Two for the Road: Amy Adams and Viggo Mortensen are joining the Walter Salles–directed adaptation of Jack Kerouac’s On the Road. The cast already includes Kirsten Dunst, Kristen Stewart, Sam Riley, and Garrett Hedlund. Adams will play Jane, the “emotionally damaged junkie mother of two children†and wife of Old Bull Lee, who will be played by Mortensen. Adams seems to really be on mid-twentieth-century kick lately. [Deadline]
Journey of the Drone: Tron Legacy director Joseph Kosinski will direct Oblivion — based on his own graphic novel — for Disney as his next project. The story is set on a “future Earth†where “civilization lives above the clouds and alien scavengers stalk the irradiated surface below.†The story follows a surface drone repairman who finds a woman inside a crashed spacepod and sets off on a “journey filled with romance and adventure.†[Heat Vision/HR]
Saving Grace: Maggie Grace and Guy Pearce have signed on for Lockout, a drama about a man (Pearce) wrongly convicted of conspiracy to commit espionage against the U.S. He’ll be set free if he rescues the president’s daughter from … “an outer space prison taken over by violent inmates.†And you thought this was going to be just another run-of-the-mill Earth-bound thriller. [Deadline]
Trio Join Dolphin Tale: Harry Connick Jr., Ashley Judd, and Morgan Freeman are in negotiations to star in Dolphin Tale, a 3-D “inspirational animal tale†directed by Charles Martin Smith. The movie, inspired by a true story, tells the tale of a boy who befriends an injured dolphin, eventually motivating others to create an appendage to replace the dolphin’s tail. The dolphin’s “strong survival instincts†serve as an inspiration “to people with special needs throughout the world.†Connick Jr. will play a vet; Judd will play the boy’s mother; and Freeman the doctor who creates the prosthetic limb. One wonders what High Crimes co-stars Judd and Freeman would have said if someone had told them on set in 2002 they’d be re-teaming in eight years … on a 3-D dolphin movie. [HR]
Behind the Shadow: Robert Schwentke (Red) will direct Shadow Divers, an adaptation of Robert Kurson’s book. The project was in the works several years ago, with Ridley Scott onboard to direct a script by William Broyles (Cast Away). The script will be updated under Schwentke’s supervision. The book follows two “wreck divers†who discover part of a German U-boat off the Jersey coast in 1991 and then become obsessed with uncovering the “truth behind the ship and the men who died inside it.†[Deadline]
Party in the USA: A slew of actors have joined the cast of LOL, the Miley Cyrus–Demi Moore English-language remake of the Gallic hit: Adam Sevani, Jay Hernandez, Austin Nichols, Gina Gershon, Nora Dunn, and Fisher Stevens. With this sheer quantity of cast members, perhaps they should change the title to ROTFL. [Variety]