Michael Keaton joins Need For Speed movie

We have to confess that the fact that movie based on the Need For Speed videogame franchise had fallen under our collective radar here at T3. So imagine our surprise when we heard that not only was one in the works, but that the star of Beetlejuice and Batman had become attached to the project.
According to an article in The Hollywood Reporter Michael Keaton been cast in the new Need For Speed movie, joining the likes of Aaron Paul (Breaking Bad) and Dominic Cooper (Captain America, The Devil's Double). The artcile says that Keaton will play "the reclusive and eccentric host of an underground supercar race where he invites the best drivers from around the world".
The Need For Speed, which is apparently scheduled for release some time in 2014, has been penned by screewriters George and John Gatis (the scribes behind Real Steel and Coach Carter) and is directed by Scott Waugh (Act Of Valor - no, we haven't seen it either). The plot for the movie is apparently not based on any of the games in the NFS franchise, but its pitch - which involves an ex-con involved in an illegal cross country street race - sounds an awful lot like Need For Speed: The Run.

That now marks the third piece of news we've heard about a movie adapation of a video game this week! Could it be that videogames are replacing comic books as Hollywood's latest source of inspiration? Watch this space.