EXCLUSIVE: Legendary Pictures has set Flight scribe John Gatins to do the next draft of Skull Island, the King Kong origin pic that Tom Hiddleston will star in and Jordan Vogt-Roberts will direct. The project was the big surprise in Legendary’s action-packed presentation at Comic-Con. The script was penned by Max…

Twenty-seven writers including John Gatins, Quentin Tarantino and David O. Russell were named finalists in nine categories for the 39th annual Humanitas Prize. The writers will compete for $95,000 in prize money to be handed out at the annual luncheon September 20 at the Montage Beverly Hills. The Humanitas Prize was…

One of the intriguing parts of the Oscar race for me is watching excellent movies, and then discovering how much adversity, disappointment and years go into them. Whether you’re even nominated, this part of awards season is a validation of the artists’ struggle, offering encouragement to others trying not to give up…

Paramount, expanding ways to reach awards voters, got interactive Monday with a bi-coastal launch of its Oscar-bait drama Flight, including a special screening and Q&A in New York beamed to four Arclight theaters in the Los Angeles area and another in San Francisco for invited guild members and press. Taking place the…

Deadline revealed a couple of weeks ago that Robert Zemeckis was dropping out of the Warner Bros drama Replay so he could direct Denzel Washington in the Paramount thriller Flight. Paramount just made that move official today: HOLLYWOOD, CA (September 9, 2011) — Paramount Pictures announced today that Academy Award ®…

Back in June, Deadline revealed that Fox 2000 had acquired the Robert Harris thriller novel Fear Index, about a scientist who uses a revolutionary system of computer algorithms to trade on the volatility of the world's financial markets. His hedge fund is wildly successful until he is targeted by an intruder who…

EXCLUSIVE: I’m hearing that Hugh Jackman is director Shawn Levy’s first choice to star in 20th Century Fox’s Fantastic Voyage, the James Cameron-produced 3D tent pole film. It’s early days, but this would give Jackman a big movie to do while he and Fox sort things out with The Wolverine. The film was on a fast track…

EXCLUSIVE: Paramount Pictures is in early discussions with Robert Zemeckis to direct Flight, a live-action feature that has been scripted by John Gatins. Denzel Washington is loosely attached. Zemeckis, who has focused for the last decade on directing and producing performance capture animation films, last directed a…

EXCLUSIVE: Disney doesn’t release Real Steel until Oct. 7, but already DreamWorks is getting the machinery moving on a sequel to the Shawn Levy-directed drama that stars Hugh Jackman. I’m told the studio has commissioned John Gatins, who scripted the first film, to start on the second installment. It’s unusual to see…