Josh Trank In Talks to Wrangle Venom

Sony wants the Chronicle directorBefore found footage superhero thriller Chronicle even touched down in cinemas, there were rumblings that director Josh Trank might be in the frame to tackle 20th Century Fox's Fantastic Four reboot. But in a twist worthy of a four-colour comic book page, he is now negotiating to take on an iconic Marvel title, but not at Fox and not the Foursome. He's been targeted for Venom.According to the LA Times, Sony has swooped in and begun talks with Trank to take on the nasty, oozing, lizard-like alien symbiotic creature who last (dis)graced screens in 2007's Spider-Man 3. Back then, it wasn't exactly Sam Raimi's favourite character, and got shoved to the sidelines in an overstuffed film with Topher Grace as the unfortunate bloke who becomes infected.Ever since, the studio has been looking for a way to focus on the freaky, drooling one, who has a hefty fan following, even if most have concerns about whether it can carry an entire film. Jacob Estes wrote the first draft before Zombieland's Paul Wernick and Rhett Reese were called into re-write that. Then Hunger Games writer/director Gary Ross took a stab at the idea in 2009, pitching Mr Venom as more of an antihero who defends the innocent. That didn't seem to spark much love, and now we're back to square one with Sony searching for a new writer.Right now, it's still hovering in the rumour zone, but if Trank does sign on, there's a chance he might try to recruit Chronicle co-writer and pal Max Landis, as the pair worked well together last time...

Eric Near To Co-Star In Nashville, Two Other ABC Aircraft pilots Increase Casts

With No Trace alum Eric Close continues to be cast in Basic steps drama pilot Nashville. Compiled by Callie Khouri, directed by R.J. Cutler and created by Lionsgate and ABC Galleries, Nashville is referred to like a family cleaning soap about love, new bands, family, politics and sex, set from the backdrop from the Nashville music scene. It focuses on 40-year-old Nashville celebrity Rayna James who's stunned to locate that her star is diminishing and her label requires her to synergy with teen sensation Juliette Barnes (Hayden Panettiere) on tour - otherwise face losing her very own tour and also the labels promotion of her latest record, whose sales happen to be underwhelming. Gersh-repped Close will have Rayna’s husband who's now living on his wife’s salary. Jessy Schram continues to be put into the cast on ABC’s drama pilot Last Measure, concerning the crew of the U.S. nuclear submarine who, after disregarding a questionable to fire nuclear missiles, escape to some NATO outpost where they declare themselves to become the planet’s littlest nuclear nation. Schram will have Mike’s (Scott Speedman) dutiful wife whose persistence for his return keeps growing thin. The actress, that has been recurring on Falling Skies and Not So Long Ago, is repped by Mitchell Gossett who lately left UTA and came back to CESD, and KLWGN Danielle Nicolet continues to be cast in ABC’s comedy pilot Whitened Guy Van, about Tony (Kyle Bornheimer), who's instructed to put his dreams on hold to be able to dominate the household renovator business from his father. Nicolet, repped by APA and KLWGN, will have the sister of 1 of Tony’s co-employees.

Hub to unveil live-action series, characters at upfront

'Kaijudo: Rise from the Duel Masters'Kidvid cabler the Hub is adding three new toon series to the programming selection, in addition to reruns of vintage sitcoms "The Details of Existence," "Mork & Mindy" and "Sabrina the Teenage Witch."At its upfront presentation on Thursday, the Hub, a partnership of Discovery Communications and Hasbro, will even unveil the live-action series "Spooksville," in line with the popular tween book series from author Christopher Pike. Jane Startz is placed to create.InchCelebration of 5Inch thesp Scott Wolf will lend his voice to animated series "Kaijudo: Rise from the Duel Masters," from Hasbro Galleries. Set to produce within the summer time, "Kaijudo" is really a fantasy series that follows the adventures of the youthful hero having the ability to befriend and duel fantastical animals from the parallel dimension.Other original toon series coming this season are "Care Bears: Thanks for visiting Care-a-Lot" and "Smallest Pet Shop.""We are creating a slate of programs for that 2012-13 season that continues our means of showing series according to well-known names and beloved qualities," stated Hub prexy Margaret Loesch. "We are confident this selection will further define us because the entertainment place to go for kids as well as their families."Searching to broaden its live-action slate, Hub will offer you repeats of family-friendly sitcoms "The Details of Existence," "Mork & Mindy" and "Sabrina the Teenage Witch" within the second quarter of the season.Altogether, internet has nine series and special offers coming back, incorporated its top-ranked "Transformers Prime" and "My Little Pony Friendship Is Miracle."The Hub, which bowed in October 2010, still faces a constant climb in competing against dominant kidvid shops Disney Funnel and Nickelodeon. Rankings for that Hub increased 10% this year in comparison to 2010 among kids 2-11 for total programming day, however it still averaged only 33,000 audiences. Contact Stuart Levine at stuart.levine@variety.com