• Universal has agreed to release Peter Jackson's King Kong in its current, three-hour long cut – a move which will stretch the budget of the Big Fake Monkey Movie to $207 million. Jackson had originally planned to bring Kong in at $175 million and about 150 minutes. Jackson's original $20 million contract on the film stipulated that he could be docked pay if he brought the film in over budget; presumably to avoid that, he's paying for the extra $32 million worth of effects himself. Still – three hours. $207 million. Y'all better not watch this one on bit torrent.
  • Robert DeNiro will star in Barry Levinson's What Just Happened?, based on the memoir by producer Art Linson. DeNiro will co-produce out of his Tribeca Films; Mark Cuban's 2929 will put up the green. Sean Penn will play Sean Penn (really). Shooting starts next summer.
  • Dreamworks has acquired Jonathan Lethem's magical-science novel, As She Climbed Across the Table. The story follows a "love triangle" between a particle physicist, an anthropologist, and a black hole. "When you are attempting a romantic comedy that takes place in the context of theoretical physics, it is not a premise you come across every day," said producer Walter Parkes. "It's a fascinating book, but it will be a challenging adaptationThe deal was sparked when Lethem won the MacArthur Genius Award.
  • Bauer Martinez Distribution have picked up distribution rights on The Moguls, an indie comedy starring Jeff Bridges, Lauren Graham and Ted Danson, about an amateur pornographer "who brings together a motley group of friends and neighbors." Who the hell are Bauer Martinez? The distributor caused a minor splash at Toronto, when they beat some tough competition to pick up Danny Ayer's Iraq vet drama Harsh Times; they're also distributing new films from Andrew Lau and Amy Heckerling within the year.