The Morning Roundup: Movie News, Theatre News, Obama Rules

Written by: Mike Leader, Special to CC2K

This morning we have tidbits from the world of movies and theatre, including new projects from Steven Soderbergh, Hideo Nakata and Gurinder Chadha. Brew that coffee, open those curtains and click right here. It's the morning roundup!

– A prequel to Smokin' Aces, directed and written by Joe Carnahan, has been greenlit by Universal.

– Michael Crichton has died, aged 66.

– Steven Soderbergh will collaborate with Peter Buchman (both fresh off Che), on Making Jack Falcone, a biopic about the FBI agent who infiltrated the mob.

– Ray Liotta and Ray Winstone have joined the cast of 13, an English-language remake of the French film 13 Tzameti.

– Director Gurinder Chadha (Bend it Like Beckham, Bride and Prejudice) has started work on a horror-comedy called It's a Wonderful Afterlife.

– Japanese horror director Hideo Nakata has started work on his first original English-language film, a psychological thriller called Chatroom.

– Jack Black will play Gulliver in a new film based on Jonathan Swift's classic novel.

– Meanwhile, in London… The Evening Standard Theatre Awards have been announced, and Hollywood heavyweights Kevin Spacey, Alan Rickman and Kenneth Branagh have been nominated.

– Two scoops from the world of comics. DC has announced that it is axing three of its Batman Universe titles, Birds of Prey, Nightwing and Robin. Also, Dark Horse has announced a new run of Terminator comics.

– To finish up with, here's the international trailer for Che…

– And here's a pretty cool video of a custom stage someone made in the PS3 game Little Big Planet that, I feel, sums up recent international news quite well.