmouth Detective James Carter in the comedy trilogy) and director Brett Ratner are developing a movie about the life of Sinatra valet George Jacobs. The movie will be based on a non-fiction book written by Jacobs and William Stadiem titled “Mr S: My Life With Frank Sinatra”.

Jacobs served as Sinatra’s valet between the years of 1953 and 1968 during the time that the legendary crooner was one of the world’s top entertainers as well as a member of the Rat Pack. Ratner is a big fan of Sinatra and immediately took a shine to the idea of making a film about his idol. “Brett is a Rat Pack obsessive, and so it’s fun to work with someone so passionate about the period. I think he’s channeling Frank sometimes,” said co-writer Stadiem about the director’s interest.

Tucker is developing material for a standup comedy tour while Ratner is enjoying the fruits of being an executive producer on Fox’s “Prison Break” which is now entering its third season. Meanwhile their “Rush Hour” friend Jackie Chan is also keeping busy finishing up on a new action movie titled “The Forbidden Kingdom” and lending his voice to an animated movie from DreamWorks called “Kung Fu Panda”. Both films will be released next year.

Hollywood hunk Matthew McConaughey will spend some time on the island of Hawaii filming a cameo role in “Tropic Thunder”. The “We Are Marshall” star is substituting for Owen Wilson following the latter’s recent hospitalization and recuperation. Wilson remains good friends with “Thunder” director Ben Stiller.

The comedy is about actors making a Hollywood war movie being filmed on a small island nation. When that country is attacked and goes to war the actors find themselves on the other side of the camera playing real soldiers. “Tropic Thunder” stars Stiller, Jack Black, Nick Nolte, Robert Downey Jr., Bill Hader and Steve Coogan. It will arrive in theaters next summer.

McConaughey’s part is small and only requires the actor to spend a week on location. The part will remain uncredited just as it would have if Wilson had performed it. The 38-year-old actor has two movies scheduled for release next year where he is the movie’s leading man, the action-adventure “Fool’s Gold” and the comedy “Surfer Dude”.

Actor Jim Broadbent has won the role of Professor Horace Slughorn in “Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince”, the sixth movie in J.K. Rowling’s bestselling fantasy novel series. The story will find Slughorn rehired to his old posting as Hogwart’s Potions Master and Harry will discover that he has a history with his nemesis, the evil Lord Voldemort. “Slughorn is drawn back out of retirement because he’s got some secrets Harry and (headmaster) Dumbledore need in the battle against the Death Eaters,” explained Broadbent when asked about his character. “He’s quite star-struck as a teacher, and he’s drawn back into the fold because he likes to notch up celebrity students.”

The man who played Bridget Jones’ dad, Boss Tweed in “Gangs of New York” and the emcee of “Moulin Rouge!” is also playing pal to another well-recognized hero from film. Broadbent will be seen next year in “Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull” playing a different professor of sorts, a Yale scholar who is friends with Indiana Jones. After finishing up on “Harry Potter” Broadbent will next step into the shoes of infamous American President Richard Nixon in a drama called “Dirty Tricks”. Brad Pitt, Sharon Stone and Meryl Streep will also star in that film.

Actor Viggo Mortensen has a reputation as digging deep to understand the character that he is playing in a movie but his latest role may have gone further than he expected. The ruggedly handsome star of “The Lord of the Rings” spent four hours every day having 43 tattoos painted on his fingers, hands and arms for his role in David Cronenberg’s “Eastern Promises”. In the film Mortensen plays a Russian mobster and his character’s tattoos reflect the same tattoos that real members of the Russian underworld sport. Each tattoo tells something about what the criminal has done, where they were born and what they believe in and serve as a coded language for other mobsters.

One day after Mortensen was finished filming for the day he went to a London pub still wearing his character’s tattoos and sat close to a group of Soviet youths. “They were looking at my hands and suddenly stopped talking. “It was right when the (Alexander) Litvinenko (former lieutenant colonel of the Russian Federation’s Federal Security Service) poisoning happened in 2006, and I looked very shady. So I got up and left. They were probably freaked out,” explained the actor.

“Eastern Promises” has earned early Oscar buzz for Mortensen, Cronenberg and co-star Naomi Watts after it won the peoples choice award at the Toronto Film Festival.

