With director Steven Speilberg;s War Horse set to hit theaters late next year, the man has already found his next directing job according to THR. Robopocalypse is that movie.  The film will be based on a book that features a few elements that Mr. E.T. is known for: science-fiction and robots.

As the title states, it will be a post-apocalyptic affair, probably much different than The Road, and more in the vein of his War of the Worlds or even The Terminator films. While I am not a huge Speilberg fan, this appears to be up his alley like few films are. Minority Report was one of the finer movies of the last decade (even though a former writer for this site left it off of this list) and this is a genre in which I have faith in the man to produce a quality product. Production is set to begin in January of 2012, so this is one for the mental Rolodex that we’ll be hearing more about in the coming year.

In the last week, we’ve continued to see more interesting movie news and movie rumors worth giving to you in this round-up.

First off, Christopher McQuarrie, who wrote The Usual Suspects and Valkyrie, is going to be writing a Top Gun sequel for Jerry Bruckheimer. Word on the street is that Tom Cruise will not star, but may have a small role in the film, or else his character will be written out. This is one of the wackest ideas ever, but a Top Gun sequel at this point could re-invigorate interest in a long dormant franchise, as you know few new ideas are floating around in Hollywood these days. Source: Comingsoon

Next up, it appears that Mel Gibson will be allowed to be legally hungover on set for a role in The Hangover 2. He is reportedly playing an American ex-pat in Thailand. This smacks of what Tom Cruise did in Tropic Thunder, when he created a wild movie mogul. Good news for Gibson I suppose, but the first The Hangover was average at best. Not sure if I am rooting for Mel anymore, but usually a comeback story is irresistible in Tinseltown.

Mark Wahlberg is rumored to have been offered the starring role in a remake of The Crow.  It is a little bit of an odd choice I suspect, even though I tend to like Marky Mark on screen.  As you know, the movie is about a man (the crow) who avenges the death of his fiancee. The original 1994 film is famous for Brandon Lee’s final performance on film, after he was killed by a loaded bullet in a prop gun on set.

Columbia Pictures has acquired the rights to make Emergency based on the best selling Neil Strauss 2009 novel “Emergency: This Book Will Save Your Life.” Iron Man himself, Robert Downey Jr. is reported to be the first choice to play the lead role. The movie is about a man trying to survive in a dangerous world, or die trying. Moving on…

NYMag says Johnny Depp wants to star in a remake of Thin Man, with Chicago helmer Rob Marshall to direct him. The Public Enemies star would play a kept man after marrying into money, who’s susceptible to alcoholism among other things. The feminine Depp has the “thin” part down already, so that’s a start.

Since The Town has done strong business and generated even some Oscar talk, Ben Affleck is in need of a future directing gig.  He looked into directing the next Superman movie, but that was handed to 300 director Zack Snyder. Now he has his eyes set on Replay, according to THR.

Based on a Ken Grimwood novel, Replay has an interesting history having floated around in Hollywood since 1988. Brad Pitt and Julia Roberts have formerly been attached to the film, and now with a new script penned by Jason Smilovic, the WB is fired up again about the prospects of getting this done, potentially with Ben at the helm.

The movie is about a man who dies while attempting to save a jogger in NYC, only to get an opportunity to relive his life starting at age 18, with the knowledge that he has already gained in life.  This is a typical fantasy for many. Cool. What makes this different is that the man falls in love with the fallen jogger and they both get trapped in repeating their lives again. Interesting. I’ll let you know more about the project as it develops. In the interim, let me know what you think.

Right on the heels of the news that Zack Snyder has been chosen to direct the new Superman movie franchise, another franchise gets a new helmer. This time it’s Tony Gilroy, director of George Clooney-led Michael Clayton, who has been chosen to supplant Paul Greengrass on the next Jason Bourne movie, The Bourne Legacy. Source: ROS

Gilroy is an interesting choice for a number of reasons.  First, while he directs action, he is a bit more of a reserved action director by some standards.  Second, he is definitely known for more mature works, with “Clayton” and last years Duplicity being marked examples.  Finally, because Gilroy is in, it begs the question of whether Matt Damon will return for the fourth installment. Damon has not yet committed, and has previously said that he would only come back if Greengrass is back.

There was also the rumor or ideology out there that Damon would be replaced with a younger star, and the franchise could end up re-booting ina younger direction.  Tapping Gilroy to direct seems an odd choice if that were to be the plan.  However, perhaps Damon’s buddy Clooney, having worked with Gilroy on “Clayton,” can spurn Damon to return to the franchise for a fourth time.  In the end, while one thing is solved, (who’s directing), plenty of other questions remain.  Thoughts?

Less than a week ago, we mentioned that Warner Brothers had a list of names it was looking at to direct their planned tent-pole film franchise, a reboot of the shortly dormant Superman franchise, to be produced by The Dark Knight and Inception helmer Christopher Nolan.  In that post, we mentioned that Ben Affleck (The Town) was “out” and that my first choice from the list was Darren Aronofsky (The Wrestler).

Well, Warners has quickly made up their mind, and has decided to move forward with Zack Snyder of Watchmen fame.  HVB reports that they’ve been in love with Snyder since 300 and that they are expecting production to begin next year.  Negotiations with Snyder are underway and should close soon.

