Now that we've entered the dog days of summer, Hollywood's revving box-office engine inevitably shifts down a gear as evidenced by this week's major releases. Universal's remake of the 1975 auto-thriller Death Race 2000 is aiming to cross the finish line first and, with its young-male demographic and traditional late-summer star Jason Statham, looks like the strongest contender to snatch pole position from Tropic Thunder - especially as the war-spoof comedy is expected to plummet by around 50 percent from its opening weekend. Also in this weekend's race are the Anna Faris-starring comedy The House Bunny, family-football tale The Longshots, starring Ice Cube and directed by Limp Bizkit-er Fred Durst, and Fox's PG-13 comedy The Rocker, starring The Office's Rainn Wilson. Even as the studios reach to the back of their shelves for any old B-movie to shove out, summer 2008 looks all but certain to at least match last year's record-busting haul of $4.16 billion. And for that, Hollywood can thank The Dark Knight juggernaut, which prevented the whiffy likes of The Love Guru, Speed Racer and Meet Dave from ruining their summer. More at Variety

Cage Gets Kick-Ass

Nicolas Cage is joining Brit actor Aaron Johnson and Lyndsy Fonseca on Kick-Ass, Matthew Vaughn's adaptation of the uber-violent Mark Millar comic-book series. Kick-Ass focuses on a high-school zero who decides to become a superhero even though he has no athletic ability whatsoever, only for everything to change when he runs into real baddies. With Johnson as the dweeb, Fonseca as the object of his infatuation and Cage as a former cop trying to bring down a druglord, Stardust helmer Vaughn is going the independent route with his Marv Films partner Kris Thykier on Kick-Ass after several studios passed on the blood-soaked script.

"We share your love for Harry Potter"

...but we love our bottom line even more. Responding to a backlash from angry Potter fans over last week's announcement that The Half-Blood Prince is shifting from 21 November to next July, Warner Bros. honcho Alan Horn has issued a statement to try and placate them: "Many of you have written to me to express your disappointment in our moving Harry Potter And The Half-Blood Prince to Summer 2009. Please be assured that we share your love for Harry Potter and would certainly never do anything to hurt any of the films." Which actually makes him sound like a scary uncle who's locked Harry away in the studio attic, and might actually alarm Potter-maniacs. For Horn's full statement, head HERE. (And he didn't really say that stuff about the bottom line – he just thought it.)

Solace Changes Dates

Taking advantage of Half-Blood Prince's 2008 evacuation, Quantum Of Solace has moved back a week, from November 7 to November 14, to squeeze more box-office juice out of the Thanksgiving holiday stretch. Sony said in a statement: "We believe November 14th is a great date that allows us to play straight through Thanksgiving and right into Christmas. The Bond films have a long history of entertaining audiences in this holiday corridor going back to GoldenEye in 1995." Thanks, Sony - we like a little history lesson with our studio announcements...

Admitting that this is so far up the rumor spout it might never come out, CHUD claims a mysterious source has revealed to them that Sam Raimi desperately wants James Franco to play Jack Ryan in his relaunch of their spy thriller franchise. Paramount have already ploughed through three Ryans in bringing Tom Clancy's novels to the big screen (Alec Baldwin, Harrison Ford and Ben Affleck), but the studio's not as keen on Franco as Raimi is (he worked with the Pineapple Express star on his Spider-Man trilogy). In fact, so resistant is the studio to Franco's charms -- they're worried he's not a franchise-carrier -- that Raimi's threatening to walk. Like we said, stick this one in the rumour file for now...

Nolan Offered Batman 3

With The Dark Knight cruising past Star Wars to become the second highest-grossing domestic release of all time behind Titanic, Warner Bros. has lobbed an official offer at Christopher Nolan to write and direct the third Bat-outing. With the studio's coffers being boosted to the tune of $470 million and counting, it's obvious why they're gagging to get Nolan back on board. But he might be reluctant to return -- or at least want to take a breather from Bat-world by directing another movie (as he did with The Prestige, which he shot between Batman Begins and TDK). Even Warners boss Alan Horn is admitting, "He has yet to decide on whether to tackle it yet."

Cruise Grabs Sleeper

In the latest Tom Cruise casting-news diversion (because we all keep talking about UA), the star is hopping on board the comic-book bandwagon (what took him so long?). Cruise has linked up with Sam Raimi to bring Sleeper -- a DC Comics series about an operative fused with an alien artifact that makes him impervious to pain who goes undercover in a villainous organization -- to the big screen. For now, Cruise is only loosely attached to star, with Raimi producing alongside his production company partner Josh Donen. More at The Hollywood Reporter

Watchmen Snagged In Legal Wrangle

Uh-oh. Warner Bros.' Watchmen adaptation could be in legal peril after a U.S. federal judge refused their motion to dismiss rival studio 20th Century Fox's legal tussle over the rights to make and distribute an adaptation of Alan Moore's seminal graphic novel themselves. It all dates back to the early '90s when Fox was developing the film via producer Larry Gordon's Largo Entertainment. But don't panic, Watch-geeks: even if the court grants Fox's request for an injunction, it will likely just mean that Warners has to fork over tens of millions to release the film (like they did in a similar situation with The Dukes Of Hazzard). For a full rundown on the saga's history, head to Deadline Hollywood Daily...

