This section is now updated every weekday. If you have a cool scoop you'd like to submit, you can either send it via e-mail, or with our submit form (if you prefer to remain anonymous). You'll get proper credit/link for your contributions.

Surviving Christmas: Ben Affleck is in talks to star in "Surviving Christmas," which is expected to begin within the next six months. Affleck will play a man faced with spending Christmas alone. He tries to remedy his holiday depression by going back to the last place he was happy, his childhood home, and convinces the family living there to take him in. Variety reports that 'Christmas' will be produced at Columbia Pictures by Betty Thomas and her Tall Trees Prods. partner Jenno Topping. No director is attached yet.

The Last First Kiss: Columbia Pictures picked up the romantic comedy spec "The Last First Kiss" from first-time writer Kevin Bisch that Overbrook Entertainment will produce as a potential starring vehicle for Will Smith. According to The Hollywood Reporter, "Kiss" is about a New York man who has a secret identity moonlighting as a dating doctor who specializes in priming and planning dates for lovesick men. Despite his talent for handling other people's relationships, he is adrift when it comes to his own love life. When he meets and falls for a New York tabloid journalist, his jaded romantic outlook is challenged, while his secret identity is threatened to be uncovered.

American Outlaws: A new poster for this western/comedy, directed by Les Mayfield ("Blue Streak"). It stars Colin Farrell, Scott Caan, Ali Larter and Timothy Dalton. For more info, visit the official site. Thanks to Morgan Creek Productions.

Brother: Review of Takeshi Kitano's recent film "Brother," starring Kitano himself, Kuroudo Maki, Omar Epps and Masaya Kato. Some spoilers. Thanks to MovieFreak.Com.

Brother - Film Review (Positive)

Catch Me If You Can: Lasse Hallström ("Chocolat") is in negotiations to direct "Catch Me If You Can," with Leonardo DiCaprio in the lead role. According to Variety, the DreamWorks picture tells the true tale of Frank Abagnale Jr., a charming young impostor who impersonated so many people and kited so many checks between 1964 and 1966 that he earned the distinction of being the only teen ever on the FBI's 10 most wanted list. "Catch" had previously been eyed by directors such as Gore Verbinski and David Fincher. A March start is planned.

StarChild: Peter Segal ("Nutty Professor II: The Klumps") is in negotiations to direct the sci-fi comedy "StarChild," which is being developed as a potential starring vehicle for Tim Allen ("Galaxy Quest"). There is no start date. Allen's Boxing Cat Prods. is also producing the project, about a socially challenged CIA agent who must help a friendly alien return to his planet before an interplanetary war erupts on Earth. According to The Hollywood Reporter, Dan O'Dowd wrote the screenplay and will co-produce the project, which was set up at Icon in February.

Smoke and Mirrors: As often rumored, Michael Douglas and Catherine Zeta-Jones are set to work together in "Smoke and Mirrors,'' a period drama set for a mid-fall start date. Variety reports that the fact-based story revolves around 19th century illusionist Jean Robert Houdin, who was sent with a young female sidekick to Algeria by the French government to expose a sorcerer who was inciting an anti-colonial revolution. John McTiernan is near a deal to direct the film.

Suspicion: Dimension Films and RKO Pictures have teamed to co-produce a remake of the 1941 Alfred Hitchcock suspense thriller "Suspicion." Based on Francis Iles' novel "Before the Fact," it originally starred Cary Grant and Joan Fontaine in the story of a reserved young woman who marries a man after a brief whirlwind romance but begins to suspect that he is trying to kill her for her money. According to The Hollywood Reporter, RKO chairman and CEO Ted Hartley and Wendy Finerman ("Forrest Gump") will produce the remake with a draft already written by Michael Browning ("Six Days, Seven Nights").

Posters: One for "The Score," a crime/thriller starring Robert De Niro, Edward Norton, Marlon Brando and Angela Bassett. Also one for John Carpenter's sci-fi/action/horror flick "Ghosts of Mars." Thanks to UIP-Netherlands and Dark Horizons.

Signs: Mel Gibson is now in negotiating to star in "Signs," the supernatural thriller from writer/director M. Night Shyamalan. Gibson is believed to have read the script last week. He is currently filming "We Were Soldiers Once...and Young," written and directed by Randall Wallace ("Braveheart"). According to Variety, the "Signs" plot revolves around the sudden appearance of circles and lines found carved into the crops of a family farm in Bucks County. Shooting is expected to begin in the fall.

Red Dragon: A rather harsh look at Ted Tally's "Red Dragon" script (dated April 23rd, 2001). Some spoilers. Thanks to Creature Corner, who also has the exclusive word on two upcoming "Salem's Lot" remakes.

Red Dragon - Script Review (Negative)

Enter Fleeing: Kyra Sedgwick, Parker Posey and Fairuza Balk will star in "Enter Fleeing," an independent feature for writer/director Rebecca Miller ("Angela"). Variety reports that the picture (based on Miller's upcoming book of short stories, "Personal Velocity") tells the tales of three women's escapes from their afflicted lives. Greta (Posey), Delia (Sedgwick) and Paula (Balk) have one thing in common: each struggles to flee from the men who confine their personal freedom. The four-week shoot began in New York on Friday.

Stolen Summer: Bonnie Hunt will star as the female lead in "Stolen Summer," the Miramax/Project Greenlight feature for first-time director Pete Jones. Production is set to start this month in Chicago. According to The Hollywood Reporter, the film is about an Irish Catholic husband and wife (Aidan Quinn and Hunt) whose young son defies them to help a Jewish friend dying of leukemia get into heaven. Max Weinberg, Kevin Pollak and Brian Dennehy also star. Matt Damon, Ben Affleck and Chris Moore are producing. HBO plans to produce a 13-part documentary about the making of the film.