Just call her Belle. High School Musical‘s girl-next-door Vanessa Hudgens is set to star in a modern-day Beauty and the Beast, aptly titled Beastly. Why? Because it makes perfect sense. According to Variety, the film, based on Alex Flinn’s fantasy novel, is about a vain 17-year-old who learns some hard lessons when he’s turned into a hideous beast and must find true love to become human again. Don’t we all.
Funny thing is, Hudgens is also starring in Watchmen director Zack Synder’s next flick, Sucker Punch – a film that sounds entirely different from any of the cutesy crap she’s been doing. It’s about a girl held against her will in a mental institution by her nasty stepdad and is days away from being lobotomized. She escapes her horrible existence but imaging an alternate universe in which she’s the leader of a gang of kick-ass gals on a quest. Not sure if Hudgens is the girl or just one of the other inmates, but I’m kinda jazzed about this one. Also starring is Jamie Chung, Jena Malone, Emily Browning and Abbie Cornish.
In other casting news: Cinematical tells us Angelina Jolie’s looking for a new movie franchise, playing popular author Patricia Cornwell’s heroine Dr. Kay Scarpetta, a cool, sophisticated and beautiful medical examiner who solves any number of gruesome murders. Sounds a whole lot better than Lara Croft: Tomb Raider, I can tell you that.
And Variety reports Cameron Diaz is eyeing a comedy called Bobbie Sue about an up and coming ambitious lawyer who gets her big chance when a prestigious law firm hires her to defend a powerful client accused of sexual discrimination. That’s funny how exactly? More like Cameron trying to do Legally Blonde 3. “Biiiiitch pleeze!”