Disney’s on-going lust to turn its famous theme park attractions into cinematic thrill-rides continues unabated, but one of the embryonic projects bubbling away in its development lab test tube appears to be evolving away from its source. Back last June, word broke that the Mouse House was going to be working on a Matterhorn movie. But now Transformers: Dark Of The Moon writer Ehren Kruger is on board to take it in a new direction.

The script will retain the basic concept of the Matterhorn idea, which Jason Dean Hall wrote, and which sees five young adventure seekers drawn to the Alps for mysterious reasons and having to face off against yetis that guard a dangerous secret. But the closer connections with the ride itself will be snipped (not that we figured it would stay all that true to the original anyway).

The studio is clearly thinking this one has legs, and has hired documentary director Brian Beletic to take his first crack at a movie. And upping the adrenaline level will be production company Brain Farm Cinema, which has experience shooting extreme sports.

Kruger, ever a man in demand, also has a few other films pushing their way through development, including one he co-wrote with Bradley Camp called Invertigo that has just been picked up by Sony and the small matter of dreaming new ways for robots to be in disguise, then hit/shoot/smash each other for the next Transformers effort. 

With Akira’s engine still idling away in development hell, you might think Warner Bros. would shy away from trying to adapt any more popular manga/anime titles into movies for now. But you would be wrong! The studio has now teamed up with Peter Segal to produce and possibly direct a new take on Bleach.

Originally crated by Tite Kubo, Bleach follows teenager Ichigo, a lad with more than a few problems on his plate, including the ability to see ghosts. His family is attacked by a powerful, malevolent lost soul known as a “Hollow” and the incident leaves our hero with the ability to hunt the spiteful spirits. But instead of simply going on a rampage, Ichigo chooses to use his newly extended powers to protect the innocent and help lost souls find peace.

Bleach has been wildly successful around the world, not least in Japan, where it has more than 75 million print copies in circulation. The manga title has already been adapted into a long-running anime series, which has 16 seasons under its belt. "I've always been a huge fan of Bleach and have great respect for its creator and the truly original and amazing world he has created in this manga," Segal blabs to Variety.

While we’re concerned about a man who has mostly spearheaded comedies taking on something like this, it’s still at an early stage. So far all the project has is a writer, with Wrath Of The Titans’ Dan Mazeau taking the first crack at the script.

With the new cinematic outing for the American Pie gang due this summer, there’s another trailer arriving to remind us all that it’s on the way. Check it out below.

American Pie: Reunion (Or American Reunion, as the US is calling it) finds Jim (Jason Biggs), Michelle (Alyson Hannigan), Stifler (Seann William Scott), Kevin (Thomas Ian Nicholas), Finch (Eddie Kaye Thomas), Vicky (Tara Reid), Oz (Chris Klein), Heather (Mena Suvari) and the rest reconnecting for their high school reunion. And… Well, if you’ve seen any of the other “proper” Pie films (the first sequel and American Wedding), you can pretty much figure out what happens from there.

Yes, writer-directors Jon Hurwitz and Hayden Schlossberg aren’t exactly re-inventing the wheel (or changing the pastry recipe) here – it’s another blend of gross-out gags (with Stifler once more depositing something nasty in something else etc) and emotional moments as the gang takes the time to reflect on where they thought their lives would lead versus where they actually ended up. Some are married and settling down, others just can’t seem to find their groove…

With such franchise stalwarts as Eugene Levy (who has cropped up in every Pie pic, even the dreadful ones) and Jennifer Coolidge along for the ride, American Pie: Reunion will get all over our faces on May 2. 

Bruce Willis, director John Moore and their 20th Century Fox backers have been on a months-long hunt for some young guy to play Jack McClane, AKA John’s son in the latest outing, A Good Day To Die Hard. And now, according to Deadline, the list has been whittled down to exactly one: Jai Courtney.

He’ll join Willis in the film, which sees McClane heading to Moscow to tackle some nasty gangster types. Along the way, we meet Jack, who, it turns out, is a real chip off the old block and as much of a tough guy as the old man. But – much as he was with Mary Elizabeth Winstead’s Lucy – John is estranged from his son so there’s going to be plenty of tension before the pair works out their issues (or at least some of them) in time to kick butt together. Skip Woods wrote the script and Moore will be calling the shots ready for a February 14, 2013 release both here and across the pond.

The young Aussie actor’s career has been taking off recently, and while he’s best known for his work as Varro in Spartacus: Vengeance, he’s also been seen in the movie Stone Bros. Courtney just finished work on a small role in One Shot opposite Tom Cruise and he’s attached to star alongside Aaron Eckhart in I, Frankenstein.

Somewhere, Liam Hemsworth (who made it to the final two against Courtney) is having a drink to commiserate, before consoling himself with the knowledge that he’ll be seen just as much thanks to a little film called The Hunger Games.

Last July, it was announced that Johnny Depp had added yet another potential project based on a classic series, signing on to develop a new film from The Night Stalker with Disney. Now the project has a director, in the shape of Shaun Of The Dead and Scott Pilgrim man Edgar Wright.

Depp, working with Infinitum Nihil producing partner Christi Bembrowski, is planning to live out another of his childhood fantasies, taking over the role of tabloid reporter Carl Kolchak, as made famous by Darren McGavin in the set of TV Movies and eventual spin-off series back in the 1970s.

Kolchak’s nose for a story always saw him sniffing up some very dangerous trees, with his investigations leading to run-ins with werewolves, vampires, zombies, aliens and other supernatural beasties. It’s no surprise that X-Files creator Chris Carter always cited the character as one of his major influences and scored Gavin to star in a couple of episodes of that show. The actor also cropped up in a cameo standing at a reporter’s desk in the short-lived 2005 remake TV series.

Now Depp is looking to be Kolchak, and Wright is aboard to help oversee the film from the very start. Since there’s no writer attached yet, we can all assume that this one won’t be happening immediately. Both Depp and his new directing pal are busy men, with the actor involved in numerous films bubbling away on the backburner as both star and producer and Wright has a few gestating projects of his own, including Ant Man for Disney/Marvel and, assuming they’re not both too occupied squabbling on Twitter or watching cat videos online, writing The World’s End with Simon Pegg. Between, that is, Simon’s visits to the Enterprise for Star Trek 2. He likes that ship. It’s exciting.

Depp will next be seen in Tim Burton’s Dark Shadows, which will spook us all on May 11.