Hugh Jackman and Steven Spielberg find 'Real Steel'

Steven Spielberg and Stacey Snider's DreamWorks is back in business. With $825 million in financing secured, the independent studio/production company -- call it what you will -- has greenlit their first film since leaving Paramount Pictures and teaming up with the Walt Disney Company. And smartly, they are teaming up with one of Hollywood's biggest stars to ensure it's success.

Based on Richard Matheson's short story, DreamWorks' "Real Steel" will find Hugh Jackman as a former fighter who has to find a new career when robots replace human boxers. Reinventing himself as a Robot Boxing promoter, he discovers a little used robot who always seems to win. The film also features a storyline where Jackman's character meets his previously unknown 11-year-old son and they "bond" as the underdog robot fights to a potential championship.

"Real Steel" is one of 17 projects Spielberg and Snider gained control of after their split from Paramount in 2008. Paramount has the right to join the film as a co-financier, but that studio may have other monetary considerations to worry about.

Variety reports the $80 million budgeted feature will be directed by Shawn Levy ("Night at the Museum") and will begin shooting this June. Spielberg and Snider will produce.

Jackman's next release will be Neil Marshall's thriller "Drive." He's also expected to shoot "Unbound Captives" alongside Rachel Weisz and Robert Pattinson early next year.

Brad Pitt Could Enter The Dark Void

Turn your snigger-o-meter up to full, readers, for Brad Pitt is toying with entering the Dark Void. Sniggers out of the way? Good. Then we’ll begin. Dark Void is the latest videogame that Hollywood is threatening to turn into a movie, and Pitt – who we always figured had more taste – is developing the project, with an eye to potentially starring. Maybe. Possibly. To be fair, pretty much every project that passes through Pitt’s company, Plan B, is touted as a possible starring vehicle for the big boss, but it doesn’t always turn out that way. So file this one under ‘Watch This Space’ for now. So, what is Dark Void? Well, it’s a first-person shooter in which humans try to kill hordes of ravenous star groaties. How shockingly original. Of course, this one does have a twist. Ish. Pitt would, could, may, might star as Will, a cargo pilot who crashes in the Bermuda Triangle and finds himself in a parallel universe where an ever-dwindling band of humans is locked in battle with an ever-growing alien threat. With the aid of some handy weapons and, intriguingly, powers, Will leads the humans in a desperate last battle to avoid becoming lunch. The Capcom game isn’t out until January, so Pitt and Reliance BIG Entertainment, the Indian company throwing tons of cash at movie projects at the moment, are somewhat ahead of the curve. Of course, if Dark Void (and that title HAS to change for the movie) ends up less Halo, more Haze, you might hear talk of a movie just quietly die away.