Everything I've heard and read about "Battle: Los Angeles" makes me think of the summer hit, "District 9." It's set in a different place of course and the story puts human and alien in more direct, open conflict, but the angle of a small, personal tale -- as I understand it -- carries through both movies.

One of the more surprising bits of casting for "Battle: LA" is Ne-Yo, the popular R&B singer-songwriter who starred in "Stomp the Yard." He'll next appear in the George Lucas-conceived Tuskegee airmen biopic "Red Tails" and then in "Battle: LA" in 2011. It's a very calculated move on the singer's part, as Ne-Yo harbors dreams of being an actor. "Stomp the Yard" wasn't much of a stretch, as he describes in the video below, but he's hoping the coming roles will be key in helping him branch out.

Head over to MTV.com for more from Ne-Yo on "Battle: Los Angeles."

Hong Kong action auteur John Woo (“Hard Boiled”) will remain in China for his next film, a WWII epic about the 1st American Volunteer Group (aka The Flying Tigers), according to a report on /Film. You’ve no doubt seen the group’s iconic aircraft, known for having teeth painted on their noses. Maybe a few of you have even seen the 1942 John Wayne movie “Flying Tigers,” a then-contemporary fictionalized story of the now-legendary airmen.

Woo’s picture, currently titled “Flying Tiger Heroes,” will ostensibly present us with the real history of the Volunteer Group. The Flying Tigers consisted of Americans recruited to aid the Chinese Air Force against Japan prior to America's entrance into World War II. Of course, the $160 million action flick will also wow us with what the filmmaker promises to be “the most spectacular aerial battle scenes ever seen in Chinese cinema.” Read more...

George Lucas is finally realizing his decades-long dream of producing a film about the Tuskegee Airmen, and the wildly unique cast includes Cuba Gooding Jr. and Method Man. The Anthony Hemingway-directed flick "Red Tails" has popped up from time to time for Lucas in interviews, but an announcement today indicates that he has his actors and they're ready to suit up and start production.

“I’ve been wanting to do 'Red Tails' for 20 years, and we’ve finally got the means to showcase the skill of the Tuskegee pilots,” Lucas said in the press release. “We’re working on techniques which will give us the first true look at the aerial dogfighting of the era. And our top-notch cast will really make this story special.” Read more...

- Johnny Depp does it all – literally, it seems. Thesp signs on for trio of Disney films, including “Alice in Wonderland,” “The Lone Ranger,” and “Pirates of the Caribbean IV.” (MTV)

- Pleased to announce that Rachel McAdams is set to become Mrs. Adler. RSVP to 221b Baker Street, London, care of “Sherlock Holmes.” (Access Hollywood)

- Will Smith to return from the dead, star in “I Am Legend” prequel. Spoiler Warning: Everybody dies. (Variety)

- Is Anthony Hemingway directing George Lucas’s “Red Tails”? And who is Anthony Hemingway? (Roger Ebert)

- Anne Hathaway to star in “The Opposite of Love.” Story follows an attorney who dumps her boyfriend. (Variety)