By Steven Zeitchik

Here's one to wrap your brain around: "The NeverEnding Story” might keep going.

Warner Bros. and a pair of top-tier production banners are in the early stages of a reboot of the 1980s children’s fantasy classic. The Kennedy/Marshall Co., which most recently produced “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button”, and Leonard DiCaprio’s shingle Appian Way are in discussions with Warners about reviving the 25-year-old franchise with a modern spin. The studio recently acquired rights to the property, insiders said, clearing the way for a potential remake.

A quick recap on the original. Born out of a German-language novel by Michael Ende, the film centers on a boy with the very Dickensian name of Bastian Balthazar Bux who discovers a parallel world in a book titled “The NeverEnding Story.” As the loner delves deeper into the book, he increasingly finds his life intertwined with the plot of the novel, in which a hero in the land of Fantasia must save the universe on behalf of an empress. And so it goes.

The new pic, which original producer Dieter Geissler also will produce and which Sarah Schechter and Jesse Ehrman will oversee for Warners, will examine the more nuanced details of the book that were glossed over in the first pic, say those familiar with the project.

Wolfgang Petersen directed and the German banner Neue Constantin produced the original for Warners. Its performance? That movie earned only a respectable $20 million when it was released in 1984, but it's had a long life on home video and an even larger influence on popular culture, prefiguring Harry Potter and other present-day children’s fantasies. (A sequel directed by George Miller came out in 1990 and earned $17 million; a third movie followed in the U.S. in 1996 but quickly went to video.)

Those familiar with the project emphasize that it is in its early stages and that writers have not been attached.

Still, the interest highlights the frenzy among big entertainment players to develop revivals or sequels of dormant ’80s and ’90s franchises, which has reached fever pitch with the success of reboots like “Friday the 13th” and the fast-track development of a new version of “Robocop.”

“NeverEnding” came out long before the fantasy genre was seen as a springboard for a Hollywood blockbuster — the movie’s cast, anchored by Barret Oliver and Noah Hathaway, wasn’t exactly composed of superstars — but Warners is said to see an opportunity in the first-generation children’s fantasy. The studio has of course had success under the current regime producing and releasing the Harry Potter series, which has earned more than $4.5 billion worldwide during the course of its first five pictures.

Appian also is developing another remake of an ’80s fantasy, a live-action version of the 1988 anime tale “Akira.” Kennedy/Marshall, known for more adult pictures, also has produced youth-oriented fare, including 2006’s environmental tale “Hoot.” So DiCaprio, Kennedy, Warners and our childhoods. Sounds like a heady mix to us.

By Steven Zeitchik

Here's one reminscent of Dr. Evil's demand for one million dollars.

Samuel Jackson has just signed a nine-picture deal, a nine…picture…deal — no, not a misprint — to star in a host of Marvel pictures. Jackson, who works prolifically in the comic-book and action arenas, will play the role of Nick Fury, a spy agent and one of Marvel's lesser-known heroes who will eventually — in all probability — get his own movie.

Among the properties he'll play a supporting role in ahead of his marquee spot is "Iron Man 2," "Thor," "Captain America" and "The Avengers."

Clearly it's part of Marvel's strategy to cross-pollinate its characters (think Robert Downey Jr.'s cameo in "The Incredible Hulk"),  a kind of geek monetization strategy.  But nine pictures? Given the pace of Marvel output — no movie this year, a couple the following year — that should bring him to the end of the deal sometimes around the start of the first Sasha Obama administration.

By Steven Zeitchik

If Fitzgerald was wrong and there are indeed second acts in American life, then they frequently come with a good backend package.

Several players who seemed to be done with the projects/entities they'd once been associated with are coming back to them from beyond the grave, Cape Fear-style.

There is, first, word that Michael Cera isn't quite finished with "Arrested Development" after all. The actor who looked like he was saying goodbye to his George Michael character will return for the feature (long-rumored, rarely-confirmed) reuniting the Fox cast, says E!.  You'd think he'd have seven more offbeat romantic comedies to star/produce in, but no — or perhaps yes — but nevertheless, he apparently wants back on the cult show after all.

Meanwhile, there was all this talk in development circles and fansites that Catherine Hardwicke and Summit would go their separate ways after the director wasn't brought back for "Twilight,." Turns out they're not done after all — according to EW, Hardwicke is negotiating to direct another young-adult project for the studio, based on an upcoming book called "If I Stay," about a teenager seriously injured in a car accident, which makes us wonder if there wasn't some kind of Hillary Clinton, Election 2008-style deal made with Summit — you leave the race and we'll take care of you down the line.

