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"This Is It" certainly ain't it when it comes to Michael Jackson-themed dramas and documentaries. First up controversial "Unmasked" author-filmmaker Ian Halperin has cut together "Gone Too Soon", an 88-minute doco on the late singer that will get a theatrical run in select countries on June 25th (not in the U.S. at present), the first anniversary of the singer's death.

Cut down from 300 hours of footage shot inside Jackson's camp, there are interviews with many of Jackson's entourage along with all new video and audio of the late singer. Jackson family members are not involved but are apparently aware of the film which is being called a "balanced tribute to the King of Pop" and will deal with some of the more controversial aspects of Jackson's life.

Also, CHUD reports that legendary director John Landis revealed during a Q&A the other day that an hour-long documentary about the making of Jackson's most iconic music video "Thriller" will be released soon and possibly in 3D.

Director Bryan Singer and producer Lauren Shuler Donner talked with The Los Angeles Times about the upcoming spin-off feature "X-Men: First Class" and the future of the franchise on the whole.

Of 'First Class', Singer revealed it will deal with the point where the friendship soured between Professor X and Magneto due to their different philosophies as well as Xavier's establishment of the school. Singer says "Just doing younger mutants is not enough. The story needs to be more than that. I love the relationship between Magneto and Xavier, these two men who have diametrically opposite points of view but still manage to be friends -- to a point."

Singer is in demand by those involved, not only does Donner want him for a full-on fourth "X-Men" ensemble film but a recent dinner Singer had with Hugh Jackman sounded like the Aussie actor was trying to get Singer involved on the "Wolverine" sequel as well.

When Donner brings up the subject of X4 in the interview, Singer turned to her and said "Hold that one off for just a little, I'm fixated on the other one right now" to which she responded "I will, I will ... I'm holding it open with high hopes. It's totally different [First Class] and it will be so interesting for you."

German director Christian Alvart ("Case 39," "Pandorum") will adapt Edmond Hamilton's 1940's pulp sci-fi magazine serial and later 1970's anime series "Captain Future" into a feature film reports Quiet Earth.

Alvart says he's developing the film as a "big fun space opera for the whole family". The character of Captain Future, aka. Curtis Newton, is a brilliant scientist/adventurer who roams our solar system to help people and take down various villains.

The storyline will essentially be an origin story, following Newton's first adventure. Though Alvart doesn't specify, it will probably deal with the murder of Newton's parents at the hands of criminal scientist Victor Kaslan and his subsequent upbringing under the tutelage of scientist Simon Wright, an intelligent robot and a shapeshifting android.

Alvart says a sequel storyline is being developed concurrently so should the film be a success, they can get started on a follow-up right away. He himself has been pursuing the project for several years and now with the necessary development financing having come together, things are ready to move forward with the script.

In terms of scale he compares it to "The Fifth Element" - "a big budget science-fiction movie developed and produced out of Europe with an international cast". The project marks one of several sci-fi pulp hero properties of similar ilk in development at the moment including "Doc Savage" and "Dan Dare: Pilot of the Future".

"Alice in Wonderland 3D" and "Sweeney Todd" helmer Tim Burton is doing yet another remake with a 3D stop-motion animated version of "The Addams Family" reports Deadline NY.

This new version however will not be related to the classic TV comedy or the 90's films, but rather the original Charles Addams drawings that appeared in New Yorker magazine and inspired the show. This version will likely have a more adult and witty tone in line with the original drawings.

A writer is being sought for the film and should be hired shortly. Burton's next project, "Frankenweenie", uses a 3D/stop-motion technique that will also be employed on this.

Jamie Foxx is locking down the last elements in a deal to star in the video game-to-film adaptation "Kane & Lynch" for Lionsgate and Millennium Films reports Variety.

Ward adapted the script from the 2007 game "Kane & Lynch: Dead Men" which follows the mercenary Adam 'Kane' Marcus and aggressive, schizophrenic killer James Lynch teaming to retrieve a dangerous device as ransom payment to retrieve his kidnapped wife and daughter.

