No script has been written and no writer is yet attached. LaBeouf and De Niro’s involvement will be contingent on their approval of the final script, according to The Hollywood Reporter.

Based on a six-part series of articles published in The Oregonian in 2011, the story follows traitorous spy Jim Nicholson (De Niro) who enlists his son Nathan (LaBeouf) to continue his work.

In 1997, Jim was sentenced to 23 years in prison for treason, and 14 years later Nathan was convicted of the same offence, but signed a deal agreeing to testify against his father and was therefore only sentenced to probation.

De Niro is currently shooting David O Russell’s American Hustle, while LaBeouf recently wrapped Lars von Trier’s Nymphomaniac.

Source: Digital Spy

The Transformers star has signed up to feature in The Nymphomaniac, about a young woman’s sex life, and LaBeouf admits the prospect of working with the maverick filmmaker is both thrilling and terrifying at the same time.

He told MTV.com: ”(Von Trier is) the most dangerous dude that I’ve ever showed up for. I’m terrified. I’m so terrified, which is why I have to go. We’ll see what happens.”

The script calls for the actor to get down and dirty on film – and it’s a task LaBeouf insists he is ready to take on.

The actor, who is in a relationship with stylist Karolyn Pho, said: “It’s going to be a wild movie.

“There’s a disclaimer at the top of the script that basically says we’re doing it (having sex) for real.“Everything that is illegal, we’ll shoot in blurred images. Other than that, everything is happening.”

Von Trier is expected to make two versions of the same film – one explicit for his true fanbase and one more censored for theatrical release.

LaBeouf recently declared he was done with big budget blockbusters and wanted to dedicate the rest of his life to making quality independent films with “visionaries” like von Trier and Terrence Malick.

He said: “These dudes are a miracle. They give you the money, and they trust you… (They don’t) give you the money, then get on a plane and come to the set and stick a finger up your a*** and chase you around for five months.”

Source: NZ Herald

The reason for his surge up the list of those being considered is due to his taking of another raunchy role in Lars Von Trier’s ‘Nymphomaniac’, a part that may see LaBeouf have actual sex on screen!

The website Policymic calls LaBeouf “one of the strongest contenders yet” for the role, and fans may get behind the actor as he’s one of the few with both blockbuster and independent movie experience who could be in with a shot.

Others speculated to be in with a shot are Ian Somerhalder, Robert Pattinson and Ryan Gosling. However the writer tipped to pen the screenplay for the movie based on the ‘mummy porn’ novel’, Brett Easton Ellis, has been sensationally left out of those considered for a spot on the film.Of those LaBeouf could be set to dominate, Emma Watson and Anna Kendrick have been talked about as taking the part of Anastasia Steele, while Kristen Stewart looks to have dropped off the radar after her much publicised affair.

Yet producers may be worried that Shia could cause a few problems on set, as he recently admitted that his drinking on the set of new movie ‘Lawless’ almost scared off castmate Mia Wasikowska.

Having starred in the likes of Steven Spielberg’s ‘Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull’ and Oliver Stone’s ‘Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps’, Shia would likely have some of Hollywood’s biggest names ready to back him. He has however fallen out with Spielberg in recent times.

Author E.L. James and producers Dana Brunetti and Mike DeLuca are yet to express a preference as to who should play Christian Grey.

Source: Entertainment Wise

The Weinstein Co. has pushed “Wettest County,” a drama about Depression-era bootleggers that features the “Transformers” star in a lead role, from its scheduled April 20 release date to Aug. 31.  The move puts the film, which at one point had been considered a candidate for the 2011 award season, into a Labor Day weekend slot that is regarded by some distribution experts as a film-release black hole.

A Weinstein spokeswoman declined to comment on the move.

[Updated, 3:40 p.m. Weinstein Co. COO David Glasser told 24 Frames that "The film wasn't ready [for April] and we believe we’ve found a really great date when a lot of movies have done really good business.” Glasser noted the August release of “Inglourious Basterds” in 2009; that film came out two weeks before Labor Day.]

John Hillcoat (“The Road”) directed “Wettest,” which features a who’s-who of emerging stars, including Tom Hardy and Jessica Chastain, as well as a re-emerging one, Gary Oldman. The film centers on a group of bootlegging brothers (including characters played by LaBeouf and Hardy) who must fight to protect their turf. According to one person who’s seen it, the film features some violent action moments amid its dramatic elements.
The movie, which the Weinstein Co. acquired at last year’s Cannes Film Festival, is one of the first films to be financed by Annapurna Productions, the company founded by Megan Ellison that has been spending aggressively on prestige pictures. It’s of particular interest because of the LaBeouf factor.

Known mainly for thrillers and action vehicles, the actor has recently been hoping to turbocharge his dramatic career. He starred in the financial-crisis sequel “Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps” in 2010 and over the past few months has also been shooting the Robert Redford-directed “The Company You Keep,” about the relationship between a journalist and a member of the Weather Underground.