Coens Cast Serious Men

The Coen brothers are going down the relative unknown road for the next film, a 1967-set black comedy called A Serious Man. They've corralled Tony-nominated stage actor Michael Stuhlbarg and Spin City regular Richard Kind to play, respectively, a college professor who's wife wants to leave him and his socially inept brother who won't move out of the house. More at Variety

At the Tropic Thunder junket, Robert Downey Jr. strolled into a Four Seasons hotel suite dressed in wide-striped khaki trousers and a green army jacket with the name "Osiris" sewn into one of the pockets, the name of his character in Thunder. But in between the Thunder-thumping, Downey Jr. was happy to chat about his upcoming gig playing Sherlock Holmes in Guy Ritchie's adaptation of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's classic sleuth. The Brit director has rewritten the script for Warner Bros.' reboot, which is inspired as much by Lionel Wigram's eponymous comic book as it is by Doyle's tomes; Holmes knocks the Victorian stuffiness out of the tale to buff up Holmes as a bare-knuckle boxer and martial-arts expert. Here's what Hollywood's hottest actor has to say about donning Sherlock's cap.

When do you start shooting?

October 6. Going over to England.

Have you had many meetings with Guy Ritchie?

We've definitely got to spend some time together, and I love his take on it. We're both martial arts enthusiasts and historically, in the real origin stories of Sherlock Holmes, he's kind of a bad-ass and a bare-knuckle boxer and studies the rare art of baritsu [fictional martial art created by Doyle for the final Holmes story, 1901's The Adventure Of The Empty House]. If you look baritsu up, they can't even really tell you what it is, so it gives us a lot of leeway.

What drew you to this take on Holmes?

I love the idea of doing a period piece without trying to be too stylized. I loved 300, but I think that that's been capitalized on in other films like that, so I like the idea of doing a period piece where you don't modernize it, you just realise how modern it was. In 1891, it was incredibly modern. And Sherlock Holmes is such a great character to be able to play.

How's the English accent coming?

It hasn't come to me yet. I've done R.P. [a.k.a. received pronunciation, a.k.a. The Queen's English] before in Chaplin and Restoration, but I don't want to just do that. I feel like Sherlock Holmes is out there somewhere, and I got my little ham radio on [makes like he's trying to tune in a radio station] to find his frequency, but I've got nothing yet.

So how does it feel being back on top of Hollywood?

Yeah, I'm so on top of it, I'm in the missionary position. I've been pretty much in every angle corresponding to Hollywood, and it's just great, you know? It's great, and it's a lot of work, and it's anxiety-provoking. Because be careful what you wish for -- here I am, promoting a movie while my heart says I should not be promoting Tropic Thunder at all because I need to have my ham radio going for Sherlock Holmes. It's mandatory that I get this inspiration, and what if I miss that train? I'll be depriving the moviegoing public of what it is that I promise them I'll be able to do, which is, more often than not, deliver.

All (sex)-change! Long-time Tom Cruise vehicle Edwin A. Salt is drastically changing tack, with screenwriter Kurt Wimmer redrafting the espionage thriller to star Angelina Jolie. After Cruise's interest in Salt recently waned, several male A-listers swooped down hoping to land the title role -- only for Jolie to take a shine to the CIA officer forced on the run after being accused of acting as a double-agent for the Russians. Those close to the project say it won't take much of a rewrite to make a good fit with Hollywood's reigning -- only? -- action queen, although presumably she'll get a new name (not likely to be Edwina A. Salt). Aussie Philip Noyce is still resting in the director's chair -- for now. More at Variety

Is Spielberg Leaving Chicago 7...

...and handing the reins to Bourne Supremacy/Ultimatum director Paul Greengrass? That's what an item spotted in Production Weekly by a Film School Reject blogger suggests. Greengrass, who's currently finishing his Iraq War drama Green Zone, is a perfect fit for the material so there could be a germ of truth in this. No confirmation from the The Trial Of The Chicago 7 team yet, though, but Spielberg's schedule is so clogged with Tintin and Lincoln his involvement does appear to be extremely iffy.

