Emma Thompson, Peter Sarsgaard Contribute to Nick Hornby’s ‘Education’

The end of the strike means a whole passel of fresh industry deals are being announced … so many that one Industry post can’t handle them all. Today we’re presenting a special Afternoon Industry post to catch up.

Thompson, Sarsgaard, Molina Get Educated: Nick Hornby’s screenplay adaptation of An Education, Lynn Barber’s memoir, draws Emma Thompson, Peter Sarsgaard, and Alfred Molina. Set in Swinging London, the film will allow Sarsgaard to try on a British accent as a glamorous race-car driver, and Thompson to try on her priggish expressions as a school headmistress. [HR]

Tomei Wrestles With Aronofsky: Marisa Tomei joins the cast of Wrestler, Darren Aronofsky’s drama, playing a stripper alongside Mickey Rourke. That is to say, playing someone who strips for a living, not just a person who happens to be naked all the time, as she did in Before the Devil Knows You’re Dead. [Variety]

Zellweger the One and Only: Renée Zellweger will star in The One and Only, based on an anecdote George Hamilton told Merv Griffin one time. No, that’s the logline. It will be followed by a film based on a joke Regis Philbin once cracked in the men’s room. [Variety]

Nivola Plays Chess: Alessandro Nivola joins the cast of Chess, which sadly is not a film version of the musical but instead the second biopic being made right now about the founder of Chess Records. [HR]

Gibson Sued With Passion: Writer Benedict Fitzgerald has sued Mel Gibson, claiming he wasn’t appropriately compensated for his work on The Passion of the Christ. In a measured response, Gibson damned Fitzgerald’s everlasting soul to Hell. [Variety]