The Weinstein Co. initially contemplated bringing “Wettest” at the end of 2011 and positioning it for an awards run but eventually decided on a spring date. The company had a crowded end-of-year release calendar that included “The Artist,” “My Week With Marilyn” and “The Iron Lady.” (Hillcoat’s “The Road,” also distributed by Weinstein, itself faced delays before finally coming out in November 2009.)

The new date means “Wettest” won’t compete with the generally lighter spring fare—“Scary Movie 5” is scheduled to open the same April weekend. But the current slot is not generally seen as an auspicious time for serious films: last year, for instance, Labor Day weekend saw genre fare like “Shark Night 3D” and the company’s own “Apollo 18.” The one higher-end film to come out that weekend, “The Debt,” did modest business.

So far, the 2012  Labor Day weekend is occupied by “7500,” a low-budget supernatural thriller.

Source: LA Times

The complete top ten from Forbes’ “Best Actors for the Buck” list is as follows:

1. Kristen Stewart ($55.83)
2. Anne Hathaway ($45.67)
3. Robert Pattinson ($39.43)
4. Daniel Radcliffe ($34.24)
5. Shia LaBeouf ($29.40)
6. Robert Downey, Jr. ($18.74)
7. Matt Damon ($15.83)
8. Cate Blanchett ($15.17)
9. Meryl Streep ($13.54)
10. Johnny Depp ($12.48)

“We’ll see about that,” Huntington-Whiteley told us Monday at the Hollywood Awards, seemingly doubtful about LaBeouf’s statement. Asked if the actor could be persuaded to return for another “Transformers,” she replied: “I think so. He’ll kill me for saying that.”

Huntington-Whiteley’s role in Michael Bay’s “Transformers: Dark of the Moon” was the Victoria’s Secret model’s first turn on the big screen — and she said it was more than she ever expected to do as an actress.

“['Transformers'] has opened so many doors for me, and I feel so excited for my future and future ventures and career,” said the woman who topped Maxim’s Hot 100 list this year.

“I think everybody is always watching, and you’re under a microscope. I definitely think I have a lot more hopefully to get the opportunity to show. … I’m brand new, so I’ve got a lot to learn.”

Source: LA Times

The 120-foot-long white wall surrounding the front of the home on the 3900 block of Deervale Drive “looks like the Great Wall of China,” said Elke Heitmeyer of the Sherman Oaks Homeowners Association, reports Sherman Oaks Patch. Heitmeyer and other residents claim the “eyesore” violates the L.A. City ordinance that limits the height of walls in residential areas.

City officials say the wall is in violation of city building codes. “I need that wall for security reasons,” said Orit Picker, the resident responsible for the wall. “Seven days a week the paparazzi are on my property, damaging my car, invading my privacy just because they’re trying to get photos of my neighbor, the actor Shia LaBeouf.”

According to Heitmeyer and the homeowners association, the city enforces a wall height restriction of three-and-a-half-feet. Picker’s wall “is more than seven-feet high,” said Heitmeyer, who also claims that the wall was built on city property.

Picker is fighting back to keep her paparazzi barricade. She has collected signed documents from all surrounding neighbors confirming that they have no objections to the wall.

LaBeouf, who is filming in Canada and cannot attend the hearing, writes in defense of his neighbors, saying that he was forced to hire private security guards due to the incessant flow of media and sightseers at his home, including “occasional potentially violent stalkers,” who attempt to sneak peeks at LaBeouf’s backyard and photograph him. He adds that his neighbors were concerned for their safety, security and peace of mind.

City officials are reportedly working on a solution that will please both sides.

Source: Laist

According to Star magazine, Mr LaBeouf, now 63, served a jail sentence between 1981 and 1983 after being convicted. 

The conviction means that he is listed on the Megan’s Law website, which gives people access to sex offenders across the U.S. 

A spokesman for the Attorney General’s office told the magazine that ‘the Megan’s Law website is 100% accurate. If a person is on that website, they are a sex offender.’

Mr LaBeouf’s listing gives his physical statistics along with his conviction status. 

However, according to Star, ‘all official police documentation associated with the assault has inexplicably vanished.’

Yet the online Department of Justice confirms the crime, describing it as ‘assault with intent to commit rape.’

It is unknown if Shia is aware of his father’s crime, although he has previously discussed growing up with his parents, now divorced, and his father’s one time drug addiction. 

Mr LaBeouf has also been in trouble in the past, according to Star. 

He was allegedly accused of sexual harassment of an actress on Shia’s 2000 TV show Even Stevens and also allegedly assaulted a gay Disney executive after he gave Shia a congratulatory hug. 

Shia later recounted the incident to Details magazine: ‘He goes, “Are you trying to talk to my boy, you chicken hawk?” You can’t do that to the executives.’

