The Hollywood Insider

MOVIES
Watchmen director Zack Snyder is already busy prepping his next endeavor, the 1960s-set action fantasy Sucker Punch, based on his own script. Snyder is still readying his all-female cast, but sources say Mamma Mia!'s Amanda Seyfried is in negotiations to play the lead role of Baby Doll, a young woman who's been committed to an insane asylum and fantasizes about escaping with the help of her fellow inmates. Offers are out to a slew of young actresses to fill those roles, including Vanessa Hudgens, Abbie Cornish, Evan Rachel Wood, and Emma Stone. The film, budgeted at $100 million, is scheduled to begin production in the fall. Says Snyder, ''I already did the all-male cast with 300, so I'm doing the opposite end of the spectrum.'' + Eliza Dushku is best known for her onscreen butt-kicking in series like Buffy the Vampire Slayer and, currently, Dollhouse. But now, she's attempting a move behind the scenes as a producer. Her surprising passion project? A biopic of the controversial gay photographer Robert Mapplethorpe, who died in 1989. ''I know people think, 'Eliza Dushku? Mapplethorpe?''' says the actress, whose older brother (and producing partner) Nate will play the famed artist with Ondi Timoner (DiG!) directing. ''But I was raised in a pretty multi-dimensional family.'' Dushku isn't ruling out appearing in the film, but definitely not as rocker Patti Smith, Mapplethorpe's friend and frequent collaborator. The actress may still find a part, though. ''Mapplethorpe had so many interesting and bizarre muses,'' she says. — Nicole Sperling and Tim Stack, with additional reporting by Carrie Bell

BOOKS
David Foster Wallace, who committed suicide last September, was working on a third novel at the time of his death, and his longtime publisher Little, Brown will release it in the spring of 2010. The Pale King takes place in an IRS facility in Illinois. ''He told me he took accounting classes to learn more about it,'' says Little, Brown publisher Michael Pietsch, who's pulling together the 300-page-plus novel from thousands of pages of drafts, notes, and outlines. Pietsch says that it's thrilling ''to watch an idea turning into a chapter into an entire section of the book.'' He also told EW exclusively that upon publication Little, Brown will create a website to make large chunks of the manuscript available to fans, so they can see how the book came together and ''have a detailed sense of Wallace as a working writer.'' — Tina Jordan

TV
Changes in the 90210 zip code: Exec producers Gabe Sachs and Jeff Judah are out, and Gilmore Girls alum Rebecca Rand Kirshner Sinclair will serve as showrunner for the next two seasons. She's been writing for the show since last fall and helped pen the April 14 episode that will feature the return of Tori Spelling. Could Brian Austin Green be far behind? ''I'd love for him to be on!'' says Sinclair. No deal's been set. + Forget lining up at theaters for High School Musical 4 — Disney's bringing the franchise back to TV, a Disney Channel rep tells EW. This one follows lovebirds from rivals East High and West High. HSM stars Zac Efron and Vanessa Hudgens likely won't be back — nor will director-choreographer Kenny Ortega. Casting for HSM4 starts in late summer, with a 2010 Disney Channel premiere. — Lynette Rice and Alynda Wheat