Jeremy Renner is attached to King of Heists, an adaptation of J. North Conway's nonfiction book about an 1878 New York City bank robbery in which a man named George Leslie came to town pretending to be an upscale gentleman while assembling a crew that eventually pulled $3 million from the Manhattan Savings Institution. This all sounds totally great, and that’s before considering the project’s potential for old-timey moustaches. Grade: A [Deadline]
Simon Cowell is actively trying to sell Red or Black?, a game show produced by his company Syco that premiered in the UK earlier this month, to US networks, and a sale might happen in the next few weeks. While there are other contrivances built in, the show is apparently more or less televised roulette. So good news for our very own game-show pitch, a televised version of "Guess which number I'm thinking of." Grade: D [Vulture]
Bradley Cooper has dropped out of the title role in Juan Carlos Fresnadillo’s remake of The Crow due to scheduling conflicts with Paradise Lost — but fret not: both Channing Tatum and Mark Wahlberg have apparently surfaced as possible replacements. And if the competition for the role is decided via a shirtless dance contest in which the two channel their former selves (as a stripper and Marky Mark, respectively), we all win. Grade: B-[HR]
Melissa McCarthy will steal Jason Bateman’s identity in the comedy ID Theft. Apparently McCarthy’s role was originally written for a dude, but Bateman, who is also producing, pushed for McCarthy after seeing Bridesmaids. Good thinking, Jason. Grade: A [Deadline]
