As his production company is called Bad Robot, I suppose it was only a matter of time before J.J. Abrams made a movie involving an automaton. Abrams is set to produce a rather bizarre-sounding project called Boilerplate, which is like Forrest Gump but with a robot. A Good Robot.

Via Heat Vision Blog, "Boilerplate" purports to tell the story of the world’s first robot, who, in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, fought alongside Teddy Roosevelt and Lawrence of Arabia, journeyed to the South Pole and was involved in the silent movie business before disappearing on the battlefields of World War I.

What the world needs is more Men and Black/X-Files rip-offs... I'm not being snarky, I really can't get enough of that kind of thing. While another MiB is two years away, and The X-Files is dead, there's plenty of room for more monster-hunting-in-the-real-world fun to be had. (Unfortunately, I don't hold Hellboy in very high esteem.) Production companies Mad Chance (Jonah Hex) and Circle of Confusion (AMC's upcoming "The Walking Dead") are hoping to fill the void and get a franchise going with Lore, based on the IDW graphic novel that seems like it would nestle in quite nicely with the above mentioned titles.

Jay Roach is one of the smartest comedic directors around. Whether he is tackling Austin Powers or the Focker family, he delivers very funny and also very sharp bits of humor.

What he also brings to the table is the ability to direct some of the funniest actors in the business. There is a reason guys like Ben Stiller and Mike Myers like working with Jay. He has the talent to mix the crude, rude and heartbreaking all into one story.

Henry Cavill is a very pleasant bloke with the chiseled face and presence of a star. The fact that he hasn't quite become one already surprises me, but he's going to get his day sooner or later. The man missed out on playing James Bond, Clark Kent and Batman by this much, so obviously he's got Hollywood's attention. (And not just because he was featured in "The Tudors" or was in Hellraiser: Hellword either.)

Next year will see him star in his first major Hollywood epic, Immortals, which will absolutely thrust him onto a bigger stage; but before that comes out (next November), he'll be thwarting kidnappers in The Cold Light of Day, a thriller being made by Summit Entertainment and Intrepid Pictures.

Rachel Weisz is in advanced talks to star in The Deep Blue Sea, reports Deadline London. And before you get all excited, no, it's not a remake of the 1999 Renny Harlin film about super-intelligent killer sharks. Bummer...

Actually, it's a film adaptation of Terence Rattigan's famed 1952 play depicting the closing stages of a hopeless, adulterous, socially inequitable love affair between an RAF war hero and a judge's wife. Having read Deadline's spoiler-heavy synopsis, it sounds really depressing, but also like a true Award Season candidate. The two go hand in hand, sometimes. (Weisz of course already has an Oscar for playing another tragic figure, Tessa Quayle, in The Constant Gardener.)

File this under: "And also, the sky is blue and water is wet."

Radar Online is reporting that Leonardo DiCaprio has dropped out of the untitled Viking epic that Mel Gibson was set to direct him in. The two made the deal, along with screenwriter William Monahan and producer Graham King, last fall for the large-scale action film, but now a source tells Radar there's no chance DiCaprio will team up with the embattled Gibson.

Summer is still in full swing, and I’m looking forward to Halloween. Black cats, Jack-o-Lanterns, scary movies and Universal’s Halloween Horror Nights. Every year, they give you thrills and chills at what is easily one of the coolest events in October. And they are already gearing up with some creepy fun.

What scares you? It is safe to say that nothing is as startling as a clown, especially an “ultra-violent gang of killer klownz” and they are coming to terrorize and send you to bed with a nightmare or two.

Russell Brand will be going back in time for his next starring role. Brand, who we usually see as the crude yet lovable rock star (Get Him to the Greek and Forgetting Sarah Marshall), will be portraying real-life 14th century mercenary John Hawkwood in 20th Century Fox and Chernin Entertainment's Hawkwood.