By Romeo San Vicente
'Glee' to tour
This is not a tease: the cast of "Glee" is coming to a city near you. And they're going to sing. When most hot young stars of a hot young show are taking their between-seasons break, they usually find themselves booked to shoot a terrible teen horror movie or romantic comedy. But the seemingly tireless "Glee" kids (all of whom are over 18 and therefore can be worked until they collapse in exhausted, Auto-Tuned heaps) are taking it on the road to sing live for the show's insanely enthusiastic fans. The mini tour of America will include New York, Los Angeles, Chicago and Phoenix. And though it's not been announced at all, you probably wouldn't lose money if you bet that they're eventually headed to Europe as well, where songs from the show dominate the pop charts and turn fans into Journey-catalog-downloading fiends. The mania has only just begun.
A franchise for Angelina
Lesbian mystery writer Patricia Cornwell's immensely popular medical examiner Kay Scarpetta may finally, after a very, very, very long wait, be coming to the big screen. And Angelina Jolie is the power player who's going to make sure it happens. The star of 17 Cornwell novels, Scarpetta is an older character turning forensic ingenue with an original screenplay featuring the case-cracking lady's origins (otherwise they'd be offering the part to Meryl Streep, which really wouldn't be such a bad thing when you think about it), this way the character can age as she does in the book series. Meanwhile, a woman in Hollywood will have a screen franchise of her own, just like one of the guys. Irish screenwriter Kerry Williamson is tackling script duties and the cameras could roll sometime in 2011, so you still have some waiting to do. Why not start reading those 17 books?
Indie star Miranda July's next movie
Miranda July, the bisexual artist, performer, author and filmmaker who created the lovely, awkward and strangely moving indie film "Me and You and Everyone We Know," has not gone away, she's just been busy not bothering to take Hollywood by storm. Since that film's critically acclaimed debut in 2005, July has published two more books, participated in the Venice Biennale and has begun work on a new feature. Formerly (or possibly still, depending on where you read) titled "Satisfaction" , the story is built around a couple (July will star as one half of that unit) instead of the loosely connected ensemble of "Me and You." And that's all the plot we know right now, but in July's own words, this one is set to be even "weirder" than the sometimes inscrutable, sometimes shocking weirdness of that earlier feature. Nothing is shot yet, so patience for this one will be its own reward.
'La Femme Nikita' lives
Who would have imagined that a French action film about a woman and her gun would spawn such longterm devotion? But that's exactly what's happened with "La Femme Nikita." After the original (with Anne Parillaud) and the Bridget Fonda-starring American remake "Point of No Return" and a USA Network cult hit TV series starring Peta Wilson that made lesbian pulses race, you'd be forgiven for thinking there was nothing new to explore here. You'd be wrong. Now "Mission Impossible 3" star Maggie Q is picking up her own firearm to star in an updated relaunch of the series on The CW. Score one for Asian actresses (Quick: Who was the last one to headline a primetime TV drama? OK, we'll give you a while to think about that one.) and for audiences that really want to see women in hot outfits committing acts of violence.
