Rachel Weisz (The Mummy, The Constant Gardener) has joined the new project of Rian Johnson (the writer-director of Brick), entitled The Brothers Bloom, reports Dark Horizons. 

The indie con-artist adventure follows two brothers who are among the world’s best con men. The younger brother decides to quit their life of crime, but he’s persuaded to do one more job, swindling an eccentric and mysterious millionaire (played by Weisz).

Filming on the $20m flick starts Tuesday, with locations spread throughout a dozen countries in central Europe, Scandinavia and Asia.

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David Eick, who together with Ron Moore has brought the superb Battlestar Galactica re-imagining to current TV, has layed his hands on another show from the seventies, according to Variety. Together with screenwriter Laeta Kalogridis he will produce a new take on Bionic Woman for NBC. The original centered on a former tennis professional with superhuman powers, and was a spinoff of the other popular series The Six Million Dollar Man.

Eick mentioned that the new show will be “a complete reconceptualization of the title. We’re using the title as a starting point, and that’s all.” Instead of focusing on terrorism and militarism, the new “Bionic” will explore the role of professional women in contemporary society and how they juggle their various roles. “It’s using the idea of artificial technology as a metaphor for what contemporary women sometimes feel is necessary to do everything that needs to be done,” Eick said.

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Cinescape reports that Stargate SG-1 executive producer Brad Wright has confirmed in an interview with TV GUIDE that two feature films will be produced after the completition of the show’s 10 year run. The possibly direct-to-DVD features written by Robert Cooper have been greenlit by MGM and should debut in 2007. The first film will tie up most of the finale’s loose threads with the second film involving time travel. “It’s the climax of the Ori storyline,” Wright said.

Although contracts have not yet been signed, the original cast are said to be “very eager” to participate. “They’re not big-budget by any definition” said Wright, “but for us it’s pretty good, as we’ve proven over the years, just give us little more money and we can make pretty good television or DVDs.”

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David Lynch, the director of classics such as Blue Velvet or Mulholland Drive, is set to distribute his latest film Inland Empire without a studio. According to Variety, Lynch has secured the rights in North America from financier Studio Canal, saying that “it’s a whole new world out there, even when it comes to distribution.”

This move comes shortly after Studio Canal cancelled a screening of Inland Empire at the genre-friendly Sitges Festival because they wanted the director to make a shorter cut of the three-hour film. While Lynch has not spoken the least bit ill about Studio Canal, it seems his desire to release his current cut was too strong in the end, hence his solo move. What this all means in the context of the film’s release (limited only? exclusively sold on Lynch’s website?) is anyone’s guess, but we’ll keep you updated.

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Paddy Considine, last seen in The Half Life of Timofey Berezin has joined the cast of The Bourne Ultimatum, reports Comingsoon.net. The British actor will appear with Matt Damon in the third film outing adapted from the series of novels by Robert Ludlum.

The movie is set only loosely on the original book and according to the Internet Movie Database, “Bourne races to discover the final mysteries of his past while a government agent tries to track him down after a shootout in Moscow”. The Bourne Ultimatum is scheduled for release in 2007.

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