If you’re wondering who Corey Stoll is, you may recognize him as the best part of Woody Allen’s Midnight in Paris. The actor played Ernest Hemingway in that film, and received an Independent Spirit Award nomination for Best Supporting Actor. Now, he’s joined Netflix’s first original television series “House of Cards,” alongside some other fantastic talent. David Fincher is set to direct the pilot, and Kevin Spacey is playing the lead in the rehash of a 1990 British TV series. More on the plot of the show and Stoll’s role after the jump.

The political thriller will see Spacey playing Frank Underwood, the Majority Whip of the U.S. House of Representatives. When someone else is awarded the position of Secretary of State instead of him, Underwood comes up with a scheme to bring down the new president. According to Deadline (via The Playlist), Stoll “will play Patrick Russo, a loose-cannon, womanizing three-term Italian-American congressman, divorced with two kids, who is having a torrid affair with his secretary (Kristen Connolly). When Russo gets caught driving drunk with a call-girl passenger, Underwood intervenes to save him from the scandal — but at a high cost.”

The pilot is written by Beau Willimon (The Ides of March). “House of Cards” is committed to at least 26 episodes, and the show will begin airing in late 2012.

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David Fincher’s remake of The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo has been received well by critics (85% on Rotten Tomatoes) and Rooney Mara has received praise for her portrayal of Lisbeth Salander, but the movie is only expected to be a mild hit when its theatrical run is over.

Fincher’s version cost Sony $90m to produce (the original cost $7m and earned $105m) but so far it’s only grossed $72 million worldwide. That’s not bad for an R-rated thriller that’s been out for 3 weeks, but with such as high budget Sony was probably hoping for something higher, especially given the book has sold over 30 million copies worldwide.

The Girl Who Played with Fire, the follow-up to Dragon Tattoo, already has a script written by Steven Zaillian who worked on the first film, and a Sony rep recently confirmed to EW that it was still on track to be made.

“[Dragon Tattoo] continues to do strong business and nothing has changed with respect to development of the next book,”

Given the film’s merely decent performance, there’s been much speculation about whether Sony will now actually move forward with the sequel. But the Sony rep tells us that “development continues” on the sequel and Steven Zaillian is still working on the script as planned.

While Daniel Craig and Rooney Mara are already signed on for further films director David Fincher is not, but he’s already expressed interest in shooting The Girl Who Played with Fire and The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet’s Nest back-to-back so if he does return it’ll probably be for both films.

Dragon Tattoo has yet to open in many European territories so it could still end up with a gross Sony are happy with. The last we heard the studio was targeting a late-2013 release for Played With Fire, so shooting may begin later this year.

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Before Marc Webb was given the job of rebooting the Spider-Man franchise Sony were meeting with other potential directors to take on the project. One of those was David Fincher (The Social Network), and while on the rounds promoting The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo the director spoke about his Spider-Man movie that never was.

From io9:

“My impression what Spider-Man could be is very different from what Sam [Raimi] did or what Sam wanted to do. I think the reason he directed that movie was because he wanted to do the Marvel comic superhero. I was never interested in the genesis story. I couldn’t get past a guy getting bit by a red and blue spider. It was just a problem… It was not something that I felt I could do straight-faced. I wanted to start with Gwen Stacy and the Green Goblin, and I wanted to kill Gwen Stacy.

“The title sequence of the movie that I was going to do was going to be a ten minute — basically a music video, an opera, which was going to be the one shot that took you through the entire Peter Parker [backstory]. Bit by a radio active spider, the death of Uncle Ben, the loss of Mary Jane, and [then the movie] was going to begin with Peter meeting Gwen Stacy. It was a very different thing, it wasn’t the teenager story. It was much more of the guy who’s settled into being a freak.”

Fincher has consistently delivered in the movie department since Se7en in 1995, so chances are his Spider-Man reboot would have been worth watching. Fincher’s problem with the red and blue spider may have been an issue (it seems he would have glossed over that part), but killing off Gwen Stacy and his ‘freak’ angle would have been interesting. We’ll have to wait until Marc Webb’s The Amazing Spider-Man hits in July before making any comparisons, but I get the feeling Sony made the right decision.

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According to Deadline Andrew Kevin Walker has been brought on-board to rewrite the script for Disney’s 20,000 League Under the Sea.

The move will re-team Walker with director David Fincher who both worked on Se7en back in 1995. Walker also wrote the scripts for Sleepy Hollow and The Wolfman.

Fincher’s 20,000 League Under the Sea was first announced last year with The Bourne Ultimatum writer Scott Z. Burns in charge of the script. According to Deadline “Disney has been trying to find a compelling way to bring back the Jules Verne story of Captain Nemo as he creates his warship Nautilus”, so input from other writers is required.

