The Morning Roundup: Tomb Raider Reboot, 1066: The Film, Neil Gaiman wins Newberry, more adaptations

Written by: Mike Leader, Special to CC2K

This morning we've got news about newly-announced reboots, adaptations and dramatisations, as well as new G.I. Joe and Hobbit images.

– In 'kinda cool lit/film crossover news', Neil Gaiman has been awarded the prestigious Newberry Medal, given out by the American Library Association, for his novel The Graveyard Book. Not long after the win was announced, Gaiman went on to reveal on the Today show that the book will be adapted into a film with Neil Jordan (Interview with the Vampire, Breakfast on Pluto) directing.

– Get ready for another Tomb Raider film – actually, call it a reboot. No star, writer or director yet, though.

– Hilary Duff has signed on for appearing in The Story of Bonnie and Clyde, a new film based on the criminal couple.

– Brazilian director Jose Padilha (Tropa de Elite), is going to be making his Hollywood debut directing an adaptation of the Robert Ludlum novel The Sigma Protocol.

– Slumdog Millionaire scriptwriter Simon Beaufoy will be working on a film called Leap Year, doing a complete re-write of the previous draft. The film will be directed by Anand Tucker (Shopgirl) and will star Amy Adams. Check out more details over at Slashfilm.

– The A-Team movie has found a director in the shape of Joe Carnahan (Smokin' Aces).

– Do you know what the world needs? Yes, a prequel to The Thing, which was recently announced by Universal to be directed by newcomer Matthijs Van Heijningen. So far so 'groan'. However, certain slightly-pretentious Sci-fi geeks will be happy to see that Ronald D. Moore (Battlestar Galactica) will be writing it. Expect cutting satire, enlightening political themes and, well, aliens and explosions and maybe T&A.

– Do not worry cine-Narnia fans! Walden Media have been given a helping hand by 20th Century Fox, who will be co-financing The Voyage of the Dawn Treader, after Disney left them out in the cold after the relative failure of Prince Caspian.

– Think that they've run out of ideas for historical epics? Sorry to say it, but think again. Writer William Nicholson (Gladiator, Elizabeth: The Golden Age) is moving on to pen a film about the Battle of Hastings. That's right, the last time that mainland Britain was invaded, in 1066. I have one question – does this count as a pseudo comic adaptation? The Bayeux Tapestry is sequential art, after all.

– And to finish up, here are some nice images, including one of the new posters for G.I. Joe (this one featuring Sienna Miller, check Empire for the rest)…

– And here is the cover to an upcoming issue of Empire Magazine, showing off a new image of Gollum for the Hobbit movie.