“Avatar” star Sam Worthington will be playing the title role in the film adaptation of “Dan Dare.” Warner Bros. recently closed a deal for the feature rights to the British property. The character, created by Frank Hampson, first appeared as a comic in 1950 and centered on a gallant chief pilot of the Interplanet Space Fleet. The story took place in the ’90s, with Dare exploring planets presumed to have extraterrestrial life. “Dan Dare” was later adapted for radio and television. Worthington has been attached to the project for several months. Basil Iwanyk, who worked with Worthington on “Clash of the Titans,” will produce the project under his Thunder Road banner.

Jason Biggs and Joel David Moore (”Avatar”) star in Seattle-based indie political comedy “Grassroots” with Peggy Rajski producing through Matthew Brady’s MRB Prods. Stephen Gyllenhaal’s co-writing and directing, based on the memoir “Zioncheck for President” by Phil Campbell. Biggs will portray a recently fired journalist who reluctantly agrees to spearhead the Seattle City Council campaign of his eccentric friend, played by Moore as a former pedicab driver with a burning passion for the Monorail.

http://www.variety.com/article/VR1118020989.html?categoryId=4026&cs=1

“Shutter Island” screenwriter and “Avatar” executive producer Laeta Kalogridis sold a pitch for “Technotise,” an adaptation of the Serbian anime “Technotise – Edit i Ja” to Legendary Pictures, which bought Kalogridis’ pitch for a low-seven-figures. Not only will Kalogridis produce the film alongside Rae Sanchini, Thomas Tull and Jon Jashni, but she will be writing the screenplay about “a failing art student who decides to get a chip implant to circumvent studying but gets more than she bargained for.” Scott Glassgold and his partner Raymond Brothers, the duo who got the ball rolling on this whole thing months ago, will executive produce as well.

If Brett Ratner taking over superhero franchises, remaking Kid ‘n’ Play classics or remixing Bollywood movies isn’t your thing, maybe you’ll appreciate him as a presenter of small sci-fi film acquisitions like Greg and Colin Strause’s Skyline. The director/producer is shepherding the deal for Relativity Media on the nearly completed film, which is being likened to “Cloverfield,” “Paranormal Activity” and even “Super 8,” which is a bit of a stretch since that one hasn’t been made yet. The Brothers Strause are primarily effects artists whose work can be seen in “Avatar,” “Iron Man 2″ and less recently in Ratner’s “X-Men: The Last Stand.” But you may know them best as the directors of “Aliens vs.

A newly reinvigorated Morgan Creek has licensed its latest project, “Passengers,” to be directed by Italian auteur Gabriele Muccino, to Medusa in Italy and to Herbert Kloiber’s TeleMunchen in Germany. Other deals in key territories are pending on the $90 million pic, which will go out domestically through Universal. Keanu Reeves already has been locked up as the male lead, while his female love interest is still being sought for what the producers short-handed as “Adam & Eve in Space.” The pic also will have a couple of comedic roles and set designs created by some of the wizards who worked on “Avatar.”

Fox 2000 has snapped up Cherry Cheva’s young-adult novel “Duplikate” for Alloy Entertainment to produce. Rina Mimoun, creator of the short-lived CW skein “Privileged,” has been tapped to adapt. Story centers on Kate Larson, who creates an avatar named Rina for the SimuLife computer game. One day Rina springs to life and demands equal time in the real world. Alloy, the teen-centric powerhouse behind such book-to-screen properties as “Gossip Girl” and “The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants,” previously teamed with Mimoun on “Privileged.” Alloy’s Leslie Morgenstein and Bob Levy are producing.

http://www.variety.com/article/VR1118018554.html?categoryId=2431&cs=1

Sequels to two major 3-D action franchises are in the works, but may return without key members of the original talent. Reports are that the sequel to “Clash of the Titans” will proceed without director Louis Leterrier. Star Sam Worthington will return, but he’s also due to report on the sequel to another monster-sized hit, “Avatar.” That puts pressure on Warner Bros. to have a shooting script ready in time to hit a hoped-for spring 2012 release date. Leterrier will remain on-board as an executive producer. Meanwhile, “Journey to the Center of the Earth” may lose star Brendan Fraser.

Sam Worthington, making his first deal since the success of “Avatar,” is in negotiations to star in “Dracula Year Zero,” a period vampire epic Alex Proyas is set to direct for Universal. Michael De Luca is producing. Matt Sazama and Burk Sharpless wrote the spec, which explores the origin of Dracula, weaving vampire mythology with the true history of Prince Vlad the Impaler. It seeks to depict Dracula as a flawed hero in a tragic love story set in a dark age of magic and war. Universal’s Jeff Kirschenbaum is shepherding the project, which has no start date and is still in development. Alissa Phillips is executive producing.

As “Avatar” continues to make box office history, James Cameron is eyeing a slice of history for a potential helming gig. He has optioned Charles Pellegrino’s upcoming nonfiction tome “The Last Train From Hiroshima: The Survivors Look Back” with his own personal funds. Pellegrino’s book, published by Henry Holt, is set to hit bookstores Jan. 19. Advance reviews have been glowing for the title, which takes place over two days and weaves together eyewitness accounts of the Japanese civilians and American pilots who experienced the atomic explosions firsthand. According to the book, 30 people are known to have fled Hiroshima for Nagasaki — where they arrived just in time to survive the second bomb.

As he eyes a return to outer space for “Avatar” sequels, James Cameron appears to be heading to inner space by putting “Fantastic Voyage” on the front burner. 20th Century Fox has tapped Shane Salerno (”Aliens vs. Predator: Requiem”) to adapt a remake of the 1966 sci-fi film, which will be produced by Cameron. Although Cameron has never expressed interest in helming the pic — which centers on a dying scientist whose only chance for survival rests with five colleagues who are miniaturized and injected into his bloodstream — he would employ the same pricey 3-D and digital technology on “Fantastic” that was used in “Avatar,” insiders say.