Laurence Fishburne Hunts ‘Predators’; Steve Carell Circling Pair of Projects

— For a movie about soldiers battling alien hunters, Nimrod Antal’s “Predators” has a cast that’s decidedly on the wimpy side – yeah, you’ve got Danny Trejo on board, but it’s being toplined by Adrien Brody and Topher Grace – no comparison to Arnie, or even to Danny Glover. Fortunately, Laurence Fishburne has now joined the cast, as a character called ‘Roland,’ and we fully expect him to give the alien menace the same treatment he gave Angela Bassett in “What’s Love Got To Do With It?”

— Shark Boy is continuing his quest to become Shark Man – “New Moon” star, and shirt-allergy sufferer Taylor Lautner will star in the action film “Cancun” for Summit Entertainment. The actor’s father, Dan Lautner, will produce the movie, which follows a teenager, who’s been injured and forced to put his plans to become an elite soldier on hold. He travels to Cancun with his friends, who are taken hostage by a drug cartel. Apparently, Lautner saw “Taken” during the filming of “New Moon,” and wanted to make a film similar to it. Better than seeing “Taken” and wanting to beat up a French man, like most of its target audience.

— Steve Carell has a couple of possible projects lined up. Firstly, Warner Bros have bought an untitled script by “Cars” writer Dan Fogelman for a whopping $2 million, with the intention of the actor starring in it. The script is apparently described as like “Love Actually” in tone, and is about “a father whose life unravels while he deals with a marital crisis and tries to manage his relationship with his children,” which sounds alarmingly like “Dan in Real Life.” He may also reteam with “Date Night” co-star Tina Fey on “Mail-Order Groom,” where Fey would play a singleton who finds an Eastern European husband (Carell), and brings him home, which sounds at least slightly more amusing than the upcoming Shawn Levy-helmed film.

— Chad St John is clearly hot stuff at the moment – he had two scripts, “The Days Before” and “Motor City” on this year’s Black List, and he’s just sold the spec script “The Further Adventures of Doc Holliday” to Paramount, who plan on turning into a blockbuster along the lines of “Pirates of the Caribbean.” If Val Kilmer reprises his role from “Tombstone,” we’re sold.