Sony Pictures is teaming with George Clooney and his Smokehouse partner Grant Hesloy to adapt the story of Tom and Dicky Smothers into a feature film, Deadline is reporting. ‘Atari’ screenwriters Brian Hecker and Craig Sherman have been hired to script the story of the 1960s television comedian brothers. Clooney and Hesloy are on board to produce the movie, but there’s no word yet whether the actor will star in and/or direct the biography. The film comes after Sony, Glooney and Hesloy optioned David Bianculli’s book ‘Dangerously Funny: The Uncensored Story Of The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour.’ The brother’s show ran from 1967-69 on CBS, and it made headlines for…

Ever wonder how many projects go into development only to never see a green light? Well, there’s a lot, but that doesn’t stop studios from announcing potential projects. Not only do we have a Farmville movie in the works, but one about Steve Jobs and one about Dr. Seuss, too. Of the bunch, the latter two are the most likely to come to fruition while Farmville could be a ways away. Then again, even if a Farmville movie does happen, how much of the narrative could really be based on the game? Also in the development stage is the big screen version of the TV show Friday Night Lights. While…

Ron Howard won’t be directing the film adaptation of The Lost Symbol, the third book in Dan Brown’s Robert Langdon series, Deadline is reporting. Howard only wants to produce the final film in the trilogy, instead of directing it, even though he helmed its two predecessors, 2006′s ‘The Da Vinci Code’ and 2009′s ‘Angels and Demons.’ Howard reportedly told Amy Pascal and Michael Lynton from Sony Pictures, which released the first two films in the series, that he doesn’t want to continually tell the same stories with the same character over and over. But the studio is saying Tom Hanks, who portrayed Langdon in both previous adaptations, will reprise his…

Tommy Lee Jones is joining the cast of “Great Hope Spring”. He will joining an all-star cast which will feature Meryl Streep and Steve Carell. There is no release date for this movie but it looks like it will be sometime in 2012. Great Hope Spring was written by Vanessa Taylor (episodes of “Alias” and “Everwood”) and will be directed by David Frankel (“Marley & Me” and “The Devil Wears Prada). The screenplay was on the prestigious Black List in Hollywood. If you’re not familiar with the Black List, it’s OK, most people aren’t. It’s not a bad thing despite the name, it’s called a list of wonderful screenplays that…

Christian Slater is continuing to resurrect his career by appearing in his third television series in as many years, FOX’s ‘Breaking In,’ Sony Pictures has confirmed. The studio’s new half-hour comedy follows a high-tech security firm, Contra Security, that takes extreme measures to obtain clients. A team of highly skilled geniuses, working for a manipulative mastermind, does whatever it takes to sell its protection services. Slater plays Oz, the leader of Contra Security, who has his team take away potential clients’ sense of security so that they feel the need to hire the firm. The rest of the team includes Melanie, played by Odette Yustman, who’s in charge of picking…

While the upcoming George Clooney-directed movie ‘The Ides of March’ originally was scheduled to get a limited release in December, and then open to a wider release in January 2012, Sony Pictures is now pushing for an earlier fall release, Collider.com is reporting. The political thriller, which is rumored to be a heavy awards contender next year, is now expected to to open in theaters on October 14. The news comes after multiple other wide releases have been scheduled to hit theaters that weekend, including ‘The Three Musketeers,’ ‘Footloose,’ ‘The Big Year’ and ‘The Thing.’ Starring alongside Clooney in ‘The Ides of March’ are Paul Giamatti, Ryan Gosling, Marisa Tomei…

Martin Scorsese’s first film where he works with 3D will be arriving in theaters a lot sooner thanks to a couple of nice decisions from GK Films, the production company financing his upcoming feature “Hugo Cabret.” After being under the secure distribution wing of Sony Pictures, the powers-that-be in GK Films wanted “Hugo Cabret” to appear in theaters during Thanksgiving weekend. When Sony could only produce a December 9th release date, they made their way over to Paramount Pictures to strike up a deal that suited their interest. Now “Hugo Cabret” will be arriving in theaters on November 23rd with Paramount behind the distribution wheel. Since the family mystery feature…

There may be some script problems going on with “Men in Black III,” but that’s not stopping Sony Pictures from continuing on their casting. That’s where Alice Eve comes in, locked in to play the role of the young Men in Black Agency head Olivia (Emma Thompson). In the film Olivia is hired as secretary for the Agency back in 1969. You may think they handed her the job because of her looks, but she’s actually a really smart girl. That’s why it’s no surprise she’s running the entire Agency during the contemporary story line. Agent J (Will Smith) must go back in time, teaming up with the young Agent…

With AMC’s new hit show ‘The Walking Dead’ re-sparking interest in zombies, screenwriter Craig Fernandez is hoping to do the same with Frankenstein. The writer is developing a script of the modernization of the Frankenstein monster for Sony, and Matt Tolmach is on board to produce the film, Cinemablend.com is reporting. There’s no word yet on how Fernandez will update the beloved tale, but his movie is just the latest suggested Frankenstein adaptation to hit Hollywood recently. Rumors are circulating that the Dean Koontz ‘Frankenstein’ series is heading for the big screen, as well as Kevin Grevioux’s graphic novel ‘I, Frankenstein.’ Fernandez’s Frankenstein movie is just one of the latest…

The new big-screen version of the classic pulp character “The Shadow” is no longer at Sony Pictures, with 20th Century Fox now having picked up the property. Sam Raimi (the “Spider-Man” and “Evil Dead” movies) is still attached to produce the film, which would bring the adventures of the 1930′s radio serial character to life. Fox is looking at attaching David Slade (“Hard Candy”, “30 Days of Night”, “The Twilight Saga: Eclipse”) to direct the film. Most famously remembered for the radio serials being voiced by Orson Welles, The Shadow was a trenchcoat-wearing vigilante who was an expert sharpshooter, a master of disguise, and vaguely-defined psychic powers that allowed him…