There are three titbits of casting news out there that are really quite interesting, I'm just pulling them all together today because I slept in and I'm trying to race out the door for an Xmas meal. So there's news of Donald Pleasance's replacement for Rob Zombie's Halloween remake, there's a rumour of who could be the lead in Speed Racer in the Wachowski brothers new film, and also Kevin Smith reveals that he's acting alongside Bruce Willis, his long time hero.

Who'd have thought that Smith liked The Return of Bruno? I really liked that album, and he mentions that he liked Mortal Thoughts, which I think is a really under credited film. Anyway, he's mentioned on his blog that he's been acting alongside Willis:

For five days, I acted opposite Bruce Willis in this summer's "Live Free or Die Hard"

He promises more on the subject later, but what a great tease before the holidays.

On his blog, Zombie has a very brief comment about casting for the Halloween remake:

Dr. Loomis is none other than the great MALCOLM McDOWELL! I am thrilled to have Malcolm on board. He is ready to kick ass and make a new horror classic.

Dr Loomis is the character that was played by Donald Pleasance in the original films. A worthy replacement do you think?

Finally from AICN comes the unconfirmed, and perhaps not that surprising, rumour that Keanu Reeves will be the lead in Speed Racer.

I currently work for Time Warner in London England and had the shock of my life today. 2007 Production roster arrived today at the UK's WB marketing slate for 2008. What stuck out the most was a production called Shaolin Cowboy by the WB...Now in the slate doc it showed clearly in capital letters the name of Keanu Reeves under the main title. Not only does this show that NEO (A.K.A Keanu) is reteaming with the Matrix team but seems to be the main role.

Shaolin Cowboy is a comic that was produced by the brothers, but after some investigation on the part of the scooper they found that this was the cover for Speed Racer. What do you think about that then? I don't expect anyone will think this is a good move, if it's true that is.