Mel Gibson In Talks for Heist Comedy Sleight of Hand

There was a poll on TMZ asking if people had forgiven Mel Gibson. The results were overwhelmingly "Yes" which surprised some including big-cheese Harvey Levin. Here's the inside dish behind the "shocking" reason. Folks see the hypocrisy when crying foul on Gibson (who is a jackass for all the crap he's pulled), but Hollywood's willingness to look past others who did far worse. Cut to obligatory Roman Polanski and Woody Allen references!

While Jodie Foster's The Beaver came and went (That was a tough sell from the start), there will be those non-idiots in charge who will give Gibson a chance. Because those cats realize that the man can still make them a lot of money.

Case in point, Variety reports talks are underway for Gibson to join the Brad Mirman-directed heist comedy Sleight of Hand. The likes of Kiefer Sutherland, Thomas Jane and Jon Lovitz are already committed.

Might not be what he immediately set his sights for, but it's something for Gibson. Personally, I think the guy needs to get his ass back behind the camera.

Will Ferrell & Mark Wahlberg Reunite For Football Comedy Turkey Bowl

Will Ferrell will make another comedy that flops and then everyone will claim his career is over. Then his next one will be a hit, and those arguments will be moot. Rinse and repeat. We've heard those claims for the last couple of years, and Ferrell's most recent comedy, the action-themed The Other Guys (another Adam McKay collaboration), did very good business. It was also one of his better films.

"TOLDJA" says Ferrell and his Other Guys co-star Mark Wahlberg will reunite for Turkey Bowl. Warner Brothers just bought the pitch that'll entail the two as jackasses leading their town's perspective teams in an annual game of hardcore football (tackling, trash-talking and the works).

Robert Carlock (show-runner on 30 Rock) and Scott Silveri (who's written and produced on Friends, Joey and Perfect Couples – aka crap I don't watch) will write. Expect cameos galore including the already-committed Alec Baldwin as Marky Mark's old man.

Zookeeper Trailer Promises "Fatty Make Funny" with Talking Animals

Kevin James did "fatty make funny" with Paul Blart: Mall Cop and it wound up being a $150 million+ smash. He repeated that for Adam Sandler in Grown-Ups and that became one of the highest-grossing Sander comedies. Now in a complete about-face, he's taken that formula and added another explosive component: talking animals.

Audiences will eat up Zookeeper. Watch it be this summer’s biggest comedy. Here’s the trailer via Yahoo! Movies. The world will never be the same, and so help me God if they don't deliver on the promise of a Gorilla eating at T.G.I. Fridays.

Tintin Teaser Trailer Devoid of Motion-Capture Creepiness

Robert Zemeckis wastes a decade of his career on 100% motion-capture films that nobody cares about and all the characters look like computerized zombies. Steven Spielberg and Peter Jackson take one crack and just off this teaser trailer, The Adventures of Tintin already blows all of Zemeckis' efforts outta the water.

I doubt that's because of the advancements in the mo-cap technology. No, I say they have the upper-hand because this teaser pin-points its focus on mystery, adventure and exotic locales. Hell, it took a couple of seconds to realize this isn't a live-action feature. Hence why we barely see any of the characters faces full-on; a smart move.

For as much as J.J. Abrams is trying to ape the Beard with Super 8 next month, this looks and feels like something he would have made during the late 70s to mid 80s. Still cautious (This is merely a teaser and we are talking about mo-cap after all), but I'm suddenly optimistic towards Tintin.

Armie Hammer IS The Lone Ranger - Sigh

I didn't like this news last month and guess what? I still don't now that it's official.

Variety confirms Armie Hammer will grab the gun, holster and black mask to play The Lone Ranger. Gore Verbinski will direct and Jerry Bruckheimer produces. Both will also stand by silently as Johnny Depp "works his magic" trying to steal every damn frame as Tonto with his (what I call) "colorful weirdo crap." Neither will utter a word because "Hey, it worked for Pirates!"

Even though the movie is called The Lone Ranger and one would presume the title character is the focal point of said story.

Akira Mutating Into Messy Development for Warner Brothers

Like Universal and their ridiculously ambitious plans with The Dark Tower, Warner Brothers had been toddling along with Akira. But unlike the former (where I think under some reasonable reconstruction and cutting the fat from their original intentions), I never thought we'd see the day a live-action version of the manga/anime film would see the light of day.

JoBlo reports WB's courting of Keanu Reeves has failed and they're back to square one in search for their lead. Because as we all know, nothing screams "teenage Japanese biker" than the middle-aged American star of The Matrix.

Adding more weight to the troubled times comes word the studio has ceased all pre-viz work on the film and the majority of its staff have been handed pink slips. They must have struck a vein because the studio went as far to send out a formal statement when asked on the matter:

"Production on 'Akira' has not halted or been shut down, as the film has not yet been greenlit and is still very much in the development stage. The exploratory process is crucial to a project of this magnitude, and we will continue to sculpt our approach to making the best possible film."

So everyone is in spin control, I see, stating how Albert Hughes remains attached to direct. One of the sources' behind the article compared it to Alfonso Cuaron's Gravity which, to be fair, had great uncertainty towards it as well. But barring someone like Will Smith getting involved and making it a vehicle for one of his kids, I don’t realistically see how a cinematic take on Akira is doable.

First Look: Charlie's Angels

Everyone deserves a second chance — even a thief, a street racer and a cop who got in a little too deep. After all, the three women who solve cases for their elusive boss, Charlie Townsend, are no saints. They’re angels… Charlie’s Angels.

