INFdaily.comNothing says funny like ambulance-chasing lawyers.
At least that's hope for the brain trust behind Cameron Diaz's latest outing, in which she'll star as a ruthless legal eagle who takes the case when one of her firm's biggest clients gets sued for sexual discrimination.
According to Variety, Diaz is in final negotiations to star in Bobbie Sue. No director has yet been named.
Meanwhile,in other major casting news, Paul Giamatti returns to his indie roots, Elizabeth Banks swaps lowbrow for high-concept, Ron White continues to bring the blue-collar comedy, an X-Man goes to the Dogs and Iron Man 2 tests the mettle of some new recruits.
• Fresh from his big-budget turn in Duplicity, Paul Giamatti is making a move back to independent dramas in Barney's Version. Per Variety, the film will follow a middle-aged man whose life highlights have so far included three failed marriages, two kids and being named a "person of interest" in his best bud's disappearance. Cameras roll in Rome and Montreal this August.
• Funnylady Elizabeth Banks is breaking from the Judd Apatow-mentored ranks to star in and produce a new workplace comedy, Forever 21, per Variety. Details of the so-called high-concept plot are being kept under wraps.
• Move over, Wolverine, here comes a Straw Dog. According to the Hollywood Reporter, erstwhile X-Man James Marsden has signed on to star in the reimagining of the 1971 thriller Straw Dogs, taking over the part originated by Dustin Hoffman. Marsden will star as the L.A. screenwriter who this time relocates with his wife to her Deep South hometown. Tensions arise both in and outside the marriage, with violent results. Rod Lurie writes and directs.
• Two more actors can Marvel at their good casting fortune. Entourage's Kate Mara and The New Adventures of Old Christine's Clark Gregg have signed on to join the ranks of Iron Man 2, per the Hollywood Reporter. Mara's role is being kept under wraps, while Gregg will reprise his role as S.H.I.E.L.D. agent Phil Coulson.
• Anthony Anderson is getting tee'd off. The Law & Order star is on board to host a 10-episode run of Golf in America, a Golf Channel series that will feature both famous enthusiasts of the sport—Justin Timberlake and Donald Trump, among others—and golf-related news items from around the world. The series gets swinging on June 23.
• The Blue Collar Comedy Tour's resident bourbon-swirler has snagged a deal to develop his own show for Comedy Central. According to the Hollywood Reporter, Ron White's deal comes in the wake of big-time ratings for his standup special, and the half-hour pilot, simply dubbed The Ron White Show, will take a look at news stories through the eyes of his opinionated everyman persona.