George Nolfi to Direct Bruce Lee Gangster Film 'Birth of the Dragon'

About a year ago we learned there was a new Bruce Lee film on the way, but not just any old Bruce Lee film, this would be the start of a new action franchise centered on the legendary martial artist and international superstar. The film was titled Birth of the Dragon and had an impressive duo of screenwriters in Christopher Wilkinson and Stephen Rivale (Ali, Nixon), and while the film has yet to secure someone to play Lee (good luck with that), a director has been found in George Nolfi.

Nolfi last directed Matt Damon and Emily Blunt in The Adjustment Bureau, and he'll take the helm of a film that will take a real life event in Bruce Lee's life, that of his 1965 battle with Kung Fu master Wong Jack Man, and use it to launch a story of the two men battling against Chinese Triads. The story will be told from the perspective of Steve Macklin, one of Lee's disciples.

What sounded potentially awful has piqued my interest with Nolfi coming aboard. Obviously, a lot of it is going to depend on who they find to play Lee. Filming on Birth of the Dragon begins next spring.

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'Star Trek 3' Writers Bringing Flash Gordon Back to the Big Screen

Flash Gordon turned 80 this year, and the famous comic strip hero is probably more popular than ever. Sam J. Jones, who played Flash in the cult 1980 film, was paying tribute to the character (sort of) in Seth MacFarlane's Ted, to hilarious effect. And now 20th Century Fox is bringing the character back to the screen, and they aren't wasting any time in getting this project going.

Fox has hired Star Trek 3 scribes Patrick McKay and J.D. Payne to begin work on a Flash Gordon script, based on a pitch by The Adjustment Bureau's George Nolfi. John Davis is producing, having spent the better part of a year securing the rights.  Rumors of this deal first emerged last week but now THR says it's all wrapped up.

Flash Gordon was tremendously popular after artist Alex Raymond conceived the character in 1934. At the time he was developed as an answer to Buck Rogers, which was one of the top comic strips at the time. The story follows the titular hero, a Yale grad who battles the evil Ming the Merciless while going on intergalactic adventures. He's accompanied by his lover Dale Arden and scientist Dr. Hans Zarkov.

The character has been a steady presence on the big and small screen over the decades, but attempts by other studios to launch a new feature film have failed, including one that would have had Breck Eisner (The Crazies) directing. Fox is just the latest to give it a shot, and we'll have to wait and see if Flash Gordon will return to defend the Earth.

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George Nolfi to direct original sci-fi film from 'The Last Stand' writer

Universal clearly likes being in the George Nolfi business. After getting his start penning the scripts for The Bourne Ultimatum and Ocean's 12, he made quite an impressive directorial debut with The Adjustment Bureau, and now the same studio wants him for another project.

THR reports Nolfi is set to direct an original sci-fi film he's developing with Andrew Knauer, the writer the Arnold Schwarzenegger action flick, The Last Stand. No details are available for the as yet untitled film, but the two will co-write it together.  When Marvel was searching for a Captain America sequel director, Nolfi's name had been on the shortlist of contenders.

Nolfi has a couple of projects on his slate already, including the Cuban Missile Crisis film, One Minute to Midnight, so it's unclear where this falls on his schedule.

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George Nolfi to direct social networking thriller, 'XOXO'

After the success of The Adjustment Bureau, it took George Nolfi awhile to capitalize on it. He missed out on the chance to direct Captain America: The Winter Soldier, but this month has seen his name attached to two promising projects, the latest of which we haven't seen any movement on in nearly a year.

Lionsgate have set Nolfi to direct and oversee XOXO, which has been described as something of a modern day Fatal Attraction for the digital age. Yep, it's another Facebook movie, folks. Similar to the disturbing social media "documentary", Catfish, XOXO explores the dark side of virtual relationships and Internet identities. It follows Will Campbell, an engaged young executive who flirts with and begins a secret relationship with a woman he meets on Facebook, only to discover that his online affair is seeping into his real life in a deadly way.

Nolfi will supervise the rewriting of the script, which comes from Black Swan scribe, Mark Heyman. That film's director, Darren Aronofsky, is on board to produce. What we don't know is if this film will interfere with One Minute to Midnight, the Cuban Missile Crisis historical piece that Nolfi signed on to this month. [Variety]

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Sure Shots: Sacha Baron Cohen; Jennifer Lawrence; George Nolfi

* The Dictator may not have been Sacha Baron Cohen's biggest hit, but the political comedy did well enough to convince Paramount Pictures to stay in the Cohen business. You might recall around 2008 there was talk of Cohen and Will Ferrell teaming up on a Judd Apatow-produced Sherlock Holmes film. That never came to pass, but it makes me wonder if  Cohen is taking elements of that for his next film, a pitch he has sold to the studio for a spy comedy, in which a secret agent must team up with his moronic long-lost brother, who turns out to be some sort of soccer hooligan. Cohen and Phil Johnston(Wreck-It-Ralph) came up with the pitch, but right now there's no word if Cohen will act in it. Of course he will, though, likely playing one or both of the brothers. It's being looked at as something of a James Bond parody, which to me screams Cohen making fun of our friends across the pond, and likely mixing in some of his trademark political jabs as well. [Variety]

* The Weinstein Company loves them some Jennifer Lawrence, and who can really blame them? She's already the head of two mega-blockbusters, and has David O. Russell's The Silver Linings Playbook on the way in a few months. Now the studio has picked up the rights to The End of the Earth, a romantic drama based on the true story of Lydie Marland and her adopted father, oil tycoon Ernest Marland. When Ernest's wife passed away, he had the adoption annulled and married the then 28-year Lydie, leading to much controversy and business turmoil. Chris Terrio(Argo) wrote the script, and a summer 2013 start date is being looked at, which would just fit into Lawrence's busy schedule. I smell Oscar all over this one.

* I'm a big fan of George Nolfi, both for his work on The Bourne Ultimatum and The Adjustment Bureau, so I've been hoping he'd land something juicy to follow his hot streak. After missing out on the Captain America 2 directing gig, he's now taking on One Minute to Midnight, an adaptation of Michael Dobbs' book about just how close how we came to nuclear war during the Cuban Missile Crisis. Excuse me, but I prefer my historical nuclear war flicks to involve high flying super-powered mutants, thank you. [THR]

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F. Gary Gray out of the 'Captain America 2' race; will direct the N.W.A. biopic instead

 F. Gary Gray is a director I keep hoping will finally get his big break. He's made solid films before, like the classic Friday and The Italian Job remake, but offers coming his way have been slow. Last week it looked like he may finally be on the verge of making a splash with his name emerging as one of three contenders to direct Captain America 2, along with George Nolfi(The Adjustment Bureau) and the Russo Brothers(You Me and Dupree).  Instead of sticking that out and waiting for Marvel to make a decision, Gray has chosen to step up and take on another high profile project.

He'll take on Straight Outta Compton, the long gestating biopic on gangster rap icons, N.W.A. Gray's name had been on the shortlist for that as well, along with Craig Brewer and Peter Berg(???). John Singleton was attached at one point, but that fell through because Singleton's a terrible director. Ok, that's not official or anything but...well, it's true. Ice Cube is serving as a producer on the film, with a handful of writers having taken a swing at the script. After three years in development, maybe this will be one of the few hip hop biopics that actually comes to pass?

As for Captain America, Marvel has it slated for April 4th 2014, so expect a decision to be made on a director real soon. Fingers crossed for Nolfi!  [Deadline]

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