Columbus Lands On Kennedy Pic

After Emilio Estevez's Bobby, director Christopher Columbus is taking his own stab at making us feel pangs of loss at the death of charismatic 1968 presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy. Columbus - who's best known for gooey kid flicks and helming the first (worst) two entries in the Harry Potter franchise - has optioned the screen rights to Thurston Clarke's book The Last Campaign: Robert F. Kennedy And 82 Days That Inspired America and plans to adapt the script and direct. "Chris was inspired by the fearlessness Robert showed in those 82 days," said Columbus's 1492 production company partner Michael Barnathan, referring to RFK's refusal to hermetically seal himself off from the public despite his brother's assassination while campaigning on a platform of anti-poverty, anti-racism and anti-Vietnam war. We're inpired by the fearlessness Columbus is showing by tackling RFK's hallowed image with his inevitably soft-soap approach. More at Variety

Studios Adopt Producer Weight-Loss Program

Speaking of Christopher Columbus, his 1492 production company was cut loose by Warner Bros. in the studio's recent house-clearing. As Variety points out, it's part of Hollywood's current penchant for lowering overheads. Hence stars, directors and producers who had the cushy-deal equivalent of slaves fanning them and popping grapes in their mouth while they bathed in Dom Perignon being chucked out on their bums. Variety's annual survey reveals the number of in-house deals at its lowest tally since they started keeping track 11 years ago.

Thunder Boycott Threat: Stiller Replies

Stiller, chatting to MTV News, insists that anyone calling for a boycott is missing the point of who and what's being made fun of: "It's sort of edgy territory but we felt that as long as the focus was on the actors who were trying to do something to be taken seriously that's going too far or wrong, that was where the humor would come from. The joke is on actors reaching for roles in terms of hopefully winning awards."

Fending off the stiff stoner challenge of Pineapple Express, The Dark Knight made it four weeks at the top over the weekend, padding its record-setting haul by a further $26 million. That's under Express's five-day $40.4 million opening weekend, but only counting Friday-to-Monday (when the Seth Rogen comedy tallied $22.4 million) gives Knight its edge. The Bale-Ledger freight train surged past Shrek 2 to become the third highest grossing film of all time in the States, with $441.5 million, and Star Wars' $461 million total in its sights. The Sisterhood Of The Traveling Pants 2 mimicked Express's midweek assault but only managed $19.7 million in its opening five days, while Mamma Mia! streaked past $100 million over the weekend and The Mummy: Tomb Of The Dragon Emperor wheezed its way to another $16.1 million, a 60 percent plummet from the previous weekend. More at Variety

Bernie Mac Dies At 50

Actor-comedian Bernie Mac died early Saturday at the age of 50 from complications due to pneumonia in Chicago's Northwestern hospital. This followed reports earlier in the week from his publicist that the seriousness of Mac's illness were being overstated and that he was expected to make a full recovery. The crossover comedian, who appeared in films such as Transformers, the Ocean's trilogy, Charlie's Angels: Full Throttle and Bad Santa as well his Fox TV series The Bernie Mac Show, had battled an inflammatory lung disease known as sarcoidosis in recent years although his publicist says it wasn't linked to his pneumonia. Born and raised on Chicago's South Side, Mac had spent most of his life performing. Just last year he told David Letterman that he planned to take it easy from now on so he could try to enjoy the fruits of his success: "I'm going to still do my producing, my films, but I want to enjoy my life a little bit. I missed a lot of things, you know." Sad that he didn't get much of a chance to fulfil those wishes.

Tropic Thunder Boycott Mooted

Tropic Thunder opens this Wednesday but disabilities groups are expected to announce a boycott today over what they view as out-and-out ridicule of the intellectually disabled in Ben Stiller's spoof. What's really got groups like Special Olympics in a tizz is Thunder's film stars-playing-film stars dropping the word "retard" like it's going out of fashion in reference to Stiller's action-lunk character's Oscar-minded movie vehicle Simple Jack. Leading the anti-Thunder charge is Special Olympics chairman Timothy P. Shriver, who fumed to the New York Times, "the most disappointing thing, the most incredible thing, is that nobody caught it." We'd say DreamWorks caught that one early but decided to go ahead and face the wrath. The studio issued a statement describing Thunder as "an R-rated comedy that satirizes Hollywood and its excesses and makes its point by featuring inappropriate and over-the-top characters in ridiculous situations." Yeah, disabilities groups, Hollywood's laughing so why can't you!

Women In Hollywood

USA Today has rounded up some of Hollywood's key female players -- including producers Nancy Juvonen and Denise DiNovi and filmmakers Diane English (The Women) and Gina Prince-Bythewood (The Secret Life Of Bees) -- for a sort of state-of-the-nation address for women in Hollywood. We know that the industry's a boy's club -- what's new there? -- but it does sound like it's easier being a disabled person in the vicinity of a Ben Stiller movie than a woman trying to get a movie off the ground in Hollywood... More at USA Today