Sony Pictures

Whitney Houston, who passed away Saturday at the Beverly Hilton, will grace the screen in one final appearance – Sony Pictures release of Sparkle on August 17, 2012.

According to THR, Houston had finalized her filming on the movie, a remake of the 1976 movie Sparkle. The story is a showbiz drama about a trio of singers loosely based on the career of The Supremes.

Houston (pictured with Jordon Sparks) looks great and magnificent as ever. With that, we must not forget the dangers of prescription drugs. Reportedly, Xanax and other prescriptions drugs were found in her hotel room at the Beverly Hilton, where she died in the bath tub.

Sparks is American Idol season six winner. She plays the title role in the movie. The three sisters start in a church choir and evolve into a successful girl group. All three deal with a series of personal problems. Houston plays the mother, who is not supportive of their singing career.

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Saoirse Ronan is very close to signing the dotted line as she finalizes talks to star in Disney’s Order of Seven. Interestingly, according to Variety, Seven was originally developed as a Kung Fu retelling of “Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs” – development began a decade ago.

If Ronan signs the dotted line, she will play Olivia Sinclair, a British expatriate in 19th century Hong Kong.  She seeks the protection of a centuries old group of warriors, who are now a contemptuous group of outlaws.  The reemergence of an ancient evil empress causes Sinclair to help the warriors reclaim their destiny and noble roots.

Variety reports that Disney hopes to boost the international appeal of the movie by casting the roles of the warriors with well-known stars in China, Russia and Japan, creating a global team of heroes. Studio execs have been making trips to those territories to begin talks with local talent.

Michael Gracey, known for his visual effects supervision and commercials, is set to make his directorial debut on the fantasy movie. The most recent version of the script was written by Jayson Rothwell and Michael DeBruyn.

IMDb lists Ronan as the U.K. voice for Arrietty in The Secret World of Arrietty that Disney is distributing for Studio Ghibli and will star in Andrew Niccol’s The Host, based on “Twilight” author Stephenie Meyer’s novel.

Daphne DuMaurier’s classic Rebecca will arrive, once again, on the silver screen. Originally brought to the screen by Alfred Hitchcock, starring Laurence Olivier and  Joan Fontaine, DreamWorks and Working Title Films are embarking on a feature remake with Eastern Promises writer Steven Knight signed on to write the script.

Variety reports that Knight will base his script on the classic novel not Hitchcock’s version. DaMauier’s story centers on a naive young woman who marries a rich widower and settles in his gigantic mansion. She soon discovers the  only the memory of the first wife maintains a grip on the household and the servants with a mystery as to how she died.

Knight just adapted Dan Brown’s bestselling novel The Lost Symbol for Sony. Currently, Knight is preparing for his directorial debut Hummingbird, starring Jason Statham.

William Goldman is rewriting the remake of 1986 Heat, a Burt Reynolds movie. The remake is for Jason Statham to star and Brian de Palma is directing. What a combination!

What is very cool is that Goldman also wrote the screenplay for the original – now he’s changed it for a more modern tone.

The story centers on a recovering gambling addict. His job is providing protection in the rough edges of the gambling world, and he refuses gunplay. Instead, he uses hand and edged weapon combat. His friend is brutally beaten by a mobster, and he helps the victim seek out revenge.

If you are not familiar with Goldman, he wrote Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid as well as other classics. He even wrote about screenwriting in Hollywood called “Nobody Knows Nothing“.

Zak Penn, who wrote The Incredible Hulk, has been hired to rewrite the untitled sequel to 2010’s box office hit The Karate Kid.

Ethan Reiff and Cyrus Voris were hired to write the sequel once Karate Kid remake brought in $55.6 million domestically. With China as the backdrop the movie brought in $359 million worldwide.

The story remains hush-hush with original stars Jaden Smith and Jackie Chan expected to return, though no deals are currently in place.

According to Variety, Penn should know his way around fight scenes, having written the superhero movies like X-Men: The Last Stand and The Incredible Hulk. He also co-created the Syfy series “Alphas” and wrote, directed and produced the improvisational poker comedy “The Grand.”

Of late, the writer has been busy with writing the Dirty Dozen remake, as well as an original version of the classic Argonauts tale.

Marvel’s The Avengers :30 second commercial during the Super Bowl was awesome to behold. Now Disney just released the :60 second, aka extended, Super Bowl commercial. Why they didn’t air it on Super Bowl, but is called the Super Bowl extended commercial, is beyond my comprehension.

I like both commercials, but prefer the :60 second spot because we get more clips of the characters and actual dialogue relating to the story.

You can see the extended commercial at YouTube. If you want to compare the two, you can see the original commerical at YouTube as well.

Marvel’s The Avengers opens in movie theaters on May 4, 2012.

Mark Ruffalo has teamed up with Scarlett Johansson in the movie Can A Song Save Your Life?

The movie was written by John Carney, who will also direct the Song. The story follows a young female singer. She just moved to New York City in hopes of making it in the music business. She gets dumped by her boyfriend, and her whole world crumbs. But, life takes a turn for the better when a down-on-his luck record producer discovers her. The two form a romantic relationship and help turn each others’ lives around.

No surprises here, Viola Davis landed two new projects after receiving an Oscar nomination and SAG Award — Ender’s Game and Beautiful Creatures.

Beautiful Creatures will be directed by Richard LaGravenese, who also wrote the adaptation Margaret Stohl-Kami Garcia book. The story follows two teens who must confront a curse that has haunted the girl’s family for generations.

Davis is set to play a librarian and friend of the teenage boy’s deceased mother. She loves the boy like he was her own son and will do whatever is necessary to protect him from harm.

Gavin Hood will direct Ender’s Game, also starring Asa Butterfield, Hailee Steinfeld, Abigail Breslin and Harrison Ford.

Hood wrote the adaptation of Orson Scott Card’s novel. The story takes place in the future where a genius strategist is recruited by the government to help destroy an insect-like alien race.

Davis will play a military psychologist. She supervises the emotional stability of young trainees while designing the games that test their skills and resilience. Note: The only problem is that psychologist will not exist in the future.

Davis will shoot Ender’s Game first and Beautiful Creatures later in the year.

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Bradley Cooper and Jennifer Lawrence are working together, again, in Serena, a very deep and emotionally driven story. The pair just wrapped David O. Russell’s The Silver Linings Playbook. So, this new project should be great material for both of them.

Serena will be an adaptation of Ron Rash’s novel of the same name, set in 1929. The North Carolina story follows a couple who relocate with the plan to build a timber empire. The circumstances and blind ambition works against them as the childless wife, who is unable to bear children, builds a vengeance against her husband’s illegitimate son.

In a Better World director Susanne Bier will direct this film.

Justin Timberlake is joining Clint Eastwood and Amy Adams in Trouble With the Curve — marking the directorial debut of Eastwood’s longtime producing partner Robert Lorenz.

The script was penned by Randy Brown and the story follows Eastwood’s character, who is an aging baseball scout with vision problems. He goes on a road trip to Atlanta with his daughter (Adams) to take a look at a hot prospect.

Timberlake will play Eastwood’s pal Johnny Flanagan. Flanagan is a former pitcher and works as a baseball scout for the New York Yankees. His character is a potential love interest for Eastwood’s daughter.

Interestingly, according to Variety, Curve marks the first film Eastwood has starred in but did not direct since Wolfgang Petersen’s 1993 In the Line of Fire.