But 25-year-old Shia is also not without his run-ins with the law

He had a well-documented altercation with a security guard in a Chicago Walgreens and was involved in a car accident back in 2008 which crushed his left hand. 

Back in February this year, he had an altercation in a north Hollywood bar and last week he was involved in a street fight with a man in a Vancouver bar. 

A representative for the actor did not return calls for comment.

Source: Daily Mail

Shea Carter claims that when he tried to restrain the Transformers star in Vancouver, he was verbally attacked.

But he said although LaBeouf made the threats he never actually saw a blade on him.

TMZ spoke with Carter who said he saw LaBeouf inside the Cinema Public House before the fight occurred.

He claims that the 25-year-old had been drinking and swayed into several people during the night including one man that warned Shia, ‘Hey man, watch out.’

‘Oh yea? Or what?’ Shia allegedly replied. ‘What are you going to do about it?’

That’s when the two men apparently then took the matter outside and Shia got beaten down to the pavement.

Carter then tried to help LaBeouf and stopped him from going back inside the establishment but the hot-tempered star then got more fired up.

‘Well what if I grabbed my knife on you? Carter alleges LaBeouf said.

Carter said that he quickly held on to LaBeouf in case he was serious about the knife threat and tried to restrain him.

The actor finally decided to walk away but Carter said when he went back into the bar a few moments later, he looked out of the window to see LaBeouf making a throat-slashing gesture at him from outside.

LaBeouf emerged battered and bruised days after the altercation.  

He has gained himself a reputation as bad boy after a number of unruly incidents and had dark marks on his jawline as he headed off for a bike ride in Canada.

He looked decidedly subdued as he took a spin around the streets on his road bike. 

Video of the incident shows the actor is shown being punched and hit by a shirtless man, before getting up and staggering away.

In video recorded by a onlooker, he then argues with a friend of his adversary in the doorway of the bar.

Another witness told Radar Online that Shia and his opponent, both ‘intoxicated’, were thrown out of the bar by security moments before the fight which occurred around 12.30am.

When the other man (named Mike, according to the witnesses) saw Shia hailing a taxi, he approached him and the pair began arguing again.

‘He got into a confrontation with a couple of people,’ the onlookers said. ‘He took a few punches to the face. He was obviously pretty intoxicated.’

In the video the actor is visibly worse for wear, stumbling and looking dishevelled.

LaBeouf has been a regular at the Cinema Public House, on Granville Street, while in town filming The Company You Keep with Stanley Tucci and Anna Kendrick.

This is the latest in a string of allegedly drunken incidents for the star.

In August witnesses reported that the actor became unruly during a night out in Hollywood with his girlfriend Karolyn Pho and Marilyn Manson, spitting drinks at them.

‘Shia started shouting at his date and getting visibly angry,’ a source told Life & Style at the time

‘He then decided it was time to leave and ‘lunged’ through the very thick crowd.’ The eyewitness said: ‘They tried to hold him back, but he kept struggling through.

‘Shia had to climb over people and tear himself out of the grasp of various strangers who were trying to keep him from going crazy.’

And in February, he was restrained by police after being involved in a fight inside the Mad Bull’s Tavern in the Los Angeles suburb of Sherman Oaks around 1am on Saturday morning.

According to US reports, the brawl started after another patron called Shia a ‘f****** faggot’.

LaBeouf has also had two alcohol-related arrests: A DUI in 2007 and he was charged with misdemeanor criminal trespassing after being openly intoxicated in a store in Chicago in 2008.

A spokesperson for LaBeouf is yet to respond to the Mail Online’s request for comment.

Source: Daily Mail

That was the strange scenario that played out at the opening of the L.A. outpost of The Box nightclub on Friday night, an eyewitness tells Life & Style exclusively.

Before the performance even started, the “Transformers” actor, 25, “seemed wasted” as he sat in a designated area with his date, presumably girlfriend Karolyn Pho, and rocker Manson.

“Shia picked up a water bottle and shot a mouthful of water all over his date’s legs,” says the eyewitness. “Then he put more water in his mouth and started spitting it all over his tablemates, including Marilyn Manson.”

Although Manson tried to calm the actor down by offering him a fist bump, LaBeouf only grew more out of control.

“All of a sudden, Shia started shouting at his date and getting visibly angry,” adds the eyewitness.

He then decided it was time to leave and “lunged” through the very thick crowd. “They tried to hold him back, but he kept struggling through.

“Shia had to climb over people and tear himself out of the grasp of various strangers who were trying to keep him from going crazy.”

Once he broke free and bolted out the door, his panicked date chased after him. The two never returned.

“Marilyn looked shocked and annoyed, but stayed seated,” adds the eyewitness.

“It was so insane — he just had a total meltdown right in front of everyone. It was completely out of control. He was so angry and physical.”

Source: New York Daily News