Sarah Michelle Gellar

*The Rock - and his second place a** [see Film/TV Bits] - have been cast opposite Sarah Michelle Gellar and his co-star in “The Rundown,” Seann William Scott, in "Southland Tales," set in Los Angeles on July 4, 2008, as it stands on the brink of social, economic and environmental disaster. Johnson will play Boxer Santaros, an action star stricken with amnesia who crosses paths with Krysta Now (Gellar), a porn star developing her own reality television project, and David Clark (Scott), a Hermosa Beach cop who holds the key to a vast conspiracy. Principal photography on the project, from "Donnie Darko" writer-director Richard Kelly, is slated to begin Aug. 1 in Los Angeles.

*Rumor has it that Tony Todd will reprise his role as The Candyman in a new film in the franchise, according to the Web site Dark Horizons. The news was overheard on the set of the New Line Cinema film “Final Destination 3: Cheating Death,” which at one time had Todd attached. The director mentioned: “Tony’s supposed to do another “Candyman” sometime this year,” after he finishes shooting his next film “Hatchet.”

The light is now green for “Like Mike 2” at Twentieth Century Fox, but you won’t see Bow Wow, Morris Chestnut, or any of the other stars of the first pic. The original 2002 film starred Bow Wow as a youngster who becomes an NBA superstar after trying on a pair of sneakers with the faded initials "M.J." inside. The new film will follow a 12-year-old kid named Jerome, whose sudden ability to slam dunk pleases his father, a former street baller who blew his big chance. No announcement has been made regarding the casting, however, Fox is aiming for a June start in Vancouver.