Trade Roundup: Rose McGowan Takes Early Lead In ‘Barbarella’ Remake Casting Race

· Robert Rodriguez will direct a remake of 1968 Jane Fonda sci-fi spank vehicle Barbarella for Universal; producer Dino De Laruentiis describes their plans for the project thusly: “In our vision, the future is female, and I can’t wait to introduce ‘Barbarella’ to a new generation of moviegoers.” We think we know where he’s going with this: space lesbians! [Variety]
· Realising that launching a hopeful summer blockbuster in the magical month of May seems to boost even the most disappointing of mega-budgeted sequels to record-breaking heights, studios are rushing to claim May release dates for their 2008 and 2009 movies. [THR]
· Broadway Out of Ideas: The Addams Family is being adapted into a musical, scheduled to hit the stage in 2009-10 season. Is it too early to make the easy joke about slapping a Gomez moustache on Hugh Jackman? [Variety]
· Following its corporate parent’s “NBCU2.0″ mandate to get both cheaper and dumber across all divisions, NBC News shitcans anchor Stone Phillips after 15 years on Dateline, replacing him with a non-union model who will open a briefcase that may or may not contain a videotape of that evening’s stories. [THR]
· Richard Gere will take time off from his busy schedule of publicly despoiling Bollywood actresses to produce and star in Hachiko: a Dog’s Story. [Variety]