Justin Hartley from HTG:TV's Badge of Justice: Las Vegas and On Set has nabbed the lead role in 21st Century Cat Picture's new short comedy, Boytoy Beta. The film is from writer/producer/studio head Kris Greet, who released a short arthouse drama, Walking on Asphalt, earlier in the month. Co-starring in the comedy is Ashlee Simpson in her HTG debut. A studio source tell us that the two lesser known talents are thrilled to be part of the new production. Hartley has had guest spots on numerous TV shows, including Downtown, It's Always Me, and The Day After. Directing the piece is Todd Philips, who last helmed the 2008 geek kidnapping comedy Star Con for the Flip Brothers Studio. Boytoy Beta hits theaters this Friday, January 29th.

Coming in three weeks from Checkmate Pictures is MacGuffin. The drama is being written and produced by Quantum of Raptor Inc and directed by Spike Jonze. This is Jonze's forth film, having last directed Running With Scissors, an anthology of short films based on the music of Weird Al Yankovic. Starring in the film is Goldie Hawn, Dan Byrd, Quantum, David Caruso, and Willow Smith. MacGuffin will mark the HTG debuts of Hawn, Caruso, and Smith. Byrd is coming off feature roles in Fear Itself 2 last year and 2008's Battle Royale. He has also appeared on HTG: TV in Ritchie Steven's Horror Hour and Kaven Production's TV Movie Carnage. Quantum has an impressive 17 film role credits to his name along with 3 TV appearances. MacGuffin hits theaters on February 12th, 2010.