Something good from "Aces' " ashes?

Though Joe Carnahan's "Smokin' Aces" was just a thorough mess, it seems something great may still be born in its wake.

Given how Carnahan woefully underused Jason Bateman, giving him a grand total of about two-and-a-half minutes of screen time, I just assumed he hated the man. Apparently not.

Before he takes on a finished script for a pic of James Ellroy's "White Jazz," Carnahan will write and direct "The Remarkable Fellows," based on a premise pitched to him by the very funny Mr. Bateman.

The story, which sounds very funny to me, will be about two brothers who are in the revenge business. Bateman, who described the duo as "half Ricky Jay and half James Bond," had this to say to Variety: "The revenge scenario is dependent on the intricacy of the plot. If the president of a major bank was sleeping with the French ambassador's wife, the banker would call these guys."

Sounds fun to me, and after "Aces," Carnahan is sorely in need of a winner. Having thoroughly enjoyed his debut, "Narc," I know he's got at least one more in him.

Wood set to go Pop

When I first saw this, I just had to be thankful that it's only about the young Iggy Pop. While I'm happy the man still works out, no 70-year-old man should strut around with no shirt on like Iggy seems to need to do.

Because it's the birthright of every promising actor that they get to star in at least one musician biopic, it seems Elijah Wood has signed on to play Mr. Pop in the upcoming flick "Passenger." The flick, which will primarily be about Mr. Pop's work with the Stooges (the first time, thankfully, not now!), will be directed by Nick Gomez.

I like Elijah Wood in almost everything he does, so I'll have to hold out hope that, when this arrives for midsummer next year, it somehow manages to rock.

The "Hunger" of Bobby Sands

It's hard to believe that a biopic hasn't already been made about the IRA hero Bobby Sands (and if one already has, please forgive me and tell me what it is.) Word from Cannes is that that's about to change.

Steve McQueen (no relation to the man himself, as far as I can tell), a UK music video director (and before you start to hate, remember Michel Gondry and Spike Jonze started in videos too) has made this flick, which is an "impressionistic interpretation" of the last six weeks in the life of Sands, the IRA hunger striker who died in the Maze prison in 1981.

Michael Fassbender ("300") stars as Sands. Though, like I said, I don't know of any other movie like this one, Sands was sort of the subject of easily one of my favorite movies of all time, the criminally underappreciated "Some Mother's Son" with Dame Mirren. Here's hoping Mr. McQueen has something new to say about this fascinating figure.

Veronica Mars update, sort of

Though the fate of the CW's last remaining good show may not be known until June, it seems our heroine, Kristen Bell, will be getting more work on another show for the "network."

Entertainment Weekly reports that she will be the narrator of "Gossip Girl" in The CW's new teen drama from "The O.C." creator Josh Schwartz. The show is based on the bestselling teen book series. I hope this doesn't spell the end of "Veronica," but we're apparently gonna have to wait to find out about that for sure. Stay tuned.