The Hollywood Insider

MOVIES
Ness sounds like the kind of film most studios dream of: a glossy David Fincher-directed crime thriller about famed Al Capone adversary Eliot Ness, headlined by Matt Damon, Casey Affleck, and Rachel McAdams. So why hasn't Paramount gotten around to making the darned thing? That's the question around town as the clock ticks on the studio's rights to the project, which are due to expire on Dec. 15. A source inside the negotiations says Damon and Affleck are ready to go, and that McAdams has expressed interest, but Paramount has yet to pull the proverbial trigger. At press time, the studio insisted it only recently received a finalized script from Ehren Kruger (The Ring) and would make a decision before the rights ran out.... Tarzan is getting another makeover. The action-adventure icon will trade his loincloth for a pair of khakis for the next big-screen take on Edgar Rice Burroughs' classic character, who first appeared way back in the Stone Age — er, 1912. Director Stephen Sommers (The Mummy) and screenwriter Stuart Beattie (Australia) are ditching the boy-raised-by-apes origin story for a 1930s-set romp with a hefty helping of romance: Think Pirates of the Caribbean with buff-and-tanned actors flying through the jungle and sprinting up trees, parkour-style. In recent years, the lord of the jungle has been reincarnated as a Broadway headliner, an animated Disney hero, and even a prime-time TV star — in 2003, The WB produced a modern-day take starring Calvin Klein model (and first-time actor) Travis Fimmel that flopped. This version seems like a safer bet, especially considering Beattie penned one of the earliest drafts of Pirates, which became a worldwide blockbuster. — Christine Spines

TV
ABC may have canned Pushing Daisies, but we haven't heard the last from its imaginative creator, Bryan Fuller. Sources confirm that he's in talks with NBC/Universal to develop new shows and return to Heroes. The news should relieve fans of the struggling series — Fuller wrote for the show during its first season, including ''Company Man,'' an episode with a streamlined, single-character focus that is often cited as a model for the jam-packed ensemble show. If this new pact happens, Fuller could make good on his recent promise to EW.com. He told the website that if Daisies wasn't renewed, he'd ''definitely be going back to play with my friends at Heroes.'' — Lynette Rice

MUSIC
The soundtrack for Fox Searchlight's biopic of late rapper The Notorious B.I.G. is rapidly taking shape now that first single ''Brooklyn Go Hard'' — a Kanye West-produced collaboration between Biggie's old friend JAY-Z and hip rocker Santogold — has leaked online. Notorious producer Wayne Barrow tells EW that several legendary unheard demo tapes from early in Biggie's career form the heart of the soundtrack: ''We kept everything as is, in its raw form. This is what got him the [recording]deal, plain and simple.'' Adds director George Tillman Jr.: ''That's what I'm excited for. It's incredible stuff.'' Barrow says the disc, due Jan. 13 on Bad Boy, will also include a handful of catalog tracks and an emotional remix of 1995's ''One More Chance'' featuring guest vocals from Biggie's 12-year-old son, Christopher ''CJ'' Wallace. — Simon Vozick-Levinson