Disney Pictures and Spyglass Entertainment are in negotiations with helmer Frederik Du Chau to direct the live-action bigscreen version of "Underdog." "Underdog" will use a CGI-enhanced live dog to portray the eponymous hero, a talking canine with super powers. Du Chau gained experience blending CGI and live animals on "Racing Stripes," which combined computer-generated effects and real horses to portray a zebra-turned-racehorse. The film is scheduled to start shooting early next year..." (full details)

Sean Hood is developing psychological thriller "Nellie Bly" for Sobini Films. Pic is partly based on an article by Bly -- one of the first female investigative journalists, who worked in New York in the 1880s -- called "10 Days in a Mad House." The article chronicles how she faked insanity in order to go undercover as an inmate at Blackwell's Island, an impenetrable women's asylum. Hood adapted Alice Blanchard novel "The Breathtaker" for John Wells Prods. at Warner Bros..." (full details)

Albert Berger and Ron Yerxa are teaming up with Mandate Pictures to produce "Boomerang," a coming-of-age comedy from Nichols Fellowship winner James Mottern. Mandate will be fully financing the pic and handling worldwide sales. Story concerns an eccentric man who thinks his parents continue to cross strange boundaries..." (full details)

Thanks to 'KC'.