Time for some casting notes. Eva Mendes is likely to star with Nicholas Cage in a remake of "Bad Lieutenant" to be directed by Werner Herzog. The 1992 movie starred Harvey Keitel as a corrupt cop. Why remake an average movie?

I haven't heard any calls for a new version...Christine Lahti, who should've been a bigger star by now,(she's that talented) has joined the cast of "Obsessed" as a detective. It's a thriller starring Beyonce Knowles and "Heroes" star Ali Larter. Lahti recently had a small role in "Smart People." Jason Bateman, a recent guest on "REEL TALK" just signed a first-look deal with Fox TV to develop a series and produce and direct projects...Look for Comedy Central to air the two "Harold and Kumar" movies back to back in 2010....Director Bret Ratner has been developing the life story of Hugh Hefner called, of course,"Playboy." Word is Robert Downey Jr., currently red-hot in Hollywood after the startling success of "Iron Man" would play Hef...Paramount will film a fourth "Beverly Hills Cop" movie, again with Eddie Murphy as Detroit detective Axel Foley, with Ratner directing. He has "X-Men, The Last Stand" and "The Red Dragon" on his resume, and will also be directing "The Incredible Shrinking Man", "Carnaval 3D: The Magic & The Music","Mr. S: My Life with Frank Sinatra" (a possibility) and "New York, I Love You.' (So do I!)