1.) Michael Fassbender is negotiating to star alongside Natalie Portman in Jane Got a Gun, a Western from We Need to Talk About Kevin director Lynne Ramsay. Portman will also produce the sub-$20 million film through her handsomecharlie banner. [Vulture]
2.) Leonardo DiCaprio, Tobey Maguire and Tom Hardy have joined forces to produce an untitled pitch for an animal-trafficking drama at Warner Bros. The film is said to be in the vein of Steven Soderbergh’s Traffic, taking a look at animal trafficking from several different angles. The idea actually came from Hardy, then his Inception co-star DiCaprio, a long-time animal-rights activist came aboard and brought along his lifelong friend Maguire. They’re currently looking for a screenwriter and while the project sounds promising, I also imagine it being very difficult to watch as an animal lover. [THR]
3.) Lionsgate has hired The Adjustment Bureau helmer George Nolfi to direct XOXO, a so-called “Fatal Attraction for the internet age.” The script comes from Black Swan writer Mark Heyman and follows a up-and-coming exec who’s engaged to be married, but still indulges in online flirting. Then, of course, he flirts with the wrong woman and she begins stalking him. Why is Play Misty for Me never in this discussion? Anyway, it’s hard not to be excited about the film’s pedigree, but what is there to say that hasn’t already been said in films like Catfish and Trust? We get it — it’s pretty easy to misrepresent yourself on the internet. [Variety]
4.) Dwayne “The Rock” Johnsonis attached to star in the comedy Dan Minter: Badass for Hire. The plot synopsis doesn’t give us much, but it involves The Rock playing a badass (if that wasn’t obvious enough) who gets involved in a kidnapping. The film has been in development since 2008, but hopefully it’s on track now. The Rock hasn’t had nearly enough opportunities to show off the comedic chops that helped him become such a huge star in the WWE. [The Wrap]
5.) I had no idea Jake and Maggie’s father, Stephen Gyllenhaal, was a film and TV director until this morning. Somehow that one slipped through the cracks. Anyway, he is now set to write and direct the film The Kennedy Detail, which will look at the Secret Service personnel assigned to protect the President. The film will aim for a November 2013 release, marking the 50th anniversary of JFK’s assassination. Gyllenhaal has actually conducted interviews with the surviving members of Kennedy’s security detail, which he will use as a supplement to Gerald Blaine’s book while writing the screenplay. [If Press]
BONUS: Remember that Steven Spielberg Osama bin Laden movie we discussed yesterday? Yeah, that isn’t happening. HBO was another potential suitor so we’ll see if anything materializes on that front, but either way I’m sure we haven’t heard the last of retired SEAL Matt Bissonnette‘s book No Easy Day: The Firsthand Account of the Mission That Killed Osama bin Laden. [The Wrap]
