BUZZ: Efron as "Johnny Quest," Bekmambetov & Downey Jr., "House of Flying Daggers" Remake, and more

• James Tupper (Jack from "Men in Trees") will join NBC's drama "Mercy" as the resident McDreamy.

• Zac Efron is looking to destroy his commercial career Emile Hirsch-style. Much like the indie prince who tried his hand at blockbusters with Speed Racer, Efron is rumored to be up for the lead in The Adventures of Johnny Quest. The cartoon series, which centered on a computer wiz who brings down international criminals for the Quest Foundation, originated in the 60s and was revived in the late 90s. The content is very futuristic and I'm a little worried on how they plan on recreating Questworld, a coveted weapon and unpredictable computer-generated virtual reality. In the cartoon, Johnny would wear a headset to solve puzzles, locate hidden objects, battle evildoers and escape death. But that could easily turn out looking like Robert Rodriguez's The Adventures of Sharkboy and Lavagirl 3-D...which looked cheesy. Well, we'll see. Also, The Rock is being considered for the role of Johnny's bodyguard Race Bannon--I see he's trying to corner the kiddie market, what with his latest involvement in the Race to Witch Mountain remake.

• Oh how I love Timur Bekmambetov, the genius behind Wanted, Day Watch, and Night Watch. His next project, The Days Before, is about "a race of aliens who invade Earth by traveling backwards through time and wiping out humanity, one day at a time, yesterday by yesterday." That sounds difficult to film, but since the hero of the film has to "stay a yesterday ahead of them" and "convince the world that the end is coming" every day, it'll be kind of like Groundhog's Day meets Independence Day, but with better cinematography. I'm totally psyched that America is embracing one of my favorite directors, but I'm also excited about Robert Downey Jr. and Reese Witherspoon possibly scoring the lead roles. I just hope that Witherspoon takes a page out of Downey's handbook and changes her look up a bit. Blonde and puppy-dog-eyed is only interesting the first one hundred times around. I know she changed it up a lot for her role in Walk the Line, but she kind of had to. Otherwise, she's usually just your average blonde. I hope she takes creative liberties with her look like she did in one of the films she produced Penelope. I like wild child Reese.

• For God knows what reason Sam Raimi is rumored to be making an Americanized version of House of the Flying Daggers, the 2004 Oscar-nominated Asian epic.

• Paul Giamatti has expressed interest in playing the Penguin in future Batman films. Hmm.

• Jean-Claude Van Damme is interested in doing Bloodsport 2, a sequel to his 1988 classic film, Wrestler-style, with the lead as a drunk, abusive bum. Look what Mickey Rourke started--not everybody gets to have a comeback people.

• Newcomer Armie Hammer is set to gueststar on the last three episodes of "Gossip Girl" this season as Serena's new boy toy, a sexy European socialite. He'll get her into the trouble that they'll have to call on Georgina to get her out of. Can't wait.