deals (12 posts)

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Lauren Lee Smith can see dead people.

At least beginning this fall.

Looking to fill the void left by the departures of Gary Dourdan and Jorja Fox, The L Word veteran is joining CBS' CSI: Crime Scene Investigation as a series regular, the network announced today.

The 27-year-old Smith will play Bryce Adams, described as a "smart, flirtatious and witty nonconformist" obsessed with the underbelly of society, who got into police work to rebel against her disapproving psychiatrist father. She joins Gil Grissom's crack squad working the night shift.

The Vancouver-born thesp had a recurring stint on Showtime's The L Word as sous chef Lara Perkins. Her film credits include last month's thriller Pathology, as well Art School Confidential and alongside Casey Affleck and Zach Braff in The Last Kiss. She teams up with Ashley Judd and Goran Visnjic in the drama Helen, due out in October, and will appear in next year's horror anthology Trick or Treat.

Fox and Dourdan both decided not to reup with CSI after failing to hash out new contracts. With Smith in place, producers still must fill the role of Ray Santoro, billed as a "handsome, smart and athletic" CSI who takes on the graveyard shift at the crime lab.

Chris Week/WireImage.com

Ian Ziering's got a new ZIP code on MySpace.

The Beverly Hills, 90210 alum is teaming up with the social networking giant to develop original webisodes based on his short film Man vs. Monday, which he directed, produced and starred in two years ago.

The new series, in the vein of Mike Judge's 1999 cult classic, Office Space, finds Ziering's cubicle drone facing a seriously bad case of the Mondays after a wild weekend.

"In the entertainment industry there remains one constant: change," Ziering, 44, said in press-releasespeak. "I believe the digital world presents tremendous opportunities for the producers who understand it, and I am launching a digital production company, iMan Productions, to take advantage of this opportunity."

Ziering, who hoofed it up on last season's Dancing With the Stars, will next appear on the big screen opposite Heather Graham and Jerry O'Connell in the comedy Baby on Board.

AP Photo/ Matt Sayles

George Clooney has always had a thing for barnyard animals. First, there was his beloved late pet pig, Max. Now, he's got a thing for Goats.

The Oscar-winning star will headline Men Who Stare at Goats, a supernatural flick about a secretive military unit specializing in ESP and telepathy.

Per Variety, Goats is based on the 2007 book of the same name by U.K. journalist Jon Ronson, who claims it's a true story, not some kind of X-Files ripoff.

The story purportedly revolves around the U.S. Army's First Earth Battalion, which was created in 1979 and sought to harness soldiers' paranormal activity. One of the tests included becoming invisible, walking through a wall and killing a goat just by staring at it, hence the title.

Goats had been circulating around Hollywood for quite a while, but it became the subject of a bidding war at Cannes this week, sparking the interest of BBC Films, Winchester and Mandate Pictures.

Grant Heslov, Clooney's partner at Smoke House Films production and cowriter of Good Night, and Good Luck, is slated to direct, but no word yet on when Clooney will get his Goats on.

Lucasfilms/Paramount PicturesImage

The Archaeological Institute of America knows Harrison Ford only plays a bullwhip-toting, intrepid scholar on the big screen, right?

Either way, because of what the movie star's role as the iconic Indiana Jones has done for the field, the Boston-based organization has elected Ford to its board of directors.

Understanding the past helps in "dealing with the present and future," Ford said in a statement released by the AIA, which, per its website, "exists to promote archaeological inquiry and public understanding of the material record of the human past worldwide."

The institute's professional members have conducted field research around the globe and have founded research and learning centers in seven countries.

It's unclear what duties Ford will fulfill, but surely even the pros can use refresher courses from time to time on escaping snaky situations and riding an inflatable raft through the snow.

ABC / Adam Larkey

For those of you looking to cram your TiVo with dance competitions, this is some pretty great news!

TLC has tapped Joey Lawrence, fresh from either shore leave or the third season of Dancing With the Stars, to host Master of Dance, the latest edition to the show-us-your-moves canon.

Only this time, a contestant will be halfway through a dance when the powers that be switch the music, forcing the hoofer to prove he or she can really go with the flow. The person who can do that most proficiently will win $50,000 at the end of the six-part series, which premieres June 8.

"The winner of this show will be that person at the wedding or party who always has the right moves and knows every popular dance," said executive producer Craig Piligian.

Well, better that person than the guy who throws up on the bride or spills his drink on the stereo.

Michael Caulfield/WireImage.com

Daniel Day-Lewis tends to bide his time between projects, sometimes waiting as long as five years between Oscar nominations, er, film roles. But Nine could be the magic number this time around.

Variety reports the British thesp is in talks to play the role of a film director dealing with personal and creative demons while simultaneously trying to please the many women in his life—a part that previously belonged to Javier Bardem—in the big-screen adaptation of the Fellini-inspired stage musical Nine.

The British scene-stealer might not seem like the obvious choice to play Guido Contini, but Bardem ultimately decided he was tired out from his other films and all that awards-season triumphing to carry on. No matter that the Spaniard's girlfriend, Penélope Cruz, is still slated to star, along with Marion Cotillard, Nicole Kidman, Sophia Loren and Judi Dench.

Chicago visionary Rob Marshall will be directing the Weinstein Co. production. A rep for the studio says no decisions regarding the male lead have been made and that any names out there now are "pure conjecture."

