As an absurdly wealthy eighty-five year old man constantly flanked by generically gorgeous women less than a quarter of his age, Hugh Hefner is obviously the sort of American success story that deserves a biographical movie.  Not only can the guy rock a smoking jacket and a pipe anywhere without being mocked, but he's been a huge part of popular culture, publishing, and changing attitudes about sexuality.  All of those elements would no doubt be included in biopic Playboy, which may now be a bit closer to actually becoming a movie.  Also, lots of mammaries; you can't have a Hefner biopic without boobs.

192 episodes over eight seasons apparently weren't enough of 24, as a movie continuing the terrorist-foiling Jack Bauer has been in development for some time now.  It's been well over a year since the last time we saw Keifer Sutherland screaming at suspects and generally acting without regard to jurisprudence. 

It's also been about eight months since any updates on the 24 movie, about which Sutherland and producer Brian Grazer remained enthusiastic and hopeful, despite some setbacks.  Now, it seems that 20th Century Fox and Imagine Entertainment are aiming to get production on 24 underway in the spring of 2012.

Despite death being a truly universal human experience, there aren't a lot of movies that point their thematic focus directly at dying, except for horror films like the Final Destination series, which turn death into a spectacle.  Director Gus Van Sant's latest, Restless, looks to be all about exiting the realm of the quick, but it leavens the proceedings with a ghostly kamikaze sidekick named Hiroshi (Ryo Kase) and the inarguable adorableness of Mia Wasikowska.  In an excellent new trailer for the film, you'll see  Henry Hopper as a grieving young man who falls for Wasikowska only to find she's not long for this world. 

Synopsis: "As the summer of 1988 winds down, three friends on the verge of adulthood attend an out-of-control party in celebration of their last night of unbridled youth. Starring Topher Grace, Anna Faris, Dan Fogler and Teresa Palmer, Take Me Home Tonight is a raunchy, romantic and ultimately touching blast from the past set to an awesome soundtrack of timeless rock and hip-hop hits.

Brett Ratner (X-Men: The Last Stand, Red Dragon) will direct Ben Stiller in Tower Heist, a comedy-thriller about a group of blue-collar guys who rob a wealthy white-collar crook in a luxury high rise. Brian Grazer's Imagine Entertainment will produce, while Universal will distribute.

According to Deadline.com, Leonardo DiCarprio is set to play FBI co-founder J. Edgar Hoover in Clint Eastwood's as-yet-untitled biopic, which was scripted by Milk screenwriter Dustin Lance Black. Brian Grazer and Imagine Entertainment have been shepherding the project since its inception; it began life at Universal but has ended up at Warner Bros., which has a friendly working relationship with Eastwood.

Two things are really surprising about this: 1) How is it that Martin Scorsese is not directing it? 2) How the hell does Clint Eastwood do it? The man is 80 years old - I groan when I have to tie my damn shoes... Godspeed, though.