Well he might not have his Capone yet, but Brian DePalma is still determined to bring his Untouchables prequel to the big screen. MTV Movies Blog reports that DePalma will likely make The Untouchables: Capone Rising his next film. DePalma tells MTV that they still have not cast their Capone (played by Robert De Niro in the original film), but that he was looking for an actor with "...that street animal sexuality" -- and this just might be me, but Nicolas Cage is not the first person to come to mind with that particular description (although, I guess it doesn't matter now). Gerard Butler (300) is attached to play Jimmy Malone -- a role made famous by Sean Connery (I can still picture the overacting 20 years later... "You wanna know how to get Capone? They pull a knife, you pull a gun. He sends one of yours to the hospital, you send one of his to the morgue. *That's* the *Chicago* way"). But, it did get the man his only Oscar, so you can never tell.

DePalma told MTV that the story will focus on "[Jimmy Malone]'s relationship with Capone during Capone's rise". News of a prequel first emerged around this time last year; so here we are a year later, and not all that much has been accomplished. DePalma did make assurances that the film would be keeping as much of the original feel of the 1987 flick as possible, saying, "I would like to use a lot of the original music from 'The Untouchables,' (which means the amazing score from Ennio Morricone will return) and the original locations in Chicago." I wonder if that will include giving the cast some snazzy costumes from Armani again. Until DePalma finds his Capone, though, he probably won't be 'rising' anytime soon.

CHUD is reporting that Michael C. Hall (star of Six Feet Under and Dexter) has signed to play the bad guy in the techno-thriller, Game, for Crank creators Mark Neveldine and Brian Taylor. The film is "set in a dystopian future of implanted nano-devices, where the ultimate online simulation environment is humans remote-controlling other humans in mass-scale, multi-player online gaming. The lead character, played by Butler, is a worldwide sensation, and the top-ranked warrior in a game called "Slayers." With his every move tracked by millions, he battles to regain his identity and bring down the entire system". Hall will play the game's creator and head honcho and is described as the "guy pulling the strings". Now it could just be me, but that sounds like one heck of a cheesy premise -- yet the addition of Butler and Hall could maybe help raise the quality of the material, if only slightly.

Neveldine and Taylor are also behind the upcoming thriller Pathology starring Milo Ventimiglia from NBC's Heroes, headed for theaters on November 30th. Plus, there is still the promise of a sequel to Crank -- although it seems there has been more talk than actual progress on that particular project. Butler had signed on for the film back in May, and he is currently working on Guy Ritchie's RocknRolla and the fantasy film, Nim's Island -- followed by a role in the Untouchables prequel, Capone Rising, so there is no shortage of work coming his way. Hall is still hard at work on Showtime's Dexter, but I would guess he has plenty of time since that's what a season hiatus is for. Game will be produced by Lakeshore and is tentatively scheduled to begin shooting this January.

Is Gerard Butler an A-list star now? It certainly seems so, though I honestly don't feel like I could pick the guy out of a line-up even after sitting through 300. Variety is reporting that Butler has snagged the lead in the Fox Walden fantasy adventure Nim's Island, which we previously told you will feature Jodie Foster and Abigail Breslin. The story involves a little girl who lives on a tropical island with her father, but ends up living there alone, fending for herself. The husband-wife directing team of Mark Levin and Jennifer Flackett will be helming the project, from their own screenplay. It's set to begin filming in Australia.

It's also been announced that after Nim, Butler will be jumping into the world of Al Capone when he stars alongside Nic Cage in Capone Rising, the Untouchables prequel, which will be distributed by Paramount. It's not exactly clear at this point who Butler will be playing, but since he's British I assume it might be the Sean Connery role. Butler is also going to be leading a high-profile romantic dramedy, P.S. I Love You, opposite Hilary Swank. That one is getting a big Christmas release, and if that's not enough for you, he's also set to star in the thriller Game, which begins shooting in January. There's also been talk that if they actually go forward with a remake of John Carpenter's Escape from New York, Butler is the go-to guy for that. So, it looks like Hollywood has decided that he's our new star. Let's start getting used to him.

I don't even know where to begin with this one -- I'm still trying to wrap my head around the fact that Nicolas Cage is going to play legendary gangster Al Capone, let alone the fact that he will do so in a prequel to the very awesome Brian De Palma-directed flick The Untouchables. That's right, MTV (and their hot new blog) have confirmed (via Cage's reps) that the actor has officially signed on to star in Capone Rising (horrific working title, by the way). This new film, which will also be helmed by De Palma (based on his recent work, that doesn't make me feel a whole lot better), is an official prequel to the 1987 film that starred Robert De Niro (as Capone), Kevin Costner (as the gutsy Eliot Ness) and Sean Connery (as Ness' partner-in-crime Jim Malone).

Pic, which was written by Brian Koppelman and David Levien (Rounders, Knockaround Guys, Ocean's Thirteen) will reportedly revolve around Capone's early dealings with corrupt cop Jim Malone (who would make a good young Connery?). However, once he's exposed to Capone's violent behavior, Malone vows to turn his life around and, well, we kind of know what happens after that. Personally, I wasn't so hot on this project to begin with; the original is one of those classics that shouldn't be touched, regardless of whether the same director is handling it. And Nic Cage? As Al Capone? That's just wrong. I'm already cringing at the thought of watching Cage's spastic twitching throughout the film as he tries to give his men orders. I asked Cinematical's own Scott Weinberg what he thought of the casting news, to which he replied: "Nicolas Cage playing Al Capone is like William H. Macy playing Hellboy." Yeah, I think we'll leave it at that. Now it's your turn ...