In today's Callbacks -- your daily roundup of casting news from Deal Central -- Oliver Stone is in talks to direct Leonardo DiCaprio in "Travis McGee," Kal Penn ditches the White House for a third "Harold and Kumar" movie and Malcolm D. Lee signs on to coach LeBron James in front of the camera for "Fantasy Basketball Camp."
• Is Paul Greengrass preparing for a "Fantastic Voyage?"
According to the Hollywood Reporter, Greengrass is in talks to direct Fox's remake of the 1966 sci-fi thriller, which James Cameron's Lightstorm Entertainment is producing... in 3D of course.
Surprisingly, I really liked Greengrass' most recent film "Green Zone" but I'm lukewarm on his two entries in the Jason Bourne trilogy, which ignore character development in favor of hyperkinetic thrills.
My initial thought is that I do not want to see Greengrass' patented shaky-cam roam around a human body, let alone in 3D. I'm not sure if Greengrass the best fit for the project but he is a filmmaker with a strong sense of action and apparently he's looking for a change of pace, so I guess we could do worse... like Fox favorite Shawn Levy ("Night at the Museum").
• "Shutter Island" star Leonardo DiCaprio loves his mysteries.
The actor was linked to Clint Eastwood's FBI drama "Hoover" earlier today and now Deadline reports that DiCaprio is flirting with director Oliver Stone regarding Fox's adaptation of John D. MacDonald's 1964 novel "The Deep Blue Good-by," the first in a 21-book series starring Florida beach bum and 'salvage consultant' Travis McGee. (Update: The Hollywood Reporter claims Stone is actually in official talks to direct "Travis McGee," which finds the shaggy hero reluctantly leaving his houseboat The Busted Flush to go in search of a treasure hidden by a soldier after World War II.)
DiCaprio has been attached to the role since September but at the time producers Peter Chernin, Amy Robinson, Jennifer Davisson-Killoran and DiCaprio didn't have anyone in mind to direct. Now Leo is in early talks with Stone, who is primed for a comeback with "Wall Street 2: Money Never Sleeps."
The Oscar-winning filmmaker had been planning to follow "Wall Street 2" with an adaptation of Don Winslow's upcoming novel "Savages," which Stone is writing with the author, but with DiCaprio clearly excited by Dana Stevens and Kario Salem's "Travis McGee" script, I imagine it would be hard for Stone to turn down the chance to work on such a popular property with a star of his caliber.
I've long regarded Stone as a genius who has directed some of my favorite films -- "Natural Born Killers" and "Platoon" among them -- but the director hasn't made a movie I've really enjoyed since 1999's "Any Given Sunday," although I did think that "W." offered a fresh perspective and new insight into ex-President George W. Bush.
I love reading mystery fiction from authors such as James Patterson (Paramount needs to lose Morgan Freeman and restart the Alex Cross franchise) and Jeffery Deaver ("The Bone Collector" deserves a sequel now that Angelina Jolie is Angelina Jolie) but I've never had the chance to lose myself in one of MacDonald's novels, so I can't say whether DiCaprio is a good fit as McGee, although the news was met mostly with horror inside TheWrap newsroom.
