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The Bryan Singer-directed movie has undergone a slight title change, dropping the word "Killer" and replacing it with "Slayer", as in Jack the Giant Slayer.

Also, Warner Bros. has made another release date shuffling; however, this time the move isn't as drastic as before. Instead of releasing the film on March 22, 2013, WB has now moved the picture up and will bring it to theaters on March 1.

The first trailer for Jack the Giant Killer is now playing in front of Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows, and as such, is also online.

June 15, 2012 will be the release day for the movie.

Deadwood cast member Ian McShane has joined the cast of the film. He'll play King Brahmwell who THR describes as being "none too thrilled about a union between his daughter and a farmer boy."

The British-born McShane will next be seen this May in theaters playing Captain Blackbeard in Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides.

Ewan McGregor (Obi-Wan Kenobi in the Star Wars prequels) is in contract negotiations to play a soldier in the king's army in Jack the Giant Killer. The Scot-born McGregor would join Nicholas Hoult as the peasant who sets off to rescue the princess from the giant; Stanley Tucci as a villainous member of the king's court; and Bill Nighy (Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest) and John Kassir (Tales From the Crypt) as the two-headed giant leader.

Six actors have been named off by THR as being leading candidates for the male and female lead roles in the film. In the part of Jack, the hero, Aaron Johnson (Kick-Ass), Nicholas Hoult (X-Men: First Class) and Aneurin Barnard are the frontrunners; for the part of the female lead, it's Juno Temple, Lily Collins and Adelaide Kane (Neighbors).

The production is asking for a commitment from the actors for nine months. The extensive delay comes from the time needed to pre-visualize the movie's major special effects sequences. Filming isn't scheduled to commence until March 2011.

Rumor has it that New Line is very close to giving Jack the Giant Killer a greenlight. The studio is considering actors for the lead role and supposedly Aaron Johnson (Kick-Ass) is the top candidate of director Bryan Singer. All involved want the movie to start shooting in the spring of 2011.

Chris McQuarrie, Singer's Oscar-winning screenwriter for The Usual Suspects and who also collaborated with him on Valkyrie and an earlier draft of X-Men, is now rewriting the Jack the Giant Killer script.

X-Men director attended tonight's Los Angeles premiere of Avatar, James Cameron's latest movie. While Singer strode down the blue carpet (in honor of Avatar's aliens) a camera crew for MySpace asked the filmmaker what was next on his agenda. "I'm ramping up to do a movie called Jack the Giant Killer at Warner Bros, and I just yesterday signed a deal to do an X-Men: First Class Origins picture, which is kind of cool. I'm very excited."

Bryan Singer has now been confirmed to direct Jack the Giant Killer. While it's not a for sure thing, it's likely that this will be Singer's next project. New Line and Legendary Pictures are now fast-tracking the movie.

In a story about his involvement in a remake of the 1981 film Excalibur, Variety reports that the next directorial project for Bryan Singer may in fact be the remake of Jack the Giant Killer. Singer's last film was the 2008 released Valkyrie. He also directed the first two X-Men movies, 2006's Superman Returns and The Usual Suspects.

D.J. Caruso has been hired by New Line Cinema to direct Jack the Giant Killer. Described by Variety as an adult look at the Jack and the Beanstalk fairy tale, the film's story centers on a young farmer named Jack who sets out to rescue a princess who has been kidnapped by a giant. The New Line film may or may not be an update of a 1962 cult fantasy film also titled Jack the Giant Killer. [Full story]