Hugh Jackman Sinks Claws Into Ghostopolis, Jenny McCarthy Is Oprah's Latest Protégé

Wolverine star snags new thriller gig on heels of box office domination; Harpo brings McCarthy into syndication

By Gina Serpe May 04, 2009 1:44 PMTags
Hugh JackmanHumberto Carreno/startraksphoto.com

Here's hoping graphic novels are as good to Hugh Jackman as comic books have been.

Fresh off the box office-dominating opening weekend of X-Men Origins: Wolverine, Mr. Oscar has signed on to star in Ghostopolis, an adaptation of an unreleased graphic novel.

According to the Hollywood Reporter, Jackman will star as an agent with the government's Supernatural Immigration Task Force, essentially working border patrol for this world and the spirit-inhabited Ghostopolis. He's forced to team up with a female ghost—who, coincidentally enough, is a former love—when a living boy is accidentally dispatched to the wrong world.

There's no start date yet for the project, which Jackman will also produce.

Meanwhile, Ben Stiller is doing his best to Spread Goodness behind the camera, Oprah Winfrey signs up her latest syndicated protégé and father and son Sutherlands—though not the ones you think—team up on the big screen.

• Ben Stiller is turning serious for his next project, signing on to direct the drama Help Me Spread Goodness, about a Chicago banker who falls prey to a Nigerian Internet scam, per Variety.

• Oprah Winfrey's ever-expanding empire has just, well, expanded. Harpo has welcomed Jenny McCarthy into its hallowed fold, signing the actress up for a multiyear deal to develop several projects, including her own syndicated talk show, per the Hollywood Reporter. The partnership kicked off on Friday with the launch of a McCarthy-penned blog on Oprah's official website.

• Donald Sutherland is teaming up with his non-24-star son for Love Child, according to Variety. The film has already begun shooting in Toronto with Donald, his son (and Kiefer's half-bro) Rossif Sutherland and Rebecca Romijn, and follows an ex-con attempting to go straight only to be forced into agreeing to one last heist.

• Three more stars have fallen for October. Jamie King, Stephen Moyer and Sarah Roemer have signed on to the postapocalyptic thriller Tribes of October, set in a futuristic New York in which all technology built after 1960 no longer works. James Caan and Robert Duvall are in final negotiations to costar, per the Hollywood Reporter.

• Heroes star Milo Ventimiglia is set to appear in and coproduce Ultradome, an online ode to geekdom. Per the Hollywood Reporter, the scripted Web series will focus on passionate fanboys who decide to settle hypothetical disputes—who wins in Gandalf vs. Darth Vader; Harrison Ford as Han Solo or Harrison Ford as Indiana Jones, etc.—with special effects showdowns. The three- to five-minute episodes will launch this summer.

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