David Slade has decided to jump ship and team up with Tom Cruise instead of directing a sequel to 'The Question.' I'm certainly not happy with the situation. I think that this movie could be something special and Slade's abandonment of the project complicates things. I'm pretty pissed at Cruise for poaching my director, making him an offer he can't refuse. Damn. To replace Slade, I have narrowed it down to a short list of directors: John Dahl (Joy Ride, The Last Seduction, You Kill Me, The Great Raid, and my film 'Short on Time'), Mikael Hafstrom (Derailed, The Rite, 1408), Duncan Jones (Moon, Source Code), and Dennis Iliades (The Last House on the Left). One of those guys has officially been offered the job.

I recently re-read 'Skin Tight' which has made me even more excited for the release. I'm also a little disappointed though with my script. A lot of great characters had to be removed. If I had to do it over again I would definitely make some changes to the adaptation, make it longer and more complex.

'Oedipus Rex' is another week closer to release. I'm happy that Robert De Niro has accepted the role in this film. If he wasn't friends with Scorsese I don't think he would have taken the role. Also, Mel Gibson will have a small role in the film. I decided to ignore Gibson's personal problems and just try and cast the best actor I could think of for the role. No matter what allegations have been made against Gibson over the past few years, he is still a top talent as evidenced in his most recent film 'The Beaver'. I believe there is only one small role left to be cast, so the film will probably be released in two weeks.

One of my first scripts has finally been greenlit, 'Jonestown'. I think that Josh Brolin is absolutely going to knock it out of the park with this role. In fact, I'm going to call it right now - before the movie is even done shooting - Josh Brolin will be nominated for a Best Actor GMA. I couldn't be happier with him accepting the role and what he is doing with it, but believe it or not someone else was almost cast in the role. I thankfully came to my senses when watching 'Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps'. Giving me the idea of casting Brolin as Jones is probably the best thing to come from that movie. Brolin is of course joined by the great David Strathairn, who is playing U.S. Congressman Leo Ryan. Strathairn's role is pretty much the co-lead, but it is a far less showy role. It's probably the least showy role in the movie.