A big tentpole movie such as 20,000 League Under the Sea will be a change for Fincher, who usually sticks to dramas such as Zodiac, The Social Network and The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo. Earlier this year the director said the movie will probably be 70% CGI, and he’ll be using motion capture technology. The Curious Case of Benjamin Button contained a fair amount of CGI, but it sounds like 20,000 League will be his most technology-reliant yet.

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According to Variety Eric Roth, writer of Ali, Munich and The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, is in talks to write the script for Sony’s Cleopatra.

Angelina Jolie is still attached to play the last pharaoh of Ancient Egypt, and The Social Network‘s David Fincher is still in the frame to direct.

Producer Scott Rudin said this new take, an adaptation of the Stacy Schiff book Cleopatra: A Life, will be “a much more grown-up sophisticated version” than previous Hollywood efforts:

“She’s not a sex kitten, she’s a politician, strategist, warrior. In the Joseph Mankiewicz movie, Elizabeth Taylor is a seductress, but the histories of Cleopatra have been written by men. This is the first to be written by a woman. It felt like such a blow-the-doors-off-the-hinges idea of how to tell it, impossible to resist.

Like most historical epics, the movie won’t be cheap, but Jolie has proven time and time again that she is a box office draw with The Tourist and Salt making $278 and $293 million worldwide last year. Add an Oscar winning screenwriter and frequent nominee David Fincher into the mix and Sony should have a success project on their hands.

No news on when filming will begin, but Roth will apparently begin writing within the next several weeks so there could be movement sometime next year.

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With the December release for David Fincher’s The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo edging closer Sony has released a new trailer, and it clocks in at almost 4 minutes. The extended trailer contains lots of new footage, and explains the story and characters in detail.

Watch below:

Rooney Mara stars alongside Daniel Craig, Robin Wright and Stellan Skarsgard in the remake which revolves around a young woman named Lisbeth Salander, a brilliant computer hacker who has a photographic memory, and a journalist named Mikael Blomkvist (Craig) who recruits her to find a woman who has been missing for 40 years.

I haven’t seen the original Swedish film with Noomi Rapace so I can’t comment on how this version looks in comparison, but from an outsiders perspective it looks like another solid effort from Fincher. Box office-wise Sony may regret ploughing $100m in to making it (the original cost $13m), but that’s something they’ll have to deal with in December. Christmas is usually a time when adults flock to see movies so it may be a hit, and could get a bump if there’s awards buzz.

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Before James Cameron signed up to direct Avatar 2 and 3 back-to-back he was flirting with the idea of directing an adaptation of the Stacy Schiff book Cleopatra: A Life with Angelina Jolie in the lead role. With Cameron out Paul Greengrass (The Bourne Ultimatum) was apparently in discussions, however now it appears recent Oscar nominee David Fincher is being eyed to direct.

According to Deadline producer Scott Rudin, who also produced The Social Network, is talking to Fincher about making the movie, however it will all be a matter of timing. Fincher is currently working on The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo and its sequel, The Girl Who Played With Fire, already has a script in the works. He is also attached to Disney’s 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea: Captain Nemo.

Rudin recently described this new take on Cleopatra as “a much more grown-up sophisticated version”:

“She’s not a sex kitten, she’s a politician, strategist, warrior. In the Joseph Mankiewicz movie, Elizabeth Taylor is a seductress, but the histories of Cleopatra have been written by men. This is the first to be written by a woman. It felt like such a blow-the-doors-off-the-hinges idea of how to tell it, impossible to resist. We’re pretty close. A lot of directors want to do it, but there is only a handful we’ll make it with.”

I wouldn’t say Jolie is perfect for the role, as she probably doesn’t look anything like Cleopatra, but at the moment she is the only actress who can get a studio to put $100+ million behind her. Sony aims to get the Egyptian epic off the ground later this year, so they should be signing a director pretty soon. Fincher would be an interesting choice.

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The Academy Awards are less than a week away and all the other major awards shows have made their opinions known; it is time for final predictions to be made. Here is my mildly self-indulgent Oscar predictions list.

Best Picture:
Let’s start with the big one. A month ago I would have said (and I believe I did say) that The Social Network had this one in the bag. I was wrong. The Facebook film has lost most of its Best Picture buzz in the last few weeks and The King’s Speech has taken over top spot, crushing the competition at the BAFTAs last week. With any luck this momentum shift hasn’t come too late and The King’s Speech will take home the prize. It all depends on how many stubborn Academy voters are still clinging to The Social Network’s bandwagon.  If it were up to me Inception would reign victorious, with Black Swan and Toy Story 3 as the other top contenders. Unfortunately for me (and Christopher Nolan) the Academy didn’t ask for my opinion.

