By Josh Spector
Actor Shia LaBeouf, best known for his appearance on the current season of HBO's "Project Greenlight," has quickly become a hot Hollywood commodity as New Line Cinema has signed the actor to what may become a multipicture deal and 20th Century Fox has cast him opposite Will Smith in "I, Robot."
The New Line deal will place LaBeouf in a starring role in a New Line release to shoot this fall, though exactly what film it will be has yet to be determined.
"Shia has movie star written all over him, the hard part for us is going to be picking which production gets to have him," New Line production president Toby Emmerich said.
The project LaBeouf will first star in will likely be either "Nothing but the Truth," "Whitebread," or "Bridge and Tunnel." "Truth" revolves around a hotel valet who finds himself magically transformed into the person he's always pretended to be, while "Whitebread" is about a wealthy white slacker who is forced to join an all-black fraternity in order to avoid losing his inheritance, and "Bridge" centers on a suburban 16-year-old who uses his parents' computer to become a day-trading multimillionaire.
While there is no deal in place for LaBeouf to star in more than one of the three projects yet, it is a very real possibility that will eventually happen.
LaBeouf's stock is on the rise thanks in part to his weekly exposure in the HBO reality series "Project Greenlight." LaBeouf is starring in "The Battle of Shaker Heights," the film whose shoot "Greenlight" has chronicled, and the television series has been filled with praise for LaBeouf's work from the "Shaker" producers. "Shaker" is set for an Aug. 22 release by Miramax.
The New Line deal reunites LaBeouf with New Line, for whom he appeared in this summer's "Dumb and Dumberer: When Harry Met Lloyd." He also starred in Sony's "Charlie's Angels: Full Throttle" this summer and Walt Disney Pictures' "Holes" this year. LaBeouf has also earned a daytime Emmy for his work in the Disney Channel television series "Even Stevens."
LaBeouf is repped by John Crosby Management and the Beverly Hecht Agency. (Story courtesy of the Hollywood Reporter)
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