More Famous People Sign Up for Movie: Salma Hayek is staying on the comedy train: The recent 30 Rock guest star has signed up for the untitled Adam Sandler-and-all-his-buddies high-school reunion comedy, playing the Sand-man’s wife. Maya Rudolph has also joined the cast as Chris Rock’s wife, as has Colin Quinn as, we assume, no one’s spouse, but just a lesser, more annoying high-school friend. [Variety]
The Hills Breakdown: Audrina Patridge is going solo. The upcoming ten-episode fifth season of The Hills will be her last, as she gets her own City-type spinoff with Mark Burnett Productions. Since Lauren Conrad is leaving the show as well, MTV will not confirm a sixth season, with a spokesperson saying only “The Hills will continue as long as there are stories to tell.†(That, or muffled, pointless nightclub conversations to tape, the spokesperson did not add.) Anyway, we’re actually looking forward to Audrina’s new show — perhaps it will finally reveal the dark secrets behind her dead, dead eyes. [HR]
Mother Ellen: Ellen DeGeneres is taking on her first live-action role since ‘99’s EdTV — she’ll play Mother Nature in an untitled comedy from Walden Media, being scripted by Sex and the City’s Jenny Bicks. The concept revolves around Mother Nature’s return to Earth for the first time since the planet’s creation. (Is this in the Bible somewhere?) Joining the ranks of third-rate comic-book villains everywhere, DeGeneres has apparently “always wanted to control the weather.†[HR]
Nepotism News: Scott Eastwood has somehow landed a role in Clint Eastwood’s untitled Nelson Mandela drama, joining a cast that includes Matt Damon and Morgan Freeman. The young thespian, often billed as Scott Reeves, will play a rugby player on the 1995 national South Africa team, which made a run at the World Championship; the story revolves around the relationship between Mandela and team captain Francois Pienaar as they worked to unite the post-apartheid country. Just wait till Scotty tells his parents! [HR]
Jerks on Film: Adam Scott, the excellent jerk older brother from Step Brothers, has signed on for Leap Year. The movie stars Amy Adams as a woman traveling to Ireland in order to propose to her boyfriend (Scott) on Leap Day, when he can’t say no due to some contrivance or another; Matthew Goode plays the cynical Irish innkeeper Adams will inevitably fall in love with after realizing Scott’s an excellent jerk. Wait, what, Matthew Goode as an Irish innkeeper? We expect to hear about the rigorous haggis-and-mustache-growing-cream diet Goode is on any day now. [Variety]
Moving In: Jessica Lucas is the latest actress to join the CW’s Melrose Place reboot. She plays Riley Richmond, a wealthy inner-city school teacher (does she push weight in the inner city after school in order to maintain all that wealth?) having second thoughts about her impending marriage. She was also in Cloverfield, where she bravely and stubbornly refused to be eaten by the monster. [HR]