Jesse Grant/WireImage.com

Michael Moore's got the mercury rising.

Appearing at Cannes, the Oscar winner unveiled plans to begin work on a sequel to 2004's blockbuster documentary Fahrenheit 9/11, sealing a deal with Paramount Vantage and Overture Films to cofinance and distribute the film.

The parties are tight-lipped about the specifics of Moore's new movie, only revealing that, unlike its predecessor, it won't be an attack on President George W. Bush but will instead examine America's status in the post-9/11 world.

The untitled doc is slated to open in spring 2009, well after the presidential election. Overture will release the film domestically, while Paramount Vantage will handle international distribution.

Debuting at the 2004 Cannes Film Festival, Fahrenheit 9/11 won the Palme d'Or and then went on to gross $220 million worldwide, making it the biggest documentary ever.

Moore's latest exposé, Sicko, targeted the U.S. health-care system and raked in $24 million last year.

Goff/INFDaily.com

Emile Hirsch has ditched his agent faster than you can say "box-office flop."

A source tells E! News the 23-year-old actor, who won raves for his performance as society-shunner Chris McCandless in Into the Wild before dumbing down for the widely panned Speed Racer, has fired United Talent Agency's Shari Rosenzweig.

Our insider drew no direct connection between Hirsch's latest career move and the disappointing $18.6 million Speed Racer took in during its megahyped opening weekend (which included a major arse-whooping from the week-old Iron Man), but would only confirm that "he is not represented by UTA anymore. He has dropped his agent."

But it's not as if UTA didn't keep Hirsch working during the seven years he was there. Aside from his haunting turn in Into the Wild, his credits also include roles in the porn-star-neighbor comedy The Girl Next Door, the true-crime drama Alpha Dog, the skateboarding romp Lords of Dogtown, and the indie ensemble The Air I Breathe.

—Reporting by Whitney English

Jean-Paul Aussenard/WireImage.com

Adrian Grenier has added another guy-behind-the-guy to his posse.

Looking for a steadier stream of financing for his filmmaking aspirations, the Entourage star's Reckless Productions has announced a partnership with Northern California investment group J. Loar, Inc.

Grenier founded his shingle in 2007 with the hopes of turning out documentaries and films with positive messages, such as his 2002 directorial debut Shot in the Dark, about the actor's years-long search for his estranged father, which premiered last year on HBO.

"John Loar and I share the same values," the actor said Tuesday. "It's exciting to work with someone with a good heart who wants to put his financial muscle towards creative and socially conscious projects."

"We're matching private equity funds up with expertise, production experience and celebrity," Loar added. "When there is social good, as is the case on these two projects, then it's icing on the cake."

Jean Baptiste Lacroix/WireImage.com

UPDATE: A source close to the production says Anne Hathaway, Evan Rachel Wood and Alison Lohman are all reading the Manson Girls script for the role of Charles Manson follower Nancy Pittman, recently vacated by Lindsay Lohan.

Meanwhile, the film's producer, Brad Wyman, tells E! News exclusively: "I have extraordinary faith in Lindsay and her talent and am saddened by her departure."
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Good thing she has that Ugly Betty gig to fall back on, because Lindsay Lohan's movie prospects are rapidly going the way of the dodo.

After being touted as starring in two upcoming high-profile projects—a romantic comedy with Jack Black and a drama about the Manson Family—the actress needs to line up new work after being replaced in both films weeks before shooting was to commence, E! News has learned exclusively.

And the spinmeisters are out in full force to portray everything as hunky-dory.

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James Devaney/WireImage.com

Now that he's got Indiana Jones out of his system, Steven Spielberg is ready to get serious again.

While making the PR rounds for Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, the Oscar-winning filmmaker announced he's cast his vote for his next feature project: an Abraham Lincoln biopic, which could start shooting early next year.

Per Variety, Spielberg has postponed production on The Trial of the Chicago Seven, about the tumultuous 1968 Democratic National Convention, because he was unable to get a polished script due to the writers' strike.

But he does have a solid screenplay for Lincoln from Angels in America playwright (and Munich scribe) Tony Kushner.

First up, though, is Tintin, the opening installment in a trilogy of movies he and Peter Jackson are making based on the popular European comic strip. Then Spielberg will tackle Lincoln.

The Civil War epic will star Liam Neeson, who agreed to play the fallen president three years ago and has been cooling his heels waiting for the green light. After that, Spielberg will choose between Chicago Seven or the top-secret sci-fi tale he's been prepping, Interstellar.

Ash Knotek/ZUMApress.com

Natalie Portman can't make time for another torturous period romance after all.

Despite being an early champion of the project, the Other Boleyn Girl star has had to drop out of an upcoming adaption of Emily Brontë's haunting classic Wuthering Heights because of a scheduling conflict, a rep for Portman confirms to E! News.

There's no word on who might fill Cathy's headstrong shoes now, but German-born thesp Michael Fassbender is reportedly in final negotiations to play Heathcliff and cameras are still set to roll this fall, with Brit John Maybury directing.

The film keeping Portman from tromping around the moors is as yet unannounced, but we do know that the almost-27-year-old has the Jim Sheridan drama Brothers, costarring Jake Gyllenhaal and Tobey Maguire, coming up, as well as the vignette-driven New York, I Love You, an American answer to last year's Paris, je t'aime.