Gallows Humor: Martin Lawrence and Tracy Morgan have joined Chris Rock, Danny Glover, and Zoe Saldana in the cast of the Neil LaBute–directed comedy Death at a Funeral. A remake of a 2007 British film, Funeral revolves around a dysfunctional family gathered for the patriarch’s funeral and the blackmail-threatening man who appears claiming he’s the guy’s gay lover. We can’t wait for the series of eye-bulges Lawrence’s character will produce upon hearing this news. [Variety]
Snap Shot: Malin Ackerman and Ryan Philippe have joined the cast of The Bang Bang Club, a drama set in apartheid-era South Africa. Philippe will play war photographer Greg Marinovich (who wrote the memoir the film is based on), one of four photographers collectively known as the Bang Bang Club, which reported on the bloody last days of apartheid. Ackerman, in a role that will surely make her turn in Watchmen come off as an intense bit of realism, will play the gang’s photo editor. [Variety]
Finally: The wait is over: Seven years after 7th Heaven, Ashlee Simpson-Wentz will return to series television as the lead on CW’s Melrose Place remake. She’ll play Violet, a small-town L.A. transplant with a secret, based on the original show’s Sandy Harling. And if for some reason you think this is a bad idea, please, watch this. [HR]
Fight!: Nick Nolte will play an “ex-Vietnam-vet boxer turned steel mill worker†in mixed-martial-arts drama Warrior. Nolte’s ex-alcoholic character, estranged from his family, reforms a relationship with his youngest son and trains him to compete for an MMA tournament, where a showdown with his older brother is inevitable. Which means a Nolte-led sweaty group hug is also inevitable. [Variety]
Ghost Lives: Of course: Undead romance classic Ghost is being converted into a West End musical, with a 2010 premiere date targeted. The Eurythmics’ Dave Stewart and producer Glen Ballard will collaborate on music and lyrics, with Bruce Joel Rubin adapting the book from his own screenplay. Details are forthcoming, but fear not, Variety knows what you want to know: “There’s no word yet on whether the Righteous Brothers’ ‘Unchained Melody,’ the soundtrack for the movie’s famous pottery scene, will be incorporated.†[Variety]