More for Cabret: Jude Law, Ray Winstone, Christopher Lee, and Richard Griffiths have all been cast in Martin Scorsese’s live-action 3-D adventure film Hugo Cabret, which begins production Tuesday in London. The film, an adaptation by John Logan (The Aviator) of Brian Selznick’s bestselling 2007 The Invention of Hugo Cabret, already boasts a cast that includes Ben Kingsley, Sacha Baron Cohen and Chloe Moretz. The film tells the story of an orphan “living in the walls of a Paris train station†who finds a “broken machine, an eccentric girl, and a reserved toy shop manager,†all three of which will hopefully be played by Law. [HR]
OMG: Ashley Greene (Twilight) and Thomas Jane (Hung) are in negotiations to join Miley Cyrus and Demi Moore in LOL, an English remake of the French comedy. The story revolves around a teenager (Cyrus) who is dumped by her “more sexually experienced boyfriend†(George Finn), as her divorcée mother (Moore) works to “move on with her life.†Greene will play a “high school bad girl†and Jane will play Cyrus’s father. Toolish boyfriends, midlife crises, and Miley Cyrus: not your typical ROTFL fare. [HR]
Gore’s Secret: Gore Verbinski (Pirates of the Caribbean) has entered negotiations with Fox to direct the studio’s long-gestating adaptation of The Secret Life of Walter Mitty. The adaptation of the classic James Thurber 1939 short story was written by Steven Conrad (The Pursuit of Happyness). Rumors of Johnny Depp taking on the Mitty role have already begun, which would mark the fifth collaboration between the two — and this one wouldn’t involve a windup fish. [Risky Business/HR]
Serkis Rises: Andy Serkis (The Lord of the Rings’ Gollum) has been cast as Caesar in Rise of the Apes, the Planet of the Apes prequel starring James Franco, Freida Pinto, and John Lithgow. Serkis will be playing the chimp who leads the revolt among the apes after having been raised by Lithgow and Franco, father and son in the film. He probably got sick of being forced to participate in Franco’s inane performance-art pieces. [Variety]
Bassett Leaps: Angela Bassett will star in Jumping the Broom, a wedding-themed ensemble comedy directed by Salim Akil and also starring Paula Patton (Precious). Broom centers on a clash of “black families from opposite ends of the socioeconomic spectrum†who meet for the first time during a Martha’s Vineyard wedding. Bassett will play Patton’s mother, an heiress and member of the Washington elite. [HR]
Breaking Free: A&E has picked up the original drama series Breakout Kings, ordering thirteen one-hour episodes of the show, from Matt Olmstead and Nick Santora (Prison Break). Breakout is described as an “action-packed drama†following a partnership between the U.S. Marshal’s office and a group of convicts, working together to catch fugitives who are on the run. The pilot had originally been developed for Fox, but the network decided not to pick it up last month. [Deadline]