Alex “Ubiquity” Pettyfer and Matthew Goode are in talks to star, which is a mixed blessing, as Goode had some strong moments in The Watchmen, whereas Pettyfer is just an awful actor that I don’t want to see any more of ever.

Fortunately, the writing team behind Overdrive has a strong pedigree behind them. Michael Brandt and Derek Haas have cut their teeth on both 3:10 to Yuma and Wanted, which gives us no indication if this film will have an element of gravity behind it…or if it will be like Wanted.

Where the writing team doesn’t give us answers, however, the producers do. Producer Gregoire Melin states “Overdrive is an action flick with brains and a great dose of humor, mixing elements of Point Break and The Hangover. ”

Sounds like Pettyfer might be (intentionally) funny in this one. A refreshing change. (Variety)

Pettyfer will star in Steven Soderbergh‘s Magic Mike, about the life of two male stripper friends. Channing Tatum will play the mentor stripper, while Pettyfer will play the student stripper. The story is based on Tatum’s real life experiences as a male stripper, but Pettyfer is playing the Tatum role. I can imagine Tatum saying to Pettyfer, “I wouldn’t have said the line like that. So stop saying it like that… me?”

Soderberg is using Saturday Night Fever as a model for the film. I assume that means there’s a sequence where Pettyfer wears a white, crotchless disco outfit. (Deadline)

Moore will play the principle villain of the piece, Mother Malkin, who sucks the blood out of young women to keep her youth and battles a witch-hunter known as the Spook, and his young apprentice Tom Ward.

Yikes. Sounds pretty grim, but Moore’s a class act who could probably bring humanity and likability to any role, even if it was saddled with a terrible Boston accent (hello, Nancy Donovan from”30 Rock“). This is the first blockbuster role she’s tackled in years, and it should be interesting to see how she handles it. The film itself has gone through title changes, and lead actor changes, as Alex Pettyfer has been removed from the running for the role. It remains to be seen whether this one will be a Narnia or a Golden Compass, but, even if it fails, with actors like Moore and Jeff Bridges, they’ll go down swinging.

This post is dedicated to Alex Pettyfer‘s career Feb 2011- Feb 2011. (The Playlist)

Pettyfer, who appears to be the “next big thing” in the eyes of top Hollywood execs, but not the viewing public, is weighing his options to determine what his next film will be, as The Hunger Games isn’t his only option. He’s currently fielding offers to be in the next Jason Bourne movie, A film with Jeff Bridges and Jennifer Lawrence called The Last Apprentice, and a biopic about race car driver James Hunt. Pile them on while you can, handsome guy. There’s a square jawed young fellow behind you, waiting to take your place. And behind him, and behind him, etc. (The Playlist)

Beastly actually has a good thing going for a while. It totally loses its steam but I was about halfway to recommending this one before it wussed out.

Kyle Kingson (Alex Pettyfer) is running for some green committee position in high school and he actually preaches the glory of being hot and rich. He is a blatantly shallow A-hole, all the way to flirting with a gay teacher for grade. He gets it from his dad Rob (Peter Krause), a newscaster who fires women for gaining 10 lbs. Kyle is racist to his maid Zola (Lisa Gay Hamilton) and we later see he had a “no fatties” profile online.

If you’re going to do Beauty and the Beast in high school, go all out. The school itself looks like a trendy nightclub. It seems like the movie is actually in the heads of the self-involved teens who need to learn this lesson, even though they won’t get it.

Kyle went too far making fun of the goth chick Kendra (Mary Kate Olsen), so she curses him. His face transforms with scars and tattoos run down his body. He’s still got the abs though. If she really wanted to curse him, she should’ve given him a gut that won’t go away no matter how many crunches he does. That nose bubble is really gross though.

Rob actually tries to get a medical answer so the film pays lip service to modern science. He ends up dumping Kyle in an apartment that’s slightly less decorated than his swank pad. He claims he’s gone to rehab and calls himself Hunter when he does go out into the world.

As Hunter, Kyle gets a peak at what people really thought of him. His girlfriend is actually relieved she doesn’t have to be mean anymore to keep up with him. Lindy (Vanessa Hudgens) actually appreciated his commitment to his ideals, even though he was totally off base.

You know how the B&B curse goes. If someone loves him for who he is inside, he gets to be hot again. Lindy is his best shot at that, so he romances her and that’s when the movie slows down to a bore.

First of all, the plot that gets Lindy into his “lair” is so stupid. Kyle foils a drug deal involving her father and kills a dealer. The dealer’s brother vows to kill Lindy for revenge, so Kyle convinces her dad to let him protect her. I know they’re trying to mimic the castle exile of the classic story (or the sewers of the TV series?) but come on!

It would have been much more interesting if Hunter pursued Lindy in the real world and got to experience more of society’s reaction to his new appearance. Going to the zoo after hours doesn’t count. The courtship is just boring and even Neil Patrick Harris as the funny tutor Simon can’t liven it up.

