According to encore, Universal Pictures has announced production of P.J. Hogan’s Mental, to be shot in Australia.

Mental is The Sound of Music on acid, and it will reunite me with my favourite actor in the world, Toni Collette

Hogan told the delegates of the Australian International Movie Convention. Hogan said Mental is a film he’s been building up to for a long time, and it will allow him to express his “whinged life-long love of The Sound of Music” the way Muriel’s Wedding explored his “childhood obsession” with ABBA and My Best Friend’s Wedding used the music of Burt Bacharach. Mental will also reunite Hogan with his producers Lynda Moorhouse and Jerry Zucker. It was written for Collette and is based on “somebody that had a big influence” in Hogan’s life. It will be shot in early 2011, for a Christmas/January 2012 release.

With only a week until the Emmy Awards are handed out, critics slowly start to predict who’s going to take home this year’s trophies. According to this article, we now know which episode of “United States of Tara” was submitted for voter’s considerations -  “Tornado” – in which all of Tara’s alters come to life. More predictions below.

Deadline

Why She Got Nominated: Collette won here last year. If the TV Academy votes separately for each of her personalities, that’s a lot of votes. Why She Has To Win: All of them are on display in the episode submitted for consideration that finds her riding out a tornado in a basement. That’s catnip for Academy judges. Moreover, the fact she won last year for a Showtime series helps dispel the assumption that you need to be on HBO to win. This Hollywood insider is seen as the frontrunner to make it two in a row since she’s hugely respected by her peers. Why She Can’t Possibly Win: The best argument against giving it to Collette again is the strength of the work by her Showtime stablemate Edie Falco on Nurse Jackie – showing how far cable has come in these kudofests that the co-favorites both work for a non-HBO pay channel. Moreover, the purposefully showy nature of the role could be a turn-off this 2nd year out.

The Los Angeles Times, Gold Derby

I think that this category is really a showdown between the two Showtime powerhouses — Edie Falco and Toni Collette, both of whom bring a bit more gravitas and “acting” to their roles in comparison with the other four women. Collette won last year, and many might think that her win was a one-time deal, but going by her chosen episode, “Torando,” I think she has a great chance of repeating. Admittedly, her performance is not an overtly “funny” one (and the same thing can be said for Falco), but when she transforms into the new alter ego “Shoshanna,” I was absolutely dazzled by her characterization, accent and the dry humor that that particular character adds to the show. Trust me. Don’t count her out just because the show itself is not the funniest thing on TV.

The Today Show

Collette seems a natural for a second win, but she has two strikes against her: Only one other cable actress has ever won the category (Sarah Jessica Parker, “Sex and the City,” in 2004) and there hasn’t been a repeat winner since 2001 when Patricia Heaton won for “Everybody Loves Raymond.”

Hundreds of new movie stills have been added to the Image Library – including production stills and behind the scenes shots from most of her films – ranging from the early “Muriel’s Wedding” to the most recent “Towelhead”. Click the previews below for all recently added pictures.

Toni is currently shooting “Jesus Henry Christ” in Toronto. Pictures from July 05, 2010 have been added to the Image Library. At the age of ten, young genius Henry James Hermin (Jason Spevack), a boy who was conceived in a petri dish and raised by his feminist mother (Toni Collette), decides his mother’s love is not enough. After discovering he has a half sister, he follows a string of Post-It notes in hopes of finding his biological father. His father, Dr. O’Hara (Michael Sheen), is overcome with feelings of guilt and depression, but finds hope at the news he has a son.

Congratulations to Toni for receiving an Emmy Award nomination as Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series for the second season of “United States of Tara”. She shares this category with Lea Michelle (Glee), Julia Louis-Dreyfus (The New Adventures Of Old Christine), Edie Falco (Nurse Jackie), Amy Poehler (Parks And Recreation) and Tina Fey (30 Rock). The show has received a second nomination in the Outstanding Casting for a Comedy Series category. This is Toni’s third Emmy nomination – she was previously nominated in 2007 as Best Supporting Actress in a Television Movie for “Tsunami: The Aftermath” and won last year’s Lead Actress in a Comedy Series Emmy for “Tara”‘s first season. The awards will be handed out during a live ceremony to be broadcast on August 29, 2010.