Bruce Willis has already signed to play Kane. Foxx would seem to be playing Lynch, a radical choice as Lynch physically is the complete opposite of Foxx in every way.

Kyle Ward penned the script and Simon Crane is directing. Adrian Askarieh, David Willis and Daniel Alter will produce while filming kicks off in August.

Robert Rodriguez explains that it was legal and financing issues more than anything that caused the "Red Sonja" film adaptation to become stuck in development hell.

Speaking with MTV News at the SXSW Film Festival, Rodriguez says "If I kept the project myself, we could've just made it, but it belonged to another company that had financing problems... They had to wait until they made a couple of other movies first."

In fact one of those movies has just begun production, Rodriguez saying "They're actually waiting until they make the Conan movie before they do that - to see how that works for them."

Veteran producer and director Ivan Reitman ("Dave," "Twins," "Ghostbusters," "Stripes") hit the news twice today regarding his upcoming film schedule.

First up Variety reports he's set to to direct a romantic comedy, currently under the working title "Friends With Benefits", at Paramount Pictures starring Natalie Portman and Ashton Kutcher.

Elizabeth Meriwether's script deals with the ease of men and women to become physically involved and the far more difficult job of emotional attachments. Filming kicks off in May for release the first week of January.

More interesting though is word from Vulture that claims Sony Pictures is essentially trying to shoehorn Reitman out of being involved in the upcoming third "Ghostbusters" film.

Reitman has previously stated an intent to helm the third "Ghostbusters" while Sony is keen on a younger director to take charge. With Reitman committing to 'Friends' they thought they may have won, but Reitman wants to direct both projects.

The big catch in this whole issue is that Reitman's original deal for the franchise back in the 80's gives him an enormous amount of creative control over the project - including director and story approval. In fact if the three principal actors (Bill Murray, Dan Aykroyd and Harold Ramis) don't approve of the film, they have a veto power which can kill the entire production immediately.

Scribes Lee Eisenberg and Gene Stupnitsky will turn in their second draft of the film's script in May, expect to hear more about this around that time.

Owen Wilson and Woody Harrelson set to voice two time-travelling turkeys in the animated buddy comedy "Turkeys" for Bedrock Studios says Entertainment Weekly.

Ash Brannon ("Toy Story 2") helms the story of Reggie and Brock, two gobblers that come upon a time machine and travel back to the first Thanksgiving in order to save their fellow kind from becoming an annual meal.

Luke Wilson also voices a character in the film which John J. Strauss ("There's Something About Mary") and David I. Stern ("Open Season 2") have penned and will produce. A 2011 release is planned.

Bedrock is also in development on feature film adaptations of "The Rats of NIMH," "A Wrinkle in Time" and "Dinosaur Bob".

Amanda Seyfried will star in "The Girl Who Conned the Ivy League" for says /Film and Production Weekly.

Based on a Rolling Stone article by Sabrina Rudin Erdely, the story follows habitual identity thief Esther Reed who enrolled as a student at Columbia University under the name of a missing girl, Brooke Henson.

Detectives on the hunt for the real Henson track down Reed who quickly heads out on the road and vanishes, but the detectives continue their pursuit.

Lorene Scafaria ("Nick and Nora’s Infinite Playlist") pitched the adaptation which "Terminator Salvation" director McG will likely helm.

Hyde Park Entertainment has picked up the film rights to Andy McNab's twelve-novel espionage series based around the character Nick Stone reports Variety.

"Echelon", a film adaptation of the third novel "Firewall", Stone is an ex-SAS officer turned freelance intelligence officer who works on risky deniable operations for cash.

Hired to kidnap a Russian mafia warlord and deliver him to St. Petersburg, he soon finds himself raiding a house in the cold wastes of Estonia where Russia has launched an online offensive to tap into the West's military secrets - secrets the Russians, the Americans, the Brits and rival mafia gangs all want to get their hands on.