Speaking of "Twilight," we missed, amid all the Oscar hubbub this weekend, the news that Summit would release the third movie at breakneck speed, just seven months after the second one, on June 30 of next year. If the second act land you the money, the third act comes while the tweens are still young.

By Steven Zeitchik

There's been lots of talk in movie circles — not to mention squares, triangles and parallelograms — over how the Peter Chernin departure will affect Fox.

Some we've talked to have pointed out that Chernin was the key report for Tom Rothman at the movie studio, as well as execs at other entertainment divisions. That means, they say, that if there's no Tom Freston-like hire made to replace Chernin, it could leave a vacuum between those execs and Murdoch (and then, they ask, how will that affect big decisions at the studio)? It's an important year for Fox, after all; they salvaged a tough 2008 with $140 million in domestic box-office for "Marley & Me," but 2010 has an even larger number of significant bets, including "X-Men Origins," the new "Night at the Museum" and the biggest of them all, James Cameron's "Avatar."

Equally of interest, of course, is where Peter Chernin would end up when all the dust settles. There was talk amidst the churnin' of the Chernin rumor mill Tuesday that he'd be starting his own film and television production company, but how serious that was and how he'd involved be, remains open.

And then Kim Masters on the Daily Beast has a sharp piece in which she cites speculation that he might just sit it out for a few years while the world's economy bottoms out — why take a job, Obama-like, in an environment where the obstacles are so numerous and the chances of  failure so high?

Damn, we're going to miss that guy.

By Steven Zeitchik

Jack Sparrow in the conservatory with a crowbar?

Universal is moving several spaces up the board with "Clue," a big-screen take on the classic game, and is in final negotiations with "Pirates of the Caribbean" helmer Gore Verbinski to direct and produce.

The project comes as part of a partnership between Universal and Hasbro to develop iconic board games into movies. A number of other properties already have big names attached to them, including "Candyland," which has Kevin Lima on to direct and Etan Cohen to write, and “Ouija Board,” which Michael Bay’s Platinum Dunes is producing. Ridley Scott? He's already got his tophat piece and Park Place deed and will produce "Monopoly."

Lots of talk about how various titles will work on the screen as Hollywood continues its trend of turning games into movies, but this one, with its recognizable format, mystery aspects and myriad suspects, seems like a no-brainer.

Short history: The process-of-elimination game — which of course requires players to solve a murder by guessing the killer, the site of the crime and the murder weapon — was developed in the U.K. after World War II under the name Cluedo and has became a staple for several generations. Hasbro acquired rights to the title when it bought U.S. publisher Parker Bros.

Fans of 80's marginalia will remember that Clue had its first go-round on the big screen nearly 25 years ago, when Paramount released a campy parlor mystery starring Christopher Lloyd and Madeline Kahn. The movie didn't make much noise at the boxoffice — some might say Par used a silencer to release it — but gained fame because even in that pre-DVD age, three separate versions with three separate endings were released to theaters.

The CAA-repped Verbinski, who directed all three "Pirates" movies, is next directing the animated adventure "Rango" for Paramount and is on board to produce a U.S. remake of Korean monster movie "The Host" for Universal. Looks like now he'll be getting busy with Colonel Mustard for the studio too.

By Steven Zeitchik

Backstage at the Oscars on Sunday night, Kate Ledger told reporters that her family is very much in the loop on her brother's final movie.

"We've seen a little bit of the footage," she said of Terry Gilliam's "The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus," Ledger's last film. "I think it's going to be amazing."

But the comments only highlighted a larger question: When will U.S. audiences get to see it?

The head-trippy "Parnassus," about a traveling magician who gives customers more than they bargained for, is a joint production of financing entity Grosvenor Park and sales mogul Samuel Hadida of Davis Films. It was gliding along as just another independently financed production — and product of Gilliam's funhouse imagination — when Ledger died early last year right in the middle of production.

In a now-famous turn, the project's fate was thrown into question until Jude Law, Colin Farrell and Johnny Depp stepped in, with all three part of an elaborate workaround that has the actors playing different parts of Ledger's role.

That saved the production for the time being. But the sales process since then has been nearly as elaborate — and complicated.

