Eric Lavallée

No stranger to controversy, director Spike Lee has signed on with Universal Pictures and Imagine Entertainment to helm a feature length retelling of the April 29, 1992 riots that threatened to destroy Los Angeles. The riots followed the acquittal by an all white jury of LAPD officers who were videotaped beating motorist Rodney King. The revisit will bring Lee further into the realm of pseudo-documentary, following his film for HBO Pictures “When the Levees Broke” which chronicled the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina and the devastation of New Orleans. Brian Grazer (“Friday Night Lights”, “24”(TV)) is set to produce the flick, which will be penned by John Ridley (“Third Watch”(TV)).

Surprise surprise! The first critic’s year-end best list is out via the National Board of Review and it looks like an Eastwood/Scorsese duel might unfold yet again. Letters From Iwo Jima tops the chart as Best Picture, but Marty picks up Best Director honors. I imagine that more West coast circles and associations might give higher grades for Dreamgirls, while the bizarre omission of Little Children in all of the categories will be compensated by east coast critics.

Hot on the heels of his ensemble pic Smokin' Aces director Joe Carnahan has entered into talks to bring back the 1965 thriller Bunny Lake Is Missing. Carnahan is said to be working with Spyglass Entertainment and producer Mark Gordon to renew the Otto Preminger film with the style and zing that punctuates all of the director's works.

You remember Open Water, that scary summer hit a few years back about the scuba couple stranded in shark infested seas, right? Or if not, you definitely recall the scene in Jaws where they tell the story of the WWII boat the Indianapolis, no? Well even if you missed either of these mega money makers, director Chris Kentis and producer Laura Lau want to make sure you don't miss the next shark attack, Indianapolis.

George Clooney is at it again. He and Smokehouse Pictures partner Grant Heslov have teamed up with Warner Independent Pictures to buy the screen rights to John Grisham's nonfiction drama "The Innocent Man: Murder and Injustice in a Small Town." This is deal numero dos for Smokehouse/WIP this month, just last week they signed on together for White Jazz, the James Ellroy adaptation, in which Clooney will star.