Golden Globes Round-Up, Spider-Man in Costume, Zoolander 2, and more!

THE GOLDEN GLOBES

It was a relatively uneventful Golden Globes when it came to the award winners – all the favorites (“The Social Network,” Firth, Portman, Bening, Bale, Leo) won. The big surprises came courtesy of host, the British comedian Ricky Gervais (“The Office,” “Extras”). His cringe-inducing monologue – where he rips on “The Tourist,” Hugh Hefner’s penis, HFPA bribes, and a certain closeted Scientologist – was truly a thing of beauty, even if the Hollywood Foreign Press Association brass were less than thrilled by the proceedings. HFPA execs can breathe easily, Gervais won’t be back next year to host, and many of the celebs appear to have approved of Gervais’ jokes:

The only other real highlight – or lowlight – was Natalie Portman’s maniacal laugh after cracking a joke during her acceptance speech for the Best Actress in a Musical or Comedy Golden Globe for “Black Swan”:

ZOOLANDER 2 UPDATE

The script has been completed and ZOOLANDER 2 waiting for the go-ahead, Ben Stiller told Empire, offering a few plot details. The project reunites Derek and Hansel (Stiller and Owen Wilson) ten years later with a story set primarily in Europe. “Their lives have changed and they’re not really relevant anymore,” Stiller said, “It’s a new world for them.” Stiller also confirmed that Will Ferrell will return as Mugatu, stating that the character has an “integral part” in the screenplay. “Will Ferrell is written into the script and he’s expressed interest in doing it,” he explained, “…he features in a big way.”

FIRST LOOK AT SPIDER-MAN!

FIRST LOOK AT THE TWILIGHT SAGA: BREAKING DAWN!

UPCOMING FILM PROJECTS

Heat Vision is reporting the trade has learned who Christopher Nolan is looking at for the female role in THE DARK KNIGHT RISES. Keira Knightley, Anne Hathaway and Jessica Biel are due to test for roles in the Warner Bros. superhero tentpole in the next two weeks. Also testing are relative newcomers Kate Mara and Charlotte Riley (fiancée of actor Tom Hardy, who’s playing the villain). Hot British actress Gemma Arterton has also scheduled to test, and Nolan is filling two female roles for his third Batman movie – a villain and a love interest. According to them, one character is Talia, the daughter of Ra’s al Ghul (Liam Neeson in the first film).

Twentieth Century Fox announced that Ridley Scott will direct PROMETHEUS, a sci-fi epic for worldwide release on March 9, 2012. Damon Lindelof (“Lost,” “Star Trek”) and Scott have been working together on the script. “While ‘Alien’ was indeed the jumping off point for this project, out of the creative process evolved a new, grand mythology and universe in which this original story takes place. The keen fan will recognize strands of ‘Alien’s’ DNA, so to speak, but the ideas tackled in this film are unique, large and provocative. I couldn’t be more pleased to have found the singular tale I’d been searching for, and finally return to this genre that’s so close to my heart.” Of the five major roles to be cast, Noomi Rapace (“The Girl With a Dragon Tattoo”) is the first actor signed to star in the film.

The next film from writer-director Judd Apatow will be a sequel of sorts to his film, “Knocked Up.” The untitled project will bring back Pete and Debbie, the unhappily married couple played by Paul Rudd and Leslie Mann in “Knocked Up,” according to The Huffington Post. “It is just a story from Pete and Debbie’s current life,” said Apatow. “People really responded to their characters and problems. I felt like there was a lot of ground I could explore with them, so we’ll be shooting in July and will come out the following June. There are some fun details yet to reveal but I will let them come out slowly.”

Not only will Elijah Wood (‘Frodo’) and Andy Serkis (‘Gollum’) return to “Lord of the Rings” prequel THE HOBBIT, but now comes word from The Hollywood Reporter that Ian McKellen (‘Gandalf’) has signed on for the two-film adaptation as well. With McKellen aboard, news of Christopher Lee and Ian Holm signing on to reprise their parts as Saruman and an older Bilbo Baggins, respectively, is expected to follow.

The Hollywood Reporter says that Adam Sandler and Andy Samberg are in talks to star in I HATE YOU DAD, a comedy at Columbia Pictures that Sandler’s Happy Madison banner is producing. According to the trade, the “story centers on a father who moves in on the eve of his son’s wedding and promptly begins feuding with the bride-to-be. Sandler would play the dad, with Samberg as the son, even though less than 12 years separate the two in real life.” The film was written by David Caspe with a rewrite by David Wain and Ken Marino (“Role Models”), and a director is not attached yet.

CASTING NEWS

Sounds like Oscar bait. Accoring to a press release from RKO Pictures, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Catherine Keener, Jeremy Northam, and Christopher Walken have joined the cast of A LATE QUARTET, the upcoming indie feature from first-time writer/director Yaron Zilberman. Principal photography is scheduled to begin late January 2011 in New York City. Hoffman, Keener, Northam and Walken play a world-renowned string quartet struggling to stay together as they mark their 25th anniversary in the face of illness, competing egos and insuppressible lust.

Ed Westwick (“Gossip Girl”) has been cast in the Clint Eastwood-directed drama J. EDGAR, while Charlize Theron won’t be playing Helen Gandy as was previously reported. Deadline says that Eastwood is now looking at Naomi Watts and Amy Adams as possible replacements for the Gandy role. Westwick is joining Leonardo DiCaprio, Armie Hammer and Judi Dench in the film about controversial FBI director J. Edgar Hoover…

…Until next time!

Tags: andrew garfield, Anne Hathaway, Clint Eastwood, Ed Westwick, Golden Globes, J. Edgar, Judd Apatow, Knocked Up, Leslie Mann, Natalie Portman, Paul Rudd, Prometheus, Ricky Gervais, Ridley Scott, Spider-Man, The Dark Knight Rises, The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn, Zoolander 2