• "District 9" star Sharlto Copley is in talks to join the cast of D.J. Caruso's "I Am Number Four," DreamWorks' adaptation of James Frey and Jobie Hughes' upcoming young-adult sci-fi novel, according to the Hollywood Reporter.
Alex Pettyfer ("Beastly") will play the title character, one of nine aliens (I'm sick of the number 9 after "9," "Nine" and of course, "District 9") who flee their home planet before its destruction by a rival intergalactic species and are forced to hide out on Earth disguised as human high schoolers.
Copley will play a man who lived amongst the alien world's serving class but on Earth is charged with being Four's adult guardian and mentor.
Copley impressed many with his turn as Wikus Van De Merwe in Neill Blomkamp's Oscar-nominated sleeper hit but I wasn't quite blown away by his performance. Peter Sciretta of /Film wrote yesterday that he actually thought Copley's "District 9" performance was worthy of an Oscar nomination for Best Actor, and while he's certainly entitled to his opinion, I think he's getting a little carried away with his assessment. Copley delivered a strong but nonetheless limited performance in a film well-suited to his amateur skill set, but it was hardly groundbreaking, let alone award-worthy, even if the argument is entirely subjective.
Regardless of my personal feelings about "District 9," Copley has parlayed the success of that film into a starring role in Joe Carnahan's upcoming action film "The A-Team," which looks a little lame, especially since it follows Sylvain White's "The Losers," a similar project that seems like it could be a lot of fun despite reports of reshoots as recent as March 20.
HarperCollins Children's Books plans to release "I Am Number Four," the first of six planned books, on August 17. "Smallville" creators Al Gough and Miles Millar adapted the screenplay. Steven Spielberg and Michael Bay are producing the film, while Chris Bender and J.C. Spink will exec produce with David Valdes.
"Number Four" arrives in Earth's theaters on February 18, 2011.
• Academy Award-winning actress Frances McDormand ("Fargo") will join fellow Oscar winner Sean Penn ("Milk," "Mystic River") in Paolo Sorrentino's "This Must Be the Place," reports Production Weekly.
The film stars Penn as a retired rock star who sets out to track down the former Nazi who killed his father. Imagine "Marathon Man" mixed with "The Princess Bride" and a splash of "Rock Star" for good measure. Italian filmmaker Sorrentino ("Il Divo") will make his English-language feature debut with the project, which he co-wrote with Umberto Contarello.
Sorrentino regular Toni Servillo is attached to the project and has been mentioned to play the Nazi. Irish actor Tom Archdeacon has also been rumored to be part of the cast.
While Penn pulled out of two high-profile projects -- Universal's recently cancelled "Cartel" and the Farrelly brothers' MGM comedy "The Three Stooges" -- last year in order to take a sabbatical and focus on his family, he always