WB felt the need to rush on the move to get Superman going because of rights issues that they have with the DC property.  Snyder is their guy, like it or not.  I personally would have liked any number of choices from their list ahead of Snyder.  Stylistically, he can do it no question, but from an emotional, humanity, and storytelling standpoint, I don’t have the faith in him. I’m not expecting Superman to be a major needle-mover for me, considering I have seen and read the story so many times before that I am not highly anticipating seeing it told again. But, in the enxt few years, perhaps my reluctance will change.  What do you think of this choice?  Share.

Louis Letterier, who helmed both Hulk and Clash of the Titans has been replaced for the sequel to the April blockbuster.  Clash of the Titans 2 is to be directed by Jonathan Liebesman of the yet to be released Battle: Los Angeles.  While Titans semi-disappointed stateside, due to its reported $125 million budget, it still has grossed almost $500 million worldwide, making it an undeniable success, so word of a sequel is now less surprising.  Heat Vision says:

Liebesman, repped by CAA and Principato-Young, nabbed the gig from the strong footage execs saw of “Battle: Los Angeles,” the director’s upcoming “Black Hawk Down”-style alien invasion movie from Columbia, which showed he could handle large-scale action and intense visual effects. The footage also impressed at Comic-Con, where is stood out from forthcoming wave of alien invasion flicks.

The original remake of the 1981 film, whose stars were Sam Worthington (Avatar) and Gemma Arterton, are among some of the actors who are expected to return for the sequel.

Liebesman is a minor surprise as a choice because his film has yet to be released, but Warners could see a coup in nabbing him early as well.  Additionally, those who saw the first film will be glad to know it will be shot entirely in 3-D, as opposed to the semi-generic process of adding in 3D after the film was shot on regular stock.  It remains to be seen how this project will shape out, we’ll let you know more as it does.

Swingers and Bourne Identity director Doug Liman is set to direct All You Need Is Kill for Warner Brothers. The movie is to be based on the Japanese novel of the same name, authored by Hiroshi Sakurazaka. Variety reports:

Story centers on a new recruit in a war against aliens who finds himself caught in a time loop in which he wakes up in the past after having been killed on the battlefield. As the soldier’s death and resurrection repeat, his skills as a soldier grows as he attempts to change his fate.

Liman has some futuristic experience so to speak, when he helmed Jumper, so I guess he is a logical choice for an actioner such as this.  Liman’s Fair Game for which we have the trailer, is coming next.  The Naomi Watts thriller is set for theaters on November 5th.  Liman fans, chime in below.

Juno-scribe Diablo Cody‘s next script Young Adult, looks to have found both a director and star.  Jason Reitman of Up In The Air fame and Charlize Theron of Battle In Seattle fame(?) are the respective parties involved, accorgding to THR.

The story, a dark comedy, follows a thirtysomething, divorced, young-adult fiction writer (Theron) in Minneapolis who returns to her hometown to chase the ex-boyfriend, who’s now married with a kid, that got away.

Both star and director are in final negotiations on the project with a shooting start date in October being eyeballed.

This is a potentially quality pairing of a rising directing star and a still-hot acting star, so if we overlook the dark comedy aspect of this, there might be awards buzz around this one (come next year, as a guess).  Cody is one of the hotter screenwriters in Tinseltown as well, so all parties involved make for a naturally intriguing and strong pairing.  I’ll let you know more as the details develop.

Alice In Wonderland director Tim Burton has his next project lined up.  This time it is Matt Wilson’s board game adaptation Monsterpocalypse, set up over at Dreamworks.  The long in development (years long) project might be released in 3D as well, seeing as how well that worked out for Alice.  Those who have been clamoring for 3D to go away are not likely to see that happen any time in the near future.  Nothing else is official; no other names attached at this juncture.

Burton’s next big screen movie will be Warner Brothers Dark Shadows with (shocker, OMG!) Johnny Depp.  I love that these two are continually willing to challenge their talents by stepping out of their collective comfort zone.  (Wet with sarcasm.)  This is boring, ho-hum news, delivered by Variety.  I am still buzzing from Inception so, its quite possible this is to be a slow week here in the nest.  Let me know if you think the above project is interesting to you, or even if you are into/tired of the Depp/Burton partnership.

In the, “could there be a more natural fit” category, it appears Academy Award winning Lord of the Rings director, Peter Jackson is close to directing The Hobbit films.  The Hobbit was recently left by director Guillermo delToro and Jackson, who had been overseeing the whole project anyway, now is negotiating to helm the two movies.  Heat Vision says that the talks are heating up seriously with the expectation that a deal could be struck very soon.  Potential issues primarily surround scheduling and fast tracking the project for release in 2012 and 2013.  Delays in the production would hurt Jackson’s chances here.

It was previously speculated that Harry Potter director Robert Yates might have a go at the movies, but Jackson is the logical choice to do the film because he spent so much time on the production side of things as well as his LOTR background.  It was really always a matter of the time and effort involved for him to step away from helming the project in the first place.  I’m not a LOTR fan but Jackson is a capable director who has the right vision to bring a blockbuster to audiences and still retain critical favor.  I don’t see why this would be any different for him, were he to step into the directors chair.  Do you like this move?  Does this make your day if a deal gets done?  Tell me.