360 Degrees: Rachel Weisz will team up with her Constant Gardener director Fernando Meirelles on the “psychosexual drama†360 from Peter Morgan (Frost/Nixon). The film is inspired by Arthur Schnitzler’s play Reign, which is made up of short scenes between couples, all of which take place before or after a sexual encounter. Weisz seems to be drawn to edgier fare as of late. [Deadline]
Carla and Carrey: Carla Gugino has signed on to star opposite Jim Carrey in 20th Century Fox’s Mr. Popper’s Penguins. Mark Waters is directing the film, a modern adaptation of the 1938 children’s book. The film has Mr. Popper as a “high-powered New York business man who suddenly inherits six penguins,†an undertaking which, of course, forces him to overcome “major hurdles†and eventually teaches him “the value of family and friendship.†[Variety]
She’s the Mann: Leslie Mann has been added to the cast of the comedy The Change-Up, starring Ryan Reynolds, Jason Bateman, and Olivia Wilde. The story follows a “married guy who accidentally changes bodies with his single best friend and pursues a female coworker.†Mann actually has some experience with this kind of thing, strangely enough, having appeared in Zac Efron’s body-switching-tastic 17 Again last year. [Risky Business/HR]
All We Want for Christmas Is Her: Sixteen years after her first Christmas album (which spawned the annual hit “All I Want for Christmas Is Youâ€), Mariah Carey will be returning with another one: Merry Christmas II You, which is due November 2. The disc will include four original songs written by Carey, including “Oh Santa.†[Billboard]
Lost and Found: Jerry Bruckheimer has sold his first show of the season, as ABC has given a pilot commitment to an hour-long project based on the blog and book The Lost Girls. Girls, in its blog form, began in 2006 when three friends left their New York media jobs to embark on an Eat Pray Love–esque “year-long search for adventure and inspiration,†traveling to four continents and more than a dozen countries. The online project was later turned into a travel memoir. [Deadline]
Quintet of Mis-Fits: Five actors have been cast in L.D. Napier’s directorial debut, Mis-Fits. Guy Pearce, Catalina Sandino Moreno, Seymour Cassel, Cloris Leachman, and Virginie Ledoyen will star in the original comedy about a “necro-detective†who searches for people’s lost, dead relatives. “It’s a wacky comedy in the tone of Harold and Maude,†producer Doug Claybourne claims. [HR]