Tags: adaptation

Cameron Diaz has signed on to play the lead in Richard "Donnie Darko" Kelly's upcoming horror flick The Box, according to Variety.com. The movie, which is based on the Richard Matheson short story "Button, Button," deals with a young woman who receives a box that will cause "certain things" to happen, depending which of the box's buttons are pressed. Media Rights Capital is fronting the film's entire $30 million-plus budget and will begin pursuing distribution deals in the fall. "My hope is to make a film that is incredibly suspenseful and broadly commercial, while still retaining my artistic sensibility," Kelly said.

Marc Blucas ("Buffy the Vampire Slayer", Thr3e) and Naveen Andrews ("Lost", Grindhouse) have signed on to Animals, a new horror movie produced by Anonymous Content (Babel) and T&C Pictures. Also joining the cast are Nicki Aycox (Jeepers Creepers II, "Supernatural"), Eva Amurri (Saved!), and Andy Comeau ("Huff"). Craig Spector wrote the script from his 1992 novel of the same name, his last with co-writer John Skipp. The film's plot will focus on a blue-collar worker who becomes entangled in a love triangle. If the book's template is followed, then things will proceed to get very bloody from there. First-time director Doug Aarniokoski is expected to begin filming next week in Salt Lake City.

Brad Caleb Kane has signed on to write a feature-length adaptation of Elizabeth Kostova's novel "The Historian" for Sony, Variety.com reports. Kane, who has done stints as a vocalist (Aladdin) and an actor (Starship Troopers, an episode of "Buffy the Vampire Slayer"), has been making a name for himself as a screenwriter with These City Walls, a script that has been making the rounds in Hollywood. Kostova's novel involves a teenage girl delving into the work of her father: discovering the truth about Vlad the Impaler. Said producer Douglas Wick regarding their choice of screenwriter: "One of the things we've been looking for is someone who could not only capture the visceral, sexy part of the story, but who also has the talent to make it credible."

Director Sylvain White (Stomp the Yard) has signed a seven-figure deal to direct a big-screen adaptation of the popular video game series Castlevania. The film was originally under development with Paul W.S. Anderson (Resident Evil, AVP: Alien vs. Predator) attached to write and direct. Anderson will instead direct a remake of Death Race 2000, but he remains attached as the writer. He and White are expected to rewrite the script together. White grew up playing the Castlevania series. "Most of the vampire films have been present or set in the future, from 'Blade' to 'Underworld,' and I was attracted by the chance to make a dark, epic period movie that almost has an anime feel to it," White said. Rogue Pictures will co-finance the film and distribute it. The theatrical release is projected for late 2008.

Variety.com reports that Universal and Imagine Entertainment have hired David S. Goyer (Blade: Trinity, The Invisible) to write and direct a new adaptation/sequel to H.G. Wells' classic novel "The Invisible Man." The film would follow the nephew of the original Invisible Man as he uses his uncle's invisibility formula to aid British intelligence during WWII (thus giving the plot some resemblance to 1942's Invisible Agent). Regarding the project, Goyer said, "I've always been a fan of the original H.G. Wells book as well as the Universal film and felt the property was ripe for reimagining." Brian Grazer (A Beautiful Mind) will produce the film. Universal previously produced a string of Invisible Man movies in the 1930s and 1940s, starting with James Whale's The Invisible Man (1933).