Jake Gyllenhaal Inexplicably Cast As Joe Namath

Gyllenhaal Is Namath: Jake Gyllenhaal will play Hall of Fame quarterback Joe Namath for Universal Pictures, proving Roger Ebert right when he observed that if Adam Sandler can play a quarterback, anybody can. [Variety]

Perry Upgrades to 17: Matthew Perry gets to live out every man’s fantasy in New Line’s teen comedy 17, playing a middle-aged father who wakes up one morning to find that he’s a teenager again in the body of Zac Efron. [HR]

Rhythm Nation Reopens: Janet Jackson will release her first album under her Island/Def Jam contract in February, meaning that the cover of every major entertainment magazine released in January will be devoted to assuring fans that Jackson is thin. [Billboard]

Tomei, Plimpton Are Top Girls: Marisa Tomei, Mary Catherine Garrison, Elizabeth Marvel, and reigning New York theater workaholic Martha Plimpton will star in Manhattan Theatre Club’s revival of Caryl Churchill’s Top Girls. Production is set to open in May, and we can’t wait. [Playbill]

Weinsteins Got It: The Weinstein Co. acquires publishing and screen rights to Because She Can author Bridie Clark’s new novel, I Think She’s Got It, a Pygmalion update about a midwestern girl transformed into a sophisticated socialite by a dashing Manhattan man-about-town. The Mandy Moore–Adrian Grenier movie kinda films itself, doesn’t it? [Variety]