Bonnie Timmerman and Ashok Amritraj will produce with McNab and John Connor who penned the script.

"There Will Be Blood" and "Magnolia" writer/director Paul Thomas Anderson is in talks with River Road Entertainment to lock down $35 million worth of financing on his new religion-based film says Deadline New York.

Set in the 1950's, Phillip Seymour Hoffman plays a charismatic intellectual who hatches a faith-based organization that begins to catch on.

Jeremy Renner is apparently circling the role of a twenty-something drifter who becomes the leader's lieutenant and soon begins to question the belief system he has embraced.

Universal Pictures was attached to produce and distribute the feature but has dropped out. If River Road does come onboard, it's quite possible that prestige indie distributor Apparition could release the film as Bill Pohlad owns River Road and co-founded Apparition.

Steven Spielberg will produce and is helping push around "Jackie", a film script about the late Jackie Kennedy Onassis reports The Los Angeles Times.

The story looks at the days immediately following the assassination of John F. Kennedy from the First Lady's point-of-view.

Journalist/author Noah Oppenheim penned the script and HBO is said to be the leading contender to buy the script and develop the property to air on the premium cable network.

Billy Boyd and Peter Mullan, who previously worked together in "On a Clear Day", are in talks to join the environmentally-themed auctioneer "The Lion Inside" for ECO Films says The Hollywood Reporter.

The story is set against the backdrop of illegal logging and wildlife poaching in Central Africa.

Richard Jobson directs from a script by Jim Branchflower. Shooting kicks off in South Africa, Kenya and Cameroon this Summer.

Hank Azaria is set to voice the evil sorcerer Gargamel in "The Smurfs" film adaptation for Sony Pictures says Entertainment Weekly.

The story follows a couple expecting their first child who find their lives turned upside-down when they meet the miniature blue creatures in New York City's Central Park.

Neil Patrick Harris and "Glee" star Jayma Mays will play the couple. Filming kicks off next month for an August 2011 release.

Ashes to Ashes
At last, The BBC have announced that the final season of the "Life on Mars" spin-off will kick off at 9pm on Good Friday, April 2nd on BBC1.

Series co-creator Matthew Graham re-iterated some points and added some fresh ones in an interview with Den of Geek about what to expect this season. The main salient themes - its darker than the previous two seasons, and there's a lot more serial stories this time with the exploration of Gene Hunt all coming to a head.

As he's previously stated, Graham says this will tie back in to 'Mars' a lot "it’s also about unifying, as much as we can, Life On Mars and Ashes To Ashes. This is where Life On Mars really bleeds in to Ashes To Ashes. More and more as the show goes on". Yet he wouldn't elaborate on whether any 'Mars' characters would pop-up.

He also says that a resolution to last season's shocking cliffhanger will dominate the first fifteen minutes of the first episode and will serve as the "kickstart" to the entire season. What about the highly secretive ending? There's a line in the fifth episode by Ray that will have "half the population will go, ‘Oh my God, I know where this is heading and I don’t like it!’ You’d just go, ‘Oh shit, they’re not going to do that are they?’ And we don’t, but you’ll know the line" adds Graham.

There's still no trailer as yet for the third season, though a rather blurry one-minute clip from the first episode is online at Youtube.

Eureka
The Live Feed reports that "Battlestar Galactica" favourite James Callis (Dr. Gaius Baltar) has joined the cast of the fourth season of Syfy’s “Eureka.”

Callis plays Dr. Grant, a former resident of the town who has a romantic interest in Allison Blake (Salli Richardson-Whitfield)

The Tudors
Showtime has set April 11th at 9pm as the returning time for the fourth and final season of historical drama set around the court of Henry VIII (Jonathan Rhys Meyers).

The last eight episodes of the series will deal with his marriages to Katherine Howard (Tamzin Merchant) and Catherine Parr (Joely Richardson), along with his descent into madness, obesity and eventual death.

