CANNES 2006
The official dance card has been released. The festival will kick off with The Da Vinci Code and close with Transylvania. Neither of the two are in competition. Those films vying for respect and glory include The Weakest Is Always Right (d. Lucas Belvaux), Summer Palace (d. Lou Ye), Lights at the Edge of the City (d. Aki Kaurismaki), Flandres (d. Bruno Dumont), Selon Charlie (d. Nicole Garcia), Quand j'etais chanteur (d. Xavier Giannoli), Days of Glory (d. Rachid Bouchareb), The Wind That Shakes the Barley (d. Ken Loach), The Cayman (d. Nanni Moretti), The Family Friend (d. Paolo Sorrentino), Pan's Labyrinth (d. Guillermo Del Toro), Youth on the March (d. Pedro Costa), Volver (d. Pedro Almodovar), Climates (d. Nuri Bilge Ceylan), Red Road (d. Andrea Arnold), Fast Food Nation (d. Richard Linklater), Marie-Antoinette (d. Sofia Coppola), Southland Tales (d. Richard Kelly), and Babel (d. Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu). Special Gala screenings include United 93, X-Men: The Last Stand, A Scanner Darkly, and Over the Hedge.

GEORGIA RULE
Jane Fonda, Lindsay Lohan, and Felicity Huffman will star in Georgia Rule. Garry Marshall (Princess Diaries) is writing, directing, and producing. The story centers on a rebellious young woman (Lohan) who has a dysfunctional relationship with her mother (Huffman) and is sent to spend a summer with her grandmother (Fonda).

PARADISE LOST
Legendary Pictures is developing a live-action film version of John Milton's epic poem, Paradise Lost. Scott Derrickson, who studied theology as an undergrad, will direct. Vincent Newman will produce. First published in 1667, the story centers on Lucifer's failed rebellion in heaven and subsequent role in Adam and Eve's fall from grace. Phil DiBlasi and Byron Willinger wrote the adaptation. Stuart Hazeldine and Derrickson will compelte the screenplay. Legendary's Chairman Thomas Tull said there is no target release date, "Given the gravity of the source material, it's really important to get it right. It will be ready when it's ready."

CAMILLE
Sienna Miller and James Franco will star in the indie feature Camille, a mythical love story. Gregory Mackenzie will direct from a script by Nick Pustay.

DRIVER
Rogue Pictures has picked up the rights to writer/director Roger Avary's bigscreen adaptation of Driver, the Atari videogame. The film centers on the world's best getaway driver who's skills put to the test on a job gone bad. Jeremy Bolt and Paul W.S. Anderson are producing.

PREY
Laurence Fishburne has signed on to headline the psychological thriller Prey. The Jerrold Brown script follows a man who sets out on a solo hunting expedition and severely injures his leg, only to be rescued by a mysterious trapper with secretly sinister intentions. James Marsh will direct. Mark Amin, Robin Schorr, and Cami Winikoff are producing. A fall start date is being planned.

JACK OF ALL TRADES
Walt Disney Pictures has acquired the script outline Jack of All Trades, by King of the Hill writers Alan Freedland and Alan R. Cohen. The story revolved around a married dermatologist with a fondness for taking the easy way out. When he hires a handyman to cater to his wife and two children, the doc finds himself squeezed out of the picture. Adam Shankman and Jennifer Gibgot will produce.

GONE, BABY, GONE
Ed Harris has joined the cast of Ben Affleck's directorial debut Gone, Baby, Gone. Ben himself adapted the Dennis Lehane novel, which begins shooting next month in Boston. Harris will play a cop, opposite two private investigators (Casey Affleck and Michelle Monaghan) hunting for an abducted 4-year-old in Boston's underworld.

UNTITLED COMEDY
Director Noah Baumbach has added John Turturro to the cast of his untitled comedy, alongside Nicole Kidman, Jennifer Jason Leigh, and Jack Black. Kidman plays a woman who brings her pre-teen son with her to visit the upstate home of her sister (Leigh) and brother-in-law (Black). Scott Rudin is producing.

Source: Variety