Set in Miami, this fun, glamorous, action-packed take on the 1970s smash hit series introduces us to three new angels, all fearless detectives, head-turning beauties and close friends. There’s Abby (Rachael Taylor), a Park Avenue princess who became a world-class thief. Then there’s Kate (Annie Ilonzeh), a Miami cop who fell from grace, losing both her career and her fiancé. Finally there’s Gloria, a disgraced army lieutenant who has a way with explosives. When one of the angels’ missions ends in Gloria’s tragic death, Charlie persuades them to partner with Gloria’s childhood friend, Eve (Minka Kelly), a street racer with a mysterious past. They may not know each other yet, but one thing’s for sure — Abby, Kate and Eve will always have each others’ backs.

First Look: Napolean Dynamite TV Show

NAPOLEON DYNAMITE (Heder) is a 16-year-old boy convinced – for no apparent reason – that he is destined for greatness and blessed with unlimited “sweet abilities.” He spends his days practicing ninja moves, drawing ligers, soul dancing and bragging about his “girlfriend in Oklahoma” whom nobody has ever seen. Napoleon’s brother, KIP (Ruell), is an unemployed 32-year-old who lives at home and believes he would be an amazing catch for any girl who would respond to his online come-ons. The Dynamite brothers live with GRANDMA (Martin), a crusty woman who can often be found four-wheeling with her lady friends at the local sand dunes. Napoleon’s allies include PEDRO (Ramirez), his unflappable best friend who has recently been elected class president; and DEB (Majorino), an incredibly sweet girl who sees the good in Napoleon and dreams of someday being his wife. Napoleon’s UNCLE RICO (Gries) lives out of an orange custom van, where he obsesses over his botched high school football career and dreams up ways to become rich and famous. Then there’s REX KWON DO (Bader), a self-proclaimed martial-arts master who runs the local dojo.

Promos For Alcatraz, The Finder, Terra Nova And More!

It's been a busy night when it comes to promos for forthcoming TV shows, so lets jump straight in!

First up is Alcatraz from JJ Abrams, now this one actually almost didn't get picked up but judging from the trailer it looks like it could be really cool, kind of has a LOST meets Fringe vibe.

Next up is The Finder, which is a spin off from Bones, the title is admittedly a turd but the show looks like fun and Fox will be desperately hoping this will see a heavy run over of Bones fans.

Terra Nova carries big expectations due to the involvement of Steven Spielberg, the promo features the same closing moneyshot that is in the two prior promos for this, basically coming off as Lost World the TV show..

From NBC we have a promo for The Playboy Club, a show that looks slick and like it belongs on cable, the period setting is sweet but I don't see this being a big hit.

Grimm is the latest from the Buffy and Angel team sans Joss Whedon, I didn't really have any interest until I saw the trailer but it may just catch on, however the premise has an equal chance of growing old fast, it definitely carries the Buffy vibe.

Last but not least we have the promo for the US remake of Prime Suspect starring Maria Bello. I never watched the original so I can't compare, but the central theme of a tough woman in a man's job seems a bit redundant at this point, where it was fresh back in the Helen Mirren original. I also wonder if they are going to boil the cases down to one episode for the ADD audience.

Weekend Box Office: May 13-15

Courtesy of Box Office Mojo:

1.  Thor - $34.7 million

2.  Bridesmaids - $26.2 million

3.  Fast Five - $20.4 million

4.  Priest - $14.9 million

5.  Rio - $8.2 million

6.  Jumping the Broom - $7 million

7.  Something Borrowed - $6.8 million

8.  Water for Elephants - $4.2 million

9.  Tyler Perry's Madea's Big Happy Family - $2.2 million

10.  Soul Surfer - $1.8 million

While Thor kept the top spot at the box office as expected with a solid $34.7 million, the real story of this weekend is the spectacular performance of Bridesmaids.  Yes, Hollywood is apparently shocked (shocked!) that women are indeed capable of pulling off a raunchy, R-rated comedy just as well as the guys are, but that's exactly what happened with the Kristen Wiig comedy this weekend, which also marks the best debut for a Saturday Night Live cast member in a non-SNL role since Will Ferrell went streaking in 2003's Old School.  Word-of-mouth on this one has been nothing short of terrific...so you better watch your ass, Hangover 2.

On the superhero front, Thor managed to avoid the second-weekend plunges of both Iron Man 2 and X-Men Origins: Wolverine, dropping a mere 47% to bring its domestic total to a not-bad-for-a-lesser-known-comic-book-character $119 million.  The boost from 3D/IMAX ticket sales certainly helped with that, but hey...it's a good movie.  It's doing even better overseas, where it has so far grossed $225 million.

As also predicted, no one really cared about this weekend's other new release, Priest, which earned just $14.9 million.  Expect this one to sink the rest of the way to obscurity when Pirates 4 invades theaters next weekend.  Fast Five, in the meantime, continues its impressive run with $20.4 million.  That movie is doing even better than Thor, with $441 million worldwide and counting.

Rio's $8.2 million this weekend pushed it past Rango to become 2011's highest-grossing animated film.  It faces some big competition with sequels to Kung Fu Panda and Cars opening soon, but its $125 million haul so far (not to mention the additional $303 million it's earned overseas) has given it a good run.

Next weekend marks the return of Captain Jack Sparrow in Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides.  Have they fixed the stuff that went kinda wrong in the last two sequels?  I certainly hope so.