Dances With Wolfs: With the end of his Office days in sight, Steve Carell is continuing to line up film roles. Carell will star in Raised by Wolfs, an original comedy pitch picked up by DreamWorks. The plotline of the film, which Carell will also produce, is being kept hush-hush, but it seems probable Carell will either play a buffoon adopted by a family named the Wolfs … or, uh, a buffoon raised by werewolves? [Risky Business/HR]
Unknown Origins: Brett Ratner’s Rat Entertainment has acquired feature-film rights to The Unknowns, a comic book about Alexis Davenport, a woman who — while living a “seemingly ordinary life†— discovers she was once the leader of a mysterious team called the Unknowns and must figure out why her memories were erased. Think it’s clear which of the templates this project fits! [Variety]
Franchise Jump: Edi Gathegi (Twilight’s Laurent) has joined the cast of X-Men: First Class. He’ll play Darwin, a bi-racial mutant who has the power of “reactive evolution,†which means he can “adapt to any situation or environment.†Confused? “Plunged underwater, he’ll grow gills, he’ll gain night vision in pitch black and his skin grows fire retardant when burned.†Convenient! [Deadline]
Salty: Eat Pray Love screenwriter Jennifer Salt will adapt Rachel DeWoskin’s memoir Foreign Babes in Beijing for HBO. Salt will work on the script with DeWoskin and DeWoskin’s husband/writing partner Zayd Dohrn. The project is centered on an American actress working on a Chinese soap opera, also exploring her life with her American expat friends in China. Lost in Translation meets Sex in the City in China … kind of. [Variety]
Great Escape: Gorillaz have announced the full set of dates for their Escape to Plastic Beach tour, spanning October, November, and December across North America, Europe, and Australia. If you haven’t already, check out the tour’s trailer here. [Pitchfork]
Red Hot: Erich and Jon Hoeber, who wrote the upcoming thriller Red, are now in negotiations to rewrite the heist thriller Man on a Ledge. Asger Leth is in negotiations to direct the film, which has Sam Worthington onboard to star. The story centers on a suicide attempt that is a cover for a “massive diamond heist.†[Heat Vision/HR]