The Bulletin: De Bont's 'Power' Cast

Jason Isaacs ("Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix," "Nine Lives") and Melissa George ("The Amityville Horror") will star with John Cusack in Jan De Bont's thriller "Stopping Power" (2008), about a test pilot in a race to rescue his daughter, reports The Hollywood Reporter. Skip Woods ("Swordfish") and Eric Red ("The Hitcher") wrote the script. Production will begin in September in Berlin.

Mendes Feels 'The Spirit'
Eva Mendes ("Ghost Rider") will star as Sand Saref, a beauty with dangerous curves, with Gabriel Macht and Samuel L. Jackson in "The Spirit" (2009), an adaptation of Will Eisner's comic noir, reports Variety. Graphic artist Frank Miller, co-director of "Sin City" (2005) with Robert Rodriguez, wrote the script and will direct for Lionsgate. In "The Spirit," slain detective Denny Colt is reborn as an avenger for justice in Central City and encounters archvillain The Octopus, a.k.a. Zitzbath Zark, a psychopathic criminal overlord. Macht ("The Good Shepherd") stars as Denny Colt, a.k.a. The Spirit, and Jackson will co-star as The Octopus. Michael Uslan, Deborah Del Prete and Gigi Pritzker will produce. Bill Pope ("The Matrix," "Spider-Man") will be the cinematographer. Production will start in October in New Mexico.

'Oz' to Return
Warner Bros. and Village Roadshow will develop "Oz," a revisionist version of L. Frank Baum's children's novel "The Wonderful Wizard of Oz," reports Variety. Josh Olsen ("A History of Violence") will write the script, and Todd McFarlane ("Spawn") will produce with Basil Iwanyk. Rick Benattar ("Shoot 'Em Up") will executive produce.

Mark Your Calendar
Brad Bird's "Ratatouille" (A-) will be available for rental and purchase Nov. 6; and "The Reaping," with Hilary Swank, Oct. 16 (From Sept. 25).