Screen Talk: Bee thriller creates a buzz

Tinseltown Insider

The manuscript of thriller Fear of August by Laline Paull (pictured) had Hollywood buzzing (Adrian Peacock)

The manuscript of thriller Fear of August by Laline Paull (pictured) had Hollywood buzzing with agents battling to sign her. Set entirely in a beehive, the story details a female worker bee who becomes a hunted criminal after discovering she is fertile in a society where only the queen may breed. WME won her signature.

Galaxy of stars in new Marvel film

Marvel Studios' Guardians of the Galaxy is barrelling towards a late-June shoot in the UK with James Gunn directing. Karen Gillan is among the latest cast hires with Glenn Close, Chris Pratt, Zoe Saldana and Dave Bautista in place for the space adventure movie. Lee Pace and Michael Rooker also star.

Chris Columbus thinks Pixels

Talks are being held with Chris Columbus, the director of Home Alone and the first three Harry Potter films, to direct Pixels, an adaptation of a buzzy internet short from 2010 that depicted video game characters attacking New York. Columbia and Adam Sandler's Happy Madison are backing a big-screen version.

Can Bobin get Depp to return?

James Bobin, who directed The Muppets for Disney, is in talks about its sequel to the 2010 hit Alice in Wonderland. He is currently shooting The Muppets … Again! for the studio. Linda Woolverton, who wrote 2010's Alice, was hired to write the sequel in late 2012. But will Johnny Depp and Mia Wasikowska return?

Blade Runner goes for Green

Ridley Scott's Blade Runner sequel is looking to Michael Green for the script. Green, who co-wrote Green Lantern, is in negotiations to work on Hampton Fancher's initial draft (he wrote the original). Shrouded in secrecy, it is set several years after the events of the 1982 film, which starred Harrison Ford.

DiCaprio aims to travel in time

Leonardo DiCaprio's production company Appian Way and MRC are adapting The Shining Girls, written by Lauren Beukes. The plan is for a TV adaptation, not film. Published on 4 June, the book tells the story of a serial killer who finds a house in Depression-era Chicago that allows him to time-travel.