The first photos of Dwayne 'The Rock' Johnson in Faster, several behind-the-scenes photos from Tron: Legacy, a ShoWest promo poster for Scott Pilgrim vs. The World and two character posters for Killers.

Liam Hemsworth talks to Access Hollywood about being beaten by his older brother Chris for the titular role in Marvel Studios' "Thor".

"Fox have released details and cover-art for the first DVD and Blu-ray release of James Cameron's "Avatar" which will be a bare-bones release (no extras) and only in 2D. The release hits the US on April 22nd and around much of the rest of the world throughout that last week of April. The 3D version hit late 2010/early 2011..." ( full details)

"Sir Ian McKellen says that "The Hobbit" will begin its more than year-long shoot in New Zealand in June. Casting is underway in London, Los Angeles and New York City…" (full details)

""Rapunzel" to "Tangled" may not be the only Disney animated film getting a name change, there's talk that Pixar's "The Bear and the Bow" could be retitled "Brave"…" (full details)

"Sony Pictures will want a role in the James Bond movies once the sale or restructuring of MGM is complete says Sony Pictures CEO Michael Lynton, however no formal discussions have been set with potential buyers…" (full details)

"Magnet Releasing has scored U.S. distribution rights to Gareth Edwards' sci-fi feature "Monsters" mere hours after its premiere at the SXSW Film Festival. The story deals with alien life forms who have infected a quarantined zone in Mexico…" (full details)

"Warner Bros. Pictures and Atlas Entertainment have picked up Mike Bender and Doug Chernack's high-concept action-comedy script "Sterling"..." ( full details)

"Christian Bale and Josh Hartnett were apparently the only two actors Director Wolfgang Petersen met with for the role of Superman in the defunct "Batman vs. Superman" project that was in development nearly a decade ago now..." ( full details)

Three high-profile projects heading into production have added some more names to their already quite impressive casts.

First up Rose McGowan will play an evil half-human/half-witch in Marcus Nispel's "Conan" for Nu Image/Millennium Films says Empire Online. Shooting kicked off this week in Bulgaria.

Next, British actor David Oyelowo (TV's "Spooks," "The Last King of Scotland") is set to play the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. in Lee Daniels' civil rights drama "Selma" for Plan B and Pathe International says The Hollywood Reporter. The role of Alabama Gov. George Wallace, though rumoured to be going to Robert De Niro, has yet to be cast.

Finally Emma Stone has joined the Steve Carell and Ryan Gosling comedy "Crazy, Stupid Love" in a pivotal role says Vulture, though details are being kept secret.

Sigourney Weaver is set to play a bloodthirsty vampire queen in the romantic horror-comedy "Vamps" says Heat Vision Blog.

The contemporary story follows two beautiful young vampires (Alicia Silverstone, Krysten Ritter) who enjoy the New York City nightlife until romance jeopardizes their immortality.

Weaver will play Ciccerus, the vampiress who turned the girls into vampires. "Clueless" writer/director Amy Heckerling helms the project which starts shooting in late April.

Chris Evans ("Fantastic Four," "Cellular") has scored the lead role in the indie drama "Puncture" says Variety.

The story follows a troubled young lawyer who much tackle his own personal demons while handling a major case against a major healthcare provider.

Marshall Bell, Michael Biehn, Kate Burton, Brett Cullen, Mark Kassen, Jesse L. Martin, Tess Parker and Vinessa Shaw also star.

Adam and Mark Kassen will direct from a script by Chris Lopta. Shooting is taking place in Houston, Texas.

Akiva Goldsman will serve as executive producer on "Paranormal Activity 2" at Paramount Pictures says Deadline.

There were reports a few hours before that indicating that Goldsman was the frontrunner to direct, reports that have since been debunked. Goldsman however will help on the script.

Shooting kicks off in May for a release on October 22nd.