Andres Muschietti Directing 'Shadow of the Colossus', David Frankel Takes 'The Priority List', Morten Tyldum Helms 'Pattern Recognition'

Sony has been building an adaptation of their hit video game, Shadow of the Colossus, for the last five years and had Josh Trank (Chronicle, Fantastic Four) on board to direct since 2012. But he's far too busy for that now, and so Andres Muschietti (Mama) will take over. The classic Playstation game centers on a young man who must defeat 16 monstrous colossi to bring his dead lover back from the dead. [Deadline]

David Frankel (The Devil Wears Prada) has come aboard to direct The Priority List, with Jonathan Tropper (This is Where I Leave You) on board to write the script. Steve Carell is headlining the adaptation of David Menasche's life-affirming memoir about a cancer-stricken English professor who goes on a cross country journey reconnecting with all of the students he taught over 15 years. [Variety]

And Morten Tyldum, riding high on the positive festival reviews for The Imitation Game, has lined up his next project. The Scandinavian director is set to helm Pattern Recognition, based on sci-fi author William Gibson's book about a woman with a psychological sensitivity to corporate symbols reacting to events following the 9/11 attacks. Consider me intrigued and this book added to my Kindle.

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Steve Carell to Headline Cancer Drama 'The Priority List'

Steve Carell's branching out into dramatic territory has been met with mixed results so far. The Way Way Back was perhaps one of last year's more underrated films, and his dark performance in it a definite change-of-pace, but audiences didn't really flock to it. A delay forced the Olympic drama Foxcatcher to later this year where some expect it to be a possible awards contender. While he may be a more diverse actor now, it was Anchorman 2 and Despicable Me 2 that made the big bucks last year. Fortunately, Carell still wants to challenge himself, and he's about to take on what sounds like his most challenging role yet.

Warner Bros. has picked up the rights to David Menasche's life-affirming memoir, The Priority List: A Teacher’s Final Quest to Discover Life’s Greatest Lessons, for Carell to star in and produce. Menasche was a Miami English professor who in 2006 was diagnosed with a lemon-sized brain tumor. After a number of surgeries and years of chemotherapy, he was able to return to teaching, only to suffer a seizure in 2012 that damaged his vision and physically weakened him. Forced to retire, he set out on a cross-country journey he called a Vision Quest, reconnecting with thousands of the students he taught over his 15-year career. In the process he comes to grips with his illness and learns to live life to the fullest. Menasche is still alive and trying to put together a documentary on his journey.

We know Carell can do funny and play a character with a bit more edge, but we've never really seen him be hopeful and inspiring. This will be an interesting test to see how far he's progressed.

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