A number of U.S. buyers during the summer and early fall were said to be interested in acquiring stateside rights — Lionsgate and Overture were reportedly among the potential suitors — but word of a potential deal quickly quieted down.

That has fueled all sorts of rumors in indie circles, ranging from dissent over finances on the producers' side to an extended and messy post-production session to outsized expectations on the part of filmmakers.

Many of those rumors have yet to be substantiated. But the film has nonetheless run into more concrete obstacles.

The presence of a key marketing element like Ledger does indeed make sellers and investors aim for higher dollar figures — especially true for a film whose budget is thought to be upward of $20 million.

And as much as buyers might covet the Ledger aspect, the pic still presents a marketing challenge.  Gilliam has grown more experimental in recent years, and experts say that retailing "Parnassus" as a Ledger film
risks running a word-of-mouth problem with general audiences
unaccustomed to that kind of material.

And even the director's more straightforward fare, like the 2005 con-man movie "The Brothers Grimm," has struggled, 

A U.S. deal is expected shortly, with a mini-major or larger indie expected to make the play. (The movie does already have a deal for Mandate International/Lionsgate to release it in the U.K., where Gilliam tends to fare better, and is expected to open there in the summer. Other territories, from Japan to Spain, have been presold to international distribs as well.)

Still, the absence of a sale for an icon's last movie nearly six months after talks began speaks to the difficulty of selling art house films to the domestic market, as buyers wait until later in the production process, take fewer bets and offer lower prices. "This movie stars Heath Ledger in his final performance — it will get a deal and come out in the U.S.," said one indie film veteran. "But it's no accident that it's taking this long."

By Steven Zeitchik

So after a bigger song-and-dance than a Hugh Jackman number, all that fear from experts about Oscar ratings proved to be more notes than music.

As THR's James Hibberd reports over at The Live Feed, the unusual presentation, intimate setting and semi-noticeable nods to movies like "The Dark Knight" (or at least jokes about all those "The Dark Knight" fans) helped push ratings up 13% in the key 18-49 demo, and total viewers up to 36 million from the record low of 32 million last year.

That may not seem like a big gain, but in TV-land, flat is the new up (sports postseason competitions like the NBA Finals have been cut in half from their late 90's heyday) so any year when the Oscars show a bounce has to make the Academy happy.

There was a little bit of talk that while the Oscars played well in the room it didn't play as well at home — a reversal of sorts from the Jon Stewart quipfest Oscars of three years ago that played well at home but not as well in the room — but fans seemed to like the five-stars-per-acting-award onslaught and the quicker pace.

Oscar history proves that anytime a show makes gains, the stars tend to be back. So we may get a chance to see the Mark/Condon duoo again next year. Hold on to your tophat.

By Steven Zeitchik

"God help whoever's in charge of putting them to bed," Danny Boyle said backstage after his victory, referring to the "Slumdog" kids.

And indeed the partying, with said kids, continued until an hour well past midnight at One Sunset in West Hollywood, site of the official Searchlight afterbash. "Slumdog" actors young and younger were out in force, soaking up the red carpet and snapping photos. They may be struggling to keep afloat in a place of poverty and overcrowding, but they still seem to know how to use the iPhone.

Then again, as ripsnorting as the Searchlight bash was, it was nothing compared to the celebration in Mumbai.

Comment about bedtimes wasn't the only good-natured sentiment expressed by "Slumdog" filmmakers backstage, where producer Christian Colson went optimistic, saying he believed the film's best pic prize would change the mind-set at the biggies.

"Even the studios will take note that we made this for 7 million pounds. and it's about to cross $100 million in the U.S.," he said. "That's good business for them. It really is. Hopefully this means that the great scripts that don't tick all the boxes can get made."

(Nice idea, though we're a little bit skeptical.)

There was some other freshness honored Sunday, incidentally the last Oscars until 2011 to take place in February (next year the winter Olympics takes care of the 14th, 21st and 28th, while the 7th is the Super Bowl — will they go as early as January or the first week in March?).

On the "Slumdog" music side, A.R. Rahman's score and that new anthem of American youth, "Jai Ho," took prizes. Not surprising: the doc category, where for the first time in several years the most commercially successful entry was also the winner, as Magnolia's "Man on Wire" captured the Oscar.

On receiving the prize, the film's subject Philippe Petite said that he planned a series of high-wire acts in New York in the fall. Coming on the heels of so much specialty-division precariousness, that seemed like all too appropriate a metaphor.