Casting Couch: Swank's Latest Oscar Bait; Black's Bourne Goof; McBrayer Gets Revenge

Wed., Oct. 1, 2008 11:58 AM PDT by

Jack Black, Hilary Swank, Jack McBrayer Dave Hogan/Getty Images; Jason Kempin / Getty Images; Matthew Imaging / Getty Images

• Sounds like it's time for Hilary Swank to start working on another Oscar speech. The actress is on the case in Betty Anne Waters, an Erin Brockovich-like drama based on a true story about a woman who fights to clear her brother of a murder he didn't commit. The flick will be helmed by director Tony Goldwyn (best known as the bad guy in Ghost), according to Variety.

• Jack Black will be kickin' it in an untitled action-comedy for Universal. Taking a cue from The Bourne Identity, Black will play an American who awakes on a beach in Cuba with no idea who he is and how he got there and then mistakenly decides he's a superspy.

• Chris O'Donnell and 30 Rocker Jack McBrayer have been tapped as the live-action stars of Warner Bros.' Cats & Dogs: The Revenge of Kitty Galore, a sequel to the 2001 live action-CG family comedy about the secret war between house pets.

• Samuel L. Jackson's got a new partner in British actor Michael Sheen (The Queen) for the thriller Unthinkable, about a terrorist nuclear threat in the United States.

• Comedy Central has signed Brit loose-cannon comic Russell Brand for a one-hour standup special taping in NYC in November and airing next year. Brand's most recent high-profile gig was hosting the MTV VMAs. Let's hope this one goes better.

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