American Sniper Set As Steven Spielberg's Next Movie
Bradley Cooper will star in the movie and will also produce. The story is an adaptation of American Sniper, the autobiography of Navy SEAL Chris Kyle. The Warner Bros./DreamWorks co-production is targeting the first quarter of 2014 as a production start date. The book, whose complete title is American Sniper: The Autobiography of the Most Lethal Sniper in U.S. Military History, tells how Texas native Kyle came to record the highest number of sniper kills for an American. It has received praise for its forthrightness in telling a first-person account of his duties, THR reports.

William Friedkin to Receive Venice Honor
The director of The French Connection and The Exorcist will receive a Lifetime Achievement Award at the Venice Film Festival. The honorary Golden Lion was a prize he “never expected” but was “proud to accept with gratitude and love.” Venice chief Alberto Barbera singled him out for his “revolutionary impact,” BBC reports.

Justin Timberlake to Spin Gold in Biopic
Timberlake will play 1970s music entrepreneur Neil Bogart, and he will produce alongside Matt Damon, with production set for early next year. Bogart launched the careers of KISS, Donna Summer, The Village People, Gladys Knight and others. He died at 39 in 1982. Bogart's son, Timothy Scott Bogart, developed the script with Timberlake and wrote the screenplay, Screen Daily reports.

This Weekend's Specialty Newcomers
Xan Cassavetes' Kiss of the Damned, Julianne Moore and Steve Coogan-starrer What Maisie Knew, Michael Shannon and Chris Evans' The Iceman, Keanu Reeves starrer Generation Um…, documentary Scatter My Ashes at Bergdorf's (playing at the Elinor Bunin Munroe Film Center), Jared Moshé's Dean Man's Burden, Olivier Assayas' Something In The Air and D.W. Young's The Happy House are among the coming weekend's packed list of new specialty releases. Deadline.com gives some background on the titles.

Chinese Theatre Closes for Renovations
The once-again former Grauman's Chinese Theatre in Hollywood is set to shut down this week for several months of renovations. The legendary theater with the imprints of Hollywood stars through the decades in cement, is being remodeled to accommodate Imax screenings. The theater is now called TLC Chinese Theatre after the Chinese TV company bought the rights to its name. The Los Angeles Times reports.