Checkmate: David Fincher is attached to direct Columbia Pictures’ Pawn Sacrifice, a Bobby Fischer biopic that will follow the chess champion through his victory over Boris Spassky in 1972. At least that’s what Variety says. We hope Fincher does it Benjamin Button–style, with Fischer starting life as a crazy anti-Semite and aging backwards into an adorable 13-year-old prodigy. [Variety]
International Treasure: Forest Whitaker is in talks to star in the Shanghai-set indie drama Little Treasure, about a couple “dealing with prejudices, humor, cultural differences and self-discovery while meeting a street kid who changes their lives†(presumably by leading them to an actual treasure, unless the film’s title is some clever reference to the kid or their enlightening traveling experiences). [Variety]
Steenburgen Goes South: Mary Steenburgen has signed on to play the mom in the new ABC comedy pilot Southern Discomfort, about a couple whose lives are turned upside down when their adult children move back in with them. The show’s title and Steenburgen’s casting both imply that Discomfort will be set in the American South (she’s from Arkansas), but we think the comedic possibilities would be more plentiful at the South Pole. [HR]
Kate and Switch: On the strength of its pilot, USA has ordered eleven episodes of Facing Kate, the second female-centered drama the network has picked up this year (after the Piper Perabo–starring Covert Affairs). Kate stars Sarah Shahi as a lawyer frustrated with the legal system who decides to become a mediator instead. Says one of the show’s makers: “With traditional lawyers, it’s always one wins, one loses; in mediation, the goal is to have win-win.†When it comes to thrilling TV drama, nothing beats compromises. [HR]
More Descendants: Judy Greer, Beau Bridges, Matthew Lillard, and Robert Forster have joined the cast of Alexander Payne’s George Clooney–starring dark comedy The Descendants, about a guy struggling to repair his relationship with his two daughters after his wife becomes a vegetable following a boat-racing accident near Waikiki. The movie starts shooting today in Hawaii, so they should probably hurry up and get down there. [HR]
Three Go to Cable: Three people you’ve probably not yet heard of have been added to shows you probably don’t watch: Marsha Thomason, Billy Brown, and Gregg Henry will join the casts of USA’s White Collar, FX’s Lights Out, and HBO’s Hung, respectively. [HR]
Go Joe, Guy: Said Taghmaoui’s career has miraculously survived last summer’s G.I. Joe: Rise of the Cobra. He’ll star in Conan as “a leader of thieves who is saved by Conan [Jason Momoa] and later offers him aid.†[HR]