Official Prediction: The King’s Speech

Best Documentary Feature:
I’ll be honest – I haven’t seen all the documentary nominees and it’s not a category that develops a lot of discussion. This year there just isn’t a Bowling for Columbine or March of the Penguins to create huge buzz. However, based on what I’ve seen so far this awards season, only one of the nominees has been a regular presence: Exit Through the Gift Shop.

Official Prediction: Exit Through the Gift Shop

Best Foreign Language Film:
Like the documentary category, there hasn’t been a huge Foreign Language standout either.  Biutiful probably has the best shot, as it has consistently been nominated this season. Also, it is the only nominee with a nomination in another category (Javier Bardem’s Best Actor nom), which will likely give it more credit in the eyes of Academy voters. Still, I won’t be surprised of the Canadian drama, Incendies, wins instead.

Official Prediction: Biutiful

Best Supporting Actor:
Up until the BAFTAs Christian Bale had won almost every single Supporting Actor trophy he could find for his role in The Fighter. And for good reason. Bale is well-known for his astonishing physical transformations (see The Machinist), and The Fighter is no exception. Any trace of Bruce Wayne is gone and Bale’s acting totally immerses you in the character of Dickie Ecklund. However, Geoffrey Rush, who pulled off a phenomenal performance in The King’s Speech has been a consistent nominee this season, and was finally rewarded at the BAFTAs. His win may be partly attributed to the BAFTA’s favoritism toward British films and the strong momentum The King’s Speech has been gaining. Whatever the reason, Rush’s win makes him a viable contender for the statuette. The other three nominees, while all putting forth incredible performances, don’t have the buzz or the critical reception surrounding them to garner a victory.

Official Prediction: Christian Bale (The Fighter)

Best Supporting Actress:
This category has been a delightfully unpredictable crapshoot this year. No single nominee has stood out above the pack. The momentum of The King’s Speech might propel Helena Bonham Carter toward a win, especially after her BAFTA victory, although I hope that won’t be the case.  Jacki Weaver (The Animal Kingdom) had some decent buzz early in the awards season, but it has mostly faded away. Hailee Steinfeld, the True Grit darling, has a decent shot since the Academy loves the Coen brothers and has a history of favoring young actresses in this category. Where we are mostly likely to see a win, however, is from The Fighter duo – Melissa Leo and Amy Adams. Both of them have been ubiquitous this year (minus a couple notable snubs – I’m looking at you BAFTAs) and the fact that there are two nominations from the same movie adds clout to their chances. Melissa Leo has been the stronger nominee, winning a Golden Globe and a number of other awards, so I’m placing my bets on her.

Official Prediction: Melissa Leo (The Fighter)

Best Animated Feature:
Toy Story 3, hands down. I’ll be stunned and horrified if anything else wins. I liked How To Train Your Dragon and The Illusionist has a cool retro thing going on, but they just don’t compare to Pixar’s latest gem. Don’t believe me? The fact that it’s the only nominee in this category that also has a Best picture nomination should convince you.

Official Prediction: Toy Story 3

Best Adapted Screenplay:
While The Social Network has been losing some serious Best Picture momentum, Aaron Sorkin has not lost any for his script. He has won at the WGAs, the BAFTAs, the Golden Globes, the Scripters, and too many more to mention. Even in awards where there is only one screenplay prize (like the Globes, where they don’t split original and adapted screenplays), Sorkin has won.

Official Prediction: Aaron Sorkin (The Social Network)

Best Original Screenplay:
The only reason any of these nominees has a chance is because The Social Network is in the other category. That being said, the battle is likely between David Seidler (The King’s Speech) and Christopher Nolan (Inception). Nolan is in contention purely due to his WGA win – the WGA’s strict eligibility restrictions prevented Seidler from being nominated, which left the field wide open for Nolan to step in. The fact is, however, that Seidler has the upper hand at the Oscars thanks to his huge number of other wins.

Official Prediction: David Seidler (The King’s Speech)

Best Actor:
This one shouldn’t be much of a surprise. Colin Firth has been cleaning up this category right from the beginning. His performance as King George VI in The King’s Speech is about as close to flawless as you’re going to find. In another year we might have seen a younger actor like James Franco (127 Hours) or Jesse Eisenberg (The Social Network) take home the top prize. Javier Bardem (Biutiful) and Jeff Bridges (True Grit) have both received honors recently, so the Academy shouldn’t feel obligated to snub Firth in order to honor them.

