When talking to Omelete, Robert Downey Jr. confirmed his interest in the upcoming film, Pinocchio, to (hopefully) be directed by Tim Burton. You can check out a video of the brief interview in the link above (where he also talks about Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows and Iron Man 3), or just read a couple of highlighted bits below:

On Pinocchio: “I want to talk to him about it, yeah! C’mon, it’s Tim Burton.”

On Iron Man 3: “I think that we have an opportunity with the third Iron Man to make the best of the three, and maybe one of the better superhero movies that’s ever been made. But I think we have to remember what made the first one good. It was very character-driven. It was very odd. It was kind of outrageous. And so I think we have to have the courage to trust that the audience is really kind of cool, and smart.”

This is exciting news, as I’m a huge fan of Bryan Fuller: Warner Brothers is courting Robert Downey, Jr. for a live-action production of the Carlo Collodi classic, Pinocchio. Tim Burton is currently attached as the director and wants to work with Robert, but it’s a matter of fitting it into his busy schedule. Bryan Fuller wrote the script for WB, with previous collaborator Dan Jinks on board as the producer.

In the version being developed at Warner Bros., Geppetto embarks on a quest to reunite with his missing marionette. The well-regarded script is by “Pushing Daisies” creator Bryan Fuller. Dan Jinks (American Beauty) is producing.

Neither Burton nor Downey has a deal with Warners, but sources say Burton is keen to direct the film and has begun talks with the studio, so it’s just a question of whether Pinocchio will be his next movie. The Alice in Wonderland director also is eyeing an adaptation of Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children at Fox, among other projects. Warners wants to move quickly with Pinocchio, so if Burton chooses to make another movie first, the studio might move on to other directors.

According to two well-placed sources, Downey has expressed serious interest in the project (and in working with Burton), but his busy schedule must still be worked out. Warner Bros. is hoping that Burton and Downey commit soon so the project can be fast-tracked.

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Robert Downey Jr. is reportedly interested in starring in the The $40,000 Man.  The film was written by Terry Zwigoff (Ghost World) and re-written by John Francis Daley (Horrible Bosses) and is about “a legendary astronaut and ‘true American hero,’ who is horribly injured in a car crash and is rebuilt by the government to be a bionic man but on a budget of $40,000 – which makes him not that bionic.”  I’m particularly curious about Downey’s interest in this project since the role sounds like Iron Man but with crappy powers. [SOURCE]

That depressing news about Bond 23 means a few people now have spaces in their diaries. Not least among them is Sam Mendes, but he may not be idle for long. Production Weekly are calling him the “front-runner” to direct Oz the Great and Powerful. Robert Downey Jr is also apparently musing on whether to join the project as Oz himself (a whizz of a wiz, if ever a wiz there was).

The film is one of approximately 27 Oz projects currently bubbling away in Hollywood, but suddenly looks a bit nearer to fruition than the Todd McFarlane (and/or Josh Olson) one, the John Boorman one, the New Line one, or Wicked. Previously known as the slightly pithier Brick, Oz the Great and Powerful is an origin story, told from the wizard’s point of view. It details how, as a young man, the Wiz arrived in Oz as part of a travelling circus, and how he became the hapless charlatan behind a curtain that we know and love.

Disney is the studio that’s getting behind this one, keen to find their next Alice in Wonderland. Joe Roth (Alice, Hellboy) is producing, and Mitchell Kapner (The Whole Nine Yards, Romeo Must Die) has written the screenplay. Nothing there to exactly set the world alight, but the meticulous Mendes and the improv-happy Downey Jr are a curious combination which could make for interesting results. We’re keeping optimistic. After all, sometimes the dreams that you dream really do come true.

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A few weeks ago, we learned that Angelina Jolie had no desire to star in a sequel to the 2008 film Wanted because she was interested in a project by Alfonso Cuaron entitled, Gravity. It seemed like a promising film for the versatile actress but it wasn’t meant to be. She’s no longer attached and according to Deadline Hollywood, Robert Downey Jr. is in talks to star instead.

Gravity originally centered on the sole surviving human member of a space mission, desperately trying to return home to Earth and her daughter. I guess in this case the sole survivor will be Iron Man, I mean Robert Downey Jr. Cuarón co-wrote the screenplay with his 28 year old son Jonás making the film a true family affair. It was set up at Universal but was recently put into turnaround, and now Warner Bros and Legendary Pictures will co-finance.

How will Downey fit Gravity into his busy schedule? The actor plans on shooting the film this summer in London right before he starts Sherlock Holmes 2 with Guy Ritchie in the fall. It will be interesting to see Downey take on a role that features just him and not much else. He definitely has the charisma and on screen presence to keep an audience engaged at all times. Lets see where this goes. [SOURCE]

Robert Downey Jr. and Beyonce are tipped to take the lead roles in a new remake of 1930s movie classic A Star Is Born.

First released in 1937, the musical has been reworked twice in the past, with Judy Garland and James Mason in 1957 and Barbra Streisand and Kris Kristofferson in 1976.

Actor-turned-director Nick Cassavettes is behind the latest version and has signed a deal with Warner Bros ahead of a 2012 release, reports Deadline Hollywood Daily.

Downey Jr. and Beyonce are the favourites for the lead roles, playing Normal Maine and Esther Victoria Blodgett, aka Vicki Lester – with Mad Men star John Hamm, Alicia Keys and Rihanna linked as back-up stars.

It’s not the first time a remake has been mooted, Will Smith and Jennifer Lopez were once linked to a version planned by director Joel Schumacher.

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