Aug. 3 (Bloomberg) -- Megan Fox urged Michael Fassbender to get rough with her during a fight scene in “Jonah Hex.”

Fox, co-star of the “Transformers” series, plays a hooker in the comic-book story about a curmudgeonly bounty hunter (Josh Brolin) in the Wild West. Fassbender is a henchman for the film’s chief villain, played by John Malkovich.

“I really enjoy the physicality of movies like this,” Fox said last month at the Comic-Con International convention in San Diego. “It really helps me get into the scene. I told Fassbender before a scene, ‘If you really want to smack me around, do it.’”

Fox described her character’s relationship with Hex as a “twisted love interest.”

“She’s a prostitute he’s been coming to for a few years,” Fox said. “He loves her but everybody close to him dies, so she doesn’t understand why he keeps pushing her away.”

Warner Bros. is scheduled to release the film in June 2010.

“Jonah Hex” was one of two movies Fox was promoting at Comic-Con. “Jennifer’s Body,” a tongue-in-cheek horror film coming out next month, stars Fox as a demonic cheerleader who kills her high-school classmates. The film, from 20th Century Fox, was written by “Juno” creator Diablo Cody.

“I enjoy action movies, but I’m up for anything,” Fox said. “I just want to keep working.”

‘Hobbit’ Script

Peter Jackson is about a month away from turning in a script for “The Hobbit,” the prequel to the “Lord of the Rings” trilogy. Casting won’t begin until studios approve the script and a budget is set.

“People assume we have the green light and are making the movie, but we don’t,” Jackson said at Comic-Con. “We haven’t gotten to the stage where we can offer anybody a role yet.”

Warner Bros. and co-producer Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Inc. are planning two films based on “The Hobbit,” J.R.R. Tolkien’s book about the adventures of homebody Bilbo Baggins. Jackson, who directed “The Lord of the Rings” trilogy, will produce and Guillermo del Toro will direct both “Hobbit” films.

Jackson also was promoting “District 9,” a science- fiction thriller he produced about an alien race confined to shantytowns after seeking refuge on Earth. “District 9,” directed by Neill Blomkamp, will be released Aug. 14 by Sony Corp.

Jackson said he developed “District 9,” after plans for a film based on the video game “Halo” were dropped by NBC Universal and 20th Century Fox.

“We woke up in the morning thinking we were making ‘Halo’ and went to bed that night making ‘District 9,’” he said. “It worked out for the best as far as I’m concerned.”

‘The Box’

In “The Box,” Cameron Diaz and James Marsden play a couple who get a bizarre offer from a stranger who leaves a wooden container with a button on their doorstep: If they press the button, someone will die but they’ll get $1 million.

“I did like the existential part of this -- why do we do what we do, what defines us as human beings,” Diaz said at Comic-Con. “We push a button every single day by the decisions that we make.”

“The Box” was directed by Richard Kelly, whose credits include box-office disappointments “Donnie Darko” and “Southland Tales.” It’s scheduled to be released Oct. 30 by Warner Bros.

“It was a real relief to me that I’m making a film that’s going to be put on the big screen in a lot of theaters and will have a marketing budget,” Kelly said. “These are luxuries I haven’t had before.”

The film is based on “Button, Button,” a short story by Richard Matheson that was turned into a “Twilight Zone” episode.

To contact the reporter on this story: Michael White in Los Angeles at mwhite8@bloomberg.net.

Last Updated: August 3, 2009 00:01 EDT