Screentalk: Whalley meets a monster

Joanne Whalley, Gary Oldman and Dominic Monaghan are among the cast for Monster Butler, which begins shooting in Scotland this month.

The film, directed by Doug Rath, and based on the true story of Roy Fontaine (aka Archibald Hall), will star Malcolm McDowell as a bisexual jewel thief/con man/serial killer.

Death becomes Malin and Goldie

Malin Akerman and Jason Sudeikis are in talks to join Adam Shankman's comedy This is Where I Leave You. Jason Bateman, Zac Efron, Leslie Mann and Goldie Hawn are also eyeing the adaptation of Jonathan Tropper's novel about a man whose dying request is for his dysfunctional family to spend seven days together.

DreamWorks has a new bigwig

Stacey Snider, the co-chairwoman and CEO of DreamWorks, has set up Mark Sourian, the studio's co-president of production since 2009, with a first-look production deal. He will take on projects such as Need for Speed and Starbuck. Steven Spielberg, company founder, said he was happy for Sourian to be taking on the job.

Fraggle Rock rolls again

The co-writer of Rango, Jim Byrkit, and Alex Manugian, who did voice work on the animated film, have been hired to write the script for Fraggle Rock, a big-screen adaptation of Jim Henson's 1980s musical puppet series. A Canadian series that became an international hit, it told the adventures of cave-dwelling puppet creatures.

It's a Mads world for US subtitlers

The US finds subtitles a problem. But high-profile titles from Cannes often find a home across the pond. Thomas Vinterberg's The Hunt has been picked up for US distribution, despite challenging subject matter. Mads Mikkelsen won the Best Actor prize for the film in which he stars as a teacher falsely accused of child abuse.

Man-eating fishvs Facebook

Piranha 3DD was the first 3D film to get a day-and-date release in cinemas, on-demand and online for VOD rentals. And it is the first to roll out to Facebook, with the 3D Facebook VOD app for rental. The cast includes Christopher Lloyd, Ving Rhames, Gary Busey and Katrina Bowden. David Hasselhoff is a celebrity lifeguard.