In this week's Ketchup, the campy classic "Starship Troopers" may finally get a proper successor with Casper Van Dien returning for "Starship Troopers 3" (there was a sequel?), Jack Black teams with avant-garde director Michel Gondry, and Fox and Marvel may engage in a glorious studio slugfest over the future of the "X-Men."

Also, Gargamel and Azrael may get to resume their chase of those little blue creatures in a "Smurfs" movie, and hit-or-miss screenwriter Akiva Goldsman will pen the "Da Vinci Code" prequel. Read on for more.


This Week's Most Popular News:

Johnny Rico Returns in "Starship Troopers 3"
Yep, you read that right: Casper Van Dien, the star of the original "Starship Troopers," will be returning to head up "Starship Troopers 3," which will be directed by series writer Edward Neumeier.

Jack Black and Michel Gondry Remake "King Kong," "Robocop," and More '80s Classics
In his upcoming movie, "Be Kind Rewind," Jack Black gets to remake all of our '80s favorites. He plays a video store clerk who accidentally erases all the tapes, and has to replace all the videos by filming them himself.

Bad Blood Between Fox & Marvel over "X-Men"?
So it's been widely reported that, spin-offs aside, Fox was pretty much done with the "X-Men" series. But then they said maybe not. But then Marvel figured they could maybe continue the series by themselves...

New Details on the "Smurfs" Movie
When I first heard that someone was planning a big-screen version of "The Smurfs," I immediately thought two things: 1. Ugh, and 2. What took so long? Now comes producer Jordan Kerner with a handful of info that makes me think, Hmm this might not be such a rotten idea after all.

"Batman & Robin" Writer Gets $4 Million for "Da Vinci" Prequel
Oscar-winning screenwriter Akiva Goldsman is allegedly earning a $4 million dollar paycheck for his adaptation of Dan Brown's "Angels & Demons," which features the character played by Tom Hanks in an adventure that predates what went on in "The Da Vinci Code." Yeah, just like what happened with "Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom."



In Other News:

• George Clooney has two new projects in the works. He will star in "White Jazz," adapted from the James Ellroy novel, and he will direct the heist film "The Belmont Boys." Both movies are for Warner Bros.

• Meryl Streep is the latest to join the cast of Gavin Hood's "Rendition," which stars Jake Gyllenhaal and Reese Witherspoon.

• Horror auteur Clive Barker is teaming with Walden Media to create an original young adult thriller centered on the ghost of Edgar Allan Poe.

• Comedic director Todd Phillips is set to produce and possibly direct the buddy comedy "The Fix Up" for Warner Bros. Pictures.

• Columbia Pictures has acquired "The Pineapple Express," with David Gordon Green directing the comedy with Seth Rogen and James Franco starring.

• Universal Pictures has signed Martin Lawrence to star in the comedy "The Better Man" with Malcolm Lee directing.

• Hugo Weaving, Rose Byrne and Matt Le Nevez will play the three leads in "The Tender Hook," a 1920's-style film noir from writer/director Jonathan Ogilvie.

• Plum Pictures is starting production next month on the drama "Life in Flight," starring Patrick Wilson and Amy Smart, with Tracey Hecht making her directorial debut.

• Noah Wyle will make his directorial debut with the independent romantic comedy "Prince Test."

• Lionsgate has acquired the script "The Escape Artist," a comedy by brothers Jim and Brian Kehoe about a relationship consultant who gets paid to break people up.

• Willem Dafoe, Bob Hoskins and Matthew Modine are set to star in "Go Go Tales," a screwball comedy from writer/director Abel Ferrara.

• Ralph Fiennes is set to star in Jacob Estes' "The Gifted," based on Ian Parker's New Yorker article "The Gift," about the life of controversial philanthropist Zell Kravinsky.

• John Krasinski of TV's "The Office" will reportedly join George Clooney and Renee Zellweger in the 1920s romantic football comedy "Leatherheads," which Clooney will direct.

• Deb Hagan will make her directorial debut with the comedy "College" for Lionsgate.

• Tarsem Singh ("The Cell") will direct the political thriller "Unthinkable" for Sidney Kimmel Entertainment.

• Martin Scorsese will reportedly direct the big-screen adaptation of Eric Jager's historical novel "The Last Duel: A True Story of Crime, Scandal and Trial by Combat in Medieval France," about the last government-sanctioned duel between two knights.

• Woody Harrelson, Samantha Morton, Kate Mara, Eduardo Noriega, Ben Kingsley and Thomas Kretschmann have joined the cast of the crime thriller "Trans-Siberian," for director Brad Anderson ("The Machinist").

• Columbia Pictures has acquired film rights to the comedy "My Wife Hates Your Wife," with Gina Wendkos writing the script and Will Smith producing and possibly starring.

• Also acquired by Columbia is a new take on "Cleopatra," to be written by biographer Stacy Schiff with Scott Rudin producing.

• Robert Luketic will direct "21," based on Ben Mezrich's best-selling nonfiction book "Bringing Down the House: The Inside Story of Six M.I.T. Students Who Took Vegas for Millions," with Kevin Spacey set to star.

• Finally, Perry Henzell, director, screenwriter and producer of the Jamaican Reggae classic "The Harder They Come," died of cancer on Thursday in Jamaica. He was 70.