I've already marked "Tropic Thunder" as one of my must see flicks for 2008. Judging by the cast (Ben Stiller stars alongside Owen Wilson, Jack Black, Robert Downey Jr., and Nick Nolte among others) and concept of his latest effort, I'm highly optimistic.

Justin Theroux, currently promoting his own directing debut "Dedication" told me all about how he and Stiller hatched the idea for the flick (Theroux is a co-writer and actor in it). He recalled, "We were watching a war [movie] DVD and there were actors talking about the boot camp they did and how it was intense. So we thought, wouldn’t it be funny if we did a movie about a bunch of actors who came back from a boot camp for a war movie and they had post traumatic stress disorder. That was the germ of the joke. And then it went from there to being a bunch of actors going to make the biggest budget war movie and getting lost in the jungle. And they end up fighting an unseen enemy and thinking they’re fighting a real war."

I asked Theroux, who's in the middle of the "Tropic Thunder" shoot right now, point blank about the most intriguing casting rumor associated with the film. Will Tom Cruise make an appearance? "I think so," he responded. Read more...

With the global success of "Harry Potter," you'd think everybody and their brother would be jumping at the chance to compare their fantasy films to J.K. Rowling's creation, maybe hoping a little of that Boy Who Lived magic would rub off on them.

Think again. "It's a lot different, well, at least in the books I read," David Strathairn said of "The Spiderwick Chronicles," an upcoming fantasy movie based on a popular series of children's books. "I don't think it's going to be the next 'Harry Potter.'"

Both "Spiderwick" and "Potter" center on a group of young children as they're introduced to a magical world full of faeries, and goblins, and other fantastic, mythical creatures. The big difference, Strathairn giggled, might be his character - not so much a mentor as "the mad scientist, the mad botanist, the guy who maybe took too many mushrooms," he laughed. Try THAT on for size Albus Dumbledore! Read more...

Batman keeps getting new gadgets, Indy keeps getting new friends, and Owen Wilson keeps working with Ben Stiller. That and more in our links of the day.

- The Batcycle! Click source link for full-size image. (L.A. Times)

- Jim Broadbent cast in "Indy 4”? (AICN)

- Eli Roth lashes out at pirates for box office failure of "Hostel: Part II." (Myspace)

- Alas, John Cusack. Patrick Wilson more or less confirms he's cast as Nite Owl in Zack Snyder's "Watchmen." (ComingSoon)

- Tuesdays with Adam. Sports columnist and best-selling author Mitch Albom writing baseball script for Adam Sandler. (Variety)

- Owen Wilson and Nick Nolte join Ben Stiller's "Tropic Thunder." (Variety)

- "The Cat Burglars" and "Operation Rudolph" among upcoming films from "Wallace and Gromit" studio Aardman Features. (Variety)

- Forest Whitaker and Jude Law set for "The Repossession Mambo," morality tale about seizing black market organs. (Variety)