Marc Webb is 'Gifted'; Martin Campbell meets 'Sebastian X'; Robert Luketic takes 'The Takeaway'

With Sony's Spider-Man franchise still on the skids, Marc Webb is looking to fill in the gaps with some indie projects. Last month we learned he'd be directing Miles Teller in The Only Living Boy in New York, while at the same time he was eying the director's chair for the Fox Searchlight drama, Gifted. According to sources at The Tracking Board that deal has been struck although production is still in the earliest stages. We're also learning a little about the plot, which was penned by Tom Flynn and follows "a man fighting for custody of his brilliant niece against his mother, who believes the girl is not living up to her potential."

Green Lantern director Martin Campbell is set up to direct another graphic novel adaptation, Sebastian X. Produced by Gale Ann Hurd (The Walking Dead) and based on the comic by Michelangelo La Neve and artist Stuart Immonen, the story centers on "an elite cop who, after a near-fatal injury, is implanted with the memory of a notorious terrorist — Sebastian X — in order to infiltrate his group before its next attack." [THR]

Robert Luketic (Killers) is on board to direct The Takeaway, a romance-thriller based on a screenplay by Julia Cox. In what sounds like an update of The Thomas Crown Affair, the story centers on an art restorer who enters a whirlwind affair with her boss, who happens to be a world-class art thief.  Next on Luketic's list is Expendabelles, the female-led spinoff of The Expendables.

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Sylvester Stallone to Star as Infamous Mobster in Brad Furman's 'Scarpa'; May Appear in 'The Expendabelles'

A film on infamous mobster Gregory Scarpa, who became known as the "Grim Reaper" for the dozens of murders he committed over three decades, has been in the works over at Millennium Films for years. At one point Bruce Willis was eyed to take the title role in Scarpa, but recently it was his ex-buddy in The Expendables, Sylvester Stallone, who began circling the part. And now with Stallone on board the film is now moving forward with Brad Furman coming on to bring the mob assassin's life to the big screen.

Furman helped sparked the McConaissance with The Lincoln Lawyer a couple of years ago, only to follow it up with the abysmal gambling flick Runner Runner. Scarpa already sounds promising with Stallone and Furman on board but then you factor in a script by Nick Pileggi, the Oscar nominated screenwriter of Goodfellas, and there's even greater potential. Scarpa was a notorious hitman for the Colombo crime family, allegedly committing more than 50 murders until he became an FBI informant in 1980. Although the FBI continues to deny it, a popular theory is Scarpa helped them locate the bodies of three civil rights activists murdered in Mississippi by the KKK.

Filming is set to begin in Bulgaria later this year, and that happens to be the same place where 'Expendables' female spinoff, The Expendabelles, will be shooting. Some sources are reporting director Robert Luketic's claims of Stallone and Harrison Ford making an appearance but until the ladies are cast it's probably early to assume anything. We've heard talk of Meryl Streep, Milla Jojovich, Cameron Diaz, Zoe Bell, and others joining as candidates with nothing confirmed yet. [TheWrap]

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'The Expendabelles' Gets Its Director

It's a new world for the role of females in action films. The 80's are over, we have women in action that can kick more ass than half of their male counterparts. Sorry Red Sonja and Rae Dawn Chong, you didn't do enough to raise the bar so names like Kate Beckinsale, Milla Jovovich, and Gina Carano karate chopped that bar in half. We've known for a while now that there would be a female counterpart to the testosterone-laden series, The Expendables, but today we learn that the film now has a director...Robert Luketic. Remember what I said earlier, about women in action today holding a different role? It really doesn't look like it's going full on girl power based on what we know. First there's the writing team, Karen McCullah Lutz and Kirsten Smith, aka the ladies behind Legally Blonde, not coincidentally the same movie that Robert Luketic made his name on. I know, I know, Legally Blonde, wasn't a wholly misogynistic movie...though it did rely heavily on some pretty standard stereotypes. No, the real bit of telling info is the synopsis, in case you've missed it here it is: 

When America’s Navy SEALs are wiped out trying to penetrate the island lair of a deadly despot who has captured one of the world’s top nuclear scientists, it becomes clear that there is no such thing as the right man for the job and that this is a mission so impossible that only women can handle it. The only way in: some of the world’s deadliest female operatives must pose as high-class call-girls shipped in by private plane to satisfy a dictator–and instead save the scientist and the day.

 So...not only are they back-ups but the only reason they chose an all-girl team was so they could masquerade as hookers? I mean, don't get me wrong, I'm all about seeing those undercover scenes but something tells me this flick isn't going to be showing young women that they can do everything the boys can. Who knows, maybe I'm looking to far into it....guess we'll just have to wait and see.

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Sure Shots: Felicity Jones; Dwayne Johnson; Harrison Ford

* Felicity Jones has been extremely busy since turning heads as half of a long distance relationship in Like Crazy. Since then she's completed the next film from director Drake Doremus, was rumored for a part in Warren Beatty's Howard Hughes biopic, and will star in The Invisible Woman for Ralph Fiennes. That's a lot of big names, but she's not at all done, joining the next project from that chick flick peddler, Nancy Meyers(It's Complicated). Titled The Chelsea, the ensemble dramedy will be set in New York's Chelsea Apartments. That's basically all that we know, except that the script comes from Meyers' daughter, Hallie Meyers-Shyer. [Deadline]


* Good lord, man! Is Dwayne Johnson trying out to be the new Jeremy Renner? How many movies can one man handle? It's cool that they're a pretty diverse collection of flicks, but Johnson is dangerously close to over exposure as it is. Anyway, he's now set to star in Lore, an adaptation of Ashley Wood's 2004 comic book set in a future world full of mythical creatures. The script comes from Cory Goodman and Jeremy Lott, but no director in place just yet. Johnson has Fast Six, G.I. Joe: Retaliation, Snitch, Hercules, Pain and Gain, and Ciudad either in the works or due to hit theaters soon. That's just insanity. [THR]

* Harrison Ford, Liam Hemsworth, and Gary Oldman will star in Paranoia, an espionage thriller from director Robert Luketic(Killers). I know, Luketic scares me too, even with a cast as strong as this. Plot details are slim right now, but we know the script by Jason Hall(Spread) will involve two rival telecom giants. Filming will take place this summer in Mumbai and New York. [Deadline]

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