Screen Talk: Zac commits to a red-hot romance

Zac Efron has been wooed to star in writer/director Tom Gormican's romantic comedy Are We Officially Dating?

The screenplay revolves around three friends in New York who make a pact to remain single just as each starts to fall in love. Gormican's story topped the 2010 Black list of comedy scripts looking for backers.

Academy changes its tune at last

The Academy organisers have changed the rules for the Best Original Song Oscar. For the 85th Oscars, there will be five nominees as long as more than 25 songs are submitted. Complicated voting meant that last year just two songs went tune-to-tune as “Man or Muppet” from The Muppets won over “Real in Rio” from Rio.

Final fling for the typewriter...

Wannabe and established screenwriters alike are to be able to get a write-capable version of Final Draft, the screenwriting software. Earlier versions for the omnipresent tablet device – Final Draft Reader – only allowed users to read but not compose scripts. James Cameron and JJ Abrams are among the fans of Final Draft.

How to make a small fortune

Warner Bros plan to keep interest in Peter Jackson's Hobbit trilogy hot by releasing the second and third movies within seven months of each other. The series has been written for the screen by Fran Walsh, Philippa Bovens, Jackson and Guillermo del Toro; The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey opens in December.

Two arms are better than one

Making movies with people you also manage is good business. One of the latest to launch with production and management arms, Haven Entertainment, has executives with film résumés boasting the likes of upcoming thriller The Cold Light of Day and Liberal Arts, and clients such as Ben Schwartz and Jenni Ross.

What's in a name? About $27m...

The estate for Marilyn Monroe is assessing a blow to its $27m income. A Californian court said that it could no longer claim that the actress was living in California in 1962 when she died. It means that her heirs can't take advantage of state laws allowing individuals to hold name, image and likeness rights.

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