The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences will be expanding the pool of Best Picture Oscar nominees from 5 to 10, may not have any Song nominees in a given year, and will present “the Thalberg nod to filmmakers, the Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award and the honorary Oscars for career excellence” at a separate event not televised during the Academy Awards.

Now that the Nickelodeon channel is turning 30 years old, it’s finally decided to “rebrand” with new logos across its entire portfolio, which includes “Nickelodeon, Nick at Nite, Nicktoons, Nick Jr. (formerly Noggin) and TeenNick (formerly the N), all of which will use similar-looking lower-case logos.” So long, little orange splat.

Ridley Scott seems to be keeping himself busy with 14 films listed as in development on IMDb. The two most recently announced films are Aldous Huxley’s science fiction classic “Brave New World” and a prequel to “Alien,” the sci-fi/horror film Scott directed back in the late ’70s.

Back From the Dead

ABC finally realized Ben Lyons and Ben Mankiewicz were an embarrassment, and has replaced them with the New York Times‘ A.O. Scott and the Chicago Tribune‘s Michael Phillips on Roger Ebert’s former show, “At the Movies.”

Lastly, we’ve reported that “Trick ‘r Treat” is finally getting a theatrical release (barely) and Wired has put together a little video featuring filmmaker Mike Dougherty saying the Internet saved his film. I’ve seen the movie twice now and I can guarantee you’ll have a good time at the movies once it comes out. Be sure to follow Dougherty on Twitter!

(Un)original Content

Book Adaptations of the Week—Willem Dafoe will portray the Martian Tars Tarkas in “John Carter of Mars,” Paramount is in talks with director Neil Burger to adapt Robert C. O’Brien’s “Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH,” and Tomas Alfredson, director of “Let the Right One In,” will next be focusing on John le Carré’s “Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy.” Meanwhile, there’s lots of good news about Aaron Sorkin’s Facebook movie, “The Social Network.” Also being adapted is Dr. Seuss’ “The Lorax,” Craig Yoe’s “Secret Identity: The Fetish Art of Superman’s Co-Creator Joe Shuster,” Robert Ludlum’s “The Parsifal Mosaic” (with Ron Howard directing), John Grisham’s “The Testament,” and Vivian Schilling’s “Sacred Prey.”

Comic Adaptations of the Week—While it was rumored Justin Timberlake would play Hal Jordan in “The Green Lantern,” it’s been confirmed that Ryan Reynolds has the part. Also, Natalie Portman will appear in “Thor,” Len Wiseman will direct “Shrapnel,” and Bill Birch and Geoff Johns will co-write “Shazam!”

Television Adaptations of the Week—On the TV front, look for feature films based on “Soul Train,” “Baywatch,” “T.J. Hooker,” “The Big Valley,” and “Saturday Night Live’s” MacGruber character.

Video Game Adaptations of the Week—Juan Carlos Fresnadillo is directing “Bioshock,” Sam Raimi is directing a “World of Warcraft” movie, and “Halo” might not be dead after all, though “District 9″ had nothing to do with it. Also on the horizon is “Asteroids” and “Uncharted: Drake’s Fortune.”

Sequels of the Week—Susan Sarandon has joined the cast of “Wall Street 2: Money Never Sleeps.” Nimrod Antal will be directing Robert Rodriguez’s “Predators.” “Chicago” and “Nine” director Rob Marshall will sit in the director’s chair for “Pirates of the Caribbean 4.” “Alias’” Josh Applebaum and Andre Nemec will be writing “Mission: Impossible 4.” Japan will be the setting for “X-Men Origins: Wolverine 2.” Gary Ross has taken a turn at the “Spider-Man 4” script and strange things are afoot for “Spider-Man 5 and 6.” Joshua Zetumer will be writing the fourth “Bourne” movie. George Romero will next document the “Survival of the Dead.” Also, stay tuned for “The Strangers 2” and “Saw 7.”

Remakes of the Week—”Cloverfield” director Matt Reeves is setting “Let the Right One In” in a 1980s Colorado and will be keeping the children as 12-year-olds, with Kodi Smit-McPhee as Oskar. I get bored just thinking about a “Yellow Submarine” remake in 3D, but I can’t wait to see the Asian version of the Coen brothers’ “Blood Simple.” Meanwhile, Steven Spielberg will be remaking “Harvey” while “(500) Days of Summer’s” director, Marc Webb, will be making “Jesus Christ Superstar” more “hipstery.” Also on the horizon: “An American Werewolf in London,” “Robocop,” and “Don’t Be Afraid of the Dark.”

Final Word(s)

“White Chicks 2.”