After jostling with a couple different casting iterations, “Bachelorette” writer/director Leslye Headland has lined up Jason Sudeikis, Alison Brie, Adam Scott, Amanda Peet, Jason Mantzoukas and Natasha Lyonne for “Sleeping With Other People.” The story follows a womanizer named Jake (Sudeikis), and a serial cheater (Brie), who form a platonic relationship to overcome their chronic infidelity. The film is described as ” ‘When Harry Met Sally‘ but with assholes,” and production will begin in June, with Will Ferrell and Adam McKay producing.
Helen Mirren and Aaron Paul have joined Colin Firth in the thriller “Eye In The Sky.” The story centers on London-based Madden (Mirren), set to remotely command a top secret drone operation to capture a group of dangerous terrorists from their safe-house in Nairobi, Kenya. The carefully planned mission suddenly escalates from a “capture” to a “kill” operation when Madden realizes that the terrorists are about to embark on a deadly suicide mission, which would result in the catastrophic deaths of many innocent civilians. Meanwhile American drone pilot Steve Watts (Paul) is poised to destroy the safe-house when a nine-year-old girl enters the kill zone just outside the walls of the targeted house. With unforeseen collateral damage now entering the equation and with the volatility of the situation increasing with every second that passes, Madden must now pass the mission’s authority up the “kill chain” to politicians and lawyers, including British Foreign secretary James Willett, who must weigh both the legality and morality of action and inaction. Production begins in September.
Johnny Galecki, Chloë Sevigny and Anjelica Huston will star in “The Master Cleanse.” Bobby Miller will direct the body horror flick about “a heartbroken man who attends a spiritual retreat, only to discover that the course releases more than everyday toxins and traumatic experiences.” Filming begins in July. [Screen Daily]
Jim Sturgess and Koji Yakusho are set to star in “Defending the Enemy.” Based on the book “A Trial of Generals,” James Moll will direct this one, which will follow “a neophyte attorney assigned to defend General Matsaharu Homma, charged with organizing the Bataan Death March, in a war crimes trial.” Lensing starts in August. [THR]
Another day, another random Nicolas Cage movie. This time he’ll feature in “Pay The Ghost,” which will follow “a diligent professor whose son goes missing from a Halloween day parade.” Uli Edel (“The Baader Meinhof Complex“) directs. [Screen Daily]
No stranger to comedy, Dave Franco is going to get a leading man gig with “The Intern’s Handbook.” Based on the book by Shane Kuhn, the story is set against the backdrop of “HR, Inc., an intern placement agency that is actually a front for a network of assassins whose targets are high-profile corporate executives. The best of the best in this world is John Lago, who can get coffee and make copies like no one else while stealthily ratcheting up a body count. The story tells of Lago’s stint in a Manhattan law firm, where he’s working as a temp while gathering intelligence for his hit. He then meets his toughest adversary yet: a female FBI agent assigned to take down the same target. Bullets and sparks fly.” Oren Uziel (“22 Jump Street“) will write the script. [THR]
Glenn Close has joined “The Wife,” based on the book by Meg Wolitzer. Björn Runge directs this one about “the unravelling of a marriage during a couple’s journey to the Nobel Award ceremony in Stockholm.” Filming is slated for early 2015. [Screen Daily]
