Cryer, Spader get in Rodriguez's "Shorts"

James Spader addresses reporters during a question and answer session as part of ABC's 2004 Summer Press Tour in Los Angeles, July 12, 2004.

LOS ANGELES (Hollywood Reporter) - TV stars Jon Cryer and James Spader are returning to the big screen, signing up to star in Robert Rodriguez's "Shorts," a family adventure movie that also stars William H. Macy and Leslie Mann.

Rodriguez, who also wrote the screenplay, is serving as his own director of photography, editor and visual effects supervisor. The Warner Bros. project is shooting on location in Rodriguez's Austin hometown.

"Shorts" is set in fictional Black Falls, a suburb where everyone works for Black Box Unlimited Worldwide Industries Inc., whose communication gadget is sweeping the country. A youngster (Jimmy Bennett) discovers a rainbow-colored rock that grants wishes to anyone who holds it. First it causes havoc among the kid population, but things get turned up several notches when adults get their hands on it.

Cryer and Mann play the boy's parents, Spader is Mr. Black, and Macy is the father of a germophobic genius.

Cryer co-stars with Charlie Sheen in the CBS sitcom "Two and a Half Men," while Spader stars in ABC's "Boston Legal."

Reuters/Hollywood Reporter