I haven't talked about movie castings in awhile but three separate stories caught my attention today:

Nicole Kidman will apparently star in a remake of Invasion of the Body Snatchers [insert Tom Cruise joke here, I'm too tired to do it]. Not only will this be the film's third remake (after 1978 and 1993 versions) but it will be Kidman's third remake in three years following this summer's Bewitched and last summer's Stepford Wives, two of her most poorly received films.

Even though my last post was all about how remakes are pointless, and Kidman has an especially bad track record in this area, there is reason to be optimistic. Instead of a middling American director, like Frank Oz or Nora Ephron, this Kidman remake will be directed by Oliver Hirschbiegel who is responsible for German Oscar nominee (and inexplicable IMDb top 250 occupant) Downfall. I haven't seen it, but people who have tell me it's good. When I read the story today I realized he also directed the bizarre German prison flick Das Experiment and I actually interviewed him when that film was released in L.A. He's a cool guy.

Kidman teaming up with a rising foreign director on a genre project has worked before. And isn't the body snatchers saga ripe for retelling given the current political scene?

Politics is sure to play some part in Oliver Stone's upcoming 9/11 project. Exactly how political the movie will be is a good question, especially since Stone is no doubt hoping to reverse some of the career damage done by Alexander. It's already been reported that Nicolas Cage and Michael Pena (what a difference the surprise success of Crash is already making for some actors) will play the leads, two port authority officers trapped in the rubble of the twin towers.

Now two of my personal favorites, Maria Bello and Maggie Gyllenhaal, are signing up to play their wives. Maggie's already made two post-9/11 projects (upcoming indie The Great New Wonderful and HBO movie Strip Search) and hasn't been shy about making political comments to the press. I wonder if that will get her into any trouble here. But Stone is a good filmmaker, so hopefully this will be smart work.

In news of a more disconcerting nature, Pena's Crash co-star Ryan Phillippe has signed on to Clint Eastwood's new film, the WWII drama Flags of Our Fathers. Phillippe, often regarded as a wooden actor, will be joined by Jesse Bradford, Adam Beach and Paul Walker. I'm sure they're all very, very thrilled to be working with Eastwood but it's too easy to imagine all of these actors getting lost in colorless miltary roles.

Right now the film has to be of interest primarily as Eastwood's follow-up to Mystic River and Million Dollar Baby. As a director he's on a roll, but can he turn out three great films in a row? His erratic track record suggests otherwise.