With IRON MAN 2 still raking in the cash, some are wondering what Terrence Howard (who starred in the first outing but was replaced by Don Cheadle for the second) is up to currently. From Deadline comes news that Howard has been talking to none other than Cameron Crowe about starring as soul singer Marvin Gaye.
Crowe has been working for 3½ years on the Sony biopic. The director has gone back to the drawing board after Will Smith turned down the role. Mowtown founder Berry Gordy Jr. is supporting the project, which has secured rights to Gaye’s music. Scott Rudin is attached as producer. Howard, of course, is a singer himself. Marvin Gaye was one of the influences on his debut album Shine Through It. “Nothing’s been signed on paper yet,” Howard tells me. “Everybody who loves music will hate me if I get this one wrong.”
Could be a good move for Howard, who since HUSTLE AND FLOW hasn’t really had much in the way of memorable roles. With Crowe at the helm, one thing is for sure – it will be worth watching!
As for smoking hot actress Zoe Saldana, talk about someone who is on everyone’s radar, and seems to be constantly working. From HeatVisionBlog comes word that Saldana is in early negotiations to star in COLUMBIANA – a drama that Luc Besson is producing under his Europa Corp.
Olivier Megaton (TRANSPORTER 3) will be directing, and the film would start shooting in late-summer.
Written by Besson and Robert Mark Kamen, “Columbiana” is set in Latin America and the U.S. Saldana would play a young woman who, after witnessing her parents’ murder as a child in Bogota, grows up to be a stone-cold assassin. She works for her uncle as a hitman by day, but her personal time is spent engaging in vigilante murders that she hopes will lead her to her ultimate target: the mobster responsible for her parents’ death.
Now with mega-hits like AVATAR and STAR TREK under her belt, Zoe doesn’t really need to worry about doing any more blockbusters. However, working with someone like Besson just adds to her geek cred. I was sad to see THE LOSERS under-perform at the box office, but maybe it will find another life on DVD.
Born and raised in Dallas, Mark has been a movie critic since 1994, with reviews featured in print, radio and National TV. In 2001 he started the Entertainment section of the Herorealm website, where he contributed film reviews and celebrity interviews until 2004. After three years of service there, he started Bigfanboy.com, which has become one of the Dallas film community's leading information websites. Bigfanboy hosts several movie screenings in the Texas area, and works closely with film and TV studios and promotional partners to host exciting events and contests. The site also features a variety of rare celebrity and filmmaker interviews, and Bigfanboy.com regularly covers the film festival circuit as well. In addition to Hollywood reporting, Mark has worked for many years as an advertising and sci-fi/comic book artist. Clients have included Lucasfilm Ltd., Topps Trading Cards, The Dallas Mavericks and The Dallas Stars. From 2002 until 2015 he managed the Dallas Comic Con, Sci-Fi Expo and Fan Days events in the DFW area. He currently catalogs rare comic books and movie memorabilia for Heritage Auctions, and runs the Dallas Comic Show conventions, but remains an avid moviegoer and cinema buff. 
