It appears that Sony is on the search for a 2 year old Caucasian toddler with red hair for the upcoming comic book sequel Spider-Man 4. SpoilerTV has intercepted a casting notice for the film, which strangely only features one role, a character named “Toddler Boy”.

Here is the decription from the casting breakdown:

2 or 3 year old boy to play 2 year old, Caucasian with RED HAIR, an adorable toddler with an engaging personality, on set experience preferred. IDENTICAL TWINS ONLY

The fact that they are looking specifically for young boy with RED hair leads many people to believe that the child will be of relation to Mary Jane (played in the series by Kirsten Dunst).

Fox Searchlight has debuted the trailer for Scott Cooper's Crazy Heart starring Jeff Bridges and Maggie Gyllenhaal as well as Colin Farrell and Robert Duvall

Crazy Heart is both written and directed by actor/filmmaker Scott Cooper, who wrote the script for For Sale by Owner and is making his directorial debut with this film. This was shot last year but hasn't shown at any film festivals. Fox Searchlight will be bringing Crazy Heart to limited theaters starting on December 11th.

Seen below is Fox Searchlight's official poster for Crazy Heart from the LA Times. The trailer arrives on Monday. Crazy Heart is the latest big Oscar contender, and it already has a lot of support. Jeff Bridges plays a broken-down, hard-living country music singer in a kind of Wrestler-like story.

Bad Blake is a broken-down, hard-living country music singer who's had way too many marriages, far too many years on the road and one too many drinks way too many times. And yet, Bad can't help but reach for salvation with the help of Jean, a journalist who discovers the real man behind the musician.

When James Franco’s short stint on General Hospital was announced, I figured it was something he was doing to challenge himself and set different acting boundaries. In any case, I was excited to see how it would turn out.

Movieline spoke to Carter, a guy who has collaborated with Franco on a variety of image-related artistic endeavors. The salient bit is this, with respect to Franco taking the soap gig:

It was an idea that I posed to him, and it’s tied to another film that he and I are working on now. It’s not specifically for another project, because I know that he’s really enjoying the challenge of working on a soap — it’s a very taxing job, and an interesting thing for him to be doing — but it does have to do with another film that he and I are working on.

The intended end result is a feature film that will be scripted, involve other actors and all the traditional stuff that features have. But Carter says it could be “pretty abstract, for a larger audience,” i.e., an audience outside the art crowd. Beyond that, details are sketchy to non-existent. He’s careful to emphasize that Franco isn’t just doing the General Hospital character for a laugh, that it is real work.

Franco’s own statements support that. He talked to Vulture about how much he had to shoot in one day — 65 pages or so!

I’ve worked one day on it. It’s one day of a few. But I think we packed seven episodes of my material in. They gave me a script for the day that was as thick as a film script and that’s what we planned to shoot in a single day. No ad-libbing. If I needed it, they said they had a TelePrompTer, but the regulars didn’t use it so I didn’t want to use it, either.

Joel and Ethan Coen are preparing to shoot their own take on the Charles Portis novel that became the John Wayne film True Grit. We’ve known for a month that the brothers plan to give Jeff Bridges the role of Wayne’s character Rooster Cogburn. The drunk, stubborn, eyepatched character won Wayne an Oscar, and I’m excited to see what Bridges does with it. Now we’ve got two more big, great names to add to the cast that is already looking like one of my faves of 2010.

Variety reports that Matt Damon and Josh Brolin are both in talks to join the cast. Damon would be La Boeuf, Glen Campbell’s lawman who, with Cogburn and a 14-year old girl, tracks the man who killed the girl’s father into dangerous Native territory.

Brolin would play Tom Chaney, the killer being tracked by Cogburn and La Boeuf. That’s a nice flip from his role in the Coen’s No Country For Old Men, and a solid bit of casting in general.

A few big roles remain to be cast and/or announced. First up is Mattie Ross, the girl who propels the plot. There’s also Ned Pepper, the leader of the gang Chaney joins up with, originally played by Robert Duvall.

The Coen adaptation of the original novel is said to be more faithful to the text than the existing film. So we’ll likely see Mattie as an old spinster, who in the novel narrates the tale. There are likely to be a few other big differences, too, but I won’t outline them to keep the spoilerish stuff to a minimum.

Chris Pine  is attached to the Ben Affleck scripted crime-drama The Blade Itself based on Marcus Sakey's novel of the same name. Aaron Stockard co-wrote the screenplay with Affleck after first writing the script for the actor's directorial debut Gone Baby Gone back in 2007, but apparently it's not in the cards for Affleck to direct.

The Blade Itself follows childhood friends Evan and Danny as they become a duo of petty thievery until a botched pawn shop robbery sends Evan to prison. While Danny turns over a new leaf, Evan bides his time in prison until his release seven years later when he sets out to bring Danny back into a larcenous lifestyle at the risk of exposing his secret past of theft.

Marvel Studios will begin shooting Thor in January. With Kenneth Branagh’s tale of the Norse thunder god on schedule and finally about to go before cameras, hopefully we’ll soon see some production design, costumes and other materials. Meanwhile, here’s a rundown of what we know so far.

