For a short time at the start of the year 2000, Vin Diesel movies seemed to indicate he would be the next huge action star. That career sputtered out quite…

Marvel Studios has given the green light to an adaptation of the "Iron Fist" comic series, and has hired Rich Wilkes to write the script, Deadline is reporting. Wilkes is best known for penning the script to XXX, which went on to make Vin Diesel a household name in households that like to talk about stupid crap. The move seems to indicate that Disney is following through on its promise to develop more obscure characters from the Marvel library.

The Iron Fist character was created in the 1970s during the height of the martial arts film craze. And as you'd expect from the name, this character received his special powers by plunging his clenched hand into a foreign body. But unlike most fisters, the body belonged to a dragon, not a strung-out wannabe actress from Cincinnati.

"Mmmm, I'd like to be the meat in this sandwich."A little birdy told Deadline that Dwayne Johnson is sniffing the butt of a lead role in Fast & Furious 5, or the title Paul Walker wrote in crayon on his Trapper Keeper, Fast Five. Johnson is already starring in the revenge drama Faster where he'll also be driving fast. We got it, Rock. You're a man. You like fast cars, fast women, and eating chili peppers with Vin Diesel. It would be really cool if you'd let Paul tag along sometime. He doesn't think you guys like him. Awww, come back here, Paul! You weren't supposed to hear that!

Time for his 3pm apple sauce.Do you hear that sound? It's the sound of Godsmack warming up their instruments. What could possibly have the ridiculously goateed rockers half-heartedly tuning and making that "jukka jukka jukka" noise? The return of Vin Diesel as Xander Cage, that's what.Of course, that's all old news. Today we have an extreme update. All the die-hard Xander fans who ripped their neck tatts off in solidarity, should be prepared to sew them back on. Not only will director Rob Cohen return to the franchise but he'll be bringing James Cameron's fancy 3D cameras with him. Probably uses a pretty cool truck to carry them too."I feel what we did in the beginning of the decade was bring a different attitude to the action movie and a different kind of hero. With the new 3D instrument and the techniques I can apply, we can create a different kind of cutting-edge experience in 3D by shooting it that way from the beginning the way James Cameron did 'Avatar.' This won't be fantasy characters, it takes place on Earth in real time. That's a new dimension to be explored, and I'm excited."That's right earthlings. You're about to be groin-punched in the face by a non-fantasy character that can surf on speeding missiles. You have until late 2011 to vacate the planet. (ComingSoon)

Upskirt!!The Vin Diesel sequel train continues to chugga, chugga. In recent months he's announced xXx: The Return of Xander Cage and Fast Five, both follow-ups to films that somehow made him a star. Now he's adding another Riddick film to the pile. Riddick is the character he played in Pitch Black and its completely unconnected spin-off, The Chronicles of Riddick.Nobody is talking plot yet, but director David Twohy states that the tone of the new movie falls closer to Pitch Black than it does Chronicles. Though I wish it fell more in the laugh-track sitcom realm as the simple title Riddick would imply. All they would have to do is add an exclamation point and have him move in with his nerdlinger brother (played by Jason Biggs) and they'd be good to go. (Variety)

"Cranberry leather looks good on you.""I stole it from your closet after the sex we had together."We all knew this day would come, we were just waiting for the title. Vin Diesel, Paul Walker, and director Justin Lin are back for another Fast (fill it in) Furious, and they're naming this one after an instant scratchers lottery ticket. Fast Five, the fourth sequel in the franchise, promises more car chases, car crashes, Diesel and Walker disagreeing then agreeing on a plan of action, and latina cleavage.Fast & Furious made over $500 million at the box office so it's not surprising that Universal is rushing another one into production. I'm sure it didn't take long to get the key players together. An exec had to go over to Vin Diesel's place and get his okay, then stop by the dumpster outside where Paul Walker was eating breakfast. He threw a banana peel and scampered off, solidifying his involvement. (Variety)