Casting

With little more than a sentence stating the news, Variety may have made one of the biggest announcements of this young millenia.

Gary Busey has joined the cast of The Weinstein Company's ''Piranha 3DD.''

Pic, currently in production in Wilmington, NC, bows Nov. 23.

Obviously nobody wanted to wast time with extraneous details as all that really matters is covered in the sentence. It's safe to assume the Variety staff was having a celebratory party at the time as well because really this is probably the best thing they've printed in years, at least since the announcement of Teach: Tony Danza. Let's hope this works out a bit better than that.

A couple suggestions for possible Busey roles as I'm yet to find any info online. Bullet points obviously, the Buse don't rock it any other way.

• Himself, duh.
• Former stunt boat driver that saves the day by jumping a boat pulling the super piranha into a fiery explosion. Clearly this should be a trick jump with super flair.
• Legendary baseball manager in town during a short Spring Training break that needs to motivate the group by giving lots and lots of inspirational speeches.
• Member of the Hell's Angels that doesn't know how to swim.
• Paparazzi trying to photograph Tony Danza who has taken out a private boat with tons of strippers against the Sheriff's wishes.
• Blind fisherman.
• Drunk fisherman.
• Angry fisherman.

I really think Gary Busey is a versatile actor, especially when playing a fisherman. He just has that look.

When we last reported on Cameron Crowe's latest project there were very little details aside from what it was, an adaptation of Benjamin Mee's memoir We Bought A Zoo. Since then things have changed quite a bit as we've now got some leads in Matt Damon and Scarlett Johansson, the former playing Mee, the latter the head of the zoo's staff that contractually comes with the property. Thomas Haden Church will serve as Damon's more level headed brother Duncan, and now Deadline is reporting Patrick Fugit and Elle Fanning have been cast in the film as well.

Fugit of course got his break in Crowe's Almost Famous where he pretty much played the role of a younger Crowe. No official word yet on his new part but based on an early version of the script I've read he could possibly be one of the zoo staff named Robin, although that seems like a pretty nondescript role for him. More likely I see him as the cashier at the nearest store who sort of inspires Benjamin at a time when he really needs it. The younger Fanning sister Elle will play the role of Lucy, Johansson's character's daughter who lives and works on the ranch and immediately falls for Benjamin's son Dylan, who is reportedly being played by Colin Ford.

I was a pretty big fan of the script I read and it's definitely right in the Cameron Crowe wheelhouse. People taking chances, dealing with the repercussions of those chances, seeing the big gamble pay off in the end. As for the casting so far so good, Damon should be perfect as the frustrated father trying to figure out what's best for his family and fortunately Johansson's role isn't that of a sexpot so she should be able to do that whole acting thing. Good times.  The next big question obviously is what's going to be on the soundtrack?

This story should get all nerd boners to full mast, much like your mom after her nightly feeding. Not sure that came out right. Either way looks like Hollywood might have accidentally gone and done some awesome as Sacha Baron Cohen has signed on to star as legendary Queen frontman and bicycle aficionado Freddie Mercury, with historical screenwriter extraordinaire Peter Morgan set to write the script.

Put on some stretch pants and hit some incredibly high notes Deadline:

GK’s King confirmed the Queen deal: “Queen is one of the greatest rock bands of all time, and a music brand all unto itself,” he said in a statement. “Freddie Mercury was an awe-inspiring performer, so with Sacha in the starring role coupled with Peter’s screenplay and the support of Queen, we have the perfect combination to tell the real story behind their success.”

This is the first time the surviving members of Queen--Brian May, Roger Taylor and John Deacon--have licensed songs and music publishing rights for a movie about the band and they formed Queen Films to be part of the production team on the film.

Well then, this project sounds about as promising as a film with no director can. Some might be scared of Cohen's mostly ridiculous resume but it's worth noting his success is based on his incredible ability to completely inhabit a character, which is utterly necessary for any chance of success at playing a persona as strong as Mercury's. The film's script is said to focus on the band's formative years leading up to their Live Aid performance in 1985 which you can catch some of below.

Joining luminaries like Tiffany, Deborah Gibson, Barry Williams and Eric Roberts in the giant sized creature features will be everyone's favorite nerdy neighbor Steven Urkel, or as he's claiming his name is these days, Jaleel White. Obviously your immediate thought is what incredible new monster will Urkel be battling. Super-sized baracuda? Killer tadpoles? A giant horny toad? Maybe even some kangaroo rattlesnake hybrid? Well there's good news and bad news.

The band news is there's no new super monster really. The good news is that the suspender afficianado will be starring in the sequel to the amazing Mega Shark Vs. Giant Octopus, which will this time see the flying shark battle a Crocosaurus in the aptly titled Mega Shark Vs. Crocosaurus. If the people over at The Asylum have as good of a sense of humor as they seem to, it seems pretty clear that Urkel's suspenders should somehow tie up the croc's mouth rendering it useless. Then Urkel will be standing there in his boxers having saved the world from the terrible croc before his trademark "did I do that?" sends us to the credits.   [via dread central]