First Look at Jack Black as R.L. Stine in 'Goosebumps'

Jack Black has been keeping a low profile over the last few years. He's made a couple of cameos, and does again in Sex Tape, but his last starring roles came three years ago in Bernie and The Big Year. Perhaps he's been preparing for what promises to be one of the weirdest roles of his career, playing a fictionalized version of author R.L. Stine in the Goosebumps movie.

The first images have arrived that show Black as Stine, the writer of the kid-friendly horror novels popular in the '90s and turned into a Nickelodeon TV series. The feature film will be directed by Rob Letterman, who worked with Black on Gulliver's Travels, and has the author teaming up with his daughter and a neighbor when some of his literary creations come to life. Odeya Rush, Dylan Minnette, Amy Ryan, Ryan Lee, Jillian Bell, and Ken Marino co-star.

Goosebumps hits theaters August 7th 2015. [EW]

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Michelle Monaghan Joins 'Pixels'; Benicio Del Toro Boards 'Sicario'; Amy Ryan Has 'Goosebumps'

* Michelle Monaghan, last seen twisting Woody Harrelson into emotional knots in True Detective, has joined Adam Sandler in Pixels. Also starring Josh Gad, Peter Dinklage, and Kevin James, the big screen adaptation of the viral short film follows a group of guys who come to the rescue when New York comes under attack by 1980s video game characters. Monaghan takes over the female lead that Jennifer Aniston had been considering. [TheWrap]

* With Emily Blunt coming aboard Denis Villeneuve's Sicario earlier this week, the film gets even more impressive with the addition of Benicio Del Toro. Described as similar to No Country for Old Men, the story takes place on the U.S./Mexico border where a female cop and two mercenaries track down a drug lord. But once they cross into Mexico, they find that things are even more dangerous and violent than expected. Del Toro will play one of those mercs, "an assassin hired by the U.S. government to help bring down the Cartels, which are responsible for the death of his family." [TheWrap]

* Amy Ryan and Jillian Bell (Workaholics) have joined Jack Black, Dylan Minnette, and Odeya Rush in Goosebumps, based on the R.L. Stine books. Directed by Rob Letterman, the story follows "a teen named Zach Cooper, whose family moves to a new home where his new neighbor is a mysterious author. When a demonic ventriloquist's dummy unleashes the author's creepy creations, it's up to his niece Hannah and Zach to battle the evil forces and save their town." Ryan will play Zach's disbelieving mother, while Bell is his ditzy aunt. [TheWrap]

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Jessica Alba Lifts 'The Veil'; Helen Mirren is 'The Golden Lady'; 'Goosebumps' Adds Dylan Minnette

* Jessica Alba and Thomas Jane will star in The Veil, a supernatural thriller with some interesting talent behind the camera. Robert Ben Garant (Night at the Museum) wrote the screenplay with Phil Joanou (Gridiron Gang) directing the story which begins "30 years ago, when members of a religious cult known as Heaven's Veil take their own lives. The truth behind what really happened remains buried deep in the memory of the sole survivor, a five-year-old girl, who returns to the compound with a documentary crew as an adult. They soon discover something that is far more terrifying than anything they could have imagined." Alba's been keeping plenty busy and has the teen assassin film Barely Lethal coming up, plus rom-com How to Make Love Like an Englishman, and Robert Rodriguez's Sin City: A Dame to Kill For. Jane gets it on with Shailene Woodley in White Bird in a Blizzard, and co-stars with John Cusack in Drive Hard. [THR]

* Here's one to keep an eye on as a potential Oscars favorite. Helen Mirren is in early talks to star in The Golden Lady, an art world drama directed by My Week with Marilyn's Simon Curtis. Mirren would play real life figure Maria Altmann, a Jewish refugee who mounted a successful legal campaign to reclaim priceless pieces of art stolen from her family by the Nazis.  Among these were a collection by Austrian artist Gustav Klimt, which included the Portrait Of Adele Bloch-Bauer I, sold just a few years ago for $135M. [DailyMail]

* With Jack Black already confirmed to play author R.L. Stine in an adaptation of his Goosebumps series, his two young co-stars have now been found. Dylan Minnette, most recently seen in Prisoners, and Odeya Rush (The Odd Life of Timothy Green) have come aboard the film to be directed by Rob Letterman. Minnette will play "Zach Cooper, who moves with his family move from NY to to the idyllic town of Greendale, MD, where his secretive new neighbor turns out to be author R.L. Stine (Black). When the many, many demons in Stine’s mind are set free by Slappy, a demonic ventriloquist’s dummy, it’s up to Zach and Stine’s niece Hannah (Odeya Rush) to put the evil genies back in the bottle." [Deadline]

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