2004 Toronto Film Festival: "Stars will be out in force at the 29th Toronto Film Festival, which will kick off September 9. Among the thesps expected to attend are Annette Bening and Jeremy Irons to tubthump opening-night pic "Being Julia"; "The Lord of the Rings" heartthrob Orlando Bloom for "Haven," which he stars in and produced; and Dustin Hoffman, Jason Schwartzman, Isabelle Huppert and Mark Wahlberg for "I Heart Huckabees". Jamie Foxx for Ray Charles biopic "Ray"; Liam Neeson for "Kinsey"; Sean Penn for "The Assassination of Richard Nixon"; Hilary Swank for "Red Dust"; Charlize Theron for epic period piece "Head in the Clouds"; Sandra Bullock, Matt Dillon and Brendan Fraser for "Crash," which is expected to be a hot sales item; and Sigourney Weaver for "Imaginary Heroes". Sydney Pollack, Terry Gilliam and Todd Solondz will appear..." (more info).

Big Nasty: "Sony Pictures Animation has set "Barbershop" scribe Don D. Scott to write "Big Nasty," a CGI musical set in outer space. The deal comes just days after the studio set "Toy Story 2" helmer Ash Brannon and "Tarzan" helmer Chris Buck to team on CGI penguin pic "Surf's Up"..." (more info).

Dirt: "Irwin Winkler, Charles Winkler and Rob Cowan will produce "Dirt," a spec that traces the history of NASCAR back to moonshine manufacturers who used their fast cars to outrun the law. Written by David Eyre and David Burton Morris, period piece begins just after World War II, when men were returning to their homes in small towns in the Deep South. With few job opportunities, they turned to the classic backwoods art of brewing moonshine, tuning up their cars to help them make speedy deliveries and get round the police. Soon some decided it would be fun to race their cars against each other as well as the cops..." (more info).

Infantile: "Joe Farrell and Catherine Paura have set up a third feature, this time at MGM. The Lion has acquired Bob Hilgenberg and Rob Muir's comedy "Infantile" for Farrell Paura Prods. to produce. Laffer revolves around an uptight management consultant who never had or desired a real childhood until he takes his 5-year-old nephew to kindergarten one day, turning his adult life upside down..." (more info).

Never Mind the Pollacks: A Rock and Roll Novel: "Neal Pollack is rocking on with Warner-based Bill Gerber, who has acquired film rights to Pollack's satirical tale "Never Mind the Pollacks: A Rock and Roll Novel." The story of a self-destructive rock critic named Neal Pollack is told through a series of interviews by rival critic Paul St. Pierre following Pollack's death..." (more info).

Lucky Number Sleven: "Josh Hartnett is set to reteam with "Wicker Park" director Paul McGuigan in "Lucky Number Sleven," a noir gangster film scripted by Jason Smilovic. Ascendant Pictures is financing with Capitol Films. Shooting will start in November. The drama is set in a world where African-American and Jewish gangsters collide. Hartnett plays a man who has to kill the son of a rival crime boss..." (more info).

The Wrong Element: "Mark Pellington has exited the director's chair for WB's upcoming Harrison Ford starrer "The Wrong Element." Helmer, who came aboard the pic in early July, bowed out due to the death of his wife last week after a brief illness. WB has yet to find a replacement for Pellington, though the studio is actively pursuing a substitute to keep the pic's intended early fall shoot date..." (more info).

Widow's Broom: "Sam Weisman has signed on to direct the family comedy "Widow's Broom" for Paramount Pictures and Nickelodeon Movies. Chris Van Allsburg is adapting the feature from his book of the same name. The story revolves around a New England family suffering the loss of their father. When the family stumbles upon a witch's broom, it springs to life, sweeping away the neighbors, teaching the kids magic and helping to heal the family. The studio is looking at an early 2005 start date..." (more info).

Aeon Flux: Marton Csokas, Jonny Lee Miller, Sophie Okonedo, Amelia Warner, Caroline Chikezie and Frances McDormand will all be joining Charlize Theron on the sci-fi flick.

Elektra: If you couldn't get the trailer to work the other day, try Monsters & Critics.

Head in the Clouds: 28 new images from the Charlize Theron/Stuart Townsend movie are up at Rope of Silicon.

Lois & Clark (DVD): Seems there's a huge demand for the Teri Hatcher/Dean Cain "Superman" series - so much so Warners is looking into DVD sets right now.

Man-Thing: FilmJerk confirms that Lions Gate and Marvel Studios have taken the low-budget comic book adaptation off their 2004 schedule. No new date is yet set.

The Lost Boys 2: With the 2-disc set drumming up sales and interest, talk has begun again about a sequel which would reunite much of the cast.

The WB: Various photos from the season premiere episodes on the network are up at Mediasharx.

Troy (DVD): Details are out for the January release disc set.

Ultimate Matrix DVD Collection: A trailer for the ten-disc set is at Rope of Silicon.

Thanks to 'Marcus', 'Patrick', 'The Mole', 'James' & 'Brad'