AP Photo/Steve Helber, Pool, File, Thompsett, Wordley, PacificCoastNews.com, Jeffrey Ufberg/Getty ImagesWhat hath Octomom wrought?
With Nadya Suleman said to be close to landing her own reailty series focusing on her and the 14 kids, a couple other notorious, headline-making characters are getting ready for their close-ups.
Suspended Atlanta Falcons quarterback Michael Vick has clinched a $600,000 deal to headline his own unscripted documentary series chronicling his life, once he's out of the federal pen where he's currently serving a 23-month sentence for his role in a dogfighting conspiracy.
Cameras will start rolling after he's sprung on July 20 and will follow him as he seeks to "make amends for his past," including starting work at a $10-an-hour construction job as he applies for reinstatement in the NFL.
Per the Hollywood Reporter, producers courted Vick behind bars and are shopping the series to cable outlets like A&E and Spike TV. (We're guessing Animal Planet is out of the running.)
Then there's Rod Blagojevic. The former Illinois governor who was thrown out of office and indicted for allegedly trying to sell President Obama's Senate seat has signed on to NBC's upcoming summer reality series I'm a Celebrity...Get Me Out of Here, the Peacock announced Tuesday.
All that stands in his way, however, is a judge's approval to ease his travel restrictions, as the show is being taped down in Costa Rica.
I'm a Celebrity will feature 10 relatively famous faces, who, according to NBC, will be "dropped into the heart of the Costa Rican jungle to face challenges designed to test their skills in adapting to the wilderness and to raise money for their favorite charities." No word what charity "Hot Rod" will be supporting. (We're guessing his legal defense fund is out of the running.)
The show premieres June 1 and will air over four weeks.
In the day's other top casting news:
• Per Variety, Oscar nominee Richard Jenkins has come aboard opposite Julia Roberts in Eat, Pray, Love. Jenkins plays a Texan befriended by Roberts' character at an Indian ashram. Ryan Murphy (Running With Scissors) directs.
• Rose Byrne, Elisabeth Moss and Sean "Diddy" Combs have joined the cast of the Jonah Hill-Russell Brand comedy Get Him to the Greek, about a record company intern (Hill) who has two days to get a stubborn rock god to a concert venue. Byrne will play a scandal-ridden pop star, Mad Men's Moss will play Hill's girlfriend and Combs will play a record company exec. Judd Apatow is producing.
• Kristen Bell is set to star in the Disney comedy You Again, as a young woman distressed to discover her brother is tying the knot with her high school enemy. Shooting starts this summer.
• Charlotte Rampling and Happy-Go-Lucky's Sally Hawkins are set to costar with Keira Knightley in the indie flick Never Let Me Go. The plot focuses on boarding-school alums facing a dark reality.
• Maggie Gyllenhaal has signed on for a plum role opposite Emma Thompson's magic-wielding governess in the sequel Nanny McPhee and the Big Bang. This time around, the story follows a group of kids evacuated from the city to a farm during wartime. Written by Thompson, the film also stars Rhys Ifans, Maggie Smith and Asa Butterfield and has an uncredited cameo by Ralph Fiennes.
• Twilight baddie Cam Gigandet has landed a part in the psychological thriller The Roommate, about a disturbed college freshman (Leighton Meester) who stalks her new roommate. Gigandet will play the boyfriend of Meester's character.
• Finally, Elisabeth Shue is set to headline Piranha 3D, playing a sheriff trying to save her town and family from being eaten by the carnivorous fish.