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Apparently, Still I Rise was renamed Steel Town during production.  I spoke with someone who says that the final name has not been decided yet, but I really liked the original name for the film.  It evokes motion and emotion, action and reaction.  We’ll see where it goes from here when the first poster and/or trailer is released.

The film currently doesn’t have a release date, and is about two mothers teaming up to help make a difference at a local school.

Until recently, I was expecting to see Journey 2: The Mysterious Island on the big screen this month.  The one problem?  No trailers have been released for it, so it would have released to very little box office, if any at returns at all.  I just looked it up to see if there was an update about it, and it turns out it’s been delayed until February 2012.  Smart move.

Journey 2: The Mysterious Island will release on February 10, 2012 (according to IMDb, today), and is the sequel to Journey to the Center of the Earth 3D.  In the film, Sean Anderson partners with his mom’s boyfriend on a mission to find his grandfather, who is thought to be missing on a mythical island.

Leven Rambin (“The Hunger Games” “Grey’s Anatomy”) has been cast as the female lead in “Mavericks,” opposite Gerard Butler and Jonny Weston.

Based on the true story of Jay Moriarty’s rise to the forefront of big wave surfing, “Mavericks” will feature Rambin as a California surfer girl who is Moriarty’s best friend and the object of his adoration. Weston will play Moriarty and Butler is portraying Rick “Frosty” Hesson. Moriarity sought to ride the iconic Northern California break known as Mavericks, where winter swells bring in treacherous waves the size of five-story buildings.

The film, which has yet to be titled, will begin shooting in and around Santa Cruz in the middle of October. And Walden Media, the film’s producer, is looking for Santa Cruzans to take part in it.

The film is reportedly focused on the relationship between young Moriarity and his longtime friend and mentor Frosty Hesson. Scottish-born star Gerard Butler will take on the role of Hesson, and Moriarity will be played by up-and-coming young actor Jonny Weston. The script was written by Brandon Hooper, who himself has a background in surfing.

Several hundred locals will be needed to be extras in the film, a drama about the life of the young surfer who died in 2001 a day before his 23rd birthday.

The film’s cast and crew, led by “L.A. Confidential” and “8 Mile” director Curtis Hanson, will be in town for two weeks beginning Oct. 10.

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Joshua Rush has joined the cast of Us & Them, as the latest addition to the family.

“Us and Them” stars Billy Crystal and Bette Midler as grandparents who struggle to cope with their grandkids’ modern ways when they’re left to care for them. The duo forge a new bond with their grandkids and set out to repair a long-standing rift with their daughter, Alice, to be played by Marisa Tomei.

The Oscar winner just signed on to play Billy Crystal and Bette Midler’s daughter in Andy Fickman’s family comedy “Us and Them.”

Is it strange that I find it odd that she’s playing the daughter of Billy Crystal?  Either way, this is great for Walden Media, as lately their film casts have been getting more and more fine actors.

“Us and Them” stars Crystal and Midler as grandparents who struggle to cope with their grandkids’ modern ways when they’re left to care for them. The duo forge a new bond with their grandkids and set out to repair a long-standing rift with their daughter, Alice, to be played by Tomei.

Bridge to Terabithia star Bailee Madison and Bette Midler are set to join Billy Crystal in the family comedy Us & Them Parental Guidance, which will be a co-production between 20th Century Fox and Walden Media.

Andy Fickman (You Again) is directing from a script by Crystal’s City Slickers scribes Lowell Ganz and Babaloo Mandel. Lisa Addario and Joe Syracuse wrote the original draft, while Crystal and Samantha Sprecher came up with the story.

Crystal stars as Artie Decker, a Fresno AAA baseball broadcaster who, along with his wife Diane (Midler), is forced to move in and look after his three grandchildren, one of whom will be played by Madison.

The film will explore ‘old school’ vs. ‘new school’ parenting as the grandparents struggle to cope with the kids’ modern ways.

-via Variety

While Gerard Butler was announced as the big name in the Curtis Hanson-directed surf movie Mavericks, the lead role all the young actors chased is Jay Moriarty, the teenage big-wave rider who successfully rode Mavericks. That is a body of water in Northern California that became popular with daredevil surfers who braved the structure and rocks to ride waves the size of five-story buildings.

Twenty-two year-old Jonny Weston has been offered and is in negotiations for the lead role of Moriarty in the Walden Media-backed film.

-via Deadline Hollywood

According to Deadline Hollywood, Walden Media has acquired the popular series Flat Stanley to produce a feature film.  The series of children’s books, created in 1964 by Jeff Brown, is about the adventures of a two-dimensional person stuck in a 3D world. The plan is to shoot the film live action, using visual effects to turn the lead character into a two-dimensional hero.

The protagonist is Stanley Lambchop, who, after being given a bulletin board by his father to put above his bed, is flattened by it in the night. He’s OK despite his appearance and can slip under doors and entertain his brother by posing as a kite. He even solves an art heist by posing as a wall painting. The series has sold millions of copies around the world. The film will be produced by John Carls and his Wild Things Productions banner. Carls’ credits include Where The Wild Things Are as well as Rango. Walden Media CEO Michael Bostick and senior veep Evan Turner set up the project and are meeting with filmmakers for the adaptation.

-via Deadline Hollywood

Walden Pond Press has just acquired a new middle-grade series by debut author Christopher Healy. The first book is called The Hero’s Guide to Saving Your Kingdom.  The series is set in a fantasy world where multiple Prince Charmings are having relationship issues with their respective girlfriends: Cinderella, Snow White, Rapunzel, and Sleeping Beauty. The first book in the series is scheduled to be a lead title on Walden’s 2012 list.