The movie’s story sees the god of thunder Thor, a powerful but arrogant warrior whose reckless actions re-ignite an ancient war. As punishment, Thor is cast down to Earth and forced to live among humans. Once here, he learns what it takes to be a true hero when the most dangerous villain of his world sends dark forces of Asgard to invade Earth.

Chris Hemsworth (Star Trek) is Thor, Anthony Hopkins is his father Odin and Natalie Portman is Jane Foster, who in the comics is nurse to Thor’s human alter-ego Donald Blake. Tom Hiddleston is the villanous Loki, Jaimie Alexander is the Asgardian warrior Sif, and Colm Feore is a villain whose identity is being kept secret. Stellan Skarsgard is in the cast, too.

Another rumor to chew over this fine Friday afternoon. CHUD is reporting that Canal+ from France is gearing up to remake Carol Reed's 1949 classic The Third Man that starred Orson Welles and Bernard Lee. Apparently none other than Leonardo DiCaprio and Tobey Maguire are already cast and helping develop the project. While they say it doesn't have a director yet, the screenplay is being written by Steven Knight, of Dirty Pretty Things and Eastern Promises. Sounds like a lot of great talent, but of course, is a remake of The Third Man even necessary or desired? It's a true noir classic that really can't be topped.

The Third Man is a noir mystery set in Austria's capital city Vienna, devastated and recovering from the World War II. An American pulp writer arrives in Vienna only to find that the friend who waited for him is killed under mysterious circumstances. The ensuing mystery entangles him in his friend's involvement in the black market, with the multinational police, and with his Czech girlfriend. Criterion released a Blu-Ray of The Third Man earlier this year. According to sources, the remake is just going out for bidding now and it always could fall through, though if it's at Canal+, it will probably get funding soon. We'll keep you updated!

Yesterday Walt Disney Pictures released the official movie trailer for Mike Newell’s big screen adaptation of the popular video game Prince of Persia: The Sand of Time. Today a new international cut of the trailer has been found online at TrailerAddict. The trailer features a bit of new footage, and is a completely different edit. This cut seems to be a little less ADD and a little less “trying to be everything.” Unfortunately, it still has the annoying voiceover by Gemma Arterton.

From the team that brought the “Pirates of the Caribbean” trilogy to the big screen, Walt Disney Pictures and Jerry Bruckheimer Films present PRINCE OF PERSIA: THE SANDS OF TIME, an epic action-adventure set in the mystical lands of Persia. A rogue prince (JAKE GYLLENHAAL) reluctantly joins forces with a mysterious princess (GEMMA ARTERTON) and together, they race against dark forces to safeguard an ancient dagger capable of releasing the Sands of Time—a gift from the gods that can reverse time and allow its possessor to rule the world.

Set in the mystical lands of Persia, PRINCE OF PERSIA: THE SANDS OF TIME is an epic action-adventure about a rogue prince (JAKE GYLLENHAAL) and a mysterious princess (GEMMA ARTERTON) who race against dark forces to safeguard an ancient dagger capable of releasing the Sands of Time—a gift from the gods that can reverse time and allow its possessor to rule the world.

Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time will hit theaters on May 28th 2010

The film definitely has a Pirates of the Caribbean type of feel to it. I have never actually played the games, although I've heard great things. Actually, I'm quite impressed by Gyllenhaal in this so far also. Sometimes he can be a bit annoying and whiny, but it seems like he may have actually delivered a pretty good performance. I'm interested.

Or at least that’s what Nikki Finke is reporting.  Roger Ebert quips, “They have Lakers tickets.”  The search continues on.  Steve Martin and Tina Fey are not available.  Hugh Jackman has graciously declined being pigeonholed.

Apparently Odin, Thor's father, will be played by none other than Anthony Hopkins in Marvel's upcoming Thor movie. THR's Heat Vision Blog reports that Hopkins is "in negotiations" to play the Norse god and ruler of Asgard in the adaptation being directed by Kenneth Branagh. We already know that the cast also includes Chris Hemsworth as the god of thunder Thor, Tom Hiddleston as his evil brother Loki, Natalie Portman, Jaimie Alexander, Colm Feore, and apparently Robert De Niro and Jude Law. Talk about a very impressive cast!

Score. Let's just hope he doesn't just play Hannibal Lecter. I feel like Hopkins can turn in great performances and weak ones. Certainly looks the part though. Should be quite fun.

Joss Whedon has penned a hilarious note to the franchise owners in an attempt to acquire the franchise with a mighty fine $10,000 check. Says Whedon: “That’s four — FOUR! — zeroes after that one. That’s to show you I mean business. And I mean show business.”

He goes on to list the myriad of brilliant ideas he has for the franchise, including  Terminator of the Rings (”Yeah, what if he time-travelled TOO far… back to when there was dragons and wizards?”), liberal use of Summer Glau, and a throat lozenge for a certain Mr. Bale.

While hilarious, the piece could also be seen as spitting on the grave of the recently departed Sarah Connor Chronicles. It was very clear come last season that Fox was willing to only keep one Friday sci-fi show on the air, and that ended up being Whedon’s Dollhouse. Ultimately, I think Fox made the right choice because Dollhouse has gotten steadily better since the midpoint of season one. Sarah Connor was good campy fun, but Dollhouse has a greater chance of approaching greatness, as episodes like “Epitaph One”  and “Echoes” have shown.