Depp and Girlfriend Make American Lover: Johnny Depp and his girlfriend of 12 years, Vanessa Paradis, are rumored to be appearing together in the new movie My American Lover for director Lasse Hallstrom. Depp was quoted saying, “Vanessa plays the French feminist Simone de Beauvoir and I play her lover Nelson Algren who is real macho.” Production is expected to get underway in 2011 according to the news, but don’t hold your breath. [Bang Showbiz via The Playlist]
Brody, Shawkat and Janney also Peel Oranges: On the heels of Friday’s announcement, Adam Brody, Alia Shawkat and Allison Janney are set to join the cast of The Oranges for director Julian Farino. The trio join already cast Leighton Meester, Catherine Keener and Hugh Laurie in the dramedy written by Jay Reiss and Ian Helfer, centers on a man’s romantic relationship with the daughter of a family friend, which turns their lives upside down. Shooting is expected to start this April in New York City. [THR]
Cutler Goes from Wintour Doc to Au Pairs: R.J. Cutler last directed the entertaining doc The September Issue and will now move to fictional storytelling with The Au Pairs, a teen drama for Drew Barrymore’s Flower Films and Alloy Entertainment. The film is an adaptation of Melissa de la Cruz’s “Au Pairs” series following three teenage girls learning how the other half lives when they take summer jobs working for a wealthy family with a home in the Hamptons. [Variety]
Taraji P. Henson Meets Talbert at Baggage Claim: Taraji P. Henson is in talks to star in playwright/director David E. Talbert’s (First Sunday) romantic film Baggage Claim for Fox Searchlight. Based on his best-selling debut novel, the story is of a flight attendant with thirty days and thirty thousand miles to find a husband. Talbert is adapting the script. Henson will next be seen in The Karate Kid on June 11, you can check out a new international trailer for that to the right. [Black Voices]
Hallstrom Takes Over Danish Girl: The Danish Girl, starring Nicole Kidman and Gwyneth Paltrow, centers on Danish artists Einar and Greta Wegener and how their marriage took a sharp left turn after Einar (Kidman) stood in for a female model that Greta (Theron) was set to paint. Einar ultimately became the first ever sex-change patient. Let the Right One In helmer, Tomas Alfredson, took over the project from Anand Tucker in September 2009 and now a Swedish report says Dear John director Lasse Hallstrom will take over for Alfredson. Shooting will begin in May in Budapest, Prague and Denmark should this story prove accurate. [Expressen via The Playlist]
Mulroney is TV’s New Rockford: Bit of TV casting as it has been reported Dermot Mulroney is set to play the lead role in NBC’s new Jim Rockford. The network’s updated take on the hit 1970s drama that starred James Garner as the private eye Rockford. The new Jim Rockford is described as “slightly crumpled, wry humored, cynical, world weary, compassionate when it’s called for and easily irritated by morons.” His troubled past includes doing some time as a convict and as a cop. [THR]
“Incarceron” Goes to Fox: Fox 2000 has acquired the rights to Catherine Fisher’s young-adult tome “Incarceron” with their eyes on turning it into a franchise. “Incarceron” tells the story of a young boy who lives in a prison that is a complete society; outside the prison, the world is stuck in the 17th century and run by computers. The boy comes into contact with the warden’s daughter, who lives in her own sort of jail, and they find a key that can change everything. [Variety]
Schreiber Wants to Play Real Life Rocky: Liev Schreiber is interested in playing Chuck “The Bayonne Bleeder” Wepner, the former heavyweight who inspired Sylvester Stallone’s Rocky Balboa. Jeff Feuerzeig (The Devil and Daniel Johnston) is said to be the man who will be directing. [MTV]
Liu and Larson Find Hall on East Fifth: Brie Larson and Lucy Liu are joining Michael C. Hall (“Dexter”) in the indie comedy East Fifth Bliss for director Michael Knowles (One Night) who adapted the script with Douglas Light from Light’s novel of the same title. In the film Hall will portray a 35-year-old whose static life comically unravels when he embarks on an awkward relationship with Larson’s character, the 18-year-old daughter of a former high school classmate. Liu plays an unhappily married neighbor. [Variety]