The world best knows Daniel Radcliffe as the boy wizard Harry Potter but will it soon know him as Bond…James Bond? That is the rumor that a website has heard and according to their source Radcliffe’s people are considering it.

According to the Joblo website Radcliffe has been approached about playing a junior age secret agent in what would be an adaptation of Charlie Higson’s young James Bond books. Higson’s novels take place in the 1930s so that the older Bond is the same era as in Ian Fleming’s novels which took place in the Cold War. If the rumor is true it is more than likely that the setting would be moved to the modern day. Another factor to consider is the age of Radcliffe. In the young Bond books the character is in his early teenage years while Radcliffe is 18-years-old now. The actor probably won’t be available until after he finishes the seventh and final “Harry Potter” movie in two years. Daniel certainly won’t be free this fall as he is preparing to star in the Broadway version of his hit stage play “Equus”.

The producer behind Warner Bros. highly successful “Harry Potter” movie franchise is developing a “Paddington Bear” film. David Heyman is producing a live action adventure of the gumboot wearing furry friend created by Michael Bond in 1959. The novelist wrote 11 “Paddington” books over 21 years and saw his creation turned in a popular childrens animated series. Millions of youngsters have read the “Paddington” books and Heyman is hoping that a movie starring a computer generated teddy bear with real actors will find success.

“Paddington Bear is a universally loved character, and I have wanted to bring him to screen for some years,” explained Heyman when he made his announcement. “Michael Bond’s ‘Paddington’ books have such wit, wonder and charm. Essentially, Paddington’s story is that of an immigrant arriving in London and trying to find a home and a family. Above all, I love Paddington’s unique style of comedy.”

Heyman has commissioned Hamish McColl (“Mr. Bean’s Holiday”) to create a screenplay from bits and pieces of Bond’s 11 “Paddington” books.

Paris, Lindsay, Britney, Nicole. Their names splash across the entertainment news headlines the morning after their latest misadventure. From their frequent encounters with the law to lewd adult videos appearing on the internet the lives of these “celebutants” have become a very public spectacle that the world is eager to follow. Now the producer working on a movie about the life’s story of Anna Nicole Smith wants to make another film based on fictional famous young women in trouble. The title of the film? “Hollywood Brats”.

“It’s all about these girls in Hollywood getting into trouble,” said Jay Nasser, the producer making the movie. His movie will focus on the ups-and-downs of three Hollywood starlets as they dodge the paparazzi, police and public humiliation. “You see them all go to jail, you see them get arrested, you see them go through trials and tribulations,” added Nasser. In fact the characters in Nasser’s movie may be some actual real-life troublemakers who agree to take part in the proceedings. “I’m not allowed to let those names out yet,” he said.

“Hollywood Brats” is looking to start shooting the day before Halloween.

Comedy Central’s newsman Jon Stewart will host the 80th Academy Awards when it airs next year. This will be the second time that the “Daily Show” star has hosted, his first time being two years previously. “Jon was a terrific host for the 78th Awards. He is smart, quick, funny, loves movies and is a great guy. What else could one ask for?” commented the show’s producer, Gilbert Cates, when the decision was announced. “I’m thrilled to be asked to host the Academy Awards for the second time because, as they say, the third time’s a charm,” quipped Stewart.

Last year’s Oscar telecast, emceed by Ellen DeGeneres, attracted 39.9 million viewers. By contrast Stewart’s broadcast the year before drew one million less. It will be interesting to see if the audience figures rise above last year’s show now that Stewart is more of a household name in America. The show will be broadcast on Sunday, February 24^, 2008.

The title of the next Indiana Jones movie is “Indiana Jones and the Crystal Skull”. Harrison Ford’s co-star in the film, rising star Shia LeBeouf, made the announcement Sunday evening during the MTV Video Music Awards. Shia joked that he was coming up to his 18^th birthday and since the awards were taking place in Las Vegas this year it was time to do something naughty, then he revealed the title to the audience.

Indy fans have been speculating about what the new film’s title would be for a long time. Many considered “Indiana Jones and the Lost City” a leading candidate but just as producer George Lucas proved to the world when he revealed the titles for his three “Star Wars” prequels, you can never expect what Indy’s creator will do next. The new “Indiana Jones” movie will open on May 22, 2008 and will also star Cate Blanchett, Ray Winstone, John Hurt and Karen Allen, Ford’s love interest from “Raiders of the Lost Ark”.