The talented Ralph Fiennes has confirmed that his next foray behind the camera as a director will be The Invisible Woman, which is not a sequel to The Invisible Man, but rather based on a non-fiction book by Claire Tomalin about the thirteen year affair between Charles Dickens and actress Ellen “Nell” Ternan, for whom the married and much older British novelist left his wife.

No word on who will play Dickens at this point, although there are rumors circling around both Ben Whishaw (MUCH too young, imho) and Daniel Day Lewis. (I could live with that, although I can think of someone else Fiennes worked with recently who’d probably be fantastic…on Coriolanus. Just sayin’. Ralph if you’re listening…) Fiennes had said he would play the role but has since nixed it. After his first directorial effort, the much buzzed about Coriolanus, which has garnered really strong early reviews and praise for its director as well as his cast, including Fiennes, Vanessa Redgrave, Gerard Butler, Jessica Chastain, Brian Cox and James Nesbit, Fiennes spoke about how difficult it was to direct himself. Seems he wants to concentrate on one task this time out.

Currently in contention for Nell are four of the hottest ‘twenty-something’ actresses around: Carey Mulligan (An Education, Shame), Abbie Cornish (Bright Star, Limitless), Imogen Poots (Centurion, Jane Eyre), and Felicity Jones (“Northanger Abbey”, The Tempest).

The screenplay is by Abi Morgan (The Iron Lady) who just finished work on Steve McQueen’s Shame with Michael Fassbender and Carey Mulligan. Perhaps this give Carey a leg up.

Fiennes is said to have started pre-production on the film even as he’s prepping a theatrical run of The Tempest in London. When that finishes, he’ll play Magwich for Mike Newell in one of two competing Charles Dickens biopics. The Invisible Woman won’t hit theaters until at least 2013.Coriolanus opens on December 2, 2011.

Jason Momoa, our newest boyfriend, appeared in Madrid earlier today for a photo call to promote his newest film, Conan the Barbarian in Madrid, Spain.  I’m pretty sure the pics speak for themselves.

Air conditioners at full blast poodles. More Jason Momoa hotness after the break.

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Betty White has received an invitation to attend the Marine Corps Ball in November by Sgt. Ray Lewis who says of the 89 year old actress and animal-rights activist:

She’s funny, she’s sweet, she’s mature. She’s the all-around perfect woman,” he says. “I really think we’d have a good time. I’m fun, you know. … I think I can make her laugh. I think she can make me laugh. I think we can laugh together. … So, call me!”

Awww that’s so nice! I think everyone would fall in love with Betty White being there. Betty (should she agree to attend) joins Mila Kunis and Justin Timberlake who were also asked out and have agreed to attend.

Where are Gerard Butler, Jason Statham and Kiefer Sutherland’s invite?

Peter Jackson and company are being very good to us by doling out all of these juicy tidbits from his forthcoming Middle Earth epic, The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey. It’s not just raining Dwarves, it’s a downright deluge!

Today, not only do we get Balin and Dwalin but, even more exciting, we get Thorin Oakenshield himself wielding his mighty sword, Orchrist the Goblin Cleaver!! As a fan of the book, I’ve been waiting for this one.  Thorin will be played by Richard Armitage and just as in Captain America: The First Avenger, if I didn’t know it was Richard Armitage, I wouldn’t know it was Richard Armitage. There was a lot of initial skepticism over his casting from loyal Lord of the Rings fans who thought he was too young to play Thorin Oakenshield. This pic should allay those fears.

Dwarf Lords in their own right, Balin and Dwalin are close relatives of Thorin. Beyond this, these brothers are two of his most loyal and trusted friends. An old warrior, Balin has lived through hard times and fought many battles, yet he harbors doubts about the wisdom of the Quest to retake the Lonely Mountain. Dwalin has no such forebodings – his belief in Thorin’s leadership is unshakeable. A powerful and bruising fighter, with a natural tendency to distrust anyone who is not a Dwarf, particularly anyone who might be an Elf, Dwalin is not someone to cross lightly.”

Dreamworks has released the first trailer for their new animated feature, Puss in Boots. It’s a spin-off of their popular Shrek franchise with the swashbuckling cat, voiced by Antonio Banderas, taking center stage.  The emphasis seems to be on action and adventure and less of the scene-stealing cat holding his hat in his hand and giving us the big “black velvet painting” sad eyes. He’s joined in this romp, a prequel that takes place before Puss ever met Shrek, by Salma Hayak, who plays Kitty Softpaws and Zach Galifianakis as Humpty Dumpty.

Dreamworks’ official synopsis: “Puss In Boots - one of the most beloved characters of the Shrek universe – tells the hilarious and courageous (daring, bold, brave) tale of Puss’s (Antonio Banderas) early adventures as he teams with mastermind Humpty Dumpty (Zach Galifianakis) and the street-savvy Kitty (Salma Hayek) to steal the famed Goose that lays the Golden Eggs.”

Hayak seems to be playing Kitty Softpaws as a sort of femme fatale slash Bond Girl, but I think we both know there will probably be some feline nuzzling between Kitty and Puss at some point. He’ll also be joined by Jack and Jill (Billy Bob Thornton, Amy Sedaris) and Constance Marie (“Switched at Birth”, “George Lopez”) as Imelda. The flick is directed by Chris Miller (Shrek the Third) and exec produced by Guillermo del Toro for a November 4 release in the US & Canada, 9 December in the UK.

There are two versions of the poster, but I must say my favorite is the the one that reads “Pray for Mercy”.  Dreamworks is, of course,  courting the adult audience as well as the kidlets. I could listen to Antonio Banderas read the phone book (preferably while feeding me grapes, but you can’t have everything) and this looks like a lot of fun, so I’m in. You?

Universal and Relativity have delivered a whole batch of new hi-res pics from Cowboys & Aliens. Included are Daniel Craig as Jake Lonergan and Harrison “Grumpy” Ford as Col. Dolarhyde, of course, but we also get a closer look at Olivia Wilde’s Ella, Paul Dano as Percy Dolarhyde and Sam Rockwell as Doc. I even spy Adam Beach as Nat Colorado.

Two New Clips for Cowboys & Aliens

I’m especially fond of the one above. I like the way Daniel Craig’s ice blue eyes beam out from under that hat. We don’t even need to discuss the leather chaps, but holy schnikey will ya look at those arms?! And I just love the way he’s rockin’ that crazy steampunk bracelet! It almost looks like something he could walk down the streets of NYC wearing. (I’m pretty sure Gerard Butler has one just like it.)

With less than two weeks until roll-out, the publicity machine is in high gear for this film. TV ads are on every channel and every day and I probably get twenty Google alerts every day with some mention of it. There’s probably nothing I can say at this point *Spielberg* is that is going to influence anyone *Jon Favreau* one way or another *Ron Howard*if they haven’t made up their mind *Ryan Kavanaugh* about whether or not to see Cowboys & Aliens. In my excitement though, it probably won’t stop me from trying.

While some lucky Comic Con attendees will get to see it on July 23, Cowboys & Aliens opens in the US & Canada on July 29.