Sly Bags Forest: Forest Whitaker is in negotiations to join the pumped-up cast of Sylvester Stallone’s action flick The Expendables. Whitaker would play the CIA contact for a group of mercenaries (Stallone, Jason Statham, Jet Li) sent to South America to overthrow an evil dictator. Sly, who wrote and will direct the action flick, expressed his desire to cast Forest in November. And when Sly expresses his desire for something, he gets it. [HR]
Curran Is Beautiful, Damned: John Curran has signed on to direct Keira Knightley in The Beautiful and the Damned, the story of F. Scott Fitzgerald’s chaotic marriage to his schizophrenic wife, Zelda Sayre. Curran replaces Nick Cassavetes, who recently dropped out of directing the period drama. No word yet on who will play F. Scott but whoever it is, good luck nailing the hair! [Variety]
Doctor to the Stars: USA has picked up eleven episodes of the hour-long series Royal Pains. Pegged as a possible companion for House, Pains stars Mark Feuerstein as an on-call doctor to the Hamptons elite. Meaning he better have a lot of adrenaline shots on hand. [HR]
Kelly Taps Two: David E. Kelly has cast little-known British actress Charity Wakefield and boxer turned actor John Seda in his strange legal drama for NBC Legally Mad. Wakefield will play a charming young employee of her father’s law firm, and Seda plays a grumpy dick who also works in the office. Kristin Chenoweth is already onboard to play the lead, a brilliant attorney who is prone to flashes of psychosis. Sounds like it might be a little too quirky to succeed as a legal drama, but then again, it’s a legal drama, and those are pretty much the only shows that do succeed. [HR]
Flowers for Sokoloff: The Hallmark Channel will take a break from its typical edgy fare for Flower Power, a wedding-themed original movie starring Marla Sokoloff, Marion Ross, and Christina Pickles. Sokoloff plays the owner of a floral shop who is always planning weddings. But with all of her friends getting married, she thinks she’ll never find Mr. Right. Until she does! But wait, she finds two Mr. Rights!! And must choose between her head (usually wrong) and her heart (always right). If we may quote eighties Swedish pop duo Roxette, “Listen to your heart.†[HR]