You weren’t going to see Beastly anyway so I’m only confirming that. I’m more disappointed it couldn’t keep up the momentum it had going. It would’ve been nice to give a shocking recommendation to it. Even at only 80 minutes without credits, they still let it drag.

Apparently, Pettyfer found out he was making less than a co-star on I Am Number Four, and subsequently refused to cash any of his checks after DreamWorks refused to renegotiate his contract. That’ll show ‘em, Alex! Work for free, and see who’s laughing then. You’re not gonna take a dime of theirs (he later cashed his checks).

There have been some other reports of “defiant behavior” and the like, but apparently this has all been patched up for now. It had to, since obviously Hollywood isn’t going to put up with dickish behavior from movie stars, right? There’s a certain level of decorum to be expected, no matter who you are. (via The Hollywood Reporter)

Taking the role of a sorcerer-y mentor, there is little doubt that this role will require Jeff Bridges to rock a beard, which is good news for moviegoers, as the past decade or so has shown us that Jeff Bridges + beard = cinematic gold. It will be interesting to see how this theory plays with my newer theory that anything + Alex Pettyfer = cinematic drivel. Fortunately, Bridges > Pettyfer, so we should be ok. This concludes today’s Screen Junkies math lesson. (Playlist)

The Last Apprentice (The Wardstone Chronicles in the UK) is picking up a lot of heat. Oscar favorites Jeff Bridges and Jennifer Lawrence are circling, due in no small part to the visual inventiveness of director Sergey Bodrov. The film follows a teenager (with stomach muscles) as he trains to be an exorcist in the 1700′s. Pettyfer make perfect sense for the role because, as you may or may not know, all of the best exorcists are totally shredded and excel at walking in slow motion through floating embers. You can’t expect the Devil to take you seriously if you’ve got a weak core. (Vulture)

So what does this all mean to us? Not much, since the concepts for both these movies sound completely awful, and we won’t watch them. But it does mean, whether we want to or not, this guy is probably going to be in our life for a while. At least until today’s 7th graders become tomorrow’s college Freshman.

Until then, here is some Alex Pettyfer trivia to keep you “in the know” with the young ones.

• “Pettyfer already has seven tats, including a Celtic cross on his chest, Arabic script on the inside of his right arm, and Chinese logograms on his lower waist”
• He’s British
• He’s good-looking
• He chooses horrible movies to act in.

That’s all you need to know about the tween set’s next big thing. Enjoy your fleeting fame, Alex!

Appearing in a slew of upcoming films that range from “meh” to “yeah, okay maybe,” Alex Pettyfer is rising through the ranks. And Dreamworks is aiming to really get his name out there with the biopic Shunt.

In the film, Pettyfer will harness the combined powers on Paul Walker and Hayden Christensen to ooze the charisma all over theater-goers. Shunt follows real-life Formula One racer James Hunt as he popularized the sport in the late ’70′s and banged some hot women. Sounds like it could be fun because, y’know, race cars… but I can’t get passed the name “Shunt.” Sounds like what you’d call the world’s messiest shart. (Deadline)

The teaser trailer for I Am Number Four has beamed down to give us a first look at DJ Caruso‘s first non-Shia LaBeouf film of the last few years. This bold, sci-fi retelling of “The Three Little Pigs” stars newish-comer Alex Pettyfer as an alien hiding out from his enemies in a suburba high school. You can’t glean too much from this trailer apart from the fact that there’s telekinesis and this high school is over-populated with really hot kids. Which is unrealistic. Take it from me, I own a quality pair of binoculars. Kids today just aren’t this attractive. Or they aren’t in the school zone near me anyway.

Check out the teaser below.

I Am Number Four — Trailer – Watch more Movie Trailers

Dianna Agron, best known for her cheerleader roles on "Glee" and "Heroes," has joined the cast of I Am Number Four to play a… cheerleader. In the DJ Caruso-directed film, Agron will dump her jock boyfriend to cozy up to alien refugee Alex Pettyfer. Also on board are Sharlto Copley as Pettyfer’s guardian and Teresa Palmer as Number Six.

The movie based on a novel co-authored by James Frey, tells the story of nine alien children who escape to Earth after being hunted by a hostile race. There they hide in Middle America where they shift nervously in their seats whenever Syfy shows reruns of "Roswell." (THR)

Beastly is a retelling of Beauty and the Beast by way of Gossip Girl. Mary-Kate Olsen plays a witch who curses a rich, popular, good-looking classmate to look all gross and veiny — a reflection of the dick he is on the inside. He’s then banished to Brooklyn where the rest of the minorities uglies live. In order to break the curse, he has to find someone, who despite his penile appearance, will sext him with naked pictures of herself. Enter Vanessa Hudgens.

Find out what really matters underneath after the jump.