25 and Under: Amanda Seyfried will star in New Regency’s sci-fi action thriller I’m.mortal from writer-director Andrew Niccol (Gattaca, S1m0ne). The story revolves around a society in which aging stops at 25, which means that all roles in the film will be played by actors in their mid-20s (convenient!). Things kick into gear when a “rebel from the ghetto†is falsely accused of murdering a wealthy man for his time (you have to “buy and bank time†to live past 25). He goes on the run with a “beautiful, rich hostage†(Seyfried) and together “they discover that love is more powerful than all the time in the world.†That sound you hear is the frantic texting of the entire CW actor community hoping to get in on this. [Variety]
Efron Runnin’ Wild: Warner Bros. has picked up an untitled workplace comedy with Zac Efron onboard to star and produce. The script is from Jason Filardi, who wrote the Efron vehicle 17 Again. Efron’s production company also has a name now: Ninjas Runnin’ Wild Productions, a name we have a feeling he might regret by the time he turns 30. [HR]
Osment Gets Raunchy: Haley Joel Osment’s all grown up and is ready for a return to Hollywood. The former child star, who is now 22 (take a moment to let that sink in) and who hasn’t appeared in a film since 2007’s Home of the Giants, has signed on to star in Sex Ed. Osment will play a college graduate who teaches sex education at a high school “despite being a virgin.†He will go on to “discover an unlikely mentor in a blues bar, a ruthless enemy in the local PTA, and a gorgeous Polish girl for whom English is a distant second language.†While we’re not sure why he picked this particular American Pie spinoff-esque film as his return to cinema, we’re too excited he’s back to complain. [HR]
Black’s Experiment: A.J. Jacobs’s best-selling nonfiction book My Life As an Experiment has been optioned for a potential half-hour comedy series. The acquisition is one of the first made by Jack Black’s Electric Dynamite Productions in its two-year exclusive production deal with Reveille. The book includes accounts of ten “month-long exercises in self-improvement,†ranging from living a life of Radical Honesty to Jacobs’s outsourcing his life to a couple of Indian assistants. This certainly seems like it would translate better to the screen than Jacobs’s debut book, which detailed his reading the entire encyclopedia. [Deadline]
Prattfall: Chris Pratt (Parks and Recreation) has joined Moneyball, in which he’ll play former baseball player Scott Hatteberg. While he was a catcher for the Boston Red Sox, Hatteberg ruptured a nerve in his elbow, meaning he could no longer throw a ball. He later was recruited by the Oakland A’s to play first base and helped the team as a designated hitter. Perhaps the producers were impressed with Pratt’s experience playing injured. [Risky Business/HR]
Sharper Image: Timm Sharp has replaced Mos Def as a series regular in the upcoming Mike White comedy Enlightened for HBO. Laura Dern is starring as a “self-destructive woman who has a spiritual awakening and decides to live an enlightened life,†which doesn’t exactly go over so well at home and work. Sharp will play her new boss at the office. [Deadline]