Russell Brand has reportedly been offered the part of William, the male lead in Diablo Cody‘s directorial debut, Lamb of God. The comedy, which Cody also wrote, follows a young conservative religious woman who loses her faith after a plane crash and decides to go to Las Vegas to live the life of a sinner. On her journey she finds her way back to her faith. Along with Brand, rumor has it “Dancing With the Stars” dancer Julianne Hough, who will be seen in the upcoming Footloose remake and Rock of Ages, is being eyed for the lead role. [Twitch]
Alden Ehrenreich (Tetro) is in talks to join Mia Wasikowska in the Fox Searchlight thriller Stoker, which tells the story of a girl (Wasikowska) and her mother (Nicole Kidman) who are visited by a mysterious uncle (Matthew Goode) after the girl’s father dies. Ehrenreich will play Whip Taylor, an alpha dog on the football team who’s initially kind to Wasikowska’s character despite the fact his jock friends pick on her, though he eventually forces himself on her. Jacki Weaver and Lucas Till also star in the feature, which will be directed by Chan-wook Park (Oldboy). [Variety]
Cary Fukunaga (Jane Eyre, Sin Nombre) has closed a deal to helm Universal’s Spaceless, and will also rewrite the screenplay based off the original spec by Jeff Vintar (I, Robot). The story centers on an assassin who wakes up inside a spacesuit tumbling helplessly through space, with a computer designed to keep him company until his air runs out. He must try to solve the mystery of his death, which began when he broke into an orbiting space station to carry out a hit. The man, however, begins to question his reality, unsure if he is succumbing to madness or in an artificially created environment. So… that basically sounds amazing. [The Hollywood Reporter]
Bradley Cooper is reportedly stepping in to replace Mark Wahlberg in David O. Russell‘s The Silver Linings Playbook based on Matthew Quick‘s debut novel. Wahlberg has had to drop out due to a scheduling conflict and now Cooper is stepping in to play a former high school teacher who was institutionalized for depression and then released into the care of his mother. He tries to win back his ex-wife but becomes involved with an eccentric neighbor with problems of her own. Jennifer Lawrence is in negotiations to play the ex-wife and Robert De Niro is also now in the conversation to join the cast, which would reteam him with his Limitless co-star. Russell is expected to begin filming this fall. [Deadline]
Finally, because I know you love the news on the comic books, Warner Bros. film group president Jeff Robinov was quoted talking about the already planned Green Lantern 2 saying, “We had a decent opening so we learned there is an audience. To go forward we need to
