Going Green: Brian Austin Green is close to finalizing a deal with ABC to join Desperate Housewives in a “major recurring role.†Green will play Keith, a contractor who “turns up the heat on Wisteria Lane as a potential love interest to one of the housewives.†So while it may not be so great for one’s career to be Megan Fox, apparently it can actually help if you marry her. [HR]
OMG!: Usher has announced he will release Versus, an “extension and sequel†to his just-released “O.M.G.â€-spawning Raymond V. Raymond. Versus, which is due August 24, will feature eight new tracks, including lead single “DJ Got Us Fallin’ in Love†(featuring Pitbull), which, from the title, sounds like it will be a mash-up of every song about love on the dance floor already out there. [SoundCheck/Variety]
Right Ones Are In: A bevy of well-respected actors have joined the espionage thriller Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy from Swedish director Tomas Alfredson (Let the Right One In) and screenwriter Peter Morgan (Frost/Nixon). Ralph Fiennes, Colin Firth, Gary Oldman, and Michael Fassbender have joined the project, based on John Le Carre’s 1974 bestselling book, set in the aftermath of the Cold War and involving a spy hunt within the British Secret Intelligence Service. So we’ve got a two-time Oscar nominee, Mr. Darcy, Sirius Black … and, um, Michael Fassbender. [Variety]
Suns to Rise: Linkin Park will release a new album, A Thousand Suns, on September 14; the first single, called “The Catalyst,†will debut on radio and iTunes August 2. The band’s most recent album is 2007’s Minutes to Midnight, which sold 3 million copies, though all the kids who bought Midnight are now, like, so over that phase. [Billboard]
Jones to Scream: Newcomer Caleb Landry Jones has won the role of Banshee in X-Men: First Class. He appeared briefly in No Country for Old Men (he was the kid who sold Javier Bardem the shirt he used as an arm splint) and has a role in the upcoming The Social Network. Banshee is a mutant who can “issue a sonic scream that allows him to fly.†This sounds like one of those hypotheticals that kids love to ask: “Would you want the power to fly if it meant every time you did you made a super-loud noise that meant no one wanted to hang out with you?†[Deadline]
Brotherly Love: Barry Levinson is attached to direct Brother Jack, the tale of human-rights activist Jack Healey, who currently runs the Human Rights Action Center, a Washington, D.C., nonprofit that utilizes art and technology to help stop human-rights abuses. The screenplay — from Harley Peyton — tells the story of Healey’s move from the priesthood to living on the streets, where he has campaigned for his causes. So just another trashy Hollywood popcorn flick, basically. [HR]