Chemical Reaction: Jennifer Garner is in talks to star opposite Jeremy Renner in Better Living Through Chemistry, a dramatic thriller about a small-town pharmacist (Renner) stuck in a loveless marriage who embarks on an affair with a “trophy wife†(Garner). She introduces him to prescription drugs, as it goes, and that’s when “things spin out of control†as the pair begins to devise a scheme to off Garner’s husband. Ben Affleck’s gonna get some fun questions on the red carpet of this premiere, huh? [HR]
Wilde Thing: Olivia Wilde has signed on to join Ryan Reynolds and Jason Bateman in The Change Up, the David Dobkin-directed comedy - from the screenwriters of The Hangover - about a married man (Bateman) who switches bodies with his slacker best friend (Reynolds). Wilde will play the former’s co-worker who is an “impetus†for the body switch. Apparently when Maxim’s Hottest Girl in the World is at stake, switching bodies is a perfectly reasonable decision to make. [Deadline]
BFFs: Kate Bosworth and Krysten Ritter will star in indie comedy BFF & Baby which Ritter co-wrote with the film’s director, Kat Coiro. The picture is focused on “two best friends who fight to maintain normalcy in their lives†after Ritter’s character has a baby. Just a hunch, but it’ll probably be easier for Bosworth to “maintain normalcy†as opposed to the friend who just had a baby. [Variety]
Biker Drama: Danny Trejo (Machete) and Erin Cummings (Spartacus) are in negotiations to star in the indie “biker thriller†Tarantula. The story will be centered on a woman (Cummings) who quits a “tight-knit biker gang†to begin a new existence, but finds that “escape is not so easy.†Trejo will play the leader of the gang on the lookout for the woman. Either “Tarantula†is the name of the gang or there is some kind of grotesque third-act twist here. [Heat Vision/HR]
Another Wanderer: Malin Akerman has joined the cast of Wanderlust, a comedy starring Jennifer Aniston, Paul Rudd and Justin Theroux. It’s unclear what role Akerman will take on, but it just feels like she’s going to play Aniston’s sister, doesn’t it? [Variety]
Two of Three: Daniel Stamm, the director of The Last Exorcism, will helm Reincarnate, the second in the M. Night Shyamalan Night Chronicles series (the first: Devil). The story centers on a jury “haunted by supernatural forces†as they decide the fate of an accused murder. Somehow, these same supernatural forces “hold the key to the case.†[Heat Vision/HR]
Changing Tides: ABC is developing a show based on the Pat Conroy bestselling novel The Prince of Tides. The 1991 film adaptation, of course, starred Barbra Streisand and Nick Nolte. The story follows a married Southern football coach from an “abusive and dysfunctional family†who falls for a New York psychiatrist. The executive producer roster is impressive: Eric and Kim Tannenbaum (Two and a Half Men), Mitch Hurwitz (Arrested Development) and Craig Anderson (On Golden Pond). [HR]
Bumpy Ride: Carl Ellsworth (Disturbia, Red Dawn) will write the screenplay for the live-action, feature-length adaptation of R.L. Stine’s Goosebumps. Larry Karaszewski and Scott Alexander (1408) had previously worked on the adaptation. [Risky Business/HR]