update tuesday 1:53pm: Sad to report Mr. Kerkorian has passed away at age 98. Ironic timing of the movie news. stay tuned…

I told you in February that billionaire Kirk Kerkorian was funding an epic about the Armenian genocide. I said an Oscar nominated director and screenwriter were already attached to the project. I couldn’t tell you then that Terry George, of “Hotel Rwanda” fame, would direct. He asked me not to at the time because the politics were sensitive. He did tell me, “I think the best way to describe it is a WW1 love story, in the style of Dr. Zhivago and Reds,  set against the backdrop of the Armenian genocide.”

The movie will be shot in Spain.

Today I can tell you that Terry is the director, and Robin Swicord is the writer. In addition, Christian Bale and Oscar Isaac will co-star in the film, called “The Promise.” Mike Medavoy will be lead producer. Bale and Isaac will be part of a romantic triangle with a yet- to-be announced actress.

When I wrote the original story on February 26, the response I got– and the story got– was overwhelming. This could be a big epic hit. I expect with this updated news, a studio will become involved shortly.

EXCLUSIVE This is what I’m hearing: Rob Reiner is finally going to make his movie about Lyndon Johnson. As far back as 1997, Reiner talked about  adapting  Robert Caro’s award winning biography “Means of Ascent,” which was of Caro’s epic multi volume work.

It’s not clear what role the Caro book will play in called “LBJ,” a script that comes from the fabled Black List (not The Blacklist, which was something else). The writer of “LBJ” is Joey Hartstone, who counts among his credentials writing for “Project Runway” and other reality shows. (Pays the bills.)

In the old days, Reiner wanted either Tim Robbins or Billy Bob Thornton to play Johnson. But now I am told that Woody Harrelson is said to be playing Johnson. Yes, Woody from “Cheers,” pot smoking, hemp loving, dangerous -as-all-get-out actor Woody Harrelson as LBJ. Why not?

Reiner has also put out a casting call, I’m told, for all the players of the day: Robert Kennedy, Hubert Humphrey, Ted Sorenson, Jackie Kennedy, and so on.

The timing is ironic since HBO starts shooting its adaptation of “All the Way,” the much lauded LBJ play from Broadway, starring Bryan Cranston.

Johnson has certainly become a lightning rod figure lately. Tom Wilkinson played him in “Selma,” a movie that was roundly criticized for painting Johnson as a villain in the civil rights movement who was eventually won over by Martin Luther King. Interesting: King is one of the few public figures not on the list for casting right now.

Producers of “LBJ” are said to include Liz Glotzer– who’s worked with Reiner before and has a long string of successes.

Reiner has not had a lot of luck in recent years after a string of hits. But we love him, and he was great as Leonardo DiCaprio’s father in “Wolf of Wall Street.” He had major misstep with “Ghosts of Mississippi,” so I hope “LBJ” is a lot better thought-through.

EXCLUSIVE You may remember Valeria Golino. The pretty Italian actress was the romantic foil in Barry Levinson’s Oscar winning 1988 movie “Rain Man,” the third wheel for Tom Cruise and Dustin Hoffman.Twenty seven years later, Golino–who’s a big star in Italy and won a special prize in 2013 at Cannes for a documentary she directed– has given back her U.S. citizenship and is going home for good. Her name turned up on the most recent list of Americans who’ve given up their passports.

Golino’s British agent told me on Friday: “She hasn’t really lived in the U.S. for fifteen years.” The agent also added that contrary to Italian tabloid reports, the 49 year old Golino has not married her long running boyfriend, 35 year old Italian movie star Riccardo Scamarcio.

She was an immediate sensation in the mid 80s. In addition to “Rain Man.” Golino also appeared in “Big Top Pee Wee,” and was said to have dated Pee Wee portrayer Paul Reubens (although this sounds comical now). Among her high profile relationships was a long one with actor Benicio del Toro.

Golino’s resume shows dozens of lead roles in film, mostly Italian. In America she also appeared in “Immortal Beloved,” “Leaving Las Vegas,” Sean Penn’s “The Indian Runner,” and “Hot Shots Part Deux” with Charlie Sheen.

According to reports, Golino lost lead roles in both “Flatliners” and “Pretty Woman” to Julia Roberts.

I’m sorry she’s left the U.S. but why pay taxes here if you live somewhere else. I’m sure we’ll see her in American films again.

Estimates this morning put “Jurassic World” at $204.6 million for the weekend making it the second biggest opening weekend of all time. And biggest opening of all time for a director no one had ever heard of (Trevorrow) replicating the work of the most famous director of all time (Spielberg). The audiences obviously loved “Jurassic World” even with its flaws because its flaws didn’t matter. It was literally a popcorn hit, huge fun, and hit all the right notes. No one cared about Bryce Dallas Howard’s high heels, or whether the dinosaurs were anatomically correct.

No one will wait until actual numbers come in, so there’s a lot of guessing about “Jurassic World” and the box office. The final numbers for this weekend will be huge, somewhere between $160 million and $200 million. The trades are hilarious trying to call it right now before 10am Eastern.

Some number will be correct. But the main thing is, “Jurassic World” defied its critics. I love how some reviews have gone to great lengths to really savage the director, etc. Hey, it’s a dinosaur movie! Give it a rest. “Jurassic World” is a lot of fun, very entertaining. It’s perfect for a hot, humid weekend. It’s not “MacBeth,” kids.

So stay tuned and keep refreshing as the numbers come in…

Great news: Quentin Tarantino’s “Hateful Eight” will get a special release on Christmas Day. For two weeks the neo-Western will play on 70 MM screens across the country. It’s film, baby! Real film! After the two weeks, TWC will go wide digitally, which makes sense financially. But if you’re anywhere near a 70MM screen, get there.

Here’s a description of the most anticipated film of the holiday season:

In THE HATEFUL EIGHT, set six or eight or twelve years after the Civil War, a stagecoach hurtles through the wintry Wyoming landscape. The passengers, bounty hunter John Ruth (Russell) and his fugitive Daisy Domergue (Leigh), race towards the town of Red Rock where Ruth, known in these parts as “The Hangman,” will bring Domergue to justice. Along the road, they encounter two strangers: Major Marquis Warren (Jackson), a black former union soldier turned infamous bounty hunter, and Chris Mannix (Goggins), a southern renegade who claims to be the town’s new Sheriff. Losing their lead on the blizzard, Ruth, Domergue, Warren and Mannix seek refuge at Minnie’s Haberdashery, a stagecoach stopover on a mountain pass. When they arrive at Minnie’s, they are greeted not by the proprietor but by four unfamiliar faces. Bob (Bichir), who’s taking care of Minnie’s while she’s visiting her mother, is holed up with Oswaldo Mobray (Roth), the hangman of Red Rock, cow-puncher Joe Gage (Madsen), and Confederate General Sanford Smithers (Dern). As the storm overtakes the mountainside stopover, our eight travelers come to learn they may not make it to Red Rock after all…