Official Prediction: Colin Firth (The King’s Speech)

Best Actress:
Earlier on this season this was actually a tight race. Both Annette Bening (The Kids Are All Right) and Natalie Portman (Black Swan) came strong out of the gate. Since then, however, Bening has all but disappeared off the radar and Portman has continued to soar. I like to think that this is because people have good taste. The other three nominees shouldn’t pose much of a threat. The only way I can see Natalie Portman losing is if a whole bunch of Academy voters decide Annette Bening is too long overdue for a win.

Official Prediction: Natalie Portman (Black Swan)

Best Director:
This one might be a bit of a heads or tails call. Personally, I’d scrap all five nominees and hand the award to Christopher Nolan (Inception). Unfortunately, the Academy won’t allow me to do that. Trust me, I asked. The Best Director race looks like it has come down to Tom Hooper (The King’s Speech) and David Fincher (The Social Network), which is more or less a reflection of the Best Picture race. The Academy has a long history of giving Best Director and Best Picture to the same movie. In fact, in the last 30 years, the Best Picture has won Best Director 24 times. Similarly, the Directors Guild of America award has been nearly perfect in predicting the Best Director Oscar, only missing the mark six times since its inception over six decades ago. In light of the fact that The King’s Speech is the Best Picture frontrunner and Tom Hooper won the DGA award, it would seem that he is the one to beat. But Fincher has continued to snag directing awards even when The Social Network loses the Best Picture category (ie. at the BAFTAs).  Fincher also has the “long overdue” card in his hand, having directed films like The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, Fight Club, and Se7en, whereas before The King’s Speech Hooper was almost exclusively a TV director. It’ll be close, but I expect Fincher will end up getting love from ol’ Oscar.

Official Prediction: David Fincher (The Social Network)

All of those other minor/technical awards:
I’m not going to sit here and pretend I’m an expert on sound editing or sound mixing (or even really understand the difference between the two) or any of the other minor/technical awards. I expect that Inception will walk away with a number of them (the rotating hallway scene alone should give it the Visual Effects award) and Alice in Wonderland is looking good for the Costume Design statuette. The Social Network’s musical score (by Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross) looks to be the front runner in that category, and my makeup artist mother says that Barney’s Version should nab the makeup award.

The 83rd Academy Awards will be held on Sunday, February 27 and will be hosted by James Franco and Anne Hathaway. You can see all the nominees here and feel free to make your own predictions in the comments section below!

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The British Academy of Film and Television Arts displayed their unabashed favoritism toward British films this Sunday by showering The King’s Speech with seven awards, including Best Picture and Best Actor for Colin Firth. The biggest surprise is probably the fact that Tom Hooper did not grab the directing prize after his DGA win. Instead, he watched David Fincher (The Social Network) walk away with that one.

The other huge shocker was Christian Bale’s (The Fighter) Supporting Actor loss to Geoffrey Rush (The King’s Speech). Bale has swept almost every single Supporting Actor prize, big and small, this awards season, so it was unexpected to have him go home empty handed, especially this close to the Academy Awards. I truly hope it doesn’t hurt his chances at an Oscar win.

The King’s Speech also nabbed the Supporting Actress award for Helena Bonham Carter’s performance as Queen Elizabeth. It makes me wonder if the BAFTAs would have blindly given The King’s Speech the Best Actress prize too, had there been a nominee.

Most of the rest of the awards were predictable: Darren Aronofsky (director of Black Swan) accepted Natalie Portman’s Best Actress award (she’s super pregnant and didn’t attend the ceremony); Aaron Sorkin was honored for The Social Network’s Adapted Screenplay; Toy Story 3, of course, won Best Animated Film; and Inception was given three of those awards that nobody is very interested in (Sound, Production Design, and Special Visual Effects).

It’ll be interesting to see how much of an impact the BAFTAs have on the Academy Awards. You can see the full list of BAFTA nominees and winners here.

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The King’s Speech took home the biggest award at the SAG awards last night, receiving the Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture award, the SAG’s equivalent to Best Picture. The King’s Speech leading man, Colin Firth, also won the Leading Actor prize.

These wins, alongside the film’s DGA win on Saturday night, moves it past The Social Network to claim front-runner status in the forthcoming Academy Awards. It is the most nominated movie at the Oscars with 12 nods. The King’s Speech also garnered 14 nominations from the BAFTAs, which gives out its awards on February 13th. Unless the The Social Network makes a comeback at the BAFTAs, things are not looking good for David Fincher’s Facebook movie.

Natalie Portman grabbed yet another top actress award for her stunning performance in Black Swan. Both supporting acting awards went to The Fighter: Christian Bale continued to sweep the supporting actor category; and Melissa Leo’s win reaffirms her as the likeliest of supporting actress candidates come the Oscars, although that has been a highly unstable category this season.

You can see all of the SAG awards and nominations here.

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