Finally we have some news on the next “Die Hard” movie. Currently titled “A Good Day to Die Hard,” Bruce Willis is back as John McClane, and now  Comingsoon is reporting that Jai Courtney (Varro on “Spartacus: Vengeance”) has joined the cast as Jack McClane, John McClane’s son.  The months long casting search had actors like Paul Walker (“Running Scared”) and Milo Ventimiglia (TV’s “Heroes”) screen testing for the role, and thankfully the part went to someone more deserving.  In the script Jack is caught up in the daring prison escape of a rogue Russian leader, and father and son McClane must work together to keep each other alive and keep the world safe for democracy. The film is directed by John Moore (“Max Payne”), and written by Skip Woods (“The A-Team”) so you know it’s going to be action heavy and just plain ridiculous (Sweet). As hated (for some reason) as “Live Free or Die Hard” was I wouldn’t care if Bruce Willis made a dozen more I will always pay to watch him play a geriatric ass-kicker. I hear good things about Jai Courtney too, and he looks the part of a McClane when you shave his head. He is an up-and-comer in Hollywood and within the next few years will become a household name just like Sam Worthington did with his releases in 2009-2011 (“Avatar,” “Terminator Salvation,” and Clash of the Titans”).

One of the most creative minds in Hollywood is now set to direct “The Night Stalker” for Walt Disney Pictures. According to Reuters, Edgar Wright (“Shaun of the Dead”) will be directing Johnny Depp (“Rango”) in an adaptation of a TV movie from 1972 in which Carl Kolchak, a reporter tracking a serial killer, finds that he's really going toe-to-toe with a vampire. Depp is currently involved in another vampire TV adaptation known as “Dark Shadows,” which is set to release later this year. What excited me the most about this news is that Wright is the genius who wrote/directed “Shaun of the Dead,” “Hot Fuzz,” and “Scott Pilgrim vs. the World;” he also wrote/produced “Attack the Block” and “The Adventures of Tintin,” and with an impressive history like this it’s hard not to be excited when he is attached to something. No writer is attached to the project yet, but given Wright’s previous work I am sure he will have some part of that process with long time collaborator Joe Cornish (“Attack the Block”). It’s always good to see the underappreciated Hollywood minds getting some work.

Deadline has learned that Josh Duhamel (TV’s “Las Vegas”) and Dan Fogler (“Take Me Home Tonight”) are starring in a road trip comedy. Hollywood has been shifting its tunnel vision back to road trips after “Due Date” made quite a bit of greenage at the box office. The duo will star in “Scenic Route,” and they will play two former college buddies who go on a road trip and become stranded in the desert. As they begin to realize they might never be rescued, they begin to have heated fights, both emotionally and physically. I know that if this happened with me and my friends I would surely be sacrificed within hours for the good of the group. Kevin and Michael Goetz (“Mass Transit”) are returning to the big screen to direct this project, and it is set to hit theaters sometime in 2013.

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