screen talk

PA takes charge

The Hollywood tradition of former assistants breaking out astalent continues. An untitled sci-fi crime thriller by BobbyGlickert, a former PA, has been snapped up by Universal. Glickertwrote the outline for the pitch and will direct and produce his ownproject. As a PA he made some friends in high places, so ScottStuber and Fast Five director Justin Lin will produce alongside him.Glickert was first a PA on Transformers and Iron Man then acted asan assistant to Lin on Fast and Furious, all the while directingshort films of his own. When the buzz broke in Hollywood, Lin'stennis coach left a message on the web offering his best wishes -and pointing out that he was available for auditions at any time.

Panda kicks ass at the box office

DreamWorks Animation and Paramount are feeling Zen after breakingrecords in China. The jointly backed Kung Fu Panda 2, (above left),kicked out the Chinese record for an opening weekend, garnering 125million Yuan (11.7m) at the box office. It's a market on the upafter the first Kung Fu Panda adventure, released in China in June2008 in the run-up to the Beijing Olympics, was the first animatedfilm to gross more than 100 million Yuan (9.3m) there. While itrequires diplomacy, an ability to swallow hard censorship rules andbeing resigned to the fact all Western releases must go through thestate-run China Film Group and its sister company Huaxia FilmDistribution, Hollywood's finest are still going all out for a sliceof the action. It's all about potential. Box-office gross was up 64per cent last year to 1bn and China is expected to overtake Japan asthe world's No 2 movie market after the US in the next four years.

Hiccup returns

First, the good news for fans. Storyboarding has begun on asequel to How to Train Your Dragon, slated to hit cinemas in 2014.The sequel will move beyond the small North Sea island that was thesetting for the original as it traces the further adventures ofHiccup, as he grows toward becoming the leader of his Viking clan.And, in even better news for fans, the writer-director Dean DeBloishas said that the follow-up is being intentionally designed as thesecond film in a trilogy.

Scardino works his magic

The veteran television director Don Scardino, (above centre),whose CV currently includes 35 episodes of the long-running comedyshow 30 Rock, is to make his feature film debut. Scardino, whoseother television credits range from Rescue Me to The Days and Nightsof Molly Dodd, has been tasked with directing Burt Wonderstone. Healready has Steve Carell attached to play a magician who needs torediscover his inner magic and a script, rewritten from ChadKultgen's original, by John Francis Daley and Jonathan Goldstein.

Wahey, it's Sahay

The internet is abuzz with the casting of Chuck actor Vik Sahayin American Reunion, the new American Pie movie from Universal,currently shooting in Atlanta. Sahay (above right), billed as "toogood-looking to join the cast of this film", according to somewebheads, joins a comedy cast which reunites the stars of the firstmovie. Jason Biggs, Alyson Hannigan, Chris Klein, Thomas IanNicholas, Tara Reid, Seann William Scott, Mena Suvari, Eddie KayeThomas, Jennifer Coolidge and Eugene Levy are all on board to charthow the characters' lives have changed as they return to their townfor a high school reunion. Sahay will play the nerdy kid in highschool who grows up to be Stiffler's boss. Jon Hurwitz and HaydenSchlossberg wrote the script and are directing.